July Summer Fun!

Jessa's 25th Birthday
My 25th birthday was a week-long blast! I celebrated with family, friends, co-workers and Richard. My sweet husband surprised me with flowers, took me purse shopping and then to a nice dinner at Jasper's! :) I can't believe I'm officially in my mid-20's...so excited for what the future has in store!

Birthday Lunch with Grammy at La Madeleine!

Cheese!!!!

Pedis at the Hawaiian Nail Spa!

Dinner, Drinks and Pedis for my 25th! Little Miss Jordyn joined the fun! :)

Birthday Happy Hour with a few of my co-workers!

Family Birthday Lunch!

Flowers from my sweet co-worker, Kristen!

Birthday lunch - Mom and Grandma!

Birthday lunch!

Margaritas with Mindy and Evan!

Mindy + Evan = Engagement Party
We are so happy that our college friends Mindy and Evan are getting married! The engagement party was so much fun and we know the planning process and big day will be one big party!

Mindy's Bridal Party (minus Vanessa)

A few of Evan's groomsmen

Yep, we lost the newlywed game. Ha!

Capital One Math Corps Pilot Program
One of my events this month was a Math Corps Pilot Program with 30 fourth graders in the Communities in Schools Dallas Program. I LOVE this age! We spent 3 weeks with these kids learning financial literacy and life skills from top level executives. The best part was eating like a 4th grader...burgers, chicken fingers and pizza...yum! I was sad to see these kids go, but hope to have made a positive impact in their lives.

Capital One Math Corps Pilot

This was one of my favorite kids, he cracked me up!

CARES Updates
In July we hosted an ice cream party and hot dog night! This was our first month serving only the Cliffs residents. As always, we had some of our favorite regulars in attendance. On a deeper note, we had the opportunity to assist a lady with MS in our property (she had to move to a different apartment this month). This was an eye-opening experience...and she was such a blessing to get to know! We also had the opportunity to babysit twins and a toddler for another CARES Team in need... we survived!

Babysitting twins!!

Playing with Caleb Baker while babysitting for another CARES Team
(the same ones we dog-sat for a few weeks ago)!

Chatting with Sonny during a CARES event.

Food and Fun

Sushi @ Shensei with my co-workers!

Richard received free Yogurt Land coupons during the premiere of Harry Potter...
at least something good came from him going to the midnight showing!

Feeding the ducks at the park in The Village!

Hi ho, hi ho... It's off to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver we go!!

Portland, Oregon

We stayed at the coolest hotel ever, The Kennedy School Hotel. We swam in the salt water pool located in the old teacher's lounge, stayed in Miss Dobie's classroom, watched "Water for Elephants" on a couch in the old auditorium and enjoyed dinner, drinks and a few games of pool! We also walked around the neighborhood and fell in love with the unique homes.

We stayed in Mrs. Dobie's Room at the Kennedy School in Portland, OR!

We loved walking around in the neighborhood - the flowers were gorgeous!

The original Voodoo Donuts in Portland, OR.

Union Station in Portland, OR.

Remember when the worst thing you could imagine was being kept after class? My, how things have changed! At Kennedy School, you'll never want to leave. Here you can have a pint in a classroom, enjoy an aged whiskey and a cigar in detention, take a dip in the pool in the teacher's lounge, enjoy a movie in the old auditorium.... The possibilities here are endless. 

In March '10, the Kennedy School was named the #1 Quirkiest Hotel in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com -- an A+ for us!

Since its 1915 opening, this historic elementary school has been a beloved fixture of its Northeast Portland neighborhood. McMenamins renovated the once-abandoned scholastic gem and turned it into Portland's most unique hotel. Here you'll find 35 comfy guestrooms fashioned from former classrooms (complete with original chalkboards and cloakrooms, private baths and telephones), a restaurant, multiple small bars, a movie theater, soaking pool, gift shop and a brewery (just wait until the principal hears about this!). Extensive original artwork and historical photographs cover the walls, ceilings, doorways and hallways.

In the morning we went to check out Voodoo Doughnuts (a Portland staple), but after a few minutes in the LONNNG line, they ran out of doughnuts! We also walked the Broadway Bridge in Portland before boarding the Amtrak to head to Seattle. The weather was in the 70's and sunny... perfect day!

Seattle, Washington


What a great place for food lovers! We stayed at the Hyatt Downtown...which was in a wonderful location. We were just a short walk from all the tourist hot spots and tons of food!  On the first night we headed down to Pike's Public Market (an awesome strip of shops and sights located where they toss the fish around in the mornings and afternoons).  Also located within Pike's is the original Starbucks location.  Of course the line was out of the door.  Just a short walk from the original Starbucks is the famous (of infamous . . .) "gum wall". The entire wall is covered in gum from tourists who have visited.  Naturally, Richard contributed (it was pretty gross . . .).

Original Starbucks in Seattle!

Pike's Place Market in Seattle!

Richard adding gum to the gum wall in Seattle.

That night we ate at Ivar's Acres of Clams right on the harbor (next to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop).  We had some great seafood and a nice view.

Dinner at Ivars

The next day was very full! Richard woke up early and jogged to Elliott Bay Park (great views of the ocean).  Then we hit the gym and the steam room & sauna.  Then we did the underground tour of Pioneer Square (where the "old" Seattle used to be before it burned to the ground and they built on top of it).  Afterwards we checked out Elliott's Oyster House (with a great patio on the pier).  We ordered a dozen raw oysters, and ate them all (Jessa was . . . iffy about them but she ate her 6).  After that we went to zig zag cafe for some creative drinks and then on to The Pink Door for a great dinner on a great patio.

Elliott's Oyster House

View from our hotel room in Seattle.

Space Needle in Seattle.

Seattle

Vancouver, Canada

Our experience in Vancouver had a rocky start but quickly turned into a fun, exciting and active trip! We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel and Spa in Downtown Vancouver - a great hotel with an amazing view of the city. We toured historic Gastown, then ventured into China Town (which we do not recommend). China Town was filled with crazy people, dark alleys and suspicious activity... thanks for the recommendation Trip Advisor! I couldn't help but look down every dark alley....Richard kept telling me to look away and not make eye contact! lol We ended our night at the Pour House Restaurant in Gastown. Not only was the food great and the venue unique, we had a live performer singing Frank Sinatra songs (Richard's favorite)! 

Gastown in Vancouver - Steam Clock

Dinner at the Pourhouse in Vancouver, Canada

Scary Chinatown in Vancouver, Canada

The following day was packed with fun and adventure. Richard kicked off the morning with a 6 mile run around Stanley park, then we worked out / swam at our hotel. One of my favorite parts of trip was experiencing a Thai Massage from Smile Thai. The massage was a mixture of a Swedish massage with yoga - it was wonderful and much needed. This was definitely a new experience and I would recommend it to anyone! 

Smile Thai Massage

Following our massage, we took a bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge (longest suspension bridge in the world). It was SO scary and shook like crazy. 

Cliffwalk

Suspension Bridge - so scary!

Suspension Bridge 

We also rented bikes and biked around Stanley park. The views were absolutely gorgeous! 

Biking in Stanley Park

Biking in Stanley Park

We rounded out the day by grabbing fresh sushi in Northern Vancouver at Octopus Garden. Yum! Following dinner, we attended Bard on the Beach to see "As You Like It" (a Shakespeare play). What a cool performance. The theater was open and the background was the water and mountains. We really enjoyed the Shakespeare production! 

Octopus Garden - For dessert, "octopus" gummies!

Bard on the Beach

Another trip down. We loved every minute of it (minus Vancouver's China Town...ha!)! 

Headed East :: She said YES! :: The great outdoors and much more!

Headed East.
We were able to get away and take a weekend trip to Nacogdoches to see family on Memorial Day Weekend 2011! Little Miss Chloe and Mr Jude are growing so fast...and they are way too adorable! In true Chloe fashion she called us Uncle Jessa and Aunt Richard. hahaha Richard's Uncle Craig was also visiting from Ohio. Richard was able to spend the morning fishing with Craig and Papa. As always, Sundae gave Turbo an earful with her crazy barking. However, she eventually warmed up to him.

Richard being Silly with Chloe and Jude!

Say Cheese!

Richard fishing with his Papa and Uncle Craig.
Memorial Day Weekend 2011

She said YES!
We had the pleasure of helping coordinate Brenda's surprise engagement. Will proposed in Reunion Tower...Brenda said YES...and we all celebrated with a hotel party following the engagement. I am beyond excited to start wedding planning with Brenda. We are SO happy for them both!!

She said YES!

The proposal inside of Reunion Tower.

Yay!!! So happy for Brenda and Will!

Celebrating after the proposal!

Camping 

We were able to have a mini-vacation in Glen Rose, TX with some of our closest friends! We packed up the cars with our camping gear and headed to the cutest little cabin. Our fun little trip included fishing, grilling out, "ghost stories", being visited by a wild horse and over 10 cows and a night filled with games. Sounds like a fun tradition for years to come!

Trickle Creek Cabins

All of us on the Creekside Cabin porch!

I caught a FISH! I wouldn't touch it though... Richard had to hold it for me. :)

Life as a CARES Team.

We had a "Pizza by the Pool" CARES event this month with almost 100 attendees! IFratelli Pizza was a huge hit. Several Bluffs residents (that have already moved out) joined us during our second to last event for The Bluffs!

One more reason we are sad to leave The Bluffs. We have the funniest neighbors. There are three little girls that live on our floor...all from different countries... and English is not their first language. However, they have no problem communicating or playing with each other. They often leave notes (which I can't read) on each others door. Too funny and sweet! 

Yep, this is Sonny. Some of you have met her and most of you have heard stories about her. This night was probably the funniest and most memorable night as a CARES team. Our date night was joined by Sonny (a 70 year old Indian lady) showing up by surprise after getting lost in our apartments for an hour and a half. Her main mission: to bring us tea from India. :)

One of the best parts of being a CARES Team - Sonny always cooks Indian dishes for us! YUM!

Other happenings.

Capital One Spring Carnival! Helping to prep for the fun event with my co-workers!

Whitney and Nathaniel took us to Bolsa in Oak Cliff. What a cool restaurant! It has been featured in D Magazine and uses  "the best naturally-raised and organic ingredients we can find, and source from local growers, ranchers and fishermen throughout Texas whenever possible". All drinks are made fresh and right in front of you! We would definitely recommend this popular spot. We had a great time!