Reasons to Give Thanks

Pictured, from left: Trey, me, Dad, Michelle, Leesha, Jace and Ashley.

Well, life has gotten a whole lot sweeter since I last posted. I have plenty of reasons to be grateful lately. Trey and I recently returned home from visiting my dad and extended family in Texas. It was my first time to see him in months. For the many people who move away from home, a prolonged separation from family is commonplace, but this is relatively new to me (aside from my college years). After all, my dad and I are -- as Trey likes to point out -- codependent.

Michelle, me and Leesha

But maybe the most notable aspect of my trip was not getting to hang out with Dad, which was great. It was the fact that I got to meet, for the first time in 16 years, my half sister Michelle, two nieces and great nephew Jace. What?! How cool is that? I was only 13 when I last saw Michelle, and I hardly remember anything about her before that. I have brief memories of her when I was four or five. She lived with us for a very short time and then moved a half a continent away where she remained until a couple years ago. 

Now, she, the girls and Jace live 30 minutes from Austin. And in just a half a year, Trey and I will move to Austin. I'm beyond excited about how near to them we'll be and about getting to know them. I had so much fun with them on Thanksgiving.

H-E-B is a gastronomic paradise. Yeah Texas!

And to ice the cake, our visit to Texas gave Trey a taste of what our life will be like when we arrive. He seems to have warmed up quite a lot to the idea of living in Austin, whereas before he was slightly reluctant. Now I need to remind myself to focus on the present and immerse myself in activity so the last leg in Louisiana won't seem to drag on.

A Halloween Party

Last night Trey and I went to our friends' Halloween party in Ruston. We had no idea what they were capable of when it comes to throwing a bash. It was incredibly well done with extreme attention to detail. Walking into the back yard -- the entrance last night -- there was an inflatable "haunted" castle. There were spooky sounds coming from it, glowing lights, hanging bats and a furry werewolf hand. And to make it even more fun, there were little kids dressed in costume who jumped out, screaming, "Boo!"

This was part of the view from the haunted castle. The entire yard was decked out like this. I learned that our friends have collected these props for years for their Halloween parties. They've set the bar high for sure, especially for someone like me who loves Halloween.

The entire dining room, which was open to the back yard, was papered in faux stone. All of the liquor bottles were cleverly labeled with spooky titles and images, and there were platters of food labeled and made to look like bones, eyeballs, brains, etc.

This was a corner where the kids could mix up a creepy concoction to drink. There were spooky hologram "family photos" hung on the walls and scattered across the house. Even the bathroom had been decked out with a Michael Meyers mannequin in the bathtub and fake blood on the mirror.

Our friends also had five home-brewed beers on tap. Really, need I say more? This party was great.

Everyone was dressed in costume. There were two Jesus's, a 100 dollar bill, a taco, a gigantic, pregnant male Tinkerbell, a milk maid and bar wench, etc. Trey went as a hobo with a stick and handkerchief pouch, and I dressed as a 1950s pinup girl. As we are considerably lazy people, these were the best costumes we could come up with.

This is my head-to-toe getup before the party. I think I'd wear it every day if I could, or at least the hair and makeup, which I learned to do on YouTube. Thank you, Internet.