Two Weeks!

Holy Crap! Today Madelyn is leaving for two weeks (!!!!) to go and visit her sister and family. I'm not looking foward to the next two weeks of being alone, but I am excited that Madelyn gets to take a vacation. I wasn't feeling very happy this morning about the time alone, but I started laughing again after seeing these pictures. I thought you guys would enjoy them. It looks like McAustinTX Blog might be taking a small break. Maybe you can talk Madelyn into posting some picutes of her and her semi-new neice. I don't think you need pictures of me hanging out watching TV and playing video games.....





If you like these pictures.... I have more.... I don't know why putting words to strange pictures of animals is so funny, but I was honestly in tears from laughter.

Houston...... we have a problem. Too much fun....

(hanging out at the beach)

So it’s been a year (and a day) since Madelyn and I got married. It doesn’t seem like that long, but somehow an entire year has past. It’s been a crazy (but really awesome) year. Somehow we have found ourselves living in Texas, and working in completely different jobs. It’s been exciting, scary, fun, frustrating, sad, and relieving all at the same time. I think both Madelyn and I have learned more in the past year than all four years in school. From the silly things, like Madelyn is scared of ostriches, to the important things, like managing money. If you ever want to challenge your relationship move to another state, with no jobs, and move in with your parents! It sounds a lot worse than it actually was, but it’s hard to believe what we’ve done in a year’s time. I don’t think you could have piled on any more challenges to overcome than we completed this year. There is only one thing you can do after a crazy year like we’ve had…… vacation.


(Madelyn taking in some boot shopping.... when in Rome)

Here is something you might not know about Madelyn, she loves surprises, so this weekend I planned a surprise vacation to the Texas coast. Before we headed out of town we went out to dinner here in Austin on Friday night to a really nice restaurant to celebrate our anniversary and my new job (let’s spend the money before we get it!). After dinner we went to a boot store next door, where I snapped the above picture…. Maybe Madelyn is getting used to this whole Texas thing. We also were invited to a party on Friday night, and we had a really great time, especially since it seems like we are on our way to making some new friends in Austin. On Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed for the ocean. We went to an island about 45 minutes past Houston called Galveston. The road trip was pretty un-eventful except for the business named “Slender Lady Weight Loss Center” which had us laughing pretty hard, and road closures in the downtown Houston area which got me a little nervous (MapQuest isn’t helpful in these situations… and Houston is A LOT bigger than I thought). Madelyn didn’t have any idea where we were going until after we left Houston and she could see the signs for Galveston. Since Madelyn is new to to Texas, she is completely unfamiliar with Texas Geography, so just because she knew we were heading to Houston didn’t mean she knew where we were going. It was really fun to keep her in the dark about the whole thing, but I really could have used her navigation skills in Houston.


(hanging out by the pool)

We stayed at a really nice resort in Galveston called Moody Gardens. Since the last hotel we stayed at was the Days Inn on the south side of Oklahoma City (I want to shower just thinking of this place) this hotel was a nice change. It was a really nice hotel, with an awesome pool, an aquarium, water park, and IMAX theater. Since we were only there for the weekend we pretty much stuck to the pool. On Saturday night we asked the front desk where a nice place to eat would be, and she told us that it might be hard to go out because of something called “Beach Party”. We weren’t going to let anything called “Beach Party” ruin our nice vacation…. And plus, what does this Hotel lady know? Well, fast forward to 30 minutes later when we are stuck in traffic amongst 25,000 African American spring breakers. They were using the road we were on for showing off all of these amazing modified cars. So there Madelyn and I are, sitting in traffic amongst a bunch of modified cars (low riders) with their music BLARING, and all the spring breakers on the side of the street watching. I bet we were an interesting sight…… we definitely looked out of place in our Honda sitting in traffic with a bunch of pimped out cars. Do I even have to mention we were the only white people I could see?


(Downtown Galveston from the hamburger place)


(View of all the cruise ships)


We eventually found the other side of the island which houses “downtown” Galveston. This is where all of the older homes and buildings are, as well as the harbor where all of the cruise ships stop. The contrast between the “beach party” scene to the “Cruise ship” scene was pretty drastic. We went from loud hip-hop and crazy cars, to a bunch of old people window shopping on their Cruise Ship stop. I would have much rather spent time at the Beach Party….. that seemed like a lot more fun. We really wanted to have some seafood, but couldn’t find any that was a reasonable price. So we went to a hamburger place, with a really nice patio, where we watched the cruise ships come in and out. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by the beach and played in the waves for a little while. We got to the beach just in time for sunset which was really nice.





After the beach we went to the hotel, did some night swimming, and fell asleep. The next day we spent some more time by the pool, and left the hotel. It was a really nice mini-vacation, and very relaxing. While our vacation was coming to an end for Madelyn, it had just started for me! Between Galveston and Houston is the NASA Space Center, and since Madelyn married a huge nerd, I would not let us end our vacation until we stopped.


(mission control, the smile is not forced)

NASA was amazing! The tour takes you into the actual space center; you get to see Mission Control, where they train astronauts, and old space shuttles that they’ve used. Space shuttles are HUGE. Holy Cow! The coolest thing about the tour is that you are actually looking at the facilities they use. So when we were at Mission Control you could see people working, and you could see live pictures from the astronauts they had in space.

(Madelyn standing in the "kill zone")


(The space shuttle is real, the grass is fake)

In the museum they had scales where you could see what you would weigh on each planet; both Madelyn and I would like to take our Mars weight. While we were in the museum we ventured into a really dark area where they had models of what the moon looks like, a guy in a space suit was walking around taking pictures with kids. He walked up behind Madelyn, and I said to her “hey, don’t turn around because you’ll get scared”, of course she turns around and is face to face with a spaceman. She jumped about 10 feet, and I was in tears of laughter. The best part is I’m not in any trouble, because I warned her! For a nerd like me, NASA was heaven, and even Madelyn really enjoyed herself. It was a lot of fun, and made me want to enroll in Space Camp….. Although I think I’m too old.

(the model guy in the background freaked Madelyn out)


(how many people have put this space helmet on their head?)

After NASA we headed home in time to watch our wedding video (we had never seen it). It was a really great weekend, and we had a great time.

New Job

Good news from Austin, TX. Today I was officially hired as a Project Manager for Dell Computers! Woo-Hoo!

We are going on a little Anniversary Vacation this weekend, so I will have some more on that next week!

Easter Bunny versus the Skunk

Easter is one of those holidays that really doesn't make any sense. Could you imagine explaining the concept of Easter to someone from another planet? How could you honestly explain such a concept to an outsider? I mean, we understand it because we've been fed little by little each year since we were kids, and I still don't exactly comprehend it. What would you say?

"Well, Easter is a holiday in which we celebrate the death and Resurrection of the son of our God, He died for us and our sins. We celebrate this day by taking our kids to the mall to take pictures with a giant rabbit, we then paint hollow eggs, and then parents hide those eggs in the yard for kids to find. The kids believe that the eggs were hidden by the Easter Bunny..... although bunnies and eggs have absolutely nothing in common. Once the kids find the eggs they carry them around in a basket.... sometimes they receive candy for their efforts. It's a religious holiday."

It makes absolutely no sense! But, Madelyn and I celebrated it this weekend probably like everyone else (well, maybe not exactly like everyone else). Saturday we were supposed to go down to my Grandma's house in San Antonio for the traditional Easter Egg Hunt and feast, but there were two problems. One was that it was 35 degrees on Saturday. It was freezing! We thought that one of the benefits of living this far south is that we don't have to deal with those "freak Salt Lake City type" late surges of cold. Unfortunately, just like the Ice Storm, it seems like some weather has followed us here. Speaking of the South (and the differences between our old and new residence), the other reason we didn't go to my Grandmas house on Saturday was because my family pulled something right out of the "redneck handbook". My Grandma told the story as follows:

Lately they have had a skunk that has been crawling under their house and spraying their dog. Getting frustrated by the smell of their dog, and the fear that this animal will spray, or die, underneath their house, they covered up the hole that the skunk was using to get under the house. Apparently, the skunk really liked being under the house, so he went searching for a new way underneath. Somehow in his search, he found himself on the back porch where he sprayed the barking dog and all of my Grandma's plants. My Grandpa, who was inside, immediately smelled the skunk and grabbed the nearest broom. This apparently wasn't affective enough so he searched for something more... blunt. My Grandma had just gotten out of the shower when she walked past the window and saw my Grandpa outside. She told me that it took her a little while to contemplate what was happening but when she looked back outside she saw my Grandpa, in his socks, beating an animal on their back porch with a baseball bat. This image had everyone laughing at our Easter Dinner. The funniest thing about this story is that my Grandma reminded everyone that this is NOT the first time my Grandpa has beaten a skunk with a baseball bat. Apparently this has happened before. The good news is that the skunk is no longer alive, but apparently the skunk won the battle because the back door was open. Anyway, because of the smell of skunk in my Grandparent's house, we decided to hold our Easter Celebrations at my mom's here in Austin.

It was an interesting Easter (cold weather, skunks, etc), but we had a great time visiting with everyone and taking it easy.

Our Music

Madelyn and I are HUGE music fans, and I thought I would share with everyone in blog land what we are currently listening to. I have always really enjoyed introducing friends to new artists, and thought using this blog to share with you some of our favorites would be a nice change of pace. In no particular order:



Mates of States: We’ve mentioned them before, but we just can’t get enough of them. They're a married couple who plays the drums and keyboard and harmonize with each other. It’s some of the coolest music you will ever hear…… and they tour with their toddler! How cool is that? Hear their music at Myspace



Laura Veirs: Every time I hear Laura Veirs I appreciate her more and more. Her music is really nice and easy to listen to, but it also has a layer of complexity that keeps the music critics happy. In my opinion she is the coolest woman in music. Hear her music at Myspace



Decemberists: This band isn’t really “under the radar” anymore, but they certainly haven’t let their small fame get to their heads. Their new album is just as amazing as all the rest. If you have never heard the Decemberists get ready to enjoy the BEST lyricist is music today as well as some of the coolest music. Hear their music at Myspace



Sufjan Stevens: Here is another guy who burst out of obscurity to become a really popular artist. Sufjan is absolutely the most original artists playing music today. His music is like nothing you’ve ever heard…… Hear his music at Myspace


Wilco: I don’t know if I speak for Madelyn (she has mixed feelings) but Wilco is by far the best band making music today. Fifty years from now when people look back at the music that was the most influential from our time there will be two bands discussed. Radiohead…… and Wilco. Wilco isn’t for everyone, but for those of you who consider yourself a music critic you will appreciate my recommendation…… and your life will never be the same. Hear their music at Myspace



Iron and Wine: Iron and Wine is basically one guy and a guitar, sometimes with his sister is tow who provides harmonies. This is one of those “bands” that got a lot of exposure from the movie “Garden State” for their song on the soundtrack. Iron and Wine is some of my favorite music, and by far the best concert I have ever seen. The whole audience was in tears during the concert, which sounds really depressing, but it’s because his music is so moving…… quite the experience. Hear his music at Myspace



Madelyn and I always have music on when we are cooking dinner or cleaning, here is what we can’t get enough of lately. Some of it's new and some is old…....but we still love it.

The Smiths- The Best Of

The Dixie Chicks- Taking the Long Way (watch the documentary “Shut up and Sing” if you haven’t seen it)

Beck- Guero and The Information

Corrine Bailey Ray- Self Titled

No Doubt- Remember when Gwen Stefani used to be good?

Talking Heads and anything by David Burne (lead singer)

Antonio Carlos Jobim- The Best Of

Tom Petty- The Best Of

Also, over on My Myspace Page I posted a blog……. My top ten favorite Songs. Although I bet they’ve changed since last week.

Our Crazy Week (and some of this week), Part Two

So after my sister’s visit we were on our way to Dallas to visit my family who had come into town to visit my Grandma, and so that Angie could attend a conference. It was a quick trip, but still a lot of fun.

It started out with taking an alternate way to Dallas, which was scenic and a lot less stressful than driving on I-35. Usually our trip to Dallas concludes with me having to peel my white knuckled fingers from the steering wheel after enduring 3-4 hours of maneuvering between semi trucks on lanes that looked like they were designed for bicycles. This was a much more relaxing ride because we got to see some of the prettier areas of Texas (coming from Utah this sounds like it would be impossible, but there are actually some really pretty areas!) and we got to drive through some strange small towns. They weren’t “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” strange… it was more like “giant Billy the kid statues” strange. On a side note, you all might be interested to know that Billy the Kid day will be April 7th. Besides the giant Billy the Kid statue, and the huge banners announcing the annual Billy the Kid Festival, the strangest thing to me was that each small town seemed to have a Dairy Queen… I bet on our drive we passed at least 7 different ones. I don’t think I have ever seen a Dairy Queen in Austin, but each one of these small towns had one. So of course, I didn’t feel like our trip was complete without stopping at one and getting a blizzard. We also stopped in Hico, which is pronounced Hi-co (we were pronouncing it Hick-o, which is kind of degrading, but our subconscious put Texas and small town together… I guess the first thing we thought was Hick). Anyway, we stopped in Hico Texas where we snapped this picture:



Once we arrived in Dallas we took it easy, I played golf with my dad and Grandpa, while Madelyn went shopping with Angie. Madelyn swears that she went into the nicest Ross Dress For Less she had ever been to, she told me that she could have slept there. I immediately was given the image of what Hell would be like: living in a Ross Dress for Less. Once we were done with golfing we headed to the Dallas science museum (creatively called, “The Science Place”) where we saw one of the coolest exhibits we have ever seen. The exhibit is called Body Worlds, and it’s basically a bunch of cadavers all taken apart in different ways. It sounds a lot grosser than it actually was. It was incredible to see how our bodies are put together. They put the cadavers through a process called plastenation, so that they remain in specific poses... And most importantly, don’t smell. There were cadavers where they had taken out everything but nerves, or everything but veins. There were also small cases where you could look up-close at smokers lungs compared to healthy ones, and different organs that had suffered from various diseases. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Check out their website, Body Worlds Site . We planned ahead and made sure to eat our Barbeque dinner BEFORE arriving to the Body Worlds exhibit.



On our last day I went on a quick golfing trip with Jackson and my dad. Believe it or not Jackson beat me (Imagine that…my dad was keeping score). He actually had some great shots... (although I think he enjoyed driving the cart more than anything.)



Once we were finished with golfing, Madelyn, Jackson, and I went to the nearest field to fly kites. A couple of weeks ago Madelyn and I were at our favorite weekend destination, H.E.B.(our grocery store), when I saw some kites for sale. I told Madelyn that we should go fly some kites when she informed me that she had never flown a kite before! So we picked out a Hello Kitty kite for Madelyn and I got a killer Ninja Turtle kite, and Dallas was the first opportunity we had to fly them. I made sure to get a picture of Madelyn’s first kite flying! Next week I think I might take the training wheels off her bike…



This week we had to catch up on all of the stuff we didn’t get done from our two weeks off. This weekend we saw Blades of Glory (funny, funny, movie—if you like Will Ferrell) and went shopping for some new work clothes for Madelyn (that was especially exciting for me), and we also went on a nice leisure bike ride around Town Lake. On our bike ride we passed a couple of pools where we saw people swimming. I guess it hadn’t dawned on me that its now nice enough out side to go swimming again (it was about 78 degrees today). Madelyn’s favorite part of the bike ride was seeing all of the puppies, and of course seeing a lady wearing a uni-tard straight out of 1988. Seriously, she was wearing a unitard.