Chelle And Bryan

This is the newest addition to our menagerie – meet sweet Sadie!

Snuggle Bugs

"This is my comfy spot!"

Stealing my markers

Take THAT!

Playing UNDER Lucky

Full of P & V

. . . so stay tuned for many cute photos. 

Yep, its official – we’ve moved in at 3908 Yarborough!  Here’s a rough tour of the house (mind the boxes!):

Lucky says “Wipe Yer Paws!”

Dining Room – in the works

Kitchen, take 1

Kitchen – looking into the Living room

Living room

Living room, looking back to the Kitchen

The Study – a work in progress, or a disaster zone?

You make the choice

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom, almost finished!

Garden Tub in Master Bath.  There’s also a walk-in closet and shower stall in here. 

And a big ol’ backyard for the Luckster!

The master bedroom, and a better shot of the master bathroom aren’t up here at the moment, but I will post them once those rooms get unpacked!  Leave us some love, and any decorating ideas!

I’m finally posting, yay!

Its been two weeks since Bryan moved in, and today we celebrated our TWO YEAR anniversary.  That’s right.  We’ve been attached at the hip now for 730 days, officially.  So, Bryan told me to meet him at an address in downtown Austin.  We eneded up meeting at a little Italian restaurant called Vespaeio, which was absolutely dee-lish!  I really do recommend it if you’re looking for a new twist on Italian.  We also walked South Congress afterward and got to listen to lots of live music, all thanks to SXSW.    We realy enjoyed listening to Matt the Electrician, which were having a show at the Caritas of Austin Soup Drive.  Also got serenaded by a homeless man with a guitar who made up a song about Bryan and I.  He made us kiss.  It was bueno.

In other news, we get the keys to the house on Saturday!  I’m very excited, but still have three exams to get through next week before we move.  :/  So. . . .

Until next time!

Happy Anniversary, Michelle!  Two years and many more to come!

Took the Revo out for some fun yesterday.  It had rained which made it even more fun…  mud + revo = win.

<dirty Revo>

I am soon to be the proud owner of an Align T-REX 450 V2 SE…

I’ve been reading the Helifreak.com forums a lot lately and been wanting to learn to fly R/C helis for a while now.  So… yesterday I made an offer on a helicopter and the seller and I were able to come up with a pretty good deal.    My new heli should be in the mail Friday.  I’m very excited.  I got a my brand new Spektrum DX7 transmitter a couple of days back and my copy of Phoenix R/C Simulator arrived yesterday.  I crashed thousands of dollars worth of helicopters and airplanes last night. 

In other news- Michelle and I signed on our new home yesterday!  I’m super excited about moving in closer to my new work.  It’s going to be much nicer driving 20-30 minutes to work instead of 50-60 minutes every day.  We officially get the place on the 21st, but Michelle has like three tests that week so most likely we won’t be moving in until the following weekend.  Anyone feel like lifting boxes?! 

Our new home!!  My new heli!!  Check it out:

I’m living in Austin!

Alright… there.  Is that enough of an update for you, Michelle? 

Just kidding… just kidding.  Michelle has been nagging me about something I really needed to do a long time ago.  So- here’s the scoop.  I’ve moved to Austin.  I’m living with my amazing girlfriend in Bastop, Tx.  This is a temporary living situation.  We’ve already got plans to move into a home in South Austin by the end of the month.

Michelle and I will soon be renting a cute little house together.  The house was built in 2005 and has three bedrooms and 2 bath.  It’s got a two car garage and is in the perfect location for Michelle and me, right near the intersection of highway 173 and 71.  She’ll be 30-40 minutes from her school/work and I’ll be about 30 minutes to my work– much better than the hour drive I’ve been doing every day to my new job!

Ahh… a new job?  Yep!  I’m now officially working in Austin.  I don’t want to get into the same issues that I did by talking about my previous employer on the blog so I won’t talk much more about it, but I’m enjoying the change.  I’m still a “Software Engineer” and so far everything is going great with the transition.  I think everything will be even better once the move into Austin is over and Michelle and I can start exploring the big city together.

Alright.  I’ll update again soon.  It’s been way too long since my last update…  I know I’m a slacker. 

…someone should really put some news up on this site. 

… is a dirty three letter word.

We’re already a month into the new year, and with it, comes the joy and stress of everyday life.  So far 2009 has been pretty good for the both of us – Bryan’s still enjoying his job, and I’m loving the new lab I am rotating through.  Dr. Bedford’s a histone man – that is, he focuses on the proteins that DNA is wrapped around when its not being ‘read’ by the cell.  The people in the lab are awesome, and even though my project has been stuck on dead center now for almost a month, I am learning a lot and genuinely enjoying the lab.  Though anything is better than last sememster’s experience, I really think I could call this one my home, if Bedford wants me. 

I’m also starting to enjoy the Austin area this semester, which is really good news.  Going out with friends, even if they’re the same people I see all day at work has become a source of joy for me, and I have started looking at places in Austin to live!  I cannot wait to move – I am really starting to like my excursions into the city, and can’t wait to live there.  While Bastrop is convenient, Austin is awesome. 

But like I said, 2009 hasn’t been all that generous. The distance has been wearing on the both of us this month, what with my crazy class load, and Bryan’s endless drives to come visit.  He mentioned the other day that in the past 3 months he’s put 6,000 miles on his mustang.  That’s a feat, I don’t care what you say.  And I feel bad because I am tied down to Bastrop.  Its hell to try and move all of my study materials for two days, let me tell you.  I am also to the point that I have to come into the lab every weekend in order to keep my project rolling.  So, between the two, my weekend Waco trips have become very numbered.  As in zero this year.  Ouch.  I need to work on that.

Hopefully February will be a much better month than the last for Bryan and I.  We have Valentine’s day, our anniversary (next month its the big 2.0!) and someone’s turning 23.  Not going to say who, or when.  But I am hopeful that we should have enough time to work on what’s been stretching thin lately.  Namely, us.

Well, well, well…  It’s already December.  I’m surprisingly ahead of the game this year with nearly 85% of my Christmas shopping done!  That’s a very good thing because I’m often not one to be so prepared.  Most of the time I’m more of a last minute shopper and worry so much about making sure I get everyone the perfect gift that I end up not getting anyone anything they will like.    This Christmas, I’m confident will be a good one.

The first sign of a better Christmas came to my inbox just today:

Now, that’s a sign of a good Christmas when you’ve got everything paid for and you’ve already done 85% of your shopping!  Now- to find something perfect for Michelle…     Why are the people you know best always the hardest to shop for?

I promise those of you who read this (is there anyone out there??) that Bryan and I have NOT thrown in the towel on this site, nor have we made a split.  Life’s actually quite peachy for us at the moment – Bryan’s coming to his first anniversary as a graduated software engineer (sounds so sophisticated, doesn’t it?), and I am finishing up my first semester at MD Anderson!  We’re still separated, with Bryan up in Waco and myself still trudging away in Bastrop, but this too, shall pass.  We’re both hoping the market will straighten out after the new year (though if yesterday’s 650 pt drop indicates anything, the US markets are still on shaky ground!), as he’s been looking for jobs in Austin fruitlessly.  We’ve been trading off weekends in Austin and Waco, with a weekday trip thrown in for good measure.  To say the least, we’ve been working our butts off to keep us going, which, we think, is worth it. 

This past weekend was the Thanksgiving holiday, which we spent with Bryan’s family in Temple.   Sad to say, but the tryptophan got to all of us at one point or another, with Bryan’s parents knocking out directly after the meal, Bryan crashing at 4pm, and myself bringing it home with a 7pm bedtime (and 10am wakeup – 15 hours of sleep!).  We then spent a sleepy Black Friday in Waco, not really daring to go out to the stores.   Saturday we came to Bastrop, however, and performed a Bolner Tradition – putting up the Christmas Tree!  Take a look:

Changing out the Wreaths

Bryan plus lights...

Equals lit-up Lucky

Being artistic

Happy Holidays from Austin!

Our Creation...

I think after 2 hours of straight Muppets singing Christmas songs and me singing an octave too high, Bryan got a little burnt out.  Nonetheless, it is really nice to have our first ‘full grown’ christmas tree.

The next few weeks shall be a bit crazy, what with finals looming in the distance and then road tripping with Sam to El Paso.  Bryan’s flying in on Christmas Eve, and God help him, he doesn’t know what he’s in for – there’s nothing like a Southwest Christmas.  Especially with my family and friends. 

I’m not a politically inclined person, but if you have the time to watch this video clip in its entirety, you’ll be laughing your butt off at what the media has come to.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26508701#26508701

So, long time no post!  I’ve been in Bastrop for the past two weeks, getting ready for classes and rotations at the lab.  My incoming class at Smithville is a total of FIVE people.  I’m not kidding.  Thankfully, that’s not all of the first years in the GSBS program, as we saw yesterday while in Houston to fill out some paperwork.  Also while I was there, I found out that I am one of the lucky few who are actually funded for two years by the Dean’s Office of GSBS.  Very neat!  I don’t know why they think I’m as smart as they do, but they’re in for an awakening!  These first few weeks are sure to be a struggle, but then I’ll be back on my feet and off running.

Meanwhile, the town’s still rather boring.  The town closes up by 10pm every night, and any semblence of a social life is thirty miles away in Austin.  As you can probably guess, thoughts in my head are starting to form about a more efficient vehicle and living in Austin.  That won’t be for at least another year, however, since I prize my credit score. 

Life’s also a bit sad without Bryan around.  He’s been living the highlife in Waco with his friends on the weekdays, and comes to visit on the weekends.  Its not terrible, but I do feel like a total dork for being home every night while he’s out on the town.  I don’t have a choice, and that makes it all the more unbearable.  Oy veh.

Other than that, everything is going well here.  I start school Tuesday, and have nothing to do until then!  Woo hoo! 

For my very first apartment without anyone’s help.  I think that deserves a ‘Booyah’!

I made it back to Waco – YAY!  We had a long but safe drive, and it feels so great to be back in the humidity.    Yesterday Bryan and I went to Olive Garden with his family for his mother’s birthday.  And today I’ve been contacting every realtor in South Austin looking for a place.  Slim pickings is what I’m running into, however.  Wish me luck!

And I’ll be huggin’ my girl in El Paso!!! 

Today was my second to last day team teaching a science/computer camp.  Its been a three hour long job, for four days a week, and I’m making more than I was at Academy full time.  And I love it.

Today we got lazy and let the kids watch a history channel movie entitled ‘How the Earth was Made’.  The kids were totally amazed by tectonic plate movement, Pangea and the ‘SUPER ICE AGE’.  I had fun stopping the movie and explaining everything to them.  Just to watch their faces light up with understanding is one of the most rewarding actions I have ever encountered.  The kids that Stacy and I have are so damned smart – I wish every kid was like these are.  Oh, they make the morning fly by.  It is going to be sad to have it come to an end tomorrow.

The Bryan countdown is down to NINE days.  Yes. Very excited about seeing my goober.  I can’t wait.

Oh, but I have competitive news to Bryan’s arrival – I just landed my third rotation at MD ANDERSON.  I get to do three ten week lab rotations with different ‘prospective mentor/professors’.  Okay, so I already had two down:  One in reproductive cancers (and xenoestrogens) with Dr. Walker, and a second in epigenetic factors of carcinogens and teratogens with Dr. Bedford.  Guess who I’m doing my third one with???  Oh yeah, that’s right:  The Dean.

Dr. Richie, the dean of Research Park, asked me to do a rotation through her lab.  She specializes in studies of the thymus (that organ above your heart that produces young antibodies).  When you’re about twenty years old, your thymus stops producing naive T cells and begins to turn to fat through a process called involution.  This means that after this time, your body won’t recognize and fight any new diseases that you encounter.  Dr. Richie’s research interest is in either keeping the thymus from involution OR being able to restart the thymus’ ability to produce new T cells through a motif on an outer thymus cell’s DNA.  While talking to her today, she made the comment that they basically have this theory explained by data, and now are just looking for a way to make it happen in the animal model.  If her lab group can actually pull of ‘restarting’ the thymus, elderly susceptability to common diseases like the flu and TB would be irraticated.  IRRATICATED!!!!!

…And I could be one of those partners in that lab.  Pretty cool, huh?

Oooh, I’m so ready to get back to CenTx.  It’s going to be an AWESOME fall.