Fourth of July 2008

Yippee...I got to spend the 4th of July with Kevin! I love the 4th of July and it seems that every year Kevin and I spend it apart, but not this year! No…I was NOT going to watch the fireworks alone again this year! I flew all the way to Houston to make sure of it!

Kevin and I started the day by making muddy buddies (Chex cereal covered in melted chocolate/peanut butter and coated in powdered sugar…also known as puppy chow...family tradition), finally seeing Indiana Jones, and then heading to the Woodlands in north Houston to watch the fireworks. The venue was perfect…shops, restaurants, and a river walk…very romantic. Despite the several mishaps we had including a ridiculously long walk to and from the parking lot, a fight (who doesn't fight on holidays!), a restaurant that could NOT get my order right after several tries, and fireworks that were hidden behind a building, Kevin and I had a wonderful 4th of July. I am so glad that we could be together this year!

Finally eating after a long day!

The beautiful river walk

Sunday Brunch

Because the contingency of patrons frequenting our blog is remarkably astute, I am certain many have noticed a common Texas theme permeating recent posts. Until this moment, all submissions have been cleverly crafted by my beautiful wife, Leslie; today, however, she has temporarily passed the torch to me.

Last weekend, Leslie made her third and final trip to Dallas to visit her lonely intern husband. At the time, we failed to fully recognize the biblical significance of the number three juxtaposed against Leslie’s third trip, but combining such an implication with the fact that she literally descended from the skies upon the land of promise (i.e. Dallas, Texas), we should have foreseen what type of events the weekend held in store.

On a leisurely Sunday morning, Leslie and I made our way down to the “House of Blues” for a relaxing brunch, courtesy of Uncle Gibson. We gleefully filled our bellies with a variety of brunch-related delicacies, then gathered in front of the stage for a little Southern entertainment. After my lover and I had become tired and sluggish from dining on roasted mutton shanks (SNL reference, if you don’t get it, don’t worry about it), we of course felt a little guilty for playing hooky from church in order to attend the firm outing. But, behold, we were nonetheless able to hear hymns of praise, albeit packaged in a manner to which we were not accustomed.

On this day, the gospel choir did not sing about topics more familiar to us such as repentance, baptism, tithing, or even home teaching. Today’s lesson through song was on (and I’m dead serious about this) “Gettin’ Jiggy for Jesus.” As a white male in his mid-twenties, I am, of course, familiar with the phrase “gettin’ jiggy” and several related variations. I attribute most of my contact with the aforementioned phrase to Will Smith’s popular song and exposure to cultures hipper than my own. However, despite having attained a relatively firm grasp on the English language, I have always been a little hazy on what exactly it means to “get jiggy.” Some of you may be scoffing at my ignorance, but I defy you to provide a concise definition that you didn’t rip off from “urban dictionary.” Does it mean to dance? Does it mean to be cool, hip, edgy, or suave? Perhaps it’s a combination of all of the above (Oh the depth and wealth the English language possesses; if only Shakespeare had been so in tune). There may be some who have attempted to pervert the meaning of “gettin’ jiggy” and have inappropriately enlisted the phrase to refer to coitus. However, as an originalist, I must ask myself what Will Smith meant when he said it. Because Will Smith raps about it, we know the meaning must be moral and pure, but finding an appropriate synonym remains a challenge.

Fortunately, on this day, I was able to witness actual people “gettin’ jiggy for Jesus.” Apparently, based on observation, the phrase means to sing extremely loudly, to clap wildly, and to shake one’s body at will, sometimes violently, with no obvious regard to rhythm. Eventually, when an audience member has become sufficiently “jiggy” they transcend the spectator sphere and join the performers on stage in order to demonstrate to the rest of the crowd that they obediently heeded the choir’s admonition and have now become “jiggy.”

Several songs later, as the canons of religion were further revealed, the choir taught Leslie and me something that far too few truly understand: “There ain’t no party like a holy ghost party ‘cause a holy ghost party don’t stop!” Indeed! If the power of reading this truism knocked the wind out of you, imagine how Leslie and I felt as the choir chanted this inspiring rhetoric literally dozens of times! Unfortunately, the Sunday brunch was evidently not a “holy ghost party,” because the brunch and the party eventually came to a stop.

Needless to say, Leslie and I had a wonderful weekend. Although we joke around about some of it, the music was good, the food was great, and as for the weekend with Leslie—we all have our own understanding of the word, but some might say we got jiggy!

Link to Urban Dictionary

It's Rodeo Time!

After an eventful ride home from New Braunfels (I pose the question - how many lawyers does it take to find the perfect spot for a potty stop? The answer…6) Kevin and I ordered some pizza, took a nap, and then headed out for an evening at the local summer rodeo. I was super excited for the rodeo, because what better place to see cowboys in action and a vision of the old west than in the heart of Texas?

It seems like this was the weekend of free activities, because thankfully we didn’t have to pay for this either! Part of the wining and dining of the summer internship is the rule that any attorney can take a summer associate to a fun activity and the firm will foot the bill. Lawrence, a newer associate from Montana, was kind enough to sponsor our outing and met us at the arena with his wife and adorable children in tow.

All summer long the Mesquite Rodeo thrills and entertains (and if you are me – frightens!) eager rodeo goers with bull riding, barrel racing, trick shooting, mustang riding, chuck wagon racing, cowboy poker, and fancy ropin’! As soon as Kevin and I walked into the arena, I could smell hints of worn leather, fabulous BBQ, cotton candy, and farm animals (in a good way, I promise!) and I couldn’t hide my excitement! First things first though – we had to eat some of that yummy BBQ! Who can resist brisket, baked beans, lemonade, and fresh fruit cobbler? Certainly not me! I filled my plate and my tummy and couldn’t have been happier…and then the rodeo started!

In true Texas style, the announcer said a prayer and I am not kidding when he prayed for God to provide a cowboy heaven complete with "deep, cool, blue waters and wide open fields of wheat" and a greeting at the pearly gates of "Howdy partner, your entrance fee is already paid." I wish I could remember his exact turn of phrase, because I have never heard anything so hilarious! I almost started laughing during the prayer, but I was strong enough to hold it in as to not offend those around me looking forward to their cowboy heaven.

With seats right next to the bull chute, I was promised an excellent view of all the action…and I was certainly NOT disappointed! The rodeo kicked off with a round of bull riding and I think the beating of my heart was the thing keeping the bulls bucking! I was super scared for the crazy cowboys on those mean looking bulls and low and behold, the very first rider was not only bucked off, but thoroughly trampled as well! Thankfully he was able to hobble away with some help from the clowns, but I was seriously nervous for the rest of the riders to face certain death!

I guess I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking because I am suffering from major writer's block and a post shouldn't take several hours to write (I apologize for the fuzziness in advance – it is VERY difficult to capture movement from far away with a snap and shoot camera!)!

Hey honey!

Before all the fun started...

Ready, set, bull ride!

Look at that height!

The chuck wagon race...

In these here's parts, the girls barrel race...and some as young as 7 and 12!

Bucking bronco!

This was probably the funniest thing to watch - apparently, a common part of a rodeo is the "mutton bustin" where crazy parents sign their children up to ride a sheep as long as they can hold on while the sheep runs across the arena...without fail, each kid had the same confused/stunned reaction as they fell off the sheep - it is almost as if the kids had no idea they would fall (hard, I might add) off the cute little sheep...the parents obviously left off that little detail!

Ropin', Texas style!

A Little Bit of German in the Heart of Texas

I had another wonderful weekend in Dallas with Kevin and I am so excited to share all of the pictures I actually remembered to take!

I landed in DFW (my new second home!) Thursday night after a slight delay leaving Richmond (there were thunderstorms in Dallas Thursday morning so naturally by 6:45PM the delays hadn't abated) and woke up early the next morning with Kevin for our trip to New Braunfels, TX…the land of happiness and SCHLITTERBAHN!! For those of you that are scratching their heads trying to figure out what the heck I am talking about, Schlitterbahn is a family of 3 water parks about 45 miles south of Austin in a little German town called New Braunfels. Rated the number one water park in the WORLD, Schlitterbahn is also one of the world’s largest water parks and boasts the world’s first uphill water coasters and has even been featured on the Travel Channel (where I first learned of it).

The firm had organized an overnight trip for the summer associates and their families to drive down to New Braunfels to spend the day at Schlitterbahn and then spend the night and drive home the next day. As Kevin and I were already planning a trip on our own to Schlitterbahn this summer (trivia note– Schlitterbahn translates in English to “slippery road” or “slide”), we were excited that the firm graciously decided to pick up the tab and take us on a fabulous trip, giving us time to not only get to know some of the other associates (who were all VERY nice)but to have a ton of fun as well! Thanks Uncle Gibson (Apparently this is what the associates of Gibson Dunn and Crutcher say…just learning to use firm lingo!)!!

After a four hour drive, we arrived in New Braunfels, ate lunch at Carino’s (Chili’s Italian cousin) and headed off to the park for a wet and wild day of water rides, lazy rivers, wave pools, and unfortunately, waiting in line. We went from Shlitterbahn West to Surfenburg and finally to Blastenhoff (great names, huh?) in search of short line waits, but we never found them and throughout the entire day we only were able to get on 4 rides, each after an hour long wait! Finally, our feet could no longer handle standing on hard, hot concrete and we succumbed to the not so lazy river and had more fun there than on any of the rides! Their river was super fun and was more of a combination between a wave pool and a lazy river with rapids that pushed the tubes around and practically drowned those without them!

With hours of fun in the sun under our belt, we headed to our hotel (a surprisingly posh Comfort Inn), showered, changed, met up with the other associates, and drove to the nearby town of Gruene, TX (pronounced just like “green”) for the most amazing dinner experience ever! The Gristmill is a Steakhouse/BBQ restaurant in an old mill that was converted to this amazing outdoor/indoor open air restaurant. The rustic western ambiance was great for dinner, but as the restaurant had no air conditioning, I was extremely appreciative of the cool breeze and the fact that I was not a server trekking up and down seemingly dilapidated stairs carrying racks of delicious, yet very heavy food. In fact, I think our server read my thoughts as she dropped one of our dishes on the way up the wooden stairs…I felt awful as the plate crashed down and down the stairs, gaining the attention of the entire restaurant as it finally shattered across the floor!
After filling our tummies to the brim, we window shopped along the quaint main street complete with a General Store, a souvenir shop called “Cotton Eyed Joes” (named after one of my favorite songs to dance to!) and several antique shops while listening to the lively music coming from the very popular local music hall (supposedly the longest continuing operating music hall in the US!). The historic town of Gruene was well worth the 4 hour trip each way, let alone a side trip after a happy day at Schlitterbahn!

The next morning we awoke to hot Texas shaped waffles (seriously, the waffle iron at the hotel produced TEXAS shaped waffles!) and then all piled in the van and drove back to Dallas and talked the entire way!

We had such a wonderful time, but the fun didn't stop there! In my next post I will tell you all about the rest of our super awesome and crazy weekend!

Yippee!

The group next to our trusty "steed" - from left to right: Olivia, Kevin, Rob (summer coordinator), Stephanie (associate), Chris (summer coordinator), Krista, and Rob

After a long day in the sun (notice that Kevin and I are NOT sunburned - whooo hooo!)

Just me and my hubby!

Rob checking his BlackBerry...again!

Texas is full of water towers so I couldn't resist taking a picture of one!

On the main drag...

Very cool sign!

Country music playing in the background!

I thought this was super neat (yet very inefficient) - instead of a buzzer or yelling out the names, the hostesses write the names of the groups ready to be seated on this chalkboard in the courtyard next to the restaurant...but because the place is so huge they seat people very fast and the poor girl has to keep wiping and re-wiping the chalkboard to write the names.

Outside the restaurant they had lots of picnic tables and a bar for everyone to sit, listen to the music, grab a drink, wait to be seated and chat.

Caesar, Kevin, and Chris

Rob, Krista, Rob, and Olivia

Shots of the back of the Gristmill

The main part of the restaurant

The infamous rickety old stairs!

To my big sister, Karen - Happy Birthday! This post is for you!

Miss Karen,

Even before I married into the Grady family, you treated me just like a sister. From our first weekends together hanging out in Cedar to Thanksgiving in California and Christmas in Cedar ...we have had some fun times together...and through it all, I have gotten to know and love you and realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing older sister.

You have a kind and generous heart and are an amazing mother - Kate is beautiful and is growing up to be such a smart little girl. I love spending time with you and Mike (and of course Kate and Kraemer) and just wish you guys would follow us to Texas! Even though there are a few years between us, I count you as not only a dear sister, but also a trusted friend. Thank you for always caring for me and treating me as one of the family - it means so much to me! I hope you have a wonderful day off today and will call you later to wish you a happy birthday!

Love you!!

I thought this picture was too cute not to post!

Fourth of July Fun!

Mike, Karen, and Kate

Cute Kate and Kraemer

Ode to "Dried Plums" (aka Prunes)

After a couple of really depressing posts (sorry about that!) I would like to brighten things up a little bit, get a little goofy, and tell you all about one of my new favorite things.

Thanks to an introduction by my friend Elizabeth, me and my new beau the Sunsweet Dried Plum have lived happily ever after in a less than symbiotic relationship - I promise the happiness is ALL mine! A smile comes to my face every time I open each individually wrapped fruit gem and bite into its chewy yet juicy goodness and swallow it practically whole. I purchase the sweet little darlings as often as I can and usually devour them in less than 24 hours.

Now, all of this talk might conjure up some sort of memory about a commercial with two old ladies talking about their digestive systems and how all they need to be regular is to eat some prunes. Let me clarify, these are not your grandmother's prunes...these are pitted dried plums (that's what it says on the label!) and they are absolutely delish! I promise if you like dried fruit, you'll love them (but probably not as much as me!)

So, in honor of one of my new favorite things, I present an Ode to Dried Plums (please forgive my hamminess...I was alone and slightly bored!):

The end!!

Phobia! Part 5

6. Losing Kevin – It seems like this post has gone on forever, and I apologize for the previous cringe-worthy posts, but I want to end this string of posts on a serious note. Everything I have posted up until this point has been all fluff…I am only slightly afraid of any of those things…the only thing I actually fear is losing my husband, Kevin.

I think about it too often. My life has been, for all intents and purposes, perfect. From growing up in a big, happy family with good parents that could afford to provide for all of my needs and most of my wants (I never got that pony…) to going to college and meeting the perfect husband, I have gone from one seemingly cushy pillow to the next and have never had to experience life’s heartbreak and derision. Life, for me, has been a string of happy events culminating in my marriage to Kevin. But I have been told that life isn’t fair…and it has been more than fair to me! The only thing that could possibly equalize a lifetime of happiness with the lifetime of sorrow that the other half experiences is to take my husband prematurely. It has all been too good to be true, or to last, and I fear that it won’t….that some force in nature will dictate that I have used up my quota of happiness and will have to pay my dues by giving up the one thing that I hold dearest – Kevin. What is more cruel than losing the one thing in life you are convinced you cannot live without?

I try to calm myself down by saying that God would not purposely take him away just to make me experience unending grief, that a loving God wouldn’t do that… but it happens every day. Bad things happen to good people all the time. This is not to say that God does this on purpose. I know that He's not vindictive and that He has a plan that has provided for us to be together forever…I know that, but still, I can’t shake the fear that one day I’ll get a phone call that will change my life forever. Again, I apologize for sharing too much with all of you, but if I have to be honest with myself with what I fear more than anything else, it is the fear of losing my husband.