My friend Trent Place sent me this photograph of the Coralville strip that he took this morning from the backside of his girlfriend's apartment in Iowa City. Trent is ironically going to be back in Iowa City for a year as well to complete a Doris Duke medical research fellowship, so it will be nice to have a good friend in town, even if it means paddling a kayak to get together...
Last weekend I ventured down to Austin for the weekend...in part to attend at CE course in the town of Salado, TX (~45 min. north of Austin), and in part to catch up with an old friend of mine Nate from my undergrad days at Iowa.
On a side tangent...when Emily and I first moved down to Dallas, I had a big decision to make...whether or not to repair my air conditioner in my car (which had already been fixed a few years earlier and had once again failed), or to build character and tough out the heat, thus saving a few hundred dollars from being wasted on an 18 year old car. You have to realize that we only live ~7-10 minutes by car from work, so if ever we were just going to be driving around the metroplex, we always had Emily's AC equipped Corolla to get us around in cool comfort. So I made the decision to build character, save some money, and quickly realized that driving 7-10 min. in the heat really wasn't that bad.
Well, upon heading down to Austin late friday afternoon, it became apparent that there was a big difference between driving 7-10 min. to work, and driving ~3 hours in 98+ humid heat. Lets just say that on more than one occasion, I considered taking a nap on the side of I-35. The worst part of the whole drive was the fact that even if you bought cold water from a gas station, it was to body-temperature within 30 minutes...that's because Emily took our only mini-cooler with her when she drove back to Iowa City in her AC loaded Corolla (see how I coddle her). At any rate, I will definitely never drive my car that long again in that kind of heat...but on with the weekend.
I arrived at Austin in one sweaty piece, and caught up with my friend Nate (who was nice enough to put me up for the weekend) over some local Mexican cuisine. I had met Nate back in Quadrangle Dorm (probably now under water) my sophmore year. Nate was an English major, who after graduation headed back to his home of Charlottesville, VA to work for the National Security Agency. After having enough of that for 2 years, he decided to pursue his PhD in rhetoric, and found his way to Austin at the Univ. of Texas. We had lost touch after undergrad, and one day this past fall, while going through old college photos, came across his picture. I decided to look him up on the net and found him ironically listed on UT's website as a faculty member. Talk about a small world.
After my CE course finished mid-day saturday we hung out inside and watched Big Brown choke in the Belmont Stakes with some of his friends. After things started to cool off in the evening we headed for a drive around the Austin area, and checked out some great views of Lake Austin and saw the skyline at night while going for a walk along the Colorado River.
Sunday morning found me heading to the Texas State Capitol building. The building is quite beautiful, and enjoyed seeing the history of the building. There are many large frescos in the House and Senate chambers documenting the fall of the Alamo, and other battles with Mexico. And yes, there's even a photo of "Dubbya".
After that it was time to sweat in the car for 3 hours and head back to Dallas. Aside from the driving, it was a great weekend...but hey, how many people can say they survived a year in Texas without air-conditioning! (Note: click on the slideshow if you would like to look or download the photos individually)
Well, with about a week left before I am supposed to move back to Iowa City, what at first seemed like a forgone conclusion, may now be in question...will I even be able to get a moving truck into Iowa City? We'll keep our fingers crossed.
So far Emily has been able to get into work alright, and I've touched basis with friends and colleagues still in Iowa City, and they're doing alright so far (most of them live on higher ground, away from the river), but the river isn't supposed to crest until early next week.
At any rate, we both wanted to keep our readers up to date on what's going on in the area, especially alum from the area who are living elsewhere. On the right hand portion of the blog, under "Blogs of Note", you'll find a link to the Univ. of Iowa Flood Website. You may also want to check out The Iowa City Press Citizen's website or Flickr for interesting photos that are updated daily.
Below though are some photos that I found on their website of common areas around Iowa City (for those of you who have lived there and know the area well). We just hope that not too much damage will be sustained...Iowa City's been through a lot between this and the tornado of 2006. But I'd still prefer living there compared to Dallas!
So, here I am in Iowa City and to say that I'm sitting on a lone island is pretty accurate. I am currently at the hospital-called in overtime- because the surrounding area of Iowa City through Waterloo is flooded so badly that people can't even get to the hospital. In fact, my drive (which normally takes 10 minutes) took me 40 minutes to get here. And, since arriving here, the coralville strip near 1st ave has officially flooded, so now my drive will have to take me all the way near 218 and back to the strip then on 12th ave to cross I-80. Oh, and speaking of I-80, it closed this evening at 8pm. The exact location of the closing is still unclear but is rumored to be from exit 239-247. For those of you not familiar with the area, it's the entire area surround Iowa City and the connecting exits between going north to Cedar Rapids and east to about West Branch (or so I'm told). The major arteries into Iowa City are also flooded.
Now, a positive note...I am safe from flood waters. My friend's house at which I currently reside is on high ground and our only inconvenience will likely be restrictions on sewer and water. I am going to the store tonight when I get off work (midnight) to stock up on some items such as water and pantry items (should we lose power in Coralville). I will also make an attempt to drive to Des Moines tomorrow to see my grandma who just got out of the hospital today. Hopefully I-80 is not closed anywhere between 239 and Altoona.
For those of you not here (which is the majority of our readership) you can get a pretty good update on how things are going by checking out the press citizen website.
I went out and took pictures with my cell phone (lame, I know, but Chris has the cameras) and Norm took some with her camera, so when I get them uploaded I'll make another post. The pics are from Tuesday before the Coralville spillway went over.
I'll sign off for now and get back to work. Just wanted to keep you all up to date on what's happening here.
Oh, and by the way, the worst is yet to come...Iowa City is not expected to reach it's peak until mid-next week. UH!
Today I find myself with a little time on my hands so I thought I'd finally give a shout out from the big IC. I've officially been back since May 11. For those of you who don't know, I am living with Norm, a coworker of mine at the U. Oh, and, then there is Olivia, her cat.
Norm and some goofy chick
A very pissed Olivia following a recent bath
So, I guess you can say I'm not as ronery as Chris. However, I am a little bored without a buddy to trek around with. I basically am just working, and working and working. Somewhere around40-60 hours per week.
I did have some free time over Memorial weekend and went to Chicago to see Rick and Louise since I hadn't seen them since September of last year. We had a great time eating Chicago pizza (my first great pizza experience in over a year), as well as going on a 20 mile bike ride with Rick. I had a great time seeing them and the 'burbs again.
An oldie but a goodie
What else have I been up to....hmm... Well, I've luckily seen my good friend Jess and her family before she gives birth any day now. And I've also seen my friend Kallie and partook of some great Cancun Mexican food. Oh, and I was able to order a Sam's calzone takeout. I can't even begin to describe how great that was. Salty goodness. I'm saving Micky's for when Chris is back. I figure we'd visit it together since it was the place of our first date and has sentimental ties.
That about summarizes the last few weeks in Iowa City. I'll try an post again a little later with a little more of a more personal report (meaning, a little more entertaining and fun).
With three weeks left to go in Dallas, this past weekend I had the pleasure of having my friend Brian Seay come to visit for a few days in Dallas. I met Brian back in our freshman year at Iowa in the dorms, and for the past two years Brian has been living in Clarksdale, MS. where he is a teacher in Teach for America.
Friday night we went to the Ranger's game, care-of Brian's girlfriend Natalie, a Dallas-native, who is also teaching with Teach for America. We sat on the first baseline, 24th row, with a much better view than the last game I attended with Vamsi in the nosebleeds. And to top it all off, Brian caught a foul ball, only to hand it over just as quickly to a fan peddling his young son. It's amazing what a guy will do to impress his girlfriend...
Upon returning, Brian and I ventured...well, just walked around the block, to a bar called The Grapevine. Emily and I always had the intention of checking out this place, since it is literally around the block from us, but for whatever reason, just never got around to it. So Brian and I decided to check it out...lets just say, it wasn't exactly our type of place...Chris was told he was 'kissable' (by a guy), and after proclaiming his love for his wife, was asked if he was just curious. I think the fact that Brian and I were standing together at a table chatting over our drinks didn't seem to help the appearance of the situation.
Saturday was spent relaxing/sweating by the pool relaxing in the 95+ heat, and the evening was capped with a great party at Natalie's parent's place.
Only two more weekends to go, and then I'll be saying goodbye to Dallas...sniff sniff.
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Take a moment tovote your conscious on whether or not we should continue the blog after leaving Dallas on the upper left of the screen...believe it or not, we'll actually take your votes seriously!
One of the things that we have always enjoyed doing in our spare time is looking at homes, and imagining what type of home (i.e. style, location, etc.) we would one day inhabit. While living in Iowa City we had staked out the few homes that really caught our eye, and enjoyed the annual parade of homes tour during the summers.
It seems lately as though the only time one hears of homes is in relation to the downward spiral that the housing market has taken recently...however we're pretty excited about this downturn. Hopefully looking to buy in the near future (i.e. 1-2 years), assuming the market doesn't instantly recover (which we don't think it will), this could work to our favor.
At any rate, while living in Dallas, we spent many a hot saturday or sunday driving around neighborhoods, just checking out what the city had to offer. We staked out the Frisco/Plano area, which is definitely nice, but is too "strip-suburban" for our tastes. Of course Highland Park, which is right around the corner from us, is about as ostentatious a neighborhood as one can find. Being that Emily and I tend to enjoy the "prairie-style" or "craftsman" or what Chris likes to refer to as "pacific-northwest" style, we were thrilled to randomly discover a small historic district, not too far from downtown Dallas that has the largest collection of these types of homes in the country. The area is referred to as the Munger Historic District, and most of the homes were built in the early 1900's.
We'd like to preface the below slideshow in saying that these homes by no means reflect the general style down in DFW. In fact they are a small minority, and that's why we had so much fun finding them, because most of the homes down here tend to be built of solid brick (perhaps because of the heat?), and we're not really big fans. However, if you're a fan of brick, and hot weather, then you definitely need to check out Dallas.
Perhaps wherever we settle we'll be lucky enough to find a home that suits our style, but in the meantime, we're just building a photocollection of homes that catch our eye. So enjoy your tour of the Munger Historic District (we saved you a plane-ticket and a $15 luggage-fee).
Well, the first weekend without Emily wasn't all too bad (not saying that she isn't missed). On wednesday Vamsi called and said that he would be able to swing through Dallas for the weekend for the third time this year on his way back from London to Chicago (apparently reaching American's Gold Platinum level from flying so many miles allows you to make such rash travel changes).
At any rate, beautiful weather down here (upper 80's and sunny) afforded us the opportunity to hang out at the pool saturday afternoon, and then catch a Ranger's game in the evening. The Rangers faced off against their rival the Houston Astro's, and won 6-2. Our seats weren't the greatest, we basically sat in the nosebleed section along the 3rd baseline amongst a large number of Astro fans, but it was great to get out and catch a ballgame.
And...as proof that everything is bigger in Texas...it appears as though quite a bit of progress is being made on the new Cowboy Stadium, which will be the largest enclosed stadium in the NFL when it opens.
For those of you who watch cable news on even a semi-regular basis, you probably have come across this video of Bill O'Reilly freaking out in the early 90's, but for those of you who haven't, it's pretty damn funny...
Song of the day:
Let me let all of our readers in on a little secret...for the past 4 or so years, Emily has been my "stylist", "barber", "hair-cutting person", whatever you want to refer to it as. At first it was just kind of a joke, I decided to one day early in dental school let her have at the buzzer and scissors and cut my hair. Thinking this would be a one-time event, we (mostly I) were pleasantly surprised at how good of a job she did.
I started to think...hey, why should I pay someone $15-20 every month to do this, when we can do it for free at home...thus started Emily's second job of cutting my hair.
Fast forward to the present...for over a week before Emily left me in Texas for Iowa City, she had promised that she would cut my hair before leaving, as it was getting kind of shaggy-like. Figuring that we'd eventually find some time to do it, among her packing and getting things in order, we both kind of blew it off until the last minute. The day before leaving, Emily went and got her hair cut (she had been growing it out for Johnette's wedding in Raleigh) by her "stylist", who in the veign of any good stylist, actually shaves his own head. Suffice to say, we never found time to cut my hair. So in protest, I decided to buzz it all off...yeah, all of it (well almost). Actually I was kind of curious to see what it was like, since I've never done this before, and also because its "fixin" (a Texas term) to get hot down here. With no functional air conditioner in my car, this is the poor-man's alternative.
At any rate, I think we can all agree that Emily's hair turned out better than mine. The good news is that it will grow back in time for me to re-join Emily in Iowa City, and have her once again be my "stylist".
Well, this morning Emily took off for Iowa...leaving Chris behind in Dallas. For the last couple of weeks we've enjoyed some good laughs when Emily attempts to compare Chris' six weeks alone in Dallas to Kim Jung-Il from the "Team America" movie...to understand what we're joking about, we thought we'd share the video...
So, here I am a week short of leaving Dallas. Yes, one week. Seems like just yesterday Pedro (my car) and Biggie (the moving van) ventured down south to good ole' Dallas. I thought maybe I'd reminisce a little and expound upon my personal experiences here in Dallas and share some things I've learned, experienced and maybe even miss a little...
1. Of course, the thing I'm going to miss most is Chris (awwwww...see, even I can be mushy). Since we'll be apart for over a month I'm gonna miss the little guy.
2. Friends. As much as I didn't want to become attached to people in Dallas, I'm a friendly sort of person and I've met a lot of diverse, interesting and fun people here. In remembrance they are listed here (in no particular order):
* Christi and Jason
* Jen and Ben
* Brandi and Chris
* Kristen
* and maybe even Tina a little...
3. Southern cooking. Not because I actually eat it, but because people in the South eat things I never knew existed or rather, knew could be edible.
* Chittlins (fried pig intestines)
* Raccoon
* Collard Greens (ok, every one's heard of these, but how many people do you know that actually have eaten them)
* Oxtail
* Fried coke, cappuccino, pecan pie...just about anything fried...
4. Texas slang. All y'all (plural) and y'all (singular)? I am now an expert at a new foreign language.
5. Kiddie car driving. Did you ever have an opportunity to drive/ride in a bumper car? You remember, the electric driven cars at the state fair where your main intent was to hit as many other cars with as much force as physically possible by a glorified rubber padded bucket. That's what it's like to drive in Texas. No turn signals, no auto insurance, aggressor takes all drivers in Texas. I'm lucky to have survived. Whew! Notice the green text...yeah, I started writing this post yesterday. Today, I was hit by a Texas driver. No joke. And, to make matter worse, my car was parked. We weren't even in it. Oh, and another ironic note, remember last year, around this time...we had just flown back from Texas (after my interview) and I had dropped Chris off at class then went to run errands and bam! I ate the ass of a Cadillac. This was 2 weeks short of leaving Iowa. Now, one week short of leaving Texas another accident. What message am I missing?
6. Grocery shopping. Normally not a statement you'll hear me utter, but when I'm shopping in the greatness that is Central Market, I can't help but love it. I've never eaten better in my whole life. For those of you lucky enough to experience it, you know what I'm talking about.
7. Pool time, any time. Yes, I can layout in the sun anytime from March through November (and probably any other month of the year is the temp happens to be over 70, which often is the case).
8. Working out. Ok, now who would list this as something they'll miss, but here's my explanation. I have a great, free gym right in my complex in which I can work out anytime I want. I love it! No car needed and it's so close there really is no excuse as to why you can't go. Even if it rains, I just have Chris drop me off on his way to work. Perfect!
9. Ethnic food. I've been meaning to make a post about my weekly lunches with my friend Jen. But, to as you can see, I'm just now getting to mention it. Anyways, we attempt to try a new restaurant every week, and more often than not, we attempt to try something unique. I've had Mediterranean (my fav), Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese (obviously), as well as local joints known for fab food. Yum!
10. Last but not least...the ease of shopping. Anything I ever wanted is within 15 minutes of our loft. It's going to suck moving back to Iowa where I have to drive to another town to buy something I want from a particular store. I hate shopping in general, but since I can just head out, get it and do it under 45 minutes, it's great!
Here ends by summation of all that I'll miss and/or eager to leave in Texas. It's been a great experience to try out something new, spend a year on our own, and become closer as a newly married couple. Now, if only we could decide where to move next...
Today the American Lung Association came out with a report of the most polluted cities with regard to air quality...and would you believe it that DFW came in 7th place with regard to ozone pollution. If you've ever flown into DFW, this won't come as a surprise...just nice to know that we live in such a clean city.
