a place to land

rippkes relocated

2010-08-08T17:22:00.026-05:00

Well, we made it! The Rippkes are now Nashvillians. The summer has flown by in a blur of packing, moving, Iowa, family, working, packing, moving, Tennesee, unpacking, starting a business, working, repeat. Actually, only repeat the work part. We're finally settled, unpacked, and finding Nashville to be a very easy place to call home.

We tried to spend as much of our last couple of weeks in Corpus with the wonderful family we gained while there. Saying goodbye to our friends, jobs, and church was so bittersweet. We knew that it was time for us to move on and start something new, but we were so so so blessed in Corpus that it would've been easy to stay comfortable exactly the way things were. It was time for change though. Time to get closer to home, time to venture to a new city, time to set some new goals, time for Rippke Design! But we'll get to that in a bit...

After wrapping things up in Corpus, we spent two days on the road headed towards Iowa. We hadn't seen our families much over the last three years, and decided that since we weren't in any rush we'd head home for a bit to join in some of the summer festivities. We started out with my little brother's high school graduation...and we didn't really stop there. My sister, grandpa, and close family friend all celebrated birthdays in the first couple weeks of us being back. Fortunately we got to see some of the good friends we hadn't seen since before we left for Texas three years ago. Some even longer. I got to spend some time with my "best friend since I was five" and her two little boys. Who are, by the way, the coolest kids ever. I also got to catch up with my best friend since middle school, and even some old teachers. It always amazes me where everyone ends up after all this time.

Oh, and Nate and I celebrated our four year anniversary this past June. Four years! Crazy.

We spent the beginning of July out at the family farm, and up in the twin cities. Nate had a show with the Sons of the Republic up in St. Paul...something that hadn't happened in over three years, but definitely needs to be a more regular occurrence. We always have a great time with the guys. And who doesn't love the twin cities?

Out at the farm my dad taught me to drive the '64 John Deer. So, I'm basically ready to be a farmer. Ok maybe not, but I didn't crash it, stall it, or run it off any roads, so I think that counts for something right? We hadn't seen Iowa NOT covered in snow in three years...it's lovely. I highly recommend taking a trip to Iowa if you've never been. But go during spring or something, not during winter. Unless that's your thing.

Unlike our move to Corpus, we had help this time. Awesome help. My mom, grandma, and papa loaded up the minivan and followed our Penske South! We spent a few days unloading, unwrapping, washing, organizing, shopping, and eating. Lots of yummy eating. Nashville has pretty much anything you could possibly need. Or want. Which has proven to be a weakness for Nate and I. You'd think living just a few miles from Dave Ramsey's radio studio would be a constant reminder to buckle down. But there are shows, and farmer's markets, and shopping, and tons of food, and and and...well, like I said, weakness. But we're getting better. The ridiculous heat has kept us inside for most of the time since we've been here. Which is probably helping.

Now, back to the business part of our time here! Part of the reason we decided to relocate was to expand our wedding invitation business, Izzy and the Bean Design, and to venture out as freelancers/form our own graphic and web design firm, Rippke Design.

And we are thrilled.

Thrilled to be working together. Thrilled to be working in this city. Thrilled for what's ahead! We recently launched our new site, and are busy at work refining our goals for Rippke Design. Our third weekend here was spent attending our first Nashville bridal show. It was a great way to meet local couples, and introduce ourselves to several of the other wedding vendors from the area.

We're finding that we like it here. Our friends, the Thackers, are helping us get adjusted, and we've had some luck finding a church to call home. Once it cools off a bit I suspect our neighbors will be out and about more. And hopefully, now that we're closer to Iowa, we'll be around more often and miss out on less.

And maybe have a few more visitors? Hmm? Yes, yes you should come visit. Now then, pictures, lots of pictures. This is what happens when you don't keep up on this sort of thing...

Our last weekend in Corpus.

Our last day in Corpus. Lunch with the City Church crew.

My Corpus lady friends. :)

We miss these guys.

Saying farewell to the City Church family.

Our Corpus scrapbook. Thanks Mendy! :)

Packed up and leaving Corpus.

Heading to Iowa!

Iowa.

Breakfast at the Grove Cafe - Ames, Iowa

One mighty big pancake. Grove Cafe.

My bestest friend since I was five. And her cuuuuuuute lil boys.

Lil bro's graduation day.

Gpa and Gma Drapal.

Our anniversary.

Sons of the Republic at the Turf Club.

Yep, I married a rock star.

Sons getting some post show fried goodness at Mickey's Diner.

Dad teaching me how to drive the John Deer.

Swinging out at the farm with papa and my sis.

Dad, sis, and me on the tractor.

All the kiddos.

Nate's parents, Nate, my mom, Cathy, Anne, and Grace. Enjoying the evening out at the farm.

Visiting the Dass family in Sioux City, Iowa.

Heading to Tennessee! Izzy and Bean on the drive down. They sleep the WHOLE way. Which is fantastic.

Heading into downtown Nashville.

My new Waffle House mug. Thanks Nate. :)

Hanging out downtown Franklin, the suburb we live in.

Took our first trip to Grimey's.

Izzy loves our new home in Franklin.

So does Bean. Laziest.

Took a trip to the Yazoo brewery here in town. That's some mighty fine pale ale in that growler.

Nate setting up at the wedding fair!

aaaaaaaand we're outta here

2010-04-11T21:53:00.008-05:00

Don't worry, we're not leaving the internet (that'd be the day)...but we are leaving Texas. Yep, the Rippkes are on the move! We've loved our time in Corpus, and are going to miss everyone like crazy (seriously, I'm already stressing about it a bit), but it's time for us to move a little closer to home and test out the waters of being full-time freelance graphic designers.

Where are you going you ask? Well, we're heading back home to Iowa for a bit this spring to spend time with family and friends (wooo!) before heading to Nashville to start the next chapter. We've decided on Nashville for several reasons. It gets us about 10 hours closer to home which will be a wonderful change. It's also a larger city, and somewhere we could see ourselves setting up design shop, and possibly settling long term.

So, we're five weeks out as of tomorrow. Time is going by so quickly already. I know we need to to start putting to do lists together, sorting through all of our stuff (hopefully minimizing it), and maybe start putting some solid plans together...but we're having way more fun hanging out with people and pretending like they're coming along with us (but seriously, you are right?).

We'll be sad to say goodbye to good friends, our loving church family, and our wonderful jobs. But, while we know there is a lot of change coming up, we're excited and hopeful for it all...plus, we can keep in touch on Facebook right? Thank goodness for the internet...

aaaaaaaand we're back

2010-04-05T21:35:00.028-05:00

Take a trip with me if you will....back to, oh, say winter. You know, that time of year about four months ago, when it was chilly, when there was snow on the ground up North...when I was actually updating this thing. Yeah, sorry. I'm back now though (thanks to a reminder from my dear friend Emily). We've been a tad bit busy, and exciting things are happening in our little family.

Let's start back in January...

Well, I took my first trip to South Padre and the Mexican/Texas border. Nate had already been last year with his grandma, but it was a new adventure for me. Karina and her family (some seriously fabulous people by the way) invited us down to the valley to celebrate her birthday. They've been in South Texas for years and years, and are no strangers to the border city of Nuevo Progreso, so I was thankful for their guidance throughout the city...let's just say it's a little out of my comfort zone. The party never stops with the Paris clan though. And I can't complain. We continued the party the following weekend here in Corpus. Here are some of the pictures...

As always we were welcomed with a hug, a cold beverage, and enough delicious homemade food for an army.

Nate getting ready to head out for the day.

Fun with tourist photo spots. :)

Mmmm wanna wannas in South Padre.

South Padre Island.

Barbara, Chase, and Karina enjoying the view.

Ed and Nate.

Driving into Mexico.

Nuevo Progreso, MX.

A visor with built in hair...classic.

Totally should have bought this.

Big hats.

Tiny hats.

Snackin' on the street.

Apparently they were yummy. Nate is braver than I...

So was Chase.

Karina and Consuelo.

A dinner of red fish and flounder.

Back in the states...

in time for some jello poke cake. yuuuuum!

Karina and her parents during bday weekend two - Corpus Christi

The boys. Nate and Cory.

Soon to be married, Taylor and Kayci. Our newest Corpus friends. :)

Mmmm. Jello poke cake and coconut strawberry cake.

Brenda (Chase's mom), Shannon, and Cory.

And us. :) I look super short.

FEBRUARY

Alright, so now, February. The man of the house turned 29 this year. Yep, that's right, Nate's almost 30. Get ready for a major party in about 11 months. It also happened to be Super Bowl weekend, so we had a joint party over at Kayci and Taylor's new place.

Karina spoiled Nate with homemade cheesecake and bailey's. :) Mmm.

And looooads of topping options for the cheesecake.

Chase and Karina lookin cute.

Cory and Shannon celebrating with us.

Towards the end of February we celebrated Nate and his coworker's design achievements at the ADDY awards. Spending time with the Kailo crew is always a fun time...especially when there's a photo booth and 80's props involved.

See...

Um, awesome.

February also had some cute and lazy pup pup moments. Just in case you thought you might get a post on here without a dachshund photo...

Beanie Ween. She put herself like this by the way.

The snuggliest.

MARCH

Almost caught up. Moving on.

We made a trip up to San Antonio at the beginning of the month to see Dave Ramsey. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome. Even in our nosebleed seats (that's what happens when you're late, whops).

Dave Ramsey Live

The borrower is slave to the lender...it's right there in Proverbs.

The event got us inspired and when we were offered a painting job we jumped all over it. :)

During their spring break my family took a trip to San Diego. My sister sent me this picture of my dad, and I am still laughing...

The weekend before Easter City Church hosted an Easter festival in the park behind the church. The weather was perfect, and we had a great turn out. We are very blessed to have such a wonderful church family. They've been an awesome support system, and our family away from home.

Angi and Valor. :)

Nate and Pastor Dave.

The kiddos hunting for eggs.

Ah, water balloons.

And music by the fabulous Steven Hansen

The following day our good friends invited us out to Kingsville for the air show...being a jet pilot might be a tad more adventurous than being a graphic designer...

Nate looking sharp.

The trainer jet

Blue Angels 5 and 6

My first air show. :)

since we don't send xmas letters - the 2009 edition

2010-01-15T11:33:00.021-06:00

As has been the case for the past three years, Nate and I (and both pup pups) jumped in the car and headed home to Ames, Iowa for a nice long Christmas vacation. Fortunately we headed North between storms, and the roads were fabulous for our two day trip. But once we got there it didn't take long for mother nature to start burying us in a winter wonderland.

All-in-all we had some 20 inches, but being snowed in (literally) with family on Christmas Eve is never a bad thing...not with our families anyways. :) And with the endless supply of food that both of our mom's provide there's no chance of going hungry...or becoming even slightly unfull for that matter.

Of course the two weeks flew by, and leaving always sucks. But knowing that we'll be home again in a mere three and a half months made it a little easier. Hopefully by May some of this snow will be gone.

The Lord has blessed us with this wonderful time spent with family, a new church home and friends here in Corpus, and good health in 2009. We see exciting things on the horizon for 2010, and we hope the New Year finds you well.

Me waist deep in snow - Sioux City, IA

Heading down Highway 20 on our way from Ames to Sioux City.

Nate and I with our build-a-bears we made for Toys for Tots. I think this was everyone's favorite part of Grace's "gift of giving" Christmas this year.

My bro and sis and me.

Grace, Nate, Gma, Papa, Me, Dad, Mom, Emily, Emily B, and Andrew all posing with our animals we built.

Grace packing up the toys for the kiddos.

Another part of Grace's Christmas celebration was picking out kids to buy books for at Barnes and Noble.

Gma choose a classic for a lil' 1 year old girl.

Buying dog toys/treats for all the puppies of the family and the animal shelter. Dad and Gma bought for our Izzy girl. Spoiled pups.

Nate and me with Gma and Papa.

Arts and crafts time! Coloring the ornaments we got from Gma and Papa.

Every year my mom makes an ornament with the kiddos at the preschool she teaches at and gives it to the family. This year's is a fabulous silver and sequined ball.

My brother and his girlfriend, Em B., have a thing for animal print...these are the matching Pjs they got. Oh yes, they are ladies Pjs.

We spend a good portion of our time together telling ridiculous stories and laughing until we're all crying and holding our stomaches.

This trip home was no exception...

Nate is a giant.

My dad's parents. Gma and Gpa.

She makes the BEST cookies in the world. I ate them until I was literally sick.

My great-grandparent's (dad's side) marriage certificate.

Nate and I enjoying Christmas at his parent's house.

The Rippke clan. Becki, me, Nate, Gma Jo, Erin, Jamie, Byron, and pup pup Jack.

Siblings. :)

The whole fam playing apples to apples

Playing with Nate's new toy his parent's gave him.

The Dass family...the Sioux City branch of the Family.

Nate and his dad.

The deer in Grace's backyard.

Dad and Em on New Year's. We had a quiet evening in waiting for the ball to drop.

Woo party.

Em just graduated from her esthetician and massage classes (she's fabulous by the way). She also waxes ears...here are my dad's...haha.

a south texas hallothankgivxmas

2009-12-05T12:58:00.001-06:00

We hope everyone's halloween and thanksgiving were fabulous! And that your Christmas season is finding you well. We've had a busy fall/winter...with lots and lots of pictures to do the story telling. We're so thankful to have been blessed with wonderful friends down here in South Texas.

But don't you worry Iowa, we'll be home soon! And a very happy birthday to my dad!! Woo!

Oh, and it snowed here yesterday. SNOW. Yes, all the way down here in Corpus Christi, TX. It may have only been a minute or so of actual flurries, but it still counts. So we'll start out with how the pups are dealing with the cold weather...

Lazily, of course. Izzy's got to stay all wrapped up. Since it's never been turned on, our heater stinks too much to use. It's a little chilly in here. :)

I had it out for my shoulder the other day and Bean discovered the heating pad. She loves it so much I kept it out for her to snuggle with. What doxie doesn't love to be warm?

Carol and Mark Scott were kind enough to invite the Kailo Communications gang and their spouses over for a fabulous holiday dinner.

The Kailo team. Nate's got fantastic co-workers. :)

Our little tree is all ready for Christmas! The dog stockings are hanging on the table under the tree...you can't really see them.

We had a church potluck/outside service and I made my first batch of pasta salad. Mmm.

Lazy Saturday. Too cute. I had to include this.

Our wonderful friends Karina and Chase (and both of their families) invited us to join them for Thanksgiving. Chase bought and moved into a gorgeous house just in time to host the celebration. This is us in his backyard with the grapefruit tree.

Fresh grapefruit from the tree in the yard.

Strait from tree to glass...doesn't get much fresher.

In goes the fried turkey! This was Nate and my first fried turkey experience.

Chase with his fried turkey, Karina with her first ever roasted turkey. Delicious!

Getting everything ready to eat.

So much food. SO good. We had EVERYTHING. Mmm.

Everyone around the table.

Video chatting with my grandparents and family back in Iowa on Thanksgiving. Haha, I didn't warn them I was taking this. :) Sorry...

Getting ready for the A&M/UT game. Can't have a party without queso! Seriously. I am addicted to queso.

Day two of eating/celebrating was Chase's bday. Started out the evening with crab legs in the backyard.

The tallest and shortest at the party. So cute.

Karina's grandma Evelyn. :)

The grandkiddos.

A cute little package from my mama. :)

I mentioned that Chase got a new home, but so did Karina. And it is CUTE! She hosted a Halloween eve housewarming party - and made a TON of fabulous food.

Our last minute, low budget Halloween costumes. :) Since I couldn't find the bright yellow hair I needed to be the Lichtenstein painting girl I just went as "pop art."

Nate as "the captain's quarter." I love this. Gotta love an abstract costume.

A toast, to halloween and some seriously awesome friends.

Lizzie as the fabulous Audrey Hepburn.

Karina made us more food.

Chase and Karina, the "cookie scout" and the boy scout.

Out people watching at Aria.

Probably my favorite...

We got a nice one too though. :)

Not sure what Nate is so nervous about.

Since we're eating at home a lot more, we're trying to make it fun at least. Good thing Brooke and Wil are so much fun...and conveniently live across the hall...and have the cutest baby EVER. This night we made homemade pizzas.

It actually ended up being a log harder than we thought haha.

Annsley laughing super hard even though she was sooo tired. Such a cutie!

don't even worry about the umbrella

2009-10-26T16:50:00.005-05:00

I don't know if this officially ended the drought or not but it certainly flooded our yard, parking lot, and roads back to work within a matter of minutes...and if they actually had basements down here it probably would've been bad news.

Now if only it were the weekend we could've snuggled up with the pups and a nice cup of tea...

i'll take mine scattered, covered, and pickled please

2009-09-30T09:49:00.047-05:00

Well, we made it back from Nashville in one piece. What an excellent city to spend a week in. For those of you who haven't been to Nashville, I think if you mixed Austin, Omaha, and Kansas City you'd end up with something pretty similar. Completely unique, but similarly comfortable. If you haven't been to all of those cities, well, then I can't help you much. But anywho, the landscape is absolutely beautiful. It's not quite in the mountains, but it's definitely hilly. You know, like you'd want to make sure your bike brakes were in really good shape before cycling your way around the city. And even though it rained almost the entire time we were there, it was still lovely.

When we got to TN we spent the afternoon in Memphis. It started pouring though, so our visit got cut a little short. But we managed to make it to a rather quiet Beale Street and Sun Studio before we had to make our way East.

Our friends, Paul and Lisa, moved to Nashville right around the same time we left Iowa and they were kind enough to show us around some of their favorite parts of the city. Nate and Paul recorded some music (why the heck not, it is Nashville after all), and I do believe that Nate now has himself a "long distance band." I know we're both looking forward to hearing the new tracks.

Most of our time was spent driving around exploring the city. We went down music row and Nate showed me where the label he (38th Parallel) used to be on. And I finally got to meet his friend Anita, from back in the 38th days (and his Springboard Entertainment internship).

The highlight of the trip (for me anyways) was definitely our trip to Financial Peace Plaza to watch the Dave Ramsey Show live. This has been something I've wanted to do since we started listening to the show over a year ago. It was pretty spectacular. Everyone that worked there was super welcoming. There was a little cafe, and an area where Nate and I could hang out and watch the show for a bit. I was like a geeky, giddy, little kid. I admit, I was ridiculous. But then...I got to meet Dave. Yep, we met him. It was awesome. Really really really awesome. Best part of the trip.

The second highlight of the trip...Waffle House...mmmm diner food.

On our way home from Nashville we met up with Nate's mom and sister for a family wedding just outside of Dallas. I got to meet some of Nathan's family members I hadn't ever met before. I'm still working on everyone's names...but I think I'm getting it down. We were glad to get to spend the weekend with everyone. Getting to see family is always nice. :) Especially when it's for a giant party.

Upon our arrival back to the real world (Corpus Christi), Nate and I had some dachshund business to take care of. Izzy had her second round of shots. We avoided any allergic reactions this time so it looks like splitting the vaccines will probably work for her from now on. Bean had a slightly more major vet trip this past week. She had some baby teeth pulled that had refused to fall out on their own over the last year and a half or so. Not exactly pleasant for her...but necessary none the less. The meds of course made her a little slower than usual, but they didn't stop her from running strait to a bone she'd secretly hidden away the instant she got home. We put a quick end to that. Apparently two holes in her mouth doesn't even slow her down...

Beanie with her IV bandage.

So sleepy and woosie from anesthesia.

On the road...a super old gas pump somewhere in the Eastern part of TX.

Rain greeted us as we entered Tennessee.

Beale Street is pretty quiet on a Sunday morning.

Sun Studio. Memphis, TN

Nate checking out some Elvis and Johnny Cash in Sun Studio.

Downtown Nashville.

Some interesting buildings downtown.

My first Waffle House trip. They made me wear a hat since I was "Waffle House virgin."

Nate wore one too so I wasn't the only one. :)

I'm a regular now...

Mmmm, diner coffee.

Scattered, smothered, covered, chucked, and pickled. We owe this idea to our fabulous neighbor, Wil. Genius.

Our Waffle House date. The first of what I assume will be many...

Nashville is green and beautiful. :)

Delicious ham, pineapple, and green olive pizza in Franklin, TN.

Nate and Anita (from Springboard Entertainment) at the Rose Pepper.

Pie n' pint night at the Family Wash. Good food, good live music, and good company.

Oh yeah. The highlight of the trip.

Nate watching Dave live at FPP.

Dave doing the radio show.

This was my favorite part of the trip.

Me and Dave. I was too chicken to ask for one when we met him...

Nate and I at the Opry Hotel.

Downtown Nashville.

Hanging out with Paul at 3 Crow Bar in East Nashville.

Same deal...

Best tobacco sign ever? Probably.

The most ridiculous album cover...and band name.

Nate at the Yazoo brewery in Nashville.

Nate and Paul enjoying a couple of pints of Yazoo.

Waiting for the reception to start (Rockwall, TX).

Me, Nate, and Nate's sis Jamie.

Nate, Me, Becki (my mother-in-law), and Jamie

Mashed potatoes in a martini glass. Mmmm.

i wonder how you'd log my bday as a star date...

2009-08-30T20:33:00.005-05:00

August has flown by for us down here. It seems like the weeks are going by faster and faster, and we are getting busier and busier. We shot the cover for the next issue of The One, which comes out in October. The main prop this time was an excellent old car. I wish I knew enough about cars to tell you what it is...but I don't...so you can just look at the pictures and take your best guess. We also took the magazine to two summer wedding fairs, and will be attending the winter one as well.

Annnd, it happened. I turned twenty-five. Ick. And it was on a Monday. Boo. But Nate threw me an excellent little birthday party. I had mentioned a while back that I wanted a spongebob and star trek birthday...and he totally delivered. You're never too old for spongebob.

Never.

And Cap't Picard, you're always welcome at my birthday parties.

We didn't get to celebrate for long though. Little Beanie ween managed to give us quite a scare and we spent most of my birthday evening in the ER vet clinic getting her leg/back checked out. Fortunately it was just a sprain or something and not her back. And it slowed her down for a grand total of about 19 seconds before she was back harassing her older sister...ugh, the crazy beast needs to take a chill pill.

Next month Nate and I are heading to Nashville for our first vacation (just the two of us) since our honeymoon. CAN NOT WAIT! It'll be my first time to the city, but I already know I'm going to love it. And yes, we will be making a trip to Financial Peace Plaza. Hopefully Dave Ramsey will be doing the show live that week. Feel free to let me know if you've got any must see/dos! We're starting to get our plans figured out.

Might as well start out with super cute pics of a dachshund...

Beanie ween taking a Sunday nap.

Ridiculous.

Nicki Bursae and I taking advantage of the photobooth at the wedding fair.

The car's proud parents.

The super cute cover couple, Marcos and Anna.

The cover was shot by Bellezza Photography

Trying to get a shot inside the car.

My chocolate birthday cake made by Karina. :) Thanks lady!! Yummy.

Nate threw me the spongebob/star trek bday I always wanted.

Complete with brie, champagne, and spongebob plates.

Bean scared at the ER, Nate being super bored.

And then taking it easy once home.

On the water out in Ingelside to celebrate the Texas A&M graduation.

The crew, minus the graduation girl. Oops.

Graduation girl. Congrats Ashley!

The grad announcements I designed for her. :)

Karina and Chase at the Hooks game. We went to celebrate Karina's new and fabulous JOB! Woooo for employment! And for good friends.

360 or bust...or get some stitches

2009-07-28T22:29:00.024-05:00

I'd have to sit and think about it for a bit, but most likely I'd conclude that the best part about living in Corpus Christi is the ability to go on vacation without having to travel more than an hour from your home. A swimmable beach is only about ten minutes from our apartment, although honestly neither Nate or I are huge friends of salt water. Buuut, fortunately for us we have spectacular friends...and, come to find out, they have a spectacular lake house. A lake house! Fresh water! It almost felt like Iowa...

We spent most of the day boating, eating, and meeting some new friends. Karina did have a bit of an accident and ended up needing stitches. :( But don't worry she totally completed her knee boarding 360 beforehand...so all in all it was a successful day. We are so thankful for our friends down here and their awesome families as well.

A couple of weeks ago Nate attended the "Voyage: A Journey Through Our Solar System" ribbon cutting ceremony and family star gazing night. The Voyage project is an educational scale model of our solar system. A one ten billionth scale model in fact. Space is craaaazy huge. During the morning celebration Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director for the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, lead a group of space enthusiasts (Nate included) down the bay front to each of the scale size planetary models where he explained their size, gravity, etc. in relation to each other using landmarks from around our city. I'm kind of bummed I missed out...Nate's been pretty pumped about space ever since.

Bean also wants to let you know it's hot down here right now. She got way too tired being out in the heat.

Really really tired...but really really cute. :)

The Carlisle lake house :) You'll notice the dock is no longer in the water...

Having so much fun on the boat.

Nate hanging out on the boat.

Cap't Terrel driving while Chase shows off his wake boarding skills.

Pretty lady Karina

So, apparently we're having a drought in Texas...

Karina sliced her foot while out on the boat and had to go get stitches :(

Our new friends Lizzie and John. Nate's fellow Corpus Christi beardmate.

My favorite from the evening.

The view from the house.

Ranger looking studly out on the boat.

Dr. Goldstein at the Voyage Solar System ribbon cutting

Dr. Goldstein teaching everyone about the solar system.

The first few of the planets. The rest literally take you all the way down the bay.

she's arrived!

2009-07-10T20:52:00.006-05:00

As promised here are some pics from Annsley's first 36 hours. :) She's pretty cute and snuggly. This is the best type of new neighbor! A huge congrats to Brooke and Wil!

Annsley MacLaine Spann, born July 9th at 10:51 am

9lbs 2 oz of cuteness!

Mama Brooke looking super cute. :)

Daddy Will who is super excited to be a dad. :)

Me meeting Annsley. :)

Nate meeting Annsley

not my chair, not my problem...but we do only have one bathroom...sorry

2009-07-07T14:53:00.023-05:00

This past week my family (8 of them anyways) came down for a visit. Of course time flew by and the six days were gone before I even knew it...although my gut has not forgotten. :) We eat a lot when we get together. Especially when my mom arrives with a tupperware of scotcheroos. And then makes the best banana bread I've ever had. Mmmm. Ate it so fast I didn't even get a picture of it...

But enough about food. We did more than just stuff our faces...it was actually a pretty relaxing time together. Nothing too caarraazzy (Em and Curty, enter lizard accent here), just lots of youtube, movies, game playing, and some time swimming in the pool and gulf.

Plus it was an excellent few days off work and away from the computer.

We miss you guys! Come visit again soon!

After they left we spent time with Brooke and Wil before baby Annsley's arrival. Buuuuut....as of this morning she's here! And I'm completely excited about my first visit to the hospital to meet her! Pictures coming soon... :)

Mm, yes, breaking out the peace sign.

A delicious family dinner at Carino's. Grace, my mom, and my dad.

Playing some Loaded Questions. Probably the best game ever. Oh, I also got to meet my lil bro's girlfriend, Emily B. (we call her Em B. since my sis is also Emily)

Izzy being super cute...Nate's not bad either. :)

Best 4h of July family picture ever.

Dad skim boarding...?

Em and Curtis with some excellent hair.

Staying a tad cooler in the shade. Gma Jones, me, my dad, my mom, and Grace.

The kiddos.

Swimming in the gulf.

So much good mexican food at La Playa. Mmm.

Cutie patooties, Curtis and my sis Emily.

Me and Brooke (and baby Annsley) at Rudy's.

Mmm BBQ. We eat a lot when my family's in town...

Bean getting so much lovin' from Emily B. and Andrew.

Hanging out with Brooke and Wil one last time before Annsley arrives. Wil's going to be a very serious dad...I can totally tell... :)

Don't look at Nate's cards. He's serious about his Phase 10.

Brooke (and Annsley) playing from the floor. She's going to kill me for this...haha...

Wil was totally the champ.

shoot a t-shirt up here rusty

2009-06-26T17:34:00.003-05:00

This week Nate and I were invited to join some of the good folks from AG|CM for a night of baseball over at Whataburger Field...up in one of the suites. We love the suites. It's definitely the best way to watch a baseball game. Especially when it's hot outside and there are hot dogs waiting for me in the air conditioning. :) So thank you to Ken and the crew for a fantastic evening!

A beautiful night for a game.

Nate watching the game.

Best seats in the house. :)

Mmmm nothing like a hot dog at a baseball game.

Whataburger Field

Bean being ridiculously cute. Had to grab the phone to snap this one.

everybody's working for the weekend

2009-06-21T20:46:00.018-05:00

Nate and I are having a string of fabulous weekends. Mostly in part to our fabulous friends Karina and Chase...and their awesome families. :) LC Rocks (probably the best 80's cover band ever) was in Corpus this weekend. We spent Friday night out with the Paris family living it up and dancing til our feet were sore...or in Karina's case bleeding and broken. Oops.

Saturday we spent another perfect day at Chase's dad's house lounging around the pool with more coronas, queso (I may have an addiction), and the BEST low cal margaritas ever. I need to get the recipe from Karina and post it up here for y'all to try. Seriously yummy. Thanks to Chase and Captain Ed (Karina's dad) we enjoyed a fried feast of red fish and chicken, and I got a lesson on frying stuff in your backyard. Yes, the chicken was for us Iowan non seafood eaters (thanks for thinking of us guys!). Although, I think Nate is developing a taste for red fish. He even ate the throat. The throat! Pretty impressed by his bravery.

Also, Happy father's day to my pops! Love you and see you in about a week! :)

The four of us at Aria.

Chase, Karina, and Karina's lovely parents - Ed and Barbara. Happy 25th anniversary Ed and Barbara! See you in the valley soon!!

Chase and Karina. :)

Some excellent 80's hair and wardrobe.

Karina dancing it up on stage. riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight ^ here. :)

Coy lounging in the pool.

Nate and me. Hutch snuck in the shot too.

Captain Ed and his fishing rod lighter.

Getting the oil going.

Cuties.

mmm hushpuppies.

and some french fries. mmm.

Karina and Juliana.

The girls.

Probably my favorite. Ha.

if we'd gotten married in the 70's

2009-06-19T19:58:00.014-05:00

Happy Anniversary to us! Woo hoo! Three years of what have actually been almost 100% wedded bliss. :) We've been very blessed.

We hadn't really had great "couple" pictures taken since our wedding, so we decided that to celebrate this year we wanted to do some sort of awesome editorial type shoot. Luckily for us we know THE BEST photographer...and she lives in our building...and she also happens to be an excellent friend. Her name is Nicki Bursae and incase you missed it a second ago, she is THE BEST! We couldn't be happier with the pictures.

Check out her work here. And hire her if you're in the Corpus Christi or South Texas area.Or anywhere actually...she travels. :) Doooo it. She also took these pictures of our little family last year.

LOVE. :)

Our favorite. Look how cute Nate is! Totally married a stud.

hehe. :)

Check it out. I have legs in this shot. You'd never know I'm 5' 2'' :)

It's a fact. Everyone looks cool in Elvis sunglasses.

Isn't she fabulous! SO glad to have these photos!

give me a floatie and a lime and i'm good to go

2009-06-09T23:45:00.020-05:00

June 9th already!? Actually it may be the 10th now...

This is the first time that I actually have memory of blogging about this date exactly a year ago...it's my Papa's birthday! Yay! Happy Birthday! Miss you and love you! Geesh, our time in Corpus is flying by. We just signed another year long lease today...

I guess that puts us here on this date next year too.

The beginning of June has been exciting around the studio. The latest issue of The One is out...and it's full of color! It's such a fun project to work on, and we're really excited about the buzz it's been getting around town. Oh, and next week it's my two year anniversary at the studio! Woo! Yay for jobs at excellent design firms!

Our weeks have continued to be busy with work, social events, and spending some time relaxing with friends. We spent last weekend up in Austin with Rachel (having a total blast), and then this weekend a group of ladies from Brooke's church threw a baby shower for her and baby Annsley. Just one month until she's due! Yay! We can't wait to have a baby across the hall to go squeeze and kiss...and then leave with her mom and dad so we can go sleep ha. Kidding. We will gladly take baby sitting duty for them in those first few weeks so they can try to catch up on sleep every once in a while.

To celebrate our three year anniversary this year Nate and I decided to have some excellent photos taken (since we really haven't had any taken since the wedding). Luckily for us we know the best photographer in town! Our neighbor, Nicki Bursae, put together some awesome scenerios and we couldn't be more excited to see the final results! There's one sneak peek below...

For the remainder of the weekend we spent time some together and took it pretty easy. Chase and Karina invited us over to Chase's dad's place for an afternoon of lounging in the pool with some coronas, burgers, and a giant bowl of queso. The weather was perfect, the company was great, and I didn't get sun burned! Yay!

Bean has some big o' ears.

The latest and greatest issue of The One! Our 1st anniversary issue!

One of my favorite spreads.

This is Frank. He is a retired cop, from Iowa City, that Nate met randomly in a park down town this morning. They got to talking (because Nate is excellent at making conversation with anyone) and he asked Nate to take his picture...

A sneak peek of the photos Nate and I had taken by the fabulously talented Nicki Bursae. We've only seen two of the pics, but they promise to be spectaclar! I married a total stud. Check out the Elvis sunglasses.

Me and Nate at Surf Club.

Our favorites...Karina, Chase, and a sunburny Terrell. :)

Chase and Karina :) Once again, I went out and forgot our lil point and shoot camera...so you get the phone.

My lovely Corpus BFF being all pretty as usual.

cute nate and pirate nate.

Brooke and her mom. 1 month til baby Annsley arrives!

Such a cute lil mommy-to-be. :)

Our drive up to Austin was lovely.

Me and Rachel enjoying a Lone Star...ah, Texas.

Nate and Rachel at Mean Eyed Cats...a Johnny Cash bar.

See.

I have the best date around. :)

Back from Austin, out on the town in Corpus.

ok mother nature, i get it, sunscreen is good

2009-05-25T22:31:00.005-05:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Hopefully you found some fun and rest on your day off if you got one. Nate and I spent the day with friends at the beach. An event all too rare considering we live less than five minutes from it. It was a beautiful day here in South Texas, and the constant breeze made it all too easy for me to disregard the sun as hot. In case you don't know...I'm pale.

And now pretty sunburny.

Ouch.

Totally worth it though.

Nate and I at the beach.

Nate, Chase, and Terrell with the pups. Our dogs did not get to go. Can you imagine Bean at the beach for multiple hours? Think of all of the nastiness she'd eat. Uck.

Me and Karina. This is a good illustration of how pale I was.

Terrell and Chase with the all important cooler.

There were about a million people down the seashore today. And quite a bit of seaweed actually.

And pain. My legs are the worst. Ouch. Thank goodness our neighbors had some aloe vera.

spring cleaning's not just for the closet

2009-05-23T15:41:00.005-05:00

In case you were worried that we weren't obsessed enough with our dogs, here are some more pictures of them just to prove that, yes, we even think they're adorable when nakie. And yes, we document everything these dogs do. Just wait until we have kids some day! Good thing digital cameras were invented.

But they are cute. Admit it.

Izzy gettin' all cleaned up. They're not really fans of the tub.

All sudsy.

Bean still yelling about us getting her all wet. Not happy.

Nakie Izzy! So cute.

Wrinkle neck.

She's such a lady.

Bean finally chilling out.

check for beach bugs when you're done in there

2009-05-21T21:58:00.010-05:00

Happy long weekend everyone! Well...hopefully you get a long weekend. Nate and I are lucky enough to have one, and I know we'll spend most of it catching up on rest, some projects, and things around the house we've been meaning to do for a while. Maybe that painting...?

The best news of the week is that my family is coming to visit over the fourth! Woo Hoo! Pretty excited about that. We LOVE company. And we're getting a bunch this time. It's kind of become a tradition for my mom to be here for the fourth. Can't break it now!

Nate's been taking a bunch of pictures this week. He's been out in the island dunes shooting pictures of a gorgeous beach house, at a Junior Achievement hall of fame dinner, and at Corpus Christi's second Social Media Club meeting...well, we both attended that...but Nate has taken on a leadership role in the group. I mostly just have fun. :)

Izzy and Bean are doing well. Not a whole lot is new with them. Just cute as ever and excited for company to come and give them lots of hugs and kisses.

Happy birthday to my little sis! Wooooooo! Miss you and love you! We'll celebrate when you get down here in a month.

PS, if you haven't seen Star Trek go see it. Pure awesomeness.

Nate in the dunes. House is somewhere to the right I'm assuming. :) Thanks for snapping this picture Krystal (Nate's newest fabulous co-worker)!

Everyone at smccc hanging out before the meeting.

Krystal, Michelle, Nicki and me talking about some tweets and such.

Michelle: friend, communications director for The Chamber of Commerce, and my fellow Dave Ramsey fan/cheerleader. Go Dave!

i dare you to eat the guts

2009-05-10T23:55:00.011-05:00

Whew. Now that Nate and I actually have a bit of a break in our schedule, I've got some catching up to do! I'm not sure where this last month has gone, but I do know that it must be summer because it's starting to get quite warm down here.

There is some exciting stuff happening here in Corpus so we've been filling our time with a more active social life than usual, as well as some house painting on the side. Now if we could just get motivated enough to finish our own painting...

Quick "happy mother's day!" to my mom. Miss you and love you...hope to see you soon. :)

Nate's parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago (we love company, y'all should come visit again soon!). We only had a couple of days together, but we made the most of it. There were some events going on here in Corpus, and since we had the weekend free we decided to take a day trip up to San Antonio to enjoy the riverwalk and alamo.

Since then we've been working hard at the studio to finish up the latest issues of The One. It's going to be fantastic! I'm excited to post photos of it once we send it off to press. The cover is stunning.

Most of the rest of our free time has been spent with the excellent friends we've made of the last two years (yeah, it's already been two years!). Karina and Chase had us over for a crawfish cookout. Since this is not something that's huge in Iowa it was definitely entertaining. Nate and I aren't seafood people so it was more of a spectator sport for us. And let me tell ya, Chase and Terrell are pros.

Also, Corpus Christi is now home to it's very own social media club. Nate and I have taken interest in becoming an active part of it and have enjoyed all of the networking opportunities and friends we've met through it. We're excited for what it has to bring to this city, and are looking forward to next month's meeting.

Nate and Karina catching some rays.

Terrell and Chase dominating some crawfish.

mmmmmm?

No plates needed.

Our friend/neighbor, Nicki, at social media club. She's an excellent photographer here in town.

Nate looking pretty rad in my sunglasses. Oh yeah, it's summer down here.

Family picture with Nate's parents. :)

Nate and me at the Alamo.

A photo Byron took at the Alamo.

We ate at a place called Dick's on the riverwalk.

Nate in his bib. Probably needed...

Me with Becki and byron at the riverwalk.

Nate and his dad went to the boat show. Apparently some of this was going on...

here comes the easter beanie...and her sidekick izzy

2009-04-12T19:01:00.012-05:00

Happy Easter from the Rippke family! We hope today finds you and your family well, renewed, and at peace.

We spent the majority of the day after church lounging around in a day of rest with the pup pups. And taking some pics of them...cause they're sooooo unbearably cute... :)

Me and my girls spending some time together. :)

Seriously, Bean would sleep all day if we let her...and sometimes we do.

She's so snuggly. :)

Izzy enjoying a little Sunday afternoon rawhide.

Nate enjoying his Easter candy. Thanks Mrs. Johnson!

don't try to take off in this wind

2009-04-04T21:34:00.014-05:00

This last Wednesday we shot the cover for the next issue of The One on the USS Lexington. In an attempt to catch the sunrise in the photos we arrived at a time of morning I'm not sure I even knew existed. Unfortunately it was completely overcast. So, no sun. But, no squinting either. :)

Dustin Ashcraft took the actual pictures for the cover (not these...), and Josh Salinas had the impossible task of trying to reign in the models hair during what had to be 30 mph winds. It was pretty ridiculous.

I took a bunch of behind the scenes photos. So here's your sneak peak...

We were in a little room called "the helicopter room" right off of the flight deck.

Monica being a pilot?? I can't remember...it was too early...

Josh working on her make-up.

Buttoning up the dress.

Ashley spilt coffee on herself. haha.

It was seriously so windy.

A cloudy chilly morning on Corpus Christi Bay.

This is Dustin.

The lovely couple. :)

So cute.

Ashley trying not to blow away. Looking super pumped.

Our task for the morning: don't let this piece of equipment end up in the gulf.

Love this pose.

Finishing up the shoot. Looking super awesome.

you'd look like this too on the way down

2009-04-03T18:11:00.005-05:00

As promised, my parents sent over the last few images from our Disney trip. And they are pretty fantastic.

Especially this first one...

Yep. We're wearing matching shirts. And yes, I do look like I'm about to die. Probably my favorite from the whole trip.

avoiding a t-rex

All of us in our hotel

Everyone at EPCOT

there's a great big beautiful tomorrow

2009-03-29T21:57:00.016-05:00

A week has passed since we got back from Disney...and I don't think a day has gone by that Nate and I haven't said to each other "man, I wish we were back in Disney." I'm saving my giant mickey lollypop my dad gave me for one of those days when I'm really missing it.

Needless to say, Nate's first trip (our first trip together) to Disney was a blast. A HUUUUUUGE thank you to mom and dad for this excellent Christmas present. The hotel was awesome, the food was awesome, and of course the company was awesome.

And for the record Nate's favorite ride was the tower of terror. Picture coming soon if mom and dad will ever email it to me.....yeah, mom, you.....send it over. :)

Mine...hmmm....probably spaceship earth, rockin' roller coaster, and space mountain.

Can't deny that I still love Carousel of Progress though...

Since we've been home we've been enjoying our souvenirs (especially my tomorrowland mug), and Nate's been trying to mimik some of the african food dishes we had while we were there. We took a ton of pictures. And even though I narrowed it down a bunch, I've still got a ton up on here. So I'll keep this short and let the photos talk...

Oh, and in case you missed it, check out Nate and my future in the previous entry (courtesy of Spaceship Earth).

Splash Mountain. Check Nate out. Awesome.

Check Nate out here too...he's good...

Nate and I at the Star Wars ride. I have a feeling if Nate had gone to Disney when he was 8 this picture would've been very similar (minus me though).

Nate's pizza he made. Very similar to the african influenced one at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

So proud. Check out the mickey cork stopper.

My tomorrowland mug. I know, it's a mug, but it's so excellent.

the other side...

Nate's first monorail ride.

Us relaxing in a hammock at the Polynesian.

We got to watch the space shuttle launch.

Andrew (my bro) and Jamie sportin the mickey ears.

Us in front of the castle. :)

The whole group.

Em and Curtis got soaked on splash mountain. hahaha. sorry...

arggggg.

most frosting ever.

the kids.

everyone on a dinosaur.

Nate and I about to see our future on Spaceship Earth.

In our time travel machines. For real.

No caption...

The music playing Delbot. Nate and Curtis' favorite.

Nate's first mickey ice cream.

A classic of my dad at Honey I Shrunk the Audience. So cheesy and awesome.

Me and my pops.

Gma and Papa and the siblings.

Nate and I at Blizzard Beach. I totally got sunburnt. Lame.

My bro, the big cheese.

Dad, Nate, and I riding the bus.

Uncle Johnny and my mom.

Papa J on a Segway.

Me on a segway. I want one.

The segway riding group. They took a tour around EPCOT before it opened. I slept...

Geekiest ever. That's my man.

Gma, Papa, and Uncle Johnny at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM).

a preview of our future...and our trip

2009-03-19T09:23:00.006-05:00

So Disney is a pretty fantastic place. They've made a lot of updates since I was here last...one of my personal favorites has been the upgrades to Spaceship Earth a.k.a the big golf ball in Epcot. I've only got a second to write, so obviously I'll write more later, but here's a short preview of Nate and I in the future (click). It looks pretty perfect to me.

unload the questions, then cross the border

2009-03-09T23:34:00.014-05:00

Well, as you can tell from my lack of blogging lately, not a whole lot has been going on down here...and maily I just haven't taken any pictures...which is pretty much my favorite part of this whole blog thing. But we did get ourselves a new little point and shoot camera, so I should be able to take more pictures now. Not that the SLR isn't an excellent camera, but let's just say it doesn't fit in my pocket while I'm dancing it up on the dance floor. Yeah, that's right, I dance it up.

Annnnnnd, that means I can take lots and lots of pictures during our upcoming vacation to Disney with my family. Yay!

Nate went down to Mexico with his Gma a couple of weeks ago. I, unfortunately, was feeling less than ideal and decided walking around Mexico for the day probably wasn't in my best interest. Nate however, had a pretty good time, bought some new dress shoes, and enjoyed an adult beverage in a bar/pharmacy (no that's not a joke) all before noon. See, this is why I needed the point and shoot camera. No pictures. Bummer.

The following weekend Nate headed up to the Dallas area for his first official work trip (aww, all growed up). It was for the TPRA conference (TX Public Relations Association). He had an excellent time, met lots of people, and has a newly found interest in studying social media. I got to spend a lot of time at Brooke and Wil's watching the game show network. They kept me entertained, and I even found a church I think we'll be happy to be a part of. All in all it was a productive weekend.

This weekend we took Izzy and Bean to the park down on the bay (also sad that I have no pics of this because it was awesome). They had a puppy play date with their new bestest friends, Bella and Rook. Rook, by the way, looks almost exactly like Bean...only with normal length legs. They had a pretty excellent time, and slept for the entire rest of the weekend. Which was great because that's exactly what I did too...

...except for the intense game playing we did later at Ashley and Lupe's place. Loaded Questions is pretty much the best game ever.

Nate trying to figure out how to outsmart me. Unsuccessful...

Ashley and Lupe. Happy birthday Lupe!!

Bella. Post park cocklebur haircut. Poor pup.

No, this is not Bean...it's Rook. See, they totally look alike. They were meant for each other.

the addys: an update

2009-02-20T14:22:00.004-06:00

And took some pretty awesome photobooth pictures courtesy of Image Cinema. Probably the highlight of the night.

The gold Addy we won for the McLeod Creative Elevator wrap. Yay! Photo taken by Monica on her super awesome red diner booth. I need to find one of these somewhere.

do dogs kiss and hug in x's and o's?

2009-02-14T21:58:00.003-06:00

Sending you some puppy love today. After all...Valentine's is kind of lame...but puppies are not.

Ok, so really crappy photoshop brush hearts are lame too...buuuuut, it just felt right.

our valentines

Beanie lovey. :)

dachshund photo of the week: beanie ween

2009-02-05T19:24:00.005-06:00

It's been a little while...but don't worry, they're still super cute. :) Bean get's the spotlight this week. She was a little more camera friendly.

holy cow, he answered!!

2009-01-30T18:23:00.005-06:00

Yep. It's true. We were on the Dave Ramsey show today. And it was AWESOME. You can listen to us scream HERE!

We didn't get a whole lot of time, so again, thank you to our family and friends who helped us out with this. We didn't get time to mention you, but we wouldn't have been able to do it without your help!

Yay! That's us! :)

dave, you better answer my call

2009-01-28T15:58:00.021-06:00

Thus far, the new year has brought numerous reasons for us to celebrate down here in Corpus Christi. We hope it has found the same for you.

In the social scope: Nate and I went to what was the most fun dinner party I think I've ever been to. Seven courses of conversation, food, and every wine under the sun. The food was fabulous, but honestly the company was even better. I really think it's something we should put into regular practice. We also celebrated Karina's birthday this week. Happy birthday Karina!! I think I truly became a Texan at her unofficial party...line dancing, country music lyric learning, and something called "the cotton eye Joe" maybe? All I know for sure is that it was a heck of a lot of fun, and we're pretty lucky to have met such wonderful friends down here. Now, if I only had a picture of me line dancing in my dress pants and black turtleneck...

On to the business news: The latest issue of The One is out. And it's pretty lovely if I do say so myself. Even though my pictures of it are taken with my phone, and are not by any means classy, ha. We had a sneak preview of it at the bridal fair, but it technically hits stands tomorrow. Also, McLeod Creative has won 9 Addys this year! I'm pretty excited about it. These are my first professional awards. We're not entirely sure what projects have won what awards, but the dinner is in the middle of February so I'll post the results after that. :)

And the BIG news of the month: No, we're not having a baby if that was the first thing that came to your mind, ha. But we are officially DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE! As of noon yesterday we made our final payment and kicked student loans out of our lives forever! Wooooo! Yay!!!! Pretty exciting stuff for us. Don't worry, I documented it (I know you were worried). Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to our family and friends who have helped us do it, and put up with us during our days of "rice and beans." Although, it doesn't stop here. So I guess you get to continue being annoyed by it. :) Next step, our fully funded emergency fund. Then I'd like to become a Dave Ramsey certified counselor. Don't worry Grandma, we aren't REALLY only eating beans and rice.

Dave Ramsey, I'm calling you tomorrow. Get ready.

This is what Nate looks like Debt free! Yay!

So excited. But seriously, we're excited.

Our first debt free picture together!

Nate and Justin (who helped us get out of debt by totally helping us out in a freelance programming bind) enjoying some celebration martinis. Mmmm, strawberry.

Some pictures Karina took...not actually birthday shots, but celebratory non-the-less!

Terrell and Chase.

Pretty lady. She always makes me look so freaking pale.

The new issue of The One...sorry for the crappy picture.

One of my favorite spreads. :)

make sure to take some dramamine

2009-01-23T23:44:00.003-06:00

Well I did it. I finally found what all of Corpus Christi SHOULD be. It should be people, sitting on balconies, watching sailboats float by as the sun goes down. Oh, while enjoying some sort of beach appropriate beverage of course.

Wednesday nights are the sailboat races here in the bay. Usually I just head home after work, but Nate had to work late so I decided to head over and meet up with Karina and Chase for some chit chat. I'm not sure where they race to, but it was pretty to watch in any case.

There really need to be more restaurants right on the water like this...

Karina and Chase. :)

I'd be sea sick right about here.

And definitely by here...but if I was going to have a sail boat I'm pretty sure I'd want a giant pink sail like this. They're totally dominating.

the white house's new occupants

2009-01-20T16:03:00.010-06:00

I think we're all pretty aware of what today is...

AWESOME.

Ok, so even if you don't feel like it's that awesome (which, it in fact is), you still have to admit that an event that brings together "the largest gathering of people in the history of the world" is pretty impressive.

Hugest crowd ever. Lilterally. CNN had this pretty nifty streaming program that was linked to Facebook. Nothing like watching the inauguration with a friend from 5th grade, a college professor, and a couple of old co-workers. I love technology.

Billary. :)

Well...he's on his way back to Texas.

Most of the new first family. :)

Keep praying. He's going to need all the help he can get with the mess he's got to clean up.

The new VP.

Yay! Pretty exciting.

...the new president.

pretty sure God doesn't want us to be 20 hrs apart

2009-01-15T10:25:00.004-06:00

So he's freezing you out. Therefore, if any of you friends and family want to re-evaluate your "northerner" status feel free to take a look out your window, at all of that snow, and remember...it doesn't have to be like that. Haha. There are places in the world that are warm year round. And green. And sunny. And not depressing.

Oh, and we can go outside for more than 6 seconds.

But seriously. Consider this an invitation.

Hope you all stay safe and warm. Negative 40 degree windchill is just ridiculous. Be careful. And definitely don't go outside.

go get a cup of hot cocoa. this could take a while.

2009-01-02T21:18:00.035-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

We've been on the road for the past couple of weeks visiting family, celebrating seven Christmases, sleeping in, and eating waaaaaaay too much. But we're back in Texas now and no longer have to deal with any of this...

Ah, snow...we were definitely welcomed by father winter. A frigid -30 degrees to be exact. So, that's 100 degrees different than when we left Corpus. The dogs were less than pleased.

Fortunately we got to see all of our family (and we miss you all!). And since I have a billion photos from the trip I think I'll keep the writing to a minimum and let the captions do the explaining. Just want to say a quick congratulations to Natalie and Jack on the almost Christmas birth of their second son, Brody. Yay! Hope y'all are getting some rest. :)

We had a few days in town before Christmas Day so we used that time to catch up with old friends who were also in town. And to eat plenty of my mom's famous sugar cookies...

These are the cookies. Look how cute the little Santas are!

Izzy and Bean's stocking at "gma and gpa's house"

Our stockings. Made with love by mom. :)

Bean with Gpa.

Izzy with one of her Christmas presents. A frisbee! Woo!

Nate and I at Hy-vee with the poster we designed.

Gma and Mom filling up their grocery bag for the food bank.

All of us with our food bank groceries. Dad perfectly framed back there...

Yay for Target Christmas shopping. Got some new socks and such.

Ah, old friends at Es Tas. Mark, Nate, and I.

Gude and me. By the way...any of these totally crappy quality pics are taken with my phone. So, sorry about that.

Jake. Pretty much explains itself.

My favorite pizza in the WORLD. Check out all that cheese. Mmmm.

And then it was Christmas...

And Santa came to my parent's house.

Christmas morning with the fam...in my pjs of course.

My brother with his annual guinness book of world records.

Me and Nate with our stockings and presents from Santa. He's totally real.

Best picture of my Papa ever. Wearing the crappy white elephant gifts Nate and I brought.

So after we stopped crying from laughing so hard, we headed to Gretna...

Dad and Gma Drapal with their old stockings I think.

Aunt Terri and Cousin Amanda. :)

Another classic from my little bro.

The Drapal Family. :)

and then we headed up to Sioux City...for the Irwin Christmas...

Nate and his Mama.

Me messing around with Nate's new flash. This is him and his dad Byron. :)

Nate with his uncle Tim figuring out their new camera.

Nate, Jamie, Erin and me with Gma Jo and her delicious homemade irish cream.

Jamie and Erin doing a bang up job straitening out Gma Jo's painting. Nice.

The grandkids (Irwin)...and Chico the Chihuahua.

Chico. A very manly 3 pounds. :)

And then the Dass Christmas...

The Family. :)

Stepmomster, Machelle and brother "Moose" with our nephew, Parker.

No joke. It was this cold outside.

Nate playing darts during our annual night at the Huddle in South Sioux.

Yeah for cousin Brett...who apparently ended up beating me after all.

And who also happens to be dating my good friend, Ashley.

I was terrible.

The girls. Me, Machelle, and Lisa.

Nate and his dad Ken.

We traveled up to Sibley to see the rest of the Dass family. I got these awesome earrings and a fake rat as part of the gag gift tradition this year.

Gpa Dass and little Tallen. :) Super blurry...dang phone camera.

Nate and Gma Dass.

Uncle Pete with the pillow he was lovingly gifted. Awesome.

And after heading to Moville for the Rippke Christmas, driving some more, and catching back up on some rest, it was New Year's week...

By the way, if you haven't been to rural Iowa in the winter...here ya go.

Yay for windmills!

Nate and Kevin before midnight. I believe my dad's word were "you guys are pretty gay." I'm sure he meant it in the best possible way...

Kevin loves me.

Me and my bro boy.

Unsure what's going on here...

My brother as a winter tire.

The boys drinking some Iowa whiskey to ring in the new year.

Me, my mom, and my Gma Jones.

My mom makes the best Monkey Bread.

And we went out to the cabin on new years day.

my dad's wall of death.

Em, Curtis, and Nate opening gifts from "the land Santa."

Nate in the kitchen.

The other view of the kitchen.

Our stockings at the land.

Mom telling us who's are who's.

Cuties.

Grace looking awesome with the rhino.

The most hillbilly picture I've ever been a part of.

I don't remember what he did, but he totally deserved this.

Mom and the kids.

Papa and his ornament for "the land" tree.

The whole family. :) Miss you guys!

And a pretty sunset in the backyard the night before we headed back to Texas. See ya next year Iowa!

now we just need to find texas star to top it off

2008-12-16T13:49:00.005-06:00

We have the best neighbors ever. Thanks to them my feet are no longer cold, Nate can have his socks back, aaaaaaaand we have a beautiful new tree! :) Complete with texas rope garland and everything! I'll take a picture once we put it up tonight. I know it's only 3 days before we leave...but it's time we get our decorations up.

That baby in her tummy is going to be pretty darn cute. :)

Our future children on the other hand...born in sweatpants. Give us a break, this isn't our Christmas picture.

Brooke's photography debut.

Wrapping presents underneath the tree.

Wil and Nate with the tree. Thanks again guys! :)

yay! this will be our christmas gift to each other!

2008-12-15T10:04:00.004-06:00

SUPER exciting news this morning! Nate and I won homemakerhero's Gifty Box giveaway (see entry below) and we couldn't be happier!!!! :) Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It's off to the Texas Hill Country for a winery tour for the two of us...

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss! I'm excited.

Dachshund pics of the week

2008-12-13T23:07:00.007-06:00

As if you haven't seen enough of these girls. :) Pretty cute though. They're pretty excited to see the whole family next week.

my christmas wish for you

2008-12-12T14:23:00.006-06:00

Now, some of you can probably skip this entry all together. And good for you. I'm very proud.

But for MOST everyone else like us out there that has some debt...be it student loans, credit cards, or house mortgages, whatever...you should really do yourself, and your family, a favor this holiday season and make it your new year's resolution to get debt free.

Yes. Not exactly the most fun thing to think about right at the holiday season but we highly recommend it.

As most of you probably already know, we think Dave Ramsey is the man. And therefore we recommend you borrow, buy, check out from the library, buy from itunes, etc. The Total Money Makeover and read it. And then follow it. If you plan on buying it's only $10 right now...

So if you're looking for that last minute Christmas present for me...do this for yourself. That's what I want. I want you to get on track. :) And if you're one of the several people I've already given the book to, and you haven't read it, READ IT. That's why I gave it to you duh. Coal in your stocking if you haven't...

And if you're sick of hearing me talk about this, too bad! I do it because I love you. So deal.

Top 10 reasons to get debt free:

10: You can call in to Dave and scream "we're debt free!" on air.

9: No more beans and rice, rice and beans.

8: Makes for a happier marriage and a happier family. (I think we're all aware of the #1 cause of divorces...)

7: If you have kids, it teaches them good financial skills and the benefits of hard work first hand.

6: You don't have to worry as much about "the economy" because you know you're ok.

5: It's really fun...I promise.

4: Money to do the things you want to do without the stress of getting your credit card bill.

3: No more worrying about where the next bill payment is coming from.

2: A huge dose of self-satisfaction.

1: You don't owe anyone any money...duh.

Oh, and it'll make me happy...and who wouldn't want to do that!? :)

it's official. we're spoiled.

2008-12-10T11:04:00.005-06:00

Ok ok, I know I said I was having a hard time getting into the "Christmas spirit" when it's still between 70 and 80 degrees outside everyday...but I didn't mean I wanted it to get cold!

It snowed in Austin last night. SNOWED. That's only a mere three hours North of here.

Yesterday I was walking around downtown in my flip flops and skirt, and today we woke up to a frigid 39 degree morning. I had to dig through my closet to find something, anything, resembling a jacket. And the socks I'm wearing...they're Nate's. I'm pretty sure I don't even own a pair anymore.

So yes, it's official. I'm totally, rottenly, spoiled. And Texas has turned me into a winter wimp extraordinaire.

since we don't send christmas letters

2008-12-01T10:38:00.008-06:00

Nicki, our fabulous photography friend that I mentioned earlier, took some family pictures for Nate and I this weekend. She's pretty spectacular. She got some really cute ones of the pups too. You can view them here. We're currently working on her blog, so it's kind of under construction...but still functional. :) Enjoy! And check out her photography site too (click here)! Thanks Nicki!

Our little family.

Look how handsome he is. :)

thanksgiving was good, but tomorrow...pizza

2008-11-30T00:57:00.006-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Nate's family drove down to spend the holiday with us (thanks!). We whipped up a tasty meal and spent some time together soaking in the warm weather and watching the dogs try to tear each other apart. Izzy and Bean are already missing them.

It was the first Thanksgiving meal I had a hand in making. Pretty proud of myself. I made my mom's cheesey potatos...yes Rachel, you should've been here. Yum. We're thankful for their visit, and hope they have a safe drive back!

Nate and I also made it through our first month back on our budget (thanks Dave Ramsey). Very proud. Hopefully we learn our lesson and don't blow our whole food budget in the first two weeks this time. Those last couple of weeks were getting pretty pathetic. Tomorrow though, pizza....and then grocery shopping. I think we'll start the budget over a day early. Thanks to Nate's family for getting us through those last few days...and for the new tupperware. :)

Things we're thankful for this year (in no particular order, ha):
- Each other
- Izzy and Bean
- Our wonderful and super supportive families
- The friends we've met in CC this year
- The best jobs two graphic designers could ask for
- Our health, and the health of our families
- Our continued success on the side
- BSF bible study
- Ike and Dolly not hitting Corpus
- Dave Ramsey, and Cara for lending me his book
- Obama winning the election
- Rice and beans, beans and rice :)
- Our new apartment, and the ability to have it
- Rachel moving to Austin so she can be closer. yay!
- our families and friends coming to visit

And lots more things, but 2008's not over...at least that's a start. :)

Nate with his food. We all huddled around the TV and ate on the couch. :)

The cornbake and stuffing. mmmm.

Yay! My first cheesey potatoes!

Yep, I took way too much food.

The cutest dog you've ever seen.

Dachshunds photo of the week: See Izzy in there? Pretty ridiculous.

Izzy's new best friend. Grandpa Byron.

the kraken

2008-11-22T17:16:00.009-06:00

Last week we had the cover shoot for the next issue of The One Bride Guide. One of the yacht club members let us borrow his sail boat to shoot on. And it was gorgeous. I didn't shoot the cover shots, but I did take some behind the scenes photos again...so here they are...your sneak peak at the next issue. :)

Erika getting situated on the boat. So pretty.

Jimmy and Erica. They actually did get married a couple of months ago.

Moving around to get another shot.

Jonathan and the couple figuring their way around the boat. Isn't it lovely.

All the rest of us watching Jonathan shoot.

don't grieve, admiral

2008-11-20T22:04:00.004-06:00

Well thanks a lot Las Vegas. Thanks for ruining Nate and my plans for a very fun, entertaining, and mainly...nerdy 5 year anniversary vow renewal. I had heard the rumors that the Star Trek Experience was closing, but I had refused to actually look it up because I reeeeally didn't want it to be true.

So guess what. It's true.

It's a sad day for Nate and I. Let's just say they better come up with a Star Wars version in the next 2 1/2 years to make up for this

Nate and me on our honeymoon. This is where we would've gotten remarried. :( It would've been awwwwesome.

dachshund pic of the week

2008-11-19T14:58:00.004-06:00

Well I finally snagged a treasury on Etsy and put together some of my favorite pieces. To no surprise they all resemble Izzy and Bean.

So, if you're looking for something cute for me for Christmas... :)

nb photography

2008-11-18T14:37:00.008-06:00

Nate and I have been lucky enough to have some really great neighbors down here. We recently met Nicki and Shane, a super cool couple with a HUGE sheep dog name Snuffy. Turns out that we couldn't have much more in common. Nicki is a photographer, so Nate and I have really enjoyed talking to her about equipment and techniques and what have you...and Shane and Nate are one in the same when it comes to books, games, and all around geekery. We recently designed some branding for Nicki's photography business/site, which is now up and running. You should check it out: here.

One of the logos we designed for her.

This is Nicki...and one of the other logos. She likes flamingos. :) Oh, and this is one of her pictures by the way.

go ninja go ninja...go

2008-11-16T19:06:00.006-06:00

This weekend Nate and I saw something pretty awesome...and, in fact, not so good. Vanilla Ice. Yep, he was in town, and we couldn't pass it up. Our neighbors, Wil and Brooke, went along with us.

We figured we could all use a blast from the past...and a good cheeseburger. But we seriously waited 2 hours for him to start playing. No idea what took him so long to get his incredibly loud self on stage, but it was actually REALLY annoying. We considered leaving several times. But after waiting an hour, and then an hour and a half, and finally two hours, we didn't want to leave. And we're pretty glad we didn't. I can now say I've seen "Ice Ice Baby" live, and in person. And once is probably enough.

Word to your mother.

Nate, Brooke, and Wil happy that the show finally started.

The best neighbors...and soon to be totally rad parents. :)

Terrible phone picture...but that's him.

I&Z BFF

2008-11-15T12:57:00.005-06:00

I haven't been keeping up on this, and even though Bean just ate my favorite pair of dress shoes (bad dog!), I still love her I guess. So here's the latest installment of "dachshund photo of the week."

tedde: the contemporary bear store

2008-11-11T10:45:00.011-06:00

K, Nate and I love these guys. If you're looking for something unique, fun, and cuddly for someone this holiday season you should definitely check these guys out. Besides the fact that they are continuously updating their NY based shop with wonderfully creative bears, their beautiful graphic design (wink), and their lovable sense of humor, they're just down right nice people making bed times everywhere a little more fun...one tedde at a time. Go visit them here.

And now, a word from the geniuses:
It's true. We're stuffed. We're bears. Yep, we're stuffed bears. The difference? We are stuffed with personality, charisma, character, charm. And we're stuffed with love. In fact, we're full of love. And a little gas. Hi, we're Tedde!

Tedde is giving the traditional teddy bear a makeover with updated designs and mischievous personalities. We messed with the spelling, but it sounds just like teddy!

Tedde believes teddy bears shouldn't look and feel like they just fell off an assembly line, so its mission is to rid the world of factory-made bear clones. Just say to no to factory made! Tedde works with designers and artists to create new Tedde designs. Teddes are manufactured in collaboration with individual artists and sewing cooperatives.

The Tedde collection includes Teddes, Tedde Gold, Bear Food and Tiny Teddes for your pocket. Teddes are limited production and constructed by hand with textiles like mohair, felt, wool, handspun yarn, vinyl, silk, canvas, recycled cotton, linen and cashmere.

Tedde HQ is located in Manhattan's garment district. Schedule an appointment to come by and meet the Teddes. Hey Vermont, it's New York calling and we're taking back the teddy bear! During the Holidays, drop off your old teddy bear at Tedde HQ and we'll give you $5 off a brand new Tedde.

If you're not local, visit Tedde.com and return often! Limited editions, exclusively ours (and yours), never identical and always made by hand. Otherwise, it's just a teddy. Tedde is dedicated to creativity and innovation in teddy bear design.

By the way, does your stuffed bear make you look cool at school, or stand out at an important birthday party, like when you show up with a killer gift? And while we're on the subject, are you proud to tell your friends who you sleep with? You are if you own a Tedde.

Go visit Gladys

My new favorite. 4 Eyes. Go visit him!

Fred gets a new home...or at least wall color

2008-11-10T12:08:00.007-06:00

This weekend Nate, Karina and I gave her office over at Epic Sports and Entertainment a facelift. It's out with the baby blue and in with something a little more in tune with Karina's taste.

We think Fred will feel a little more at home as well...

Yes, this is Fred.

Karina painting over the wall that somebody else literally decoupaged.

Nate showing off his "I don't need a step stool" skills.

2008-11-04T11:11:00.010-06:00

Go visit jacquelynlee.etsy.com

Go visit fontsupply.etsy.com

jacquelynlee.etsy.com

jacquelynlee.etsy.com

And check out these two artists on etsy because their stuff is pretty rad. I may need to purchase some of these for my apartment...

Happy Halloweeeeeney!

2008-11-03T10:31:00.008-06:00

Well, hopefully everyone had a fun and entertaining Halloween weekend. After being lame last year and not dressing up, Nate and I made our Halloween come back with what are now our favorite costumes we've ever had. If you don't watch LOST you won't know what we are...and too bad for you...maybe you should start watching LOST.

We went to a Halloween party with Monica and Ryan on Friday night. Some people knew who we were, others wrongfully assumed I was a doctor.

And no drunk guy standing at the keg, I don't give prostate exams, geesh.

Rachel came down on Saturday to hang out. Apparently Corpus doesn't dress up all weekend like EVERY other city in the country. Lame I tell you! We dressed up anyways...

Drink your water. It's hot on the island.

But don't forget the beer. It's also boring on the island...

Rachel's excellent costume she made. Such a seamstress!

The workman and the scientist. A happy pair.

Pretty sure there aren't bar wenches on the island...but we can pretend. Somebody's got to serve us our Dharma beer, right?

Monica and Ryan. :)

high tech low tech

2008-10-26T23:11:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a fellow twitter-er, this is probably one of the coolest things I've found to waste my time on in a while. I suggest you pour yourself a glass of wine, download this, and get to it.

By the way. Look at that freaking cute picture of the pups.

http://www.poladroid.net/

milkbone should make a benadryl bone

2008-10-25T19:27:00.009-05:00

We've had a relatively eventful Saturday so far. To start with our internet is out. Apparently our phone company GAVE our number to someone else and basically booted us off. No idea how that can happen. But it's going to be a few more days until it's back up. Super annoying.

Anywho, Nate took the dogs in for their annual checkups and shots this morning. Everything checked out ok. They're bottoms were a little tender, but not much slows them down...especially Bean...so we ate lunch and then laid around like our usual lazy Saturday selfs. A couple of hours later though Izzy started acting pretty weird and got really whiney and restless. So I got up to see what she was fussing about and her face and head were totally swelling up. It was pretty sick and creepy. Of course we rushed to the vet and by the time we got there her whole head was swollen and her back looked like she'd been attacked by a ton of mosquitos or something. She had welts and rashes all over her. And her poor little pup eyes were so puffy and almost all the way shut. It was pretty scary. She's had reactions to vaccines before so they always give her benadryl before her shots, but apparently it wasn't enough this time. So they gave her another one (which worked in a matter of minutes) and sent us home with some tablets for her. She's been asleep most the times she can get comfortable enough to hold still, but she's still kind of lumpy and itchy. Poor pup. Fortunately Bean's leaving her well enough alone though. I think she realizes that somethings up. I did get some pictures of her once we got home. The swelling had already started going down from the shot, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what it looked like. The vet said she looked like a shar-pei. I also put one of her with a normal amount of wrinkle to her skin. :)

Geesh. When Nate and I have kids they better never get sick. I'll be a nervous wreck.

Smooth little normal doxie head.

On the way home from the vet.

Poor little girl with her red puffy eyes and lumpy face. :(

Some of the rather icky bumps left on her head.

It's like you can see her brain through her skin.

Bean either showing no compassion or trying to get me to stop taking embarrassing pictures of her sis. Izzy didn't move a muscle...

and spent most of the afternoon like this.

Once she started feeling a little better she moved around some. But you can still see some of the bumps on her and her lumpy face.

Bean looking out for Isabelle.

And keeping an eye on her while she rested. :)

this is why they stay in their kennels during the day

2008-10-24T10:35:00.002-05:00

Go visit rubenacker.etsy.com.

Nate gave me a print from this artist a while back for my birthday and I love love love it. So I went back to his store (rubenacker.etsy.com) to see what new boston terrier and dachshund work he had up and found this masterpiece. Yes, it's an illustration, but it's also the most accurate interpretation of my dogs I've ever seen. See that look in "Bean's" eye. She does that. Seriously. The artist, Brian Rubenacker, must have a dachshund duo of his own at home...maybe he has one of Bean's siblings.

it's not as long as the car ride...but pretty close

2008-10-22T20:19:00.020-05:00

So....It's almost the end of October and I still feel like it should be June. Geesh. Time flies when your having fun (or crazy busy) I guess. September saw a lot of work for Nate and me. We've been busy painting and designing as usual, but we also landed our first BIG photography job. We ended up taking about 2300 pictures for the Conquer the Coast bike ride here in Corpus. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun, and a LOT of editing. We actually pulled our first all-nighter since graduating college. But, I think we both agree though that if we could get more work like this we'd be really happy. I'll post some pictures from the day, but most of them are up on our new photography site/store, rippkephoto.ifp3.com

Bayfest was also in town that weekend. I didn't get down there in time to get a pickle juice sno cone, but we did get to see Bret Michaels in concert. And it was just as awesome and hilarious as I thought it would be. He put on a really good show. If he comes back to town I'm pretty sure we'll go. Oh, and speaking of music. Vanilla Ice is coming to town in a couple of weeks. Not even kidding. You should probably book your trips now. It's going to be hilarious.

The week between CTC and heading back to Iowa Nate and I finished up some painting jobs and tried to get caught up on work so that we wouldn't be stressed during our vacation. Didn't totally work out like we thought it would. The newest issue of The One Bride Guide (the magazine I design for as part of my job) went to press and is now on stands. It's GORGEOUS. And I'm not just saying that because I'm more than a little biased. It really is. Nate and I had left for Iowa before it was done being printed, but Monica overnighted me a couple of copies (thank you!).

Our trip back was short this time. I was a bridesmaid in my good friend Emily's wedding so we headed up for a few days. The wedding was beautiful and as far as I could tell everything went off without a hitch! Congrats again Em and Nick!

It also worked out that we could celebrate my mom's birthday while in town. We tried to throw her a surprise party...wasn't so much a surprise...but it was still worth it because I got to see people and family from out of town that I hadn't seen since last Christmas at the very least (thanks for coming down Dave and Jen!). I have some pictures from the party on my camera still, so those will have to come later. My family and her sorority sisters did surprise her though with a second surprise party on her actual birthday. Nate and I had already left town, but it sounds like it was a good time. Happy birthday Mom and Grandma! Miss you guys!

Nate and my friend, Kevin, rode back with us to Corpus. It was a long 20 hours for him I'm sure. I know I was more than ready to get out of the car. Ugh. We always enjoy having company though. I had to work, but Nate and Kevin hung out at the beach and the Lexington during the days and then came home and showed me all the dumb pictures of themselves they'd taken. Seriously. These two together is like a one liner movie that never ends. Hilarious. And I don't think I've eaten that much Mexican food in one week ever. Kevin said he wanted tacos for every meal. And I'm pretty sure we hit 75% of them at least. We also spent some time up in San Antonio at the Alamo and the river walk before Kevin flew out.

Now it's back to our routines. Which is actually kind of nice...

A rider getting his tires ready for the 65 mile ride. Yes. It was still dark at 6am. And yes, I still HATE getting up early.

A couple of other riders. There were several hundred all together.

The first pack of the 65 mile riders on their way around the bay to Portland.

This guy was quick. Especially coming down a 200 foot tall bridge.

A rather unusual bike. You pump your arms and legs to make it go.

Some of the 25 mile riders with their CTC metals.

This guy on the right dominated the award podium for the time trials. Must be the aerodynamic helmet...

And...the finish line.

So happy to be finished. I would be too if I'd just spent 4 or 5 hours on a bike seat.

Nate with the K.I.D.S campaign sign and logo he designed.

The newest addition to the Rippke Mac family. So lovely.

Nate and Karina at the Bret Michaels concert.

Worst pictures of Bret Michaels ever...but all I had was my phone. Sorry.

The latest (and greatest) issue of The One. Yep, that's Karina on the cover. Pouty lips and all ha.

And then we left for Iowa....

Trying to entertain myself during the 20 hour car ride home to Iowa. I ate so much beef jerky.

And saw soooooooooo much of this. North TX, OK, KS, and IA all look pretty much the same. Flat.

Nate breaking our "no McDonalds" rule to stay caffeinated on the KS turnpike.

And then my good friend, Emily, got married...

So cute together.

Emily holding my fake hair since I chopped mine all off.

Em doing Emily's hair and putting the veil on.

So pretty and calm.

All the bridesmaids. :) Courtesy of Tim. Thanks!

Hanging out during pictures. Courtesy of Tim (the guy sitting on the left) again. I didn't have a camera. :)

Jen on her color coordinating crutches. Andrew being a very good groomsman. Yep...Tim.

Me and Claire at the fountain pictures. And one more from Tim, my groomsman.

Em and Andrew at the wedding. Looking good bro and sis.

Papa Jones looking awesome as usual.

Me and my dad.

Me after the wedding. Look how cute my little bouquet is.

Yay for bridesmaids! And champagne...

Em and Nick cutting their cake. Courtesy of Tim.

And then our friend Kevin came to back to town with us...

And this happened.

And this classic shot. This is the fun that happens while I'm at work. Look at those pointed toes.

Kevin having so much fun in the gulf.

Clearly can't read.

Not sure what's happening here. I didn't get to go to the Lex with them either.

Me and Kevin with Selena.

Izzy and Bean LOVE Kevin.

Me and Kevey on the river walk in San Antonio.

Me and Nate at the Alamo.

heading for the hills

2008-09-15T00:26:00.010-05:00

Last week Nate and I evacuated from CC for the first time. It looked like Ike was headed strait for us so we packed up and headed to Austin to stay with Rachel for a few days. Fortunately, the storm took a sharp turn North and we didn't get any of the bad weather down here...I'm not even sure that it rained. We feel pretty lucky though. I just got an email from an acquaintance in the Houston area who's house didn't make it through the storm. Pretty sad.

The pups took the trip with us also. :) No way would we leave them to fend for themselves during the storm!! They LOVE Rachel. And even though they're glad to be home, I think they miss her...especially Bean. Someday we'll be closer. Nate and I love the Austin area. We visited the bakery Rachel's working at. They have some delicious food, and the desserts are pretty amazing. I took some pictures. Check out the rose cupcake things. Holy cow. The pictures are all from my new and AWESOME phone. I don't have a flash, so some of them are pretty dark. But they'll do.

This is where Rachel makes delicious cookies and such. Mmm.

Yeah. That's all frosting. And so pretty.

Some cookies Rachel made. So cute! :) And yummy. I ate a ghost. Shh.

Mmm some tall cakes.

Nate and Rachel downtown.

Evacuation buddies.

The view from on top of a hill where some super nice apartments are.

These are them.

The driveway of the apartments. LOVE this area of town.

Some boats and a cute tiny cafe on lake Austin.

Our apt all boarded up. A lot of the city looks like this.

DACHSHUND PICS OF LAST WEEK (whops, didn't have internet in Austin)

Izzy and Bean taking a nap together. Well, they were asleep until I got off the couch.

Me and Izzy getting ready for some zzzzzz's.

Cutest dog ever.