mmmm

I really want this suit from J Crew. I saw it in the store last night and fell in loooove.

Color: Papaya
Size: 2 in the jacket, 0 in the skirt please!

Who knew I would like a suit made out of hemp?

Part Two: Christmas Time!

It was an action packed Christmas, and unfortunately we could only spend about a day with each family. However, it was very satisfying and exciting to see everyone back at home. As usual though, the holidays in Maryland always bring rain, no snow, and rarely sun. I did get to squeeze in a round of golf with the Neikirks though, but we won't talk about those results.

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were with the Leblings of Sharpsburg.

Here, Brittany and I are posing in our Christmas attire in front of the tree. I am pretty sure I wore flannel last year too.



Brittany's mom was really excited about this one.



And Young Basil wanted to check things out at table level.



After that, we headed over for a Roney Christmas at my grandparents' house. The photo ops were unending, as the little ones were passing out the gifts. This is Cameron handing one to Pop Pop, or William the first.



This is Dad acting surprised/confused/suspicious all at the same time, as usual.



Someone got a slinky! It was Gabriel.



We have a video of Cameron making a putt with his new set of golf clubs. Eventually we will get it posted. Please visit again for that one.

The day after Christmas, we went to the Galebach Christmas in Myersville. I don't have any group pictures that came out, but here are a few shots.

I never get tired of watching these pups, Winston and Ollie.



Here is Ollie, preparing for attack.



As we were saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, I got this shot of Glenda and Brittany. One of them didn't seem to happy about that.



The next day, we went to DC with our friend Jen...and then to The Cheesecake Factory. Somehow that restaurant always lures us. Anyway, I got a picture of the White House with my phone, as seen below.



Again, it was good to see everyone and I can't wait until we get to see you all again! Come back soon for our last part of this update: New Year's Eve with Sara and Keithson.

Here We Go Defense, Here We Go!

I must apologize for our complete lack of updates for about the past month. We've been extremely busy since the middle of December, traveling, visiting, etc. With that said, to cover all that has gone on, you will have to be patient and we will provide you with about a four part update. First up...the finale at Texas Stadium featuring the Baltimore Ravens visiting the Dallas Cowboys.

And we attended.

First of all, the parking situation sucked so we had to walk about a mile and a half to get to the stadium, extending our "walk of shame" for being Ravens fans for much longer than necessary. Among the harassment were boos of about fifty people lining up the walkway, someone shouting "your pants are tighter than hers," and some old west cowboy shooting at us with a cap gun. There were enough people in purple to still walk with a little swagger, and that would only grow as the evening turned to night.

We finally made it to the stadium, and basically it was a dump.



If nothing else, the place is different, as noted by the huge hole in the roof.



After we shared a bbq sandwich, nachos and cheese, and a bratwurst, the game was finally about to begin. I hate the cowboys, but they weren't going to light any fireworks for the Ravens.



We got lucky and were in a very small group of Ravens fans, including one of the players families. It was three rows of about a dozen Baltimore fans in each row. Beside Brittany was a scout for the Ravens, so we got the inside scoop on exactly how good each player was. There was also an Eagles fans, cheering on anyone who wasn't a Cowboy. As for the rest of the crowd, this picture pretty much sums it up.



Most of the game, the crowd was extremely annoyed with Tony Romo and TO, and extremely fond of the Ravens defense and their coaching staff. It feels so good when people are jealous at a football game.



It was a tense game for both sides the whole way through, but Joe Flacco was clutch, Derrick Mason was a warrior, and Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain came through in the end with big, record setting runs in the final moments. Sweet victory for Charm City!



Let's just say we didn't hear much from the "hostile" fans on the way back to the car. We did hear someone say "Man I feel like I'm busting out the middle like Willis McGahee" and "I hear you laughing Ravens fans!" We were too. I would have stayed to see the ceremony for all the legendary Cowboys of the past, but it was freezing cold and even all the Cowboys fans were leaving. If they can't even respect their own, why should we?

the only ones I care about anyway are Michael Irvin and Nate Newton, the two on the radio show that I listen to daily. The newspaper the next day headlined "PARTY POOPERS" with two Ravens jumping in the air while poor Tony Romeo was laying on the ground, helpless.

It is posted in my office.

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful

Too bad we don't have a fire, that would be delightful.

Just some interesting weather info for the Dallas area...Yesterday's high was 78 degrees. Right now it is 26 with a wind chill of 13. We even have a winter weather advisory! I found this map on weather.com which I find fascinating.



The Ravens are coming to town on Saturday, and Brittany and I are going to do our best to cheer them on. I don't know how much of a chance they have, but maybe we will get lucky. Friday night we might have to drive around looking for Ray Ray and Ed Reed hanging around town.

Dexter is a weirdo.

"so we're pretty much dating now, right?"

I was going to cook dinner but we're going out to Blue Goose instead. We're celebrating half a decade of dating. Love!

it's beginning to look a lot like...

We finally got our tree up! The glowing blue light is a Coca-Cola ornament, just so you know. What do you think?

"We're Goin Up Around the Bend"

Warning: this update will be long.

Brittany and I just got home from our trip to Big Bend/West Texas on Sunday, celebrating our Thanksgiving away from home for the first time. Our journey to the Southwest began Wednesday night, driving three hours or so to Abilene to get a head start. Thanksgiving morning we headed to Marfa, TX, home of three movies...Giant, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men.

The theme along the way was definitely energy. In every direction there were constant oil dereks and wind turbines.




They were even filming a sequel to There Will Be Blood, as this oil gusher was burning up in the distance



Then the scenery started to get real good looking.



Then we made it...Hello from Marfa



We stayed at a historic landmark hotel, call Hotel Paisano. It was the filming location of Giant, starring James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor.



I "fell asleep" in the courtyard.



The next day, on the way to the park, we tried to find a place to pee in Presidio, TX and wound up almost accidentally going into Mexico! It was quite a thrill.



We drove around a little bit, and snapped this random shot of a typical Presidio car.



From there it was about 2 hours to the park along the Rio Grande. It provided spectacular views of the river and Mexico on the other side.



We finally made it and even the sign provided the perfect backdrop.



It was 7.7 miles and 40 minutes down a gravel, dirt road to get to our campsite in the back country.



But the Suby was up for it, as it basically felt like we were starring in a commercial the whole time while driving in it.



A quick background of the geological history of Big Bend:

The highlight of the park is called the Basin. It is a huge caldera, or a collapsed volcanic crater. All the water in the caldera drains out a small notch called the Window. Over the years, the water carved down the rock to create an opening into the distance. Volcanic rocks are everywhere, layered with intermittent bedding of sedimentary rocks. The elevation at the basin was a mile high. The wildlife consisted of about 30 bears, mountain lions, eagles, javelinas, etc.

Our first evening gave us probably our best picture of the weekend. This is the "window" at sunset. On a clear day, the view beyond stretches 242 miles, limited only to the curvature of the earth.



Sunrise at our campsite was a welcoming, as I couldn't sleep for more than about 20 minutes at a time. It had nothing to do with the cold temperature, but everything to do with hip bones and rocks.



These are the rolling hills as seen from our tent that same morning.



We started off with a 2.2 mile hike to the balancing rock. Basically, it was Stone Henge but natural.



Then we decided to be brave and attempt the 5.6 mile hike to the window, as mentioned above. It was an 800 foot descent, meaning 800 foot ascent the way back. Whoa baby. Here are a few pics from along the way.

A species of tree that occasionally popped up



A lizard! It was about 10 inches long and the most exciting wild life that we saw.



Our destination was plenty worth it. You can't really tell here, but the view was unbelievable.



After suffering back up the trail, we took it easy for a while. However, we were attacked by many grasshoppers that day similar to this guy. He was about three inches long, and he had meat on him too.



One more hike to Tuff Canyon. The total for the day was 9 miles, as made obvious by Brittany and her classic pose.



I had to take advantage of the weirdo holes in the walls of the canyon. I have a hard time sitting indian style.



A look at the Basin late in the day.



Couldn't pass up the cactus/mountain combo.



These were some snow white rocks formed from volcanic ash. Incredible!



And lastly, a silhouette of the desert vegetation.



Unfortunately we had to go home. It was a 9 hour drive, which took forever after we left the good looking parts of the country. However, it felt really good to get home and to realize that Dallas feels like home to us now. We walked in the door, saw our Christmas lights we had up, and I went straight for the shower. Man that felt good.

Overall our trip was extremely satisfying, and we are very proud of ourselves for making it through a full fledged camping trip. We have plenty of pictures for everyone to see during Christmas time. Hopefully this whetted everyone's appetite.

This will be the longest week of work ever!