Sorry for not updating in a very long time. The end of the year was very hectic, filled with end of year testing, pizza parties, and ice cream sundaes. We are both VERY happy to be done with our first year teaching (whoooo!) and will not miss the classroom the next 2 months. Our end of year party at work was great, we really got to know our principal and co-workers, not to mention we performed a duet during the karaoke portion of the party. We sounded just like Johnny and June did when they performed "Jackson" together.
We also celebrated being together for one year!! (Note from Chelsea: Edwin is an AMAZING boyfriend and is the coolest dude ever... Plus he's pretty darn handsome. I'm a lucky gal!) We went to our favorite restaurant in McAllen- House.Wine. It's a wine bar/furniture store with amazing risotto, flatbreads, and some really good french fries. We had a cheese plate to begin with, a good bottle of riesling, and Chel went with the primavera risotto and I had a flatbread with Spinach, asiago cream sauce, and shaved parmesan. DELICIOUS!!! (sorry guys we didn't take any pictures)
We then embarked on operation "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE VALLEY" at 0900 hours on Monday, June 7th, 2010. Our first stop would be Houston to spend time with my family. Chelsea had bought an audiobook "Babyproof" by Emily Griffin which we listened to. I was a bit hesitant about it (since it was introduced to me as chick-lit) but deep inside every guy enjoys a little chick lit... I think. Anyways, it was a good book and if it's not on your summer reading list, you should add it. Monday night my family, Chelsea and I had a nice little dinner with fajitas and some traditional Salvadoran food (I really dropped the ball on taking pictures of this... sorry guys!)
On Tuesday we took on the long drive from Texas to Missouri. We listened to The Alchemist (another great book) as we passed through the bare state of Oklahoma (no offense to fellow Oklahoman's, but the OK state is just OK...) We spent the night in Springfield, Missouri where I read my book and Chelsea caught up on the Bachelorette. Her favorite is Roberto. On Wednesday we left the Show-Me state (which is very beautiful) and were on our way to America's Dairyland, a.k.a. Wisconsin, home of Chelsea Barnes. Illinois was a pretty boring state to drive through, but after 5 hours we were in Wisconsin where we stopped at the Red Robin and had some Honey Weiss (Honey Weiss is a scarce commodity in the Valley). We spent 2 days in Madison with Adam, Andrea, and Mr. Brady (thanks once again guys for letting us stay). I had my first boating experience and Chelsea got to water ski! Brady was scheduled to be the co-captain but had to take a raincheck because he got a little sleepy.
On Friday we went to Eau Claire and stopped at Culver's (best cheese curds ever!) on our way. For dinner, Chel, Tim, and I had kebobs with awesome Chipotle Lime marinade (good choice Chel) and veggies. Saturday we went to the Mall of America and did some shopping as well as jaw dropping (THERE'S AN AMUSEMENT PARK INSIDE THE MALL!!!!). My flight left at 4:45 pm and I got home at around 9 p.m. But wait, there's more!
On Friday, June 18, 2010 Chelsea and I will begin our East coast trip. We will begin in D.C., make our way to New York City and end our trip in Boston. We are SUPER PUMPED!!! We are also looking for suggestions of great places to eat and fun things to do. If you have any recommendations for us, LEAVE US A COMMENT! We will be in DC for 8 days, NY for 5 days and Boston for 5 days. Chelsea is planning on getting a sweet new phone with internet this week, so we hope to update you often! WOOP WOOP for summer!!
Wowser - that all sounds great (except for Roberto- call me racist, but I don't trust him -JUST KIDDING). Kirk & Chris L are my boys thus far. Although I have the tendency to switch it up a lot. ANYWAY - about D.C. - I have some great suggestions for you. First, rather than drive/take the bus/attempt to walk from monuments to monuments, rent a bike. I was in D.C. for 2 mission trips a few years back & that was one of my favorite things to do! Second, my ULTIMATE favorite thing to do: go on a Haunted Walking Tour!!! Oh. My. Goodness. This was super fun. It's called something generic like that, and we found the information at some train station near the capital. Sorry I'm not too helpful. But- here are the details (that I remember)... it was FREE. You start at the capital and walk around to the white house & hear about true ghost stories/theories. It was quite excellent. That company had a few really fun sounding adventures, but we lacked the time to do so. Not sure if you've been to D.C. yet - but regarding the Holocaust museum, you need to go early and/or make reservations to avoid a loooonnngggg wait. Another great museum was the Discovery Channel museum (or something like that). Oh - almost forgot - my third favorite thing was the theater that Abe Lincoln was shot in. You see the actual spot & sit in the theater listening to the story before seeing a bunch of artifacts in a museum of him/the murder downstairs. Super great. Okay, I will be thinking of more adventures & tell you later. Yay - I'm pumped for you guys!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Congrats on the one year anniversary!!! That's awesome!! AND I've listened to Babyproof & others by that author - good call. Good. call.
ReplyDelete(wait a minute ... WAAAIIITTTT a minute: was the title of the book foreshadowing something?! I'm SO on to you guys)
Congrats again on the 1 year anniversary guys!!!
ReplyDeleteIn Boston - make sure to go to Durgen Park - very cool. We loved Boston, everything about it! We had a lot of fun walking the Freedom Trail. You would probably love that Chel, being the history lover that you are. You could wear your I love history t-shirt.
Can't wait to follow along with your adventures!! Love you lots!