Book Club

A few weeks ago, our church announced that they would be hosting “An Evening with Laura Bush.” The former first lady was coming to Austin as part of her book tour for her new memoir. While I was online looking up ticket information for the Laura Bush event, I also noticed that Yann Martel was coming to Austin the same week.

David is not the biggest reader, but he finished Life of Pi, Yann Martel’s most famous book, in about a day. He was first introduced to Yann Martel in high school by his English teacher Mr. Christie. He passed the book on to me after we started dating, and I loved it, too.

So on Monday night, David and I headed downtown to Book People to meet Yann Martel and get a signed copy of his latest novel, Beatrice and Virgil. Last year Book People hosted John Grogan, the author of Marley and Me. The bookstore was overflowing with fans of all ages. They even gave away a yellow lab puppy as part of a school fundraiser. It’s always a lot of fun to meet authors on books tours. We recommend it if you ever get the chance!

Yann Martel gave a couple of readings from his newest novel and then spoke about himself and his stories. Life of Pi is being made into a movie due to be released in 2012. Ang Lee will be directing and they plan to start filming in Taiwan, India, and Canada later this year. Yann is a bit worried that the story may be diminished by the fact that the studio is pushing for a 3D movie, but he’s confident Ang Lee and the screenplay he’s read will keep the film true to the book. Being a writer, Yann really encourages reading. He sends a book to the Prime Minister of Canada (Yann’s current home) every couple of months and keeps track of all of those books through his website. Unfortunately the Prime Minister has never acknowledged Yann’s gifts….

On Tuesday, I left work a bit early and headed over to church to see Laura Bush. 7 of my girlfriends also came and we all got signed copies of Mrs. Bush’s memoir Spoken from the Heart.


Our tickets warned us to be at the event at least half an hour early to get through Secret Service security. But when we got there, they didn’t even check our bags! There was so much security at the church, though. I have never seen “American royalty” before so I didn’t know what to expect. I counted at least 10 secret service agents walking around, standing guard at the stage entrances, and sitting in the audience. There were also about a dozen local policemen patrolling the grounds. Police cars were parked outside all entrances and blocking off parts of the parking lot. An ambulance was parked on the side entrance, running and ready to go just in case. All of this for 1 person. I can’t imagine what it’s like when the current President or First Lady travels!

Mrs. Bush read a couple of passages from the book and then sat down with an editor from the local Austin newspaper for a question and answer session. Laura Bush was not only witty and down-to-earth but also very poised and confident. She told us that she is no longer afraid of giving speeches, even though President Bush told her when they first got married that she would never have to give a speech. “So much for political promises,” she quipped. However, she does sometimes get a bit nervous during press interviews. She gave us an update on her daughters and then mostly talked about Texas. She obviously lived in Austin for many years, so there were some teachers from the school she once taught at and some of her friends/colleagues from her days as the governor’s wife in the audience.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have the opportunity to meet different authors on their book tours. Reading has always been a passion of mine. I’m a member of Goodreads, an online book club that lets people track and rate their books and find friends to see what they’re reading or have read. This website always gives me great ideas on what I should read next. But I think that for now, I should be plenty busy with the books I picked up this week!

Possum Kingdom

Last weekend we headed up to Possum Kingdom with the Gristys and Sylestines. No, Possum Kingdom is not a sanctuary for possums and there is no Possum King, contrary to the picture below. PK is actually a lake near the Fort Worth area where our friends, Jordan and Allison Gristy, have a boat and lake house.

The Gristys invited us and Molly and Jeremy Sylestine up to PK for the weekend to relive the fun we had in New Orleans back in January. During this trip we stayed much warmer and more relaxed! Everyone wears their pajamas or sweats or swimsuits around all weekend. We grill delicious food, have great conversations uninterrupted by cell phones, and play fun board games that somehow turn into ridiculous drinking games.

Jordan, Allison, & Raider

Jeremy & Molly

Did we mention everyone brings their dogs, too? Allison and Jordan have a sweet German short-hair named Raider. Molly and Jeremy have a beautiful black Lab named Lexi and a rambunctious Puggle named Ella. The dogs love PK as much as we do, if not more! Well, almost all dogs… Ella HATES the water. It must be a Beagle thing because Otis (my parent’s Beagle) will only put his paws in water if the outside temperature reaches 110. After this trip, Ella is probably more afraid of water now than ever before! During our first trip out on the boat, Molly tried to toss her overboard into Jeremy’s arms, but right as she hit the water and came back up, a huge boat drove past us, causing a few pretty big waves to toss her under. Poor baby! Ella did not go back in the water after that.

Raider comforting Ella on my lap

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kirby, being the water-loving Lab he is, turns into a kid on Christmas morning at the lake! We arrived in PK Friday evening so we were not able to get out on the boat until Saturday morning, making Kirby even more anxious when we went to bed Friday night. He woke up every hour starting at 5:30AM. By 8:30, I finally just put him in the backyard, where he quickly managed to escape and go for a private swim.

Kirby and Raider on the way to the lake

Last year at PK, Kirby swam so much that he sprained his tail! Labs use their tails kind of like propellers when they swim. His tail became so sore from all of the swimming that he couldn’t lift it. We were pretty scared when we first noticed his tail wasn’t wagging happily, but he was healed within a couple of drier days back home. This year, Kirby tried to teach all of the dogs how to climb back into the boat using the ladder, and Raider managed to do it all by himself after a couple of tries!

The weather was a bit cloudy, but that didn't stop us from spending all of Saturday and most of Sunday out on the boat. I have always wanted to try one of those water trampolines, so when we swam past a clearly empty house with a water trampoline just floating there all alone, Molly and I had to try it out! Let me tell you, those things are not that great! They get way too slippery and they aren't stabilized so it's nearly impossible to jump higher than a foot!

Between intruding and swimming with the pups (minus Ella), we also found time to go tubing. The water was so rough that even at a low speed, the tube still flew! Allison wasn’t the kindest driver for the guys, and Jeremy fell out after a few loops around the waves. After our bodies, especially our booties, couldn’t take any more, we packed up and headed back to the real world. We are so happy we had this chance to hang out with some of our best friends before moving far, far away.

David, Kirby, & Jeremy on the tube

Backwards Texas-shaped brownies - Yum!

Lexi sleeping on the boat

David fell off a cliff into the lake, ripping open his leg and thumb and leaving a pretty big bruise. He was fine after a few hours of rest! :)

Crawfish Boil

I had never been to a crawfish boil, or even knew what one was, until moving to Austin. They are a huge tradition in Louisiana and lately that tradition has carried over to the Austin-area. David, true to his Louisiana roots, LOVES crawfish boils.

For the past few years, our young adults group at church has held a “Cinco de Bayou” festival to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Instead of fajitas and margaritas, we celebrate with Crawfish Olympics! The lucky winner doesn’t get eaten – yay! And last year Volusion held a crawfish boil on Lake Austin in lieu of a traditional company picnic.

This year, we were not able to make it to Cinco de Bayou and Volusion did have a traditional company picnic with burgers and hot dogs. But don’t worry! Brad and Jen Watson, our neighbors and good friends from church, held their 1st Annual Watson Crawfish Boil a couple of weeks ago. I cannot stand crawfish. I think they are disgusting creatures. David, however, loves crawfish so much that he will even suck the juice out of their heads to finish them off. Personally, I think it’s a lot of work for a tiny bit of meat. And the thought of having to “purge” the things before cooking them makes me a little ill. Note: Purging a crawfish requires filling a tub/baby pool with water and crawfish to keep them alive and happy until dinner. Then the tub/pool is filled with salt to make the crawfish sick enough to throw up. This prevents the crawfish consumers from having to deal with any nastiness while peeling them apart. All I can say is “Gross.”

Salt-free baby pool of crawfish

Getting back to the party! When we first arrived, I asked David to put on the crawfish cap as a joke so I could take a funny picture. Little did I know 7 hours later David would still be wearing that hat!

David and Allison Gristy playing with their food

After consuming almost 2 baby pools of crawfish, most of the guests left and then the boys started dancing! If you have not witnessed Michael Eichenberger, Jordan Gristy, and David House dancing together, you haven’t lived! Their crazy moves can entertain the masses for HOURS! After about an hour of dancing, the wives decided it was time to get their men home.

Even though I don’t eat crawfish, both David and I are going to miss this Southern tradition. Maybe we’ll try to start crawfish boils in the UK! If it doesn’t catch on, we’ll mail you the crawfish cap for next year’s party, Watsons!

It's Official!

We are moving to London!

Buckingham Palace

As most of you know, David grew up in England in a family of Expats. Well now he has the opportunity to move overseas with Volusion. He will be in charge of setting up their first sales office in London. We are extremely excited for this amazing opportunity!

Sarah is currently in the process of getting her work visa through Dell so she can work in their Bracknell, England offices about 45 minutes outside London.

Kirby, our beloved yellow Lab, is in the process of getting his pet passport. Who knew dogs needed passports?? Well to enter the UK, dogs and cats must get new microchips, special vaccinations, and then go through a 6 month waiting period in the US while their blood tests are processed. Only after all of these steps are completed are they then eligible for a pet passport. It’s quite an ordeal, but we are confident that Kirby will be ready for his move by early November. Thanks again to Sarah’s parents and Elizabeth for taking care of our baby while we’re gone! We’ll miss him dearly, but we know he’ll be having the time of his life in his new backyard pool with his cousin, Otis the Beagle.

Back in April, we were sent to the UK to set up our bank accounts and find housing. The trip was successful and we found a 2 bedroom, ground-level flat only about 15 minutes outside the heart of the city.

David’s tentative start date is early July, which means we only have about a month and a half left in Austin. We will definitely miss the city and all of our friends but we know that this is a temporary move and we will be back before you know it!

We encourage EVERYONE to come and visit us. We love having guests and cannot wait to show off our new city!

Emily's Graduation & Mother's Day

This past weekend, we flew to the Deep South to celebrate Sarah’s sister, Emily, graduating from Columbia College. Usually we try to fly out of Austin pretty early for vacations. This gives us an entire extra day of vacation-time. Plus, the flights are usually cheaper at the crack of dawn! So we woke up around 4:45 on Friday morning, sleepily got ready and finished packing our bags, and then headed to the airport. One of the bad things about leaving so early in the morning is that you usually forget something important. So being the planner Sarah is, she has started making spreadsheets of things to pack – and she knows, she’s a total nerd. Also, the past couple of times we have parked at the airport before 7AM, we have left the lights on in our car. We now have airport parking assistance on speed dial to help us jump-start our dead car. This time, we are proud to say that no lights were left on and nothing on our list was forgotten!

Once we reached Atlanta, we waited a couple of hours for Sarah’s grandparents (Liz and Matt), parents (Renee and Dave), and younger sister (Elizabeth) to fly in from Minnesota and El Paso. Once everyone was there, we rented a couple of cars and headed north to Columbia, SC.

South Carolina State Capital

We met up with Emily and went to dinner and then headed back to the hotel for a pool party. We played Phase 10 and then taught David and Sarah’s parents how to play Spoons. We only had 4 spoons so we had to use 1 fork too. Note: Spoons should NEVER be played with a fork – it’s extremely dangerous! There’s a reason the game is called Spoons! We’re lucky nobody lost an eye on this trip…. The next morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed over to Emily’s graduation. It went very well. The speakers did a great job and the new auditorium was beautiful.

After taking some family photos, we headed to Charleston. We checked into our 2nd hotel and then headed to Folly Beach with Dave and Elizabeth to hang out in the waves for about an hour.

Don’t we all love awkward family moments?? When we got back to the hotel, we only had about 20 minutes to get cleaned up before we were supposed to meet the rest of the group in Old Town for dinner. Sarah decided this was not enough time to take a shower or anything, so she would just throw her clothes back on. But David and Elizabeth really wanted to take showers, so Renee suggested that they just jump in the shower together (with their swimsuits on of course)! The elevator was completely silent for about 20 seconds before David mumbled, “Awkward.” Needless to say, David and Elizabeth did not take a shower together but we all made it in time! Old Town was beautiful – exactly as we imagined.

We had drinks and appetizers at a rooftop bar overlooking the city/harbor. It was a gorgeous sunset!

Afterwards, we headed to the old market to do some souvenir shopping. We love to collect Christmas ornaments when we travel, and we found a beautiful glass ornament with the 3 Charleston church steeples on it. We were not the best bargainers, though. Sarah kind of ruined it by telling David “It’s only $16!” right in front of the vendor. After grabbing some pizza to fill us up and stopping by the Moon Pie general store, we headed back to the hotel.

Sunday morning, we all got back in the cars and drove down to Savannah, GA - home of Paula Deen! We had Mother’s Day lunch at Paula’s restaurant, The Lady and Sons.

Horse-drawn carriage passing Paula Deen's

It was Deeeelicious! We enjoyed sweet tea with fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, collard greens, mac n cheese, cornbread pancakes, and cheesy biscuits. For dessert, we split a chocolate chip gooey butter cake. Sarah figured out that Neiman Marcus bars are the same thing as gooey butter cake! So good and buttery!!

We had to walk around a bit to burn off some of the butter we consumed before getting back in the cars for our drive back to the ATL.

Us in Johnson Square

Once back in Atlanta, we stopped by Sarah’s great-aunt and uncle’s home in Alpharetta.

The family in front of Bernie and Janet's

We visited for about an hour before dropping Emily off, returning the rental cars, and checking into our 3rd and final hotel. As you can probably tell by now, this vacation included A LOT of driving and hotels. Total driving time around GA and SC was about 11 hours! We were EXHAUSTED when we got home on Monday afternoon. But it was a GREAT vacation with lots of fun memories! We’re very proud of you, Emily, and wish you all the best in the future! And Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there! Mom, we’re so glad we were able to spend this holiday with you.