Kickin' it bachelor style

So this weekend one of Kate's bff's is having her bachelorette party & I'm hanging out with Mav. Just two dudes hanging out, watching football, no women. We got great news tonight....ASU played at TX A&M & guess what......we (ASU) won! Big! So big! After starting the season last year at Texas & almost winning, it's great to see us start off strong & win on the road against a Big XII team. Sweet!

With Kate gone, it's lonelier around here for both me & Mav. I ran errands today & stocked up on supplies for he big holiday weekend. But it's easy to tell her presence missing, & I can't wait for her to get back tomorrow. I'm looking forward to laying by the pool & grilling, too! Sp just a short post tonight. I'll leave you with two thoughts:

1) Life is better for me when Kate's around.
2) I'm really glad college football season is here!

--Josh

Maverick's New Haircut

Because of the over-whelming response, here are some pictures of Maverick's new 'do. ENJOY!



-Mama

Boo...hoo...

I'd like to call myself a "supportive" wife - I always have my husband's back and am constantly on his side. In fact, I was the one on my knees sorting through the billions of jeans yesterday...while Josh sat there feeling sorry for himself.

I'm sorry honey...but I'm going to counter your below post...Love ya!


Have you ever heard of Lucky Jeans? Of course you have because you don't live under a rock. My husband has heard of Lucky Jeans. In fact, he was with me when I bought my first pair of Lucky Jeans. Why then, doesn't he go to the Lucky store that is inevitably in every mall we step foot it? Why doesn't he put his tears and sorrow aside, cough up $100 and purchase the most amazing jeans he's ever owned? The answer, folks...because poor, tall, athletic Josh wants everyone to feel sorry for his long, desired body.

My solution: go to the Lucky store, try on ANY pair of jeans you want (because they got 'em all) and stop being a cry baby.

I love you honey. Now let's go shopping :)

-Kate

Worst shopping trip EVER

Most of the time, in fact just about every moment of my life, it's cool to be my size. I love being tall. But on some rare days, which I'll call "shopping days", it kinda stinks. Especially when looking for jeans or pants for me. It's a mission impossible to find jeans that fit. So yesterday, we took Rico to get a haircut at PetsMart up by Stonebriar. His appointment was at 3, & they usually take 4 hours to pamper him appropriately. So with 4 hours to kill & us by a mall, & with Kate's love of shopping at any hour, we sauntered over to the mall. And so it began.

I now recognize that going to a mall with no strategic plan, or primary shopping targets, is a dangerous idea. Kate had one store she needed to visit & an idea of what she was going to get. I had no item I was looking for but kinda was in a shopping mood. That's a bad combo. The result: walking aimlessly around a large mall for several hours, walking into stores & getting a mental beat down 3 steps in. I kind of was searching for a Cowboys jersey for this season, as Kate & I have talked about getting jerseys, but I wasn't in the mood to spend that much on jerseys today. I also looked at shorts & more importantly, jeans, but alas, no jeans in my size could be found. Well, one pair could be found, but they'd look better on a farmhand working the fields. It was kinda depressing not being able to find ANYTHING in my size. Sometimes, life is so rough!

Eventually to my relief we left the mall & came back home. Kate went to get Mav & we were a little surprised by the way the groomer at PetsMart interpreted "trim his ears". They shaved his ears. And this is for a dog who I have never seen with ear hair shorter than 1 1/2 inches. He looks a little silly, & when he shakes his head now it sounds like folds of skin flapping, & it's a little embarrassing when I take him outside for a walk, but at least his ears will be a little cooler. He looks like a bat-dog. Or kinda like Shrek: big head & tiny ears. So imagine him in the picture above, just with shaved, tiny ears. What a Saturday.

--Josh

The Olympics & Aretha

Man oh man, Olympic fever has swept our household. Since the opening ceremonies we've been watching every night. No night has been more exciting than when the US men's swim team beat the French in the relay. We were in bed & starting to doze off, but that race re-energized us & we were up screaming at the TV. In a word.....Wow. It was super great that one of the French girly-men talked trash before the race, about how they would "smash" the Americans, & then we win. Stupid Frenchman, don't talk trash before the race & give the US team bulletin board material. So anyway, we've been glues to the TV every night, cheering on the USA.

Now, for the latest events in our life. Kate's been driving a piece for a while now (actually the car she got when she turned 17). It's continually gone downhill in performance, reliability, & safety, plus she's been in a pissy mood almost everyday when she's gotten home from work, mostly due to her car. So we discussed it & we had the Honda Civic & Nissan Altima on our radar screen. Used. We tested a Civic last Thursday & Kate announced her decision that the Altima was her # 1 choice. I had initially stated my desire to wait until September to buy a car, because I knew she really needed something new & it would be much better for us to have 2 good cars, so I gave in to the fact that if we found a good car for a good price, it would be ok to move on it.

So, after looking online for advertised cars we visited a dealer just North of where we live & tested an Altima & Maxima. After leaving the lot & discussing, we went back to the lot to buy the Altima. I hate the car buying process; the whole negotiating & the way the salesmen & finance guys deal with you, & you sit there & know they're trying to screw you over & you probably are getting screwed over. And how they delve into your personal, financial, home, & every kind of past history they can & analyze you to the T. You sit there, & for us we know we both had great credit ratings, & we should get the best available rate but somehow the rates is higher & the payments are higher than desired, & the whole negotiating with the financiers & snakes. Geez, I really hate it. I was not happy, & didn't smile much. I kinda feel bad, but then again I don't want the guy screwing me over to think that it's all ok & I'm glad to do it & welcome it. Hahaha, not! Just cut the chit-chat & let's talk turkey, & give me an honest answer because I deserve it. The entire time I was confident we would get the car for payments we could easily make, & we did, so I'm happy Kate is in a better car, which we have dubbed Aretha. The ordeal was mentally draining though, & I don't wanna buy a car again anytime soon.

-Josh

Mr. & Mrs.

Well hello there. A lot has gone on since my last post. I mean, almost a month has gone by. My appologies for neglecting our dedicated readers. But, as had been hinted at in previous posts, our wedding day has come & passed. The week leading up to the wedding (on July 19) was fairly hectic. Once we got to Austin, we had the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner & those were successes. For the day of the wedding, I woke up at my Grandma's & went for a run on Town Lake with my dad. We had breakfast at this good Mexican place on Congress, & returned to Grandma's to hang out & watch the British Open until it was time to go to the vanue to get ready. We picked up a few beers on the way & my groomsmen all met us out there, & we relaxed & got dresses, took pictures, & then it was time to get married. I think you could say my day was a little more relaxed than Kate's. The wedding went perfectly & surprise.......neither Kate nor I cried! We were solid. The reception was a lot of fun & we'd recommend Vintage Villas to anyone.

The next morning we had a car pick us up at 5:30 for the airport & our honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica. After connecting in Dallas we landed in Montego Bay & stood in an endless line at customs. A 6-seat shuttle van drove us to Negril. Now, about the driving experience in Jamaica. The drivers are insane, & the pedestrians walking on the side of the road are even more insane. Numerous times we thought we were about to see a wreck from all the cars passing slower cars & barely getting back in the appropriate lane milliseconds before impact. Then, you had walkers & bicycle riders on the side of the road who seemed to have a mission to walk as close to speeding cars as possible. Kate & I swore our driver was about to take out this one lady. I still don't know how we didn't hit her.

Anyway, we got to Couples Negril & the relaxation set in. Well, it took about a day for the wedding stress to subside, & then the relaxaion truely began. Our resort was awsome. Great beach, great food, friendly staff. We had no phone calls, didn't check email, & watched little TV for the next 8 days. It was great. On our last day there we made the perilous drive back to Montego Bay & the airport. Departing the gate on the plane we suddenly stopped & noticed a flight attendant having a very stern conversation with a passenger. In short: the passenger thought her opnion was important enough to delay the flight for 150+ other passengers, & ended up being kicked off the plane. I hated her. We already had a layover in Dallas that afforded us a little time, but now we'd have to rush to make the flight to Austin. We ran off the plane in Dallas, went thru customs with our bags, rechecked our bags, & ran up an escalator to the train. While running with my bag in 1 hand & belt in the other, my foot caught on a step on the escalator & I busted. Hard. It hurt. I was bleeding, but ran up the stairs & got to the train to inspect the damage. I had scrapes on my foot & that was throbbing, & a hole in my knee spewing my own blood. A nice lady in our train gave me a band-aid which seemed to just make the hole mad & bleed more. Luckily, I had a pair of underwear in the bag I was carrying & used that to absorb the dripping blood. I'm sure along the way, some onlooker was grossed out. But we made the flight & got back to Austin OK, stayed the night at Kate's folk's, & drove home with a carload of stuff the next day.

It feels good to be married. Kate & I were talking about it the other day when she asked me if it felt different to be married & I told her yes. She agrees it does, & we both feel it's in good ways. It's nice to know we have each other to love & depend on for the rest of our lives, & that we've made the ultimate committment to each other that we're not going anywhere else. We're home together where we want to be. We know it'll take work & somedays will be good & some not as good, but I wake up every morning thankful & excited to have Kate as my wife.

Sorry for the length of this post, but it's been a while. We'll try to write more often. Until next time, you can find me in Plano, living the dream!

--Josh