Photo Albums!

Check out more pictures from Anna's going away parties.

Check out pictures from Jess & Anna's road trip!

Anna's Going AWAY! Come wish her well ....

***Blogger is having problems with photos right now, so sorry for the all text posts. I guess they're working on it...***


Howdy y'all! You're invited to our PIONEER PARTY :

BARBER HOME IN NEWCASTLE
1430 Kentucky Greens Way

Sunday July 30th

LUNCH AT 1 p.m.

916-663-3518

We know this is late notice but we'd like to invite you to our home this coming Sunday afternoon for lunch – and to wish Anna well as she heads out on a great adventure!

As you know, our family is in the process of relocating to Austin. Our home is up for sale and Michael & Sharon plan to put theirs on the market this fall. Paul & Jess will make the move when it works out best with Paul's nursing schooling.

Anna recently decided to quit managing at Black Angus because the hours were just too long and she was tired of missing out on all the holidays and family get-togethers. After a couple of weeks off to rest she began thinking about a new job. She decided that it didn't make much sense to start a new job here when it was possible she would be moving to Austin in the next several months.

So she has decided to be adventurous and head on out to Texas on her own! She is going to load up as much as she can in her car and this coming Tuesday she will hit the road, with Jess along for help and companionship. They will make it to Austin in three days and then will find Anna a small apartment close to the University. She'll then begin looking for a job. Jess will fly home the following week, after having a chance to get acquainted with the area. By the way, Michael and Sharon just returned from spending a week there and they loved it! You can check out their comments and pictures at http://michaelandsharon.blogspot.com.

All this seems kind of sudden, but Anna wanted to get settled before college starts so she can get a jump on a job before all the students arrive back.

The get-together here will start around 1 p.m. – we'll eat by 1:30 . Bring a swimsuit if you'd like to swim, and lawn chairs if you'd like. (We sold most of our outdoor stuff at our yard sale!).

Please let us know if you can come by this Friday – July 28th so we'll know how much food to prepare.

Hoping you all can make it!! We know Anna would love to see everyone…

Dave & Karen

Status Report: Austin or BUST!

Well, we're home and readjusting to life in the California heat (ok, ok, Texas was hot too!) But we thought we'd give you an update on our trip.

Truthfully, it's by far more hot and miserable here right now. I think we hit a pretty good week out there, though. They're having more thunderstorms this week. That's what keeps it so green out there! The humidity was essentially not a factor for us, although that may change when we return in September.

All in all, we were very happy with our visit, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We hope ya'll have kept up with our blog.

We wanted to be sure to have an open mind, not force ourselves into any decision, just be relaxed and see how we felt. And we really had nothing but very positive feelings. There is enough about Austin that is so similar to Sacramento so as not to feel too far removed or displaced. But the differences make you appreciate it all the more. The location is spectacular, I can just really envision it being a wonderful place to raise a family - or retire! People in Texas are just plain nicer!

Here's a short list of the things we really liked:

• Music is everywhere - even during the day, even at the airport
• It is very green, no brown dusty fields. Many places almost feel coastal.
• We are half hour from Lake Travis - one of the most gorgeous lakes in the country
• We are one hour from Schlitterbahn - the #1 Water park in the country, with the #1 Water ride - the Master Blaster Rollercoaster/Waterslide (season pass for the kids anyone?)
• The natural springs are abundant
• There is never a lack of things to do - any day of the week, for any preference
• The average temperature is 68 degrees, with 300 days of sunshine each year
• They love dogs in Austin ;)
• The river is gorgeous and provides lots to do - hiking, swimming, floating, tubing, fishing, restaurants, etc...

There is far more about the city life that is attractive as well. It seems to be a great place to start a business, it is clean and has a great handle on the homeless situation. Austin consistently ranks one of the best places to live, for many reasons.

Ok, you say, it seems the Sacramento area has a lot of similar things to offer. Why get up and move everything to TEXAS!!! We've wondered the same thing. We're in our comfort zone here. It's all we've known. We love our house, but can you imagine living in a home that has no mortgage?! And one we get to build custom!!! There's no comparison, especially at our age. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us.

So, here's the long and short of it: Sure, we may be giving up some creature comforts of California in order to pursue this dream (not sure if anyone has mentioned this was really Michael's idea in the first place!) but the payoff is beyond worth it. Sure, we could technically make it in California, but we would not be living the life we dream of.

Simply put, Michael and I want more. We want more time, more money, more freedom, more opportunities, more music, more ministry, more family, more enjoyment of life. And, based on our experiences last week, and all of our research, Austin gives us this opportunity.

For all the things we want to accomplish in our lives, we feel like California is just not the place to make it happen. We don't want to work so hard and so much just to scrape by. In a very simplified way - it seems silly to stay in California, for us anyway. And, I have a feeling more people will begin to see this, a lot more people, and soon.

M & S are in Austin!

We are here checkin' things out. Making sure this is a place we think we can live. This is our second attempt to get out here. Our first one was canceled due to a sick puppy. In a way we are glad that it is in the middle of the hot/humid season because we wanted to get a good taste of what we were in for.

So far - It's great.

We went out to Elgin yesterday and walked the property with the video camera. It is beautiful and quiet - actually silent. The land is covered in trees and super green. It makes parts of Auburn look bad. We took a bunch of picture and video.

Check em out.

Michael

Morning driving around downtown

We spent the morning driving around downtown again, had breakfast and walked a bit. The weather is nice, not as hot as Sac, but humid - you get used to it very quickly.We're headed out to Elgin now ... we'll keep adding photos. :)

First Night in Austin

Well, we made it safe and sound. My back did ok for the trip - it helped that we had 3 stops along the way. It's 1 am here - we decided to check out the town right away, mostly because we were hungry. Downtown is AWESOME!! It's Tuesday and there are all kinds of people and live music all over. It's fabulous. The air is definitely humid, but not unpleasant. It really feels like Hawaii. There was a nice cool breeze as we sat outside and had burgers. Much more pictures to come tomorrow, time to call it a night!

M & S House Plan

Here's the plan we're most interested in. We'd take Bed #4 and extend it past the patio, making it the music room. The Fml Din becomes our new home office. Fun fun fun!