We had our first visitor in Houston last week and we had a really good time! Paula arrived on Monday afternoon and we took her to Chuy's, one of our new favorite restaurants, for dinner that night. We enjoyed great food and then headed out to show her around some of the cool old neighborhoods in Houston. On Tuesday night the three of us went to the Rodeo and Keith Urban concert--a very cool, cultural, fun experience.
The Houston Rodeo is an event that lasts three weeks every March. They have a carnival, rodeo, and concert every night during this three week period, not to mention tons of incredibly unhealthy southern food. As we entered, we were greeted by a row of about 30 barbecue-turkey leg-fried everything-rib joints. So, after we made it through all of the food, we went into the stadium for the rodeo and concert. I had never been to a rodeo before and I had such a great time watching all of the talented riders and ropers do their thing. We watched the buckin' broncos, calf roping, horse racing, and the 4H kids trying to catch calves to raise money for their clubs. My favorite event is called Muttin' Bustin'--5 and 6-year olds riding on the back of a sheep competing for a belt buckle for having the longest ride. It was so cute to watch these little kids bear down and hold on for dear life as the sheep were set loose.
The Keith Urban concert was awesome as well. I haven't heard very much from his newest album but he played quite a few older songs that I was familiar with (ok, so maybe I knew every word...) and it was fun to hear some of his new stuff too. Lance's favorite part was watching Keith on the guitar. He really is a great musician and performer. It's safe to say we both enjoyed the concert. Thanks for the tickets, Paula!
We went to the mall on Wednesday night for dinner and then on Thursday we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch some basketball and enjoy some tasty wings. Paula left early on Friday morning and we wish she could have stayed longer but we sure enjoyed having her here!
Friday night Lance and I volunteered from 7pm to midnight at the LDS Cannery. I was excited and curious to see what the night would have in store but I enjoyed it far more than I could have imagined. The Cannery in Houston is purely dedicated to making peanut butter so we were assigned jobs as part of an assembly line and we got right to work. We worked for the better part of the 5 hours screwing on lids wearing aprons, gloves, hairnets, and ear plugs. To me, it's not so much the work that we did but the notion that we sacrificed a sliver of our time to perform a service for those who are not as blessed as we are. I should volunteer more often.
Saturday night Lance got tickets to go see one of his favorite bands play-Trust Company. They were only playing in two cities as a supporting act and Houston just happened to be one of them. The concert was held in a small smokers bar so I didn't go, but Lance had a good time. The band only recently got back together and released a new album after years of separation so Lance was glad he was able to go.
Well, I think that about sums up our last week. Sorry there aren't any pictures...I'm really not any good at remembering to take them. I'll work on that :)
You guys are brave doing the wet-pack cannery! I've never ventured past the dry-pack. Hope you are doing well!
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