New Year, New Blog Resolution

My plan for this year is to actually blog more. I tried in 2007 and did a lot better than in years past, but still not good enough. I am committed to bringing the people what they want (all 3 of you!) and write more about my life. To catch you up, here is a piece of work I like call "Jenny's Year in Pictures (and Words)" Enjoy!

January
I started the year at a wonderful wedding on New Year's Eve. We rang in the New Year, then celebrated Brian and Alyssa's nuptials at the Science Place in Dallas. It was a fantastic party and pretty neat place for a wedding. The rest of January is kind of a blur...at the end of the month, I got to go to a gala for the Challenger Education Foundation. If you don't know, I'm kind of a space geek. I am very in awe of the whole space program, which makes living in southeast Houston pretty cool for me! The gala was a fun, black-tie affair filled with astronauts, cool ice sculptures, and awesome music by the World Class Rockers (including the guitarist from Lynard Skynard). We danced until they shut down. I was in awe of getting to talk to Barbara Morgan, who went up on the Discovery in August.

February
The highlight of February was a weekend road trip to Austin. I ran the half-marathon with two of my running buddies. The rest of the weekend was lots of fun, too. We stayed with my dear friend, Ta, who opened up her home to us and we kind of took over. We enjoyed a great visit with Ta, her brother Pat, and his girlfriend, Ai. Saturday afternoon, we ended up on a random tour of northwest Austin, looking at super-expensive houses and stopping for random scenery pictures along the way. The race was pretty tough...there is no way to train for Austin hills in Houston! But we all finished, just not together. It was my best half-marathon time yet (2:25:16), so I was pretty happy.

March
In March, Mom, Missy, and Mia visited one weekend and we had a fun afternoon at Clear Lake Park...such a great park for kids! The next day we took an afternoon drive to Galveston and ran around on the beach...in the wind. Here is a windy picture of Missy, Mia, and I. Mia gave me two shells from the beach to keep for her until she comes back to visit. March was also Houston Rodeo time. I got to go to 2 concerts this year...Sheryl Crow and Josh Turner and they were quite entertaining! The Rodeo, as always, was a blast.

April
What a fun month full of travel and celebrations. I started the month in Charlotte, NC on a recruiting trip for work. Just a few days later, I went home for Easter and enjoyed the weekend with the fam. The following weekend, I met Mom and Dad in St. Louis for a running trip. We ran in Columbia, Missouri and Lawrence, Kansas. Very fun weekend…we got to see the Lewis and Clark Museum and Harry Truman’s home. We randomly ran into some college friends of my parents, one of whom was my junior high English teacher…life is so full of fun coincidences. Also in April, we had a birthday party for Matt and celebrated Tommy and Kinsey's wedding.

May
Missy graduated from nursing school. We celebrated by taking a week long trip to New York City, just the three of us sisters. I had been there for an afternoon once, but Missy and Laury had never been. We had such a great time. We saw just about everything there is to see there, including the top of the Empire State Building, a Broadway show (Chicago starring Joey Lawrence), and running in Central Park (OK, I was the only one that was running, but it was awesome!). The best part was that we all have the same tolerance for touristy things...we want to see them, but we don't feel the need to spend a lifetime poring over them. For example, we spent only one hour and fifteen minutes in the Museum of Modern Art and all had our iPods on the whole time.

June
June is my birthday and I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY. I turned 32 this year and had a great birthday party at Maradee's house, hosted by Maradee, Heather, David, and Matt. It was so much fun! We had a rigged-up version of a drive-in movie...we watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off on a screen set up in Maradee's garage, complete with a projection and sound system. I got lots of presents and just had so much fun. My friends rock!

July
July was full of fun! I got to visit the Johnson Space Center for a behind-the-scenes tour with a friend who worked there. The highlights were that I got to sit in the simulator where the astronauts train for ascent and entry (take-off and landing) and I got to listen in on the loops in the REAL MISSION CONTROL while they did a simulation of a landing at KSC. It was so cool! Later in July, I went on a shopping adventure and bought not one, but two, flat screen TV's. It's a long story, but I'm very happy with my purchase. They are both so cool and I love them!

August
In August, I took a weekend trip to Portland to run a race with Dad, who was there with Maw (my grandmother) for her 80th birthday. It just so happened that Maradee was there, too. We ended up hanging out with Maradee and her grad school friend, Judy, on Saturday and had a great time. We went to a bookstore that is four stories tall and takes up an entire city block...I was in heaven. I restrained myself and only bought four books. We also went to Mount Hood, which is the tallest something or another (I forget all of those records) and very beautiful. We finished the day by watching an Iron Chef competition at the Bite of Oregon festival...so neat! The weather in Portland is awesome in August and it was a welcome respite from the Houston summer.

September
Wedding, wedding, and more wedding! My dear friends Heather and David got married in September and the month was full of preparations leading up to the big day, including a girls' weekend in the Texas Hill country and a lovely bridal brunch at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston (they had a whole room of just desserts!). The big day was perfect...an outdoor wedding at sunset on the lake and a fun reception afterwards full of well-wishes from everyone. The last weekend of September, I took a trip up to Dallas to visit the Von Tress family. Cara and I were roommates in college and I just love visiting their family. Their three children are beautiful and amazing and we had such a good time hanging out! We ended up at the Texas State Fair participating in a Chili cook-off while I was there. We wandered around a bit and got a shot of Cara and I with Big Tex, a large (and kind of disturbing) mechanical man that has a voice reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz!

October
I was very proud of myself to finish the USA Space City 10-Miler at just over a 10-minute pace. It was a good race although it warmed up quite a bit for the second half of the race...ahh, the joys of living in Houston. I got to take my annual recruiting trip to Louisiana Tech for a week and enjoy the quiet, slow-moving pace in Ruston. It's such a beautiful campus. We also celebrated Mom's birthday and I got to see Mia play in a soccer game. Later in the month, my roommates and I hosted a Halloween party at our house that was ridiculously fun. Everyone that came dressed up and (I think) had a great time. We partied till the wee hours of the night.

November
Whew...November was a whirlwind! I took a trip to Baton Rouge for an LSU football game (Geaux Tigers!) and had a great visit with friends and family. The game was a blowout of my alma mater, Louisiana Tech, but a good time anyway. I met up with Mom and Dad again for a running trip, this time in Alabama and Georgia. It was a pretty uneventful trip. We did stop by the Talladega Speedway and got to see Turner Field (where the Atlanta Braves play). After running our races in Alabama and Georgia, Dad and I have run in 17 states...just 33 to go! Thanksgiving was pretty mellow, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lots of good food and some of it was even healthy!

December
As usual, December was full of festivities. I would list them all, but that would make this obnoxiously long (as if it isn't already), so I'll just hit some of the highlights. Jamie, Rachel, Maradee, and I watched the Kemah Christmas Boat Parade from under the Kemah bridge. This is so much fun...people decorate their boats like you would a float in a parade, then they parade up and down between Clear Lake and Galveston Bay. Our spot was close enough to the turnaround point to see most of the boats twice. I also went to a Third Day/Jars of Clay Christmas concert and it was fantastic! It really got me in the Christmas spirit. There were two work Christmas parties, a cookie exchange, and, then, thankfully, Christmas at home with my family. We opened presents until 2:28am on Christmas Eve. I think it's a record for us. I got great gifts and really enjoyed my family opening the gifts I got for them, too.

These are some of the highlights...there was way too much going on to tell you (i.e. bore you with) all of the details. I hope that you have had a blessed year this year. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

In Christ,
Jenny