Lately.

I tend to get annoyed by blog posts that go on and on about why the blogger hasn't been blogging lately. So I'll be quick about it: It's not that I don't have time to get on the computer. It's that I don't have time to get on the computer and complete any kind of thought process. So let's catch up.

Here's a photo I forgot to share with you from my quick trip to Texas last month. One thing I've noticed about Arkansas is that you don't see humongous state flags flying all over the place. So it's something that stands out to me when I visit the Lone Star State. Here's a photo I took in Waco while driving AND trying to find a radio station that wasn't playing Tejano music. Am I talented or what.

We had Thanksgiving -- just the four of us -- right here at home. It was very nice to not have to go anywhere. The last time we had a just-us Thanksgiving at home was in 2003, when I miscarried the day before we supposed to leave to spend the holiday with Chad's people in Lubbock. I have a foggy memory of me wandering teary-eyed through the Baytown Wal-Mart to get stuff for a last-minute Thanksgiving for three at our house. Very depressing memory. So I was glad to replace it with a happy, stay-at-home Thanksgiving memory this year.

I went all out and freed the china and crystal from their prison in my china hutch. I mean, why not?






And what do the Nall girls wear to such a grand occasion?





Their jammies, of course.


The next day, we decked the halls for Christmas. You might notice Jenna is still wearing her jammies from the day before. That's how we roll in our house. The less laundry, the better.






Speaking of rolling, this is how a youth minister's family finds out last year's graduates are home from college:



"Great to see you guys! How long is your break? That long? ... Oh."

Now Christmas us almost upon us. Chad's mom has been with us since Dec. 1, and she'll go with us to Houston on the 23rd. For you Baytown folks, we plan to be at MoSt the Sunday morning after Christmas. Hope to see you then!

To Texas and Back

We're back from the first of our two Texas trips of the summer. On June 5, we headed to my parents' house near Houston before going on to Baytown the next day. When we visit Baytown, there are two things I can't wait to do:

1) See Lois, my best Baytown girlfriend,
2) and eat some decent Tex-Mex, which we have yet to find in the otherwise lovely state of Arkansas.

So we usually manage to combine the Lois/Mexican food thing into one glorious outing. There are three El Toro locations in Baytown, and this is the one on Garth Road. It's the one where Jennifer Garner lunched with family when she was in town for the funeral of her grandmother, a long-time Baytown resident, several months ago. So if Baytown has a celebrity hotspot, I guess this El Toro would be it.

Later we met up with Lois and her dashing husband Bill at the Baytown Target. (Lois is one of my sisters in Targethood.) We also ran into Jason, one of our former youth groupers, with his mom Karen and niece Aurora. (Aurora's mom Michelle is also one of our former youth groupers. Possibly the coolest youth group member we've ever had.)


Jenna and Aurora were instant best friends and ran off to shop the One Spot.

The next day was the wedding of Amber and Brant at our old church. It was great seeing former youth group members get married, and we also got to see so many people who were so special to us during the six years we were there. (Some trivia about Brant: he and some accomplices, including Aurora's mom Michelle, once wrapped our house with 96 rolls of toilet paper. It took me ten minutes just to unwrap our mailbox.)

On Monday, we got to spend some time with Chad's dad, who lives with his wife about an hour from my parents' house. Here are the girls very much enjoying having a grandpa with his own pool.





Julia had spent the night with Meagan, her Baytown BFF, and left her DS case at Meagan's house. So what better excuse did we need to meet Meagan and her mom Toni (they visited us in Arkansas over Christmas break) at the Houston Children's Museum? Here are Julia and Meagan battling with fake bread sticks from the museum's pretend grocery store.

Living in a land-locked state, we naturally had to get our beach fix.

















My cute parents. That day was their 45th anniversary!

















The girls in the shark cage at Moody Gardens. I actually had some peace there for a second!

Rainy Reunion

Aside from the deluge of rain we've had since we got down here, we've been having fun seeing old friends and visiting our old hang-outs. Oh -- and playing with new toys from Granny and PaPa. Here's Jenna in her new tent.

We've been fans of The Children's Museum of Houston since we first took Julia there in 1999 when she was barely walking. Tuesday we went back and the girls had a great time. True to tradition, we hit the face-painting table as soon as we got there.


I think the pretend grocery store is the coolest thing in the museum. Julia has as much fun in there as she did in her toddler days.


Milking a fake cow is always fun, too.

The veins in the cow's udder have always kind of creeped me out.

On Wednesday, we drove over to Baytown and met my best Baytown girlfriend Lois and her husband Bill at El Toro for lunch. We were glad to finally get some good Tex-Mex (which, like Dairy Queen, is hard to come by in Arkansas.)


Then we took Julia to her BFF Meagan's house, where the two had a fun-filled sleepover. That afternoon, Lois and I had a Target date, and we ran into more friends from our old church there. Then we went to church and saw more friends and met even more friends for breakfast on Thursday. After visiting with yet more friends, we came back to my parents' house. Today we are meeting Chad's dad in Houston for a short visit and my brother Brian is coming in tonight. Tomorrow is back to the Natural State!