Category Archives: Texas

Texas recap-moving day

June 22, 2012

Hey friends! If you are just joining me today I should let you know that I am revisiting the early times of being in Texas. I moved here almost 4 years ago and now my time here is ending. I thought it would be fun to revisit the past before moving on.

As I mentioned in previous posts Katie and I didn’t have a lot planned out when we arrived in Austin. We kept calm though and things really worked out well for us. We found a place to live on the 2nd or 3rd day if I remember correctly. That first apartment served us well. It had a pool, it was really close to a bus stop, we both had our own bathrooms, and it was in a quiet neighborhood despite being a larger complex. After living there for the first year we decided we were ready to find something a little nicer and with some character.

We ended up finding the perfect place in Hyde Park that we both loved. There was tons a light and lots of room and we still had our own bathrooms. Of course moving in never glamorous so I didn’t really document that but what I really remember about this day was how much fun we had once it was over.

Walker (we hadn’t been dating all that long at this point) and a friend of his helped Katie and I move and then after we got burgers, fries, and milkshakes and ate on a lovely patch of grass enjoying the cool night air. Then we drove around with the windows down and the wind blowing our hair everywhere. It was a blast. We laughed and honestly I really don’t remember how much moving sucked. I only think about this part of the night and laughing in the car and eating that yummy food that was so well deserved.

Texas recap part 3-a camping trip

June 20, 2012

In case you are just joining me today I am doing a recap of my first few months in Texas. I moved to Austin nearly 4 years ago and now am moving on. I’m excited for what’s ahead but I thought it would be fun to take a look back first.

In an effort to discover more about Texas and meet new friends we decided to go on a university organized camping trip to the Davis Mountains over Thanksgiving weekend. The entire thing was planned for us we just had to show up with our gear, hop in a van with strangers, and get driven out to west Texas. Not so bad. It was a long ride so we did get to know a little bit more about our fellow campers. It was fun having company and it made being away from home for Thanksgiving a lot easier.

We camped for a few days and we took a few hikes through the state park. It was really cool getting to see this part of Texas for the first time.

Some fellow campers.

Katie and I with the Davis Mountains in the background.

Our Thanksgiving camping meal. From what I remember it tasted way better than it looks.

This is my serious hiking face.

Group shot!

This one makes me laugh. The nights were super cold and being from Michigan we thought oh how cold could it get? So we brought along sleeping bags that should really only be used in the summer. We slept terribly because we were so cold. On the last night we were both up and we kept checking the time to see if it was close enough to an appropriate wake up time. It wasn’t but we decided to wake up anyhow in the pitch dark. We’d rather be up and about being cold than lying completely still on the ground. We walked to the end of a bluff and waited for the sun to come up. It was beautiful so in a way I should be glad I was so cold. After the sun was up we headed back to camp, packed up, and were on our way back to Austin. We didn’t make any lasting friendships but we met a few interesting people and overall we had a good time.

Texas recap part 2

June 19, 2012

As I mentioned in my last post I am sharing a bit of my past with you all. When I moved to Austin nearly 4 years ago I wasn’t blogging at the time and my life was so different. I just thought it would be fun to take a look back before moving forward and out of Texas.

Once Katie and I were settled (by settle I mean having found an apartment and unpacked our few belongings) we needed to find things to do to occupy our time. We didn’t have any friends yet and we didn’t know much about the city at all. Luckily I had purchased my very first laptop and I would search the internet for free things to do in Austin. This occupied our time, entertained us, and helped us to get a feel for the city. Between finding free things to do in Austin and being generally silly we stayed pretty busy which kept us from feeling too homesick.

We volunteered for the human race run handing out race packets. We got free shirts and got to go to a free concert downtown. Of course the concert ended after the last bus so we walked the 5 miles home. Fun.

The Austin Ballet had a free day of dance. We learned to hula and made some attempts at a few other dance styles.

Oh yes free museum day. We toured around the city visiting various museums and learning a bit more about Texas and our new city.

Just being silly after one of our nightly swims.

Some sort of Indian festival on campus that was free. We learned how to do this dance with sticks and had so much fun. I remember having so much fun that night.

Death of a bean bag…

WOO FLOORS! Hahahahha!

We were still active couchsurfers when we moved here so we hosted a few interesting people. These 2 fellas were touring around the US from Germany.

All dressed up for a concert downtown.  A Ben Kweller concert that is. Maybe I need a post just about Ben. We’ll see.

Ben Kweller.

Being silly at home.