Decatur


Temple


Christmas Tree at our First Home


Shawnee Oklahoma

The month of October was fun and enjoyable. With it brought my father's birthday, as well as a church steeple dedication for my late grandfather, Jesse Reed. It was also quite possibly the worst month of Aggie football these eyes have ever seen, but that is a can of worms I will leave closed. Here are some pictures that are post-birthday by a day, in Temple Texas with my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Here we are celebrating Amy's birthday at Cheddar's in Irving (we go here a lot). They made her stand on the table while they sang to her.

We sort of celebrated Mom's birthday as well (8/11) on this trip. Here we are having an early dinner at Tia's in Grapevine. I took the opportunity to give some gifts I got in Mexico, including some candy. I also brought Mom the shells she wanted, which we picked up on the beach just outside of our hotel room.

On Monday morning Wendy offered to take Tammy and I to the airport. Everything went pretty smooth. I took along a book, Piers Anthony's Isle of Woman, my SP90 MP3 walkman, and both my digital still and video cameras. I believe we have 2 hours of video, which I hope to take some clips of and add them to the website. We arrived in Puerta Vallarta in about 2 1/2 hours via Allegro airlines. We got off the plane, and BOY was it humid. Say what you will about Dallas and humidity, it has nothing on Puerta Vallarta (during the month of July through September). We had a bus take us to the hotel/resort, which was about 15-20 miles away from the city. This actually turned out to be a nice thing, as its seclusion made for prettier scenery. Our hotel was rated 4.5 stars, and I think deservedly so. We informed the guest services that we were honeymooners, apparently they were not informed of this. They went ahead and scheduled an rsvp for 1 of 2 restuarants requiring an rsvp, I believe it was called Portafino and it was an italian restuarant. It was very good, I believe a notch up from Cafe by the Green which we visited at the Four Seasons. This restuarant was right across from our room, just on the otherside of the adult pool, you can see it in the pictures, as a hut looking building. The other restuarant was Mexican, and we were never able to secure a rsvp there, due to us later being so occupied with 2 tours we would later take. Our room was great, quite possibly one of the best in the resort, not because of size, but of because of view. The adult pool pictured here is one of 2 swimming pools. It is an adult pool because it is for just relaxing and no kids are allowed. The other pool is busy and opened to everyone. How can I continue without mentioning the name of the resort? It is called Viva Vallarta. The first couple of days we spent just browsing around the place, taking a dip in the ocean. During this time we were given some Champagne, bowl of fruit, and tshirts because we were honeymooning. We also secured 2 tours, one of which I had a Mastercard coupon which got me 2 for 1. Both tours we had to wake up very early for, and to get to the starting point we had to walk almost a mile to a public bus stop. We always took the public bus as it was a mere 14 pesos ($1.40) and taxi's would cost as much as $30 one way. The first tour we took was to an island which was actually visible from our resort. We took the bus to Puerta Vallarta, to the same port where cruise ships dock (you can see one pictured here). The island was called Marietas(sic) island, and is a bird sanctuary (you cannot dock a boat here). The trip out was about 2 hours by boat, on the Geronimo. You can see a few pictures of the Geronimo here. The tour guide was Austrian, but spoke Spanish and English pretty well. The boat has a hammock (which we never tried), and an opened bar (which we did try a few times). Throughout the entire trip we got to listen to Cool and the Gang's greatest hits, with a bit of Bob Marley mixed in from time to time. When we arrived at the island, we were provided with snorkling gear, so we set out and emersed ourselves with all sorts of fish, most of which were not shy at all. After about an hour of this, we set off for a bit of fun on the shore, away from the island. On the way there we watched dolphins swimming about, that was fun. We made it to the island, and everyone was given the option of swimming to the island, kayaking, or taking a small boat. We took the small boat, as well as many others. We almost capsized it because they had it full and this big guy was the last one to board (I think he's pictured in there someplace). But we made it safely. We swam around for about an hour, then boarded the boat back up, hoisted the sail and headed back to shore. This trip took several hours I think, the boat was slower with the sail.

The next tour was the following day, and that was called San Blas. It was a 2 hour bus ride away from the city. Alongthe way we stopped at a fruit stand, where I procured a lot of Mexican candy. When we arrived to San Blas, we visited an old Spanish fort, and then took a boat ride through some swamps. Here we saw turtles, crocodiles, and aligators. Prior to the boat ride, we made arrangements at this outdoor, small restuarant for lunch. This was included in the tour. I believe Tammy and I both ordered Chicken Fajhitas(sic). On the way back from the boat ride, we sat down for our meal. I had myself a couple of Coronitas.

While at the resort, there were shows every evening. Probably the best show was the re-enactment of Wizard of Oz, muchof which looked to be taken from the movie Wiz. Other nightly events they had were casino night, singer improv night, and a re-enactment of the movie Grease. For food and drinks, the deal was all inclusive. We did tip, but everything was provided. The main restuarant is buffet-style, with a great many things to choose from. There are several bars scattered around, but the only beer they seemed to have was Sol. However, they'd mix any drink you might ask for, including a white russian, which Tammy liked a lot. The last day we were there, Friday, I had some concern that we'd have trouble finding some place to be, between checkout and flight departure. See, checkout was at noon, and the flight wouldn't depart until about 6pm. Fortunately, the hotel allowed us to keep our wrist-bands (which designated us as staying with them, and being part of the all-inclusive plan) until we actually left the resort at about 3pm. When we arrived in Dallas, my father picked us up at the airport, and we had dinner at Cheddar's. These are all things pictured here. While we were there, my father mentioned to our waiter about Arthur and I not getting our meal in a timely fashion, from the rehersal dinner a week earlier. We ended up getting the meal comp'd.

The view from our hotel room


The resort is big, this is between our room and the front desk


It wasn't all sandy beaches. Here is some rocky areas where we looked for shells


These are all pictures from the first tour we went on, to the bird island


Ah.. the joys and freebies of being a honeymooner


This is the Spanish fort from the San Blas tour


One of two churches near San Blas, very realistic statue


Boat ride through the swamp


We're eating the food we ordered on the San Blas tour


More views from our hotel room


Last day, we are waiting to leave the hotel and had some lunch


They are rehersing for tonight's show, which we didn't get to see


This is the lobby of the hotel


We are at Cheddar's now in Irving, eating with Dad

Well, I should have plenty to write about here, right? We've had a wedding all planned out since May, and this is the day we did it. On a somber note, Thursday I learned about some terrible news, that my grandfather Butch had passed away. I received a call from my father in the early morning, letting me know this had happened. Butch had come down with leukemia some time ago and battled with it for a very long time. This did come at an akward time for us, but everyone did real well to go ahead with what Tammy and I had started with back in May. Everyone did still make it to the wedding on that side of the family, with the exception of Guy (who was busy with the events in Temple) and Gran, and then Wade and his family. This turnout was unexpected given the circumstances, but I think everyone felt that Butch would have very much liked to see things played out here. The funeral was held on Sunday, in Temple. I have lost both my grandfathers now, and they will both be dearly missed.

For the wedding, my brother Andy was the best man, and Oskar and Arthur made up the rest of my almost-best men. My criteria was for whoever I knew the longest, and those 3 were it. While not participating in the wedding ceremony, Robert and Thai came along too. Thai drove down from Plainview in one of those Yuppie assault vehicles, which came in real handy for hauling a bunch of us around town. Robert came down with his brother Oskar, to join in the festivities and the event. Also, Seth made the trip from California. I didn't get a chance to see much of him, but it was very good he could make it. Friday night was rehersal, which went like you might expect a rehersal to go. We went through all of the motions, Arthur had us go through them one more time.. either he wanted to make sure he had it right, or wanted to get a feel for what was to come his way real soon with Wendy. Afterwards, we all had rehersal dinner at Cheddar's in Irving. Unfortunately, Arthur and I had a mixup in our orders, so we had to wait while everyone else didn't. We got a free desert out of the situation, but more would follow in the week after.. which I'll arrive at eventually. On saturday Tammy, along with her maid of honor Bethany, sister Tiffany, and Amy (bridesmaids), went to the church earlier, so as to begin the long ordeal of hair pulling and make up tweaking. I awoke at a much later hour, donned my rental Tux, and drove Tammy's car to the Four Seasons, where we would arrive at later that evening. After dropping the car off, Oskar picked me up, and drove to the church. Arthur, who was late (got lost) to rehersal the night before, actually made it on time. He didn't have his decorative shirt buttons or cufflinks (apparently he never had them to begin with), so we collectively pooled the bottom-most buttons from each of us, for him to use (those of us who had a button not showing anyway). Andy was a bit late, but eventually arrived. I'm leaving a lot of things out, but I'm usually one to lean toward impatience, so I'm moving on. I was a bit nervous throughout the whole thing, but then who wouldn't be? Everything went real well, we went through the ceremony, made our vows, and enjoyed a reception with friends and family who shared in our moment. The limo was a little late, I think we left at about 4:15PM. We headed straight to the Four Seasons, where a little plate of decorative candy was waiting for us (we later got rose petals in the bathroom). We ate at a very nice restaurant, I think it was called Cafe by the Green (as it looks out onto the Byron Nelson golf course). Apparently Melissa Etheridge and Lenny Kravitz were staying at the hotel as well, but we never saw them. The next day we went back to my house, where we met up with Tammy's parents and my buddies Thai, Oskar, Robert, Arthur, and Wendy. Tammy and I opened up some gifts, and we got to hear about how the gang went out with Kelly (Tammy's step sister) to Deep Ellum in Dallas. Apparently Thai was driving, and had to take Seth home. No one else knew, and thought Thai had abandoned them. Well, it turned into a small ordeal, but I think everyone had a good time. We all went out to Lunch on Sunday to i'Fratelli's(sic) on Oskar's dime.

The reception, Wedding and Bachelor cake

This was a one weekend event. Tammy and I got in Friday night with the rest of the people who would golf the next morning. My memory is hazy, but I believe our group came in second of about 4 groups, with a score of -4. This year we had no rain on the golf course, things went pretty well. After visiting with all of the relations in the afternoon, we had softball later in the day. The turn out wasn't as good as the previous year or two, so we had to bring in a few people who normally didn't play. Our softball professionals Mandy and April were not present, although their brother Matt did come out to watch. Lunch on Sunday went real well, we had Chicken Express catering, and got caught up on all of the Self family news.

June was a month where every weekend had something going on just about. June 15th my brother got married, which included me as the best man. Things went pretty smooth, and I understand they had a lovely time in Orlando afterwards. The following weekend was my 10 year high school reunion, as well as a pool party thrown by my apartment complex (my last hurah with my former landlords). Here are some photos from each event. If some classmate of mine wanders through here, and sees a mistake, just let me know! It was surprising to me just how many people I would remember, but how many more people remembered me. There also were a lot more Aggies there than I remember. They included Ron Mo, Mike Hotchkiss, and Allen Singleton.

This month I am spending the greatest amount of my thoughts and energy on finding a new home. Not real sure on anything except for a vague idea on price and location. I'm looking at things as far north as Valley Ranch in Irving, to as far south as something close to Mansfield. We did have some very unfortunate news last month, when Don Brandt passed away from complications due to cancer. Services were delayed for a day after some pretty heavy rains, but the day of was nice and pleasant. He is now near my grandfather in Decatur, and very much missed by us, his family, and friends.

On a more cheerful note, my brother has proposed to his girl friend Christie Maynord under that tree near the Academic building at A&M. I understand she gave an affirmative to that, but I don't know when that event will take place.

• The streets at Marti Gras are filthy, we stepped in garbage constantly and had to quaranteen/disenfect are shoes afterwards
• Grenades are the most popular drink at Marti Gras, not many know what's inside of them
• Marti Gras is the time to party, not site-see ... we didn't have much time to do the latter
• If you leave Marti Gras with more beads then you arrived with, then you did something wrong (we had many times more beads coming home than going to!)

New Orleans - Marti Gras 2002

Houston TX