Easter In Austin Texas

I can't beleive it's already Easter time! Terry and I both had Good Friday off of work. Since we had a 3 day weekend, we decided to drive the 4 hours south to Austin. It was a really fun weekend. It was a really pretty drive down there as all of the Bluebonnets along the freeway were in full bloom. It's interesting but Ladybird Johnson (Lyndon B Johnson's wife) did all of this work planting bluebonnetts and wildflowers along Texas's highways. It seemed what she loved doing while she lived here in Texas until she died. When the wildflowers and bluebonnets are in bloom it makes for such a pretty drive. So thank you Ladybird for that!

Well we stayed in a hotel right in downtown Austin. We could walk to everything so that made it nice, and we got some good exercise. The Texas state capitol building is right downtown Austin. We walked up to there and took a tour of the inside. Of course being Texas everything has to big and over the top, and the capitol building lives up to that. It is Huge and very pretty inside and out. It was interesting to see all the history of the building and of Texas. I found out that Texas has been part of 6 different countries in it's history: France, Spain, Mexico, Texas Republic, Confederate States, and the United States (hence the 6 flags over Texas.) That was actually pretty cool.

It also is interesting that just a few blocks away from the capitol building is the University of Texas (the Longhorns). The campus is smack in the middle of downtown Austin. We spent a little time walking around the campus. It's funny but you really wouldn't realize that you are in the middle of a city. It is a very green pretty campus with lots of huge old oak tree's as you would expect at a southern university. It definitely is a big school though. It's funny but football is king here in Texas, and the Football stadium is Massive (holds 90,000 or so people.) The people love their Longhorn football team here. I would definitely go to school there. Austin is a very pretty city, and has a far more laid back vibe than the glitz of Dallas. We just had a great time the whole weekend. We met some fun people at the clubs there and were so glad we went.

Me at the Texas state capitol building in Austin

The rotunda inside the capitolThe Senate chamber in the capitol

Me at the University of Texas Belltower

Some gorgeous old oak trees on campus

Some more of campus

Spring is here...Let The Home Improvement Projects Begin!!

Well I think spring is finally here in Dallas. The trees have all greened up. The tulips and azalea's are out in full bloom. Home Depot is crazy busy with people doing their yard improvement projects. Ahhh the fun times of spring! Actually I am so ready for it to be warm.

Terry I and I helped our friends this weekend with their spring yard project. They needed to redo a flagstone path that leads to their pool. They also decided to build a new flagstone patio as well. Of course Terry and I spent 3 months building a rock patio in Utah, so we didn't mind helping them build theirs. It only took a few hours of tilling to get rid of the grass (the crappy clay soil here in Dallas resisted the whole way). Then came the fun of digging out the soil, placing the rock in the desired pattern, leveling each rock on a dirt and gravel bed, and finally filling in the cracks with sand and gravel. 6 hours later, and 2 trips to Lowes....a new patio and path!! No major injuries, and all limbs are still attached. We were sore and tired and hot afterward. Todd and Bill were sweet enough to spring for Mexican Food that night, and we all had to take a dip in their hot tub to sooth the aching muscles. I think it turned out really nice for a bunch of amateur landscaping gay men!

Here is Todd and Terry and Ryan tilling and digging.

Me playing with a giant piece of flagstone

The finished patio

The finished path.

We also had a fun trip to the Dallas Arboretum spring blooms festival (thanks again to Jerry for the tickets!) It was gorgeous as usual, and really put you in the spring mood. So here is a few pictures, Happy Spring!!!

The flowering dogwoods were in full bloom

Here is a gorgeous display of Tulips

New Toys

Well here is the latest update for last month. I turned the big 36 this year on Feb 10. Terry and I played it low key, and went out for yummy Thai food. Mom suprised me with a fabulous new waffle iron, and we have sure enjoyed that. Terry got me fun new clothes and shoes that I have been wanting. So I had a great birthday.
We also saw a great movie called "Milk" (which Sean Penn won an oscar for.) It was about Harvey Milk who was the first openly gay man elected to public office. He was also assassinated along with the mayor of San Francisco. It was a really moving story about making a difference and standing up for what you beleive. I'm sure the movie is not for everyone, but it really was very thought provoking and moving to me. If your thinking about seeing it, I would highly recommend it.
Terry and I also are getting spring fever here in Dallas. We were out in the garage on a warm day, and saw our dusty bikes hanging on the wall. We both decided that we needed to get our butts out and get some exercise. It seemed that bike riding would be a fun way to explore the neighborhood, and get in better shape (because we put on a few more pounds this winter than we wanted too!!) We cleaned up our bikes all nice and neat, and fixed the flat tires. After all that work we got on the bikes to do a test ride, and my front shock just sunk down. It didn't hold air, and oil was leaking out. So off to the bike shop we went to see if they could fix my bike shock. Unfortunately my mountain bike, which was top of the line in 1992, was WAY too old to even think about getting parts for. They couldn't fix my shock and they couldn't even find a replacement fork for it. (not even e-bay or craigslist had the parts.) So needless to say my poor old bike, that I put 1500 miles on while on my mission, was dead. Terry and I were pretty frustrated by that. So much for the good intentions of bike riding.
Well 3 weeks later my company suprised me. I don't know how, but our little gas company managed to meet all of our goals and numbers for the year. We ended up getting a very generous bonus. Everyone at work has worked hard all year, and we were all really excited. So I took the extra money and went out and bought me a brand spaking new bright yellow Specialized Hardrock mountain bike! It's sooo nice with an all aluminum frame and everything I wanted (they even tuned up Terry's bike for free since I bought a new one!) So now we can get in shape riding our bikes, and I can't wait to get out there and ride. The only problem I've noticed thus far is that my butt is not accustomed to hard bike seats. Hopefully I won't be "Saddle Sore" for long. So now I suppose we don't have any excuses for not riding our bikes!! Well that is about all we have going on right now.

Me riding my new bike.Of course it had to be a bold yellow. One has to make a statement!

Ice Storm

Well now I've seen yet another exciting piece of Texas weather, the ice storm! It's funny but they get obsessed about the weather here in Dallas. Two days before a storm, all you hear on the news is there might be an ice storm. Everyone gets all excited. Then when the storm hits, it's round the clock coverage of the storm on the news. They station each news reporter all over the metro area, and just show them standing by some overpass. They comment about how it's raining and now it's turning to ice. They show ice on their cars. They show ice on their coats. They show unfortunate cars crashing into each other on the roads. We even had a 15 minute segment about a reporter showing frozen ice on the sidewalk, and letting us know that you can't walk on it (no way!). Then she proceeds to show that if you run and hit the ice you can slide on it! (who knew!!). Of course this amuses us people from the north to no end. Icy sidewalks are not news. Seriously the south get's so funny about snow and ice, and they panic.

Anyhow we did get a pretty big ice storm. I do have to say ice storms are a completely different experience than snowstorms. It just rains, but the air temperature is cold enough to freeze it once it touches anything. Tree's, streets, everything gets coated in a layer of ice. It's very pretty to see, but awful to drive on. They try and sand the streets here, but it's just slick as heck. People don't know how to drive very well when they slide either. They either go way too fast, or slam on their brakes. Well so when we woke up to a sheet of ice everwhere I decided to let it thaw out a bit before venturing out on my long commute to work. It took me an hour to get to work, and I slid around a bit, but made it accident free. Unfortunately I ended up being the last one to show up at my office. I then had to hear everyone laughing about how the guy from the north who should be used to snow and ice was the last one to show up at work. Of course I'm the only one with sense enough not to try and drive on the super slick crap until it thaws a bit.

Well so there was our excitement for the week. Of course it's back to 70 degrees today, and we're getting the fixings all ready for watching the superbowl. Man I'm ready for spring!!! Here are a few pictures I took of the ice:

Here is the frozen rain in our downspout

A closeup of our frozen downspouts

Our patio table and chairs and pool deck covered in ice

And here we go with another new year!

I sat down today at the computer thinking that I needed to update my blog. So I thought really hard about what Terry and I have been doing, and what I would write. Well honestly we haven't done much of anything. I guess it's that time of year where you get back in your routine of working all week, and doing your normal weekend routine. We put away all the christmas decorations, and took all the lights off the tree outside. It's just such a funny time of year. I looked at my house and yard and kind of went "Now what do I do?" Guess we're just in the doldrums of winter, and the daily routine of life.
Winter here in Dallas is absolutely a strange time. We have 3 days of gorgeous 60 and 70 degree weather, and then the next day a cold front dips down and we're in the 20's and 30's. Then it's back up to warm weather. It is this crazy roller coaster of temperatures. Everyone gets sick with colds around here because your body can't quite figure out what to do when it's hot and cold all the time. But hey I don't have to shovel snow so I can't complain too much. Terry and I are getting serious cabin fever though. We just are dying to get back out on the patio and swimming in the pool.
I have high hopes for this new year. I know we all say the same things every January, and have the same resolutions. For some reason I just feel extra motivated this year to really work on those things. Maybe it's the economy and this recession. It sure makes we want to financially clean up some stuff, and cut up those pesky credit cards. I really want to try hard to just use cash, and if I don't have the cash I don't buy it (man that is so hard to do sometimes!!!) I also want to loose weight this year. I know we ALL say that every year. I guess this is my first year where I had to actually go up a pant size, and that ticked me off. I just died when I was shopping for jeans and my waist size was the same as my inseam. I'm now a 34 x 34 inch square!!!! Man it just kind of sneaks up on you. All of the sudden you realize that you can't wear your jeans and breathe at the same time cause you can't suck up anymore to get them to button. It's so lame because I've been working out at the gym for years, but I never really had to watch my portions or what I ate. Guess that middle age thing is creeping up on me, and I'm not sure I'm cool with it!!! I swear being gay makes it worse. In all the ads and magazines for gay men all the models have perfect muscled bodies and like .00009% body fat. I swear real people that actually eat don't look like that. For some reason the media has all of us gay men tricked into thinking we ought to be like that. But hey someday I just might look like the guy on Men's Fitness with "Washboard" abs! (of course right after I put down these doughnuts!!) Oh well one can always try. I guess that's the one good thing about the new year. There is that wonderful renewal of hope and determination to make the new year a better one. Who know's maybe it just might happen!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't beleive that Christmas has come and gone. For some crazy reason it seems like the older I get the faster Christmas comes and goes. I remember as a kid it took FOREVER for Christmas to get here. Terry and I really had a wonderful holiday season here in Dallas. I definitely love decorating for Christmas (as you can tell by all the pictures.) It is the only time I decorate the house all year. This year we also were having 10 people over for dinner on Christmas day so I really went all out with decorations, and did 2 table centerpieces as well (of course I will need more storage boxes to put all this crap in once the holidays are over). It just looked so darn festive and brought back warm memories of Christmas as a child. I remember we always had such a brightly lit tree that seemed magical. I remember the blinking christmas lights in the window that dad would put up. I also remember the wonderful christmas music my dad had recorded on his reel to reel tapes that he would play. I remember my grandparents and all my aunts houses all decorated so beautifully. It just made me want to do the same to my own home, and make it warm and inviting for the holidays. I was so excited when it all was done and Christmas was here.


Christmas eve we went to our friends Todd and Bill's house and had pizza and then went driving around looking at Christmas lights (another tradition I loved as a child.) We exchanged gifts with them, and had so much fun. We are so lucky to have such fun wonderful friends like them here in Dallas, and we love them like family.


Christmas day we got up and exchanged gifts (we slept in of course, and I NEVER did that as a child). We both bought each other way too much stuff. Actually our main christmas present, a gas log fireplace, was installed 3 weeks earlier. I know your thinking who needs a fireplace in Texas? Well we have our few days of cold weather and it's been fun to be able to have a fire then. Of course we couldn't lay around too much. We cleaned the crap out of the house. Terry made homeade apple pie, and rolls for dinner. I finished the decorating touches and set the table with our new china (another christmas present, thanks JCPenney closeout sale!!) Around 5:00 pm all of our guests arrived. We all got drinks and sat around the family room and had shrimp cocktail, and duck pate. Then we all sat down had a christmas toast and ate ham, funeral potatoes, beans, and homeade rolls. It was so good and we had the best time getting to know the new friends in our home and catching up with old friends too. Then it was back to the family room for more drinks and homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream. I just am so happy to have made some good friends here in Dallas. The only thing missing was snow and a white Christmas. It was so crazy but it was 70 degrees and sunny on Christmas, and the next day we hit 83. Terry and I just laughed as we sat on our porch in short sleeve shirts. We definitely are not in Utah anymore!!

Well anyhow there goes another year. I can't beleive how fast life seems to pass by sometimes. I'm ready for another year though, bring on New Years!!!!! And now for the endless pictures!!! Here is our pretty fake tree we decorated all up. We sure love it, and it looked great!

Here is one of 3 big poinsettia plants. This one is in the entryway!

Here is our new gas log fireplace, stockings, and fun bubble lights on the Mantle in the family room

I decorated the dining room sideboard with martini glasses and a crystal vase filled with ornaments and lit with white lights. It was so pretty at night!

Here is our festive table for Christmas dinner

Another shot of the table. I did red and white candles and red and white roses.

Here is a side view of one of the center pieces (one with red roses, one with white roses)

Here is a long view of the 2 tables set up between the dinig and living rooms. It was such a cute Christmas table!!

Terry and I in the dining room.

Finally here is our group of friends who were nice enough to share a Christmas meal with us. Thanks so much Jerry, Mike, Leo, Todd, Bill, Ryan, and Bill. We love you guys!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Thanksgiving

Well here I am writing about Thanksgiving a week late, but I suppose it's better late then never.
Terry and I had a nice long weekend, and we had lots of fun. Thursday we met at our friends Todd and Bills house for thanksgiving dinner. There was a good crowd of friends that showed up. Todd even got a suprise visit from his mother from Utah (Bill was so sweet to arrange that.) I made 2 pumpkin pies that turned out really good (don't tell anyone that I actually baked.) Terry spent hours making ribbon jello. It's so funny how people outside of Utah have no clue about jello. Our friends from Texas just looked at us funny and laughed, but they all ate it anyways. It just wouldn't be a proper thanksgiving without ribbon jello!!! It was so much fun hanging out with friends and stuffing our faces with WAY too much food. We spent the rest of the weekend doing some shopping, putting up christmas decorations, watching movies, and being lazy bums. It was wonderful. Here is a few pictures from the weekend:

Ryan, Mike, and Terry Throwing around the football.

Ryan and Terry doing more football throwing

Here is me trying to throw the football

Todd and Bill and the wonderful turkey!!!

Todd's mom Helen, Bill, Todd, and his son Ryan hangin' out in our living room.

Terry taking a suprise picture of me having fun putting up the fake tree.

More pictures of christmas decorations coming soon......