Introducing Graham Allen Jones

My brother Mike and his wife Meredith had their baby tonight. Or should we say "toddler"?? This kid was actually taken earlier than his due date and weighed in at 9lbs 7oz.!!!! He looks like he's ready to start walking and talking! He's really very healthy looking and gorgeous! Doesn't look like a newborn at all. I'll post more pictures when I get home, and will make a slideshow to post in a few days. Tomorrow I will get to take some photos of the new addition and his proud parents without having to peek through the blinds! The blinds in the nursery are in every shot! Anyway, here's a closeup, well, as close up as I could get!

Graham Allen Jones
September 9, 2006
7:12 pm
9lb 7oz.
22 1/2in

Our first invasion...I mean visit!

Well, Chris' mom, aunt Joyce and his grandma Ruby came this weekend to visit. We had a great time, and it was really nice to see some familiar faces!! lol
They got in Saturday afternoon after a very loooong drive. Since we knew they would be tired from the drive, Chris decided to grill steaks for us. If you haven't had one of his steaks, then you need to come visit! He's better than any restaurant around! We had the steaks, salad and my famous Texas Mashed pototoes! They're so famous Owens stole the recipe and sells them in the stores now! We visited for a while and Chris took his aunt and mom to HEB plus to get some sweets and show them how huge the place was! I think it's bigger than Wally world.

We watched National Lampoons vacation on TV and just chilled. Sunday, we went to San Marcos to the Aquamarine Center. They don't have the pig anymore.Not much to do there, but we did go on the glass bottom boat ride, which was interesting, and went through the exhibit.

Then we traveled on down to San Antonio to see the Alamo. We couldn't find any parking and it was packed around the place. Duh, it was a holiday weekend, no wonder!
Besides, Chris was getting aggravated because 4 women were in the car trying to talk and give directions. I think he was about ready to dump us and run! So, we gave up on that, but we did get to drive around the Alamo. About 5 times around. Then we figured out how to get back to the interstate so we could go eat at Mamacitas. That's the great restaurant that my cousin took us to last month. We realy wanted his family to go to it. The ambiance is wonderful there. Well, I called and got us directions, but of course I heard wrong, so we ended up leaving San Antonio and knew we were going the wrong way when we saw signs for Corpus Christi and Houston. Before we knew it we were heading towards Houston. I called my mom and asked for my cousin Brenda's number. (Sorry for being rude mom! I was scared!! lol) After talking with Brenda and still not being able to find the road to Mamacitas, we all decided not to get off of IH35 north, because we KNEW that road lead home!. By that time we were all ready to go home!

When we hit New Braunfels, we saw a Mamacitas and stopped (it could be seen from the interstate, so there was NO WAY we could get lost again!!) It wasn't as nice as the one in San Antonio, but it was food. After making it back to familiar territory, Chris took us by Westinghouse where he had worked a few days on a job there. He wanted them to see the Texas Longhorns. The real ones, not the team! lol

After looking at the Longhorns, Chris decided to take one of his famous "shortcuts" to the house. Along the way, we saw a subdivision that had model homes open. Of course, I found a house I wanted!! lol It was really nice!! Nice price tag too. After walking through the house, Ruby falling because she missed a step, Chris embarassing us by using the bathroom in a model house, it was time to go! Of course before he could get us home, he had to get lost again! When we FINALLY made it home, I was about ready to kiss the ground!! lol

We had alot of fun, and as you can tell, we had an adventure too. I hated to see them go. I wish we could have had another day or two at least. There were alot of things we would have like to have done, but most were closed on a Sunday. I hope that they can come again and maybe stay longer.

Here are some of the pictures taken on our adventure:

Here's just a view of the water

This is one of the boats we went on

Mamaw Ruby

Joyce and Janice

A diver in the water

A view from the glass bottom boat. The water was really clear

This was a turtle in one of the exhibits

A baby turtle....ain't he cute?

One of the Longhorns.

On the job and underground

Today, I got to go to a work site where Chris was "working". I rode out there with one of my bosses, Mike. We had to wait for Chris, Mitch and Joseph to come back from their long lunch break (must be nice to take long leisurely lunches). Anyway, I went along so that I could take some photos of what the guys do on a site.

Hmmmm......wonder what they're doing?????

This is an "underground job". I didn't really know why they called it underground until I saw the whole they had dug themselves into.

After the guys came back from their lunch, they went to work very quickly. I think it had something to do with Mike being there!

That's mike there.

Here's Chris. Was he playing the role of supervisor or slacker??

HA, HA, My guess is slacker, but whatever it was, he was doing a dang good job of it! lol

Well, I can tell you this.....after being out there today, I'm so glad I have an office job! It was some kind of hot out there. And muddy too!

A dirty job but somebody's gotta do it!

An early Birthday Present!

Chris gave me an early birthday present and I just had to share!!
I was looking at online at a local camera store and noticed that they had workshops available. So, on October the 13th and 14th, I will be in a workshop taught by Jerry Avenaim!! He's photographed Mark Harmon, Alicia Silverstone, Halle Berry, James Caan, Chalton Heston and others! I'm so excited!! His lighting techniques are awesome, and I will learn those in a 2 hr workshop on the 13th. On the 14th, we will learn outdoor lighting and set ups. This one will be a hands on, so I will get to take some photos with his set up that day!


After the workshop, I'll post some of the shots that I will take!
here's his site. He's great! I hope I can retain some of his teachings!
Jerry Avenaim

My newest model

My new boss' wife does alot of crafts, and since they came and helped Chris and I unload the Uhaul, I offered to take the pictures of her crafts for her to use in selling them. Since they were coming by today for that, I had to get my lights out and make sure they worked. Haven't used them in a while! lol

So, Chris actually volunteered to have his picture made!!! I know, I couldn't believe it either!! lol He even made a clothing change!! lol

So I'm posting a couple of my favorites of him. He's just too cute!

Checking in

Things have been going really great here! We got our furniture delivered, got the cable and internet hooked up and have just about gotten the house decorated. I promise I'll put pictures up soon!
Chris and I both started work on the 31st, and have enjoyed our new jobs. It's not really that "new" to me, but for Chris, this is a whole new experience! He's been riding with Mitch the last couple of weeks, and he's been learning things really quick. Each night, he tells me what jobs they were working on, and the things he did. Now when I ask "how was your day" he has something to tell me. He gets animated when he talks about the stuff he's learning. I'm so happy for him! He's even been happy with the overtime!! lol
Friday night we went to a Mexican place with Mitch and his girlfriend. We had a great time and plan to go to 6th Street in Austin one weekend to see the nightlife.
This place is huge! We've gotten lost trying to find things, but Chris has found a way to get around. He knows where the local Hooters place is, so he remembers how close things are to Hooters and that's his guide. (Men.....)
Well, that's all for now I guess. I'll be able to take some pics of the house this weekend and post them.
Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all.

We made it!

Ok, so everyone will not have to keep emailing me asking if we made it, WE'RE HERE!!!!! YEAH!!!!!
It was a looooong trip and slightly boring! Chris was driving the Uhaul and towing his truck. I was in front in my car with the directions. Only took the wrong turn once! Which for me is really good! I broke out the camera on the trip and will post some of the pictures that I took on the road. I got really bored on the long stretch and started taking pictures of clouds. I saw a cloud that actually looked like a "C", but later, I looked at the picture and wondered what that store had slipped into my coke!! lol

I'll post pictures of our house in the next couple of days. We don't have internet at the house right now (jerks). Chris and I both started work on Monday and have been trying to unpack and organize our home.

I just wanted to pop in and tell everyone hello, we made it, it's gorgeous here and thanks to all of those who have wished us well.

Keep checking back with us and if you're in the mood for a road trip, we'll "leave a light on for ya!" (well, I will, but ya'll know how Chris is about lights being left on!!!) Ya'll are welcome at anytime!

We love ya'll

Johnny's Pizza

Well, I'm sitting here eating Johnny's Pizza for the last time (at least for a while!) There's not a Johnny's Pizza in Texas. (at least that I know of)

It's lunchtime and the office ordered the pizza for us. I've got so much to do, but it's all at the house, so I can't get it done till after work. I'm tired just thinking about the next 48 hours. I really wish that I didn't have to work today or tomorrow.

Although I dread the long drive, I am soooo looking forward to moving into our new house and starting our new lives. We purchased some new furniture, but they won't deliver the living room set until around the 10th!!!! I'm furious but I'll get over it.

Well lunch is over with now, so I better get back before I get fired, lol (yeah right!!!)

Saying goodbye

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to Carol. Carol and I started at AFPG within a couple of weeks of each other and have been friends since. We're completely opposite of each other, but alike in so many ways. I have always been able to bounce ideas off Carol and get a true response from her.

I know we'll be talking on a weekly (if not daily) basis for work, and we'll continue to keep in touch as friends too. True friendships don't die. Besides Carol and her husband are going to be adopting a baby soon, and I will just have to make the trip back to Monroe to take some photos for her!!

Still, it was sad to give her one last hug and say goodbye. I'll miss being able to drop by her door and roll my eyes at her.

I'm gonna miss you, Carol, but hope to see you again soon.

Uggghhhhh

Did I mention how much junk I have to pack???? Of course, Chris would just throw it out if I turned my back for a minute! lol I'm a packrat, and I come by it naturally! Anyone that knows my family understands what I mean!

I've taken a break from packing today, cause I ran out of boxes. I'm gonna go get some more in a bit, but want to rest.

Thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the Walmart that is a few miles from our new house. HAHA I can hear all of you now......."WALMART??????????" Well, this WalMart was so cool looking, that we had to take a picture of it. I've never seen one that looked like this on the outside. We didn't go in, so I have no idea what the inside looks like.

Our New Home

Here's a quick snapshot that I took of our new house. I couldn't take any pictures of the inside, because the family hasn't moved out yet. So, all I could get was a quick one of the front of the house. Once we move in, I'll post some of the entire house.

Well folks......

In case you haven't heard, Chris and I are moving to TEXAS!
We've both accepted jobs with the company that I work with, and we will be in the Round Rock office.

We went to TEXAS this weekend, and found a GORGEOUS home to lease!
I'll post pictures when we move in.

I'll do my best to keep our adventures updated here.

We went to San Antonio on Sunday to visit my cousin Brenda. She took us to a Mexican place called "Mamacitas" It was great! The inside of the building looked like it was in the center of a little mexican village in the middle of all the buildings! The ceiling was made to look like the night sky with stars. If you watched, you'd even see a few shooting stars too!
The food was wonderful. Wonderful atmosphere. We both loved it and can't wait to go back!

This was Chris' birthday and also our 2nd anniversary. We really had a wonderful time and so look forward to starting our life in TEXAS!

That's all for now I guess!