cookie lounge...

who doesn't LOVE a hot cookie straight out of the oven? and who doesn't love having a cookie made to order? well the cookie lounge in austin has made a place where you can get a hot, fresh out of the oven cookie made just they way you want it! this is one of my new favorite places here. the concept is like marble slab or amy's ice cream (and it is about the same price). you go in and fill out one of these sheets to place your cookie order.as you can see, you select a type of cookie dough and then your size, then your mix-ins. then you have your choice of extras like getting it with ice cream or whip cream or chocolate drizzle and other sweet goodness. what a genius the owner is!here is a picture of my made to order medium cookie (the picture does not do justice to the sweetness that touched my lips. i chose dottie's oatmeal cookie dough and had french chocolate and reeses peanut butter cups mixed in.

oh and not only do you get hot delicious cookies, but they also have milk. oh my mouth is watering just thinking about it. i go to chat with owner for a little bit and he actually convinced us to try flavored milk. i was a little hesitant at first because i love milk just the way it is, but i finally caved in and let him put chocolate hazelnut flavor shot in there. oh man! it was like heaven! SOOO good! if you come to visit we will go here for sure and if you live here you need to go here. there are couches inside to "lounge" on and games to play while you wait and eat. oh and they validate your parking. so go on a date here. take the kids here. or just satisfy your sweet craving here. so go check out the cookie lounge.

moo-vin' on up...

yes the rumors are true. i was indeed the chick-fil-a cow at the UT basketball game on saturday nght. how did i get a gig like this? good question. several months back, matt used chick-fil-a as a sermon illustration. well apparently the area marketing director for chick-fil-a is a partner at our church, so she had chick-fil-a delivered that week. it so happends that the morning it was delivered, i was late to the office because i was out running errands. when a person showed up to deliver the food in a cow costume and i was no where to be found, many people in our office assumed it was me in the costume. they were convinced! and to make matters worse, about 10 minutes after the cow left, i showed up at the office. well needless to say, after much arguing about if i was in fact the cow, i was able to convince them of the truth, but said that i would happily be the cow anytime. alas, last monday, i got an email and my time had come. i not only got to wear a cow costume in front of 16,000 people for a few short minutes, but i also got paid to do it. several of my friends came to support me in my endeavors and my parents happened to also be in town, so my mom got to sit and watch me proudly as well. here are some pictures and a video that captures some of what i did. i think i could have done better, but this was my first time. who knows, perhaps i could move up the mascot ladder with some practice.

fiction family...

as you know, i LOVE jon foreman's music. he is one of the few artists that i will buy the whole album rather than just a few favorite songs. well he has just put out a new album called fiction family with nickel creek's guitarist. i just got it yesterday and i am really liking it! you should check it out for sure! you can listen to some of it on nickel creek's website. fiction family has a myspace page with their music on it too. so go ahead and buy it. you won't regret it.

i love rudy's...

rudy's is my favorite place to get bbq in austin. i am not arguing that it is the best. i hear that lockhart has some great bbq and i love the salt lick. but if i am looking for some great bbq that is quick and easy, rudy's is my go to. i could eat it all the time. i have yet to tire of it. and for a awhile i was eating it once a week, at least. maybe it is the delicious sauce (not sweet but spicey). perhaps it is that any meat i get there is good. brisket is my go to, but i love me some turkey and sausage too. maybe it is the environment, love the patio and picnic tables and even the country music that plays. and who can forget the AWESOME hand washer! i am sure to use it each time i go and sometimes multiple times. i also like that i can get a cold ibc there if i want, or some good pudding. and who doesn't love white bread. oh and have you ever had their breakfast tacos!! (thank you for reminding me whitney) oh my goodness, so good! they put their link sausage in there, oh so good! and if you ever have a large order to go (of anything), you pick it up outside in this little tent and you get a free drink from the cooler. i love this place.
my only complaint against rudy's is that they do not have fried okra. i love me some fried okra with my bbq, but the potato salad holds me over.

so if you have never experienced the greatness that is rudy's, you must! they are not just in austin. they are all over texas!

buy books. change the world.

if you ever buy books, any kind of books or you know people who buy books or you have even heard of books, this post is for you. please buy your books through makbooks.org . some of the money that you spend goes to support makarios and helps kids in the DR get an education and so much more (food, toothbrushes, physicals, and they get to hear the gospel). so if you are already buying books, why not do it through this site. makarios is the organization we partner with when we go to the dominican republic. see the 2 previos posts.

more DR pics and a video...

here are a more pictures.

at the airport...

piling in the gua guas (vans)

waiting outside of school...

francesco. the lucky man that got to till the land with us. he really liked telling us how to do it. he is kind of the chuck norris type.

singing songs before they head into school. so fun!

dominican republic trip...

i just got back from a trip to the dominican republic. john and i tagged along on with a college trip from our church so that we might scout out and brainstorm ideas for the family trip we will be leading this coming july. we partnered with makarios and will partner with them in july as well. i was excited about seeing and learning more of what makarios does and how our families could be involved and i was excited to see my friend ashley, but other than that, i really did not have many expectations. and of course i was blown away.

first, i loved the team of college students. we had a blast doing manual labor and getting to know each others stories. we sang random songs all the time as we tilled the earth with machetes and pick axes. we laughed all the time. we got to watch the texas game, which went until like 1:00am DR time, at a sports bar and we even did a little karaoke. i had a blast!

second, and a little more selfish, i needed to get away. i have had a lot on my mind and been pretty bogged down. it was a great escape. i had lots of thinking time as i picked axed for hours each day. my time and conversation with the Lord during that manual labor was actually SO good for my soul and very healing.

third, and probably my favorite highlight, was getting to know and spend time with the makarios staff. i got to catch up with ashley, which was great and i got to spend some time with sharla too. I absolutely loved getting to know anne and garrett boon as well as robin inks and cara and kindall and katy too. i have some new friends with kindred spirits and it makes me VERY excited to return in july. i miss them already.

it was great to see all of the kids and just get a chance to love on them and play with them. it was also great doing the manual labor knowing that we really are breaking ground for things that will impact kids lives for eternity. makarios is a great organization and if you are looking for something to get behind. i would highly recommend it. i didn't take many pictures, i was a little busy with a pick axe, but i know a lot of the other team members did so maybe i will get some up soon.

playing with the kids at the park for "cara time."

the whole gang plus garrett, anne and ashley.