Meet Siena

Well, since it has been a year since I last posted, why not introduce you to our greatest achievement?

Meet Siena Eris Mennear
6 lb 15 oz
19 3/4 in
1:08 am
February 4th 2011


Siena proved to be a very easy pregnancy for me. I worked up until the day I had her. You don't typically associate ice and snow with Houston weather, but oddly enough this little lady was set to arrive in the midst of a large storm. On Thursday, February 3rd, Siena's due date, I went to work and they informed us that we would be closing early and would be closed on Friday as well. My next dr. appt was set for Friday and I didn't want it to get cancelled due to the storms. So I changed my appointment to thursday afternoon after work. Luckily Sterling was able to come to this appointment. I was pretty ready to have her, as it was exactly my due date. During my exam with the doctor, my water broke...panic set in... I don't know why, I was just really surprised that I was going to have a baby that day. My doctor quickly called labor and delivery and told us to head to the hospital. We had nothing with us, and luckily live close to the hospital, so Sterling ran into the house to grab some essentials. Our doctor was great and stayed on and delivered Siena, although he was not on call. Long story short, Siena was not tolerating labor very well, and so I had to have a c-section at 100 in the morning on Friday. I was then in the hospital for what seemed like an eternity...until Monday. Siena is the loudest and most beautiful baby I have ever heard or seen. We love her, and I am so happy I am able to spend every moment with her!



Photos Courtesy of Nicole Caywood Photography

I'm Back

Well, I decided that blogging is no longer the cause of global warming. So I'm back...

I am loving the weather in Houston this time of year. It is mild and sunny most days. This past weekend was so refreshing. Sterling has been overworked with school, but finally had a semi-free weekend. We made the very quick trip to College Station to visit the Workmans. Love them. As always, we had some good food, good laughs, and watched a lot of CNN waiting for a tsunami to hit Hawaii, which I am glad obviously it did not. We also shared our dismay over the killer whale killing the trainer, because we all share an intense love for sea world.
Sterling and I went to the biggest BBQ imaginable this weekend. My coworker's family has a tent at a BBQ competition in Houston and invited us to experience the event. This is no small event, there are literally about 1,000 tents of private parties vying for the spot as best BBQ. We had fun eating amazing food, receiving beads (the girls) from weird old men, and dancing! Sterling and I learned so much about "Texas Culture" this weekend.
The BBQ is a kick off for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. Literally every night for 3 weeks there is a rodeo and concert. We luckily live less than a mile from the stadium and the tickets are very affordable, so we are going to see Rascall Flatts and Black eyed peas over the next month. Should be fun!
I guess I can get back to blogging now the bachelor is over. I was so engrossed by this show this season. It was fun to text friends during the show and talk about it the next day at work. I must say, I love that I no longer have to study, so I can fill my life with pointless stuff like the bachelor. But really, wasn't it amazing in a sickening way?

why i never post

ok so here is why i never post: sometimes i feel like it is just a way to brag about how great a life is or how rockin your house, body, children, husband, etc is. So sometimes I feel I fall short of interesting, so then I do not blog. I also hate the social obligation and expectation. And trust me, I am not that interesting.

With that being said I would now like to brag about how great things are here in TEXAS. My 25th birthday was a couple weeks ago (don't worry if you didn't know, I am not that big on birthdays). I worked that day...and three different people at work made cakes. It was amazing. I ate cake for all three meals and felt very special that people at worked were concerned enough about me to make it a fun day. My family was also in town. My brother and his family drove from alabama and my parents flew from idaho. Houston was insanely hot when they arrived and my mom was dying and my dad was loving it. We fit 8 people into our one bedroom apartment, but had a great time. We also went to sea world on the best day ever. My nieces are so fun and it made being at sea world 10 times better.



with my two best friends/nieces

Sterling is INSANELY busy with school. He pulls more all nighters than I thought was humanly possible. But I have been learning to be more patient with projects and we spent last weekend watching movies and working on an architecture project.

I am enjoying 70 to 80 degree weather on a daily basis but miss wearing jackets and leaves changing color. I am really happy to be having this experience and I cannot believe what wonderful people you can find wherever you go. There is so many great things to see and do in Houston so if anyone needs solace from cold weather, please come visit. There is an air mattress in my dining room with your name(s) on it.
Well that's us. hope i didn't sound too braggy or make my life look too amazing. (HA HA HA).

Ya'll

Herman Park, Sea Turtle at the Beach, Downtown Picture of Ster and I...all courtesy of the iphone


Still don't understand why people use this term all the time. People make fun of me at work because they say I talk funny, but they use some words I have definately never heard of. I said pop today...and they all laughed so hard.
I am loving my job. I have walked into a perfect situation and I feel very lucky. The kids are incredible.
I just wanted ya'll to know that things are getting better and we are getting used to this new life...but still missing our old one.
Fun things we have done since arriving in TEXAS:
*went to an Astros game
*Went to the Beach
*Shopped at the Galleria
*Discovered some incredible food
*Gone car shopping...but no car purchase
*Discovered some great parks
*Enjoyed our new apartment, pool, and workout facility (kinda)
*Explored downtown

Well... that's us

Moving to Texas...ever heard of it?

Let's just say that moving was a doozy. I don't know how many of you care, but here is the story of the chaos that has taken place over the last week! Ster and I left Pocatello on Thursday around 3 pm. No crazy happenings this day. We stayed in laramie wyoming. The next day we left early and arrived in wichita kansas, again with no incident, although I worried about our belongings being stolen from the truck the whole time. Saturday we decided to take the day easy and toured oklahoma city a little bit. We had a blast here. They have a river walk, which was great and we had some delicious italian food right on the river. We then saw the Oklahoma City Memorial. This was truly very remarkable.
Our good friends now live in Waco and we decided to head down that direction and stay with them for the night rather than hoteling it again, and we love visiting them and their kids. I finally felt safe and was not worried about our stuff because they live in a neighborhood in a suburb of waco. Well...their neighbor came to the door Sunday morning and asked if the passat belonged to them because it was damaged. Oh yes, someone threw a full bottle of beer through the back window of the passat. The glass was shattered everywhere, and the car smelled wonderful. We could not get our car fixed that day so we decided to let it be, and get it fixed in the morning. On monday, we waited all day for the repair guy to come, and finally at 3pm he told us that the part had not arrived and he could not fix the car. I went into panic mode so we quickly packed up and left our friends' house and drove 3 hours to houston. Mind you...throughout this journey I was very emotional, which is unlike me. This incident did not help that.
We arrived in houston monday night, looked at some apartments from the outside and saw one on the inside. No luck, and the search continued all of tuesday as well. We were having a hard time deciding and no one apartment felt perfect. We saw a lot of one and two bedroom places. By tuesday night we knew we would not be able to return our truck on time and extended it another day. We looked for most of wednesday and stopped at a complex we hadn't seen before. They were running some specials and the apartments had a more modern feel to them. We decided on a one bedroom!!! Psychotic, but it was coming down to an emotional decision and they could get us in the next morning. So...we made the decision, compulsive, and totally unlike sterling. We don't know if it was a great decision, because we moved a three bedroom house into a 1 bedroom apartment.
Unpacking is slow but sure, and hopefully we can stand it here for a few months. The complex has a great gym and two nice pools. There are a lot of students at this complex which scares us a little, but so far it has been mellow. We hired a couple of guys to help us move which was great because I had been sick the night before and would not have been much help, and we moved in 100 degree weather. But...we moved in. And here we are...enjoying houston humidity and 90 degree days!! Yesterday we went to the beach, and saw a turtle, and survived an incredible lightening storm...things are looking up. Well, that's us

Whoo

So...i passed my national boards. It is a good feeling.
We are officially...hoping...to move in 2 weeks.
We still need to find an apartment.
I went to San Francisco and saw WICKED!
I went to dinner with some amazing friends.
We were released from our callings.
Time to move to Texas.

Houstonians

Can believe that is what they call themselves? I guess what else would you call yourself if you lived in houston texas? Houstites? That would be weird. But whatever you call them...we are soon to be one. I know crazy, i literally researched hurricanes for like 2 hours this morning. IKE was bad last year, but they have been pretty few and far between. I guess we will just have to make friends in Austin, and we already have friends in WACO...so hopefully we will survive the storms if they come. This is going to be a huge move for us, can't really say I am excited to move...but I am excited for adventure. We all need it right?