Category: Friends

Posted on by John

Last night, after a wonderful dinner (Christine cooked a delicious lemon oregano chicked dish last night), I spent some time downloading photos and movies from the little camera, and here’s a round up of recent photographs and a movie:

  • 29 – A few select photos from my 29th birthday party.
  • Ella’s a Year Old – These are a few photos we took at Ella’s Birthday Party (I can’t believe we didn’t take more).
  • Reading his book – Mommy took these photos of Jack reading his book during morning playtime.
  • Goodmorning Sunshine – On Saturday morning, Jack and I went out to greet the sun, while laying in the hammock. Afterwards, we went inside and woke up mommy.
  • Reading with Daddy – Jack and I read a book before bedtime last night.

And for this week’s movie, we present Life of the Party. At my 29th birthday party, Jack and I danced to a song Josh was playing on the radio. The poor guy was tired, but he hung in there, and was the “Life of the Party”:

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 300 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Christine and I spent the better part of the day cleaning out the garage today.

Around 9:00 a.m., I took a load of stuff we had ready for Goodwill to the donation center, then went to Home Depot and bought 8 storage bins, and some trash bags. When I got home, I started clearing out the garage a little. I got the lawn mower and fertilizer spreader out of the way, then moved our bikes outside, along with the ladder. I also started a small pile of boxes that we just didn’t need to keep anymore (anyone else have a few empty boxes that you think you’ll need someday? like a box to the last printer you bought, etc…)

Christine put Jack down for a nap and joined me in the garage. We started unpacking the boxes that we haven’t unpacked since our move from the rent house we lived in in Travis Heights. We found some fun old memories (lots of photos from Christine’s 8th grade and highschool, and from our days at A&M and in the Army). We found a bunch of old books that we didn’t need to store anymore really. We found two pairs of boots that we had no idea where they’d gone to. We divided what we found into piles: One for Goodwill, one for trash, one for eBay, and the stuff we kept, we repacked in the storage bins I’d bought that morning.

Around noon, we ate pizza on the back patio … which was funny … Christine freaked out over a bee that flew near her face and she ran inside. I got her to come back outside to finish eating after about 5 minutes of coaxing.

Then I started burning (in the chiminea) a bunch of old files we were hanging on to for no good reason (we still had my old Austin County State Bank statements and cancelled checks for God knows what reason, for example).

All said, we did a pretty good job of getting rid of a bunch of stuff we really didn’t need to keep anymore (like about 40 books that were just taking up space — stuff like our AAA tourguide books of Kentucky we have from 7 years ago — sheesh). I took a load of stuff to Goodwill (4 boxes). I took a load of stuff to Half-price books (made $21.50 there for 2 boxes of books – what a rip off). I took a file cabinet we didn’t need back to Office Depot (made $70 there).

So now, we have a garage that’s on its way to being better organized… and is definitely cleaned out a bit.

When I got home from getting rid of the stuff we were getting rid of, Christine and I packed the car full of cardboard, and I took it to the recycling place in downtown Austin.

After that trip out, I fertilized the lawn, just in time for it to rain, so I didn’t have to water it in.

Christine started making dinner (a wonderful Talapia dish with spaghetti squash and rice for sides). Bob Beurlein came down from Ft. Hood, and we all ate dinner together (including Jack).

Austin WranglersBob and I then headed to the Austin Wranglers game for the evening. We watched the Wranglers beat the New York Dragons. It was a fun game. Arena football is a good sport to watch, and to take a family to, I think. It’s kind of like watching regular football, but at a basketball pace.

Got a lot done today, and now we’re tired… it sure feels good to get things done.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 259 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Over the past week, we’ve spent a lot of time celebrating birthdays:

John turned 29 on March 10th. Yes, I’m still a year younger than my wife. She’s still wiser. I’m still younger. I’m 4 weeks into my Weight Watcher kick and so far I’ve lost 11.2 pounds. Feels good being a little lighter, I just hope the pounds are coming off the right parts of my body 😉 To celebrate, Josh cooked an amazing dinner, and we spent the evening at their house, playing with Jack and talking about stuff. Josh also gave me a really nice knife and some stuff we need in the kitchen so he can come over and cook at our house like he does at his (and so I can learn some culinary arts from him in the process).

Ella turned one year old on March 13th! And boy is she amazing at one year old. Shadel and Evan threw the little princess a wonderful birthday party in Bellville. Christine, Jack and I drove down on Saturday (the 12th) and spent an evening with them before the big event. Evan and his friend Jason got up around 5:30 to start cooking brisket. I got up around 7:00 to help them. Shadel and Christine decorated, and around noon, I guess, the birthday well-wishers started showing up. Lots of family and lots of friends. It was a lot of fun, and I shot about an hours worth of video, so Evan and Shadel can preserve the event.

During the week of March 14th, we just worked. Jack started learning how to sleep a little longer through the night. I started reading a book on how to get him to sleep through the entire night. I closed another deal at work, this one with a bigger client based in Chicago.

Then last night, March 18th, we met Cheri, Greg, Raymond and Debbie at the Iguana Grill on Lake Travis, to celebrate Cheri’s __th birthday (I’d never ask a lady her age). We went ahead and celebrated all of the March and April birthday’s last night too (Debbie’s birthday is April 5th). The food was great. The conversation was better. The sky was overcast, so the sunset wasn’t as good as it normally is over the lake.

Today, I’m hoping to either a) get the garage cleaned out, or b) get the yard in shape. Depends on how much time I have.

Jack’s sitting in front of me playing right now, so I’m gonna get off this darned computer and go spend some time with him. He’s so much fun!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 165 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Finally got around to cataloging a few more photos we’ve taken, and thus, I posted these galleries today:

Peggy Visits
Taking a bath
Standing in the crib
The Dog and his Jack
Jack up close and personal

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 279 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

It was a long week last week… sorry for the lack of updates. So let’s start where we left off.

On Monday night, Valentine’s Day, Elise and Josh came over and babysat Jack for us, so Christine and I could go out for Valentine’s day. We decided to do something low-key, but fun, so we went to the Alamo Drafthouse and watched “Hitch” while eating dinner and having a couple of beers.

Hitch is a hilarious movie, especially for two middle-aged parents that don’t get to see movies in the theatre any more. Actually, it’s a good movie for anyone. Will Smith is great in it. We laughed pretty much all the way through it.

Also on Monday, Christine met with her boss and told him that she was more interested in raising our son for the next six months to a year than she was in coming straight back to work. He was totally understanding, and asked her if she’d mind staying on the employment rolls, and helping out here and there with reviewing reports and the like. She said that she’d be happy to help out when her time permitted. I’m so thankful she works for a company that can afford to be understanding of her wants and needs and can accomodate her for the short-term, with their long-term interests being protected as well. She’s an asset to any company, and I’m glad they know that too.

Let’s see… then the week flew by. I don’t really remember us doing anything spectacular last week. Oh, I closed my first couple of sales at the office. Felt good to finally do that.

On Thursday, Christine and I joined Weight Watchers. I’m tired of not being able to button the neck on my dress shirts when I wear a tie. And I can’t afford to keep buying new suits and new shirts. Enough said. Erin babysat Jack while we were there… Jack told me he had a great time hanging out with Erin after she left.

Then, the weekend came. And I was lucky enough to have President’s day off.

Christine saddled me with the kiddo for a few hours each day, so she could get out and get some things accomplished, and we did a little visiting with friends as well.

On Sunday we met with Pastor John at the church about Jack’s baptism, and Elise and Josh joined us. Afterwards, Josh and I hung out with Jack while the girls went shopping, or something. Then Sunday night, we joined Lisa and Spencer (Lisa is Christine’s cousing from Tulsa who now lives in Austin) for dinner and conversation. Lisa cooked an amazing roast and ice-cream pie. I mean an amazing roast! Spencer’s doing well in his MBA program. Wish we got to hang out with them more often…

On Monday, Elise and Christine drove all over town getting things finalized for the baptism coming up this weekend… Jack and I stayed home and drank beer and smoked cigars. Ok, that last part isn’t true, but I’ve got to make sure you’re still reading.

And I forgot: On Sunday afternoon, Christine and I were playing with Jack in his nursery, and he started laughing while we were playing “Flying Jack” so Christine shot the footage in this quick video … He’s too funny here:

Believe it or not, I’m walking on air…

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 264 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

We were treated to a visit from Sandy Budnick and her boyfriend Jason on Monday during the day as they travelled home from spending a weekend in Wimberly.

Sandy brought Jack a really nice cross-stich that’s hanging in his room now. Hand-made gifts really are precious.

It was really nice of them to stop by, but I wish I wasn’t working when they did… It’s tough to visit with friends when you’re “at the office”. Christine visited with them for an hour or so, though, and enjoyed it a lot. Jack did too.

Sandy holding Jack

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 188 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Last week, I was in New York all week. I went there on business, as we had a quarterly sales meeting at the new corporate offices. I was in New York Tuesday – Friday.

Thank gosh Christine made me go to Foley’s and buy a good wool overcoat. It was 20 degrees in New York most of the week. If I didn’t have the overcoat, I don’t know what I would have done.

The sales meeting was very productive, and after work each day, we all headed to a bar to get to know each other better. Each night was long, and that made for a tough Friday. I was doing all I could to stay awake at the airport waiting on my flight to leave.

I was really glad to be back home on Friday night.

While I was in New York, Christine and Jack spent the week in Dallas with Grandmother and Granddad. Christine spent some of her time there visiting our old friends from Fort Worth, and from the sounds of it, I missed out on some fun lunches and dinners, and visits with the old neighbors. Christine didn’t take any pictures like she was supposed to, so I don’t have any pictures to share with you… sorry.

When I got home on Friday, I swear Jack had grown 2 inches. His face has filled out, and he’s definitely developed some new skills. Jack is now almost laughing at times, and has learned how to be ticklish (I think Mary taught him that skill). He’s making more noises now, and has a lot better motor skills. He can now hold an object in his hand for a little while. It’s funny to see him holding his toys… he can hold them, but can’t actually control his movements… it’s cute.

On Saturday, we drove home, and briefly visited the brithday party Josh threw for Elise and Michelle. It was Elise’s 30th birthday party, and Josh did it right. Wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a good time while we were there. [photos here]

On Sunday we watched the Super Bowl, which I’ve already written about.

On Monday night, I realized that I missed New York, so I pulled two strip steaks out of the fridge, and grilled two New York Strip Steaks for Christine and I. And before I cooked the steaks, I spent 20 minutes excercising… probably the first 20 minutes of excercise I’ve done in a year… my calves hurt today.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 297 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Christine and I hosted a small Super Bowl get together today, primarly because last night we meant to spend time at Josh and Elise’s celebrating Elise’s 30th birthday and Michelle’s birthday, but we had to leave early because it was past Jack’s bed-time.

Kim, Brad, Elise, Josh, and Victor all came over. Brad brought some brisket he’d cooked the day before that was really good. Josh brought some salsa. And Victor brought paper towels. (Gotta love it when your friends pitch in).

It was fun to watch the game with good friends that were looking for a laid back environment to watch the game in.

Jack enjoyed the game, and went to bed right before it ended. He’s sleeping good now that the Patriots won.

I played with Jack a little this morning, and shot some quick video footage of him in his bouncy chair. His facial features are really starting to develop, and he’s kicking and grasping for things with his hands:

Jack and His Bouncy Seat Movie
(Quicktime required)

I also took a few pictures today of him in the bouncy chair … some of them are too cute.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 153 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

We took Jack to our church on Sunday, January 30th, so that we could introduce him to the congregation. We aren’t an extremely devout family, but we want to be more active in the church, so this past weekend was our first attempt to do so.

Christine read that our church was inviting all babies born in 2004 to come to church Sunday morning to meet the congregation and to be a part of a ceremony celebrating their birth. We thought that was a perfect way to introduce Jack to the church.

We met Erin and Kaulen at church, and asked them to take pictures of us. We had our little camera, and Kaulen was kind enough and thoughtful enough to bring her good camera with the telephoto lens to get some closer shots than our camera would handle properly.

Going to church with Jack was fun. We started downstairs in the pews with the rest of the congregation, but soon after our introduction ceremony, we headed upstairs to the cry room. The cry room was really nice, and was full of babies (not all of them were crying).

We listened to as much of the sermon as we could, and then later went downstairs to join the church. That was comical… we barely made it to the front of the church in time to join the new member ceremony, but we did.

After church, we were welcomed into the fold by the congregation, and we ran into Stewart Pickard, whom I worked with while at the Statesman, and his wife Lisa.

Thanks to Erin and Kaulen, we have photos of the event to share with you.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 275 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Christine and I went to dinner with Josh and Elise Janicek Thursday night at the Y Bar and Grill in Oak Hill to wish Josh a happy birthday (which was on Wednesday night).

At dinner we asked Josh and Elise to help us raise Jack properly, by being his Godparents. We thought long and hard about who to ask to help us help raise Jack with strong morals and a greater guiding core. We know that we made the right choice asking Josh and Elise to help us in that task, and are really glad that they have agreed to be Jack’s Godparents.

We’re planning a baptism for late February, but haven’t finalized the plans. Once we have, we’ll let you know when and where.

Some photos from the evening are posted here.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 212 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Big news folks! Bob is home! Bob is home in Texas!

Bob Beuerlein is home from Iraq. He’s been home for a few weeks, and now that he’s settled back at Fort Hood, he came to visit us in Austin. To celebrate we headed to Debbie and Raymond’s lakehouse (after a quick stop at Fry’s) on Saturday.

Bob brought a couple of his Army buddies, Jessie and Chip, down from Fort Hood. We invited Marc, Cyndi and Rowan out to the lake too. I cooked steaks, salads, and some fruit.

The boys played poker while the girls watched the kids. We played no-limit Texas Hold’em, and I won the game. (Sorry guys).

Here are some photos from the evening.

After everyone drove home on Saturday night, Christine, Jack and I settled in for the night.

We woke up on Sunday to watch 50 First Dates (really cute) and Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (not bad for a Sci-fi flick with Vin Diesel in it). We ordered pizza for lunch.

Jack swung by the fire we put in the fireplace while Christine and I cleaned up the lakehouse, so we could go home.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 212 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Here are two photo galleries from the past couple of weeks that I haven’t gotten around to posting yet:

Heidi comes to Visit – Heidi Bookheim worked with me at the Statesman, and dropped by for a visit last week. Jack is too cute smiling at people he’s never met before. Good social skills kid.

Daddy with a Beard – I grew my beard out for the first time ever… and Jack approved (for the most part). It’s gone now, but the pictures give you an idea of what it looked like. What do you think? Beard or not?

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 264 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

On Friday night, Christine and I dressed Jack up and went to dinner with some of our dearest friends in Austin. Joe Bunner, his wife Missy, and the girls Madison and Mackenzie took us to dinner at the Waterloo Ice House out on 360 and 2222. The photo gallery is here.

We had a blast eating there, and spending time with our friends. They’re actually selling their house too, by the way. It’s a 2600 square foot 3 bedroom 2 bath with a pool on a cul-de-sac in northwest Austin. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Joe.

Then on Saturday night, Kim, Brad, Michelle, Josh and Elise came over for “game night”. We never did get around to playing the games though.

Josh and I started drinking cooking around 5:30, but, I miscalculated and bought twice as many chicken wings as we really needed. While the prudent thing to do might have been to put half of the wings in the freezer, we decided to go ahead and just cook them all.

4 hours later we were done. Everyone was starving. So we ate, while the girls played on the computer, and the boys went outside to smoke a cigar. Good times. Some photos from the night are here.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 226 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Gotta little story for you Ags:

One day, a guy named William Davis Miller is born. W.D.’s little sister can’t say “W.D.” so she calls him Dub. It sticks. He grows up in a small town, working cattle and goats, and is a smart kid with some decent looks and a great voice. He goes to Abiliene Junior College, gets a degree, then goes to A&M, joins the Aggie Band, gets a degree, goes to music school, becomes a touring musician that’s always on the road, starts law school in Houston, and then…

Dub gets engaged to his girlfriend of a few years: Marci. Big congrats Dub!

Here’s a few pictures of Dub, Marci, and Jack.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 190 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

We’ve been busy with Christmas for the past week or so, and that’s the primary reason you haven’t seen an update on this website lately, but…

I took some time this evening to edit and post a few more photo galleries:

  • Josh and Jack – Josh and Elise visited on 12/22, and I snapped a few shots of Josh with Jack
  • Elise and Jack – Elise came over to take some photos of Jack at the 4 week old mark. I snapped a few of her as well…
  • 4 weeks old – We took some photos with our little digital camera, as Elise took some photos with her good film camera. These are the digital ones.
  • Jack and Mommy – Just a few cute photos of Jack and his mommy.
  • Jack and Daddy – A few cute photos of Jack and his daddy.

Coming later this week (hopefully): Photos from the annual Teaff family Christmas gathering in Houston, some photos of Ella that Grandma had on CD last time she visited, and possibly even another movie or two from Christmas.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 297 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]