The World of Brett and Alexis

Nothing Wrong with Silver

2009-08-26T14:25:00.000-06:00

A couple Sunday ago was my last scheduled triathlon of the summer. I may do one or two more, but as of right now, I have not committed to anything.

Sunday’s tri was not like any of the other ones I have done before. Instead of a road bike course, this was off road for mountain bikes. Instead of running on roads and other paved surfaces, I was trail running, more cross-country style.

Saturday Alexis, Ace and I headed out to the lake where the race was to be held to get in some open water swim practice and see what I would be up against the next day. The open water swim practice went well and I felt really prepared for the race the next day.

Sunday morning didn’t start quite like I wanted it to. I planned on getting up around 3:30, getting ready, having coffee and then leaving the house around 5:15. But I forgot to turn on my alarm and at about 4:30 I just happened to wake up. I was an hour behind schedule.

Despite the late start, we made it to the park with a little time to prepare for the race. This tri was a ¼ mile swim, 12 mile trail bike, and a 5k cross country style run. I asked Alexis to time me and let me know what my times were as I entered the transition area after each part. Just before the swim started she told me that one of the race officials said that fast riders would finish the bike portion in about an hour and the slow riders would take two hours. This was great info. I had been planning on taking about 50 minutes. I adjusted my plan in my head accordingly.

The swim was an Ironman type start. Meaning that everyone in your wave runs into the water at once and fights for position, kicks, grabs, and does whatever one needs to do to separate from the pack. The key is to stay away from the slow, non-confident swimmers. They are dangerous. They get in the way, they flail, and they stop for no apparent reason. Unless you are an elite swimmer, the middle is the best place to be. The elite swimmers swim away quickly and the slow swimmers are behind you. Middle of the pack is usually pretty safe since the skill levels are about even.
However, if you are in the middle you will more than likely catch up with the heat that went before yours. This is bad, now the slow swimmers from the previous heat are in full survival mode. They are out of gas (with 100 yards to go) and they will hold onto anything that their flailing limbs can get a hold of. This includes faster swimmers who have caught them, buoys, boats and pelicans.

After making it out of the water it was time to transition to the bike. Many racers overlook the transitions. But you can waste a lot of time in transition. I do not waste time, this is not the time to catch your breath. This is the time to quickly get out of the transition area. Here’s how the transition goes: Once you get to your bike, put on your cycling shoes, put on your glasses, buckle your helmet, take your bike of the rack and get the hell out of the transition area. Notice there is no mention of dry off, have some water, get the water out of your ear. That wastes time.

Thanks to Alexis’ advice I was prepares for a long slow ride. And that’s what I got. Usually on my road bike I average around 20 mph, on the mountain bike I was at about 12 mph. The tough part about mountain biking is that it is not a smooth motion like on a road bike. Its very jarring. You have to hold onto your bars with white knuckles or else be thrown to the ground. Some parts of the trail were sand. Sand is the nemesis of your tires. Sand is very good at grabbing your front or rear tire and not letting go. This means a fall for you. Which I did. But only once. There is a good side to sand; it is very soft to land on. It may have been my most comfortable fall ever.

While I was blazing through the transition after the bike, Alexis told me about how long I had spent on the bike. I had done well. Now all I needed to do was run 3.1 miles on the same trail I just got off of. I was covered in dirt and mud from the dust and from the fall I took, but I looked like a bad-ass. The run was an out-and-back run, meaning I was able to keep track of how many people were on their way back in, and then gauge about how many people were in front of me; and there weren’t many. I managed to pass two of the guys in my age group on the run. Everyone has their age written in thick, black permanent marker on the back of their right calf. Things were going well, no one was passing me, I was doing the passing!
But then disaster…my belly decided it needed to throw up. I had to stop, grab a tree and hurl. I didn’t have much to hurl though, just a little water and some bile. But two people did pass me while I was doing this, however they were not from my age group so I didn’t mind. After a brief time-out, I was back to running. I didn’t have far to go, but I felt much better.

I crossed the finish line and was greeted by Alexis. She is always a sight for sore eyes and always has a cup of water waiting for me at the finish line.

Unofficial results are posted about every 15 minutes after a few racers make it back in. When I finished I noticed that there were not too many people who had finished. After a little while, they posted the first batch of results. I had finished 29th! Alexis asked me how I did in my age group, but I didn’t check. She went to check and as it turns out, I finished 2nd among 25-29 year olds! Not too bad, there’s nothing wrong with silver!

It wasn’t my fastest race, and maybe since it was off road aspect made it my most challenging race.

Here are my times:
400M Swim: 8:37
T1 (this is how long it took me to switch from swim to bike, this was fastest for my age group): 1:35
20K Bike: 1:01:17, 12.1 MPH Avg.
T2 (this is how long it took to go from bike to run): .42
5k Run: 23:47, 7:37/mile

For a total time of 1:36.00

July 2009

2009-07-10T08:34:00.004-06:00

2009 is half way over. It seemed to have just flown by. If I had to give this year a grade, I would probably go with a B+ or and A-. Its been pretty good so far.

I noticed that the last blog was pretty old and the ones before that seemed to be about the same damn thing over and over; so how about a real update?

Alexis is off for the summer and she has started several painting projects. Including painting our upstairs guest bedroom furniture and the room up there as well. I don’t know when she will have the room finished, but the furniture looks pretty good. She is, for the most part, having a nice, relaxing summer and spending lots of time out by our pool with her friends.

I am absolutely swamped at work. The higher oil prices have people excited around the office and money for projects has loosened up. I’m sure you don’t care for the higher oil prices, but it’s job security for me. I have been up to North Dakota for business once last month and it looks like I will head back up there probably twice more this month. ND in the summer is much better than ND in the winter!

August 23rd Alexis and I are running in a half marathon. It’s like a marathon, but half as long; only 13.1 miles. Training is going…ok I guess, we both could be doing more. But its just running, in the heat, far…what do we need to train for?

As some of you may be aware, we have had a house guest, aka a roommate since about March. Waffles (that’s the guy’s name) is a good friend of ours and was a quasi victim of the poor economy…
Well he has been with us for a while now and all parties involved have decided that it is time for him to make other living arrangements. We are all on great terms, but it is time for him to move on, literally. Alexis and I are thrilled that we had the space and were able to help him when he needed it. Maybe one day he will thank us in the form of a Corvette or something really awesome along those lines.

Ace and Steve still dogs. Steve has grown into regular bulldog, and he weighs about 60 pounds. He is solid. Ace has his moments too.

Speaking of pounds. Check out the fat guy in this picture:
That’s me a year and a half ago. I didn’t miss many meals. I weighed about 230ish.

Now check out this guy:

That’s me at about 185. Much smaller. I weigh less now than I did as a sophomore in high school! I have defined muscles again in my chest, arms, abs, and legs!

When I tell people I have lost about 45 pounds since January of ’08 they always ask me how I did it. Are you thinking the same thing? I’ll tell you.

I eat less, and I exercise all the time. Sure I have my moments when I can eat a whole pizza or a small cow. But mostly I eat sandwiches for lunch, and Alexis and I have really changed how we prepare meals in the evening. We cook smaller, healthier portions. Also, instead of going out to eat at lunch with my co-workers, I hit the gym. Everyday. For example, yesterday I ran 4 miles at lunch and had a turkey sandwich at my desk afterwards. And that is pretty typical. Training for all those triathlons didn’t hurt either. It’s also not unusual for me to cycle, run or swim in the evenings too. I probably do ‘two-a-days’ about 2-3 days per week.

We don’t have any major trips or vacations planned for the summer. Usually a weekend getaway is enough to recharge our batteries. Hopefully one of those getaways will take us to your neck of the woods. Hope you enjoyed the update!

Triathlon Season Update

2009-03-13T07:44:00.000-06:00

The second race of the season is in the books. Two weekends ago Alexis and I ventured down to Houston for the Take a Hike Ike! Triathlon. As it turned out, we went to Houston for one of their coldest weekends of the winter. This tri was supposed to be a 500 meter swim in Lake Houston, an 11 mile bike and a 5k run. I was advised earlier in the week that the water would be cold so I rented a wet suit.

On Saturday, Sonny, my dad, and I piled in the car and set out to find the race course and pick up the race packet. When we finally got to the park where the race was too be held, we were greeted with temperatures in the 40s and 20 mph winds. The lake was very choppy. you could be safe to say that the lake had 2-3 foot swells. These conditions were a far cry from the 85 degree pool at Gold’s Gym where I had been training.

Alexis and I woke up early on Sunday to head out to the lake. The weather was cold and I was less than excited to be racing that morning. But we drove all the way from Dallas and a few people were taking time out of their day to come and watch. I had to go.

We arrived to more of the same, temps in the 30s, 20mph winds and a very choppy lake. As I was at one of the pavilions finishing up my registration, one of the race officials came by and said that the swim portion of the race was cancelled due to unsafe (and cold) conditions. This was great news. Instead of the swim they inserted another 5k run. This meant I had to run 6.2 miles that morning. I had never run that far before, I had only done about 5 miles, and that was not recently. But I was too excited about not having to swim to care about how far I had to run.

Shortly before the race began, my parents arrived and then right before the race began Alexis’ parents arrived. I spent very little time stretching and warming up. There was no point, it was too cold.

They decided to start everyone at one time instead of in waves like they had originally planned for in the swim. So everyone lined up and started in one giant pack. But that was not the case for very long. After a mile or two, it started to thin out as people slowed down and paced themselves. The first 5k I finished in about 26 minutes. After a quick transition I was off to the cycling portion. I had the wind at my back and it felt good to be off of my feet. The ride was very scenic and wooded. But it went by quick since it was only 11 miles. Then it was back to the run. By this time, my legs were pretty heavy. By the way, it was still very cold. My pace was a little slower, but not by much, the second 5k took about 27 minutes.

Overall I finished 43rd out of 156. For my age group I finished 6th out of 12. I feel like I did a pretty good job, and I am glad that they changed it to run, bike, run.

The next event is a ride with my company cycling club up in Sulphur Springs on the 21st. Then a fun run the next weekend, I am actually considering the 10K, not the 5k! And the weekend after that it is off to Galveston for another tri.

Heading Down to Houston

2009-02-27T08:13:00.002-06:00

Today Alexis and I are loading up the hounds and heading down to Houston for my first triathlon of the season. I am taking a half day off to pack up, get in one last run, and make sure we take everything we need for the race on Sunday.

Yesterday, I rented a wet suit. I had never tried one on before so it was a new experience. When I got home, I put it back on to show Alexis, and I wore it for about ten minutes. That ten minute span was enough for me to sweat in it a little and it was tough tough tough to get off. It will be interesting to see how it comes off after swimming 500 meters on Sunday.

My plan for today is to leave work at lunch time, pack the car, then run a couple (2-3) miles, then double check what I packed and make sure I have everything I need for the race.

Talk to you after the race!

Run, Bike, Run

2009-02-25T08:37:00.000-06:00

My first race of the season has come and gone. Here is a rundown of what happened.

My day started bright and early around 5 am. We needed to leave around 6:15 to get to the race with plenty of time to spare. Our thermometer said the air temperature was 35 degrees. That is about 35 degrees colder than I like to ride in. Oh well, I was committed; I pleaded with Alexis but she would not let me back out due to the cold..

Alexis and I loaded up and headed north of Fort Worth to Texas Motor Speedway (TMS).

For those of you who are not familiar with TMS it is our local NASCAR track. It holds over 100,000+ fans and hosts two NASCAR races per year. The track is about 2.5 miles around.

We arrived and we were instructed to go through a tunnel that lead to the infield of the track, this was very cool. When we emerged from the tunnel the super structure of TMS greeted us. It was very impressive. After getting our bearings we parked and headed over to the transition area (the area where the racers go when they transition from one leg of the race to another). The current temp was still in the 30’s. Very cold. Alexis and I were both dressed in layers, but my layers were only temporary. I only had a cotton t-shirt under my racing jersey and nothing over or under my cycling shorts. I was thinking that I would be very cold.

I tried to do some light stretching and some light jogging to warm up, but what I really needed to warm-up was the shot of adrenalin that comes from the starting gun.

My heat was first, men 19-39. We had to listen to a pre-race meeting and some final course instructions, I should have been stretching and getting ready. As soon as the meeting was over we were told to line up for the start. I quickly went to my spot in the transition area to take off my warm-up clothes, that’s when the gun sounded. Oops! I wasn’t close to the starting line. I threw off the rest of my warm-ups and ran to catch up. I am sure I looked stupid.

With the race underway, I started to pass some of the slower runners. The cold was not bothering me at all. We had to do two loops around a track inside of the main NASCAR track. Each loop was about 1 mile. When my two laps were finished and I was running into the transition area, I saw the official time was just over 15 minutes. I had just run two miles at about a 7:40 pace, very strong for me.

In the transition area, I took off my running shoes and beanie. I put on my cycling shoes and helmet and I was out of the transition area in a minute, thirty. The cycling portion was about 16 miles. There is a loop around the outside of TMS called Victory Circle, we had to do it three times. I started out at about 21 mph for about 3 miles, then I realized I needed to slow down so I would have something left at the end. I tried to keep my speed around 18 mph. That was fast enough, but I wasn’t over-working myself. After about 3 miles, I cooled down from the two miles I had just run. That’s when the cold started to set in. By the end of the bike portion, my fingers were numb and I could not feel my toes either. As I approached the transition area at the end of the bike portion I saw Alexis run to the front of the group of spectators. She cheered and snapped some pictures of me as I rode by.

I entered the transition area, I was cold, tired and still had to run two more miles. My numb toes made the first ¾ of a mile difficult. I felt like I was barely moving, but no one was passing me, so I could not have been doing that bad. This two miles seemed longer than the first two. I was getting tired. But with about a half mile to go, I decided I would pass a couple of guys who seemed to be out of gas. I kicked into a higher gear to finish the race. I was not about 75 yards from the finish line and I could see the official time, I was at about an hour and twenty five minutes. When I saw that I was relieved, my goal was to finish in less than an hour and a half. And I did.

My second two miles were faster than my first two at about 7.30 per mile. I averaged 18.4 mph on the bike. I came in 147 overall and 7 in my class (out of 17). Including men, women and children there were 350 racers, so I finished in the top half. My official time was 1 hour, twenty five minutes and some seconds. I barely beat the entire field average.

This was a good warm-up for my first triathlon of the season this coming weekend. Recent readings of the lake temperature have been around 60 degrees. This week’s tri will be a 500 meter swim, 11 mile bike and 5k run.

Run, Bike, Swim

2009-02-16T10:51:00.001-06:00

Swim, Bike, Run. Sounds easy enough. Especially when you do each one by itself. Who doesn’t enjoy piddling around in the pool (swim)? And everyone enjoys a nice ride around the block on their bike (bike). And who doesn’t like chase their dog at the park (run)? Like I said, when each is done separately, it’s relatively easy and paints a picture of a sunny weekend afternoon.

But what if all three are put together and not done in leisurely activities as described above? Then you have a triathlon! By this I mean swim a quarter mile, ride for 15 miles and then run about 3 miles.

I’ve done this before, and so has Diana and Daryl for that matter, but I was in college at the time. Things have changed since then. But Late 2008 I decided that triathlons were something that I wanted to get into again so I started running, biking and swimming.

Rewind to about this same time last year. I was at the doctor’s office for a cold or something and I weighed about 235. Not great. Over the course of the year I lost about 25-30 pounds of that. When I decided to start training I was between 205 and 210. Much better. This year alone, I have gotten down to somewhere between 205 and 200. When I finished college I was at about 205.

Training for me is almost an everyday occurrence. 4 days a week I go to the gym at lunch to work out or run. The remaining day I attend a Bible study, otherwise I would go 5 days per week. Most weekday evenings I will run again, take a spin class, swim, or go for a ride. I would say 3 days a week I do two-a-days and about 6 days a week I work out at least once.

When February rolled around, I decided to cut way back on the two vices that were holding me back. Pizza and beer. Why February? Because on March 1 I will be doing my first tri of the season down in Houston. I wanted to make sure I gave myself the best chance I could to get into even better shape. In fact, next weekend (Feb 22) I am doing a duathlon at Texas Motor Speedway which is a run, bike, run. Run 2, ride 15, run 2 more. That should pretty much have me ready for the tri the following weekend. The weekend after the tri, I will run a 4.5 mile leg of an 18 mile relay with a group from work. Then April 4 it is back to triathlons for another one at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

I will keep you posted on my progress as I prepare for the events. On Friday I will post a quick update of my activities for the week in preparation for this weekend's big race.

Brett Joins the Blue Angels

2009-02-10T09:02:00.001-06:00

One thing I am always willing to do is to learn how to do something new. Whether it is how to play guitar, how to install things around the house or even something useless like how to play Rock Band, I am always up to learn something new. Because let’s face it, there is a lot that I don’t know. I don’t even know what I don’t know. You know?

In an effort to continue to learn new stuff I have set my sites on mastering the skies. I have started taking flying lessons. Alexis made reference to this endeavor in her Super Bowl blog. So here is the story of my first flight with an instructor.

There is a small, mostly corporate, airport near out house. Lear jets for corporate big-wigs fly in and out of this airport (Addison) as well as weekend warriors and small plane owners. For a small airport, it is one of the busiest in the country. Alexis and I always hear small aircraft buzzing around overhead.

I got there early Sunday morning, around 7 am. This was to be my first flight in a Cessna 172. The main purpose of this flight was not necessarily to teach, but to get the student hooked so the flight school could suck you in and keep taking your money. I’m guessing by the looks of their large and new fleet of planes that they were good at getting you hooked. The flight plan for the day was simple; I was to do all of the flying. That may not sound too bad if you have lots of experience flying, but my flying experience is limited to seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked positions.

The instructor readied the plane to taxiing and we climbed in. You are wondering if I am going to tell you about his instructions or lessons before we got in, well there were pretty much none. We get in and he stats the propeller. Then he tells me it is my job to taxi out to the run way, but he would talk to the tower for us. He tells me not to touch the yoke (steering wheel) but to use the pedals on the floor to steer the plane, so I do. As we approach the runway he gives me some last minute advice on how quickly to climb and at what speed to pull back on the yoke to lift us off. With no time to argue, or tell him he was an idiot for letting someone he just met fly, we started to build speed and charge down the runway. Once we hit 55 knots, I started to pull up; and then started to fly!!! We took off and headed east.

We had to stay below a certain altitude due to DFW airport being about 20 miles away. We climbed to 2000 feet. Everything looked familiar so at least I would have known what I was crashing into. But there was no crashing to be done today. As we flew he then took the time to explain what the instruments were that were in front of me; how to use them and what they did. Good things to know. We climbed to about 3000 feet and we were then out of DFW’s range so we were free to do whatever. We flew over some local lakes and continued to climb. We got up to about 5000 feet, which I did all by myself, he was just sitting in the seat next to me. It was very nice and much easier than I thought it would be.

The flying part seemed to be easy. The instructor suggested we try gliding. I didn’t really know what he meant until he idled the plane, which basically shut off the propeller and we started to glide. Gliding seems like a peaceful and relaxing task. No. Not for rookies. It’s terrifying. With the propeller not propelling the plane anymore we start fall. He is relaxed in his delivery of instructions, but there was quite a bit of urgency in my execution of his instructions. The feeling of a freefall in an airplane is not that pleasant. However, with his calm instructions I was able to make the plane glide, instead of fall. We were even able to climb and descend as we wanted to. While I was able to control the plane, I was still terrified and not at ease until he got the propeller cranked up again. I guess the scariest part was not knowing how to get the propeller going again incase he suddenly died. Gliding and landing on my first flight were definitely not things I could master in case of such an emergency. But I got through that unscathed and I deffinately learned from it.

After the gliding we continued to fly. We climbed back up and had a smooth uneventful return to Addison.

For the landing, he gave me instructions on where to go and how to approach the runway. I did all of the descent into the airport. Under power, descending is not bad at all. I lined up the plane for our final descent and got us to about 100 feet above the ground. Then, in the interest of both our lives, he took over and landed to plane smoothly; thanks of course, to my magnificent approach.

It was a great flight and it is something that I will for sure pursue, hopefully! A pilots license can take over a year to get, or as little as 6 months. I will probably be closer to a year since I can’t fly all the time (it’s expensive). It will take a while, but as long as I keep it on my mind, keep up with the studying, and do well when I actually do fly it is something that I will be able to do for years to come.

Super Bowl

2009-02-01T22:29:00.022-06:00

First of all, congratulations to the Steelers!!
Brett started the day off by flying a plane...he can tell you about the experience later. I baked a dark chocolate fudge cake, hid it in the laundry room to cool and went to run some errands. Brett was gone for 20 minutes and came back inside to this...

Yes, that is a half eaten cake courtesy of Ace. When he called and told me the news, I thought he was joking. Here is a description of the cake, "The irresistible chocolate aroma permeates throughout the house." Ace proved that it was indeed irresistible. I ended up making another cake and watching Ace very closely. Brett made chili and something called bacon explosion. I call it heart attack in a roll. We had 7-layer dip, Chris-kabobs, salsa, deviled eggs, puppy chow, sopapilla cheesecake, cake balls and my football field cake. Everything was amazingly delicious!!

Here is everyone watching the 3D halftime show.

Just having fun!

Meagan playing pool upstairs.

Josh playing darts. I hope he didn't miss the target!

Meagan and Emily

Casey and James

PICTURES!!

2009-01-31T19:58:00.005-06:00

We finally have pictures of our house!! They are pictures we took during Christmas, so realize that we do not have the same decorations.

This is the front of our house. We have taken off the white glass door and painted the door the same color as our fireplace. We will be landscaping this spring!

This is our backyard. There is a covered area with two fans and we added the lights
around the top. The window leads to the kitchen. Beyond the patio is grass. As you can
see towards the bottom, there is a hot tub and pool.

There are more pictures in picasa. We just got new carpet upstairs...to go with our pool table.
Click on the link to the right!!

W

2009-01-27T16:21:00.001-06:00

Time to stop down from getting you caught up and let you in on something that just happened.

Usually at lunch I go to the gym for a nice mid-day work out followed by a quick sandwich at my desk when I return. Today was going to be different. I had a Bible study that I was going to join in instead so I brought no work out clothes. The guy who was supposed to come in and lead the Bible study canceled. So I was left to my own devices for lunch. Luckily one of my co-workers came by and asked me if I wanted to have lunch upstairs. I agreed and at 11:30 we made our way up to the company cafeteria.

We got our food and sat down at a table. About 15 minutes of uneventful lunch went by. Then a commotion began behind me where you enter the cafeteria. I turned around and there was Laura Bush. Then after further gazing into the crowd of co-workers I saw George W. Bush!

Now, all political opinions aside, if you ever have the chance to see the President in person, let alone speak to him and shake his hand, just about any red blooded American would jump at the opportunity. Red blooded American = Brett

He made his way into the common eating area, stopping at each table to shake each lunch-goer’s hand and greet him or her with a brief word. It was pretty cool to see him do that for everyone. Then he headed over to me and my co-worker. He shook our hands and we introduced ourselves.

Greeting everyone in the room seemed like second nature to him. There was nothing awkward about him at all. As he made his rounds more and more employees kept showing up as they became aware that he was here. He gladly greeted each of them as well.

It was a very cool experience. An experience that probably will not present itself too often in my life, so I was glad I was able to meet him.

Keeping the Momentum Going!

2009-01-22T09:19:00.002-06:00

Now that there is blood flowing through this blog again let’s keep it flowing with another update. One thing that you might want more of is pictures. We have them, but I don’t know if we can get them posted. The computer we do that from is suffering from a nasty virus and I don’t think Alexis’ school laptop is set up for us to do picture stuff. Why don’t I use the computer I am on now to upload the pictures you ask? Because I am at work. Time well spent.

The reason I bring up pictures is because I am going to chat about our new house. The pictures would be very useful in a before and after context. But instead you will have to use your imagination in concert with my description.

A little background info. Alexis and I had been looking to buy a house around this time last year, but since I had been self-employed I needed to have two years of that history, which would be around now. But when I was hired in August we went into high gear for finding a house. We were ahead of the game in that we already knew what part of town and even what neighborhood we wanted to live in so we were quickly able to narrow our search and get serious. We looked at several houses. Two of which we really liked and went so far as to make offers on them. But we were a day too late in both cases. This taught us to move faster. We knew what we wanted and how much we could afford, so if we liked something we knew we could respond quickly.

Quickly. One weekend, during our house hunting, Alexis had to go out of town. I had one house that we were supposed to look at, so I went solo. I loved it. It was everything we wanted; updated, well kept, pool, hot tub, sprinkler system, game room, the whole nine. Only problem was Alexis had not seen it. Another problem was that I thought the house was priced really low for what we were getting. We had to act quickly, I did not want to be a day late on this house. So I made an offer that day. Ballsy I know…

The whole time I was in contact with Alexis, so she knew what I was doing, but she had not seen it for herself. I started with a low-ball offer. It was rejected. I considered that the house was priced to sell, and certainly would in this neighborhood, so I met their asking price. By the time they accepted our offer, Alexis had returned and had a chance to tour the house, she liked it too. My gamble paid off; luckily.

It was a fun time during the whole process. The house was vacant so we could go whenever we wanted. We were present for the inspection, and besides a dirty pool, the inspector only found small things; nothing major. A relief for both of us.

In the days approaching our closing and move in date, we brainstormed about all of the things that we wanted to do. Painting, carpet, landscaping, furnishing the game room, and generally making the house our own.

As for acting fast, we learned during the days leading up to close, that if things fell through, the sellers had a back-up offer in hand and had received a couple other offers on the house. Who knows, if we had not acted as quickly as we did, we probably would not have gotten the house.

The description will be posted later...

It Has Been a While!!

2009-01-21T09:38:00.002-06:00

May 5, 2008 was the last time that I put up a blog. After reading it recently I realized how half-ass it was so I thought for 2009, I would try and redeem myself as a novice blogger. I suppose that I lost interest in this for a while, or maybe I got really busy, or maybe I just forgot to keep it up. To tell the truth, it is probably a combination of all of those things. Maybe Alexis and I are just not that interesting…no, that’s not it!

Also, when I recently looked at my blog, I saw that I had been tagged by Jessie, which I will get to, but probably not today. So Jessie, I will respond to your tag, soon.

Let’s get you caught up with our world.

Alexis completed her first full year as a kindergarten teacher at Northwood Hills Elementary. She liked it so much that she decided now would not be a good time to retire and that she should keep teaching. This year’s class does not seem to be as well behaved as last year’s class. I think this year’s class is 20 boys and 2 girls. OK I am exaggerating, but not by much. The boys tend to group together and act like 5 year olds.

She has a repeat from her class last year, who was not ready for Kindergarten so he was sent down to pre-K. Evidently is grandmother did not wish hard enough for him to get smart (she once told Alexis that for her other grandson, she wished and wished and wished that he would become well behaved, and he did. She thought she would wish and wish and wish for Alexis’ current student to get smart.) Thus far the grandmother’s plan has not worked. Who knows, the Smart Fairy could still make a visit.
*The previous paragraph was not written or approved by Alexis*

Alexis is also not working the long hours that she did her first year and even the first part of this second year. It’s pretty nice, she leaves after me and gets home before me.

As for my job, it has changed a little. I was a contractor at an oil company based in Dallas run by some guy named Ray, and in August I was hired as a full time Landman. Finally, after over a year of being “self employed” I had benefits, company paid health insurance, 401(k), opportunities for raises and bonuses and promotions. All the things some people might take for granted if you work in a corporate setting. I have been responsible for land activities in North Dakota where our target formation is the Bakken Shale. Things were really great at $140 oil, but things aren’t as great at $40 oil. But all things aside, it’s nice to have some job security for once.

The only complaint I have is that our dress code is formal business attire. That means suits, jackets, and ties. What is this, the ‘20s? Oh well, I still sport the crazy hair though!

There are many more things to cover including Ace and Steve, our new house, Texas Tech football, and other current endeavors. But for now, I have neglected my job for long enough. I need to get back to work and try to figure out how to get the price of oil back up!

Shiny New Bicycles

2008-05-05T15:03:00.001-06:00

This weekend Alexis and I bought some new bikes. She mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to ride bikes, but she did not have one to ride. We looked at several different bike shops around town and she had a couple that she liked but one in particular. She bought a Cannondale step-over frame, hybrid style bike. It fits her very well. It is black and silver. It does not have an orange flag, basket, or handlebar tassels.

Because I have a road bike, I figured this would be a good time to get a new mountain bike; since riding around the neighborhood on a road bike isn’t very comfortable. So we bought a mountain bike for me as well. It is an entry level Giant mountain bike.

So far we have enjoyed a couple of rides together. Last night we went on one for over an hour. We rode the Katy Trail which is a paved trail that connects the SMU area where we live to American Airlines Center (where the Mavs and Stars play). The trail runs through the heart of Uptown and is very busy with joggers and other bikers in the evenings. We had a really good time and at the end of the ride we were both pretty tired. At the start of the ride, we both felt like little kids, I guess we got over it.

Its just one more thing that the two of us can do together outside when the weather is good.

And no, we have not stopped the blog.

More to follow.

Family News

2008-04-12T13:14:00.002-06:00

Alexis and I are about to be an aunt and uncle again. My sister and her husband are expecting their second child. The last kid they had, they did not reveal the sex of the kid. I thought that was dumb, in fact no one liked that little game they played. This time around they have revealed the sex of the new kid. I do not know how many people they have told, but the four or five people who read this are about to know too: they are going to have a boy. I have also been entrusted with some other secret information involving naming. I know the name, and since I did not appreciate being left out in the dark last time around, I am going to make sure everyone else knows too. There should not be secrets between family members. So here is the name of the new boy baby that will arrive some time in August: Brandon Lucas Tripp. You are welcome.

You can get to thier blog by clicking on www.dtripp.com be sure that you leave them a congrats on the baby and picking a name. Tell them I sent you.

DAPL

2008-04-09T20:25:00.003-06:00

As a Landman in the Dallas area, I am a member of Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen (DAPL). This organization is made up of Landmen from all around the city and from all different companies. I like it and I try to stay pretty active in it. I actually got he job I have now through someone I met at a DAPL golf tournement. DAPL hosts social gatherings, casual meetings, parties, and a formal meeting. Its mostly a bunch of guys who network and walk around thinking we are more important than we actually are. Its good times, I enjoy it.

Well tonight was the formal DAPL meeting at the Dallas Petroleum Club. To be member of the Petroleum Club you have to be invited and its made up of Dallas' most elite Oilmen; I am not a member of that. But they allow different organizations to use thier nice facility on the 39th floor of Chase Tower, so that's where we were tonight. There were several of my co-workers at the event which included cocktails, dinner, and a speaker. The speaker tonight was the man who owns the company I work for and that bears his name.

The speaker is one of the richest men in America. And since Alexis and I were seated at a table made up of his employees we had the privilidge of meeting him. It was pretty cool. If you click on this link http://www.dapl.org/ then it will give you a hint of who I am talking about and where I work. (last time I posted the name of my company once and I was told by the company to remove thier name from my blog). We had a really good time, well I did, Alexis got bored at times. But she enjoyed meeting my co-workers and I was sure glad she came with me.

New Pictures

2008-03-30T20:41:00.002-06:00

We have finally posted some pictures. Some are from Easter, which we sent in Friendswood; it was lovely. So look at the pictures. Steve is in most of them. Enjoy

Upcoming

2008-03-18T09:26:00.001-06:00

For those of you who tried to guess how much Steve weighed at his last vet visit if you guessed 16 pounds, you were right. Thanks for playing.

As some of you may remember, and if you don’t remember just read the blog about the cruise, we met some really cool people on the cruise that we hung out with a lot. Well a couple of weekends ago they came up for a weekend visit. They came up Friday and left Sunday, it was a good visit. We caught a Stars hockey game with them Saturday night. Our seats were really good. We had a really good time and we think they did too. It was probably the first time we really got to hang out with married people, usually we are stuck with my friends from college.

This week Alexis is in San Antonio to visit her friend Jayne, and I will be left to my own devices holding down the fort.

For those of you who are interested in our Easter plans, keep reading. The Thursday before we will pack up the heard of dogs we have a drive to Friendswood. Alexis’ grandparents will also be there. We have not seen them since we got married. We will be spending the majority of time with her family, but will be staying with my parents. That weekend Daryl and Diana will also be staying with my parents and they too will have their dog. Also, my parents are dog-sitting for a friend. So if you do some quick math you will conclude that there will five dogs at my parent’s house. It will resemble a zoo when they are all there. It should be a good weekend.

We Are Still Here

2008-03-07T15:16:00.001-06:00

Wow its been a while, huh? Sorry it has taken this long, but we have been pretty busy lately.

Since I have missed about 1/6 of the year, I will re-start updating this on a fairly-regular basis. So know this: My new job is going great, Alexis is doing fine, Steve keeps getting bigger and Ace is…Ace.

Like I said I will try to keep this more up to date in the future. We will hopefully put some pictures up of our recent activities. I hope all is well with whoever is reading this, if anyone still does.

More to follow…soon!

New Pictures Are Up

2008-01-23T10:26:00.000-06:00

Alexis and I have finally delivered on putting up new pictures. Click on the link over on the right side of the page and check them out. You will find some Christmas, Cruise and Steve-O pictures.

New Job

2008-01-18T09:24:00.000-06:00

Almost a year ago, I left EnCana for the opportunity to become an in-house Landman. The job that I took right after EnCana, wasn't quite what I wanted, but it paid well and I got some great field experience. Ever since I left EnCana, I have had my eye on any opportunity to move in-house. About three months ago, I met an employee of a large independent oil company, he asked if anyone was interested in working for his company. I said yes and we talked for a little while (as it turns out, he is a Red Raider as well). I sent him my resume the next day. He got back to me quickly, but informed me that they did not have anything for me at that time but he would keep my resume on file. Well I thought I would never hear back from that company again.

One Friday evening about two months later, I got a call from someone else in that company. He told me where he got my resume and that he would like to interview me for an open position. I gladly accepted the invitation for the interview. The interview went really well and I was invited back about a week later for a second interview and to meet the VP of Land. This interview went really well and I was introduced to some of the people around the office and shown where my office would be if I were hired. This was shortly before the Christmas holiday season.

After I got back from the cruise I called them, and about a week and a half later, they called me and offered me the job! I have accepted it, and on January 28, 2008 I will start there. Accepting this job means that I have reached my goal of becoming an in-house Landman in less than a year after leaving EnCana. If I would have stayed at EnCana, the time frame that they gave me was 4-5 years to become an in-house Landman. My gamble paid off.

I will be responsible for running a crew of Landmen in a very northern state. This company drills almost exclusively for oil, not natural gas like the other companies I have worked for. My new office will be in Downtown Dallas, about 6 miles from my house. I will no longer have to drive 125 miles round trip to get to and from work. I am being brought on as a contractor, but their plan is to make me a full time employee as soon as they get the OK to fill a full time position. Once they do get the OK to fill it, it will be mine. It is a great opportunity for me. I will be able to work with other companies on deals, I will work with geologist and drilling engineers and I will have people in another state who report to me.

Enough already...what's the name of the company? Well I cannot tell you, at least not in this medium. The company is very concerned about keeping their business private. They do not want me posting their name on the internet and that is also why I have left the region of the country I will be working vague.

Alexis and I are thrilled about the new job. It is all-around better than the job that I have now.

Off and Running

2008-01-07T10:28:00.000-06:00

2008 is here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Did anyone see the Gator Bowl...Tech won.

The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for Alexis and me. As many of you know, Alexis and I opted for a cruise over the Christmas break. It was an 8 day cruise with stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We had a pretty good time and really enjoyed the hot weather.

The ship was pretty new, about 5 years old. There were lots of families on the ship, but not too many little kids, and the boat was full. Even though all of the rooms were full, you never felt cramped, and I often wondered where everybody was. Our room had a window, that was a great surprise since I didn't think that we were going to have one.

Our first stop was in Jamaica. We planned an excursion to go on a jungle tour that included zip cords. The zip cords were great fun. They ranged from 150 feet to over 1000 feet long. Some were tree to tree, mountain to tree, and the last one (the 1000 footer) was from one mountain to another mountain as you crossed a river beneath you. We had a lot of fun doing that. The rest of Jamaica was not good. It's not really a nice place. Razor wire around the resorts doesn't say 'vacation here!' to me. Oh well, we were only there for a few hours anyway.

The next stop was in Grand Cayman. It was much nicer than Jamaica, which isn't saying a whole lot. We went parasailing that morning. Alexis loved it, I was terrified. Later that day we found a private beach and put that to good use. While on that beach we thought that it would be really cool to go to one destination and just relax and get to know the area a little bit. No more of 8 hours here then there for us.

The last stop was in Cozumel, which brings me to the best part of our cruse. We met these really nice people, and it was just the two of them. We got along great with the couple and we had so much in common with them it was weird. We spent a lot down time with them while on the ship. We would just hang out during they day, have dinner together, go to the bars at night. Anyway, they vacation in Playa del Carmen every year which is just a short ferry ride from Cozumel. So we cancelled our planned excursion for that day and headed out with them to Playa del Carmen. We had a good day with them just relaxing on a beach.

Here is some other stuff from the cruise. The morning that we arrived in Jamaica, Alexis woke up with Pink Eye. Gross. If you have ever had or seen it, it's not pretty, if you have not had it or seen it, consider yourself lucky. I will not describe it, my eyes are watering just thinking about it. Alexis also got what seemed to be a heat rash, and we both got sinus infections while on the cruise. I can't believe anyone actually hung out with us. Other than that it was a pretty good trip. I don't know if we will do it again anytime soon though.

Other news.

Since Alexis and I have no desire to keep up with Daryl and Diana as far as having kids, we thought to ourselves, "What could we do that would take the attention away from them and put the spot light on us, even if it is just for a little while?" So not to be out done, here is what we came up with... We got another dog!! Yep, two dogs now. Ace and Steve, but you can call him Stevie, Steve-O, or really whatever, he is just a puppy, he has no idea what's going on. We bought him on Saturday. He is an English Bulldog. He is mostly brown with some white markings. He's small, bow-legged, and ugly. Alexis says he is cute. Ace seems to like him, by 'like him' I mean Ace has not eaten him for a snack...yet. We are hoping that he won't get much bigger than about 50 lbs, but that is not up to us. We have tons of pictures of him, but we have not posted them yet. You know how good we are about posting stuff.

We will be taking requests for things to teach him, just let us know. Like I said, we should be putting pictures of him up soon, maybe we can put up some cruise pictures too.

Christmas TIme

2007-12-06T12:02:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Alexis and I kicked off the Christmas Season with a trip to pick out or second Christmas Tree. Instead of buying the tree that has been cut for a month or two and sitting in the parking lot of Home Depot or Lowe's, we headed north of Dallas to cut down our own. We loaded Ace up and headed to the Christmas Tree farm. The farm was very nice. Lots of people, hay rides, and of course Christmas Trees.

We parked the car and checked out the gift shop. By gift shop I mean aluminum shed type building with over priced ornaments that look like small children made them, and sub-par cyder. But a nice idea I guess. After a quick look through the gift shop, we piled onto a trailer for a short hay ride out to where the trees were. We grabbed Ace and a bow saw and set out from the hay-ride to find the perfect Christmas Tree. We probably saw about eleventy billion trees that we could cut down. After half an hour of looking, we found the perfect tree. Now if you're thinking that you found the perfect tree when you went searching this year, you're wrong. Alexis and I found it. Not you. They hauled it back for us, bundled it and we headed back to Big D.

The tree is some type of cypress, that means no needles to clean up over the weeks. Plus it is fresh so we think we might be able to keep it for next Christmas. Who knows.

This may be the last entry of the year unless something really cool happens. Normally I would like to finish on a high note, but it seems like this entry is far from that. Maybe next year.

We are Thankful for...

2007-11-27T15:01:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Five days in a row of football sure is good for you. This Thanksgiving Alexis and I headed down Friendswood way to spend the holiday with her parents. We left on Wednesday and after five hours of driving, we arrived. That night we decided to go out to a bar with her little sister since she just turned 21, and my favorite cover band of all-time was playing, Strippers Lie. We had a good time. Thursday brought two things; good food, and the first of five days in a row of football. Dinner was great. It featured the Turkey Day staple, turkey. We also had broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, jell-o salad, stuffing balls, mashed potatoes, and other stuff that I can't remember.

For some reason Alexis, her mom and sister went shopping on Friday. I don't know why it's called Black Friday, I think Red Friday is more appropriate since many shoppers may plummet further and further into debt all in the name of 'saving money'. I don't get it. They were gone for the better part of the day, having a girl's day. Sonny and I watched football, then I went to my parents house to watch football. That evening the girl's got home around 6:30 after being gone for hours, all was well though. They returned bearing gifts and pizza.

Saturday night Alexis and I spent the evening with my parents. They treated us to a great dinner at Pappa's Seafood House. The weekend was nice and relaxing, a good way to spend the Holidays.

Alexis' New Car

2007-11-16T12:40:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week Alexis got a new car. Her very first brand new car. It is a Nissan Murano. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Murano it is Nissan's Crossover SUV. Which means its an SUV on a car chassis basically. It is black with a black leather interior. Its got good pick up and lots of room in the front and in the back. We will take pictures of it and post them. Which may mean we will take pictures and never post them. That seems to be what we do most of the time when we promise pictures. Anyway, new car, she loves it, that makes me happy.

She will be taking it down to San Antonio for the weekend. She is meeting her friend Jayne, I think she will run into her dad there too. That means its just Ace and me this weekend. Our food groups will be condensed into one easy to remember category, pizza. More on this weekend to come.

Football Rant

This Saturday is the last regular season game for Red Raider. They will be hosting Sooner in Lubbock. I am excited about a few of the game details. The game is the prime-time nationally televised game on ABC. Kick-off is at 7:12 (that's 8:12 for any Yankees that may stumble onto this). It may be a blow out, Tech does not like to play defense and Sooner is really good anyway. Sooner is a ten point favorite. Please note that the colors of this blog will shortly change as football season comes to an end.

This weekend also marks the first time that Diana's Alma Mater has faced off against my Alma Mater. That's right, Lumberjack vs. Red Raider in Lubbock. The two teams have a basketball game Saturday morning. While no official bragging rights are on the line, like when Aggie plays Red Raider in football between Daryl and me, I will rub it in if Tech wins.

Brett Won Season Tickets to the Rangers?!

2007-11-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

Yes, I won season tickets to the Texas Rangers. I won them through a radio contest where you call in once every hour and offer something to trade for the tickets. At the end of the day the radio guys decide who had the best stuff to trade for. Well they picked me. So I won two season tickets for the Rangers' '08 season and a parking pass for all 81 home games. Sounds great doesn't it?

Well what I offered to trade was the catch. I offered Alexis' car. I wasn't sure on the value of the car so I thought it might be a good trade plus we are thinking about buying Alexis a new one. But I did not run this by her before I offered it up. When she got home I told her was was going on and she kind of laughed, but after a little convincing she was behind the whole thing. A little nervous, but behind it. We found out at 5:30 that I had won, and the tickets were ours. That night we went car shopping because we had to give them the car by the 9th of this month. Everything seemed to be in order.

Then we were able to sleep on it. And isn't it funny how choices that seem good at first only need a few hours of sleep to not be nearly as good. When I got to work the next morning, I looked to see where the seats were, they weren't great. I knew how much the value of the tickets was so I looked up the value of her car to compare. I thought her car would be worth more, but not much more. As it turns out her car was worth 2 or 3 times more than the tickets. Good thing I checked. I called Alexis at school and told her that we weren't going to keep the tickets, I got no complaints from her.

Anyway I called the station and I am no longer a Rangers season ticket holder. So close, but no. Weird story, huh?

One last thing. We will put up our Halloween pictures sometime this weekend, and some pictures of what Ace does when we aren't home.

Back to the LBK

2007-10-15T09:12:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was the first time that I have been back to Texas Tech since I graduated. I went back for the annual beat down of Daryl's Texas A&M Aggies. I will get to the game and all of the festivities later, but first Lubbock.

Things have changed!! Across the street from the university used to be old and run down. It didn't really look great and most of the buildings were vacant. But now, the buildings are new, the businesses will actually make it, and the architecture of the buildings matches that of the university. It's really amazing how much nicer and friendlier it makes the area look. That's not the only new things going on in Lubbock. The city is adding a new highway in and around town, so far there is just construction, but you can see the plans starting to take shape.

As for the university, they are planning on adding onto the football stadium, and they are currently working on a water park that will be near the rec center that includes a lazy river around the intramural fields. That will be really cool.

There are lots of projects going on and the area around the university finally looks nice.

Now for the game. We arrived at the tail-gate around 11 a.m. We were greeted with jalapeno poppers, hot dogs, brats, burgers, and of course the official beverage of Texas Tech, cold beer. The tailgate was great, hundreds of trucks, RVs and grills. Tents were set up with couches and TVs playing various football games going on across the country and dozens of Texas flags, Tech flags and pirate flags. A great atmosphere. People everywhere. One thing I noticed, the student body seems to stay the same age even as I grow older, I may appreciate that more as I get older.

Earlier in the week a frat guy came up with the idea for a t-shirt just for the game against the Aggies. The shirt said Vick'em of the front and had a football player wearing the number 7 hanging Reveille, the Aggies dog mascot. The shirt was discontinued and Tech officials apologized to the A&M officials for the shirt. I was upset about the shirt and thought it was a bad idea at first, but after seeing them, I thought there were hilarious. I only saw a few, and they weren't nearly as bad as the shirt I saw that said "OJ'em" on the front, and had a picture of OJ stabbing the Aggie dog mascot. For the most part the fans were great and the rivalry was great.

I had forgotten how electric the atmosphere is for a Red Raider home game. I guess it was one of the things that I took for granted while I was there. Once I was in the stadium I was taken back to the first time I entered the stadium and how it made me feel. I was in awe. I remembered all the great games, catches, and hits I had seen there. It was great.

We found our seats which were in the shade. There was about a 20 mph wind blowing through the stadium, typical Lubbock. We got the ball to start the game, and we went three and out. Then the Aggies got the ball. They rumbled down the field and scored easily, it looked like it was going to be a long day for us, and it also looked like the Aggie running back who guaranteed a victory for them was going to make good on his promise. However, it was not to be for the Aggies. That was the only time they would score. We dominated the rest of the game. We scored 21 points in the second quarter to go up 21-7 at the half. The Aggies did not even get to our half of the field in the third quarter. They did not even score in the 4th when we had our mop-up defense on the field. We took it to 'em for the final three quarters and left no doubt who was the better team. Not a bad first game back for me to go to at all. The final score was 35-7. After the game we headed back to the tailgate spot for Victory Beers. It was a great win, and a great day. And it will be a great year as I have locked up bragging rights over Daryl...again.

The State Fair of Texas

2007-10-10T08:50:00.000-06:00

It is that time of year. The weather starts to cool down to 95, and football season is in full swing. Yes it is that time of year. Time for the State Fair of Texas. Alexis and I took our annual trip to the fair last night. Now, I don't know who, if anyone reads my little rants, but this is for those of you who have not had the honor of experiencing the State Fair.

The fair takes place annually at the appropriately named Fair Park. This is the home of the Cotton Bowl and the giant Texas Star Farris wheel (which I won't ride). The "hood" surrounding the fairgrounds could rival any inner-city, poverty stricken, gang infested, graffiti covered ghetto in the country. It seems pretty rough and there is nothing nice around the fairgrounds. It is the type of area that could have really benefited from the economic stimulation brought on by building the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in the area, but Dallas' not-so-much-of-a-thinker mayor decided the new stadium would be a better fit in Arlington, leaving no economic benefit to the city that is associated with America's Team. Anyway, the area around the fair is ghetto.

But once inside the nurturing biosphere of the State Fair, you quickly forget what waits for you as you return to your car at the end of your fair experience (if your car has not been stolen). The State Fair of Texas is a treat for all of the senses. The people, while not purposely dressed as clowns or other comical characters, often look ridiculous. Jorts (jean shorts for guys) to one's ankles, big baggy shirts that could double as a dress, dirty clothes, clothes that are way too tight, sideways hats, gold teeth, and the nappy, ungroomed goatees. It truly is a meeting ground of the substandard people of the Texan society. The pathways through the fair are littered with flashing lights, dirty carnys, police and rides that look as entertaining as they do unsafe. In fact we saw a carny (a worker at the fair, usually white trash) being escorted out of the park by four police, he was probably drunk or high.

While walking through the fair one can't help but notice the gourmet items those crazy carnys have cookin'. Things like alligator sausage, fried coke, fried cookie dough, fried latte, fried guacamole, fried fries, fried cosmopolitans, fried queso, (are you noticing a trend?), fried peanut butter jelly and banana sandwiches, and of course the corny dogs. As bad as most of that sounds, there are a few items that are eatable, but of course will require a trip to the fair's angioplasty booth. Alexis and I love the corny dogs (a true fair staple), funnel cakes, and the fried macaroni and cheese. None of which can be found at a salad bar. After our dinner, we felt like he had gained about four pounds and we could feel the grease swishing around in our belly.

We did see some good things at the fair. We checked out the animal exhibits including the grand champion steer. Which was sold for $94,000, you will be able to see him soon in your grocers meat department. We went through the petting zoo, which now that I look back on that, may have been the grossest thing I have ever done. First of all, they are petting zoo animals, they don't exactly live in the cleanest conditions, unless you consider saw dust, hay and poo clean. Then throw in the nasty people mentioned earlier touching the gross animals...you got yourself a petting zoo!!

Our evening wrapped up with a pig race, but most of the people in the stands could have used the exercise more than the pigs as they watched the race with a bag of popcorn in one hand and a turkey leg in the other. We also toured the car show, which I can't twist that and make it sound bad. Unless...you consider that the same people who were at the petting zoo were probably a lot of the same people touching the cars, sitting in them, and imagining themselves behind the wheel of the latest model, just like Alexis and I did. Gross.

The State Fair of Texas is truly a great experience. The art exhibits are nicely put together, the entertainment is top rate (there are concerts almost every night and parades too), and the atmosphere can't be beat.

State Fair of Texas; I will see you next year!

Happy Birthday to Alexis!

2007-09-27T08:18:00.001-06:00

Today is her birthday! Sadly, I am no longer a year older.

We went out for her birthday dinner the other night. We went to a place call Buca di Bepo, it was an Italian place. She really liked it, it was pretty good. Why aren't we going out for her birthday dinner tonight you ask? Well, she wants to stay in and watch the season premiere of Gray's Anatomy. Hey its her birthday, she can do what she wants.

Give her a call and wish her a happy birthday. You won't be the first one to wish her a happy birthday, that was me. She really likes it when people call and burst into the 'Happy Birthday' song.

Updates

2007-09-24T09:43:00.000-06:00

Before we get to updates, I have some thoughts on this weekend's football game. How does Tech pile up 718 yards on offense and lose? The answer: the defense is so bad the Defensive Coordinator resigns the next day. Bad Bad Bad.

OK, updates. I recently achieved the status of Registered Landman (RL) by the American Association of Petroleum Landmen, (AAPL). This status is achieved by a recommendation by a Certified Professional Landman (a CPL is the industry standard for top landmen, they make more money and have the cool jobs, that is my ultimate goal, but I will not be eligible for that for another 6 years), also I had to pass a test. It's not really a huge deal, its more like a small step toward my goal of becoming a CPL, but I am excited about it and so are my superiors at Devon. For work documents and work e-mails, I have the initials RL after my name. Sort of like a doctor, but not really, I am not qualified to perform surgeries, except for splinter removals and applying ice to swollen body parts.

Alexis continues to brighten the future of America by inspiring and teaching the leaders of tomorrow. Maybe one day she will write something of substance about how she likes her job, instead of my interpretation of what she tells me. She is getting used to her kids and her new schedule. She does have this cool 'Good Morning' song that she plays for the kids every morning. I say it's cool because she taught it to Brynna and sometimes she sings it to me when I am having trouble waking up.

Two For the Grown-Up Table, Please.
This weekend Alexis and I decided that we should decorate our living room. This was long over due since we have lived in our place for about 4 months now. We bought three things for the walls. None of which had anything to do posters, pop-culture or collegiate loyalties. We got a mirror that matches our entertainment cabinet and entry way table, a metal circely, with squares, little candles on it thingy for above the fireplace (I know that description makes no sense, but that's what it is), and some art for above the TV. Let me tell you about this art. The guy at the store said it was a contemporary piece. Alexis and I both fell that we could easily do it our selves. It looks like Alexis recruited her best finger painter from her class and had the kid finger paint and drizzle paint splatters all over some canvas. We both agree that it's awesome though. The house looks more permanent and we felt pretty grown up after we had everything hung, it's pretty cool.

Don't forget, or let me forget, that Alexis' birthday is this Thursday, the 27. She will be 24. She wants a pony, world peace and a Play Station 3.

Happy Birthday to Me.

2007-09-20T08:29:00.001-06:00

Today is just one of the annual events that I have circled on my calendar. I'm now 24, and since Alexis is just 23, that makes me one year older than her...for a week anyway. We don't have anything special tonight. I will just be watching Aggie vs Hurricane and hoping for a miracle win by Hurricane.

Last night Alexis and I celebrated my birthday. We went to a steakhouse called Truluck's. It was awesome. The food was great, the service was great, the bill was tough to swallow. Alexis and I are not getting presents for each other right now since we both bought a couple of big things back in August, but I will be receiving the greatest birthday present ever on Friday...Alexis gets her first real pay check since we have been married!!! I could not be more excited about that.

Football news. This weekend's game features the opening of the Big 12 season for Tech. They will be playing Cowboy from Oklahoma State in Lubbock. It should be a good game, both teams don't play a whole lot of defense.

Check back next week.

Labor Day

2007-08-30T11:22:00.000-06:00

If you thought this was an update letting you know how Alexis is liking her first days of teaching Kindergarten, you are mistaken. I don't know why she has not posted anything, but she has been really busy this week and likes things so far. Maybe she will post an update this weekend. Who knows. But for know you are stuck reading what I write for you. More Football. This coming Monday brings Red Raider vs. Mustang to the table. I don't really think much of this match-up and I feel most people expect Red Raider to blow out Mustang. But lets consider this:
SMU's football team is making a comeback from the cellar of the NCAA, they are getting better. This may be their only regular season televised game and its their first game of the season. And how about this: The game has been completely sold out! This game is a big deal to SMU, and it is one of only two college football games that will be nationally televised on Monday. With that being said, I think Tech will win by about a thousand points, maybe more.

Diana, I am curious on where you stand on this game, I know you hold a special place in your heart for SMU. I know Brynna will be supporting the Red and Black in her Cheerleader outfit.

Isn't the new color scheme of the blog great?

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2007-08-21T11:44:00.000-06:00

Football season is my favorite time of year. Its by far the best of the five seasons (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Football) So let’s preview the upcoming football season. First of all the college football season for me gets started with the kick-off of the Tech vs. SMU game. It should be the usual Texas Tech ass-kickery of unworthy, half-ass, non-conference opponents. It’s good for our stat sheets. I am predicting a big win. I will be attending that game and hosting a tailgate party before. Abandon all hope; all ye who oppose Texas Tech.
Pay attention to the college football season. During the Bowl Season I host a pool to see who can most accurately predict the winners of all 863 bowl games. Last year I won, and my dad came in last…Seriously, who picks A&M over Cal?!

As for the NFL…I have the Cowboys beating the JV team in Houston this weekend for both team’s third pre-season game. “The pre-season doesn’t matter,” you say. They keep score. It matters. My Super Bowl winner prediction is the New England Patriots. I’m right.

Feel free to e-mail me your football questions, even stupid ones. I can answer them.

Subway. Eat Fresh.

2007-08-21T11:41:00.000-06:00

Background. I go to Subway. I know that somewhere along the way the quality of the products they serve has to be compromised in order to keep their prices where they are. But I go. It’s cheap and I like it. More background. Cleburne is a small town, but over the past few years it has experienced exponential growth due to the county’s phenomenal gas wells. The main street through town is five lanes and always packed, several national chain stores as well as restaurants have popped up, and the population is booming. With that being said the bustling small city of Cleburne has 1 Subway to feed all of the business people and other residents of the town. It is not unusual to wait a good 20 minutes for a sandwich.

So today I left to Subway around 11:20 hoping to beat the rush at the local Subway. I walked in and I was the fourth person in line. My plan seemed to be working. The guy that was three people in front of me placed his order, “I need 7 sandwiches,” he said. Damn. So much for in and out. Of course each one has to be slightly different, and it had to be toasted. Lets talk about “toasted” at Subway. I don’t think it’s a toaster oven. I think it’s a nuclear powered, radio-active, glorified microwave. That guy alone took about ten minutes. The lady two people in front of me, and by lady I mean an 18 year old girl with her baby, ordered the grossest sandwich I have ever heard of. Here it is: White bread, pepperoni, bacon, American cheese, mayo and a little lettuce (the Subway lettuce reminds me of St. Augustine grass). What about that sounds good? Wait, and she had it toasted. Gross. Gross. Gross. While I was there, they ran out of bacon and American cheese. I finally made it out of there about thirty minutes after I came in.

I would not go back, but it’s the only one for about ten miles so I have to. Plus, when I go back, it always seems to make me laugh in hind-site.

Busy Sunday

2007-08-05T20:33:00.000-06:00

Sunday was busy for us. Usually we use it as a day to sleep in and take it easy before another week of work gets going. We started the day with our first trip ever to the Fort Worth Stock Yards. We thought it was pretty cool. We had a chance to see some longhorn steers up close and we could even touch them, we weren't supposed to though. There were lots of good places to eat and all kinds of junk shops everywhere. But it had the feel of the old west. We took a few pictures so check those out. I would have made a great cowboy.

After the Stock Yards we headed out to play mini golf. I dominate mini golf, except not today. It was down to the wire and Alexis pulled off the upset. She beat me by one stroke. But let it be known that I let her win. It was a good round of mini golf. (Alexis says, "Brett does not 'let' anyone beat him.")

The last thing we did was take Ace to a new dog park. There is a dog park is at White Rock Lake right on the shores and about ten minutes from our house. The dog park has an area where the dogs can go into the lake, we started there because we wanted watch the real dogs swim and play in the water. Well Ace was pulling on his leash like he wanted to go play in the water. Alexis let him off and sure enough, he went straight into the lake. We were shocked. He was playing in the water. He didn't get deep enough to swim, he just waded around in the water with the other dogs. It was almost like he was a real dog. Alexis and I were amazed. We didn't get any pictures, so imagine it.

The River Dance, River Dance '07

2007-08-01T08:48:00.000-06:00

Since we have moved to Dallas, or Big D, we have been deprived of a river to float near us. Alexis always had access to several rivers while she was in college and it was always a fun day when you spent it on the river with your friends. So one slow day at work I drove east of town in search f the Brazos River. I found it and sure enough there were tube rental places. We were in business. I made plans with the tube rental place and told them we would be back on Saturday, we planned to take the four hour trip.

Several of us made the trip to the Brazos on Saturday; Alexis, Chris, Eric, Jack, Riddell, and me. It was a scorcher of a day and people were bound to get sun burned. The river was wide and the scenery was very nice, there was even a small waterfall that poured into a lagoon on the side f the river. It was good company and a lot of fun. Then the river went on, and on, and on. Four hours into the trip we still had not come to the landmark that meant an hour and a half left. At about five hours we drifted to a rope swing. Most of us got out of the river to release the inner child on the rope swing. We swung several times, but on one fateful swing I broke my left little toe. I must have hit in on a root. Much pain. There wasn't much we could do for it there so I just rubbed some beer on it and we went on our way.

After seven hours on the river, we finally made it to the pick up point. Seven hours in the blazing North Texas sun was awful. By the time we got out of the river, my toe was no longer recognizable as a toe. It was brown and purple and looked like a smashed rotten grape. Anyway we learned that next time we would take the short river trip, and not break our toes.

As for sun burns, there were plenty. I got a little sun on my chest, but that was expected since I have the curse of the fair skin. Alexis' legs were burned pretty bad, they have started to tan, but they are still uncomfortable. The rest of the guys were all burned pretty badly. Chris who didn't use any sun screen on his chest (but did put a shirt on about 2 hours into the trip) felt the worst.

All in all, it wasn't the best river trip ever, but it was better than no river trip I guess.

The One Year Anniversary

2007-07-23T20:38:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the one year anniversary for Alexis and me. That's right, one year ago we got married. Time flys. Lots has happened in that year; graduation from college, new jobs all around, three new homes, a dog, all sorts of stuff. This first year has been very busy for both of us, and we have really enjoyed every minute of it. Anyway, here's what we did.

We started our anniversary like everyone else does, we woke up and had Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Coke. That's what everyone does, right? I bought some flowers for Alexis, lilies. She really liked them. Later, Andrew came over to help me put up a gazebo that we bought. Its made of metal and canvas, and its about ten feet by ten feet. A day or two before we put down flag stones to create a little patio area, so that's why we bought the gazebo. Everything came out pretty good, it is a good sitting and grilling area for the back yard. (Side note. There is netting to keep mosquitoes out that surrounds the gazebo, I guess Ace can't see the netting really well because one day he was running around like a crazy dog and ran into the screen putting a big hole in our brand new gazebo, oh well.) Anyway Saturday night Alexis and I went out to dinner at Texas Land & Cattle Steakhouse (an all-time favorite), dinner was great and then for desert we went to the Cheesecake Factory, we got some sort of cheesecake, it was really good. It was a really good day all around.

Dog news. Thank you Grandmother Ruth for submitting the only name idea. However, we aren't going to get another dog. We figured that Ace is enough for us for now. Two dogs, that's twice as many was we have now, and four dogs short of a herd.

Check out the new pictures, we have patio pictures, house pictures, and Ace pictures.

The Weekend Report

2007-07-16T10:11:00.000-06:00

This weekend we actually did some stuff. Pay attention. Around noon on Saturday Alexis and I went to a meet-n-greet for a local Labrador Rescue foundation at a pet store. We have been thinking about getting another dog and we knew one we were interested in was going to be there so we went to have a look. The dog was really good. She and Ace got along really well. The next day a volunteer with the lab rescue came by to take a look at our house and make sure it was good enough for a stray dog. We were once again deemed good enough to own a stray dog, so sometime soon Alexis and I will have two big dogs. The dog is a yellow female lab, seemingly laid back, and about ten pounds lighter than Ace. She was found wondering the streets in Denton County and was picked up from there. She was a good dog, but could use some simple training, nothing Alexis and I can't handle. We are not yet sure what we are going to name her. Please submit your ideas to us and if we use your idea for a name, you will win eleventy billion dollars. Good luck.

Saturday afternoon brought a day of golf for me. I went with Andrew and Chris. None of us are any good, and we know it. But we still wanted to get out while there was no rain and play a round. We decided that in the interest of time, we would just play the best ball. That worked out OK but usually there was nothing good about playing the best ball, usually all of our shots were bad. We would have the occasional good shot, which kept us interested.

That night Alexis met up with us and all of us went out to dinner with Chris' parents. Chris just got a promotion so we were out celebrating. The food was good.

At dinner I ordered the baby back ribs. I thought they were good and that I would try and make my own. How hard could it be, we have a grill. So on Sunday before the lab rescue lady came by I went to the store and bought some baby back ribs. All of the recipes I found called for you to boil the ribs before you grilled them. I figured you could just grill them. Anyway I decided to boil the ribs for about an hour. I threw in some bay leaves, onion, cracked pepper and mashed garlic. An hour and a half later, after they had been boiled and then finished on the grill, they were done. The verdict from Alexis was that they were great. I agreed. So whoever comes to visit, be warned, you are getting the ribs. And you will like it.

I would also like to thank Daryl, Diana, Brynna and Rocky who were nice enough to let me stay at there house and feed me pizza. I had to go to San Antonio for work and I stayed with them. While I was there,I heard Daryl say something along the lines of how he is really starting to like Texas Tech. Good for him.

Alexis, posted some new pictures incase you forgot what we look like. Also, one of these days we will take pictures of the new casa.

The Past Couple of Weekends

2007-07-09T10:29:00.000-06:00

As few and far between as the blogs have been you would think that Alexis and I have been really busy. Well that would be true. Every weekend we have either been out of town or we have had guests staying with us. Most recently Alexis' parents two weeks ago and Alison Sills most recently.

Alexis' parents stayed for three nights and Alison stayed for two. Recently the weather has been pretty good compared to the forty days and forty nights worth of rain Sonny and Celeste came in for.

Speaking of good weather, we actually got some for the Fourth of July. Alexis, Ace and I went to Chris Johnson's parents house for a huge celebration they throw every year. Ace had a blast running, sniffing, and jumping on the trampoline. He did not swim, or like the fireworks. In fact, Alexis had to babysit him in the house because he was so scared of the fireworks.

Keep checking back, one of these days we are going to put some new pictures up and I will try to keep this more current.

Just so You Are Up to Speed

2007-06-19T20:11:00.000-06:00

Well this past weekend brought many people to the new house. My mom and dad came up to Big D for the weekend. They had not been up to see Alexis and me for about 8 months. It was a good visit. Also, the Bereek and Uncle Mike came in for some grilling. Of course it was raining and we had to grill in the rain. Which means we had to grill in the garage. We made it work though, people seemed to enjoy the food.

Alexis and I planted some plants on the front of the house. We spoke with our next door neighbor the other day and he told us that the neighbors loved us because we were the only people in about 10 years who had done work on the yard, besides mowing. It is starting to look good, the flowers are blooming, and the mulch under the tree (I still have posion ivy, more in fact) looks great and kept up.

This weekend should be good too, Alexis is heading to New Braunfels to float the river with her girl friends, and I am going camping with the guys, Ace is staying at Hotel B'Reek. Check back next week for more info on our exciting lives. We know you will.

Its Been a While

2007-06-13T12:10:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since Alexis and I managed to get some new material up for you. It seems like so much has happened since our last blog. Let me think. Here is what's new.

We moved, and not into the house that we were supposed to purchase, but into the house that we found in University Park. Moving out was a pain, not for us, but for the 4 guys we hired to move our stuff down 4 flights of stair and down the block in the rain. Once we were in the house we noticed several 'imperfections' that had developed over the houses 60+ year history. Most notably the roof. It was in sad shape. We made sure that the owners knew this and also we wanted to make sure that they knew we wanted it to be replaced. (the roof was replaced and they finished yesterday, it makes it look like a different house) Now that we have been there for about two weeks we have started to give the lawn a little TLC. We have put weed killer down as well as fertilizer. There is also a big tree in the front yard that had lots and lots of ivy growing on it and on the ground around it. So one afternoon Alexis and I tried to rip out all of the ivy on the ground. This was no small task. We filled up 10 garbage bags with ivy. A small amount of the ivy that we took out was poison ivy. I have a pretty bad case of it, ,but Alexis managed not to get any on her. But our hard work paid off and in a few weeks the lawn will look great.

Keep checking back because we will be getting internet later this week, so for now I am getting back to work.

Alexis Has a Career!

2007-05-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

It finally happened...Alexis is a teacher!! She was offered and accepted a job as a Kindergarten Teacher in Richardson ISD. Alexis will be teaching at Northwood Hills Elementary School. She interviewed with them on Monday, and on Tuesday received the offer. Next fall will mark the beginning of her new career. I am very proud of her and I think she will do a wonderful job educating the leaders of tomorrow. Feel free to leave comments of congratulations and encouragement.

Congratulations Diana

2007-05-14T12:53:00.000-06:00

I would like to take this time to recognize Diana's new steps in trying to reach what is the pinnacle of cool...being like me. Her decision to reach the ultimate cool is applauded and should be viewed as an example for all others to follow.

May this quote from Diana inspire you, "Just wanted to let you all know that in my quest to be ever more like Brett..." I think those are words we can all live by. Diana is wise beyond her years.

More new house news

2007-05-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

So as most of you may have heard, the new house thing feel through. The bank called us the day before closing and told me that they would not be able to fund our mortgage. The logic being that since I am self employed I must have two years of self employment history. I don't have that. As it turns out, this is something they should have told us on the first day, not the day before closing. Oh well. Now Alexis and I have gone through pretty much the entire home buying process without buying a home, we're pros.

Since we didn't get that house, we decided to rent a house. We looked at three houses and the final one we looked at we loved. It is in University Park, thats where SMU is, in fact we are about two blocks from the university. Anyway, it's a two bed, one bath house with a detached two car garage. The house is in great shape and was built the 1930's. Alexis and I are really excited since it is in such a nice part of town. It is still close to Downtown and other fun stuff. Its closer to work for Alexis and it has a yard for Ace. We move at the end of this month, stay tuned for pictures.

Texas Independence Day

2007-03-05T11:27:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail from Larry Watkins the other day inviting one and all out to Love and War in Texas to attend a Texas Independence Day celebration. Love and War in Texas is a county music venue with an outdoor stage and beer garden and a restaurant on the inside. Larry said that the place was pretty kickerish, not exactly our scene, but we figured we would have a good time anyway. Now usually Andrew would be the first person we call to check this out, he would have loved it, but he wasn’t in town so we enlisted Eric to join us, it wasn’t his scene either. We get there around 8 pm after walking about a quarter mile from our car. The place was packed. As we expected it was cowboy country. It seemed like a stereotypical Texas dancehall scene from a movie. Cowboy hats, long wallets that stick out back pockets, Wrangler jeans, boots the whole nine. The band that was playing had a lead singer who looked like he had seen his fair share of full moons. He was old. He was very entertaining, his songs were lively and he had a good range in his voice. Most of his interludes between songs had to do with Jose Cuervo. So we met up with Larry and his wife and some of his old college frat brothers. Eric and I ordered a bucket of beers, and on this chilly March night they never got warm, or rodeo cool as we say in Texas. At one point I ordered a beer that was close to a gallon, I was up to the challenge. Alexis spent most of the evening talking with Larry’s daughter and her friend who were our age. It was a good time had by all. The odd thing is that my old boss, Larry, got there with his wife long before us, and left after us! It was a great way to celebrate Texas Independence Day.

Cleburne, Texas

2007-02-27T09:03:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Alexis and I braved the dust storm that was covering North Texas and took a day trip to Cleburne. I wanted to show her the bustling metropolis where I work now. It is a sharp contrast from the glass and steel towers of Dallas to the horse and buggy town of Cleburne. It takes about an hour from our loft in Downtown to get to Downtown Cleburne where I work. My office is nothing special as you can tell from the pictures. In some of the pictures you can see how brown the sky is from the dust storm that was taking place. There are some pictures of the office where I spend most of my day and also a couple of pictures of the Johnson County Courthouse where I spend the rest of my time.

And what trip to a small town in Texas would be complete without a stop at the local Dairy Queen? So after taking in the sights, which didn't take long, we stopped at DQ for a Blizzard. The place was pretty busy and we felt like we were really taking in the culture of the small town. Pretty exciting stuff in Cleburne. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

A Day in the Life of...

2007-02-16T19:40:00.000-06:00

...Alexis. Since graduating in December, I have been subbing for elementary schools around the Dallas/Richardson area. On Monday, I was subbing for a lovely 1st grade class at the school where I student taught, when the principal called me into her office. She asked if I would like to take over a long term sub job until the end of the year. I thought that it sounded like a great opportunity! She smiled and then said that it was for 6th grade math. I immediately said, "Sure." I like math, so that was not a problem, but 6th graders instead of 6 year olds? Oh geez. So on Wednesday morning I started teaching math that I have not reviewed since I was in 6th grade. I only have three classes (25/25/7) and 30 minute period where I have to do something (I have not figured it out yet) with 30 students. My teaching is going to be rough for a while since I am replacing another long term sub that did not make other people happy. The staff is very supportive though, so it will be a good experience. This job should lead to a permanent job opportunity at this school or another one in the district, but I still miss my sweet little kindergarteners!!!

A Day in the Life of...

2007-02-16T19:24:00.000-06:00

...Brett. That's right, I started a new job this week. It was a big promotion for me. So let me take a moment to run through a typical day with you.

8:30 arrive at work. I wear jeans and tennis shoes, and on Fridays I wear my Tech hat. It is really laid back. Once I start my work for the day I am responsible for running title to a particular lease that Devon has. Right now I am running the title on a lot that is only 1.939 acres. It is the minerals underneath their home. Running title means going back and researching each owner of the minerals since Texas granted it to the first private owner or until about 1900. We do this to make sure that the person we are paying for the minerals is in fact the rightful owner. It seems really dull, but it is difficult to figure out all of the owners and all of the stipulations of the deal when they made it. I like it. Anyway. Some times I have to go to the county courthouse to check the public records. It is right down the street so I just walk. Its good to get out of the office and get some air. At EnCana I was chained to m desk. so when lunch rolls around I go out to eat with my co-workers and take about an hour. Then its back to work and I leave around 4:30. That's it. It is a great job, low stress, good pay, and a casual work environment.

Done with EnCana

2007-02-10T20:20:00.000-06:00

Friday marked my last day at EnCana. I'm done!! On to the next job. Friday was a pretty easy day for me at work, I didn't do a whole lot, but thats no different than what I usually do. After work my supervisor took some co-workers and me out for drinks. Good times. Alexis met up with us at the restaurant.

Also Alexis got paid for the first time since she started subbing. So congrats to her on her first pay check. She also looked into different school districts around Dallas where she might want to work. We aren't real sure where she will end up, but she is leaning toward Richardson ISD.

We finally took Diana and Daryl up on their wedding present. In march they are shipping us off for a newly wed weekend conference. It will be at the Gaylord Texan Hotel here in Grapevine. I will be referring to the hotel as the Great Texan Hotel. Gaylord sounds too gay for me. So if anyone wants to baby sit Ace for the weekend, he's yours.

That's pretty much it for now, next week should be interesting with the new job starting. Landman. Not Farmer.

Ace

2007-02-01T11:00:00.000-06:00

As promised in our annual news letter, Alexis and I have made an addition to our family. His name is Ace. He is a 77lb black lab that we addopted from DFW Lab Rescue. he is adjusting nicely to his new home. He knows sit, stay, shake, crate, and up. He is really nice and we rarely hear him bark. He likes to paw at you for your attention or he will just set his head on your lap. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure. And as you would expect he doesn't like the Aggies, loves the Red Raiders, and his role model is Bobby Knight. Feel free to come an check him out anytime. We are not sure when we will be able to get him out of Dallas and take him on a Texas tour.

Brett's New Job

2007-02-01T10:53:00.000-06:00

After months of anticipation, I finally have a new job. As of Monday February 12th I will be a Landman for Devon. Finally. I turned in the resignation with EnCana on Tuesday and everything went over smoothly. Things just weren't working out here and I wasn't going to try to build my career on 'Maybe,' or 'In the future,' or ' You need to pay some dues first.' Not all was bad at EnCana, I did get a lot of exposure to the industry, but now its out to the front lines for me.

At Devon I will be a contract Feild Landman. This includes mineral title searches and research, leasing, and being the public's contact with the industry. As a Feild Landman I will basically be self employed. I will be able to work when and where I want. I am excited about the flexibility, but nervous about the added responsibility. I have plans to work towards gaining the title of Certified Professional Landman (CPL) which is the industry standard for professionalism, education, and experience. That's down the road though. This move is a big promotion for me and I couldn't be more thrilled.

2007-01-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

The First of Many

2007-01-15T12:15:00.000-06:00

In an effort to keep the world updated with our exciting life together, we have created this site.