My good friend and college roommate, Ashley, came to visit in late March and we had a blast. She and I spent a night on the Riverwalk in San Antonio enjoying some good shopping, food, and nightlife. She also got to see a drop night, eat at a taco stand (no kidding, the best food in Del Rio comes from those shady-looking little roadside stands), and learn how to two step at Club Arriba! (another entertaining establishment, featuring an amusing variety of music- regular rotations of top 40 hip-hop/club hits, George Strait, and Mexican Cumbia.) The three of us had a lot of fun making fools of ourselves on the dance floor--but not before participating in some high-quality two-stepping lessons in our dining room via YouTube. Hey, it's the small things...
Speaking of good food and entertainment, we have two new places in Del Rio! This may not seem like news, but it is. Trust me. We have a new Mexican restaurant in town called Manuel's Steakhouse. Yes, we were shocked to see YET ANOTHER Mexican restaurant joining the ranks, but this one is different. We are told they cook food in a style more typical of what you'd find in the interior of Mexico--what native Mexicans here call "more proper" Mexican. We didn't expect to taste a difference, having fairly uneducated palates in the way of Mexican cuisine, but it was unreal. SOOO delicious. And then there's the Veranda, this really cute little wine and beer garden owned by the nicest couple. We've gone there a few Saturday evenings to sit and have a glass of wine by a campfire after dinner. The owners occasionally bring out snacks and other goodies for their guests to try, usually made by themselves or a family member, and they are always so friendly and hospitable.
For Easter, we went to Brenham to see Grandpa and Grandma Miller, and as always, had a relaxing time and ate ourselves silly. The Blue Bonnets were also in full bloom, so we went on a little photo tour. Texans are crazy--cars are parked all over the freeways while people climb up the hills alongside the road to take pictures in the flowers. As you can imagine, the police have a heyday with this. Eric tracked to T-1s on April 5. UPT IS HALFWAY DONE!!!! He's since experienced a couple simulators and several classes on the systems in the T-1--juuuuust enough exposure so far to render him completely overwhelmed with information once again. And so, here we are...back to the "sleep, work, eat, study, repeat" routine. Since I started working full time and our schedules are a little staggered, time together (well, when we're conscious) is minimal. So, Saturdays we make sure we still know each other's names, birthdates, etc., you know--the pertinent stuff--and then we pass out. No seriously, lately, we've been taking naps of epic proportions on the weekends. Last Saturday morning Eric volunteered to work a triathalon-type race and I had to take some of our students to a community event, so we were both up and out the door by 7am. Yep, on a Saturday. We both got home around 10:30am, decided breakfast could wait till after our "quick nap" and ended up rejoining the living around 4pm. It. was. glorious. (READ: reason #527 why we do not plan on having children ANY time soon--we thoroughly and shamelessly value copious amounts of sleep.) We're also BOTH singing in the Praise Team at church almost every Sunday, which has been a lot of fun, and another great opportunity to spend time together doing something we enjoy.
I started my job on March 22, and it's been AWESOME. I teach in the middle school three days/week and work on other projects at the office Mondays and Fridays. The people are great, the organization is inspiring, and the kids are so much fun! Working full-time takes a little getting used to, though. I have come to treasure my morning cup of caffeinated coffee, which was definitely not a daily thing for me before. But, even though the end of a week brings exhaustion, it's a great feeling to love what I'm doing and to wake up every morning looking forward to the day. And, being the hyper-organized person that I am, having a solid routine for the first time in 8 months is as equally exciting to me as the job itself. :)
As far as exciting things coming up, we're saving for a car and will hopefully have another set of wheels in the driveway by mid June. (Although, the amount of time Eric spends excitedly scouring AutoTrader, you'd think we were buying next week...). We're enjoying having such a fun goal to work towards. I'll also be going home for a weekend to see my dad's graduation next month and am SO SO SO looking forward to spending time with my family--it feels like it's been forever.
We hope all is well with you and yours...to those of you whose weddings/showers/birthday parties we've missed--we send our congratulations and love; know that even though we can't be there, we're thinking of you!
xoxo
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