One of the things I love about Texas is the fact that along the side of the roads in neighborhoods and office parks, you can see ranch life blended with the city life.
Jessica works for J.C. Penney's which is located near Legacy Drive in Plano, TX. You have these huge companies with their corporate headquarters situated on beautiful acres of land. On these acres of land you also have horses and cattle. Yes, horses and cattle. The reason we have been told for this is because then the companies get to claim agricultural land use for tax purposes.
Here are a couple shots of some Texas longhorns across the street from JCP:
Awesome.
During Jessica's birthday weekend, Jessica, myself, and Jessica's parents went to the small town of Grapevine, TX. Grapevine is located just west of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
It was a fun little town that is home to several wineries. There are only a couple wineries that actually grow the grapes in Texas. Most of them actually import the grapes from California and then ferment the wine locally. We tasted some of the local vintage and had fun walking the streets of the small town, despite the heat.
Here is a picture of Barb, Jessica and me at one of the wineries.
It was a fun excursion. Jessica and I have not had much of a chance to explore the culture or local attractions yet. Jessica has had the time, but she is waiting to go together with me.
It had been four days since I had last seen my beautiful wife, but I was heading back to the Big D to celebrate her 30th birthday. Jessica's parents', Rick and Barb, also came down to visit. It was a great weekend and great for Jessica to be able to see her mom and dad.
I decorated the apartment so that she would be surprised when she got home from work at noon. I put up some banners and streamers and had about 25-30 balloons inflated. I also bought her a "birthday girl" ribbon that she was supposed to wear all weekend, but it only stayed on about 15 minutes. I guess I really cannot blame her...
Rick and Barb bought her a bottle of sparkly (Jessica wants to save it for when I move down for good) and ordered her a big birthday cake.
Jessica and I went to Rick and Barb’s hotel one of the afternoons and laid out by the pool. Here you can see Jessica and I in the pool.
Jessica on her balcony enjoying some chardonnay before going out to dinner for her birthday.
Jessica and me on the balcony. We tend to take quite a few pictures of us on the balcony. It is not very big and the view is not that great, but it is still fun. Most of the shots in her apartment are done with the timer feature of our camera and balancing it on top of the tv, so the shots are not ideal, but Jessica is so cute that she always looks good.
Jessica and I outside the hotel.
Jessica and her parents outside the hotel before dinner.
Here we are at dinner. We went to a nice steakhouse named Jasper’s . I would highly recommend Jasper’s . The food was delicious and the service was great. My only complaint is that we had to wait a half an hour after our reservation to be seated. This can be expected however, at many fine dining establishments.
I also finally tried Tito’s Handmade Vodka. I have to say that Tito’s vodka is awesome. I love vodka and will definitely be ordering Tito’s again whenever I can. My dry martini was delicious and so smooth. Tito’s vodka is the first and only distillery in Texas. It is distilled in Austin and they have done a top-notch job of producing a quality vodka. I have had some very good vodka, but for the price- scratch that- even with the low price, Tito’s is better than almost any European vodka that I have had.
Jessica and I had to celebrate our 3-year wedding anniversary apart. It was May 21st. It was hard to be apart. I sent Jessica 100 blooms of lillies to her office on our anniversary and then did get to go down to Dallas the next weekend. I did not get a picture of the flowers, but they did not look like they did online. Jessica still loved them and was surprised, so I guess it was the thought that counts?
Here are some pics of the weekend, May 24th, when we got the chance to finally celebrate together:
I have the most beautiful wife! Doesn't she look great for thirty? I am the luckiest
Here I am on the balcony of Jessica's apartment enjoying a margarita out of a coconut. Jessica decorated the apartment to recreate our Hawaiian honeymoon. It was lots of fun.
Jessica and I went out to dinner that night to Mi Cocina. It is one of my favorite Mexican restaraunts in Dallas. There are several in the area. The food is really good. The service is great, the portions are "Texas-sized," and the atmostphere is just really fun.I have been there three times though I think and I always get the same thing. I need to try some other menu items, but the sampler platter I always order is just so good, and I get to try a bunch of different items.
It was also nice because Monday was Memorial Day, so I got to spend an extra long weekend with Jessica and Murphy. It was hard to go back to Minnesota, but I had plans to come down the next weekend, so it would not be long before I was back.
I have been derelict in my duties as a blogger for the last month. I will be posting the updates now. So much has happened. Texas is so close, I can almost feel the 100 degree heat now...
We have not updated the blog in a while. Been busy somehow, and not a whole lot has changed.
Here is a small update-
The weekend of May 2nd through the 4th, I visited Jessica and Murphy in Dallas. It was really great to see my wife and dog, even if for only a few days.
Jessica and I ate dinner one evening at Cuba Libre. It is a great place for Tacos. I am definitely going back. I had a frozen drink that I thought was going to be different. It was the namesake “Cuba Libre”. It had rum and coke and lime. It was not bad, except that if it would have come with an umbrella, I would need a beach. Otherwise I would kick my own butt for ordering it. I did not order a second one, but switched to a Dos Equis. We sat out on the balcony and it was a great dinner. The funniest part was waiting for the valet to bring us our car. As we stood in line, waiting for The Jeep, luxury car after luxury acr was dropped off and picked up. Mercedes, Bentley, Porche, BMW… And we are not talking about the entry level classes. I mean the top shelf. Our freshly washed and good lookin’ 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport did not really fit in. The next cheapest car had to be about 4 times as expensive as The Jeep. But that was okay because I loved my Jeep and it has treated me very well. When the $#!@ hits the fan, I would love to see the driver of the Astin Martin with his 3 inch clearance get out of town when the freeway is a parking lot. Now the Escalades and Hummers would give me a run for the money, but that is wear my fuel efficiency would win. Of course, my pride did not prevent me from asking Jessica which one did she want to pretend to take from the valet.
Since I have been back in the cities, I have interviewed for a job with West (A Thomson Reuters Business) in Dallas. I am hoping that it works out so I can get to Dallas soon.
Jessica has been looking at apartments for us to live in short-term. We are vacillating on whether to rent for 6 months or buy a house right away. The decision is not really our of course because we are still trying to sell our house. We will most likely live in an apartment right a way so that we can find out where we really want to live.
Jessica also has found a place for The Murph to stay when she goes to market in June. She interviewed another dog sitter, but we were not too crazy about a strange woman keeping our furry child in a garage with ten other random dogs. The place that we did select is a nice dog ranch. The Lone Star Dog Ranch. They are professionals and we are confident that Murphy will be well taken care of and tended to.
Until next time... Happy trails
I get to fly to Dallas on Thursday for the weekend to see Jessica. It is going to be great. I am also looking forward to the weather. As you may have heard, Minnesota received snow over the weekend. In fact, my hometown of Pelican Rapids got 18 inches on Saturday. Snowed in on April 26?
It is almost May. This is rediculous. This blog is not a political blog, but I did think it was kind of ironic that as I drove to work freezing, waiting for the car to warm up (it was only 34 degrees this morning) Cities 97 was interviewing Ann Bancroft (Female Artic and Antarctic explorer) on the the anniversary of her first reaching the North Pole. They were discussing "Global Warming." I had to laugh... as I turned up the heat.
So- I am looking forward to the warm weather and sunshine of Texas later this week, but most of all, I am looking forward to seeing my wife and puppy.
Giddy-up.
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