Many screens

Kyle was doing some really intense work.

Turtle racing

One of the turtles is making his show off lap

The turtles are in the open-bottomed bucket

And they're off!

We went out to celebrate our friend Hadar's birthday last night. We went to Woodrow's where they do turtle racing. I was going for Boris who did win one heat but in the end, Frank the Tank was the big winner.

New computers!!

Kyle and I both received new Mac laptops in the mail on the same day! I got the new 13 inch Air and Kyle got a 15 inch retina display one. They are both super awesome and we are working on getting them all set up. For now, we have an inordinate amount of macs in the house!

New computer for Kristen!!

My new MacBook air arrived today!!! It is for work but will be my main computer day to day for all things. Now I just have to get it all set up...

Transition complete?

Supper Friends

Our nicely laid-out table settings

A poor shot but it sort of captures what the place looks like

Paul, Jessi, and Ben

It was Paul's birthday!

A nice touch!

Kyle and I joined Ben, Jessi, and ben's dad Paul for a really nice dinner at the Supper Friends, which is some sort of group of chefs that cook tasty foods occasionally at a house that has been converted into a restaurant. You can find out about the meal by being on the list serve, and it is a set menu that is serves to everyone at the same time.. And four courses with appetizers. I wish I had photographed the meals. Needless to say, we were stuffed at the end. The wait staff and all the other diners (who we sat with at a big table) were very nice and it was a great way to spend an evening.

Austin apartment parking garage

Good thing the new car is little! Even Texas-size parking spots can be too small otherwise.

Kyle in the dark

I haven't figured out why, but Kyle generally doesn't turn lights on on his own. I often find him being all creepy in the dark.

Adding to my card collection!

After attending the lovely shower in Madison, I added the cards I received to those from Seattle. They are great reminders of so much love and welcome from all of the families involved!

Sunset boat ride!

Tracie and Kyle

The Mandli family took a sunset boat ride on Kevin's boat on a beautiful evening on Lake Waubesa. The bugs bounced off my cheek as we sped around and one got temporarily stuck in my ear! The ride was a nice finish to a really nice weekend.

Afternoon at Capitol Brewery

Mom is book-ended by Jordan and Ray

Nice looking family!

The moms!! So cute together!

It was a wedding reception, so we had to play with a balloon

Everyone loves Kyle hugs

We stopped by an event in the afternoon on Saturday at a brewery. It was hot but not too bad in the shade, and there was a bad, too! We enjoyed our time together chatting.

Shopping

After the shower, Tracie, Kelsey, Lexi, my mom, and I went on shopping. One mission was to find a dress for mom for the wedding festivities. We had success at that! We also managed to find a little number that Kelsey tried on for us. I'm not sure the full awesomeness of the dress is clear in the picture, but hopefully you get the idea.

Bridal shower in Wisconsin!

Saturday, Tracie hosted a lovely bridal shower at Quiveys restaurant! I didn't take many pictures because I was busy chatting and having fun, but here is a shot of one of the two lovely bouquets present. Many women from both sides of Kyle's family were there and I couldn't have been more welcomed in! Kelsey also did arranged some activities and a fun time was had by all.

Start to the Wisconsin weekend!

Kyle and I flew into Madison Kate Friday, joining my mom who flew in Friday afternoon. Saturday mom and I had a pedicure with Kelsey and Tracie, and later joined Rosemary who also had her toes done recently. What pretty feet!

Less angry sky now

The storms really do pass pretty quickly here.

It is really angry out!

Just got back to my office and it is really dark out despite being the middle of the day. This has been quite a stormy week!

Eller O&M building

Here is my building at Texas A&M! It houses oceanography and atmospherics.

New cubicle!

I have my official cube to sit in at Texas A&M! I could have a little office I guess, but this has a nice window and it is near the other people in my group, which is preferable in general. The whole reason for me to be in college station part of the week is to get to know and work with others in my group, so it helps to be right there! And real natural light!

Next up; deciding which nice new Mac laptop to order for my new work computer!

Gig'em Aggies

I had to ask Kelly in my office what gig'em means after I had both seen it on a campus building wall at Texas A&M and a staff member had said it to me at the end of a chat conversation. Apparently it is a pleasantry, maybe something like "go get them." Kelly said she also thought it technically means something about catching frogs but I haven't googled that yet.

Oh and the Aggies are the members of the Texas A&M community, for agriculture.

Unfortunate mailing

Mom and I mailed 6 shoe boxes of textbooks to my department at Texas A&M. They all made it, but the contents of one had been removed and replaced with some lightweight junk: a dress, a copy of Romeo and Juliet that is falling apart, and four photographs of graffiti, including some on a sign in the Seattle area. So. USPS is currently trying to find my textbooks!

First trip to College Station in the new car

I was over 50 mpg for a chunk of the trip but after enough highway driving I was down to around 45 and stayed around there on average.

Lakeway Resort

Nathan and Courtney spent a night of their stay in Texas at the Lakeway Resort on Lake Travis, so Kyle and I joined them for part of the day. It was stormy, and they actually closed the pool down because of it (lightning bad!). So, we went to happy hour and hung out until the pool was open. We had a nice dinner there and there was another storm then too!

Cutest two things out there, together!

Lunch stop at Uncle Billy's BBQ

The four of us stopped at the Oasis, a random mall/resort in the hill country in order to have lunch at Uncle Billys BBQ. There was quite a view of the lake and the hill country with fancy houses.

Mt Bonnell

On a drive today with Nathan and Courtney, we stopped by Mount Bonnell. It is basically a hill or ridge along the river, and the river has been dammed to become Lake Austin. There is a bit of a park and we stopped to check it out. It is really humid from a series of storms.