Faith is in TEXAS!!!

YEA!!, my sister is here!! Faith is spending her spring break with Shawn and I.She arrived on Sunday March 29th at 830am!!! This was her first time ever on a plane and it was by herself! We walked around Northpark Mall for a little bit then saw Monsters vs Aliens. Afterwards we ate lunch at Bangkok City on Greenville Ave. Faith and I split Pad Thai with tofu. It was ok. Tum Rup Thai in Minneapolis is soo much better. They went back to the apartment and took a three hour nap.
Today Shawn and Faith went to the grassy knoll. I met them there and we went to Cafe Ravenna for pizza. Delicious!!!









The plan is for me to work late tonight. To be able to take Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, I need to get my big plan into review.
Tuesday- Faith and I are going to Britney Spears.
Wednesday- Faith and I are going to Ogle Beauty School to get facials, manicures and pedicures.
Thursday- the plan is for Faith and I to leave at 7am and take a mini roadtrip down to San Antonio. Walk the riverwalk, take a river boat tour, visit the Alamo then stay at the Menger Hotel. The hotel is suppose to be haunted!!
Friday- have lunch in Austin has we head back to Dallas. Shawn and I were thinking about having a little birthday party for Faith; pizza, cupcakes and movies.
Saturday- I have no idea. In the afternoon, I have a flag football game and Shawn was thinking that we should go have lunch with him.
Sunday- Faith has to be at the airport at 2pm. Probably make breakfast and walk the Katy train. The week is going to go by too quickly. :(

Earth Hour, Saturday March 28th

Earth Hour is at 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time on Saturday March 28th.

This is the first year that Dallas is going to participate. Lights at some of the buildings downtown and at Southern Methodist University’s Dallas Hall will all go dark. There will be a handful of events going on. I am thinking about going to the Grind House coffee shop, they are going to have a candlelight party on their outdoor patio.

Rain, rain go away

Some co-workers and I went to lunch at Fedora Restaurant today. It is about .3 miles away from work. A nice walk. The food was ok. I had the house salad and tomato soup. Nothing too wow but I would go again.

The fun came as we were leaving. Started raining pretty steadily. Did I bring my umbrella? Of course not. I am now sitting at work a little wet.

Haircut and Color!!!

Good Weekend!!

Lately I have been feeling not happy. I am not unhappy, but I am not happy either. This weekend was the best weekend I had in about a month. It was the same old, same old but I was happier. I did nothing on Friday. Saturday morning I hiked around Cedar Ridge Preserve with the Hiking Meetup.com group. Made a new friend, Hannah from Germany. We exchanged numbers and plan on getting together soon. After the 6 mile hike, six of us from the group went to Veracruz Cafe for lunch. Later that night I went with some co-workers to Main Event in Plano for dinner and laser tag!! I scored second place in laser tag!! Then on Sunday I went to work for 3 hours then jogged 9 miles around White Rock Lake with two other people from the apartment.

I LOVE Texas weather, I just do not like Texas. I cannot pin-point the one thing that makes me not happy. Its lots of little things. Oh well, 1.5 years left. Time is going to fly by. Faith comes down to Texas for a week this Sunday. Sara and I have a road trip planned to Austin April 24th through 26th. We tentative planned to meet in Chicago for a weekend sometime this summer. The Dooleys are planning on coming down June 25th through July 5th. Then Sara is coming back to Dallas July 17th through 19th. We are going to the Rangers vs Twins games. July 31st through August 6th, Faith and I will be backpacking around Isle Royale with the Explorer group. I am probably stay in MN until Sunday August 9th. Four days later I am off on vacation to Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest through August 25th. I have about 6 more runs planned in 2009. Then the busy season at work starts up again until March 2010. I want to visit New Orleans during one of the three day weekends and visit Las Vegas during another three day weekend in 2010. Spetember 1st my 2 year contact with Clark in up. Off I go to another state. I just keep reminding myself I am almost done. And to keep doing the things that make me happy; meetup.com events, watching movies, hanging out with co-workers, reading, jogging, walking, hiking, exploring Texas, etc.

Lunch - Friday March 20th

Its payday!!! That means out for lunch. Today the co-workers and I tried Fuse Restaurant. Really good!! I got the balanced plate meal. It comes with a bowl of miso soup, tofu & veg stir-fry, white rice, lettuce/papaya/vinaigrette salad and 4pc vegetable roll. Total = $8!!!

Monday march 16th

Last night Amanda, Susan, Kathy and I went to Opening Bell to see Jayme Dawicki play. Kathy knows Jayme through a friend of a friend. She has a Sarah McLachlan/Tori Amos mixture sound. Very good!! After her was Soul Stash. We were planning on leaving after their first song. Just see what they sound like. I was pleasantly surprised!!! They were amazing!! Jayme was hard to hear sometimes because the guitars were too loud. Everything sounded perfect with the Soul Stash.

Saturday March 14th

I ran the Dash Down Greenville St Patty Day Run in 29.49 minutes!!! My fastest 5k!!! St Paddys (not Pattys, Paddys) Day is HUGE down in Dallas. People were tailgating at 830am while I was running. I guess there was a parade at 11am. The lower part of Greenville Ave is closed off because of all the people walking around the bars. Everyone was wearing green.

After the run, I had brunch with some friends at Breadwinners in Uptown Dallas. A little pricey but good food!

Later that night, Jennifer, Brent, Erin, Todd and I went to see the Wild vs Stars game. It was fun!! Brent was the only non-Minnesotan in the group. When the Wild scored, Jennifer and I would stand up and cheer!

New Restaurant in Dallas

YEA!! New restaurant that serves raw, vegan food!! Bliss Raw Cafe & Elixir Bar opens Spring 2009!!

Thursday March 12th

Anna, Drew, Shawn and I went to Spiral Diner Thursday night. Good-bye dinner. :( Their flight leaves at 130pm Friday. Around 11am, Anna and Drew are picking me up from work then I will drop them off. Bye Drew and Anna!! See you at the end of July.

Monday March 9th

I made vegan french toast for dinner on Monday. Delicious!!! Drew, Anna and Shawn liked it!!! I doubled the recipe below but it only made about 6 toasts. Next time I am going to triple the recipe. And I used almond milk instead of soy milk. Probably make this when Faith comes down!!

French Toast
1/2 cup soy milk
3 Tbsp. unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 slices whole-wheat
maple syrup

• Whisk together the soy milk, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla.
• Dip the bread in the batter, turning it to coat both sides, then cook it until golden brown in a nonstick skillet.
• Serve with maple syrup.
Makes 2 servings
~ http://www.vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp?RequestID=492

Saturday March 7th

Shawn, Drew, Anna, Sarah and I helped built a house on Saturday with Habitat for Humanity.

When we got to the site Saturday morning, were was only a cement slab on the ground. It took the whole day to put up the walls.

Anna and Drew built the piece that goes above the garage . Anna is screwing the piece into place.

I am hammering nails into the wall.

At the end of the day!

Friday March 6th

Drew and Anna are in Dallas!! They will be here for a week. Friday, Shawn and I took them out for a mexican dinner.

The Watchmen

In a gritty and alternate 1985 the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown, but after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so discover a deeper and far more diabolical plot. ~ imdb.com

A co-worker (Erinn) and I saw this movie at the midnight showing Thursday night/Friday morning. Pretty good!! Erinn read the comic book before seeing the movie so she told me some of the history. To fully enjoy this movie, I do not think you can just walk into. You need to learn a little bit about the character and storyline. Otherwise, very confusing!! It is Rated R for a resaon; strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.

Shreveport, LA

I went to Sam's Town casino in Shreveport, LA this weekend with the DFW Young & Social Traveler meet-up group. It was fun getting out for the weekend. While driving, I noticed there is green grass. Green grass in the beginning of March!! LOVE IT!!!