ACL 2006 – Tom Petty is still alive?

This one may not have had as a big a group that we hung out with but fun was to be had as usual. There were some rockin’ bands from ModestYahoo (spelled wrong, I know) to Ghostland and wrapped up by Tom Petty who thankfully played all his oldies before it started raining. No one has to know that we left early (just by a little bit)…blame it on the rain…yeah, yeah! That’s not Tom Petty is it…

Hawaii 5-0

I think this trip deserves multiple posts so that I can get in just how much fun I had with you. I know it was an ‘intense’ Nils-style vacation filled with lots of walking, hiking, diving, swimming, eating and not all that much sleeping but man was it fun. I think if I had broken this vacation down and just had even one of the days of adventure it would still have been one of the best trips ever. Where to start? Well, the landscape of The Big Island was something to behold. It was far more varied from a microclimate perspective than I would have ever imagined. Snow, rain, heat, wind, hot, cold you name the climate it would only take you about 30 minutes to experience them all at once. I’m pretty sure that in the week that we were there we experienced each one multiple times. The sunsets were obviously also remarkable. Splashed with a backdrop of palm trees, waves and colors that the finest painted couldn’t capture with a brush and the most eloquent writer couldn’t describe with a pen. In our group we had some troopers and others that weren’t as eager to trek to the unknown. We were however greatly rewarded when we did get to our destinations. The green sand beach, the unhabited beach through the lava field, waterfalls that must have been hundreds of feet high, black sand beaches and of course…the SCUBA diving. If I had to pick one dive to do with you again it might be the Manta Ray dive. It had elements of danger, beauty, and calmness all wrapped into a 45 minute adventure into the dark Hawaiian waters. I really enjoyed also getting to know your family and the Stones more on this trip. It’s a big relief to know that we all get along (even when traveling).

Triathlete Marriage

It’s a good thing an ironman didn’t bust out during this wedding. With Guy and Kristen being as active as they are, I think they might have bailed to tear up the course.

See, we’re fun ‘almost married’ couple

I guess if you have to point out that you’re a fun engaged/almost married couple maybe there’s a problem. Actually I am proud of us for making an effort. It’s really easy to just sit back and home and be boring…not us baby! This random night at Little Woodrow’s ‘concept’ should be duplicated, regularly.

After YEARS of waiting on me....

Hello Friends!

Ok… here's the exciting news… Nils and I are engaged!!! If you've got a few minutes to read the details, here's how it happened…

On Friday, April 14^th, we had a dinner planned at Ruth's Chris to reward ourselves for a solid month and a half of consistent working out (which for some of us meant living it up in Miami, but that's another story J). Nils picked me up and we went to the Stephen F. Austin for a drink outside then headed over to Ruth's Chris for some delicious steak. Nils was ultra-sneaky and asked ME to make reservations, so we were both shocked when our waiter greeted us BOTH by name. Nils convinced me that the manager had greeted him on the way in, and must have passed his name onto the waiter – what service! So we ate a delicious meal and then Nils asked me to choose a dessert for us while he excused himself to go to the restroom. I chose a dessert… waited for him to come back… waited a little more for him to come back… but then the hostess came to the table and handed me a note. It instructed me to go outside where a cab was waiting for me (it even rhymed!). So I went outside and got in the cab where I found another note… which instructed me to use the enclosed key once I got to the next destination. The taxi took me to the Four Seasons and I quickly hopped in the elevator. When the elevator door opened, Nils was on the other side…. freaking out. Apparently the hostess was supposed to wait a little longer to give me the note and the cab driver was supposed to drive me around a bit instead of driving me straight to the Four Seasons (as an aside, I don't blame him for taking me straight there. If there was a hyperventilating girl in the back of my car I'd want her out as soon as possible too). Anyway, when I saw Nils when the elevator opened, he said "Ahhhh!!! Go back downstairs… come back in five minutes… (on top of me being early, his zippo ran out of juice when he was lighting candles so he was running downstairs to get some matches.) I came back upstairs and went into the room (which had a gorgeous lake view) to find rose petals and candles everywhere. On the table was the same wine we'd had on our first date, along with strawberries and fondue (which we also had on our first date), and another note. This note told me to hit play on the dvd player… so I did… and watched this amazing half hour video Nils had put together that spanned our relationship pretty much from the moment we met until now. It was so incredible. I didn't know it, but Nils was hiding in a closet in the room the whole time… so at the end of the video, our song came on and Nils came out, got on one knee and proposed… (I said yes).

So it was a fairy tale proposal and it looks like we'll live happily ever after ;) We'll keep you all updated on the details to come.

I hope you all are doing well and can't wait to see you soon!

Julie

Why are you in such a good mood?

Oh wait, I finally popped the question. At least I hope that’s why you are so happy. There sure were a lot of pastels in this picture. This weekend I think we logged 3,000 miles on the car going to see family and friends. You certainly logged 3000 minutes on your cell phone calling people.

Are those guys famous?

Well you weren’t actually at this event but I do like that we pretended to be VIP and get in front of the VH1 backdrop. I didn’t pull off being a poser very well. I guess that’s a good thing. Not much else to comment on this one other than I did discover my love of 1800 tequila

Secret handshakes

You know you missed being in a sorority? Ok, probably not all that much. You were sweet to come with me and help me through another visit to college station. Brutal!

The Meeting.

It was bound to happen. You would have thought that being only 30 miles apart would have meant our parents could have met sooner. Oh well, better late than never?! There was the almost awkward Marshall-Stacy-Me eye contact that led her to almost think I was going to make an announcement and propose to you. Boy oh boy would that have been fun! Needless to say, Bob Schneider rocked Greuhne Hall for Ben’s birthday and the proposal would have to wait just a bit longer.

Roses are sweet!

As I thought, 2006 started off with a bang and a touchdown. Vince running for the game winning touchdown that is. While it sucked not being there in person it was fun getting to celebrate with you and Jessica at the tower. I think I still owe you an apology for being antsy to get up to celebrate. You’re such a trooper for dealing with my sports craziness.