Christmas 2007!

It's like, on Christmas Eve we had this awesome tree, but not too many gifts below.


And then BAM! Santa vomited all over our house:



Elaina, knowing she'd been good this year, poses before the triumphant march to the Christmas tree.


This year we got a number of nifty gadgets from our Floridian kinfolk. Woo-hoo!! Thank you :)


I was so excited about the new printer, I fell to the ground while doing the Happy Dance.


Regardless of Apple, Inc. hitting fourth quarter goals because of us this year, we had a great time jamming out to the new iPod and iPhone (the iToilet and iStove were on backorder). Here is Elaina before she saw me taking pictures of her:



Fon and Cathy sent us some lovely almond sparkling wine and the ridiculously awesome 5-disc set of the Discover Channel's Planet Earth. We only got through like 4 hours of it today before we realized we had a ton of other things to do.



Noah and Shari sent us a couple bottles of Sophia from the Rubicon Estates Winery in Napa. Totally rockin gift. Notice there's only one bottle in this picture :)


I also got an electric shaver from the Florida folks. LOVE IT!


Professor needed a good shave, too. His rough stubble chafes my chin when we smooch.


Speaking of Professor, he got some nice presents this year, including a couple pounds of snacks from PetSense, and a new Bobo stuffed doll.


It took him literally 33 seconds to murder Bobo (left).


This Christmas turned out to be one of the best ever! Thanks to everyone for the kind gifts and warm wishes, and I hope you had a great Christmas too :)
I'll leave you with this cute video of Professor. He was worn out after a crazy day of eating and watching Elaina and I freak out from our gifts.

Creepy Moustache Party '07

Year 1, 2, and 3. That moustache keeps getting classier.

I know, it's been yet another year, and our friends had their 3rd annual Creepy Moustache Party. Feast your eyes on this year's weirdos:


YT and myself. Hott.


Some of the guys looking a little too normal.


Elaina has her cupstache. Very convincing.


Will's chops were amazing. They tickled my cheek when he gave me smooches.


Brian (Ernie) and Xadam. Classy as usual.


YT and Elaina in front of the pantry.


Catalina has a 'Big Lebowski White Russian' moustache.

Someone made creepy moustache gingerbread cookies. Who knew moustaches tasted so good?

Elaina and Jennifer with their newfound edible 'staches. I was so jealous.

YT's about to kiss me. Kick butt.

Creepy Moustache parties never cease to amaze me. Here are some honorable mentions:

And last but not least, how could it be ANY party without a half-naked Jay:

My sentiments exactly.

Weekend in Fredericksburg

Last weekend Elaina and I spent a few days in Fredericksburg, TX, which is a small German community about 1 hour 45 minutes west of Austin. We had SUCH a great time getting away from Austin (and work, responsibility, the dog, etc.) for the weekend. By the time we left, we were both very re-energized and rested and happy :) Below are the highlights of our trip.

We stayed at the Angels Lodge Bed & Breakfast, about half a block off Main Street. Here is a picture of the lodge from the front, at Austin Street:


Notice the cute angel there by the lamp. Here is a picture of his butt:


Below is a video of the upstairs at the lodge.


And a video of the downstairs.


Yeah, the lodge totally rocked. But that's not all that rocks about our trip. Speaking of rocks, Elaina and I went on a wee hike to Enchanted Rock State Park; Enchanted Rock is something like the 2nd largest continuous slab of granite in the world. Pretty neat. Here are some pictures:


There's the rock. It's a lot bigger in person.


I must have spooked Elaina.


We had a mountain lion take this picture for us.


A nice view from the top-- 122 meters (a little over 400 feet) from the bottom.


It was SO WINDY at the top. I don't normally spike my hair like that.


Here's a video proving how windy it was.

After the wee hike, we were hungry and thirsty. So we went to the Fredericksburg Brewery, which had a schnitzel for every occasion. It also had a bier garten:



It's a real brewery. See? Big tanks of beer.

After some shopping downtown and some more drinking, Elaina and I were starting to feel like we were regulars in the town. We thought that so much, we tried to blend in with our surroundings:


Perhaps the best part of our trip was finding the restaurant Hannah's on Main. It has some of the best soups, salads, scallops, wine, and desserts that we've ever had! Although we didn't take any pictures inside the restaurant (it was way too classy for that), Elaina did manage to take a picture of the outside patio one of the nights we were there:



We had such a great time in Fredericksburg, we're trying to figure out when we can squeeze in another weekend trip. Hopefully really soon :)


So long Las La Los San Frederickstonburgville Town Hill Villa City!

Half Way Done!

I finished my last final exam of the semester tonight: Corporate Finance. Without knowing how I did, I feel that the final exam was very easy in some parts, and incredibly difficult in others. Regardless, I'm happy to be done with my fourth semester, and today marks the halfway point of my MBA career. Yippee! I have four more semesters and seven more classes before I'm done. Sweet.

Thanksgiving in Florida

Elaina and I spent Thanksgiving this year with Elaina's folks in Melbourne, Florida. We had such a good time relaxing, eating, golfing, and soaking up the sun. Most of the week was spent on Melanie and Heiri's 33ft boat. At any rate, below are some fun pictures of our trip:


Here is Heiri and Anja (Heiri's daughter) in front of the boat. We met Anja for the first time and had a blast hanging out with her :)


Here is the master bedroom downstairs. Wow.


Anja and Elaina posing.


Anja and Elaina again.


Heiri posing. Look how happy he is!


Melanie posing while Anja's texting in the background.


Elaina and I going toward the bridge.


Looks like the first time we've seen sunshine in years (I speak for myself, of course).


As the sun goes down, Elaina and her mom relax at the back of the boat.


Elaina and I looking fratty. So fratty.