pumpkin weekend!

so last week/weekend was a blast. we celebrated katie's 27th birthday on wednesday, by going out to dinner at a new restaurant, the raven grill, which was by far the best meal we've had in houston so far, and then out to see waterdeep in concert at ecclesia (the church we've been becoming part of here). the food was local, the music was familiar, the strawberry shortcake afterwards was superb (if i do say so myself)...it was a pretty great day.

on friday night, we lazed a bit (a common trend at the end of the work week), and then went out for coffee with our friend audra and her friend. it was perfectly cool outside, and the conversation was great. U2 concerts apparently are fantastic and i hope to maybe see one in my lifetime now.

saturday, our friend cori came into town from austin to help celebrate katie's birthday and...Pumpkin Day! so, while katie was at a Teach For America training/workshop thing, cori and i started on the baking. i decided this year to bake the pumpkin halves one at a time, instead of skinning it, chopping it up, and boiling the flesh, which is a lot of work. it worked perfectly - the skin just sort of peels off after its done baking (almost leathery-looking...we talked about next year's recipe being pumpkin shoes). over the course of evening, we packed between 12 and 15 people in our tiny apartment, and relished in the glory of pumpkin treats (or maybe that was just me, and everyone else just ate). the food was amazing, and we tried a few new recipes this year, as always:

-pumpkin empanadas (a mexican pastry, not too sweet)
-pumpkin soup
-pumpkin fries - these did not turn out. though, i think if we had gotten the oil hotter, they totally would have. next year!
-pumpkin pie
-pumpkin (wasserman) squares, with cream cheese icing

our friends also brought:
-pumpkin brownies (!!! neat!)
-pumpkin mousse pie (like french silk, but more like pumpkin pie taste. it was incredible)

and there was plenty of pumpkin beer, of course.

overall, it was a successful evening. there was an impromptu pumpkin toss outside our front door that left a scattering of seeds that is still decorating the breezeway sidewalk. this also led to the creation of two pumpkin hats :) and we didn't sing to katie or anything (i kind of get lost in pumpkin day), but it was still a special night for one primary reason. this was the first party of more than two people that we have hosted in houston, and it was really normalizing. parties were something our friend group in lawrence did a lot...sometimes too often...like having a party for the color green (which was amazing...people thought it was an environmental party, but it wasn't). i think hosting is something that katie and i both enjoy, and to finally feel like we have the friends that will come if we plan it - that feels great.

happy pumpkin day to all, and to all a good night.

and yes, i cooked a pumpkin this big. jk

(plug: if you want to partake in some of this amazingness...come to houston for thanksgiving!)

the parents weekend

two weeks ago (again...i keep getting behind!) my parents came to texas! i took thursday and friday off of work and drove to meet them in lovely corpus christi. it was glorious - amazing weather, plenty of great seafood, a look at the water again, and just some good fun with my mom and dad.

so my parents were there because they are getting overly excited about retirement :) and want to live on a boat down south during the winters (when it is cold in the mountains), and live at our cabin in new mexico during the summers. they have found a boat they are fond of in california, but are still looking for the right marina to dock their boat in and call home. there can really be great community in marinas with other people living on their boats, when you find the right one. so, that was their quest.

we stayed in a microtel (genius idea, so cheap) near rockport, texas, a tiny sea town with a small, artsy, downtown shopping strip and some local restaurants. not much more than that, though! it is within 30 minutes of corpus, and there are several other small neighboring towns that create a sense of larger community even with the small town feel.

it was a fun weekend. nice and quiet. looked at some art and interesting shops, and basically consumed our evenings with appetizer/cocktail hour at the hotel, followed by some amazing shrimp dinners (coconut fried shrimp with plum sauce and sweet potato fries??? umm...yes please) - still don't understand how i was tested positive for shrimp allergies. don't even care :)

the sky was being neat on the drive there

first glimpse of the ocean

my parents

at a nearby marina and restaurant

again, just for amanda

after some time in corpus, my dad had to get on an airplane to go back to work, but my mom drove back with me to spend saturday and sunday in houston. it was so great to get to show her where i am living and working, and for katie and i to get a mom for a couple days :) we grilled out, went out for an early birthday breakfast for katie, and spent the afternoon at church and in hermann park (a giant city park near the med center). it was the most perfect weather since we've been in houston, and an amazing weekend.

i love my parents.
then end.
kate

the camping weekend

it's been a couple of weeks since i posted (surprise, surprise), and in order to catch up, i will be completing a series of posts, updating you on my past few weekends. you might call it the weekend updates.

the week after i went to austin, katie and i continued to think about adventure. all week we talked about going camping over the weekend. when friday finally arrived, it was the coldest day we've had in houston yet (45 degrees, kansans. read it and weep)...rainy and just all around miserable. but, we decided to go anyways. we drove an hour north to huntsville state park and spent the oh-so-cold :) night at a surprisingly nice campground, fit with trails, lake access, restrooms WITH toilet paper, and screened shelters that you could pitch your tent in. while there were some crazy children screaming and beating on trees in the morning, and apparently a lot of alligators (signs warning us to not feed them were all over the park. and, at 9:30 in the morning, we heard some man say, "oh, i gotta jump in the shower before the alligator thing." wtf??!!), it was mostly quaint and peaceful. we got to the campgrounds late at night, drank some wine*, and slept. we took a nice hike in the morning around part of lake, and then took an afternoon nap before heading back to houston**. glorious!

*notable story #1: when i say wine, what i really mean is a lot of different drinks. when katie and i started packing up a cooler for our camping trip on thursday night, we ended up with a cooler chock-full of liquids...kombucha, beer, wine, soda, water, coffee, and hot chocolate. i don't know what to say, we love our liquids. no joke, we almost forgot to pack food.

**and #2: on the way back to houston, we decided it was the perfect day for a really hearty breakfast. i was craving biscuits. so, we iphoned the nearest local diner (alice's, in conroe, for those of you who care). now, i was expecting some filthy, kitchen grease kind of place, like waffle house for instance (so good!). and this place looked like it on the outside. it was located on some inconspicuous corner of an obviously unpopular strip mall. it had a banner hanging on its outside wall that not only said "Alice's Diner," but had giant pictures of their food on it as well. the inside, though, was a whole different story. it had carpet. it had paintings. and wooden shelving. and an aquarium. it was also spotless (i guess it was at this point we noticed no one else was in the restaurant). a few further steps in, and we got to their counter seating near the kitchen, that did not have bar stools, no no, but eight full-on, heavy duty, rolly, swivel office chairs. amazing. we sat down (at a booth, thank you), turned on katie's ipod (as there was no music playing in the restaurant - kind of awkward?), and ate a fantastic breakfast. thank you, alice, in every way.

to austin and back

last weekend, i needed to get away. i haven't really left houston since i moved here (except for a quick trip halfway to dallas to see my dad for a few hours!! so great), and i needed an adventure, to change up the pace a little.

needless to say, it was AWESOME. my host, cori, friend from kansas who just moved to austin, was too wonderful. we got to hang out all weekend and do fun things. austin city limits (ACL), a giant annual music festival was happening that weekend, and we braved the crowds and the rain to check it out, even though we didn't have tickets. i've been wanting to go to the festival for so many years now, and while i was hoping to find some free/cheap passes, it was still worth it just to be near it and in the energy. i am definitely going next year.

cori and i

all the bikes locked up at the festival!!

on the left is a kid, holding a string, attached
to a dollar bill laying on the grass. on the
sidewalk are oncoming victims of the prank.
hilarious.

in the midst of it all, we got to eat out a couple times at some of my favorite places (magnolia for brunch, trudy's for dinner), shop a bit on congress street (cowboy boots!), and visit a local frozen banana stand that a girl i knew in high school started in austin. frozen bananas are ridiculously good.

i loved these boots. it surprised me, but i did. too bad they were $150

bananarchy

their best-seller is the afternoon delight.
my favorite name is the hippy dippy. hee hee

we also took an adventuresome bus-ride at 10pm into downtown to see a local artist, suzanna choffel, play. she is great - the white lauryn hill, in my opinion - and it was especially entertaining to watch some of the people dance:



dancing man (sorry, i can't rotate)

the stamp to get into the show. this picture is solely for amanda dieker.
we made them "meow" all evening.

last but not least, we visited the cathedral of junk, an incredible playground made entirely of donated crap, built in the creator's back yard. fun!






over the weekend i also got to see my friends kristen, jordan, and sarah. yay!


overall, it was a much needed getaway. i felt that it was an important trip for several reasons:

1) i followed through with a need i felt.
2) houston became a place that i came back to, which helps solidify its role as home right now.
3) God refreshed my soul with the rain, made me empassioned to embrace my youth again, gave me images and thoughts of new mexico and nickel creek, things that make me feel alive.

--a side note: last friday, in a group therapy session created to work on breath support and trunk control, we were dancing at the end of the session, and one of my patients, a 50-something-year-old wheelchair-bound man saw me moving my feet and said, "man, what i would give to be able to do that again." it really hit me hard. dancing is such a high - when you really free yourself and let yourself get into it, moving your body and feeling the rhythm, it feels so good. and to not be able to do that?? man. and i just don't take the opportunity to do it as much as i know my soul needs. i think of nicole, who loves to dance, and who makes that happen even just in the living room of her home. SO, that night i danced in my room by myself. and i plan on salsa dancing just as soon as i can find a dance partner.
anyways, i just felt encouraged to live into my youth - right now, and even at every age!

any other ideas for this project (besides dancing and walking in the rain) are welcome.

hope you all are well. and eating lots of pumpkin treats. like these.