family bog

Texas Wedding Professionals - Social Shots Photo Booth Company | Texas Wedding Guide

2011-07-11T09:44:00.000-05:00

Texas Wedding Professionals - Social Shots Photo Booth Company | Texas Wedding Guide

Window Licking Fox shows video of Fox Licking Window

2011-02-05T20:39:00.000-06:00

Iced In

2011-02-01T12:09:00.000-06:00

Today we were iced in here in Mckinney, TX with a few inches of ice and snow. All of the schools are closed, bible study was cancelled this morning, and I will miss dinner with my Jr. League girls tonight. Since we are stuck in the house, I made a pot of chili and had a little time to play with my doggie and my camera. Cookie is loving this weather barking at the back door wanting to go outside and play about every 2 minutes!

ChRiStMas 2010

2011-01-04T22:43:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas at our house in McKinney this year and had family and friends stay and eat with us from Austin, North Carolina, and Frisco. We had a great time and would love to share some pictures!

Cookie and George

Cozy Chair

The Bishop Family

Add caption

My adorable Niece

Alex and my Sis-in-law Kaye

A note for Santa

So much wrapping paper!

The best present ever from the best husband ever and the reason why healthy eating in 2011 will be hard!
I am already dreaming of cakes, biscuits, and cookies!

We ArE AppRoVed!

2011-01-03T10:59:00.000-06:00

Here is the email from this morning! We are so excited and feel so blessed =)

Roel and Angela Pasetes,
Good morning! I hope each of you had a blessed holiday! After careful review of all the important information you have provided our agency, the selection committee has approved your family to be an adoptive home. Congratulations on your approval! If you have not already, please send in your scrapbook, and profile letters.
Congrats again!

Blessings,

Megan

Adoption Services Coordinator/Caseworker

HaPPy BirThDaY DaviD!

2010-12-25T20:38:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we celebrated my brothers 30th birthday with red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate chip mint cupcakes. We also made chocolate mint milkshakes and busted out the cotton candy machine. We ate on salmon, chicken carbonara, calamari, stuffed mushrooms, and eggplant parmigiana. Happy Birthday to the best brother a sister could ever ask for!

Waiting for approval....

2010-12-21T00:20:00.000-06:00

As some of you know and after lots of prayer, Roel and I have decided to adopt! We are so excited about this journey that God has placed before us and want to share as much of it with our friends and family as possible. Our blog http://thepasetesfamily.blogspot.com will be the place where you can find updates to our progress, share in our ups and downs, and give parenting advice (we need all we can get)!

Where are we in the process you may ask? Well, we have talked to multiple agencies and have chosen a very small private christian agency in the area, we had a three hour introductory orientation, finished our paper trail chase, had an eight hour parenting class, baby proofed the house, and as of last week...

Passed our fire inspection

Passed our environmental inspection

And finished our home visit! The agency drove over 120 miles to come check out our house and do the home study. They interviewed Roel and I separately and then we had an interview together. Now we have a few weeks to wait to see if we are officially approved by the agency and put on the waiting family list.

We are so thankful to our family and friends that have prayed endless hours for us and submitted references for us. All of you are such a blessing in our lives!

Bringing in the Christmas Tree

2010-12-14T16:49:00.000-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving we always go get our Christmas tree and change the decorations in the house. Here are some pictures of the fun we had!

Arts and Crafts

House Decor

The Nativity

Tree fun! We had to drive really slow to keep it from falling off!

All Smiles

The Pasetes Christmas Tree 2010

Please shop at Kroger and help the Junior League of Plano!

2010-06-16T23:58:00.001-05:00

Just print and take to Kroger they will do the rest!

An update on the last few months...

2010-05-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

Here is what the family has been up to the last few months.

Roel and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary

We visited family on the farm

Got season tickets to the Roughriders

Went to a Ranger Game

Saw a Rainbow and watched the clouds roll in

Walked the Dog

Played Ice Hockey

Got a new Cookbook

Went to a beautiful wedding

Wore Funny Hats

And we got one of those fancy cameras

XOXO
Angela & Roel

Celebrate Teachers!

2010-03-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

FYI Friends: Teacher Appreciation week is May 3rd thru May 9th. Scentsy has come out with a beautiful ABC Mid-Size warmer for the month of April. Pre-Order with me now thru the month of April and get it for 10% off. ($22.50)

If you would like to order or just want a free catalog shoot me a comment here or email me your address at angiei76@hotmail.com

Scentsy Scent and Warmer of the Month

2009-12-02T23:42:00.005-06:00

All the following items are 10% off through the month of December!!!!

Scentsy Warmer of the Month (DEC)-CandyShoppe

Scentsy Scent of the Month (DEC)-Cinnamint-warm, earthy cinnamon melded with a cool, icy burst of peppermint. This wintery scent combines the cozy fragrance of freshly grated spices.

If you would like a sample and catalog send me your address via email to angiei76@hotmail.com and I'll get one in the mail to you right away! If you would like to order or sign up for my newsletter go to www.faithhopelove.scentsy.com

Merry Christmas!

Snow!

2009-12-02T09:17:00.001-06:00

Make your house smell divine!

2009-11-10T00:12:00.004-06:00

I am a new Independent Consultant for this awesome company called Scentsy. The infamous, wickless candle that warms by a 25 watt light bulb and never gets too hot for handling which means they great around kids! I am in love with these! They also make great Christmas and house warming gifts. So anyways, if any of you are interested, have never heard of it, or need to order, check out my website https://faithhopelove.scentsy.com/

WoW

2009-08-04T13:38:00.002-05:00

I should update our blog.

CCHC Gala

2009-03-10T17:45:00.004-05:00

This past weekend I was able to attend the Collin County Children's and Community Clinic's yearly Gala with my nurse practitioner mentor. It was a fun night benefiting the clinic and raising money for the upcoming year. It was so nice to meet all the other people that work the clinic. We enjoyed a silent auction, dinner, live band, and dancing. The clinic is a great place for low income families that need health care and have no insurance It is also a great asset to the community and to the many students that it supports. Here is a picture of my mentor and her family at our table. If you know someone in need of the clinic or would like to volunteer the website is http://www.cchc-vim.org/

What I did during the SuperBowl

2009-02-01T22:10:00.001-06:00

A Picture Clippie Board Thingie

Gloria 2008

2009-01-08T20:25:00.003-06:00

This year we were able to make it to Gloria! A beautiful choir production featuring members of Prestonwood Baptist Church. If you have never been able to go it is wonderful and you should try to go next year! Roel's mom, dad, and brother Romel were able to drive in from Austin and attend with us! We had such a wonderful time together. It was just a beautiful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

A pic in front of the giant tree

Roel's Office Christmas Party

2008-12-26T15:52:00.002-06:00

Cisco Team Office Party

Thanksgiving Things

2008-12-09T11:18:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics from Thanksgiving. I cooked for 16 this year and we had tons of fun. I just love to entertain!

Some of the Family

Playing Games

Resting after Turkey!

My niece Lauren and Cookie

Introducing Cookie!

2008-11-13T08:55:00.003-06:00

Cookie is our new puppy! She is a 10 week old 2.1 lb black and white Shih Tzu who has tons and tons of energy and never wants to stop playing. She is so much fun and so much work yet totally worth it! She is learning fast and getting braver everyday. Here are some pics :)

Food and Exams

2008-11-04T16:22:00.004-06:00

"For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds," says the Lord.

(Jeremiah 30:17)

Yesterday Roel had a Stress Test for his heart in Frisco and the cardiologist said he passed! YAY! The hole in his heart will be monitored periodically to make sure it does not increase in size over the years. Since he is not symptomatic and was born with it the doctor feels it does not need surgery at this time.

Most of you know that for about 3 weeks I was limited to smoothies, applesauce, and soup because of my inability to chew due to a really not fun jaw issue. My bottom braces were removed a few weeks ago and I had to stop wearing the splint that the specialist gave me for treatment. About three days later I slowly started to improve! I was able to chew soft foods again and most of the muscle pain has gone away. Some days I still have bad headaches and a little muscle pain in my neck and shoulders but most days it seems like I am slowly improving. The specialist will be evaluating me again in two weeks to plan the next move.

Fall Festival

2008-10-31T23:45:00.004-05:00

This year Roel and I helped out with the fall festival at our church. We helped run the Checkerboard game. It seems like it doubled in size from last year, amazing how many people were there! It was fun seeing all the kids dressed up and having fun. After we helped clean up we went to Legacy books off the Tollway and Legacy it was a really neat bookstore.

The Checkerboard Game

Having Fun!

2008-10-29T09:43:00.002-05:00

A few weekends back we went with some good friends Kiran and Shuba to the pumpkin farm. Eshaan who is two years old just loved it and could not get enough of the animals. We had a fun time. Here are some pics.

Welcome Fall and Other Really Cool Stuff..........

2008-10-26T20:14:00.006-05:00

At Church

Angela, Roel, Romel, Melodia

In front of the house

Roel, Angela, Melodia, Romel, Roger

I love the Fall season it is by far my favorite time of the year. Leaves falling to the ground, cool breezes, and holiday smells and sounds filling the air. Love it Love it Love it!

This past weekend, Roel's parents and brother came to visit from Austin. We drove to Durant, OK to the casino and hit the slots. I ended up winning $800 bucks with three quarters in one machine! That's what I call a miracle right there! At that point I was done and ready to go home. We drove around downtown for a while and found a place called Taco Casa. Yum.

And speaking of yum, for some reason I have been able to eat much more than soup and mashed potatoes! I actually regained some of the chewing motion in my jaw since this friday and have been able to eat some pretty yummy things again. Praise God! I am also having less muscle pain in my shoulders and neck! Today we all were able to bring the family to Prestonwood with us which used to be Romel's church home before he moved to Austin. He told me he really missed it. I'm glad we were able to take him. I also really enjoyed the music this morning, I have not really been singing the last few weeks because of my jaw but today I couldn't help it, I was too moved not to sing. I didn't care if my jaw broke in those moments.... it would have been worth it... I was too wrapped up in his love and it was AWESOME!

To the people behind us in the pew at church,

Whoever you are, I wish we could sit by you every Sunday during Worship to hear your beautiful praises they totally made my day!

2008-10-23T18:15:00.002-05:00

Medical Update

2008-10-18T21:59:00.004-05:00

For those of you that do not know, Roel and I have had a tough last few weeks and we just wanted to give everyone an update. A few weeks ago, I was practicing my cardiology physical exam on Roel and happened to hear a heart murmur. He went to the doctor and then to the cardiologist who told him he had a hole in his heart :( The cardiologist said that the hole is small and needs no treatment at this time. It will need be monitored to make sure it does not get bigger which would then require surgery. He goes for one more test on Nov. 3rd to make sure the rest of his heart is functioning well under stress conditions.

As for me, I started having trouble with my jaw a few weeks ago and was sent to a specialist. I was told that the ligaments supporting the joints are overstretched from correcting my overbite with braces for four years. As a result, I really can't chew much at all . I have been wearing a mouth splint 24 hours a day and the braces on the bottom of my teeth are being removed next Wednesday to allow my joints to rest. I have also been seeing a chiropractor and physical therapist to treat the headaches and neck tightness. The specialist is pretty confident that he can treat the condition but said it will take 6-12 months to get my jaw comfortable moving again.

This is the verse that has been keeping me out of the gutter;
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Thank You to everyone who is thinking of us and praying for us. It means so much knowing that we have been blessed with such wonderful family and friends.

Baby Thomas is Born!

2008-10-13T19:44:00.002-05:00

My cousin Brandon and his wife Nicole just had baby #2! They named him Thomas James. We can't wait to meet him hopefully next month!

Congrats guys!

I just love this picture of big sister Lily she looks so excited!!!

Best Pork Chops Ever!

2008-10-03T12:05:00.002-05:00

I am not a fan of pork chops but this recipe has totally changed my mind. I made this the other night and it was really good. I just had to share. If any readers out there have any pork chop recipes please leave it under comments. I'd love to try some others.

Breaded Pork Chops with Sage Cream Gravy
From Every Day with Rachael Ray September 2007
FOUR SERVINGS
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 15 min

1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Four 1-inch-thick center-cut pork chops (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a wide bowl, whisk 1/2 cup milk with the egg. In a dish, combine the panko and 1 tablespoon each parsley and sage.
2. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Coat each chop with the egg mixture, then with the panko mixture, shaking off any excess.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the chops and cook, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a rack set over a baking sheet; reserve the skillet. Bake the chops until golden and just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in the skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking, until golden. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup milk and the cream. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon each parsley and sage and bring to a boil. Simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chops.

YUMMY!

Cuz in Town

2008-09-28T21:39:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago my cousin Brandon, his wife Nicole, and their daughter Lily moved from Tennessee back home to Austin. We were able to meet with them and the rest of the family at the Old Pecan Street Festival on 6th Street in downtown Austin. We had yummy Mexican food after. I'm so glad they are back!

Brandon and his little girl Lily! She was scared of the ponies! I can't wait for their baby boy he is due in just a few days and we are all super excited!

The whole gang!
My niece Lauren! She liked the ponies and got to go twice since Lily was scared.

Why I don't blog....

2008-09-08T19:24:00.002-05:00

By brain doesn't work in prose, more like indescribable abstract shapes that float around in the ether, and when I do end up blogging, it usually turns into an outline.. How lame! Thanks to my beautiful wife, our blog looks real good. So, today, I'm giving it another shot.

Great! Angela's all excited. She just read the first paragraph and said that she likes it when I blog because I use them big words. She just don't know that I sneak a peek at a dictionary every now and then.

Anyway, what to blog about........ How about the Richardson Corporate Challenge (http://www.cor.net/cc). I'm participating for my company; four events: Bowling, Softball, Darts, and Billiards. We already had the bowling event, where I averaged about a 155+. Unfortunately, our team finished 7th (out of 8). Our softball event is this Saturday, and I will for sure be kicking some donkey. Darts and Billiards are not till the end of the month. Last year, our company got Silver in Darts (Mens division) and Gold in Billiards (Mens division)... I hope to be able to live up to that standard. This Corporate Challenge thing has definitely taken A LOT of my time, considering I'm still trying to finish off my masters.

The Corporate Challenge raises funds for the Special Olympics of Texas. If you are interested in donating, you can buy a raffle ticket from me ($5.00), contact me. There are 3 main prizes, a 42" LCD TV, 2 roundtrip tickets to the continental US, and the grand-prize being 2 roundtrip tickets anywhere in the world.

Eating dinner now: ribs, rice, mac n cheese... YUM.

Shalom!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-04T15:10:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend and extra day off work this past week. I went to Waco to see Grandma and David and Roel went to Austin to play in the Texas Open Pool Tournament and see his family. There was a cat that was hanging out on my Grandma's roof and my camera was handy so I took a quick pic. Roel and I both started a new semester at school and it has been pretty busy. I started working with a Physician Assistant in McKinney and she is awesome. I could not have asked for a better person to work with!

Summer Eats!

2008-08-21T11:59:00.003-05:00

The past few weeks we have been very busy. We had a end of summer BBQ here at the house with some great friends and good food. For those of you that know me, I look for every opportunity to cook something new, and a BBQ was the perfect reason :)
Lesson Learned: There is always a reason to cook and if you can’t find one, make one!

Great Preacher

2008-07-27T16:04:00.004-05:00

Today we visited Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco to listen to Chuck Swindoll preach. Roel likes to listen to him on the radio in the mornings and it was my first time hearing him preach. He spoke of Ezekiel and how his jouney should be an example to those that are leaders of the church today. I really liked how Chuck was able to bring such character to Ezekiel's life story. He has a great way to make people in the bible seem so alive!

Happy Birthday Romel

2008-07-23T16:02:00.004-05:00

This past weekend Roel and I went to Austin to celebrate his brothers birthday. We all pitched in and got him a kayak since he lives right next to a really nice lake. We spent the day on the lake Saturday and took it for a spin. It was fun but sure made my arms sore the next day! While we were at the lake, Roel and the rest of his family and a friend all played golf. I am so glad I opted for the lake because they were at the golf course like forever! The next morning we all went bowling (I just worked in my bible study book because it was too early in the morning for me to bowl.) I also got to spend three days in Waco prior to our Austin visit with my grandma and brother.

YAY! I'm not getting kicked out of school YAY!

2008-07-11T00:27:00.003-05:00

I'm bad sometimes. I plan things out in my calendar years ahead only to wait until the day they are due to start on them. For those of you who have been living in a cave, I am starting my 2nd leg of graduate school in August, which should mold me into a smart and very beautiful Family Nurse Pracitioner someday.

I am enrolled at Indiana State University and since I don't live anywhere near the Hoosier state I am required to find my own preceptor and clinical site. Near the first of May my advisor emailed me that I needed to start my search because some facilities have alot of red tape to get through and that can sometimes take up to four months to go through legal. We are not allowed to do our clinicals in an ER and because every M.D. or N.P. or P.A. I know are located in that world I had to start my search from scratch.

Since I am a member of the local NP organization I thought I would contact them. They got me a list of about 40 Nurse Practitioners that were willing to take on students. I thought wow! This won't be so hard look at this long list! So what did I do next? I got scared. I just could not do it. I couldn't get the nerve to call anybody. It was weird. How do I call random strangers and beg them to let me follow them around for the next four months with no compensation or perks whatsoever? What do I say when they answer? How do I meet with them safely? Will we get along? How will I ever get them to agree? Because of my wonderful panic skills the list sat next to me in the living room for about a month and a half.

Then I made a discovery. It was posted on my school's website that a contract was being established with Medical Center of McKinney for another student. All I would need to do was to contact them and see if they could set me up with a preceptor since another student had already established that facility. I called four times. When I tried calling other people they directed me back to her. :( Very upsetting. So at this point I had very little time to spare. It was already the first of July. I ended up calling two people off that list and was getting no return calls. So I took another approach.

I found a small volunteer medical clinic in McKinney online and called. I found it easier calling places rather than people. I told them I was a student and needed to get some hours done and ended up meeting with the clincial director four days later! There was a very nice P.A. there named Brooke that agreed to be my preceptor and all is ready for August. So it worked out and everything is on schedule! Thanks to all of you gals in my summer bible study that were praying for me, you are all truly a blessing!

Wii is Funni

2008-07-09T19:40:00.003-05:00

Wii is Funni. Ok so we got the coveted Nintendo Wii. Roel and I were joking that we would stop by Wal-Mart on the way home the night after Celebrate Freedom (because we were wide awake after the concert) and if they had a Wii that it would be our impluse buy of the century. Well I guess due to the traffic and the focus of getting out of the parking lot ,we sort of forgot to go to Wal-Mart and just drove straight home. Silli Us! So that next day I was driving by Best Buy and I stopped just to" see" looked around at the store and they had none on the shelves. I still don't understand why these things are soooooo hard to get! They have been out for a while now! As I was walking out of the store, I looked to my left and low and behold there were three Wii's behind the counter. There was a lady at the counter in front of me buying a Wii so I waited in line behind her. I swear I was shaking. Were they for sale or on hold? Were they already bought? Was I dreaming and they weren't really there? I finally got up to the counter and the words almost didn't come out. Are those for sale? I asked. She said yes. And that's how we got our Wii. It's fun. We got several sports games. Golf is Roel's favorite and mine is tennis. When we bought the extra remote we got a few other games like fishing, table tennis, and some sort of horse racing game. I think the best part of the Wii is watching people play it. It's just funni to me :) Now if I could just get my hands on a Wii Fit...........

Celebrate Freedom

2008-07-09T19:28:00.003-05:00

We were in town this year for Celebrate Freedom at Pizza Hut Park! It was so nice to have it so close to home this year. We are usually traveling or just don't feel like going due to the hot temperatures here in Texas. We went on Friday night hoping that there were going to be fireworks, but at the end of the night found out that they were saving those for Saturday. The bands were good but were a little more rockish than what we usually like. Overall it was a good time of fellowship and they had a pretty good turnout.

Travel Fun!

2008-06-03T15:03:00.004-05:00

We have been on the move. A few weekends ago we helped move out my brother in law from Irving to Austin. It was sad to see him go, but we are excited to see what changes are in store for him, and are glad that he can be closer to more family. We also made a trip to OK and I was successful in getting Roel on the mechanical bull :).

This last weekend we spent the weekend in Waco with my brother and grandma. We went out to the farm for a day and had a fun BBQ that night. This upcoming weekend is my mother in law's birthday so we will be in Austin. Here are just a few pictures.

Dear ADAM

2008-05-11T00:46:00.001-05:00

ADAM ELI MAKE A BLOG! :)

Luv,
Angela

Please tell me what to do with my chicken!!!!

2008-03-02T14:15:00.003-06:00

I bought a bunch of chicken on sale today at Tom Thumb and I am bored with the same old way of cooking it. People please give me some recipes or tell me what you do with your chicken! Don't make me stay bored and sad with my chicken! P.S. This chicken in the picture was not sold to me at Tom Thumb today, it was one of the 200 zillion we saw running the streets of Hawii last August.

Happy Birthday Angela

2008-02-04T14:04:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, Angela and I visited Grandma and David in Waco to celebrate her birthday. David cooked a really good birthday meal for everyone. We all had a good time, and Angela really liked her Marble Cake. We also took some time to visit Granpa's farm in Marlin, TX. The family owns 100+ acres there. It was a wild Texas adventure.

Here are some pictures.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-13T00:04:00.000-06:00

Yes I know I am a little late with the Happy New Year, but better late than never right? I am a little behind but just three days ago I started feeling much better from a wonderful sinus infection. I finally got out of the house after two weeks and can taste food again. Praise the Lord!! Let's see, I started classes again this last Monday and it seems like this semester will be very nice. I am going to take a bible study again this spring with the women's ministry. The one I had last semester was wonderful. If you ever have a chance to take a class by Lisa Clark she is a awesome! Now that I feel better, I am going to start working out again. (I have really missed it) :) So now all I have to do it get caught up with my friends which I hope to do in a few weeks. That's it for now! Have blessed week!

Ice!

2008-01-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

A few days after Christmas we went to the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine and saw the Ice Exhibit. It took a while to drive down there but it was worth the trip. It's 9 degrees inside and they give you coats to put over the coat you should already be wearing. They have colored and clear ice sculptures and they are really cool. I was suprised that they let people touch the ice, I figued it would be roped off but it wasn't. It was fun and something you just don'f find in Texas very often. Here are some pictures.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

Christmas! It was fun ! It was exhausting! It was great! Christmas was at our house this year. I cooked for 21 people, what an experience! We had family from Austin, Waco, Frisco, New Jersey, Deleware, and Irving. We even had a ham mailed to us from family in California, since they could not be with us! It came in super handy! Roel's parents stayed with us until New Year's Eve and I have been in the house ever since. I have been fighting a sinus infection for about a week. This is not exactly how I planned on spending my new year but my plans are not really mine anyways. Also, my cousin Brandon had emergency surgery this morning. He will be fine and is at home now. I'm sure he wasn't planning that either. In this time of rest, I just thank the Lord that Brandon is safe out of surgery and that I am starting to heal. Here are some pictures from the awesome time we had over Christmas.

David's Birthday

2008-01-03T10:16:00.000-06:00

On December 24th we celebrated my brother's birthday. I remember him coming home from the hospital on Christmas Eve in a stocking when I was five years old. I can't believe he turned 27! Where does the time go? My little brother is not that little anymore! Since most of the family was here in Dallas for Christmas, we decided to have a BBQ birthday dinner. My first attempt at brisket came out better than I expected, and the mint birthday cake was really good. We also had ribs and the traditional BBQ sides. It was great to have everyone here and we had a great time. Here are some pictures. David, Happy Birthday! I am so blessed to have you in my life.

In Search for the Smell.....

2007-12-08T17:30:00.001-06:00

Well in the midst of final exams, we managed to get our Christmas Tree! I love real Christmas Trees. Last year we went to a tree farm along with my brother in Van Alystene and cut down a tree ourselves which was tons of fun. This year however cramming for finals we opted for Lowes. Even though the experince was much quicker and less of an event (last year we had to tie the tree to the top of the car and it fell off twice) while driving home :)We still got a beautiful tree. Last year we got a pine tree and it never gave off the Christmas Tree smell I remember so vividly as a child. Because of this, we opted for a Fraser Fir tree, hoping that it would scent up the house with the wonderful aroma. I have now come to believe that the Christmass Tree smell can only be experinced if you are under 8 years old. However I am not giving up! Next year I'm already set on a Noble Fir. I'll let you know how it goes! Roel and I have final exams this Monday and Tues and then we are done for this semester. We are both excited to have a break. Heres a picture of the tree.

Lauren's Birthday

2007-11-19T22:37:00.000-06:00

Big Bunny at The Texas State Fair

2007-10-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Roel!

2007-09-20T02:25:00.001-05:00

Yesterday We celebrated Roel's 29th Birthday with cake, presents, and dinner at Texas De Brazil. Here are some pictures!

Roel was very excited about his GPS

What's this? Cleaner for the pool table?
I have never seen anyone smile this big while getting "cleaner" as a gift.... :)

Rocky Road Ice Cream Cake
MMMMMMMMM

Testing out the pool table cleaner

Aloha

2007-09-03T00:53:00.000-05:00

We just returned from our ten day trip from Hawai'i and had a great time. We visited three islands Maui, Kaua'i, and O'ahu. We did the city scene in O'ahu and went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. We drove the road to Hana in Maui through the rain forest and visited some of the best beaches I have ever seen. We woke up at 2am one morning to drive up a volcano (Haleakala) and watched the sunrise. We took a ocean rafting ride and did some snorkeling in Kaua'i along the Napali Coast and could not walk the next day. It was a really bumpy ride. I became very fond of the spinner dolphins and the wild chickens on the island. I loved the chickens so much I even made a rap video that I will never ever ever never post here :) It's amazing the beauty that God has created. The day after we got back from our trip, Roel flew out to New Jersey to attend a wedding and see his family. Now its back to school. Roel and I are both very behind because school started while we were on vacation so now were are working like crazy to get caught up. Here are a few pictures from our trip. (I should be studying and not blogging) :) I am BAD!

Hanauma Bay

A Small Island off the coast of O'ahu

From the Plane
If you enlarge the pic you can see the actual volcano shape

Sunrise atop Haleakala's peak

Ahhhhh so pretty

Black sand anyone?

The road to Hana is super twisty

Some decor along the drive

See the chicken?? Oh chicken how I will miss you!!!

One thing I thought of was wow this is a great trip I think the only thing that could top it off would be seeing a rainbow. I finally got my rainbow the second we boarded the plane to leave how awesome is that? Below is a pic you have to look real close though.

One of the many waterfalls.

Balloons are safe and fun

2007-08-03T22:24:00.000-05:00

Driving home a few days ago, we saw this hot air balloon landing on the side of the highway right in front of our car. As you can see in the last picture I was not so sure that it was going to stay on the grass. All ended well, it landed safely and was a blast to watch.

New Construction

2007-07-25T13:26:00.000-05:00

We have been on a decorating frenzy recently. Poor Roel, I always have something for him to hang up. It's taken us a while to decorate but we are finally moving along.
After many months of holding onto some wooden letters I bought at the craft store, I finally sat down and decided to decorate them. My left over super cute Lily Kate papers from Basic Grey and some Mod Podge did the trick. We put these right above our bed and my wonderful husband did just a perfect job hanging them. :)

Video of the new Bishop home.

2007-07-23T14:33:00.000-05:00

Austin

2007-07-23T00:53:00.000-05:00

We just returned from a family trip to Austin. We got to hang out with Lauren, Len, and Laird, and Lolo. They were great hosts and we had tons of fun. We celebrated Romel's birthday and it was great all getting together. Lauren is about to start the first grade and is a bundle of energy with a very creative imagination. Here are some photos from our trip :)

Everyone Playing Card Games

Romel Opening Birthday Gifts

Lauren and her cats Sweet Cherry and Everest

Sweet Cherry Sleeping AWWWW so Cute

Wedding Pictures!

2007-07-09T01:20:00.000-05:00

Since so many of you have been asking.... Here are some highlights from our wedding. I can't believe it's been over a year already!

Our New Family!

Lauren, My niece the flower girlSky Shot

Dale, our pastor from our previous church, flew in from California to marry us. We were so happy that he was able to.

My handsome future husband waiting patiently.

Aiden, our ring bearer

Visiting Family in Austin

2007-06-28T14:24:00.000-05:00

This weekend we got to visit Ats, Laird and Lauren in Austin. There, we got to see their new house in Pflugerville. We went to Lake Travis and Lake Austin for swimming and a picnic.

Lauren playing on the playground in their new subdivision.

Touring their new house.

At Emma Long Metropolitan Park (Lake Austin)

Stuck in the Office

2007-06-19T18:29:00.001-05:00

I'm stuck in the office by choice. Tonight's the only night this week I can get work done on my paper for my summer Master's Computer Science course. I'm writing about the relationship between Aspect Oriented Programming to Software Product-Line development. It has to be at least 3000 words. In reality, it shouldn't be that hard of a task, just read a bunch of papers, think a bit, and write your thoughts down right? Well, my brain's not all there yet. I've printed out many papers in www.acm.org on the subject, and am reading through them slowly. I need to make sure that what my paper has a flow to it, so I'm kind of outlining what I need to do.

Wish me luck... I have a month left, but we all know how fast that can go!

Our First House

2007-06-17T23:43:00.001-05:00

Many of you have asked to see pictures of our house so here it is from the ground up. We had it built last year and they finished it just one week before our wedding. Our great friend and real estate friend Ginny from church helped us make this all possible. Thanks Ginny :)

Choosing the Lot

Romel in front of the dirt pile

David in front of the foundation

The Walls Go Up

No Roel and I did not get in a fight.....

The Brick goes on!

Helping Roel with the Audio Wiring

BobCat

The Fireplace

The Kitchen Cabinets
Our island was broken so we had to wait for a new one...

Our Very First Tree
It did not make it through the summer so we have a new tree now.

The back patio

Such a sweet picture :)

The Community Pool

The house is done!

Gameroom decoration

2007-06-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Finally got our long-awaited pictures up on our gameroom wall. There are 5 pictures of Roel's pool heroes: Efren Reyes, Ronnie Alcano, Django Bustamante, Dennis Orcullo and Amang Parica. It's awesome to play near such greatness.

New Info Coming Soon!

2007-06-17T22:12:00.001-05:00

Soon we hope to post much needed pictures of the house and wedding for all to see.

Need a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps.

So Happy Together :)

2007-06-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is an old one from our engagement at Zilker Park in Austin. Such a pretty place.