Getting the Mail.

I love getting the mail.



When I first moved here, I wrote letters to my friends like no tomorrow.
Yes, I have internet access, and yes, I have facebook, MSN, skype and all the rest, but there is just something about writing letters that just makes me so happy. As I have slowly made friends and gotten a social life (somewhat), letter writing has become so much harder, but I still do write letters.

I have also joined a website called Postcrossing. The premise of it is that you send a postcard to a random person in the world, and a different, random person sends you a postcard. It's incredibly exciting to receive postcards from different places all over the world, and it's very easy. It's also free, aside from the cost of your outgoing postcards and postage.

Getting the mail is just an ordinary, mundane task, but because I moved here, I've written so many letters and gotten tons of letters, postcards and happiness in return.

--Lauren

[Approximately five months left]

Texan-Sized Forever XXI

If you're ever in the need to be seriously overwhelmed, visit a two-story Forever XXI store in Texas.

My trip to the Forever XXI at Memorial City Mall gave new meaning to the word "overwhelmed".

All of the Forever XXI stores I've been to have been big, with an unlimited amount of varying styles to choose from, and unending things to look at. Two stories, however, of this hodge-podge of clothing is nothing but overwhelming, crowded and virtually impossible to not get lost in all of the mayhem.

It is officially a "Texan-sized" store in my mind.

You know how they say, "Everything's bigger in Texas"? Well, it's true. Think of anything, and you can find someplace in Texas where that thing is found to be unreasonably large. Portion sizes, highways, houses, and even sometimes people (though that stereotype is exaggerated a bit) are all bigger. However, I hadn't come across a store that was just too big to handle. There are department stores that are just as big as this particular store, but generally there is a wider range of products. This particular Forever XXI is literally all just clothing, shoes and accessories stocked ceiling to floor on hundreds of tables, shelves and racks. I don't think it's even possible to see everything in the store in one visit.

--Lauren

Shogun Japanese Grill & Sushi Bar

In the city of Houston and the surrounding area, there are literally hundreds of places to eat. Shogun is a Japanese restaurant that combines the best of two worlds: food and entertainment.

At Shogun, you can either opt to sit at a private table, just as in most normal restaurants, or you can choose to sit at a hibachi table like we did. The chef does a show for you, and honestly, his hands moved so fast it was hard to follow what was going on. The entertaining show aside, the food is very good. The food is actually teppanyaki cooking, and you can also order sushi, but it isn't cooked by the chef in front of you.

It's a fun restaurant to go to if you're in the mood for something different to do, and to sit with some strangers. Unless you have a party of eight or so, you're very likely to sit right beside random strangers, and get samples of their food. This time around, the chef gave everyone some samples of shrimp that was actually ordered by the people sitting next to us.

It's also fun to go there for a birthday. They bring out a special hat for you to wear, and they sing you Happy Birthday, and launch a little confetti canon at you.

All in all, it's one of my favourite restaurants here so far!

--Lauren

[Five and a half months]

San Antonio by Night

San Antonio is even more gorgeous by night during the holiday season. As promised, here are some pictures:

Every holiday season, over 120,000 Christmas lights are strung up on all of the trees on the Riverwalk.  I have no idea how they manage it... Everywhere you look, the trees are draped in glittering, shining lights. And with the reflection on the water, the sight is truly amazing.

Even though we visited after Christmas, it brought back all the happy holiday joy that Christmas Eve & Day tend to inspire in me. Even though there wasn't any snow (because snow at Christmas is a must, but unfortunately doesn't occur at all in Texas), it still felt like the holidays, plus it was warm enough to wear dresses and light jackets.

Apparently, they have shows around New Years too, with live music, entertainment and fireworks. I hope I get to go to San Antonio next holiday season, and maybe I'll see the show.

--Lauren

[Five and a half months left!]

San Antonio: Drury Plaza Hotel

This is the hotel we stayed at in San Antonio... we saw the sunset from the 23rd floor.

From the 23rd floor of the Drury Plaza Hotel, you can see everything in San Antonio: the buildings, the streets, the Riverwalk, and the sunset.
The Drury Plaza Hotel is right in downtown San Antonio, and was originally a bank building built in the late 20s or early 30s. It was really interesting to learn how banking has evolved. Banks, a hundred years ago or so, were actual buildings, with grandeur and class.  But with the invention of the automatic teller machine, the actual bank has become more obsolete... However, modern architecture can be absolutely breathtaking as well.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be visiting San Antonio soon again.

--Lauren

[Five and a half months]

My Backyard Pool

One part of moving to Texas that I looked forward to was the promise of the pool in our backyard.

I apologize for the floating things in my pool. As it is only January, it's too cold to swim, so it doesn't get cleaned quite so often. I really wish it were warm enough to swim in, though. The sun was out today, so it was warm, but it was only 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit. Meaning that even after a couple hours inside, my feet are still cold after I dipped them in the water.

The building of the pool took around a month, as far as I can remember. They started last year in the beginning of March, and it was ready by the first week of April. The very first chance I got to go swimming, which was 9 PM at night in early April. It was still really chilly, but I wasn't acclimatized to Texas heat at that time, so it wasn't so bad.

During later spring and summer and most of fall, it's gorgeous to swim in. In the morning, when the temperature is probably the coolest, the sun is on the pool. By 3 or 4 PM, the sun has dipped behind the house, and it's nice and shady, but the water is still amazingly warm. During the summer, the pool actually gets to be over 28 degrees Celsius/83 degrees Fahrenheit, which sounds hot, but is actually most likely cooler than the air.

All year long, even when it's too cold to swim, there's always the hot tub/spa!

--Lauren

[Estimated 160 days!]

San Antonio by Day

Over the holidays, my family and I went on a trip to the beautiful city of San Antonio.



The three hundred-year-old "Marriage Island"; countless weddings have occurred on this spot.




Casa Rio, the Riverwalk's most famous restaurant




 

These boats are the for the complete tour of the river.

  


 

A bird spotted while on the tour.



Out of all the places I've visited so far in Texas, which I'll admit are a select few so far, San Antonio has got to be my favourite, by far. It is a simply beautiful city of one million people, but yet still manages to have a small city, local feel. Rich with history and vibrant culture, it is a truly special place. What makes San Antonio so special? Firstly, there is the famous Alamo, a three hundred-year-old Spanish mission that was the site of the famous 1836 Battle of the Alamo, in which the Texicans fought for their independence. Along with many museums, restaurants, and theaters, San Antonio is host to the beautiful Riverwalk, or the Paseo del Rio.

The Riverwalk is essentially a canal running through downtown San Antonio below street level. Lining the banks of the river are century-old trees and European style gardens. There is never shortage of places to eat, as much of the "riverfront" is bordered by restaurants, shops and bars.

There is plenty to see and do, and even though it was my second time visiting, I wished I could stay longer. While taking the tour is fun and interesting, I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all of the places for myself. You have to watch your step, though, because people that fall into the river, even by accident are fined heavily (which makes me wonder just how many times it's happened...).

And while all of this is amazing in itself, it is even more beautiful during the holiday season at night. Pictures of this are coming soon!

--Lauren

A Rainy Night's Drive

Today was a pretty rainy day, and instead of going to a dance class [the doors were locked when we got there], I took pictures of the drive:

Today was probably one of the weirdest rainy days I've had here. Usually when it rains, it absolutely pours for an hour or so, and then clears up almost immediately. But instead of being normal, today it was just drizzling all day long. It ended up working out for me, because you cannot take pictures in the normal kind of downpour.

However, I did make the mistake of wearing flats today... And I went on some errands and by the end of that hour of getting in and out of the car, and in and out of the stores and to the car, my feet were soaked. I felt like I had trenchfoot, literally. I think my shoes are ruined too, which is sad. Lesson learned: wearing nice flats in the rain gives you trenchfoot and stains your shoes.

Rain here is nice, sometimes. In the summer, when it's 100 degrees Fahrenheit/38 degrees Celsius, the rain is almost welcome relief from the heat, for a short time. Too often, though, it turns into storms. In fact, on Christmas Eve this past year, there was a rainstorm, and it knocked our power out for a solid period of time. That impaired our ability to cook our dinner, play Christmas music as well as have the Christmas tree lights on. It was not the most jolly Christmas Eve, but it turned out just fine once the power came back on.

I hope tomorrow has some sun, though, because I'm dying for it to warm up and be summery again. (How very un-Canadian-like of me.)

[Estimated 23-24 weeks until Calgary!]

--Lauren

The Office / Study / Library / Den

Whatever you want to call it, this room is one of my favourites in the house:

Painting behind desk is "Somewhere in Paris" by Lewis Lavoie

Chair from Bombay Company

This room was the last room in our house to be furnished, and I think it has turned out to be one of the best. The high ceilings are a bit daunting and at first, all I could focus on was how the ceilings made the furniture we had at our old house miniscule, but with the addition of the custom made bookshelf, the shutters on the windows and the carpet, it has added a special atmosphere to the room.

The chair in the corner is one of my absolute favourite pieces of furniture. Not only is it comfortable and cute, it just seems to fit in the room perfectly. You can often find me, when I have nothing else to do on a lazy afternoon, sitting in that chair flipping through a book.

The painting sitting on the wall opposite the door is an original Lewis Lavoie, "Somewhere in Paris". My parents bought the painting at an art auction in St. Albert, Alberta, and it was painted live. Supposedly Lavoie included my parents in it, but I have yet to find them. It is my absolute favourite painting.

To be honest, I don't spend a good portion of time in here. Usually, I'm either in my living room, my media room or my bedroom with my laptop, but as my laptop is in a repair shop currently, I have spent a large portion of my weekend in here.

Calgary Update: The tentative date is set for the second week of July, but it most likely will change.

--Lauren

Sunset on the Lakes

Sunset over the lake:


This is the lake behind my house.





This is a neighboring lake.



I'm fortunate enough to live in a really beautiful community. There are lots of gardens, trees and a few community buildings. The best part, though, has to be the lakes. Our house backs onto one, and there are many more just a short walk or drive away.

I was used to living next to a ravine. At my old house, I would look out the window, and see hills of grass. Waking up in my new house was a little frightening at first because I would look outside and somehow manage to think, "Water? Was there a flood?", and it made my move seem like more of a permanent vacation.

There are also ducks and other birds that live on the lakes as well. For the longest time, the lake behind my house didn't have any duck residents but now I think they've moved in and settled. In some of the other lakes, there are fish and turtles, but as of right now, my lake just has the birds!

[still six months left!]

-Lauren

Fireworks at New Years

Some belated, but still beautiful pictures of my New Years:



Frog Prince



One thing you can do in here that you absolutely could not do in Calgary is set off fireworks in your own backyard.

As per tradition, my family got together with our long-time family friends for New Years. Last year, we discovered the phenomena of being here around New Years and Independence Day... fireworks. We went and got a few last year. Just your basic roman candles, sparklers, firecrackers and one special but sadly disappointing box called "Mexican Fiesta".

This year, we went for the heavy artillery: mortar shells, and a multitude of special fireworks.

To start, we lit the majority of our sparklers, roman candles, and a few mortar shells. The fun began with the special fireworks, though.

The Frog Prince was a ball (about the size of a kitten) with eyes and a mouth. It shot fire, sparks and the rest for literally a minute and a half straight. The only good picture I got was towards the end, though, so the picture is not too exciting. The Chihuahua sent 100 or more noisy shots into the air, quite obnoxiously. The ladybug flew into the air like a small flying saucer... and with a minute to midnight, it was time for our most exciting box: Loyal to None. It lasted over 2 minutes, sending beautiful and massive fireworks into the air as the clock struck twelve.

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Years, and good luck to y'all in 2011!

-Lauren

Sunrises and New Beginnings

A new day, a new blog.


The sunrise from my window Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

 

How dusty dawn can be. Since I've moved to Texas (which was a little more than a year ago), I've had to make so many changes in my life, and one of the most dramatic and painful has been waking up early. I wake up at around 5:45 AM on a daily basis. This may not seem like such a pain if you've grown up like that, but I have never woken up this early for anything other than an AM flight before. My school starts at the bright and early hour of 7:25, and my bus (because I haven't gotten around to getting a licence here --forget about a car) arrives at 6:35. Oh joy.

One plus side of waking up this early is that I'm rewarded with the sight of the occasional sunrise, or glimpse of the morning moon. I usually don't have the time to take a picture, but because I went to the dentist Tuesday morning, I had a grand total of 3 spare minutes.

Being my first post, I thought I ought to tell you about this blog and myself briefly, but you can find this information elsewhere on the blog as well.

My name is Lauren, and I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but last December, I was forced to move to the big old state of Texas.  At first it was like a vacation. But after a month, the novelty of the palm trees, the humidity and the mostly-balmy weather wore off, and the horror set in. I was in Texas. I was not at home, and I did not like it. After a while, I got over my horror, and started living. But I can't help counting down to the moment I go back to visit home.

So, this blog is about here, Texas, and the countdown to Calgary.

[Approximately 6 months left]

-Lauren