Field Trip

Rudy and I took a trip a few weeks ago to Austin. We had a great day - a picnic, a trip to a museum and great 70 degree January weather. We are adapting to Texas and our proximity to Austin makes that a much easier.  We love Austin!

A few cool shots from our day:

eyes that follow you throughout the room

spaghetti like sculpture outside of the museum

Ancient Athenian coins (circa 120-190 AD)

Another Athenian coin

Our House..... is a very, very, very nice house

Every other year, Rudy and I head to Cincinnati for the holidays.  And I started a tradition of making a gingerbread house.  Rudy and his brother Joshua have created their own tradition of destroying the house at the end of the week.  Here is this year's house:

The before

The after

Happy New Year From Dudy!

What's For Dinner?

Just being silly...and we were bored (it is Texas afterall) so here is what we ate....Cajun Scallops with Succatash

Rudy cleaned his plate!

It was vest night at the Dunlaps...

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And the next day...for a holiday party....Peppermint Bark!  

Rudy's favorite!

Snow! Seriously, it snowed in Texas!

So we got snow...unbelieveable.  It's a Christmas miracle for Texas!  I spoke to people in their 20's who had never seen snow in their lives (and have always lived in this region).  It was fun while it lasted and made us all think it felt a little more like the holidays.  Of course, the next day was in the 70's but ....hey....it snowed!

Snowball to prove it snowed here.  

Come and visit and see the snowball, in person.

Sleigh Riding, Texas Style

So as most of you know, I traveled several places over the last few months (Canada, Baltimore, DC, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and soon to be in Ohio) and I got it out of my system!  I decided until we have children, I wanted to go back to work.  We both realized I was driving myself nuts at home (there is only so much one can do) and I had an opportunity to go back into special events planning.  I began my career a long time ago with Marriott in DC area and I loved planning events.  Unfortunately, it is not a high salary so when Rudy went to grad school, I went into Human Resources.  

Two weeks ago, I took a position working with Bryan Parks and Recreation and I love it!  I was hired specifically for our large event in June called Texas Reds Wine Festival - but, I also work other events such as the holiday themed events we have in our local parks.  These are pictures from my first night on the job.  Our office hired a snow-maker from Colorado (12 hours away) to come and make snow for the kiddies.  I must say, although I thought it was a little lame when I heard about it, it turned out to be a really cool thing for the Texas kids to experience.  My memories growing up were of sleigh riding with all the kids in the neighborhood - Joe, Nancy, etc. and it was magical.  For one night, Bryan Parks and Rec was able to bring that to the kids here.  How cool.

My Nieces @ Thanksgiving

Olivia staring at her Aunt DD wondering why she (I) takes so many pics

Kira

Foot-Fights on Nana's couch

Travelin' Woman

A week or so ago, I was able to go to St. Augustine to pug-sit for my cousin Amy's 'babies' - Henry and Isabelle.  They were headed to Ireland for a week and a half and I went to their beautiful home to rest, read and relax on my own.  Solitude was nice. Here are a few photos of my trip.

Henry waiting for mom and dad to return.

Quebec City Part Two

More pics from our trip to Quebec.   We met some awesome folks from all over the world (hence, the name World Leisure Congress) and we went out for some biere (beer) and poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curd) one night.  We saw some hippies dancing and I am happy to report, hippies do drum and dance the same in Quebec as they do in Boone, NC.

The next day, Rudy was free to sightsee - so here are some of those pics of the old harbor in Quebec City:

10 Ans

We finally are celebrating our 10th anniversary!

les portes de Quebec

As I am walking around Quebec, I am wondering when we decided to design things differently.  By different, I mean less detailed, plain, without character in my opinion.  It seems in America as in Quebec, houses and buildings had more detail 100 years ago.  Why are these amazing doors still being created?  Or maybe they are and we just choose the standard door from Home Depot.

I took photos of doors throughout Quebec; it seems that life feels richer here.  There is more beauty in the details.  People seem to live with less - less square footage, less clothing (people often wear the same clothing several times in one week), less cars, even less food at the restaurants.  What I see more of is socialization in common places - bars and cafes are packed on Sunday and Monday nights with families, neighbors, co-workers.  They seem genuinely happy with less things and more community.  

Quebec City

Rudy and I excitedly left Bryan on Sunday morning for Quebec City. Rudy was asked to present a piece he had written at the World Leisure Congress held this year in Quebec City.  For those who are not familiar, Quebec City is the oldest section of Quebec and Montreal.  They actually just celebrated their 400th anniversary. Similar to Montreal, the preferred language is French but the majority of people know a bit of English. 

The city is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been. Here are some photos from my many walks on my first day (click the pic to view more detail):