To Catch Up...

Things that have happened since the last post:

Forrest and I got married in Corpus Christi. Lots of friends and family came, and it was just wonderful.

Then, we had a fun, low stress reception where everyone danced and drank and had a blast! The next day we drove to Houston and flew to Costa Rica! After we took the plane to San Jose, we took a taxi the next day to a smaller airport to fly to Santa Teresa. The small plane went ca-chunk-a-chunk when it took off.

Finally after a BUMPY, hour long car ride from the little airport, we got to the resort. Here we stayed in a lovely, open-air bungalow.

During our week in Costa Rica we rode an ATV around the beautiful Nicoya peninsula,

climbed rocks around a long river to get to a waterfall in a little town called Montezuma,

went snorkeling in the ocean and got to see some weird creatures,

and, of course, got a little dirty.

We had an amazing time, but then we came home. It was nice to be in the comfort of my own bed. Then, Wednesday of the next week I got a call from my mom that my Grandma Evelyn had passed away in the night and the funeral was that weekend in Oklahoma. Forrest went with me and we made a day trip (4 hours each way) to the funeral. I loved my Granny very much. She was so sweet and good and my family misses her sorely, but we have no doubt she went to God.

The NEXT weekend we were supposed to go on a cruise out of Houston to Cozumel that I had won in a raffle the year prior, but Forrest had so much to do at work and we were both so exhausted and traveled-out that we just plain skipped it. Besides, I was scared to sleep on a boat anyway. Have you read The Life of Pi? I KNOW what happens to people who are asleep when a boat sinks. It isn't good.

So, the next day was Halloween. We were SO excited. Neither Forrest of I had ever gotten to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters in our OWN house. Stoked. We both scrounged up costumes and decided on the little act we would put on when they got there to really creep them out. He was a creepy husband and I was his creepy wife (far stretch from reality?) and we talked funny. Well, it was better if you were there. Anyway, we got all pumped up and only about 4 stinkin' kids came! WHAT THE HECK!??? I love holidays and our neighborhood really let us down on this one. We decided that in the coming years we would really go TOO far in decorating our yard and force the neighbors to take us up on the challenge to be Halloweenier.


My next bit of excitement: Thoroughly befriending Belle (the cow) at the farm (Forrests folks house) this Thanksgiving.

Forrests next bit of excitement: Blueberry muffins.

Romance-tober?

Few people will argue that October is one of the best months of the year-- a new chill in the air, the smell of leaves and cinnamon brooms and good food, and time to take out all the cold weather clothes and comfy jackets you had packed up. EEP!! I am giddy just thinking about it! Now, in addition to all the a fore mentioned reasons it is going to be my anniversary month, shooting it right to the BEST MONTH EVER! Two short (and rather busy) weeks from today I will be changing my last name, changing my place of residence, changing who all my stuff Gremlin goes to in the event of my early demise, and changing my title from girlfriend/ coolest person ever to hang out with to WIFE/ broodmare/ still the coolest person ever to hang out with. That is a lot of change.

Anyhoo-- on to the point if this post. For those of you who are coming all them way down to Corpus Christi and Port Aransas for Forrest and mine's...ahem...."special day"....here is a little research I did on things to do and places to see in both CC and Port A if you have spare time during your visit!

In Corpus you could (the colored ones are links to sites)...

1. The Texas State Aquarium! 
A super neat place to take kiddos, but fun for adults too, where you can see tons of water wildlife from sharks to otters to crabs to DOLPHINS! Yes-- it is true. Dolphins. There are touch tanks where you can pet a sting ray or a lil' sharkey. You can spend an hour there or all day if you feel like reading every bit of fishy fact.

2. The USS Lexington
For the history/military buffs out there, this is a big old battleship that now sits in our marina for tours and education. They call her the Blue Ghost, I THINK because she was supposed to be sunk or something and didn't so when they saw her coming in through the mist is was like "HOLY CRAP! THE GHOST OF A SHIP!"....but don't quote me on that.

3. Eat at the ORIGINAL WhatABurger!
It is two stories, with a view of the bay front. Not many people know this, but Corpus Christi is the home and corporate headquarters of this fine establishement. I have never found another burger that compares to a WhatABurger with cheese and grilled jalepenos. Mmmm.



In Port Aransas you could....

1. Take a Dolphin Cruise!!!
Not even kidding-- AMAZING! Right?? It's like they are slippery humans that can swim and they just want to be your friend! Technically this one is in Ingleside, but that is really close...and how many miles is TOO many miles for a dolphin? Correct answer: No.

2. Go and chill at the beach. Shh...relax....just close your eyes and look at this picture...ahhh.

 
3. Have a Drink at Shorty's Place.
The final, absolute must-do, in Port A. This crummy little hole in the wall will leave you with fond memories of drunken fishermen and a smell you simply have to shower twice to get rid of. They have beer in bottles only and one big jug (yes, jug) of wine they keep around for sissies. Seriously, I plan to be there for a bit Friday evening. Lovely little place with a lovely little deck, and lovely little characters.

Have Fun and See You All Soon!!

Buy me a shot, I'm tying the knot. Buy me a beer, my wedding is near!

This past Saturday I was thrown an absolutely incredible bachelorette party. We stayed in a hotel on 4th street in Austin, and I could not have asked for a better maid of honor (Stu Bear) to plan the whole shin-digg. We started out the afternoon with margaritas and a little...umm... "consumatory undergarment party" in the hotel room. It was great fun. Here is some advice to anyone who is somewhat critical of their own body (any woman basically) and can't stand to try things on and look in dressing room mirrors all day -- have a few margaritas and let your friends choose your underwear, and then you will feel great in all of them!

Next we all went to dinner at a one-of a-kind Austin restaurant called Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill, and followed that up by a night out on 6th street. We were offered free rounds for the whole group at just about every bar we passed, and therefore decided that we were all VIP and if a bouncer would tell us to come inside his particular bar it quickly became a game of  "what's in it for us??" All of these free drinks were of course fruity little concoctions with minimal alcohol, and I don't think anyone even got very tipsy the whole night, but it was still awesome and you wish you were us! : P

The ladies decided I needed to go on a scavenger hunt which included kissing a bald guy on the head, taking a picture with a police officer, getting someone to serenade me, getting someone to propose to me, and riding a mechanical bull. Needless to say there are videos of many of these events, but you will have to ask Hannah Giles about them. ; ) The old bald guy, who may or may not have been gay, was quite elated by my request and informed me that "he gets asked to do this all the time." What?!?

Anyhoo, the evening was concluded by me getting a tattoo on my bottom that says "Mrs. Womack." Yes. Not a joke. Sarah held me down on the hotel bed, Ashley got out a sharpie and branded me, Leigh proceeded to whack me a good five times to make it red and puffy (realism is important when doing such things), and of course Hannah was the photographer of the whole affair. It did end up looking pretty legit, but I am not going to post any pictures of my ass...butt..."good side" on the internet.

So. Ahem.

Let the record show that although Mary Stuart Womack may be inclined to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, she would be a damn good party planner. 

Thanks everyone : )

My mom and her Face Page.

Anyone who knows my mother knows that she is a smart, vibrant, fun, caring woman...who just happens to be technologically inept. Last night as I was trying to get a few things for the wedding organized before bed, she calls to me from the next room. " JENNY! I NEED HELP! WHAT IS THIS DOG DOING?!"


Uh oh. What had she found on the "interwebs" now?

Backstory: About a year ago my sister Tammy and I decided that we needed to make her a Facebook in order to keep her connected to familial goings on and pictures of people, etc. Well at first she hardly used it-- she just plain couldn't understand how. After a few months however, people that she knew (friends from work and people she knew from her youth) began adding her and writing her messages. Immediately she got very excited and began trying ever so hard to figure out how to use her "Face Page." She has become what we will call...proficient, but still needs a lot of help from me.


Cut to last night: She calls me in because she "wants to know what this dog is doing!!" I finally realize that she has seen a you tube clip that someone posted, and all of her old lady friends left "OH MY GOODNESS!" sorts of messages about this dog (who we would find out nursed a litter of kittens). Awesome. But anyway, once I showed her how to download Adobe and get the link to work and she sees what all the fuss is about she simply looks at me and replys "Oh. After all that I thought the dog would have been humping someone..."

Oh dear.  : )  Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0txbXX7u5Sw

Witchy Crafting

As of late I have tried to start on some DIY projects in order to make some fun, cutesy gifts for people who help with the wedding. Well. My goodness. As it turns out I suck at crafts of any kind. I have already had to solicit the help of my mama-in-law-to-be for one failed project (flower basket and ring pillow for the wedding) and NOW I seem to have made a real mess of some candles.

Warnings for those of you who might undertake this sort of project in the future:

1) There is a HUGE difference between candle dye and soap dye
2) Paraffin wax and jelly wax DO NOT layer well...the former melts and mixes into the latter and makes it foggy and gross
3) When wax hardens on all of your pots, pans, and utensils it is a BEACH to clean up. And I am talking the oily, gross, current day BP beaches. Not the fun kind.

Ok...so I melted down my candle mess and will try again today from the beginning.

WISH ME LUCK! Pictures will (might?) follow.

New Life, New Town, No Friends...

McKinney, Texas. Lovely McKinney. From the first time I visited I knew I would have no problem moving here. It is peaceful, clean, and contains Forrest Womack (a fellow, whom I happen to adore). Easy choice. I will actually be moving up here after the wedding in October, but every time I visit there seems to be one thing missing. Oh, right. I have no girlfriends here. Being an optimistic sort of girl, I decided to take matters into my own hands and find clubs to join and events to attend in an effort to branch out. Even though I don't live up here quite yet Forrest encouraged me to go to this months meeting of the McKinney Newcomers Club which was on Tuesday. Great Idea! The only problem is that after attending, I found out that they should consider renaming it the McKinney Old Timers Club. I should have known, with activities like 'gardening group' and 'bridge'....sigh. Try, try again! Any ideas on other things I could do to meet someone under forty to hang out with occasionally, before I start hearing Gremlin speak English?

xoxo

Oh, and by the way...those old ladies are nice and I am still considering joining. Who couldn't use an extra granny?