Update

We made it to Arizona safe and sound (with some minor bumps along the way). Thankfully the 18 hour drive is behind us. We moved in on Friday and we are no longer in boxes! Yay! I hope to catch up with you soon. A new blog post is in the is in the making.......

San Antonio

What I Will Miss


Doug's first day of residency
July 1, 2002

2008 seemed so far off in the distance when we moved from New Orleans to San Antonio for Doug's Orthopedic training. But on the other hand it flew by WAY faster than I imagined. I found it hard to sit and jot my thoughts on our home, San Antonio, for the last six years. So, instead of documenting through writing I did it via the photos I came across. Some of the things I listed I most certainly won't miss, however it's interesting that once you leave a place special to your heart, the buggy things don't seem so buggy anymore. In no particular order, here are some of the things I discovered and will always remember...

1. Spirit day at Thornton.

2. Mile high sundaes at Champps Sports bar.

3. HEB grocery store.
4. Freaky rain storms out of the blue.

4. The shopping
5. The state flower, the blue bonnets. I have never seen prettier wild weeds!

6. Watching our children grow up and play on our hand me down swing set (we passed onto our neighbors).

7. The Rim, especially at Christmas time. I love those wreaths!

8. My 3 & 4 mile walking loop. Despite the hot weather, San Antonio still remains green somehow.
9. Humidity. Yes, I did just say that. There is something about humidity and your skin.

10. Making goodies for Doug's youth Sunday school class (he has been a teacher for 3 years).

11. Traditional Christmas Eve at the Alamo.

12. These two acting like dorks and dressing the same without planning.

13. Texas football. I don't think there is anything bigger here!

14. Playing blitz with the Wirthlin's and ALWAYS loosing. I kid you not, I suck at that game. (I think that is why they enjoyed inviting me over to play).

15. Girls night that we just started last September. I LOVE these girls!

16. My kitchen. I hope I love to cook in my new one as much as I have loved it here.

17. My kids riding the bus 551, (such a great luxury for me!) hello walking and riding our bikes.

18. Fiesta Texas during the summer.

19. This steakhouse. Yummo!

20. Meeting Doug at his favorite burrito joint, Freebirds.

21. 9th ward Halloween parties. We had so much fun each year dressing up (I hope it continues).

22. Walking these 27 steps.

23. Wearing winter jackets during cold days IN our house.

24. The big boots at Northstar mall.

Ortho Class 2007
Erik, Flo, Ed, Will and Doug

24. The journey it took for Doug to become a doctor. It was hard at times, but the good out weighed the bad.

25. Seventh heaven sleep-overs.

26. Our babysitter Kirk.

27. Flores Country Store in Helotes, TX. Not too many restaurants have hats hanging from the ceiling. This is also where Willie Nelson made his big break.

28. Trash men that actually pick up your trash can and dump it. Hard labor. San Antonio is a little behind the times.

29. My boys will be lost without their Maryn.

30. Road construction EVERYWHERE. Ick. Currently the airport is a major mess.

31. Art the mailman. He is quite an interesting fellow. But, I have to give it to him how he knows most everyone. I'll admit once in a while it creeped me out. I'll never forget each time I saw him he always had a wet towel on his head to keep cool (he didn't want a photo with it on).

32. Haircuts by Sara. She moved on to Sacramento, I fear I won't find someone as good and cheap as her.

33. The San Antonio temple. It was neat to see a temple start from dirt and become a place to visit monthly.

34. Valero gas. I think San Antonio has some of the cheapest gas in the nation. I know AZ is higher than what we currently pay.
35. 85 cent refills at Valero, why I just discovered this about is month ago I will never know.
36. Crept Myrtl trees. (seen in above photo) I love the vivid colors and have 3 in my current back yard.

37. Our ward. Since the split there were several people I didn't get to know, however I still will really miss the people I did. It was a great ward.

38. The graffiti along Abe Lincoln Rd. Ha. This was a daily occurrence despite people cleaning it up.

39. Doug going on a hair strike. Look at that 80 flip. Oh, my!

40. Call at University Hospital. Not!

41. All day preschool for dirt cheap and only 1/2 mile from home!

Aaron Liddell, Jason and Nicole Richards

42. Holidays with friends. We had such an awesome support system!

43. Learning that being a homeowner isn't always easy. One thing is for sure Doug taught himself to do many skills we never would have done living in a rental.

44. Winning an award for the best Christmas lights in our neighborhood.

45. Rudy's BBQ.

This list could really go on (and I may add to it if I can think of more things) This definitely represents our life here and the things I will truly miss.

San Antonio

Friendships

It's inevitable that our family will miss our friends we have made in San Antonio. I purposely packed our entire house last Monday so we would have the leisure to hang out with our friends the last week. Tuesday we had Jared's buddy Bryce come over for the day and they had the best time. I fear that my water bill will be sky high this month, my kids have literally played on the tramp EVERY day in the hose. It was so nice that the Gordon's passed this along to us to use for the past few months after they moved out. We will now pass it on to our other neighbor's for them to enjoy.

Tuesday afternoon Doug and I ran over to the Verizon store. His current phone was literally duck taped together and we have been wanting to switch companies for a while. As I was looking around the store Doug turned to me and said, "Jenny your ride is here." I was completely confused as to what he was talking about. I turned around and Angie was grabbing my arm saying, I am kidnapping you for the night. I was so surprised!

We headed over to our favorite cuisine for one last shared burrito. It was another surprise to find that our favorite waiter, Alberto happened to be working that night as well. He not only hooked us up with all of our favorite eats, but said I am taking care of the bill tonight. What??! We hadn't even said anything about me moving, perhaps a gut feeling? Needless to say, we were both shocked. Angie ended up giving him a nice tip and we headed over to the mall to shop. I am pretty sure that a waiter of this nature won't be knocking on my door in Arizona. I will miss Alberto and his hookups for sure!

As if that wasn't enough Tuesday night.....Greg decided he would take a turn and took us out to a Kirby's steakhouse for dinner on Wednesday evening. It's definitely not your every day steak house. I would compare it to a Ruth Chris. I am sure the waiter wasn't too excited when we said we only wanted to drink diet cokes all around. Conversation with GREAT friends is always fun. We had a great time. I will REALLY miss date nights with the Gordon's.

Thursday night the girls planned a night on the town for me as well. Can you say spoiled??! There were a few that couldn't make it, but we ended up with at least five girls. I think it gets difficult to have conversations when you get many more than that (especially at a dinner setting). The best part about these girls is we can relax and the conversation flies in so many directions. And I really am not exaggerating about that. We sat and chatted for about 3 hours at Pappasittos followed by watching SYTYCD. Good times. Is anyone shocked that tree dancer didn't go home?? I was bummed.

Lisa, Angie, Sandy, Jenny and Nicole

Lastly, I had to include this piece of good mail from my cyber friend Jill. I actually found out about the good mail system in San Antonio and have met so many of you because of it. I think this was officially my last piece of tangible goodness in Texas from box #15. Thanks for the sweet note Jill! I love the way she is making photo cards, what a great idea. I have several other drafts in the making....stay tuned for part II.