Life In Cowtown

Urban Dare Fort Worth

2009-12-13T10:11:00.010-06:00

I know I have abandoned this blog in recent months. I no longer have home internet which makes it much more challenging to get on here and post, but I promise to do a better job as there is SO much to blog about, especially these past few months.

What a way to return to the blogosphere than with Urban Dare Fort Worth! You remember last Spring my friend Lisa and I competed in Urban Dare Dallas. If you don't remember or haven't seen that, feel free to read it:

http://themav211.blogspot.com/2009/05/urban-dare-dallas.html

So first - if you don't know what Urban Dare is, you're missing out big time! Please check out their website: www.urbandare.com . In short, it's like 'The Amazing Race' set in urban cities across the US. They travel to a different city 2-3 times a month and host these team based adventure races. You get a set of clues, that are not in geographic order, and you must race around town figuring out the clues - when you figure one out, it will be a destination where you must take a picture of you and your teammate, OR complete a "dare". Continue reading for better understanding.

So this being Lisa and mine's second Urban Dare, we had the nerves of being "newbies" out of the way. We were able to reflect on all the things we did right, and WRONG, in Urban Dare Dallas so that we were better prepared this time around. I moved to Fort Worth last June and live about a 8 blocks from downtown, plus Lisa and I had been studying our Fort Worth history and landmarks, so we were feeling pretty good.

We met at Gingerbread Man, a local pub on Camp Bowie, also the location where the Dallas race started at their Uptwon location. A VERY COOL pub to chill, grab a beer, and play some games.

We registered for the race, got our gear (however we decided to not wear the UD t-shirt this year and go with our own team gear - AmeriCorps Alums North Texas! www.americorpsalums.org for more information - or search for the group on Facebook). Here were are ready and with our game faces!

With just a few minutes to 12, we are psyched up and ready. I'm battling a cold so I've taken my meds and sprayed my throat with nasty syrup at the request of my girlfriend. Its high noon and the race begins. Now...a little beef with the race here...in Dallas, we went through a set of pre-questions to get the teams staggered upon starting. Lisa and I SUCKED at those and were one of the last teams to leave, however we have prepared ourselves for these questions and ready! But to our amazement, there are NO questions and we are given the greenlight to grab the clues and run out the door. Lisa and I are in the back of the pub! Now no pre-questions was probably to our benefit as we may have bombed them! So note to self - always stand near the front door, you know never know how the race will begin.

So off we go! As I said, the clues are in NO order. Part of the first few minutes, is doing your best to figure out the clothes. You're allowed to call friends and family to help you figure the clues out so that's instantly what we start doing. With our current knowledge of Fort Worth, we are able to figure out several clues on our own, which was definitely a big advantage. Once you get the clues laid out, then you build your route. If you aren't familiar with the Fort Worth area, we were starting in the cultural district, about 1.5 miles west of downtown. There is a river that divides to the two regions and two bridges that access - 7th street and Lancaster. We knew that we would have to go downtown so figuring out the route is very important, because once you cross a bridge, you don't want to come back until you've got ALL the clues on that side figured out and check points accomplished. We get as much as we can figured out with the help to our "phone a friends". A HUGE thanks to Lisa's mom & sister, my parents, and our friend Sue - they were all rockstars in helping us with the clues!!!!!

So...here is our race looked:

1. Get your picture with this plane. There was a picture of an old gas station with a plane in front of it. To most Fort Worthonians eyes, this was an immediate recognition - the old station on Montgomery. Not far from the pub, we darted to this spot to make it our first stop.

Thanks to the team behind us taking our picture!

2.Get your picture with the statue of the high desert princess. High desert princess - this is Fort Worth, TX...that MUST mean the statue in front of the Cowgirl Museum! Just across the street from the plane and through a couple parking lots, there we were.

Again - thanks to the team that took this for us!

PHOTO HUNT: So there are two of these - one of them is to take a picture proposing to a non-racer. As we were running through Will Rogers area, we passed this nice woman who was willing to advance from a stranger to my fiance for this picture. Sorry Amber!

3. Get your picture taken with the statue Woman Addressing the Public. Good thing Lisa has a better memory than me! She remembered this instantly as the strangely proportioned statue by the Kimball Art Museum. We ran over there just in time to find a nice family about to take their own picture. We busted up there photo opp to get our own - thank you nice family!

So at this point we have most of the clues figured out. The two that have been the most challenging is trying to figure out where a fountain is that was built by the humane society, and one about lemons and a billboard and destruction...sheesh! My dad gave me the number of the humane society and after a couple of tries, I talk to someone that works there that confirms the fountain is downtown in front of the courthouse. So we decide to head into downtown, anything else in the Cultural District we can hit when we come back west of the river.

So begins that LOOOOOOONG stretch down Lancaster Ave.

This is the bus we should have jumped on....more on public transportation later.

Downtown seems so far away!!!

And the finish line!!!! OK not really...just some fun on the never ending Lancaster...

4. Get your picture with a mural of a giant zipper. Lucky for us that this zipper mural sits at Lancaster and Jennings. I live on Jennings and pass through this intersection on a near daily basis and always get a glance at the giant zipper!

We spot some of the competition!

5. Go to the Active Water pool and get your picture down at the bottom. So active water pool could have been any fountain in town. But to be at the bottom of it...this HAD to have been the Water Gardens.

6. Alfred Hayne was a hero of the Spring Palace fire. Go to his memorial for your three legged dare. So this is where God intervened for us! We emerged from the Water Gardens in pursuit of this memorial but were a little confused on which way to go. We knew it was 100 yards down Houston, but which way. About 50 feet away from us a man is walking towards the T&P lofts and waving at us to follow him. We are completely unsure if we should follow this stranger AWAY from downtown, but figure we might as well chance it! He continues to wave us on his direction, but never stops for us. We race after him and sure enough, we come upon the memorial. The man disappears under the I-30 bridges. And what was even better is that this was supposed to be the 3-legged race, but for whatever reasons, we were told to just get our picture and move on. That is GREAT because the 3-legged race was the toughest dare for us in Dallas. So thanks God!! And waving stranger!

PHOTO HUNT - So another photo hunt was to take a picture of a non racer doing a cartwheel. As we raced down Commerce street to our next check point in front of the Convention Center, we spot a family with 3 kids. Surely one of them will do this! We ask and they are happy to help.

Thank you teenage girl who did a cartwheel for us!

7. Go to the Aviation Wall of Honor for your bubble dare. This wall is right in front of the Convention Center at 8th and Main. And our first dare! It's the bubble one, which Lisa did in Dallas so I decided I would take this on. Dive head first into whip cream, find the giant piece of bubble gum, and blow a bubble.. A LOT harder than you think!

So after this we start heading towards the next check point when we see 2 cheerleaders....one advantage that all teams have been given is that if we get a picture of 6 non racers doing a pyramid, we get 5 extra minutes. We see these cheerleaders and ask if they have any others nearby that can do a pyramid for us. They start calling their friends and tell us there is a cheerleading competition going on at the Convention Center, how perfect is that!!? So we follow them back to the Convention Center, they go in to gather some friends...and we never see them again! Luckily the place is filled with cheerleaders, so as we are waiting our two new friends to help us out, another team gathering a group for their pyramid picture. Now I'd like to think that even though our two cheerleaders didn't come through, our efforts still earned us the right to get a picture. So we snapped one of the other group!

Thank you cheerleaders and the other team!

8. Get your picture taken by the fountain built by the woman's humane association. We race through the heart of downtown to the courthouse and instantly see this fountain. Thanks to the lady at the humane association for confirming this for me.

So at this point our time downtown is over. We have 2 more check points and luckily both are on 7th street. We need to leave downtown and take the 7th street, but will do just about anything to not have to walk/jog it back. We decide we will take the bus (public transportation is allowed in the race). So we follow the bus lane as we race through downtown. We find a couple standing at a bus stop and ask if they know when the next bus is coming. They say it should be there in just a couple of months. That is worth the wait for us! I brought lots of change just in case, so we count our silver coins just as the bus arrives. We jump on board and confirm that they can drop us off just after the Trinity River, where the next dare is waiting for us. We get on the best and have about 2 minutes to sit and relax - and probably saved us about 10-15 minutes! HUGE ADVANTAGE. If only we had done this going down Lancaster earlier...

9. Go to the memorial for fallen firefighters and police for your spellbound dare. This memorial sits at end of Trinity Park right at the river and 7th street bridge. The bus drops us off in front of it, we cross 7th street, and begin our spellbound challenge. We have a word on the back of our passport (which we must get stamped at each dare) - IMPORTANCE is our word. Across the lawn at the memorial are markers with a letter and a number beside. We must find all the letters in our word and then add up the corresponding numbers for a total sum. If we have the corrent sum, we can move on. This takes a while, and it took us a while in Dallas too. These markers are spread everywhere and very hard to see! We finally find them all and get it added up.

10. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When your billboard gets blown down, take the poles and turn them into art. Go there for your wheel barrel dare. It's our final dare!! Then we are done, just have to get to the finish line. It took us a while to figure this clue out and definitely had to have help from our family and friends. I kept trying to think of a billboard with lemons on it...but nothing rang a bell. The part about "gets blown down" is probably referring to the 2000 tornado that blew through downtown Fort Worth and specifically came through the West 7th area. After much research, we learn that the poles are being used at a location at 7th and Camp Bowie. We race down 7th street hunting for this spot. We finally see it, right on the edge of the crazy and ridiculous intersection of 7th St., University, Baily, and Camp Bowie (horrible intersection!).

We complete the wheel barrel race and fly up Camp Bowie to the Ginger Man. I'm dragging behind (did I mention I have a cold?) but Lisa is motivating me to get to the end. We pass Great Outdoors, one of my favorite sandwich spots, and pass UNT Health, and make it through the Camp Bowie/Montgomery intersection, pass the CVS where I got my throat spray, and here we are!!! We FINALLY get there!!!!

We get inside, turnover my camera and our passport so all of our checkpoints can be approved. DONE! And how did we do???

Dallas results:
3hrs, 13 mins
31st out of 80 teams

Fort Worth results:
2 hrs, 18 mins
7th out of 37 teams

7th!!! Whoo hooo!!! Our goal was top 20! With much lower participation this race than in Dallas, we were still VERY proud of our top 10 victory. As rookies in Dallas were happy, but this was GREAT. Definitely makes us wonder what we would have placed had we taken the bus across Lancaster at the beginning. Lesson learned.

So a GREAT time! Thank you to Mr. Keefe @ Urban Dare for another amazing race. Can't wait until Urban Dare Dallas - May 1st!!!

The Past 30 Days

2009-09-04T20:54:00.016-05:00

Hello! I've been missing in action for a while...it's been a very busy several weeks w/ lots to tell. I won't bore you with everything, just the exciting stuff!

Mom & Dad's Visit

Mom and dad came down the weekend before dad's birthday to see the new apartment and life here in Fort Worth. They were pleasantly surprised by the apartment and community I'm in. We had a really good visit, including a visit w/ some of their friends that live here as well.

They got in late on Friday night so we ordered a pizza from my favorite local joint - Mellow Mushroom. We also made a quick trip to the store to get some food for breakfast. Mom and dad noticed that my fridge was rather warm, which I had also noticed since I moved in. The food I keep in the fridge will ruin within just a few days, I had been very confused about it all, but hadn't though too seriously about it. When the food still wasn't getting cold on Saturday, they bought a thermometer to see just how cold it was getting. A typical fridge should be 40 - 55 degrees. Mine was well over 60!! All this time, I was eating food that could have made me very very sick. The discovery sure answered a lot of questions for me! Luckily I was able to get the fridge fixed very quickly the following week.

Sunday night we celebrated dad's birthday by going to Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian style steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth. I went there a few months ago for a friend's birthday and it was GREAT! You basically have 2 options to order from - the salad bar, which can easily fill you up. Or the salad bar w/ the meat. After a quick orientation from a server, you are provided w/ a 2 sided round disc, one side green, the other red. When you are hungry for amazing, fine meats, turn the card to green. When you have had enough or need a break, flip it to red. Servers carry dozens of slow roasted meats on skews throughout the restaurant, hunting for the green discs, to cut a slice onto your plate. It is excellent! And very overwhelming. It's pretty impossible to walk away still hungry!!

Here are a couple pictures from the visit:

It was a great visit! Thanks for coming mom and dad!!

New Orleans

In honor of anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, an organization called the St. Bernard Project was hosting a 24 Hour Build in New Orleans. They would work 24 hours straight, utilizing volunteers in 3 shifts, to help build and work on houses for residents of St. Bernard Parish who were still waiting to move back home from the devastation 4 years earlier. A group of AmeriCorps members, past and present, advertised the event and encouraged folks to sign up. Along with other AmeriCorps alums, a couple friends and I signed up to go!

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29th, 2005, my duties as a 2 week in AmeriCorps member w/ the Red Cross bolted me to the front lines in Dallas w/ hundreds of other volunteers as we sheltered over 25,000 evacuees for nearly 60 days at 2 shelters in downtown Dallas. It was a tough, long, emotional, inspiring, very hard experience, but one that helped to shape who I am today and for that I am very proud of my time spent involved w/ the Katrina and Hurricane Rita relief.

About 10 months after Katrina, I went w/ a group of AmeriCorps alums to provide service in Biloxi, MS., and it was a great trip. But I really hadn't seen the impact in New Orleans. So this trip was one that enabled me see NOLA for my own eyes, as well as provide a very small hand in the rebuilding effort in the community.

I've been to New Orleans 4 times, but none of those visits were quite like this one. Here are some pictures of the trip:

We left early on Friday (8/28) and got on the road.
Halfway through Louisiana - Alexandria

Baton Rouge!

We got to New Orleans about 6:30, checked into the hotel, rested about 10 minutes, then headed for downtown!

Canal Street

We had dinner at Bubba Gump's. It was pretty good, if you like seafood. Not a great selection otherwise.

A stroll down the River walk

Immigrant's Monument, River walk

Jackson Square

Walkin down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter

...what's that smell?? Oh, that's just vomit. Yeah - it was nasty.

Jazz music!!

Fun times in the French Quarter, other than the nasty streets. Saturday morning we got up early and headed into St. Bernard Parish to the office we would be serving with.

The actual house we were working on was just a few miles away in the community of Violet. When it comes to service, I've done quite a bit over the past several years in non profit. I've done some Habitat for Humanity projects which would be the most transferable service to this project. However, to our surprise, our assignment was - electrical wiring. Wiring!? I had never done that!

An AMAZING family of the 3 were our supervisors for the project, specifically their 10th grader, Mott. He was a pretty cool guy and great supervisor. The family had been living in Pennsylvania until 2007 when they decided to pack up and move to New Orleans and take on the amazing task of serving the residents by helping to rebuild.

Heck ya, I'm an electrician!!

After our service, we tried to make it to a moment of silence and celebration, but got lost on the way! We decided to drive around the Ninth Ward:

The Levee

One of the new, "green" homes built by Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation

It looks so peaceful. A canal of the Mississippi River on the left, the levee as the divider, the 9th Ward on the right

On Saturday evening, the city was holding a vigil in the banks of Lake Pontchartrain to honor those lost in Hurricane Katrina. There were several remembrance events happening, but we chose to participate in the vigil. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, but it was overflowing with heart and spirit.

On the Levee of Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchatrain

When the vigil ended, there was dancing in the streets!

My favorite picture from the whole trip

Following the Vigil, we headed back to the French Quarter for our last evening. With recommendation from the family we worked with, we went to Frenchman Boulevard, where we were told we could easily find some live music. The area wasn't bad at all, but we went a restaurant where the live music was hidden and the food was overpriced. We relaxed for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel and went to sleep by 10:30! After a very long day, we were exhausted.

Not quite ready to leave, but time to go home, we headed west on I-10 towards Texas. Here's one final picture as we left The Big Easy.

The Superdome

It was a wonderful trip!! Great to see NOLA alive and kickin! I was surprised at how much is still left to be done, but there is a spirit and pride the city has that will not be broken. I can't wait to return.

New Job!!

Yep - I've switched jobs, AGAIN. I started this week managing student volunteer programs in Tarrant County (Fort Worth, Arlington area). As you know, I moved to Fort Worth early in the summer and this new job is officed about 10 minutes from house. I'll be working back in the non profit field, which I feel is where I'm supposed to be. I'll be managing a program called Youth Volunteer Corps of North Texas, connecting young people to service opportunities in their community, and partnering with teachers and educators to integrate service learning activities into the classroom. After 3 days, I LOVE IT!

So I will try not to go so long without posting so that I don't have such a HUGE post. I hope everyone is doing well!

Images of Cowtown

2009-07-25T15:28:00.008-05:00

Hello...hope everyone is doing good. Life has been pretty good here! Loving Fort Worth. Just wanted to share some scenes around town: The statues at Hulen & 30

The Marty Leonard Chapel @ Lena Pope Home

Uncle Julio's Restaurant

Will Rogers Coliseum

Great Outdoors - GREAT sandwiches

National Cowgirls Museum The lantern at the new History & Science Museum

Old Montgomery Ward Building - now condos and restuarants

First United Methodist Church Jesus thinks you're number one!

The tower, remodeled after the 2000 tornado

I really like this building

Mmmmm, good ole southern cookin!

J for Jonathan

The Never Ending 4th of July....

2009-07-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

Sit back and enjoy a story of the LONGEST Independence Day celebration ever, the never ending 4th of July...

I had been thinking of going out of town for the 4th, but I decided it would be wiser to stay in town and not spend the money on gas and food to leave. So a couple of friends and I decided to celebrate our nation's independence by going to the firework show here in my new community of Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Fourth was an entire evening starting at 5:30 PM on the banks of the Trinity River just north of downtown. The Fort Worth Cats (minor league baseball) would be playing the Pelicans, there would be a "battle of the bands" just outside of LaGrave Field, and fireworks would blast at the end of the game. Sounded like a good time so I was looking forward to attending.

We decided to avoid the expensive food & drinks at the celebration and get our own food. Unfortunately one of my friends wasn't able to make it due to a gym curse, but my friend Lisa was still up for meeting. We met downtown for some Riscky's BBQ, and some really good sweet tea!!!

After we finished eating we headed into the crowds at the baseball field, found a good place to set up our chairs, and wait for the fireworks to begin. We got there about 7:30, just as the baseball game was beginning. We figured by 9:30 or so the game would conclude and the show would begin. Here's some of what the celebration looked like:

7:45 PM We relaxed in our comfy spot with a view of the Trinity River and played on our phones and chatted for a while. Some interesting things were going on around us. Children were sliding down the side of a levee on political signs pulled from the ground. There was a trolley of clowns giving people shuttle rides along the river - scary!

8:15PM About 30 minutes went by or so and we decided to play a game. I had brought cards so we played several rounds of Spades until it started to get dark.

9:15PM Once we lost the ability to see well, we knew the game would be over soon and the fireworks would begin. So we continued to sit around, drinking the Gatorade I had packed.

10:00 PM It was HOT outside, even w/ the sun down, and we had finished our Gatorades at this point. With the game still roaring on, we had no idea when the firework show would begin! So I broke down and went and got some overpriced drinks.

10:30 PM So slowly, we watch as the people around us start to pack up and leave. Disappointed families have children starting to fall asleep, so they better round everyone up and head out. As the crowd thins out, we start weighing our options on if we should go or not. We hear the game call out they are in the 10th inning - TENTH INNING!? Surely they will be done soon!

11:00 Bored...and tired...and frustrated...but not wanting to leave at this point, we start quizzing each other on the most populated cities in the US. New York, LA, Chicago, Houston, Philly, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio...this goes on for a while...

11:30 Empty drink cans lay on the grass where people have left. Political signs are thrown in a pile where the children were sliding with them. I decide to make a declaration! IF the firework show does not begin by mid night - we are leaving!!! By then it will be July 5th - the FIFTH! I want to see fireworks on the FOURTH.

Sure enough, not long after, the game ends! The crowd is cheering and people are excited that their evening is finally coming to an end! With less than 10 minutes to spare on the FOURTH, the show begins...

11:50

This ones my favorite

So this is the finale...and when it got scary

A little too close for comfort

So these were VERY close...I was pretty concerned...

And this is the fire that started

So that was my never ending 4th. GREAT time...very long night! Worth the wait

My new home

2009-07-01T15:19:00.000-05:00

So I've moved...again. Yes, I know I move a lot...maybe this will be the last one for a while! If you do not have my new address and want it, please e-mail or call me.

I decided to move over the course of a week - I thought this would give me lots of time, I could move everything on my own (except the big stuff), be in no rush, and I could unpack as I moved. BIG MISTAKE. I had belongings at both apartments; everything seemed messy and unorganized; I would be at the new place and need something which was at the old place, and vice versa. But through my mistake, I learned to just move as quick as possible and get it all done...so when I move again in a few months (smile) I'll do that.

As of today, I am now and official resident of Fort Worth - 76104. I live in the Near Southside community, aka the medical district just south of downtown. Now when you typically think of medical districts....they aren't the newest or nicest, and that is definitely true of this area. I like to think of it is a historical area. Infact, my apartment community stands on the grounds of 2 former schools - Parker Middle School and Hogg Elementary School, and a gym. The 3 buildings were remodeled to apartments and lofts. I have a wonderful apartment that faces west where I can overlook the neighborhood and see the western Fort Worth horizon. There are lots of exciting things happening right now and I'll be sharing more about those things soon, but moving here was the first step and I'm very happy to be here!

Here a few pictures of the apartment and area. I plan on taking lots of pictures of the community soon.

Downtown Fort Worth

The evening sky

Fireworks from the Botanic Gardens

The morning sun shines on the buildings

Beautiful sunset

Downtown & Trinity River from Trinity Park

Moon above Harris Methodist Hospital

More blogging and pictures to come soon! Hope everyone has having a good weekend. HAVE A GOOD AND SAFE 4th OF JULY!

#5 - A Walk Around the Neighborhood

2009-06-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love to do is go for a walk. I've done this for years - it's a great way to relax, calm down from a long day, and just think. Plus it's good exercise. I've had several places for great walks - River Legacy Park, around campus at UT Arlington, Murray Park in Little Rock, the Big Dam Bridge over the Arkansas River...all great places. One of the best things about my current walk is that it's right out my front door an around my neighborhood. I live around several other apartments, in the middle of an industrial park. So the streets aren't busy in the evenings and I feel it's a very safe area. Whether I'm walking near the Trinity Rail Express station w/ the horizon of Arlington in the background, or around the American Airlines Headquarters where planes are flying near overhead as they descend to their landing at D/FW Airport, my walking route the past 8 months as been one of my favorites, and I believe the thing I'll miss the most. Everything else I've named that I'll miss, I can still do - still go to happy hour, still go to River Legacy, and definitely still eat Simply Burgers (this coming Thurs is free food and drinks!)...but it is very unlikely I will just walk through the neighborhood I lived at. Here are a few pictures from my walk this week.

The TRE headed to Dallas. It's hard to see, but the white dome rising from the ground - Cowboys Stadium

The sky above Centreport

A blurry Arlington skyline - you can see Six Flags - the lights on the far right are at Rangers Ballpark

Cedar Hill

#4 - River Legacy Park

2009-06-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

River Legacy Park has been a favorite for years. When I was a student at UT Arlington I would make it up to River Legacy several times throughout the week to walk the trails. There is a 3/4 mile trail that loops around the center of the park. Full of runners, walkers, bike riders, and rollerbladers, this popular trail breezes by open grass areas where you can watch folks playing catch, soccer, flying a kite, or an old favorite of mine, bocce ball! There are a few other trails that branch off from the main loop and wind through the woods and beside the Trinity River. For a more peaceful and scenic experience, the wooded trails are the way to go. In addition to the paved trails, you can also find several biking trails, which are the best to spot the several bobcats that live throughout the park. YES - bobcats! I'm disappointed because I've never seen one (although I have near my apartment - more on this in tomorrow's post). The River Legacy website even has a bobcat blog where people post their pictures from their panther sightings (interesting side note...Fort Worth's nickname, in addition to Cowtown, is Panther City. And what's the mascot of Fort Worth's baseball team?? - The Cats!)

See my previous posting about Earth Day w/ SCA for more information and pictures on River Legacy Park. Here are a few pics of my walk through the park:

#3 - Simply Burgers!

2009-06-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

Simply Burgers serves the best burgers in Centreport Station. And other than Wendy's and Jack In the Box, the serve the only burgers! They have a wide variety of burgers to choose from, as well as several options for fries. Despite the several options, my favorite order is a simple cheeseburger w/ Idaho potato fries...MMMM. The food is great, price is reasonable, and there's always service w/ a smile. Simply Burgers has been a guilty pleasure since I started living here, I will definitely miss it! Here are a few my pics of my last Simply Burgers experience:

#2 - Happy Hour!

2009-06-16T23:35:00.000-05:00

Several times throughout the year, my friend Daniel and I have met up in different locations to take advantage of the post work happy hour, a wonderful invention. There is nothing like meeting up after a long day of work to grab a cheap beer and snack on a less than wonderful appetizer and share frustrations about work! Outside of happy hour, there have been several times we've just met up to throw a few back. From chillin on the balcony, to Humperdinks, or "dinkhumpers" as I usually call it, to our favorite neighborhood pub, Fox & Hound! And while Daniel will have to come meet me in Fort Worth for new happy hours at places I've already researched...T&P Tavern, The Gingerman Pub, the Fox & Hound in Sundance Square, and of course The Flying Saucer...it's sad to say goodbye to happy hour in mid cities!!!

# 1 - 24 Hour Fitness!!

2009-06-15T23:47:00.000-05:00

So SEVERAL things have been going on the past few weeks, but I'll have to make some future posts on that...this week is a special edition! In honor of my move to Fort Worth, I'll be posting each day about the THINGS I'LL MISS MOST ABOUT MID-CITIES.

So just a little background - I decided to move a while back into Fort Worth for a few different reasons, but mainly because I want to feel part of the Fort Worth community. Currently I live in a little strip of the city that extends to the south end of D/FW airport. But I'm surrounded by other cities - Irving, Grand Prairie, Arlington, and Euless. And I don't really belong to any of those cities, but I don't Fort Worth either. I feel more like a D/FW Airport citizen than anything else! And if you know me, you know I like to feel as though I'm part of my community so that I can be involved and find ways to serve locally.

So after a LOT of looking...I finally decided on an apartment complex in the Near Southside/Fairmont neighborhood of downtown Fort Worth. The apartments I am moving into are actually old school buildings that have been renivated to lofts/apartments. You'll get to learn all about the new place because once I move in, I'll post a new series - SEVEN NEW THINGS IN THE NEAR SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY. And yes...I realize "near southside" is a funny name for a neighborhood.

So...the things I will miss about my current home...I will post one each day for the next week, and they are in NO particular order.

NUMBER ONE: Going to the gym!

About 2 months ago I joined 24 Hour Fitness and I have loved going. There are 3 in this area; 2 literally right by each other, which is kind of odd. But one of them has a pool and the other doesn't. Then there is another gym about 10 minutes in the opposite direction, which includes a racquetball court! I haven't been a member of a gym since I've lived in Little Rock, but I do enjoy it. When I joined the gym, I started trying really hard to take care of my health. I've been eating better and working out on the most consistent basis I have in years. It has been GREAT...I've changed my lifestyle some, and I just feel better and more energized. Now I will have a 24 Hour Fitness right down the street from my new apartment, but the gym near my now was where my 24 Hour Fitness experience began and I will always love going to the gym here!

O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G

2009-05-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

Hello! I hope everyone is doing good. Weekend before last was HOBY!!! HOBY is the Hugh O'Brian Youth Seminar; it's a national organization w/ sites across the country that bring together high school sophomores for 3-4 days of leadership activities. I wish I had had the opportunity to participate in HOBY when I as a sophomore. The way it works is high schools counselors/teachers across North Texas schools nominate students, usually a guy and a girl, from the their school to attend the seminar, held on the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth.

My old AmeriCorps boss, Lisa, whom i did the Urban Dare with (see previous post), has served on the leadership committee for planning the seminar the past several years ago. 3 years ago she asked me, along w/ some other AmeriCorps members, to volunteer for the weekend as senior facilitators, where we got to lead a group of about 10 students through the weekend of leadership workshops, Q&A panels w/ professional members of the community, and a LOT of fun! I loved the experience and was looking forward to being involved in future seminars.

Despite a lot of trying, it never worked out for me to volunteer in Arkansas. But as soon as I got back to Texas I was recruited to help out again w/ this year's seminar! I helped w/ communicating w/ schools around North Texas. I also tried to help plan service projects for the seminar. We had a lot of challenge w/ the swine flu taking over the country, and everything in Fort Worth shut down. Several service partners were just not interested in hosting nearly 200 students for service with schools and businesses shutting down! Luckily we powered through and service was planned.

I wasn't able to get off work to be a facilitator again, so I joined the seminar about halfway through. I was asked to serve as a WLC (World Leadership Congress) judge. At each seminar, a guy and girl are chosen to attend the WLC, a conference in each summer in Washington DC that brings together the chosen students from each site for the "ultimate" seminar. Each student wrote an essay on different topics, I got to read over the essays to help determine student finalists. I also got to interview the finalists to determine the winner. It was a good experience, i was glad I got to help w/ WLC. I spent the rest of the weekend having fun and helping where I could. I'm looking forward to next year's seminar and volunteering again!

Here are a few pictures from HOBY:

Me & Ebony. She was one of my students 3 years ago and she has come back every year as a leader now!

One of the many sessions

They were waiting for ice cream

Group reflection time

Celebrating in the final session together

Some of the students doing some amazing things

GREAT weekend! Can't wait till next year...

Urban Dare Dallas

2009-05-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

Urban Dare Dallas is finally here!

Challenge complete! And it was awesome!

I'm ready for my race!

A little back story; my friend Lisa invited me a long time ago to participate in Urban Dare, an Amazing Race like challenge in downtown Dallas. They do these races all over the country in various big cities. It looked like a ton of fun so I agreed, but wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into!

Some things about the race:
1. You will be given a list of hints/clues that guide you to different areas of town. Some areas you will have just take a picture of you and your teammate. If it is a dare, you must complete the dare, and have an official stamp a "passport" that is provided at the beginning of the race.
2. Techonology use is encouraged. Use blackberries, iPhones, GPS...or "phone a friend" and have them look things up on the internet.
3. Maps are encouraged, as well as public transportation

The starting point was a bar in Uptown called The Gingerman Pub. We arrive about an hour before the race begins so have plenty of time to check in, and to scope out the competition. There were less than 10 teams there when we arrived and I was thinking this is going to pretty lame if that is it!! However the teams started to roll in and the place was full in no time. We are definitely a little intimidated as there are hardcore competitors present - people that are outfitted in running gear, that have phones w/ maps and Internet access, wireless phone devices so they don't have to hold their phone to their ear as they run, and GPS units to guide them on their way. We had NONE of that, so the odds were definitely against us. I was going to be thankful if we just didn't finish in the last few teams! Heck, if we could just finish the race period!

Waiting for the race to begin:

I grabbed a quick sandwich across the street, then felt ready for a race! At noon they led us to a parking lot across the street, and we were told they were going to ask us multiple choice questions. We would move to a certain space of the lot that corresponded w/ our answer, A, B, C, or D.

The first question was asked (which I don't remember), and we got it wrong. Probably half the group got it right and ran off to receive their list of hints. So another question was asked for those of us remaining - "How many Ewing siblings were there in the TV show Dallas?" - I was quickly trying to think on this - there was JR and Bobby...but anyone else?? Pam was a wife...Sue Ellen was a wife...and who else was there?? By the time he gave out the answer, it was too late, we had chosen wrong, again. By now there were probably 10-15 teams left. He asked another question (which again I don't remember). And we got it....wrong again!!! Most of the remaining people run off and there only a few of us left! The guy leading this portion did not even bother to ask us another question, he just told us to go on! So not a good start at all.

We run and get our hints and immediately we both get on the phone and starting calling people for help. There were 11 hints total, and you did not have to do them in order. So as we quickly called and tried to find the locations to the hints, we figured if we could get a location that was in Uptown, we would head that direction as we continued to find the solutions. I called Dad and Katie & Jason and they helped quite a bit providing clues and directions, and Lisa called some family/friends as well.

So our first hint:
1. If you lived in the biggest city on the most populous European island, you would be a ________. Get your picture in front of the establishment that goes by this name.

Dad and I talked through this one - most populous European island - obviously England. I kept thinking...The English? The Brit? But oh wait! It's the biggest city - London...Londoner?? Dad googled Londoner and sure enough there was one in Uptown, about 7 blocks away. With a combination of walking and running, we left the majority of the racers behind who were solving all the clothes before leaving, and made our way to The Londoner:

2. Go to Griggs Park for your wheelbarrow race.

So that was a given - Griggs Park. Luckily it is just a couple of blocks from The Londoner so we make it there pretty quick. Our dare - do a human wheel barrow around a set of cones. So I was the one head down guiding us around cones w/ my arms as my friend held my legs and tried not to drop them! I had to do some quick turning to avoid the dog crap on the ground, but we completed it w/ no problems! We got our "passport" stamped and moved on. Sorry - no photo of this one.

3. Find the sculpture Men Against Man for your bubble dare.

This one was a hard to figure out. We finally got an answer that it was the Trammel Crow Museum in the Arts District. We are currently in Uptown, north of Woodall Rogers Freeway. So scan the map and find a route that is close, safe, and will get us south of the freeway into Downtown as quickly as possible. By this point we are seeing several other teams move in and out of the blocks as they are hurrying to dares and to take their pictures in front of different establishments. Remember, there is not a set route, so anyone can be going to anything, and who knows what they have already completed!

We walk and run several miles to get to the Arts District, including having to re-route around a construction area that threw us off a few minutes. We did not know it at the time, but as we made this route, we would making a potential game changing mistake...more on that later...

We finally get to the Trammell Crow Museum for our next dare. Lisa does this one solo - go head first into a plate of whip cream where a HUGE piece of gum is waiting, then blow a bubble.

Bubble making in process:

Lisa succeeds then we are off to our next one!

4. This year we are donating proceeds to fight breast cancer. Go to the plaza for cancer survivors for your spellbound dare.

Well this was an easy location to figure out - the plaza for cancer survivors is a small park located across from Plaza of the Americas, only a few blocks from the Arts District. We hightail it to the park where we are given a word and must find letters w/ a point attachment hidden around the park. This dare proved to be harder than I thought, much harder than the previous 2 dares, but it wouldn't be our hardest of the day. We finally find all the letters we need to spell our word: Belligerent. Dare completed!

5. Meryl Streep plays the role of single mother Donna Sheriden in a recent film. Get your picture in front of the restaurant that goes by the name of this movie.

The last Meryl Streep movie I saw was Doubt - and she was not a single mother, nor is there a restaurant I know of with that name. Luckily Lisa is able to figure out the movie is Moma Mia! Definitely a movie I did not see, nor have a desire too!! Moma Mia is in Deep Ellum, where Lisa works so she knew the location. But Deep Ellum!? This is outside of Downtown, east of Central Expressway. Next dare, in my opinion - crossing Central Expressway! We did it though:

See how far we are from downtown Dallas now!?

Running to get there...completely out of breath, hot, and tired...but having a great time!

One team runs up ahead of us to Mama Mia's, then passes us on the way back! But we went as fast as we could. We finally get there - we need someone to take our picture, so I go inside the restaurant and just call out, "I need a volunteer to take my picture!!!" After a few seconds of odd stares, a man volunteers:

6. This pooh character is distinguished by his black and orange stripes, and a springy tail. Get your picture in front of his tattoo parlor.

Tiggers Tatoo is in Deep Ellum, just a street over on Main Street, we are currently on Elm. We cut over to it and head back towards downtown. Again, we are seeing other teams here and there and wondering how much they have already done? Are we ahead of them? Behind them? It had been about an hour and a half at this point, and we were halfway through. So at this rate, we would probably make it in about 3 hours.

As we get to Tiggers, another team is arriving. We ask them to take our picture and we will take theirs. This partnership worked out pretty well and we used it again for a couple photos down the road.

7. As a write, Erato is my muse. Go to the park where she and her sisters are represented by stones for your 3 legged race.

Now this was a very hard one to figure out. I had dad, Katie and Jason all researching and taking guesses on this. Finally dad was able to figure it out - Pegasus Plaza in the heart of downtown is home to nine granite boulders bearing the names of Greek muses...this HAS to be it! We are on Main St. so we go what feels like a hundred blocks until we finally get to Pegasus Plaza. We are given a band to put around 2 of our legs so they are tied together, and we must 3 legged race around the park twice. This was by far the hardest challenge, a lot more difficult then you would think. We stumble and trip on our first several steps, but finally get a routine down that works for us and we make our 2 laps. In complete pain, we get our dare approval and move on.

8. The artist Wyland is known for his whaling walls worldwide. Get your picture with his Dallas mural.

Lisa knew we were looking for a HUGE whale mural, and Katie and Jason were able to help us with the area it was located. We travel about 8 more blocks deeper into downtown and stumble upon the mural we needed.

And yes, I'm still running and looking like a mad man

9. Find the Urban Dare official near the dinosaur wearing boots for your beanbag dare.

Dinosour?? I have no idea where this is! Dallas doesn't have dinosaurs, we have the Pegasus. Dad is able to figure out that there is a dinosaur w/ cowboy boots at the West End Marketplace. So we dart towards the historic West End area, made up of transformed warehouses...one of which had a dare that was waiting for us. We get there and each must throw bean bags into a 3 separate holes about 5 feet ahead of us. EASY...we both get it instantly and we're on our way.

Now there had been clue that had been haunting us for 2 hours now...one we could not get complete certainty on. We talk to a horse carriage driver, assuming he sees a lot driving around downtown...but he does know; we talk to a police officer, thinking he knows every corner of downtown, but nope he doesn't...this was sure to be the death of us...

10. Get your picture with the mural with the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The artist must be sacrificed to their art. Like the bees, they must give their lives into the sting they give".

Both dad and Katie had seen a picture of this mural online, but were not able to find the location, and this was a couple of hours ago when they had researched this one. Out of time and answers, and almost done, we were about ready to give up...and I could have used a nice cold drink somewhere in the West End, not to mention a bathroom break. But we push on and keep trying. I decide to call dad again and I'm going to ask him to describe the mural - he said it was on a parking garage, so maybe if he can tell me how high the garage is, or if its made of brick or cement, or is it red or is it gray, ANYTHING to help. Mom answers, so I have her look up the mural again. After some researching, she is able to find the mural, recite the quote we needed and provide a location! Perfect! She says the mural is of a man conducting and is near Plaza of the Americas.

What!? We were already near that area! And whats worse, is that were also right by the mural. If you remember back up to #3...our potential game changing mistake is that as we walked towards the Arts District, if we had just looked up to our left, we would have seen the Ralph Waldo Emerson mural. Now at the time, we did not know what we were looking for, but had we seen it,maybe we could have figured it out.

So VERY tired and nearly feeling defeated, we make the several blocks back up to the Arts District where we once had already navigated to, and the roads we already traveled, and past the points we already took our dares, to sure enough, find the mural that we had been needing.

I certainly will not forget this mural, and I think I will always hold a grudge against Ralph Waldo Emerson...

11. (the last one!). Get your picture with Line of Thought.

Lisa's resources are able to determine that Line of Thought is a statue at Rosewood Court back in Uptown. No worries, this will be a quick stop as we make our way back to The Gingerman Pub, aka - our finish line!

And yes, I'm still running:

We cross back over the freeway, thankfully leaving downtown behind us as we get to our final spot. We had no one around, so I took a self portrait - the statue is behind us.

As we leave, we make a navigational error and get thrown off for a for minutes. Luckily we get back on course pretty quick and race to the finish line! We were very pleased that we were able to accomplish each dare and make it to each place. We are feeling pretty good about our time and placing, but really aren't sure what to expect.

After 8.33 miles, we make it back to The Gingerman Pub to see several other teams already back, sitting and resting, and celebrating their success with cold beers. They all clap as we get up the steps and into the building. A few other teams are arriving at the same time we are. We have an official check our pictures and make sure we completed all the dares. Then he tells us what we accomplished:

Race completed in 3 hours, 13 minutes, and 42 seconds.
We placed 31 out of 80 teams.

31!?? We are SO pleased with that number! This having been our FIRST race like this, and w/ NO technology to our advantage, we finished in the top half, ALMOST the top quarter! In our opinion, with odds against us, we kicked butt!!!

It didn't take us long to completely collapse into a chair and enjoy a cold beer. And we made it to the pub JUST in time...about 5 minutes after we checked in, it started to DOWN POUR outisde:

This was nothing like anything I've done before, and I'm so glad I did it. There is another race like it in October and I'm already making plans to participate. I think Urban Dare will be back in Dallas next spring and I'm anxious to finish in the Top 15 next year!!

THANK YOU to dad, mom, Katie & Jason for helping! We couldnt have done it w/out the help!

If you would like to see the route we took, you can view it here:
http://routebuilder.org/31s

And one final picture:

I'm RESTING the remainder of my weekend! Hope everyone has a good one!

I'm a slacker...here's the update

2009-04-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

Hello! Sorry it's been so long, I haven't been doing well in keeping this up to date! I don't have any other road trips to write about, but me and some friends are planning our next big one, probably down south somewhere.

So first off, I changed the layout of the blog. The old way I felt all the writing was too tight, it was all in the middle and there was a lot of empty space on the page. This way spreads it out a little more. Let me know what you think!!

I posted in January about my first SCA project in the Trinity Forest. I've had 2 more since then. Our February project was at Cedar Ridge Preserve, which in my opinion has the best hiking in town. There are a few hills just south of D/FW where several radio/cable antennas are housed similar to Chenal Hill in West Little Rock. Everyone that lives in D/FW knows these antennas and knows that when you see them, you're looking at Cedar Hill. When I used to go home on the weekends in Tyler, I'd always spot the bright towers as I was driving back to Arlington and I knew home wasn't far away. When I lived in Arlington a few years ago, I used to go hiking at Cedar Hill quite a bit, but haven't much since I've been back so it was nice to go back. Here are a few pictures:

Our March project was at La Reunion, an organization that is creating an arts residency in the Oak Cliff/Cockrell Hill area. This used to be a booming area for artists several decades ago, but is now, like most historic areas, run down and forgotten. Through the residency, modern artists would be able to live onsite in exchange for giving back to the community through community art and education. The organization owns a piece of the land that used to house the artists and we partnered w/ them to do some clean up. It's a very cool area and I was impressed w/ some of the art there. I didn't get too many good pictures of the actuall art there, which are tree sculptures, but you can look at their website and see some more: www.lareuniontx.org

This is my favorite - PEACE! There are pebbles on the stand in front of the giant peace sign; you throw them at the cymbal for harmony.

It is kind of hard to see, but those chain links just above the block, are not actual chains...the chains and the block are part of a tree that was sculpted. It's really cool to see.

I like all the yellow hats

On Saturday, May 2nd, a friend and I will be participating in Urban Dare, and adventure race in downtown Dallas. Check out the website for info: www.urbandare.com . If you have ever watched The Amazing Race, it is supposed to be similar to that but in a downtown and in a few hours! We will have a starting point, then we'll either get a question or a challenge. If we get a question, we have to figure out what the answer is, and what location it will take is to; for example, a question may be "Who was the 35th President of the USA?" (the questions will probably be much harder than though!). The answer is JFK, in which we would have to walk, run, or use public transportation to get to the lawn JFK was shot and killed. There we would either get another question, or possibly a challenge, in which would have to complete. You go through several of those, I think about 12 or so; first group done wins. The prize is only $50 I think, but the point is for the fun and adventure of it! It should be a ton of fun, if anyone is really good at history (dad I know for sure!), then let me know and be available that morning as I may need to use you as my "phone a friend!". You'll see lots of crazy pictures on here probably after that race!

On Wednesday, a friend invited me to a "tea party". Now, news in Fort Worth, TX is very different than news in other places...pretty much anywhere outside of TX...so you may or may not know what I am referring to. The tea party I attended did not involve raised pinkies; instead it was a protest against government spending and taxing. Wednesday was tax day and these "parties" were held all over the country. They were advertised as non partisan however it was definitely leaning on the right! I consider myself a moderate when it comes to politics, and while I definitely don't agree with everything being said at the demonstration, my concern over the economy was enough to peak my interest to attend. It was definitely a cultural experience and I'm very glad I did attend. My friend and I both enjoyed being part of it and hearing some of the things discussed (and NO, it was not about Texas suceding from the US as many in the media have claimed). However, after about an hour or so, the band singing "come join the revolution" had us both annoyed, so we left early and went to get us some good Tex-Mex from Posados (mmm...one of Katie's favorites, and I did not save her any!) My favorite part about being there was taking pictures of course. Now I warn you, some of these pictures may get your blood boiling, and for the the sake of this blog and me not getting disgrunted emails, I will say I do not agree or disagree w/ some of the posters shown.

This is at LeGrave Field in downtown Fort Worth

Notice the the police officer! He looks like he is scared and calling for back up

Now this one is kind of funny, you must admit

Governor Rick Perry stopped by (Kinky Friedman 2010!)

An Indian...or uh, Native American, came by too

This lady was freaky!

There were lots of people leaving early because they too were scared of the "revolution" band. Or they were just really hungry.

I was hoping to come to Little Rock for easter, but I just couldn't do it financially. If I had planned better and a little sooner I probably could have, but at last minute, plane tickets were just way too high. My favorite thing about Easter though is the food!! So I made my own Easter dinner:

Lemon pepper chicken w/ black eyed peas, corn, and rolls! I tried to make deviled eggs but I didn't let my eggs boil long enough and they were runny, I was so disappointed!

And apple pie for dessert!!

I'm hoping to come to Little Rock mother's day weekend, and again in June. I hope everyone is doing good! Have a great week

Oklahoma!

2009-03-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

Hello! I know it's been a while since I last posted. It's been pretty busy, and sort of stressful the past few weeks. Lots of things happening, and hopefully I'll have some exciting things to post in the next few weeks, but not today!

So late in the week a friend and I decided we needed to get out of the big city for the weekend! We talked about going camping, but it was going to be too cold...so we decided to do some exploring in Oklahoma. We wanted to do some hiking in the Wichita Mountains, and visit Oklahoma City too...here's what we did!

Our destination:

We headed up I-35 and made our first stop at Turner Falls, a camping/hiking area just north of Ardomore and in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains. I went camping at Turner Falls w/ some guys several years ago, it was a really cool area and I'd like to go back and camp again. We just made a quick stop - here is the actual Turner Falls:

We ate lunch at a diner in Paul's Valley called Punkins - it was pretty good...your typical side of the interestate diner...food was OK, experience was cool though. Here's a picture I took in the hallway - this was a painting on the wall, and I thought it was cool:

After lunch, we drove into Oklahoma City (OKC). Well actually first we drove through Norman because my friend wanted to see the OU campus. I had been there a few years ago as I went up and helped a friend move off campus and back to Tyler. OKC, in what we saw, was actually very nice. Downtown was very clean and well kept; there is a newer area that has been built up, revitalizing old warehouses into an entertainment district called Bricktown. As we were downtown, we stopped at the Oklahoma City Memorial. This was a very nice memorial, one of the best I've ever seen, and truly breathtaking. The block where the federal building once stood was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The steps that surrounded the structure at one time are still present, as well as several walls. Here are a few pictures

Some images from the bombing:

Wall from the federal building still standing

There are rows and rows of chairs that represent the lives lost in the explosion. There are the exact number, and some chairs are small to represent the children lost.

This isn't a great shot, but the tree is called the Survivor Tree; it was in the parking lot of the federal building and survived the explosion. Several other trees caught on fire, but this one survived.

The gate outside the dedication stays full as individuals have the opportunity to provide personal memorials.

Across the street and with it's back turned, this is called And Jesus Wept

After seeing the memorial, we walked around Bricktown. It was a pretty cool area, I think it would be a lot of fun at night. They have a canal that divides the area, several restaurants, bars, and shops on either side. It's very similar to the riverwalk in San Antonio, but not at all as cool! However to the residents of OKC, I'm sure it's pretty awesome. I didn't get any pictures of the canal, but here are a couple while in Bricktown.

Buildings of downtown behind the transformed, brick warehouses

The wall outside of the ballpark - I just thought it was cool

So originally we were going to see several things in OKC, but other than several random museums, we felt that OU and downtown were enough! We decided to head west on Route 66 and see what we could see, then turn south towards the Wichita Mountains, where we planned on hiking all day Sunday. This would work out better anyway as we could wake up Sunday w/out having to drive from OKC and now get more hiking in.

A few cool things on Route 66 - we stopped at a Cherokee Trading Post - aka, the gas station gift shop. There were lots of cool Native American gifts inside...but I don't know how authentic they actually were.

We saw probably 100 or more wind turbines - I've seen these in the Texas pandhanlde on the way to Colorado, but never up close. So we thought it would be worth it to get a better view! And these wind turbines are HUGE - it's hard to tell in the pictures, but they are a very big sight to see.

A few of them...out of a hundred!

I was standing right below it!

We stopped in Clinton, OK and ate dinner at a pretty good place called Montana Mike's.

http://www.stockadecompanies.com/OurRestaurants/MMHome/default.aspx

It was getting dark by now so we decided to head south to Lawton. I had a friend who was in Lawton attending a wedding and decided to meet us after we got to town and go hiking w/ us the next day. My buddy and I were planning on staying as cheap as possible...we found a very affordable, luxery hotel in a great part of town...if it was 1960. However today...the place was total crap. BUT it was very cheap and had 2 beds and bathroom. The beds weren't quite as...clean as we would have hoped...and a shower head on the shower, instead of just a pipe, would have been nice...but it worked. Our friend ended up staying w/ us in the "Horror Hotel"...and we all survived until morning. We got up early so that we could get a full day of hiking in at the Wichita Mountains; here is a sunrise in Lawton, OK.

After a stop for some snacks, we started our adventure at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/oklahoma/wichitamountains/index.html

It was AMEWSOME. As soon as we got into the park, a group of longhorns came strolling in front of us (here's just a couple)

We saw some prairie dogs:

And some elk:

And some bison:

I think because we got there so early we were able to see all the great wildlife! The rest of the day we didn't see near as many. Longhorns and deer were still out and about, but that was pretty much it. It felt like being on a safari or something with the animals so close. However it wouldn't be fun if we just stayed in the car the whole time!

We drove around the park, including going to the top of Mt. Scott.

More wind turbines in the distance

After Mt. Scott, we drove through Holy City, where they present the Passion play every year. It's basically the same thing they do in Eureka Springs in the Ozarks...I was a little disappointed to hear they do it too! I think they think they are the only ones doing this. They even have a Christ of the Wichitas, but the Chris of the Ozarks is much bigger.

Then we started hiking on the 6 mile Bison Trail! It was a GREAT trail...took several hours and wore us all out! Here is what we saw along the way:

This looks awesome, I would love to do it - but I want to wear a helmet! These people are nuts for not having one!

These long horns walked out in front of us on the trail, we had to wait a little wihle for them to pass; there were 6 of them.

Those are just a few pictures. It was a great weekend, very busy, and I'm completely exhausted now! I'm already looking at my calendar though and trying to figure out when I can go back; and this time camp out. It was too cold this weekend to camp. One picture I don't have is the amazing sky there. We stopped on the road near Indianhoma before getting to Lawton to look up at the night sky; with out the stained lights from the big city, it was a blanket of black sky and full of stars and constellations. It was a awesome!

If you want to see more pictures, you can see them on my web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/themav211

One last picture from the weekend, kind of all things put together:

Recently

2009-02-22T14:19:00.000-06:00

Hello! I hope that everyone has been doing good. The past couple of weeks have been very busy. I had a birthday, of course there was Valentine's Day, I had a friend in town so I did lots of stuff around town, work has been busy, and I had an SCA project.

First I want to say thank you to everyone for my bday wishes, I appreciate it. I had company the weekend before my birthday so I went out and had fun. My actually birthday was pretty much just another day, work and home! But it was still cool...some co-workers bombarded my office and sung happy bday, so that was nice.

So like I said, I had company in town, so of course we tried to fit in as much as D/FW as we could. Here are several pictures I took around town:

This is Bass Hall in downtown Ft. Worth

A street in downtown Ft. Worth

American Airlines Center & Victory Park, really cool area in
downtown Dallas. This is also where the Mavericks and Stars play.

View of Downtown Dallas

JP Morgan Chase Tower in downtown Dallas

The Comerica Tower on the left in downtown Dallas

Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas

The new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Me crushing the Cowboys studium

Just a cool looking picture

So I still have a job, whoo hooo! Work has been pretty busy lately, which I like. The work hasn't been the funnest though. I spent 6 weeks working on a huge presentation that recapped all of our training during peak season, which was October through December. It was basically an analysis of production and accuracy in each of our departments and how training had an effect on it. Luckily we saw that training had a pretty huge effect on things; production and accuracy rose quite a bit, so that says a lot about the training department, and hopefully a good reason to keep me around! I got lots of praise for the report so that was pretty nice.

I work part time for an organization that focuses on engaging young people in conservation and service. Our program here has 12 high students involved and once a month, we do some type of service project at a local park. Our first project in January was held in the Trinity Forest, just south of downtown Dallas, doing some trail clearning. Here area few pictures:

And as I said in my last post, I'm cooking more at home. Here was my favorite meal from this past week, a grilled turkey, swiss, and pesto sandwich, w/ fresh cut pineapple.

Have a great week!!

Adventures in Cooking

2009-02-04T23:43:00.000-06:00

So I've been trying to do a lot more cooking at home. Obviously it's cheaper than eating out, and healthier, both good things. So a friend of mine got me into making sushi! Many people dislike sushi because the thought of raw fish and seaweed is disgusting...and sure, it certainly sounds that way. But dip the delicate rice roll in soy sauce and you'll never know the ingredients, it is wonderful! So here a couple of pictures of the sushi!

While I was in town, Aunt Connie gave me a quesadilla maker for my birthday! I used it a couple of nights ago and it did great. I had the best black bean, cheese, and cucumber quesadillas! Here are some pictures:

In other news, I still had a job when I left work at 5Pm today. But that's pretty much all I can say! Our revenue reports for January were HORRIBLE...so there may be more layoffs. Just taking it day to day!!

Jonathan

Rough Day

2009-01-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom is the big 59 today, hope everyone has wished her a happy bday...and OK, she's not really 59...just 57...hehe

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

So it has been quite a while since I've updated and SO much has happened! I got to see mostly everyone over the holidays, and it was great seeing everyone! I'll post some pictures of my visit home for Christmas. I thought I was going to have to work the day after Christmas so wasn't planning on coming to town until Friday, December 26th - that evening. But at last minute my boss said I could have that day off so I was able to come in on Christmas Eve. I took the Amtrak from Little Rock to Tyler last New Year's to see my friends which turned in a pretty eventful trip. I loved taking the train so when it came down to flying or riding, I chose flying. The thought of being at D/FW Airport on Christmas Eve made me sick to my stomach! So I got on the commuter rail by my apartment the afternoon of the December 24th and rode it to downtown Dallas. Right by Reunion Arena is Union Station, where I boarded the Amtrak for Little Rock. The guy that sat beside me also boarded in Dallas and was going to Little Rock. Like me, he moved from Arkansas to Dallas to take a job and in search of more opportunity. He even moved the same day I did, which was pretty bizarre, but cool too. He was on his way back to Southeast Arkansas to get his family and take them back to Texas with them. The train ride was smooth and very relaxing, I love just listening to music and staring out the window as we travel through several little cities through East Texas and SW Arkansas. It was a great trip!

Got to Little Rock about 11PM where mom and dad were waiting. It was a great few days in town. I got to see pretty much the whole family between several different Christmas parties. The best thing about the trip was my Christmas present from mom and dad - a moving truck! With the help of many (THANK YOU!!!) we loaded up my truck Saturday morning, ate at my favorite BBQ place, Whole Hog Cafe, where Aunt Karen introduced me to when I first moved to town, and then I headed back to Big D. The weather was awful that day, with storms, hail, and tornadoes, but I made it back! Here are several pictures.

So I got back to Fort Worth that Saturday night after Christmas and the first thing I did was start unpacking my bed. I wanted to sleep on my bed for the first time in months! Then I spent all day Sunday unpacking everything else. My friend Daniel came over to help me get the big stuff. We were able to get everything by noon so I got my apartment arranged by that night. Here's what it looks like:

So that's the apartment w/ furniture!

I hope everyone had a really good New Year's. My friends and I, which that group has changed some over the years, have celebrated New Years for 9 years straight now. The location has varied - it started at our house in Tyler, then to my friend Amber's, then to my apartment in Arlington, then my friend Diana's apartment in Tyler, and now to her and Jeff's house. Here a few pictures from this year's celebration:

It's been a pretty exciting past few weeks. I have lots of friends coming in town over the next several weeks, should be lots of fun. I also a start a 2nd job this month. I'll be doing some part time work for a nationwide non profit organization, planning and leading service projects for urban high school students. We do one project a month for the next 5 months. I love planning service projects and working w/ youth so this is perfect for me! This will help keep me connected to the non profit world, be another resume builder, and it will be over in May, just in time for me to start back at school full time.

Oh - I have a new phone number - 817-879-1549.

I'm planning on being back in Little Rock for Brayden's birthday so I'll probably see others then! have a good and safe week.

Jonathan

Turkey Day!

2008-12-07T21:33:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

I hope you had a GREAT Thanksgiving. As you probably know, mom and dad came down here for Thanksgiving. I know they missed being around their grand babies, but I was glad to have them! I had to work Wed. and Fri, so there really wasn't a way for me to make it up to Arkansas. When I got off work on Wednesday, I met them at their hotel, then they got to see my apartment, then we went to eat at my favorite restaurant, La Hacienda Ranch. It's a great Mexican restaurant, very Texas; mom and dad enjoyed it. Then Thursday we ate our Kroger package dinners. They weren't near as good as home made, but they were perfect for the situation. The turkey was really good. We ate turkey, drove to where I work, watched football, ate more turkey, and watched more football. It was a lot of fun, I'm glad mom and dad came down! Here are a few pictures:

I had to go back to work the next day for what would be the beginning of non stop work until Christmas. This is our peak season so we all have to work every single day since our warehouse is running and shipping each day through the holidays. We have been pretty slow this year, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared about that, considering the economy right now. Every day more and more companies are laying off thousands of people and I think it's just a matter of time before my company joins in. I just hope I'll be OK where I'm at.

This past Wednesday when I got off work I took the TRE (Trinity Rail Express), a commuter train I live by, to meet a buddy in downtown Fort Worth. It was pretty cold and windy but we braced it to eat at my favorite pizza place, Uno's. And downtown Fort Worth, or better known as Sundance Sqauare, is one of my favorite places. Here are a few pictures I took, sorry they are blurry, I was walking when I took most of them.

About to get on the train

The Flying Saucer

Christmas Tree in Sundance Square

Uno's, I love it!! There was one in Boston, so everytime I went
up there last year w/ work I'd eat it, and used to go to this one
all the time when I lived in Arlington. No Uno's in Little Rock though.

Bass Hall

Time to get back on the train and head home

I love riding the train around here, I wish my job was near the train so I could ride it work everyday. I used to when I worked at the Red Cross and loved it. I didn't have to worry about driving or traffic or anything, I could just sit and relax.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Have a good week, I'll try and have something on here again soon!

Jonathan

My new home

2008-11-22T23:19:00.000-06:00

Hello! I hope that everyone has had a good and safe week. Mine has been pretty good. My job continues to get better, I think because we are getting busier and busier. We had been pretty slow, too slow. Sales are down 25% from where they were a year ago. Thats very scary, and who knows if it will get better. I think things will be OK from now through the holidays, but then it's going to get bad again. As someone that was just hired, and not very far on the totem pole, I don't feel completely secure. But I am glad that we are getting busy and I guess I'll just have to wait and see how things shake up.

I've had a pretty good weekend so far. I took advantage of happy hour w/ a few friends last night after work, went to a cool place in downtown Dallas. Then today I've been to the store, went for a walk, cleaned around the apartment (not that there's much to clean), and then to dinner at Razoo's w/ some friends. Watched Oklahoma completely stomp all over Texas Tech tonight in football...it was pretty sad.

Here are a few pictures:

This is my living room...you can see my chair, and the crate I put my feet up on...and that's about it

This is my bedroom

This is my kitchen, looking in from the living room

This is my balcony, kind of hard to tell, it was night when I took this

This is more of the living room, and part of the kitchen

A creek and some of the development by my apartment

It's really pretty around my apartment

Centreport Station - the area where I live, but also an actual train station; the Trinity Rail Express connects Fort Worth and Dallas. I used to take it to work when I lived in Arlington and worked near downtown Dallas. Joe Biden is not the only one using a train everyday...

Here I am

2008-11-18T22:19:00.000-06:00

Hey y'all! I'm going to try and keep up this online blog as a way to keep everyone posted about what's happening down here. I've tried these before and haven't been successful, but I'll do my best. It helps when you leave comments, or you can shoot me e-mails, so I know you're out there!

As you all know, I've made it back to Texas. I arrived on Monday, October 27. I had one day before I started my new job. So that day after I got here, I went apartment hunting, trying to find something in a safe area, near my friends in Arlington, close to work in Las Colinas, and something I could afford. Katie and I had been in town the weekend before and she very nicely drove me around the area I was considering moving into to. We looked at several apartments and I liked a few of them. When I looked after getting to town, I found some that Katie and I had missed, and really liked them. They are a good price, quiet, safe, and only about 15 minutes from work. So I signed on the dotted line and had a new home...it would take about a week before I got it, but I was just happy to soon have something. My apartments are Centreport Landing Apartments, and in case you don't have it, my new address is:

14713 Centreport Landing Cir., #1008
Fort Worth, TX. 76155

I spent that first week staying w/ my old roommate, Daniel. I started work on the 29th, which was very exciting, but kind of challenging too. I think you all know where I'm working, I'm not allowed to say on this blog, but I work in a very large world retailer, and my responsibility is to train all of our associates. So in order to do that, I have to know what most everyone does, so there's a huge learning curve there. After a few weeks now of watching and observing and trying to understand it all, I think I'm finally getting it. I taught my first class last week, and have 2 more this Thursday. So it's been kind of slow getting into things, but I think it will just get better from here on out.

Other than work, I've just been hanging out w/ friends, and really enjoying being back in the area. I live just north of Arlington, where a few good friends live, so I've got to see them quite a bit and catch up. It's been very cool driving through Arlington, seeing where I used to school, going back to some of my favorite restaurants and places to hang out, and seeing all the growth here.

It feels great to be here, but I definitely miss Little Rock. Arkansas is a beautiful place and North Texas is ugly and flat!! However the big Texas sky is awesome! My favorite thing to do has been to sit out on my balcony at night and look up at the big sky and stars and watch the planes land (I practically live at the D/FW airport).

I'm hoping to get some pictures up here soon. I hope you enjoyed reading...please check back every so often.

love y'all - jonathan