Stuff for the office

Here is a close-up of the carpet that is in Doug's office.
Here is a close-up of the laminate that will go on the reception desk in the front.
Here are the chairs that will go in the waiting area. We bought them unfinished, and Doug stained them this beautiful spiced walnut color. There will be six of them.
This is one of our large wall pieces (the other is the 6 1/2' x 8' photographic mural). It is from a company called Uttermost that specializes in wrought iron decorative pieces. If you can't tell what it is exactly, it is a series of branches. It looks strange in person, but it's absolutely gorgeous.
Here is the rug that will go in the waiting area. We picked it because it had those natural, tree-ish themes, and its colors are accents to the cream, green, and brown wall colors. It is 5'x7' (I think).

San Antonio temple

I have a new favorite temple! I love the San Antonio temple. It is about a two-hour drive away from us in Leander, and you have to make an appointment because it's a small temple, but it is well worth it. It is absolutely gorgeous inside.
The stained-glass widows are magnificent! Most of them depict scenes from the Texas Hill Country, and I could have stared for hours at the intricacies of color and shape in them.

San Gabriel River

We took another trip out to the river a few weeks ago. We weren't out for a long time (it was hot), but we had some fun letting the dogs run a little wild. The trees were green this time, which is vastly different from the last time we went in February!
Sherman loves the water! He always goes straight for it, and he is the one who likes to swim the most. He makes a point to walk through the water every chance he gets. And that's great because he's the hardest one to keep dry!
There were all these tiny little frogs, too!

Corpus Christi - Texas State Aquarium

One morning, we went to the Texas State Aquarium. It was a fun way to pass some time (especially because our innkeeper has a corporate pass that got us in for FREE), and we had a good time. Here are some of the highlights of the animals we saw there.Porcupine - huge! And, quills aside, very sweet-looking.

Some giant snake - I believe a python? Pretty gross.

The underside of some kind of ray when he swam up against the glass. There was also a touch pool where you could feel them as they swam by. Kinda slimy.

The dolphin show - more educational and showy, but very cute.

SEAHORSES!

Jellyfish - where you want to see them (enclosed in a glass case, not swimming next to you in the ocean).

We saw a very entertaining bird and wildlife show. The gal leading it was very funny, and it had a particularly funny part involving a child volunteer. She had someone come down who was "very brave", and then talked up the next animal like it had done some serious damage to the last volunteer. The kid, wearing big leather falconer gloves, goggle, and a construction helmet, was getting more and more worried the longer she talked. Finally, he threw done his gear and ran back to his seat. It was just a sloth! Very funny.

We saw right underneath the perch (precarious for Doug and the camera), and this hawk flew right above us!

Look at that! Two whales! :)

Corpus Christi - the sea

The first thing we did after checking in and getting some food was drive out to the water line. When you get there, the salty sea breeze just washes over you and assaults your nose, and you hear the water crashing against the edge of the port, and it's so relaxing. I love being near the water.We also went to the beach while we were there. Granted, this is not a nice, soft, white sands Florida beach, and there were rocks and dirty water and jellyfish, but it's not too bad. If you are craving the beach, and you live in Texas, it's a good place to go.

Corpus Christi trip - Blucher House

We took a little vacation to Corpus Christi last week. It was just our last little time to get away since I am leaving for my Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture three-week-long class tomorrow, and when I get back school will be starting and Doug's clinic will be about open. Corpus Christi, for those who don't know, is on the Gulf Coast, about a four-hour drive away from us. It was nice to take a long drive that we haven't already memorized (like the I-35 between Austin and Dallas).We stayed at this lovely bed and breakfast called The Blucher House. It is the restored home of an influential Corpus family, and each of the guest rooms are dedicated to one of the Blucher children. Our innkeeper was wonderful, and she served the most beautiful breakfasts we had seen in a long time! It is very affordable compared to most bed and breakfasts, but one of our favorites.

Mo-Mo, Memo, or Horsey

I've had some requests for more pictures of Cosmo (Doug calls him Mo mo and I tend to call him Memo. Why? I don't know.) Here he is! I think these pictures show off just how huge he is better than the other ones we have of him on the blog so far.
He really is very sweet and lovable. Just about everyone who has met him so far thinks he's the coolest dog.
He is definitely a daddy's boy, though.

Coming Along

Here are some pictures of how the office is coming along. The top ones are the latest pictures. This is of the frame for the drop ceiling that will hang over the reception and waiting area with some fancy lights.This shows the hallway and the two sides of rooms (starting behind the waiting/reception area and the PT bay). On the left are two treatment/exam rooms, a consultation room, and the Xray room in the back. On the right of the picture you see the kid's area and two treatment rooms (with the half walls separating them).
This is taken from the waiting room. You can see the PT bay on the left side before the full rooms start.
This is how it looked after the first couple days of construction - just some wall frames. As you can see from the other pictures, it is coming along really well! Plumbing and electricity are in now, but it doesn't look a lot different from the other pictures as far as structure is concerned.
So, it's pretty hard to understand what everything will look like from just pictures, because angles are weird and stuff. So, you'll all just have to come down and see it for yourself sometime! :)

Derek and the dogs

My brother, Derek, got home from the Baltimore, Maryland Spanish-speaking mission about a month ago. Here we are at the temple in Dallas. He is working at home for the summer, and then he will be back at BYU for the fall, continuing studying chemical engineering. Ladies, let me know if you want some contact info! :)
And what would a posting session be without including some pictures of the puppies?

Live Oak is (almost) alive!

Things are happening for the business! The sign got put up yesterday, doesn't it look fabulous! Doug is pretty happy about it.
This is the inside of the practice as it stands. Build-out should start any day because the permit has been pulled and materials have been ordered. Very exciting times!

End of School

Here are some pictures of my students from last year! Most of these were taken the day of the 8th grade awards assembly, so they are all dressed up. What little cuties! I sure am going to miss them. Next year I will be teaching 6th grade at Not Your Ordinary School charter school in north Austin. I am very excited for a new challenge, but I was very sad to leave Travis Middle School behind!

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