Is Anyone Still Out There?

Does anyone still read this blog? We have been so bad about posting that I bet all 4 of our loyal readers have abandoned us! Well, let me first say that I am sorry we have neglected this site for so long! And secondly, I vow to make a better effort to keep it updated! A lot has happened these past 6 months, so I will try to bring you all up to speed as concisely as possible:

Recap- Lets Start Where We Left Off, in October

Probably the biggest thing to happen was the birth of our niece, Amelia Eleanor. The short version of it was that it was the most amazing event of my life! I was lucky enough to be there for her birth, and it is an experience that I will cherish forever. I flew out to California on the Saturday before she was induced (we thought Sarah was in labor so I got the last flight out.) While we were waiting for her to be born, the four of us (me, my mom, Sarah and Jason) had a hoot making jokes and keeping things light.

The night before she was born we painted little frames for her and made cookies etc- anything to keep us from being on “contraction watch.” Of course, Miss Amelia was on her own time schedule so Sarah had to be induced on Thursday, October 19^th. The potossin was started at 4:30 am and Amelia was born at about 8:30 am! Sarah was amazing and did it without an epidural! Of course there are billion more details, but in the end a beautiful, healthy baby was born.

Also in October Eric’s parents and grandparents came to visit. We showed them around the city and took a boat tour of Town Lake. They cooked a lot of Portuguese food for us and taught us how to make everything (how awesome is that- our guests cooked and cleaned for us the whole visit!) It was really nice to show Eric’s grandparents what we have accomplished here, and I think they really enjoyed the trip.

November

In November we drove up to St. Louis for Thanksgiving- with Reese! She was such a good dog, although she had to stay in her cage for most of the time because compared to my niece puppy, Daisy, (a corgi) she is a very big dog! And guess what?! Just as we were sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, Sarah, Jason and Amelia came to the door! They flew in to surprise everyone!! It was so wonderful to have both of my nieces with me to celebrate and give thanks! The next day we all went ice skating and had just a fabulous time! Eric and I had a wonderful time hanging out with Allison, and even took her to one of those paint-your-own pottery places for a date with just the three of us.

December

In December we went back to California for Christmas. Falcao holiday’s are always so much fun- tons of people and food, what could be any better?? We also got to spend Amelia’s first Christmas with her, which was such a gift. For New Year’s we went over to our friend’s house (Gina and Jason) for yummy steak and lobster. It was a laid back New Years, but really fun nonetheless.

January

In January, I started to get fed up with my company- they actually had the nerve to tell me that “work should be my number 1 priority in life.” They weren’t happy that I took the week off for Amelia’s birth (even though I worked remotely from my sister’s house, but I digress). Couple that with the fact that the company is uber dysfunctional, and it became clear that I should not waste my time there any longer. So, I found an awesome new job that I am really loving. Also in January the Coleman’s moved out to Austin!! They bought a house just up the street from us, so while it was being completed they stayed with us. For about a month we had four adults, one infant, one dog and 6 (!) cats all living under one roof! It was awesome! Every night I got to come home and hang out with my niece! Plus, Sarah and Jason did the dishes that whole time so we got to be really lazy!! Haha. Also in January Eric I and went on a romantic weekend to a Bed and Breakfast in a town called Fredericksburg. It’s this really cute German town about an hour and a half outside the city. It was right before the big ice storm so the weather wasn’t very nice, but we had a great time eating and sampling the local beers and browsing the cute little shops. When we got back a HUGE ice storm arrived that shut down the city for three days. It even snowed! My office was closed so it was like a little bonus holiday. Too bad we were cooped up in the house! By the time we went back to work, everyone in Austin had cabin fever!

February

In February Sarah and Jason moved into their new house so we had to adjust back to having an empty house! Luckily it was my birthday month so it was easy to get distracted by something else! It ended up being a weekend-long celebration, rounded out by Valentine’s Day the next week. On Friday night we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with the Coleman’s (our old tradition) and then met a bunch of our friends at a bar downtown and hung out and drank. Totally unlike me but I figured, “Hey, I’m 25, I should do something outside of my comfort level!” Then on Saturday Eric and I got a couples massage before he took me out to dinner. After dinner we went to a comedy/variety show called Ester’s Follies. It was hilarious! They made fun of all the current events in a musical way. After that we went to another comedy show and then to get chocolate mousse at a French restaurant we like. It was wonderful!! For Valentine’s Day, Eric made an awesome lobster dinner with a brownie sundae for dessert.

Later in the month Sam, Allison and my mom came to visit. We took them to all of the yummy restaurants and spent a lot of time hanging out with Amelia. Again, it was great to have my nieces together. Whew, what a month!

Present Day!

Hey! We’re already at March. So far this month has been pretty exciting! Earlier in the month we went on a weekend trip to Houston with the Parker’s- we even went to the rodeo! It was sooo fun! We ate really good food and had an awesome time hanging out with their family. It was a great trip. Last week Eric’s sister, Jessica, came to town with one of her friends for the South by Southwest music festival. We lived it up like we were in college again- staying out ‘til 4:00 am, sneaking into hotel parties, running into famous people (Kirsten Dunst) – Ha! Just another weekend for the “F’s!” Just kidding! I don’t think I’ve ever stayed out that late, except for maybe in Vegas, but that’s another story.

It was so nice spending time with Jessica (especially now that’s she’s 21!) We also hooked up with Mark (his band was playing here) which was the first time in a while that we actually spent more than about an hour with him! Gina and Jason and the Parkers met us downtown on Friday night and we also ran into some other people we know. It was soooooo much fun, but we paid for it on Saturday! We were like zombies! Yesterday was better (we were all caught up on our sleep by then!) so we spent much of the day doing yard work. I was attacking the clovers that have taken over the garden (I HATE CLOVERS! They are sooo not lucky!) and Eric worked on the lawn.

I See a Beach In Your Future…..

Next up: We are going back to Tulum (our honeymoon spot) on April 6^th!! If you look back to one of our very first posts you can read all about it. We can’t wait! We are going to snorkel and visit ruins and sit on the beach and eat and drink! It will be fabulous!
Ok everyone, keep in touch. I will update again soon (I swear it won’t take another 6 months!)