Hurricane Ike

We got hit by our first Texas hurricane, and luckily we're ok. Some wall sections were damp, trees fell down outside our windows, and we lost electricity for four days. Our schedule quickly became timed with sunlight and I finished a puzzle and started another one. We played Sorry, Yahtzee, Uno, Scrabble, and card games to help time pass. We also got to know our neighbors really well, since we were all outside looking for other humans to talk to. All of our friends further in the city had power, so we visited them for TV time and to cook and shower. Today, Friday the 19th, is the first day we went out and bought fresh food. It's funny how you appreciate the small things like ice, traffic lights, and the hum of electricity after going through a power outage. Here's a few pictures from Hurricane Ike.
We put tarp over the windows in case our windows broke from the wind.
We fiit our blow-up bed in our walk-in closet for sleeping during the storm. We were told to wait out the storm in our innermost room of the apartment.
The trees next to our apartment got blown over!
James and Otis posing in front of more debris around our complex.

Houston,Texas

here's our new apartment minutes after we first saw it. this view shows the kitchen, living area, and entrance to the guest room and 'foyer'
we used our blow-up bed as our bed AND table...so smart.
then we finally bought a real table and chairs. :) yay for ikea!
james and our fren, timmy. timmy has been great showing us the town.
timmy had a crabfest at his place, so here's on of the blue crabs fighting for his life before going into the steamer
we're waiting out hurricane ike, and currently it's going to hit west of us. this means we'll be on the mean side of the storm...so we stocked up on supplies in case we lose power.

Driving from Alaska to Texas

James and I left Anchorage, AK on August 18, ONE DAY before Tera and Mattox welcomed Ayuu Cecilia Roesch into their family. Just our luck. Here's a few pictures from our trip.
our first construction delay a couple hours out of anchorage. we made frens with the bikers and a family, in which the husband is from new york and his wife is from unalakleet (jessie soxie, daniel's sister). so cute, just like us. :)
Matanuska Glacier? in Alaska
james in Watson Lake, our second stop in Canada
during one of our construction delays
some type of sheep? in Canada
wild buffalo in Canada
some nice folding action in the geology of the Canadian Rockies
a normal day for us in Canada: fog, rocks, trees, and mountains
this photo is for hockey lovers, namely james and Canada
bye bye to expensive liters of diesel...and bye to Canada
when we entered the US from Canada, we went from sunshine to thunderstorm. you can see the change in this picture.
something in our styrofoam cooler leaked and stunk up the car, so we bought a real cooler and tried, unsuccessfully, to get the stink out.
we are not in alaska anymore...
our first view of tall houston buildings

Married!

James and I got married on July 26, 2008 in Anchorage, AK. Here's a few pics from that party. It was sooo good to see everyone there!