Two in college, one in high school, and a new car!

I'm getting to blogging less and less and I guess it's just because I'm so danged busy with life that I don't have any spare time to write about what's going on!

Courtney is in her second her at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, which is about an hour away from Houston.  She is on the cheer team and got a cheer scholarship, which helps pay for her housing.  She lives in the dorms on campus and lives a very typical college life.  She's always broke, asking me for money, and has discovered the college party scene.  I'm very happy that she gets to experience life in the dorm and wish I had that experience when I was her age.

Carly decided not to cheer anymore and is in her first year of community college at Lone Star.  She has a heavy workload and is living at home with us, although we hardly see her as she spends most of her time with her friends and her boyfriend.  She studies a lot and is doing well with her grades, and we couldn't be more proud of her.

Corbin started his freshman year in high school and has transitioned amazingly well.  It seems to be better for him - although not perfect by any shade of the imagination, it is better than middle school.  Middle school was very hard for him and I'm glad to have that behind us and on to brighter things.

I decided to retire the minivan and had initially had my heart set on getting a regular old (new) car.  Not a minivan, not a truck, not an SUV, but a car.  I've driven that minivan around for ten years and I was tired of it! Chad told me that he thought I would be more comfortable in an SUV because it sits higher up off the ground than a car, and I was used to sitting up high in a minivan.  I thought he was crazy.  The only thing that Chad asked of me in the car buying process was to try out/test drive lots of options, so I could make an informed choice.  Sure enough, I didn't like how the cars felt and he was right (yes I said it) - I was more comfortable in an SUV.  We test drove many different makes and models, and I made my decision on what felt right for me.  I ended up getting a Nissan Rogue, which is the smaller sized SUV from that brand.  It has all the bells and whistles on it that makes it modern for the time (which I am sure will be outdated in a few years), and I am absolutely loving and appreciating it.  (I actually didn't even want to test drive a Nissan, because I didn't like the name.  Ended up loving it.  Go figure.)

We recently went to the Renaissance Festival here in Texas, which is exactly like the one at home in Minnesota.  We ended up buying costumes there and walking around dressed up, which I can tell you is much more fun than just walking around as a regular patron.  Seriously, we had a blast!  I can't wait to do it again.

We are looking forward to having family come to Houston for the holidays - my folks are coming for Thanksgiving and Chad's folks are coming for Christmas. I can't believe it's November 1st already...time continues to fly as we navigate our lives here in Houston.

South Padre Island

Well, as much as I have come to dislike the city of Houston, there are some things that can be considered perks; such as, the close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

We vacationed on South Padre Island for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  It was a six hour commute from our house.  The drive was tolerable and navigation was easy.

Courtney had a previous commitment with her friends, so we took Carly, Corbin and Carly's boyfriend, Alex.  The point was to give Carly a graduation present in lieu of having a traditional graduation party.

It was a casual, four-day vacation with absolutely no agenda but going to the beach, and it was fabulous.  We dug our toes in the sand, swam in the surf, and bathed in the sun.



View of the ocean from our balcony





View from master bedroom window - nothing like laying in bed and looking at the ocean
 



Ocean blues

On the beach

Ocean waves



Alex and Carly before dinner



Sunset at the beach



Heading to dinner on the island



Dinner al fresco



Laguna Bob's



Beach bums

Sunset at Laguna Bob's restaurant

June Updates

A couple updates:

Flooding
Houston has been hit with an incredible amount of rainfall in the last three months, causing extensive flooding in the metro area.  We were fortunate in that our house was not affected directly by the flooding - we did not have water damage to any of our personal belongings within the property.  However, the homes and roads around us have been affected greatly.  One of the problems I had to deal with for several weeks was the Highway 6 road closure.  Highway 6 is a major highway that connects to Highway 10, which is another main artery into Houston and is also the highway that takes me downtown to my job.  For those of you in Minnesota, it would be like having 35W close, and the entire city of Bloomington having to take France Avenue to downtown.  Actually, that doesn't really come close to comparing, but just imagine if you will that France Avenue was literally the only route to get to downtown - there was no other route to take.  The volume of cars trying to use one small roadway to get to somewhere major would be catastrophic.  That is a very small comparison to what I had to deal with on a daily basis.  There was just no other alternates to take that fifty thousand other people were trying to take at the same time.  It was a nightmare that lasted for weeks, and there is still standing water on the sides of the roads to this day.  Highway 6 is now open, but the ground is so fragile that even when we get a couple of inches of rain, the road floods over and closes and we are back to our hellish traffic nightmare.  This has been my least favorite part of our Houston experience by far.

Carly Graduation
Our middle child, Carly Rae, has graduated from high school!  Both of our girls are heading off to the same college to cheer in the fall.  It's a junior college (a feeder into A&M) but they get the full campus/dorm living experience.  I'm jealous as all get out of their college experiences!  My college experience was quite different as I went straight into business school, but I get glimpse into what I missed out on through them.  I'm so happy and proud of both of our girls.

Heading into Summer
Our community pool has opened and we are glad to take a dip and cool ourselves on the weekends.  The puppies are doing well; Clara is still energetic and naughty, but it's a puppy naughty and she is already making great strides into settling down.

Carly has a summer job at Typhoon Texas, a water park in Katy.  She is a cabana girl - that is, there are private cabanas for rental and she is a server.  She makes tips as a waitress would.

Courtney has a summer job as a nanny to a cheer family.  She actually spends a lot of time at Typhoon Texas as well as the family bought a season pass.  

We are planning a trip soon to South Padre Island to celebrate Carly's graduation -- it will be our first non-cheer related vacation since moving to Texas.  We're talking no plans, dig your toes into the sand type of vacation.  Can't wait!

Until next time!  :)

My Visit to Minnesota

So Chad had a corporate event in Minnesota that required that the regional sales managers attend, so I bought a plane ticket and tagged along for his trip.  It was the first visit back to Minnesota after we moved to Houston in January 2014.

I thought I would feel nostalgic and want to stay or move back home after visiting with family and friends.  Surprisingly, I didn't!  It actually reinforced that I like our new lives here.  I realize that saying that counters my previous posting about not liking Houston, but there is a difference between liking our lives and liking the actual city.  I can't imagine moving back!

It was truly great to visit with my family and my friends.  One of the best feelings is having friends that you haven't seen in a long time and being able to pick up right where you left off without missing a beat.  The conversation is not forced or awkward after not seeing them for years. (S/O to Doug and Tina, Andrea, and Kay!)

I also got to meet our nephew, Jethro, who was born in December.  What a sweet baby!

For those of you who saw me, yes, those eyelashes were fake.  I do a great Minnie Mouse impression, don't you think?

Note: I'm just poking fun at myself.  I got glammed up :)

The weather was unseasonably warm when we visited, so I want to thank Mother Nature for cooperating with us and not snowing while we visited.

Overall the visit went extremely well.  We left our teenagers at home to their own devices, and learned that they still need us after all.  They aren't quite ready to fly the coop yet! We are hoping to come back in the summer as a family and visit the cabin for a few days.  There's nothing like a Minnesota summer at the cabin, and you definitely cannot replicate that experience here in Houston.

Until next time...Minnie Mouse, OUT!

Happy New Year 2016

As we enter our third January in Houston (it's only been two years, but it's our third January), I'd like to make a confession that I've come to realize over the last two years: I don't particularly like Houston.  I am still floored that we left all of our family and friends in Minnesota to start a new life for our family.  It has had its ups and downs, for sure.

One thing I can be certain of, is that our main goal of upgrading our quality of life has been accomplished.  We have a nicer house and a better income to provide for our family. But I've decided that Houston is a huge city with strong Mexican roots and culture, and while that is dandy for people who are born and raised here, it isn't always fun for me.

I just rehashed a bunch of stuff that I've already posted on this site: miss home, but careers going well, blah, blah, blah.  Decided to delete it since it's just a bunch of regurgitated stuff.  More of the same.

So here's what's new:

We got a puppy in early December.  Her name is Clara Belle, we call her Clara.  We stuck with the "C" theme, although I swore we didn't have to do that anymore, we did it anyway.  She was born approximately 9/30/15 - she is a rescue puppy so we aren't exactly certain of her birth date.  She's extremely sassy and barks and plays rough.  She doesn't leave the older dog, Cali, alone - constantly nips at her and wants to play.  Cali has always been a skittish dog and does not assert herself as the alpha, so the puppy has become the alpha.  She's a shit and some days it is hard to like her.  However, she is a really smart dog - I think her breed of being part German Shepard, part Labrador Retriever works in her favor for the smarts.  We put some bells by the back door and she knows to nudge the bells with her nose or paw to ring the bells when she wants to go outside.  She is potty trained, which is half the battle.  However, being such a young puppy, she still wakes up at the crack of down and is ready to eat and play.  There is no sleeping in anymore at the Nelson household.  I know it will get better the older she gets, so we are just biding our time until she grows.

Courtney is in the process of trying to reenroll at a college.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that all will work out for her.  She deserves it.  She's a great kiddo that hasn't deserved some things that has gotten thrown her way.

Carly is focusing on entering her last semester of high school.  Her plans are to go to a local community college after graduation.  Right now we are entering nationals season with cheer and are trying to get through that.  We won't see the end of that until March.

Corbin is in the process of withdrawing from public school again and reentering into online school.  It's a constant battle with him and all parties involved, especially Corbin, is at wits end.  Wish I had better news to report on that front, but I don't.

2016 is starting off with a lot of STRESS.  I am hoping it gets better!!!