Austin #keepthehiggysweird

We spent just shy of 8 months in Austin from September 2014 to mid-April 2015. We have traveled to Austin so many times that it didn't really seem like we were away from home so I didn't feel the need to capture each moment in pictures and document it here. So here is my one Austin post with a brief overview of our time in Austin.

There were 2 main reasons Jon wanted to travel to Austin:  Rob & Jett

Jon was so excited to live in the same city as these two again. When he found our apartment he called me and said, "It's the perfect place to live because it is 5 minutes from Rob's house and 5 minutes from Jett's house."

I spent a lot of my time painting old furniture that I found at garage sales and estate sales. So many good sales in Austin. I spent most Saturdays with Rob going from garage sales to estate sales for several hours trying to find the best bargains in town.  I like to take pieces that are beat up and give them new life. Here are a few pictures of the pieces Jon and I completed in Austin:

Besides painting, I learned how to walk again in Austin. When we first moved there I could barely walk and was still wearing my boot with an open wound. By the time we left, I was almost running and had graduated from physical therapy. 

We also spent a lot of time eating. Amazing restaurants in Austin are basically on every block and specifically taco places. A couple of our favorites include: Taco Flats, Franklin's BBQ, Fork & Taco, Torchy's Taco, Terry Black's BBQ, Tyson's Taco, Via 313, Pinthouse Pizza, Kirby Lane, Cow Tipping Creamery, Tortilla Flats, Amy's Ice Cream, Curra's, and Chez Zee just to name a few. This list is a tiny sampling of the delicious places to eat in Austin.

We loved our time in Austin and were grateful to be close to home during this time especially since my mom was so sick from Oct- Feb.  It was nice to be able to go home and take care of her whenever  needed. This was a very brief overview of our time there, but we enjoyed it and we both miss it. #keepthehiggysweird

Late July Visitors 2014

This post is way late, but I decided to go ahead and finish it for my own sake. I like to look back at this blog to remember our time in each place. These were the last few visitors we had before we returned back to Texas with my injured leg and lots of medical bills. 

  

As you can see from the picture above, I was just a little excited to for my parents to come visit us. Thats a snap shot from the countdown I had going on my phone. 

Jon and I drove to LA to pick them up from the airport and spend the day and night at Manhattan Beach. There is a great restaurant called The Strand House with delicious food and amazing views of the ocean. The pictures below do not show the great view, but it made for a great meal with great company. 

The next day we returned to Santa Barbara via scenic HWY 1 along the coast line.  We made a pit stop in Oxnard at the Cowboys training camp and in Malibu at Duke's. We were able to have a Mai Tai at Duke's and then go watch the Cowboys scrimmage the Oakland Raiders and see Deion Sanders being interviewed by Dale Hanson.

I was lucky enough to have a beach day while they were in town. This is not the first time our family has had to use the beach wheelchair. Its great that they have them, but they are HARD to push and very uncomfortable. It was great to be so close to the ocean and get a little sun shine.

Here I was watching my parents go for a swim at the hotel pool after dinner at the Santa Barbara Shell Fish Company.  Little did I know how long it would be before I could swim again.

So grateful for such a wonderful visit to break up the last few weeks in Santa Barbara. 

My parents are awesome!!