Like Mother Like Daughter

When in San Antonio, do as the tourists do...

NOFX @ Warehouse Ballroom in Houston

Last night Kent and I did something we have not done in a while... We went to see a good old fashioned punk show in downtown Houston, which was headlined by NOFX and also included No Use For a Name. NOFX was my favorite band in junior high and high school, and though I am not a huge fan of their new music (too political), I love their old albums. So, I bought tickets a couple of months ago, and last night we headed downtown. We almost decided to skip it because we were tired and wanted to stay home and watch a movie, which would have been a big mistake. I had a blast, though I can't say the same for Kent. The last time I saw NOFX was about 5 or 6 years ago, and I stood in the very front- which made it even better. But over time I forgot what being in the very front was like, with my arms and ribs squished into the metal guard railing and the force of hundreds of angsty teens behind me. So I decided to be in the very front again, and Kent got over it really fast and headed to the rear. I think I was kicked in the head about 20 times from crowd surfers, and today my forearms are sore and bruised from being pushed into the railing. But... I had a great time, and even caught the singer Fat Mike's guitar pick as he tossed it into the crowd. Whoopee. Kent was the best sport ever, and stood in the back trying to keep an eye on me the whole time. It was a good night, and it felt good to be around some California culture again. I took a bunch of pictures with my cell phone, but I have no idea how to transfer them to my computer. So just picture me squished in the front, yelling out lyrics with a big smile on my face :-)

Dad's Texas Birthday

Dad was here this week, which was extra special as he celebrated his ?? birthday. And since we know how much he loves his dog, I put Tilly the Boston Terrier on his cake. It was gooooooood.

West Coast Visitors!

This past weekend began a long and exciting line-up of visitors. Kent's mom Jenny came from Las Vegas for the weekend, and it was fantastic. We ate out a few times, rode the tourist boats on The Woodlands Waterway, watched a bunch of movies, and cooked manicotti for Kent. On Monday Jenny went home, and Grandma Jo and my cousin Jill Kinnoin flew in from Southern California. Today we went to Old Town Spring, which was built around 1900, and ate lunch, then hit up some ultra-girlie boutique shops.

Grandma Jo spotted the "Old Town Spring Post Office" from across the street and said she was going to go buy some stamps. I didn't pay much attention to where she was going, and when she came back, she said, "Oh, they are closed." The funny part is, that this post office is inoperable, and is simply a photo-op, as it was the post office back in the old days, It is just a wooden shack with some fake PO boxes, and a fake service window. I attached a photo of Jill and Grandma in front of the post office. Grandma makes everything more fun with her "Joanne-isms".

Rainbow Cake

This was the first cake I made for my cake decorating class. I had to make the cake, tort it (layer it), frost it, and then bring 5 colors of icing to class for the mandatory rainbow. Though rainbows are not my favorite, it turned out pretty good, and I have a lot of pride in it (gay pun intended). We were supposed to write something at the bottom, but I didn't know what to write. I love my class, and find myself wanting to make cakes all the time. The problem is... what do I do with all of them?

Video of Lightning!

Interesting points are on the time meter are...
0:35 Big bolt of lightning
1:40 Unintentional lame joke
2:20 Big bolt of lightning
2:45 A tribute to Debbie Obernesser for giving me this camera...
Enjoy!
(Do I have a future in Meteorology?)

A Cake for the Neighbors

Happy Valentine's Day

Since I don't have a lot of money for fancy gifts, I decided to make Kent a Valentine's Day cake. I had so much fun doing this! I put on my country music in the kitchen, and spent the day being girlie. This is my first cake since my first lesson, and I think it turned out pretty good. Kent's stomach will be the ultimate test. I hope he likes it!

More Camping Classics

George Looking Sexy

Camping Video

Camping Among the Alligators

This past weekend Kent and I decided to drive north about 45 minutes to Huntsville State Park and go camping. We have a ghetto-fabulous Coleman tent trailer that we brought, along with various supplies and the dogs. The campground is all along a lake filled with fish, turtles, and about 40 total alligators. Apparently the alligators are in "winter-mode" and hiding until spring, so to Kent's disappointment the only ones we saw were babies in the nature center. I have never seen a real alligator (only ones on Disney's Jungle Cruise) and I was amazed at how creepy and dinosaurish their eyes are. I was surprised to find out that this lake has public swimming areas. Eek! No thanks. Anyway, we hiked around the lake several miles with the dogs, had fire-grilled mystery meat hot dogs, and enjoyed non-humid 70 degree weather. It was fabulous!

Chef Boyar-Jana

I am taking a cake decorating class at Michaels with my friend Brooke. It is intense! Gum paste, fondant, buttercream, piping gel... Ahhhh! I can make a mean cupcake, but this class is putting my skills to the test!By the end of all four levels (one month each), I will be able to make wedding cakes. New profession?...

Kent's Dream...

A Typical Storm- Not the Terrible one from Tuesday

Storms A-Brewin'

On Tuesday night I had an interesting experince worth noting. While driving to my Bible study at around 7pm (it was dark), I encountered 20 minutes of the worst weather I have ever seen. As I was driving east on Lake Woodlands Drive, I saw flashes of lightning on the near horizon and I was driving right into it. This was not wimpy California lightning. There was virtually NO significant time laspses between flashes. It was almost a constant barrage of lightning for twenty minutes. Flash! (one-thousand) Flash! Flash! (one-thousand, two-one-thousand) flash...Flash... FLASH! And crazily loud booms of thunder. I began to panic, thinking I was going to get hit and burned to a crisp or turn albino (remember the movie Powder?). Anyway, I am no panty-waist, but I was genuinely afraid. Then suddently, loud thuds ring out as massive hail pounds my car. We are talking peanut-M&M hail. I saw the temperature indicator drop from 71 to 58 in about 5 minutes. It begins hailing so hard, and the lighning is so intense that cars pull off the road, and I begin to panic, as I am sure my car is being dented. I begin crying hysterically (new car), and driving around like a mad-woman trying to find a tree to park under. I pull into a well-groomed neighborhood and finally pull over without protection for any trees. I begin to think a tornado is coming (not totally far-fetched considering 5 southern states were hit earlier that day). I grab my phone and call Kent, who can't really do anything, and then I call my friend Tara (whose home I was on my way to), but nobody could understand me becuase I was crying so hard. Eventually, I saw a tree ahead, and had to pull half-way onto somebody's lawn to be under it. And, after about 10 more minutes, the hail turned to hard rain, and I went on my way, all sweaty and puffy-eyed.

That evening (my car was perfectly fine), I watched the local news to see if they had footage of this horrific storm, and the thirty-second weather portion went like this... "Well, and on to weather. The Woodlands experienced a little bit of hail today, as a cold front came from the north. Now let's look at this weekends beautiful, sunny forecast...." This was not even a storm worth mentioning!

My only consolation was that knowing that these Texans would be peeing their pants during a California earthquake while I would be enjoying the jolt.