Birthday weekend

Yesterday, I turned 24. It was one of the most exciting birthdays I've had for awhile. My cousin, Andrea came in to visit for the weekend and together with my roommates, planned a fun weekend.

Friday night was the go out and celebrate night and the 4 of us got dressed up and went to eat at Onion Creek in the Heights. Meagan and I got burgers, Hubs a chicken salad sandwhich and Andrea had a pizza. The food was amazing and not expensive and the atmosphere was fun. We then drove to downtown to the Aquarium to check out Latin Beats. That turned out to be not what we expected but we enjoyed watching people dance and listening to the band. I really want to learn to dance like that but I'm just not brave enough to get out there for my first try with tons of eyes on me. (hey, look at that gringa try to dance) :P

On Saturday, Andrea, Meagan and I woke up and made some pancakes and fruit salad and talked and ate on our backporch. It was a nice, slow morning that I rarely get. Andrea and I then made it up to the pool to watch Billy and Liddy swim in their weekend-long swim meet. After cheering them on and playing cards on the school's cafeteria floor, we grabbed some Chick-fil-A and went to see The Proposal. Not my favortie movie of all time but definitely another great chick flick. That night my brother and his fiance (Meagan's sister) came over and the 5 of us cooked and ate this amazing Chicken Scampolini with salad and a glass of wine. Yummm. Mitchell came over later with Marble Slab ice cream and we had a good rest of the evening talking, laughing and going for a walk around the lake.

After midnight, "Happy Birthday" text messages and phone calls came in that truly made me feel so special. Sunday, my mom invited family and friends over for a birthday brunch and I got to have cake and open presents. I got some great gifts. Post on that later. The afternoon was pretty chill and eventually my mom, Andrea and I went out and did some shopping. We ended up at the swim meet again to watch Billy swim his last ever competitive swim race! He did amazing and we were so proud of him! And Liddy's relay team broke a Ponderosa record - huge deal!! I have some pretty stellar siblings! :) And that concludes my birthday weekend. Full of friends, family and good times.

I do have to point out though that there were so many friends that took a second to send me a text message, Facebook message or call me and that really meant the world to me. Just to know you care, or someone cares really makes a world of difference. It was a weekend in which I truly felt LOVED and am so thankful to be blessed with amazing friends and family. THANK YOU! I can't say it enough. :)

cool things to do in Houston

Houston, Texas

Do you ever find yourself doing the same things over and over again? Going to the same restaurants? Going to the same places to hangout? Going to the movies all the time because you can't think of anything else to do? Yeah... me too. So I try to be creative and come up with new things. Sometimes they sound really cheesy but turn out to be fun. Example: a dive-in movie. Not dRive but DIVE. I imagine you swim in a pool, or have a picnic by the pool and they play a movie on a big screen close by. I haven't done this yet but I really want to!

So I compiled a list of fun places to go in Houston and fun things to do. My all time favorite is the Miller Outdoor Theater in Herman Park. To me, picnicing on a lawn on a summer evening, watching a cool show and chatting with your friends can't be beat! But here's some other ideas.

Miller Outdoor Theater

http://www.milleroutdoortheater.com/

Onion Creek

http://www.onioncreekcafe.com/home.html

Helio's/AvantGarden

http://avantgardenhouston.com/home.html

Beavers

http://www.beavershouston.com/

Tacos-a-gogo

http://tacosagogo.com/

Buffalo Bayou Parks & Events (Sabine St bridge)

http://www.buffalobayou.org/

Brasil (sandwhiches, breakfast & brunch, pizza) on Montrose

http://www.yelp.com/biz/brasil-houston

Last Concert Cafe

http://www.lastconcert.com/

Bayou Place

http://www.bayouplace.com/

Barnaby's Cafe

http://www.barnabyscafe.com/

Empire Cafe

http://www.empirecafe.net/index.htm

House of Blues

http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/houston/

Indika (indian food)

http://www.indikausa.com/

Saint Dane's

http://www.saintdanes.com/

Ziggy's Healthy Grill

http://www.ziggyshealthygrill.com/

265/365

I only have 100 pictures left on my Project 365! I am becoming so proud of it and am so glad I did it! So i'm set to finish in mid-September which is awesome because I'll get my brother's wedding in it too. I really encourage you to challenge yourself to do it. Even if you aren't into photography, you learn! And you become interested in it. I can't wait for my camera to break so I can justify buying a newer, better one! :P Check it out!

Chrissy's 365

why haven't i been blogging?

I haven't blogged in a month and a half. :( Let's recap what's happened since the beginning of May. Well one big thing I can't talk about yet. Once there's confirmation it will happen, I will post on it, of course! But let's just say I love teaching my junior high girls at church on Sunday. I love middle to high school students. I know this is the age when people are figuring out who they are, making bad decisions, growing physically awkward, testing the waters, etc BUT they bring me so much joy. I love their energy and enthusiasm for life. I love how much they need a strong, positive role model in their life and I can only pray God can use me in such a way. Something I've been working on has a lot to do with this age group and the fact that I love teaching. ;)

Me with my girls at a junior high retreat:

Another thing that is constantly on my mind is Honduras and Latin/Central America in general. I mean, can I really be that into a group of people when I've only spent a week down there? I don't get it. I basically only listen to spanish radio in hopes that during this busy time in my life, I can pick up some spanish through that. I would be studying in the evenings but simply can't with the other thing I'm doing. When it's over, I will definitely be hitting the books. I love though that I can learn a word and then hear it clearly on the radio. God is definitely working something big in me over this though. I'm either crazy or following God's direction. Who knows? Definitely a post on that later.