Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun.  We hosted dinner here at our house and had a deliciously filling meal.  Everyone pitched in and added their own flavor to the day.  2007 has been a good year and we have much to be thankful for.  God has blessed us in so many ways, especially with our families and friends.  Although we are far from most of you, we're blessed to have the love and support that you have always given us.  Our health, our house, our jobs - all of them given through His grace.  Above all, we're eternally grateful to have found one another.  Having recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary, we have so many wonderful memories behind us already, and look forward to many more in our future.  Lots of love to you and your families this Thanksgiving holiday.

   Christine, Tony, and us before our feast.

Anyone who knows Neal knows that he is a huge video game buff.  And anyone who keeps up with the video game world knows that this was a BIG week for gamers since Rock Band made its debut in stores on Tuesday.  Naturally, Neal had been talking about this day for months so of course, I had to get it for him on opening day as an early Christmas gift.  He has been so excited to play every night and just had to show Christine and Tony how it works.  :-)

Go Honey go!  My husband, the rock star!

The nice thing about Rock Band is that it has something for everyone to do so multiple people can play at the same time.  With Neal on guitar and me on the drums, Christine and Tony braved the role as our lead singers.  Although this was the first time they had ever performed in front of a large audience, they rocked the house and were able to join us on our world tour.  We played gigs in Boston, New York, L.A., and we even won some roadies at our gig in Seattle.  Whew, being on the road is exhausting!

The Big 3-2

Well, yesterday was the big 3-2 for me. It's still weird to think that I'm actually in my 30's - I swear I was just 18 yesterday! Where does the time go? Anyhow, I had a great weekend and was humbled that so many people remembered my birthday. Thank you all for thinking of me! 

When he got home from work on Friday Neal surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of multi-colored roses. They definitely cheered me up, since I wasn't feeling up to par after being around my sick students all week. 

On Saturday morning he got up early and made a pile of presents for me in the family room. Here I had been feeling sorry that he had to work late the night before when really he was at the office wrapping gifts from my family, his family, and of course, his own. Sneaker! :-) 

After the big unwrapping fest we had worked up quite an appetite so we made our way down the street to our favorite breakfast hangout - IHop. They had some new holiday items on the menu, including pumpkin pancakes, which I naturally sampled. They were awesome!! I highly recommend them. 

Traditional birthday dinner at TGIF, the restaurant at which we have now become "regulars."

Today we met up with Christine for morning mass and then finally ventured out to a new restaurant that we've been wanting to try for months - Yia Yia Mary's Greek Kitchen. After our first dining experience there, I think we'll definitely be back.

Overall, I had a really nice weekend. It was even better knowing that my school gave us the upcoming week off for Thanksgiving! Aaahhh.....a much needed break.

"Bella"

We recently received a recommendation to see "Bella," a movie about faith, friendship, and life that was inspired by a true story. What a great recommendation it was. There aren't many movies these days that offer a truly good message and this one is definitely worth a look. The lead actor/producer, Eduardo Verastegui, has quite a conversion story. Up until recently he had been living "la vida loca" when he decided to recommit his life to God. He considered becoming a monk and devoting his life to prayer but someone opened his eyes to the fact that with his notoriety, his conversion could really do some good for the world. So, he has vowed to spend his time in the spotlight making only movies of true value. Bella is his first endeavor in that direction. Here is an article that gives more detailed info:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/eduardoverastegui.html

Balloons!

This weekend we went to one of our favorite places in Houston (NASA) for the annual Ballunar Liftoff Hot Air Balloon Festival. Neal is a huge fan of hot air ballooning so it was a real treat for him. It was neat to see so many balloons of all different shapes, sizes, and colors hovering in the sky. Watching them made me a bit more curious about the whole idea of actually going up in one. Who knows, maybe someday? After the sun went down they put on the best part of the show - the all glow. That's when all balloons are on the ground but still inflated and upon signal, all pilots fire the hot air into their balloons, causing a beautiful glow. It was pretty amazing to watch. Below are some pictures of what it looked like.

I'm also including a picture from our Halloween party last weekend. We had so much fun dressing up! I went as a Japanese geisha and Neal was technically a beer-belly biker dude. However, once he put on his moustache, everyone mistook him for Cheech Marin. What do you think? :-)

Christine looked great in her patriotic suit!