The Week of the Ick

Last Saturday I woke up around 5:30 AM with a migraine and a fever. Consequently, I didn't get much done that day. Sunday rolled around, and I was still trying to get my fever under control. Luckily when I got up for work Monday, my fever had passed.  But! I spent all week battling some not-quite-flu/really strong cold and a headache that has persisted since last Saturday morning. While I didn't miss any work, I was completely wiped out by the time I got home from work each day. Tim let me rest, and took care of me. I feel like I kinda sucked all the fun out of the past week and change.  😓 He claims differently, however, cause he's a big ol sweetheart. I'm -finally- feeling more like myself, and can even breath through my nose most of the time.  😊 Hopefully the trend continues and I'm back to my regular self in another day or two. Since I also didn't bother doing any homework so far this week, I'd better get to it!

A Weekend in Austin!

Tim took me to Austin over this past weekend just 'cause he could. Between my class and work schedule, and his work schedule, things have been pretty darn hectic lately. It was refreshing to be able to get out of town just the two of us and enjoy spending some time together. 😊We left town after work Friday, and drove down to Mom's to stay the night there. After getting to rest, we woke up and enjoyed a light breakfast before hitting the road. 

Naturally, our first stop was at a place with a serious reputation for tasty barbecue! 

Terry Black's Barbecue, to be exact.

Terry Black's did NOT disappoint! Tim and I shared all these fixins, and had a hard time remembering the last time we'd had comparable barbecue.  

This monster would be a beef rib. If we'd only gotten one kind of meat, this would've been the one. Man. Oh. Man.

After lunch we paroozed a couple of the local shops nearby, and made our way to our Air BNB. It was a quaint little house, with two teensy dogs and a very polite hostess. Since the itis hit us both pretty hard after our barbecue lunch, we took us a siesta. (Tim siesta'd longer than I did, so I got in a little homework before we got ready to head out again.) 

We headed to downtown Austin in search of live music, but I was in need of a pick-me-up.  We took a little detour to snag a coffee at a local shop, and I was diggin' it! They had a smallish seating area, and are also a little tap house.  Their huge patio has a stage, tons of tables, a big ol' chicken coop, and even a little area with a small waterfall! And there were dogs ERRYWHERE! I'd spend a ton of time there if I lived in the area. 💜Tim and I enjoyed our coffee dranks, some people watchin', and I may have (totally did) pet a few dogs. 

I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this patio, (this one is taken from their Facebook page). This was at a coffee place that reminded me so much of RVA that I wanted to stay longer than we did. (Coincidentally, as we were walking up the street to it Tim pointed out a car a couple was getting into because their car had an RVA sticker on it.  Lol Guess the feeling was mutual!)

It was getting dark by the time we finished our coffees, and we were ready to head downtown to find some live music! 

This silly sign made me chuckle. So I figured maybe it'd make someone else chuckle, too.  (So here ya go!)

We stopped in at The Continental Club to check out the musicians for the night. While we enjoyed a couple'a beverages, the musicians were a bit too cheesy for us, and we decided to mosey on.

This was the stamp they gave everyone upon entering.  Ha!

Since we were planning to meet up with Angel, a close college friend of Tim's, and her fiancee, we thought it may not be a terrible idea to snag a taco or two before we did. On to Pueblo Viejo we went! And timed things perfectly. Just as we were finishing, Angel called and let us know they were heading our way! As we were heading to meet up with them, this place caught my eye. We didn't go in, but seeing the Voodoo Donuts made me think of Brother. 

Sheesh, this photo isn't great, either. There was a Voodoo Donuts there. I thought they were strictly a Portland, OR thing. Who knew?! (Brother would've been all about going in, but we didn't. Lol) 

We met up with Angel and Andrew at a little speak easy style place called Firehouse Hostel and Lounge. Tim wasn't a fan of their setup...

The door to the bar was built in all speak easy-like. Tim wasn't a fan. (Obviously.) 

After we got our initial "hellos" and introductions outta the way, we ventured out onto 6th St. with Angel, Andrew, and some of their friends. It was a long night with fun people and lots of laughs. (And a place that had a slide you could take from the 2nd floor to the 1st! I'm glad Tim did it first, cause seeing how fast he came down let me know to put the brakes on when I did it. Lol Tim must think I'm a klutz or something, cause he was at the bottom of the slide waiting to catch me. I wonder where he got that idea from.... [I don't wonder. I know. Y'all all know I'm a klutz. 😅])

This. Man. 💜💜💜

The next day before we hit the road back to Oklahoma City, we made one last culinary stop recommended to us by a friend of Tim's. Tamale House East. Home of the BIGGEST dang tamale I've ever had! (Tim got one and I stole a bite. So it wasn't really -my- tamale.) It was delicious though!

They had the biggest darn tamales I've ever seen! 

After the tax extension deadline finally passed, this was just what the doctor ordered! It was great to be able to unwind and spend some time together were we could explore things at our own pace for a couple'a days.  😊

Back at it...?

Obviously, I completely forgot that I'd set this up a while ago. 😅 I was talking with Grandpa yesterday, and mentioned that I'd been meaning to set up a blog. Well... When I opened up ye olde Blogger, I discovered I had already done so! (Y'know, nine-ish years ago.) Haha!

Anywho. Now'a days I am keeping myself busy with my ever-growing-caseload at work, classes to move up the food chain in my field, and with my fella (Tim). While OKC suuuuure ain't RVA, it ain't half bad. (Though it got considerably more fun after I met Tim!) I miss home and my family/friends out there like crazy, but I am ultimately getting done what I came out here to do. (Finish school.) I've still got a little ways to go, however, things are all heading in the right direction. With any luck, in about five years I'll be running a clinic of my own! (That's the dream, anyways.)

Welp. It's late. My homework is done. Tomorrow will be bananas at work. So Im'a go snuggle up with that tall fella who fell asleep a couple'a hours ago. <3

it's an adventure!

andrew invited me several months ago to join him for a friend's wedding up in new york. [he's in the wedding party and will be rocking a fancy tux!] we've got plans with friends and family of his, as well as a trip of our own to the canada side of the niagra falls! (⌒▽⌒) it oughta be an interesting trip, and i'm definitely excited!

andrew and i left richmond when i was done with work at the haunt on wednesday and wound up arriving at his parents' place in buffalo around 6:00 am. @.@ [man whatta ride!] i was super tired from working two jobs three days in a row on very little sleep, and wound up napping for about three of the ten hours it took us to get there. [poor fella, only napped a few minutes!] while andrew did the bulk of the driving, i finished off our trip and drove the last two and a half hours or so.

the thing andrew was the most excited to see? his dog, gizmo. lol we got in, said our hellos to his folks, and crashed for about four hours. had to get a nap in before having lunch with his grandparents, dontcha know.

enjoyed lunch, andrew drove me around town and showed me some of his old stomping grounds, and we snagged homemade donuts on the way home. after a nice long nap, we had homemade lasagna with his family. [mmm-mmm!]

yesterday we slept in. yay! andrew went to pick up his tuxedo for his friend's wedding, and i lazed about for a while before getting ready and joining him and his brother, kevin, for lunch at one of buffalo's best wing joints: duff's. the boys were in heeeeeaven! they were definitely some tasty wings. :] after lunch we bummed around his folks' place for a bit, then hit the road for rochester for the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

the 'wedding planner' assigned to them by the church had NO idea what she was doing. luckily they wound up coming up with their own game plan. lol ] the dinner following rehearsal was catered at the hotel we'll be staying in tomorrow. [which is also where the reception will be held.] food was delicious, and it was good to be able to meet some of the other folks a little ahead of time. (^｡^)

joe, the groom, got all of his groomsmen a bottle of their favorite liquor as a 'thank you'. as you can see from the picture below, none of them were excited... lol

this morning we got up and ready an hit the road for rochester again for joe and kelly's wedding. [even though andrew gave me a hard time about causing us to leave a few minutes late, we were a half early and had plenty of time to check into out room and relax before meeting up with the rest of the groomsmen. :]

and noooow i'm waiting in a pew at the church while andrew and the other groomsmen usher in wedding guests before the ceremony starts. the celebrating should be tons of fun and will likely last well into the night. [and after a bowl of cereal about six hours ago, i'll be more than ready for dinner around 8:00 tonight!]

here's hoping things go smoothly!

i kinda figured it'd go this way..

i am horrible about updating things regularly. lol [well, outside of facebook anyways.] things at the school for autistic children i work at are intense, but -awesome-! i love my job! i've had the opportunity to really explore things and substitute in a variety of classes working with kids from age four to twenty-three. [as well as work with children of various degrees of functionality.] work keeps me crazy busy and completely wears me out at times, but i wouldn't change it. :]

i'm still working with 2bnb as often as possible and love doing that, as well. those are some straight up good people, maaan. life in general is crazy, as always, but i still find the time to hang out with friends and family. i've got my usual spots on certain days of the week that i just can't resist, and a core group of friends i don't know what i'd do without. <3!

ramblings

in a way i'm a bit thankful for how absolutely ludicrous the past few months have been. while i've been stressed in ways i've not ever been stressed before, and been more down in the dumps than i have in a while, i've also had ample time to really take a look at several things. for example, how i'm treated amongst friends. i know who my tried and true friends are, and i'm now aware of several i thought fit into that category that actually don't belong. while it hurt like hell to find out 'the hard way', i'm glad to know who i can really count on when i truly need a friend and who i'm just wasting my time with. it'll save me all the same heartache later should i ever really need a shoulder to cry on.

alright, alright - enough of the passive aggressive emo crap. moving on! it's looking like i might get the job i've really been wanting and pulling for! hopefully i'll know for sure next week. [cross your fingers for me!] classes can be shuffled around till the end of january, so i'm not really worried about time conflicts in that arena. hmm.. i feel like i'm forgetting something [at least semi] exciting. oh well. till next time!

i'm entirely too amused by this

i volunteered with alpha phi omega, my co-ed service fraternity, at richmond's local holiday parade as a balloon handler this past saturday. towards the end of the parade, i'd heard that folks handling a rudolph balloon had had some trouble. [please note that alpha phi omega was NOT handling this balloon! :b ] turns out the folks handing ol' rudloph hit a snag. or, to be more specific, a traffic light. it poked a hole in his forehead and deflated pretty early on in the parade. it was of course captured on video and uploaded to youtube. aaaand it's gone viral. hit the national news [entertainment tonight, nbc12, inside edition...] and now it's gone global! totally RIDICULOUS! lol

youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_j-0mpap38&feature=player_embedded

"children shocked as rudolph the reindeer explodes during parade" :
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/849674-horror-as-rudolph-the-reindeer-explodes-during-parade

aaaaaaaand now it's on tosh.0:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tosh.0/tag/float/

oh the humanity..