We saw BIG CAT!!!

Last night we were in a restaurant and Ross said, "That's Big Cat." One last famous sighting from our new favorite show October Road!

We did it!

I, Vanessa Houk & my husband, Ross Houk...are officially home owners (or will be in 30 years) of a house we haven't seen! Texas, here we come!

Homesick for China

Well, this will be my first Christmas in 4 years to be in the states. Although I am grateful to be with my family, I am incredibly homesick for my other home in China. I was SO excited when on youtube today I found a performance that I was at last New Year. This is the Mongolian song that made me famous...but with some other girls singing it...enjoy it, it's beautiful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax8VnsUKhmU&feature=related

Shoot...I'de do that any day!

true story: last night we were at a party and this girl is talking about her interior decorating client stories...she said, "one time I had this lady have a break down b/c she couldn't figure out how to put her son's clothes away in the drawers." Then she said, "Lady, I don't get paid $100 an hour to put your son's underwear away." With a total look of shock on my face, I turned to my friend Dan who also heard the conversation and said, "I'de put underwear away all day for $100 an hour...I might even wipe her son't bootie all day for that price." He strongly agreed. Some people.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1157140672

Let's Try this again....Best Wedding Dance Ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT56YizyR2o

Ross' Surprise HIP HOP DANCE BIRTHDAY!

Ross 28th birthday was on Wednesday night and I planned a surprise HIP HOP birthday party for him. We went out to eat with Stephen & Lisa and then went back to Brian's house for 'cake'. As soon as we walked in the door, the music started playing and all of our crazy friends who were decked out in their hip hop gear came out in a line dancing at the top of the stairs. Ross quickly put on his costume and the party continued...

Here's Lauren & Kevin!

We had an instructional video--but mostly, we just free styled.

Becca & Ed. The wife beater crew.

Here's the whole thug gang.

this random guy who we didn't know showed up with his boom box!

I can only hope my first wedding dance will be like this...

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&realattid=0.1&attid=0.1.0.1&disp=attd&view=att&th=11688f30cd0fe645

My Brother Thinks We're Rednecks!

Shortly after we made our last purchase (see previous post) my brother sends me this picture in a email with the caption "Redneck Guest Bedroom." Who wouldn't want to stay in our new camper when they come visit us in huntsville?

I'm a Sucker...

Just when we got down to 2 cars in the family....

Yesterday we were driving down to Denver to see Ross' mom and Ross turns to me and says, "Can I ask you a question?" (He has never asked me to ask a question before). Then he asks if we can go by the house in Littleton one last time to see his dream 4 door 1966 International Harvestor Pick Up. He had one of these trucks back in high school and ever since he can't stop talking about how badly he wants another one when he's older. Being that we were moving and extremely 'stuff' conscious, I figured it was safe to just look so I said, "sure." We had been by this truck multiple times b/c it's in a neighborhood pretty close to where Ross lived in high school. Ross has had his eye on this thing for over 10 years and had even talked with the old man who is the original owner about 8 years ago. Since then, he has never had the courage to go to the door but yesterday was different.

He went up to the door while I sat in the car and an older lady opened the door. Ross explained that he loves the truck and had talked with her husband about it many years ago. She then told him that her husband had passed away in May and she has been wanting to get rid of the truck but doesn't know where to start b/c it's not worth anything (or so she thought--Ross pretty much looks for these everyday on ebay and they always go for a couple thousand dollars in bad condition). Now, Ross is about the luckiest guy I know...the fact that he finally asks about the truck and the old man had just bit the dust is sad, but very lucky.

Anyways, to make a long story short....Ross ended up dealing with her sons later in the afternoon and offered $400 (Thats 40 $10 bills!)and it was a done deal. Can we go a little further with the 'lucky'? Ross is such a freak, he seriously would have paid like $6000 for his dream truck in perfect condition. Thank God he didn't! Now we have another 'project' and Ross has his dream car so he will never have to buy another one! (cross your fingers). I'm a pretty good wife if you ask me....how could I resist--it's his birthday!

Here's some pictures and some great things about the truck:

-The guy was the original owner, he got every bell and whistle that came on the darn thing, the paint is original, there isn't a rust spot to be seen (ok, maybe a few small spots), it has a wood-grain dash, it has 72,000 original miles....and THEY THREW IN THE CUSTOM CAMPER for free!

HECK OF A DEAL!

Getting our tree

Since there was absolutely no cooking to be done this Turkey Day at the Houks, we went to get our Christmas tree! There hasn't been a lot of snow yet this year, so we hiked instead of our normal snowmobiling. Our friends, Kallie & Steve, went with us. Here's the pictures...
Ross before we killed our tree!

Kallie, Steve & Tucker with their tree.

Hiking out!

Dragin it down the mountain!

Posing for a photo on Meadow Mtn.

Finished Product!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Ross & I went to check out Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend as a last minute "I have to see this before I leave Colorado" type trip. It was really beautiful.

Hairball

Today I was showing Ross Google Images to show him how I come up with images for my blogs....I told him you can find a funny picture for just about anything. So, we went there and I said, "pick any word." He said, "hairball." I typed in hairball and among the first pictures was this one and he said, "Gross, look at that guy pulling a hairball out of his mouth." Ross, "That is Hillary Clinton."

I found this on Facebook..

Can I even tell you why I love and miss this girl?

just stop talking now..GLEN BECK

That was the catchy slogan on one of the political talk radio shows on 105.5 which I listened to every minute in the car for the past year....until....they changed the station to Oldies a few days ago. I'm so hooked to talk radio, listening to music in the car seems so boring! I guess I will have to live with NPR until I move to TX.

Judge Judy

So, today I was at the gym trying to entertain myself by reading a book on the workout machine---that got old real fast. I mean, Judge Judy was on the TV...with that kind of drama and justice, a workout is bound the fly on by. So, there I was watching Judge Judy and getting totally wrapped up in a drugie cousin bringing a lawsuit against his cousin for hitting him during an intervention and breaking his face....when....a lady walks up to the T.V. looks at me and motions that she is going to change it. I mean, I was the only one watching any one of the 5 TVs. Every other TV had sports or the stock market....and she had to change the JUDGE! Being the "walk all over me" person that I am, I just kinda shrugged and waved like "Who Me? I'm not watching Judge Judy."

smelly office....

So, I have been having major Body Odor Self Consciousness at work lately---but only in one part of the office--when I'm at my desk I feel as if I smell powder fresh. At the same time, an office mate is continually complaining about how this one guys' office lets off a really bad odor--she has asked me to order all kinds of discrete air fresheners to put around the door to his office. Then one day I just brought it up to her that I felt I needed to change deodorants or something b/c I always feel like I smell when I'm packing things up in this one part of the office. Today, she was helping me wrap and discovered she gets the same body odor feeling when in this part of the office. Coincidentally, this guy's office is the only thing near this "body odor complex" part of the office. We decided this boy has a major problem that is invading the office and making clean people feel nasty dirty. What do you think?

Fat Camp

So, I joined the gym again for my closing winter months in Vail. I've been trying out some of the classes to see if they can jump start this rump shaker.

Today I went to a class called "Power Lunch Boot Camp." Ok, BIG MISTAKE. First of all I walk in and no one is there expect the instructor who is a cross between extremely skinny and body builder. One other girl showed up and we started class. It was the worst experience. It was like high school sports punishment x10. As I was doing push ups, squats, running around the track and suicide sprints, evil thoughts were coming into my head, memories of high school sports were coming back to haunt me and all I wanted to do was get out. Finally when the crazy instructor was telling us to put one hand on the basketball and the other on the floor and try to do push ups. I said, "I'll see ya'll later" and walked out. After leaving the gym, I called Ross and told him I went to Fat Camp and failed.

I realized today that I could careless if I ever "sprint" again in my lifetime. I'm an old lady and I am looking for exercise to be fun or at least bareable.

More later on other gym experiences.....

Chinese National Team vs. Texas A&M (women)

So, I went to my first American sporting event in many, many years...good 'ol basketball game at Reed. But here's the crazy deal...it was the female Chinese National Team vs. Texas A&M women's team. Who would have thought? It was crazy!!! The Chinese community of Bryan/College Station was out in full force....wearing red, with China flags and chanting like crazy. It was so fun. Unfortunately, the Chinese team lost by a couple points...but it was actually a really good game...neck and neck the whole way. 中国队，加油！

Halloween

So as you all know...Wednesday was Halloween. Some of you may be thinking, Kelly, you're 26, you shouldn't be dressing up anymore...but hey...I was helping out at the Fall Festival...anything for the kids! By the way, I recommend helping out at those deals to anyone...because you will see the CUTEST kids EVER. Oh my goodness...there were Buzz Lightyears, Little Aggie football players, mermaids, Mulan, Snow White, cowboys...adorable! I will show you some pics! (For the record I don't think L May stood a chance against the HULK!)

Salmon Jumping the falls

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video HostingThis is by far the coolest thing I have ever seen in all my days. Huge salmon jumping out of the water up a large falls....truly beating themselves bloody to mate in the place they were born & then die. This video shows a few of them jumping...little suckers were kinda hard to catch on camera...below is a picture of the falls they were jumping.

My Loyal Customer

So, guess who is my loyal customer? You guessed it, Trista! She bought more of my greeting cards today-8 to be exact. I got to meet her little man too! Gosh, I lead such an exciting life. I can't believe I'm off to Huntsville...I'll be blogging about how I met a famous inmate!

Vision San Diego

I got to spend a few days in the beautiful San Diego, CA. I went there for work, on a vision tour for possible future partnerships with churches there. It was a refreshing, encouraging and life-giving time (minus getting up at 3am on Monday and Wednesday =) There are people there planting churches among all different walks of life. San Diego is incredibly diverse, there is one area that in an 8 mile radius, there are over 40 languages spoken in the home. Crazy...beautiful. The last day there we went to the beach to hear from some surfers that are doing church plants among the surfing community...cool, huh? It turned out that one of the church planters used to be in one of my most favorite punk rock bands, Dogwood. I'm pretty sure I had an insane crush on him in high school...but he's married and has kids. Aside from the beautiful scenery and great weather, my favorite thing there was definitely the diversity. When you see all different people from all walks on life and all different countries...I think you just see the beauty of the Lord. I hope to make it out there again sometime in the near future. I won't mind living there either. =)

TAG your man

I got taged by Diana...
1. Who is your man? Richard Ross-yes, I married a Dick!
2. How long have you been together? married 2, dated 1...so, 3
3. How long dated? 1 yr
4. How old is your man? 28 on Nov. 28th
5. Who eats more? Ross--I try to feed him too much so he will gain a little weight--it never works.
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did.
7. Who is taller? me ...now our kids stand some chance to not be giants
8. Who sings better? totally me...maybe it is b/c I am always singing...it's like a game in the morning to see what song I will wake up with in my head...Ross does not get songs stuck in his head--is that weird?
9. Who is smarter? Ross, I went to school for longer but I think Ross is a genius...He really knows a lot and is always learning...he is always looking for a challenge with his mechanical skills and tackles things rarely tried before.
10. Whose temper is worse? We're both pretty even tempered, but I definately get more moody and don't talk.
11. Who does the laundry? Me...I'm tall and no one is allowed to touch my clothes...if one gets into the dryer and shrinks, it's seriously the end of the world. Plus, Ross' clothes are greasy and have to be washed with a can of coke to get the grease out.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Ross...it's even his job to chase after the bears who get into our trash!
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? if you are looking at the bed, I sleep on the left of our full size bed...our room is so small, I'm actually on the side that touches the wall.
14. Who pays the bills? Me. If I don't just do it, I get all stressed out about it.
15. Who is better with the computer? me. Ross has to look at the keys to type...I told him to take a class and he thinks looking at the keys is just fine.
16. Who mows the lawn? our land lord won't buy us a lawn mower, so we don't mow it. :) Every once in a while, Ross go at it with the weed wacker.
17. Who cooks dinner? i do. Ross insists sometimes but usually it takes so long that I prefer to do it.
18. Who drives when you are together? Ross.
19. Who pays when you go out? We both dig it out of our wallets.
20. Who is most stubborn? I asked Ross and he had no reasons, he just said I was.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Ross
22. Whose parents do you see the most? It's probably about the same. Ross' mom lives in Denver and we only see her 1 day at a time. My parents come up from TX for a month at a time.
23. Who kissed who first? Ross kissed me first.
24. Who asked who out? He asked me out...I had no idea.
25. Who proposed? Ross.
26. Who is more sensitive? me
27. Who has more friends? Ross, I cannot tell you how many phone calls he gets per day and how many people just stop by our house to hang out with Ross.
28. Who has more siblings? me
29. Who wears the pants in the family? me...no, we usually either agree or I can't decide and let Ross make the decision.

I tag Erin, Rachel & Lacy...

Washington State

Ross and I had a great time when we went to Washington state the the beginning of October. We took a tour around the whole state....here are our favorite moments:

Having an Orange Mocha Frap at the very first Bucks in Seattle!
Meeting Ross' grandma Neva, grandpa Bill & Uncle Mel in Aberdeen
The Pacific Ocean....my first sites were from Callie's bedroom...I said, "I C DA SEA!"
We got to see really big trees in the HOH rainforest in Olympia Nat. Park

The pacific...weird mountains in the sea along with gigantic drift wood.

The Fall Colors Ferry Boats- Mt. Baker in the background

The Sunrise on Orcas Island

The starfish on Orcas Island

Ferry Boats!!! We kinda have a thing for Ferry Boats (or we have a thing for Greys and therefore like to say that).

Crossing the Canadian Boarder--I've never seen a sign like this, I had to take a picture! The boarder crossing officials totally sweated us b/c we were taking pictures--we had to show them all the pictures on our camera. I'm so sure we would come at night to take pictures of the boarder crossing.

JoshWA at his college in Vancouver, BC
Callie & Ross at Bellingham Bay, WA

Stay tuned for my Salmon video.

If you want to see more pictures go to: http://www.rossandvanessa.myphotoalbum.com/