Spending the weekend outdoors

This past weekend, Casey and I went camping in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge with some camping friends of ours. The area was really beautiful. We had lake front property for our cmapsite and we saw a lot of cool animals while we were there. Here are some pics so you can get an idea of our trip...

This was the first stop along one of our hikes...

I had no idea Oklahoma looked like this!! We just missed the Fall colors so we hope to go back next year to see how pretty it is around that time.

The camping gang: Pam, Rusty, Candace, Ryan, and Casey (I'm the photographer) We hiked to the bottom of the litte ravine and then I spotted 3 "billie goats" trying to climb up the side of it back to the top On another trail, we found this cool cave made from several GIANT boulders
On our way back from hiking, we spotted a real buffalo!!! I had never seen one like this so I thought it was really cool (as seen in my expression)

Before dinner, we went to the top of Mt. Scott for a beautiful view. Although, it was crazy cold and windy up there, we still had to get a photo op.
For dinner on Saturday, we ate in the small mining town of Meers, OK (home of the famous Meersburger). It's ranked the 8th bets burger in the country and its HUGE. We split the Siesmic Meersburger and it was plenty of food. The funniest part was that the bun is stilla verage size and then the meat hangs over about 2 inches.
I caught this photo of a Longhorn on our way out of the refuge. No zoom was used. There were a bunch just wandering this close to the road. I've seen longhorn plenty of times before but I jsut thought it was cool to see them in their natural habitat.
So overall, it was an awesome trip! We played bean bag toss all night (the boys won the tournament we played which did not make us girls happy). Another animal we saw was an entire field of nothing but Prairie Dogs which was hilarious. They would pop up form their holes and yell to each other in a sound I can only describe as the sound Beeker from the Muppets makes. This is definitely a repeat camping spot!!!

The Grinch in ICE!

Yesterday the annual ICE exhibit opened up for us to preview so we got a sneak peak at everything. This year is definitely the BEST that I have seen yet! The whole exhibit walks you through the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Here are some pics to give you a sneak preview too!!

The Grinch stealing the little Who socks...

The Grinch stealing thier Roast Beast...

Max the dog getting dressed as a reindeer...

All the Who's singing even without their Christmas presents...

The Grinch's heart changes and he joins them for their feast...

Here is the group of us going through ICE...

Happy Halloween!

This weekend was Halloween! Casey and I went to his friend Justin’s house for their costume party. Justin’s girlfriend Alyssa had decorated the house really well so it really felt like Halloween. There were also a lot of trick-or-treaters in their neighborhood so it was fun to pass out candy to them. As far as costumes go, Casey and I went as AC Slater and Jessie Spano from Saved by the Bell. I naturally have the same hair as Jessie so I didn’t need a wig. Casey however, went out and bought a disco afro that we were going to cut down into more of a curly mullet (AC Slater hair). Well, he didn’t try on his wig until right as we were walking out the door. When he took it out, I thought it looked really small for an afro wig. As he tried to put it on his head, I picked up the packaging with the picture of the disco, afro-wearing guy on it and saw that it read “Included: Side burns and chest hair – Additional add-on’s: Afro Wig.” So Casey was trying to put chest hair on his head. We tried to make it work as you can see in the picture below. Sadly, we didn’t win any costume contest this year. Justin (aka Gumbi) or as the trick-or-treaters liked to call him, the giant pickle, ended up winning Bets Overall Costume. His girlfriend Alyssa, is the fairy next to him.

Chili and Sweaters

Casey and I had a really fun weekend. We started Saturday off bright and early with a trip to Bass Pro Shop. We have 2 camping trips planned for November so we were on the hunt for a sleeping bag. Our search didn’t take long and we found the perfect one! Right outside Bass Pro in the parking lot was a giant chili cook off to raise money for the fire department. We decided to let that be our lunch and we tasted a ton of chili and still didn’t try all of them. The craziest chili we had was the one that used rattlesnake meat. As the guy served it to me, he said “oh wait, you didn’t get any snake in that sample.” I let him know that it was ok. I’d hate for him to have to go digging for snake meat in his chili pot just for me. Casey and I were unanimous in choosing who would get our votes for People’s Choice, Hot Grannies Chili!

Saturday night, we had a reception to go for our friends Lori and Dana’s recent nuptials. As we were getting ready to go, Casey asked me to go get a shirt out of his truck for him to wear. When I got to the truck there was an Old Navy bag with a sweater in it. Now, for you who don’t know Casey, he gets hot at about 70 degrees and has always refused to wear a sweater, even though I always tell him how cute they would look on him and how much I would love to see him in one. So, his gift to me that he had bought a sweater and was going to wear it just for me. He looked so cute in it too! Check him out in the photos below!

Road Trip

Last weekend Casey and I took a road trip with Casey’s dad and Denise down to Austin. It was so much fun! Here are the highlights…
* Eating lunch at The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas for lunch
* Buying Texas Longhorn shirts and sweatshirts for the game (and because I didn’t pack enough warm clothes)
* Walking through Austin and seeing all of the tailgaters and fans
* Getting TCBY before the game
* Learning all of the fight songs and chants while putting my “hook ‘em horns” up
* Watching UT beat Colorado!
* Surprise detour to San Antonio for lunch on Sunday
* Getting to meet up with Donnie for lunch at La Margarita in the Mercado
* Eating a caramel filled churro from Mi Tierra
* Seeing The Alamo

Here are some pictures from the weekend…

Bevo, on his way to the game

Bringing out the Texas flag
Morgan and Denise Jackie and Denise



I think you know these two...

Remembering The Alamo

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

I love the Theater, especially MUSICAL Theater. Last night, Casey and I went on a date night for the last show of my season ticket season to see Mary Poppins. We started off the night with Casey taking me to dinner in lower Greenville to Gloria’s. Neither of us had tried it before and it was delicious. The weather was great so we even got to eat outside! That reminded me of my California days. The exciting moment of the dining experience was getting Casey’s truck back from the valet (who was training by the way, which is something I don’t think you ever want to hear). Casey’s truck is a standard and this girl didn’t put the emergency break on when she was stopped so we stood there and watched as the girl tried to get out of the truck while the truck began rolling backwards. Luckily, the truck is ok and still in tact.

Next we were on to the State Fair of Texas to get some dessert, look at the car show, and then finally go see Mary Poppins. While we were waiting for the show to start, I was singing the songs to Casey and told him that I probably watched this movie about 100 times when I was little. Before the show started we scouted out seats. Of course, our typically lower balcony seats that we steal were available but the temptation to get even better seats was too strong. So, risking everything, we made our way downstairs and landed some orchestra seats about 14 rows back. AMAZING! I have never sat in my nosebleed seats and I think that is quiet the accomplishment. Mary Poppins was hands down the BEST musical in the series. The sets were amazing and so intricate. The actors were so professional and had great voices. I was smiling and singing along to the songs the whole time. There were easily 2 highlights of the play. During “Step in Time” with the chimney sweeps, Bert literally walks around the entire opening of the stage, horizontally up the and down the sides and upside down at the top. Oh, did I mention he was tap dancing upside down across the top? Then, at the end, just like in the commercials, Mary Poppins flies over the audience and up to the balcony. It was such a cool moment that I even got that one glistening tear that happens when musical theater moves me. I really hope to get to go to the 2010 season! Thanks for my tickets Mom and Dad!!!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Muth!

Saturday night my friends Jill and Nick were in town to celebrate their recent nuptials. It was so good to see them again as I hadn’t seen either one since they moved to Nashville about a year and a half ago. The boys spent most of the time watching the Notre Dame football game while the girls talked. When the game was finally over, I was able to get a few pics to prove they were in attendance.

The girls: Candace, Me, and Jill

Candace & Ryan

Jill & Nick