Hi, I'm Patrick. I'm Becky's significant other.
Saturdays are the best. My Saturday plans start Friday morning at 6:30 AM when I wake up and turn off my alarm clock, because on Saturdays, I don't use an alarm clock to wake me up. I use my wife to wake me up. Just like my alarm clock, she makes noise before I'm ready to get out of bed.
Today, we started the day off at Terry Hershey Park. I love THP. There are hiking trails, mountain bike trails, big trees, friendly people, dogs, playgrounds, etc. It is the best. It makes me happy to see people outside in nature. Becky and I went on a walk (probably 3.5 miles in about an hour). I thought we would be able to go hiking on some dirt trails, but they ended up being in worse shape than I imagined, so we stuck to the pavement today. I haven't ever told anyone this, but I secretly chose this house because it is so close to the park. I'm able to come home from work, hop on my bike, and ride through the park, which is only a 7 minute ride away. Also, I didn't know people shot each other down the street (maybe another post?).
After THP, we went to Olde Towne Kitchen (formerly Olde Towne Kolaches). This place is amazing. Becky loves bread and I love meat, so this is a great place for us to be. We got meat stuffed in super sweet, flaky bread. And they have orange juice. We stayed there for a few extra minutes because they keep their A/C lower than we keep ours, so we cooled down on their dime.
The rest of the day will be filled with errands, but it was great to be in the park with my wife and spend some nature-filled time with her. It's not Montana, but I'll take it ;-)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
wednesday adventures
so my car flooded yesterday. (i keep feeling like i should say "becky's car flooded" so it's like this is me and patrick's blog and we write it together but so far he hasn't blogged so when he does he'll have to let everyone know so you don't think it's me.) anyway, my car flooded. like crazy flooded. i will need to post pictures. (which i know how to do now... thank you chelsea!) i didn't bring my lunch to work yesterday which really started the whole problem. and it was going to pour, so my plan was to get lunch and run back to work before the rain started. so i left for lunch, planning to go to whataburger which is the closest thing to work. however, it sadly turned out not to be the fastest. so sitting in the super long line, it starts to rain on me a bit. so i decided i would run home and grab lunch and that would be faster. (home is across the street from work.) so as soon as i got home, the sky opened up and i decided to just wait the rain out a bit. so i did... it stopped raining, and i went to get in my car and go back to work and BAM! the car is under water. the entire street is completely submerged. the water was to the top of my tires, and thus over the bottom of the door. and thus in the car. bummer.
soo... i can't get in the car since the water would rush in and i obviously couldn't start it in that condition either. so i called my mom who happened to be picking my sister up from school which is really close to our house and she drove to the end of our street, and my plan was to wade down there and have her take me back to work. (i am a dedicated worker.) well... there were LOTS of mosquitos hanging out over the water. so i got covered in mosquito bites and knew i woudn't make it all the way down the street like that, so i went back home and changed into jeans to cover my legs up and walked down to meet my mom. then i realized the water had gone down enough on the driver side for me to open the door and not let water in, so i waded back down the street to get my stuff out of the car. all the while cars decide it's a brilliant idea to try to drive down our street even though my car is clearly flooded and every time they do, they make waves that get me soaked and cause my car to start rocking dangerously back and forth.
anyway, i got back to work, took a little road trip with tiffanie later in the afternoon to verify that my car would start, and patrick left work early to pick me up and take us to church. (i also decided after all that energy to get back to work i was justified in wearing jeans yesterday for the rest of the day so that was a plus.) we had a blast at church. we are in a financial peace class (dave ramsey; if you haven't heard of him look him up. he's awesome) on wednesday nights, and we break out into small groups after the video and we LOVE our small group. they are tons of fun. so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and got some advice about what to do with our flooded car.
well then today i take it to the dealer to have him take the carpet out and dry it all and whatnot becuase it smells terrible. (he gave me props for not trying to start it when it had water still on it by the way. go me.) so he tells me it will be an insane amount of money because the carpet is all one piece so he has to completely take out the interior of the car and dry it out, etc. etc. so he says i can accomplish the same thing at a car wash with a vacuum. PERFECT! my dad owns a car wash. so i go out there, vacuum for 45 minutes, and get nowhere. so my dad peels back the carpet and sure enough, there is tons of water under there that i can't even get to and vacuuming the carpet is accomplishing nothing.
back to square one. some of the carpet is peeled up, some of the pieces of the car are strewn around in there, it still stinks, and it's still wet. (despite my dad's best efforts at helping and my poor mom driving to get me from the incredibly far away dealership only to find out he thinks we shouldn't waste our money.) after a 3 hour lunch break. they should really give you flood hours at work i think.
i was never good at condensing stories. my mom used to ask me how a movie was and i could never really cut it down to a short story. she would be like 'ok what were JUST the main parts?' after i rambled off all the lines from the movie that i remembered. can't do it. the details are more fun.
the good news about my super long lunch break is that i spent a whole lot of time in the car and got to talk to my grandmother. which is always a good time. speaking of... christmas is 125 days away! i should start shopping earlier this year for sure. maybe now would be good.
back to work, and watching more rain out the window.
soo... i can't get in the car since the water would rush in and i obviously couldn't start it in that condition either. so i called my mom who happened to be picking my sister up from school which is really close to our house and she drove to the end of our street, and my plan was to wade down there and have her take me back to work. (i am a dedicated worker.) well... there were LOTS of mosquitos hanging out over the water. so i got covered in mosquito bites and knew i woudn't make it all the way down the street like that, so i went back home and changed into jeans to cover my legs up and walked down to meet my mom. then i realized the water had gone down enough on the driver side for me to open the door and not let water in, so i waded back down the street to get my stuff out of the car. all the while cars decide it's a brilliant idea to try to drive down our street even though my car is clearly flooded and every time they do, they make waves that get me soaked and cause my car to start rocking dangerously back and forth.
anyway, i got back to work, took a little road trip with tiffanie later in the afternoon to verify that my car would start, and patrick left work early to pick me up and take us to church. (i also decided after all that energy to get back to work i was justified in wearing jeans yesterday for the rest of the day so that was a plus.) we had a blast at church. we are in a financial peace class (dave ramsey; if you haven't heard of him look him up. he's awesome) on wednesday nights, and we break out into small groups after the video and we LOVE our small group. they are tons of fun. so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and got some advice about what to do with our flooded car.
well then today i take it to the dealer to have him take the carpet out and dry it all and whatnot becuase it smells terrible. (he gave me props for not trying to start it when it had water still on it by the way. go me.) so he tells me it will be an insane amount of money because the carpet is all one piece so he has to completely take out the interior of the car and dry it out, etc. etc. so he says i can accomplish the same thing at a car wash with a vacuum. PERFECT! my dad owns a car wash. so i go out there, vacuum for 45 minutes, and get nowhere. so my dad peels back the carpet and sure enough, there is tons of water under there that i can't even get to and vacuuming the carpet is accomplishing nothing.
back to square one. some of the carpet is peeled up, some of the pieces of the car are strewn around in there, it still stinks, and it's still wet. (despite my dad's best efforts at helping and my poor mom driving to get me from the incredibly far away dealership only to find out he thinks we shouldn't waste our money.) after a 3 hour lunch break. they should really give you flood hours at work i think.
i was never good at condensing stories. my mom used to ask me how a movie was and i could never really cut it down to a short story. she would be like 'ok what were JUST the main parts?' after i rambled off all the lines from the movie that i remembered. can't do it. the details are more fun.
the good news about my super long lunch break is that i spent a whole lot of time in the car and got to talk to my grandmother. which is always a good time. speaking of... christmas is 125 days away! i should start shopping earlier this year for sure. maybe now would be good.
back to work, and watching more rain out the window.
Monday, August 18, 2008
marriage :-)
tonight is monday. i hate mondays as a rule. there's always some things i've left undone at work that i have to go back to and i dread them when i wake up monday morning. so today was a typical monday. i didn't actually work late like i usually do which is nice, but i was busy all day. trying to avoid a crisis a couple times without really letting anyone know there was a crisis. thus is the exciting mortgage world!
but then i left work, ran a couple errands, and started a very nice evening with my husband. we went to hershey park where we just had a nice stroll and were greeted by all the other park goers. it was kind of a gross sticky evening, but a very nice walk. then we came home, made a pizza and watched john and kate plus 8 and the olympics. (switching back and forth most of the time) and it's nice.
patrick is feeling a little jealous this week because jon and elijah are having a fun nature and adventure filled road trip without him. well i say that... he hasn't mentioned it but i know he values friend and national park time over spreadsheet audits at work. he does have a busy week at work though. his new consultant school (training) is thursday and friday, so he'll have some event on thursday night too. wednesday night is church, and tomorrow we have to go switch our cell phones to our own plan. we've been mooching for two months now. :-) it's time.
free kolaches at work this morning! that's always a plus.
ok that's all. i'm pretty boring today.
but then i left work, ran a couple errands, and started a very nice evening with my husband. we went to hershey park where we just had a nice stroll and were greeted by all the other park goers. it was kind of a gross sticky evening, but a very nice walk. then we came home, made a pizza and watched john and kate plus 8 and the olympics. (switching back and forth most of the time) and it's nice.
patrick is feeling a little jealous this week because jon and elijah are having a fun nature and adventure filled road trip without him. well i say that... he hasn't mentioned it but i know he values friend and national park time over spreadsheet audits at work. he does have a busy week at work though. his new consultant school (training) is thursday and friday, so he'll have some event on thursday night too. wednesday night is church, and tomorrow we have to go switch our cell phones to our own plan. we've been mooching for two months now. :-) it's time.
free kolaches at work this morning! that's always a plus.
ok that's all. i'm pretty boring today.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
home-ish things
ok, someone with some blogging expertise, help me! our blog bores me. it needs a facelift. suggestions??
SO this weekend we got an end table! i have tried SO hard to be frugal and not go out and buy all new furniture even though i get super frustrated all the time because there are so many things we still need. but today it paid off! we did some shopping, didn't find anything, and then i came home and looked on craigslist and found one i LOVE for.... $15!!! the girl needed to sell it fast so it was super cheap, she had just posted the add 20 minutes before... And it's a really nice one and i LOVE it! did i say that already? anyway, i'm proud of my money saving skills. we also got a kitchen butcher block thing that way. we looked and looked for one, found one we liked, and i actually caved planning to get it at the store full price. so we went.. and they didn't have it! which turned out to be perfect because i found the same one on craiglist for half the price! love it. i was being a little ridiculous because we were having people over and we have basically zero counter space and i was all worried about having all of them over (it was pot luck) and nowhere to put the food so i ran out to get the butcher block kitchen island thingy and they didn't have it because the perfect one was waiting for me on craigslist. :-) so once i got over my vain moment (like anyone else notices besides me whether or not we have a butcher block?) i realized that it all worked out perfectly and we are thrilled with how the house is coming together. phew! funny how God has it all perfectly planned out and i'm here freaking out about stupid little things and they are already taken care of. i should stop freaking out. easier said than done.
this weekend has been a little different than we originally planned. we were going to go with our small group to float the river in new braunfels, but things unfolded a little differently than expected so today they were there floating the river and we were here. it just turned out not to be the weekend for us to go. which we really were torn about and bummed to miss a super fun time with them, but i think it worked out. we needed to get some things done and it seems like we never ever have a weekend where we are just in houston with no plans. so that really helped. plus we got to have dinner with my and we were here for patrick's dad to come over and borrow the truck to move his brother to college station! (i am for sure a little jealous.) we will be excited to hear how the weekend in new braunfels went though. hopefully the weather held up for them.
i would love for our next place of living to have sunroom. what a good idea. a room just for lounging and maybe eating breakfast... in the sun! i love the sun. mostly at the beach but i'll take it anywhere.
ok that's all for now. soon i will learn to put pics on here and then it will be more interesting.
SO this weekend we got an end table! i have tried SO hard to be frugal and not go out and buy all new furniture even though i get super frustrated all the time because there are so many things we still need. but today it paid off! we did some shopping, didn't find anything, and then i came home and looked on craigslist and found one i LOVE for.... $15!!! the girl needed to sell it fast so it was super cheap, she had just posted the add 20 minutes before... And it's a really nice one and i LOVE it! did i say that already? anyway, i'm proud of my money saving skills. we also got a kitchen butcher block thing that way. we looked and looked for one, found one we liked, and i actually caved planning to get it at the store full price. so we went.. and they didn't have it! which turned out to be perfect because i found the same one on craiglist for half the price! love it. i was being a little ridiculous because we were having people over and we have basically zero counter space and i was all worried about having all of them over (it was pot luck) and nowhere to put the food so i ran out to get the butcher block kitchen island thingy and they didn't have it because the perfect one was waiting for me on craigslist. :-) so once i got over my vain moment (like anyone else notices besides me whether or not we have a butcher block?) i realized that it all worked out perfectly and we are thrilled with how the house is coming together. phew! funny how God has it all perfectly planned out and i'm here freaking out about stupid little things and they are already taken care of. i should stop freaking out. easier said than done.
this weekend has been a little different than we originally planned. we were going to go with our small group to float the river in new braunfels, but things unfolded a little differently than expected so today they were there floating the river and we were here. it just turned out not to be the weekend for us to go. which we really were torn about and bummed to miss a super fun time with them, but i think it worked out. we needed to get some things done and it seems like we never ever have a weekend where we are just in houston with no plans. so that really helped. plus we got to have dinner with my and we were here for patrick's dad to come over and borrow the truck to move his brother to college station! (i am for sure a little jealous.) we will be excited to hear how the weekend in new braunfels went though. hopefully the weather held up for them.
i would love for our next place of living to have sunroom. what a good idea. a room just for lounging and maybe eating breakfast... in the sun! i love the sun. mostly at the beach but i'll take it anywhere.
ok that's all for now. soon i will learn to put pics on here and then it will be more interesting.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Weekend Fun
We are back from San Antonio in one piece. Well, two pieces. But you get the idea.
It was an all around enjoyable weekend. We started off the weekend with a VERY nice nap. We left Houston around 2-ish, drove to San Antonio, checked in to our hotel, and settled in for a snooze. Then we went to the Riverwalk, of course. And ate at Casa Rio- I planned to try something new for Mexican in SA but we went for it. The whole Riverwalk scene is definitely more Patrick's thing than mine. Crowded places always make me a bit claustrophobic. So that was his evening. The people watching was enjoyable though.
Saturday morning, we slept in (a weekend must) and had breakfast at the Guenther House. It's an hour wait and totally worth it. Anyone in the general area should try it out. But do not follow Patrick's example and eat until you are sick! :-) He seems to be cool with it. He ate: a pancake, half my waffle, a fruit plate, the fruit that was on his plate, biscuits (that were enormous) and gravy, sausage, some of my bacon, and the appetizer of muffins and biscuits. So our waiter brings it out and goes "Wow... big meal." Yep. And then he was ill. But all day I would say 'you would feel better if you hadn't eaten so much' and he would say 'it was worth it.' So I guess it was! But really, it's so good. Try it. We went to the gift store and bought their sweet cream waffle mix. And a magnet; we always buy magnets to remember things we've done.
Then we went for massages. We had a couples massage that was so nice. 90 minutes of heaven. The whole thing was perfect, hot rocks and all. We loved it.
Then we did some shopping and settled in to watch the Olympics. I had a headache, so Patrick graciously went to get us dinner and I cheered on the Americans.
Then this morning, we slept in a bit, cleaned everything up, and headed to the outlet malls.
Patrick surprised me by driving us through Hallettsville, which was a pretty big detour but it was where we did a mission trip together right when we were first starting to date. And it has really good memories. So we drove by the community center, and everything else we could remember and then went to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. (Can you stop in a small town and not go to Dairy Queen? Patrick would vote no.)
It was a very relaxing weekend, and we're glad we went. I think our next trip will be to Austin. Neither of us has been there in forever and there's tons to do!
Time for bed!
We did some shopping and made it back for most of small group. Now it's time for a little MarioKart and then bed. It was an altogether great weekend.
It was an all around enjoyable weekend. We started off the weekend with a VERY nice nap. We left Houston around 2-ish, drove to San Antonio, checked in to our hotel, and settled in for a snooze. Then we went to the Riverwalk, of course. And ate at Casa Rio- I planned to try something new for Mexican in SA but we went for it. The whole Riverwalk scene is definitely more Patrick's thing than mine. Crowded places always make me a bit claustrophobic. So that was his evening. The people watching was enjoyable though.
Saturday morning, we slept in (a weekend must) and had breakfast at the Guenther House. It's an hour wait and totally worth it. Anyone in the general area should try it out. But do not follow Patrick's example and eat until you are sick! :-) He seems to be cool with it. He ate: a pancake, half my waffle, a fruit plate, the fruit that was on his plate, biscuits (that were enormous) and gravy, sausage, some of my bacon, and the appetizer of muffins and biscuits. So our waiter brings it out and goes "Wow... big meal." Yep. And then he was ill. But all day I would say 'you would feel better if you hadn't eaten so much' and he would say 'it was worth it.' So I guess it was! But really, it's so good. Try it. We went to the gift store and bought their sweet cream waffle mix. And a magnet; we always buy magnets to remember things we've done.
Then we went for massages. We had a couples massage that was so nice. 90 minutes of heaven. The whole thing was perfect, hot rocks and all. We loved it.
Then we did some shopping and settled in to watch the Olympics. I had a headache, so Patrick graciously went to get us dinner and I cheered on the Americans.
Then this morning, we slept in a bit, cleaned everything up, and headed to the outlet malls.
Patrick surprised me by driving us through Hallettsville, which was a pretty big detour but it was where we did a mission trip together right when we were first starting to date. And it has really good memories. So we drove by the community center, and everything else we could remember and then went to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. (Can you stop in a small town and not go to Dairy Queen? Patrick would vote no.)
It was a very relaxing weekend, and we're glad we went. I think our next trip will be to Austin. Neither of us has been there in forever and there's tons to do!
Time for bed!
We did some shopping and made it back for most of small group. Now it's time for a little MarioKart and then bed. It was an altogether great weekend.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Remember Rita?
Remember Hurricane Rita? That totally missed Houston? We were in College Station, and of course everyone was going totally crazy over the hurricane so we went to HEB to stock up. (And by stock up, I mean we got magazines and candy). Then the next day.. not a SINGLE drop of rain. Nothing. All of Houston had evacuated (or tried to and got stuck on a highway somewhere), everything was closed... bright sunshine.
Well, Edouard has been a similar disappointment. Yes, there has been some rain. But nothing to keep me from work which is really a bummer. And who came up with the spelling of Edouard anyway? But this time I was ready for it to be more lame than expected. I did not get gas. Did not fill up my bathtub with water. Did not go to the store. Take that, Edouard. Now I get to watch the rain out the window all day. And since there's no sun it's super super cold in our office.
I actually kind of like rainy days. Not like last summer when it rained every afternoon, but on days when I just need to run around a little bit and I have to hurry and run and wear my galloshes. That's fun. And then you finally get inside and you can just watch the rain or watch a movie and it's all cozy. Mmmm.
3 days until our San Antonio trip! Two people have died this year in our fancy hotel. Patrick doesn't seem worried so I'm following his lead. Of course everyone blames it on being by the Alamo so it's haunted. Psh.
******I take back all my previous statements. The rain closed our office at noon.
Thanks, Ed!
Well, Edouard has been a similar disappointment. Yes, there has been some rain. But nothing to keep me from work which is really a bummer. And who came up with the spelling of Edouard anyway? But this time I was ready for it to be more lame than expected. I did not get gas. Did not fill up my bathtub with water. Did not go to the store. Take that, Edouard. Now I get to watch the rain out the window all day. And since there's no sun it's super super cold in our office.
I actually kind of like rainy days. Not like last summer when it rained every afternoon, but on days when I just need to run around a little bit and I have to hurry and run and wear my galloshes. That's fun. And then you finally get inside and you can just watch the rain or watch a movie and it's all cozy. Mmmm.
3 days until our San Antonio trip! Two people have died this year in our fancy hotel. Patrick doesn't seem worried so I'm following his lead. Of course everyone blames it on being by the Alamo so it's haunted. Psh.
******I take back all my previous statements. The rain closed our office at noon.
Thanks, Ed!
Monday, August 4, 2008
"How is married life treating you?"
If you have gotten married, you know that the very first thing people ask you once they see you is "How is married life treating you?"
So I figured I would answer that question for all the wondering minds and that way, I can look back after we have been married for awhile to see how the answer has changed!
Married life for the Gilgours is:
-getting up 45 minutes early so I can make Patrick's lunch and be downstairs while he's eating breakfast
-having Good Morning America play on two different tv's in the morning because we watch it during different stages of getting ready
-making pancakes (or waffles) on weekend mornings
-endless unpacking
-making the bed every weekday morning (Patrick thought I did that every day before we got married... but I just did it when he came over. My mother can attest to that.)
-having our parents and friends over for dinner
-visiting all our newly married friends new houses/apartments/etc.
-hitting the snooze button about 14 times in the morning
-experimenting with new brands for our weekly frozen pizza
-daily talking about going to the pool in our neighborhood... we will get there eventually
-trying out the new Costco membership
-exploring the Memorial area with all its many conveniences. It has turned out to be the PERFECT spot for us, at least for now.
-listening to all the fun stories that are sparked by other people when they remember when THEY first got married.
More to come. So we have had dinner plans for almost two solid weeks now. Which of course we love... becuase about 90% of those meals have been graciously offered to us by others. This is our last night of dinner plans (we are cooking this time! for our friends Justin and Kacy who got engaged the day before we got married. Yay!) and then it is time for us to buckle down and start unpacking all the stuff that gets put in the guest room when people come over. That will be quite a project. I guess guest room is a strong word. Those usually have beds, or at least a couch. Or some piece of furniture. That's ok, it will come. We're taking a Dave Ramsey class, so we are taking the whole furniture buying process very slowly. Plus I'm cheap. :-)
To sum it up, it's been fun. A learning process, but fun so far. We are going to San Antonio this weekend to celebrate my belated birthday and our one month anniversary. We got a sweet deal on Priceline and I am SO excited. We're going to get some yummy breakfast at the Gunther House, hang out at the pool, have some excellent Mexican food at the River Walk, get a couples massage, and remove all alarm clocks from the vicinity. I can't wait. I love weekend trips. Especially ones that require us to leave work early on Fridays! It always makes the week seem shorter when you know Friday is going to be shorter.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!
So I figured I would answer that question for all the wondering minds and that way, I can look back after we have been married for awhile to see how the answer has changed!
Married life for the Gilgours is:
-getting up 45 minutes early so I can make Patrick's lunch and be downstairs while he's eating breakfast
-having Good Morning America play on two different tv's in the morning because we watch it during different stages of getting ready
-making pancakes (or waffles) on weekend mornings
-endless unpacking
-making the bed every weekday morning (Patrick thought I did that every day before we got married... but I just did it when he came over. My mother can attest to that.)
-having our parents and friends over for dinner
-visiting all our newly married friends new houses/apartments/etc.
-hitting the snooze button about 14 times in the morning
-experimenting with new brands for our weekly frozen pizza
-daily talking about going to the pool in our neighborhood... we will get there eventually
-trying out the new Costco membership
-exploring the Memorial area with all its many conveniences. It has turned out to be the PERFECT spot for us, at least for now.
-listening to all the fun stories that are sparked by other people when they remember when THEY first got married.
More to come. So we have had dinner plans for almost two solid weeks now. Which of course we love... becuase about 90% of those meals have been graciously offered to us by others. This is our last night of dinner plans (we are cooking this time! for our friends Justin and Kacy who got engaged the day before we got married. Yay!) and then it is time for us to buckle down and start unpacking all the stuff that gets put in the guest room when people come over. That will be quite a project. I guess guest room is a strong word. Those usually have beds, or at least a couch. Or some piece of furniture. That's ok, it will come. We're taking a Dave Ramsey class, so we are taking the whole furniture buying process very slowly. Plus I'm cheap. :-)
To sum it up, it's been fun. A learning process, but fun so far. We are going to San Antonio this weekend to celebrate my belated birthday and our one month anniversary. We got a sweet deal on Priceline and I am SO excited. We're going to get some yummy breakfast at the Gunther House, hang out at the pool, have some excellent Mexican food at the River Walk, get a couples massage, and remove all alarm clocks from the vicinity. I can't wait. I love weekend trips. Especially ones that require us to leave work early on Fridays! It always makes the week seem shorter when you know Friday is going to be shorter.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!
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