The sparkly

Here are some more photos of my ring. =) I just love it!!!



Yes, those are my real nails. =P The ring is white gold, with a round cut center stone. It loves to sparkle and show itself off in the light! My camera really sucks at capturing it though, and I have trouble keeping everything still enough to get a super clear picture. Anyway, there are also four smaller diamonds on each side of the center stone.


I love how it tapers and gets skinnier towards the center. I think it is very feminine. And the band is thin enough so that it doesn't truncate my already short fingers.

side view

Here you can see the cathedral setting. The diamond is "suspended" and you can see right through it. pretty cool!!! This also allows much more light to pass through it, and why is sparkles like it's meant to. It's hard to see, but there is tiny detailing on the edge of each ring, called "milgrain". It just adds more look to the metal, and makes it more antiquey looking. Ryan really liked that.

bridal set

He did get it as a set, so just showing them off together here. It's so nice because it's all PAID FOR and since I already have a beautiful matching band, we don't have to worry anymore about my rings. The band has small matching diamonds in it too, I believe there are ten.

I love it! I am currently writing my thesis and I keep getting distracted by it. Ryan will also occasionally just grab my hand, look at it, and smile. So cute. =) He already says he wishes it was bigger, but I think it is perfect. There is no rush! And there will be opportunities later when he can upgrade me.

He just loves to spoil me. =)

The pictures really don't do it justice I think (at least my pictures don't). So, we'll have to wait for wedding paparazzi's to take some nice shots, or show it off in person. But for now . . . that's the ring. Next time. . . engagement story!!!

Ducks, and then a Tease

And so the hunting saga continues....

Once we had arrived in southern California, we celebrated my brother's birthday on Christmas Eve. We had a delicious home-cooked meal and the great company of family and a few close friends. Then, Christmas Day, we DIDN'T celebrate Christmas. I know, what's wrong with us? Well we didn't do Christmas in the sense of opening presents and all that. Why, you ask? As I am sure I've mentioned before, my family (immediate and extended) is rather large and we all celebrate Christmas together. At least in the good old days before everyone grew up and moved away. We also have the Secret Santa thingamagig which I mentioned when Ryan got his hunting gear. With this year being quite lean compared to most, we knew there weren't going to be a whole lot of presents, so the Secret Santa and white elephant exchanges were going to be a highlight. Oom Tiki and his girls were going to be with Kelly's family on Christmas day. AND, Tante San, who now lives in the great wet state of Washington, was in Vegas with Mem, who had to work until the 27th, but then they were going to come to see us. So we decided to hold off on all the present opening until everyone could be here with us and participate in the special events like old times. So, our "Christmas" was on the 28th. It was a good time, though not quite like old times since we were missing some people (mainly Alyss and Willem) but nearly everyone was there. Also, Tante San was flying out the next morning, so there was not enough time to make the big Dutch-Indo spread that she used to do. Anyhow, we were going to have another family classic, sate with spicy peanut sauce and cucumber salad, for dinner followed by opening presents on the evening of the 28th. Jopie took Ryan out to Salton Sea for duck hunting earlier that day.

With a morning that started at 3am, it was a trekker. I didn't get to go so I couldn't get any pictures while they were out there. But here's what I got when they came back.

seven birds total: 1 coot, 2 greenheads and 4 ruddies

Did you know Daffy Duck is a coot? Aw, sad. These aren't just from Ryan and Oom Jopie, the Robs also went with them (Jopie's friend Rob, and his son "little" Rob). Ryan got three of the birds. Actually, funny story. It seems that with duck hunting, you can't really just go out to the lake/pond and go hunting. There are clubs and special days, yadda, yadda, and certain times you should go to increase your chances of getting some birds. Ducks can be elusive creatures. Basically, you want to go on days when other hunters are out there, so that the birds they scare come flying over to you, and vice versa. OR, you want to go on a day that is cold, windy, rainy and basically, miserable. This is because the ducks will constantly be moving around to find a better place to sit on the water, and they might come towards you. However, the day that the boys went, it was sunny and was the hunting club's off-day. No one was out there (this is why Oom Tiki didn't go). Well Oom Tiki called one of his friends who lives/works? out there to ask him if he has seen anybody(my uncle and the boys) and the guy says, "No, it's been really quiet. There's no one out here. Well except for these two fat guys in a canoe rowing around the lake." Oom Tiki says that this cannot be my uncle because he knows that you don't want to be rowing around in a canoe! You need to be in a duck blind waiting for the birds to come your way. Oom Tiki relayed this conversation to all of us back at home since we were waiting for Oom Jopie and Ryan to return from the trip. They didn't have their cell phones on them while they were out hunting, and the drive back is through the desert and the boonies with no signal, so we had no idea what is was like until they returned and we got to ask them how it went. This was their response..." Oh, it sucked until we got the canoe out." At that point, we all just started busting up laughing while they looked at us cluelessly, because what could possibly be funny about rowing around in a canoe? Apparently Jopie took command of the canoe, rowing around to make the birds fly while the others got to shoot. Each of the other guys took turns sitting at the front of the canoe shooting and moving to different locations around the lake. Since there was no rain, wind or other hunters around to do that job, Jopie was a good sport and rowed around all day. Hilarious story though.

The ruddies aren't edible. While they don't taste very good, I think because they are mud-sifters, they have high levels of toxins in them. The coot is not edible either, but the greenheads are.

Can see that gleam of green on their heads?

You have to look hard, but it's more obvious in the photo of Ryan holding them. Their feathers, particularly the down on the their bellies, are sooo soft. Actually feeling what goes inside those down pillows and comforters lends a great understanding as to why they are so luxe.

daytime. aren't they pretty?

Don't worry. . . we didn't let that meat go to waste!

mmmm....Asian duck pizza.

Not the prettiest, but it sure was yummy. Ryan says this was the best pizza he'd ever had. While it was good, I don't know if I would go that far. I am sure his manly pride was having a severe effect on his taste buds. =) Duck meat is pretty strong and has a distinct taste, I don't think I'd ever really had it prior to this. I'm glad that we did something where the flavor was more diffuse, rather eating a whole stuffed duck or something. The greenheads are also fairly small, like a cornish game hen, once they are dressed, so there was not a whole lot of meat to begin with. We got the crust from Trader Joe's. So good. I'd make more homemade pizzas, except we don't have a Trader Joe's here. Guess I have to go exploring for a good equivalent.

Oom Tiki took Ryan out on another trip, with more "ideal" conditions, but they didn't get anything. Bummer. But that goes to show you never know what you're going to get. Ryan had so much fun though, and I know he's aching to go out with my uncles again in the fall. Thanks Oom Jopie and Oom Tiki for showing him such a good time!

This man is SO proud of these birds.

Want to see a bit of something I am really proud of? It's not quite done yet, but I worked really (like really) hard on it this weekend. My fingers are sore. I hope this makes you smile as much it did me!

sneak peek of Myla's quilt top outside

on the floor getting ready for a sandwich!

I'm about to burst with excitement to show you more . . . but it will have to wait. Don't worry, I have other things to share in the mean time. Happy Monday!

Pheasant Hunting

Now that Ryan has all his gear, we're ready to go. We woke up relatively early the next morning, but it would have been earlier if it wasn't raining, and headed out to the fields. Once we got there, it was POURING. But Oom Jopie noticed a break in the clouds to the east, and so we decided to drive to a little town, I believe it was called Springfield, to scope out places for breakfast. This was a SMALL town, like 1800 people, but we managed to find a little diner whose biscuits and gravy were raved about by people leaving it. Biscuits and gravy is probably Ryan's favorite breakfast, so we rode out the storm there. After having our fill of warm food, coffee, and listening to their cook sing along with the old country western tunes, we headed back to the fields to find that the storm had moved on. While it was pretty chilly, the sun was starting to break through the clouds.

Seriously, look how dark those clouds are. Just to the left are the cold, snowy Sierra Nevadas.


Shelby couldn't wait to get out and start looking for some birds. She would run from bush to bush, sniffing and looking, while we waited for her to show a point. It looks kind of like this. . .

but not really. Mom IS holding a pretty nice point though.
Shelby continued to work the bushes, she is a Brittany spaniel by the way.


And so did Mom.

Just kidding! This woman is hilarious.

We walked and walked, just waiting for Shelby to find something.

Oom Jopie (left) and Ryan

We found a cute, rustic windmill. I like windmills.


and enjoyed the view of the pretty outdoors.

cloud-hidden, snow-covered Sierras

I love the mountains. It didn't rain the whole time we were out there, but it was totally storming just over there.



Pretty much what the entire landscape looked like. A lone pair of trees. Piles of sage brush here and there. Then another cluster way over there. And we'd have to walk to it, because Shelby, with her amazing supply of endless energy was already over there scoping out the bushes and you didn't want a bird to fly and not be there. It was funny, because she would be sticking to a bush and Jopie would tell Ryan to go run over and wait for her to point, and so Ryan would. If it was my other uncle, Oom Tiki, they would argue with each other about whose turn it was to run over to Shelby, then watching the bird fly out and neither of them were there to get it. Then they'd just laugh at each other. Jopie enjoyed Ryan's eagerness to learn and get something.

It was so muddy. I wish had thought to get a picture, but the mud attaches itself and grows on your boots. And you end up with a whole clod of mud, wet grass and leaves stuck to your shoe so that you are carrying an extra few pounds on your legs. exhausting. I think Ingrid is trying to show me here.

sage and hills

There's the pheasant farm. There is some guy that raises the pheasants and lets them out periodically over the season. He has to do that since they are easy hawk/eagle/coyote prey and they often get pushed up into the hills behind his farm (where you're not allowed to hunt - there's a fence). So he ensures that there are birds for hunting.

the Farm

more walking . . .

Ingrid and Ryan

The boys (Ryan, Jopie and my dad) and Shelby also ended up sweeping the whole other side of the field. Mom, Ingrid and I huddled together on a log not too far from the windmill and busted out the snacks. Sadly there weren't any birds, or pheasant at least. Ryan shot at a dove but missed - they were in season too. Shelby was so cute, because she was getting so frustrated about not finding anything. She whined and whined. It was so sad. And she was a tired little girl too.

The Shelbs

She slept with Ingrid and I. Every time one of us would shift or move, you'd hear her let out this huge exasperated sigh, like "guys, would you please let me sleep in peace!" We went out again the next day too. It was sunny and much warmer, but still no birds. We heard one though, crying out as if jesting at us because we couldn't try to find him. He was on the other side of the fence. O pheasants, just wait until next year....

Let's Go Hunting

Here come the posts about the hunting trips! A did a short blurb a while ago right after we got back from California just briefly highlighting our trip. I had booked our flight with Jet Blue, and on our flight out, we had a layover in San Francisco with Long Beach as our final destination. Oom Jopie has an old buddy who lives in Sonoma who got his PhD from Stanford, and they thought it would be cool to pick us up in San Fran, go tour the Stanford campus (Ryan is applying for post-docs there) and relax a little bit in beautiful Sonoma county. We were quite brain-dead since we had both stayed up all night trying to pack and prepare for the trip and make sure things were squared away in Austin and good for us to go (long story that I can't really get into on here). Point is, it was quite an exhausting experience just to make sure we could leave Austin. Follow that with a bumpy flight complete with crying babies and no sleep, and we were running on fumes. It was good though, we were LEAVING.

Jopie and Ingrid were awesome and did the drive to San Francisco to pick us up. We visited Stanford then stayed in Sonoma for a day and a half. We didn't get to see any of the wineries, we mostly stayed at Carlos' place. They were very generous hosts. We were tired and his family was great company so we visited with them. Their house was very cute, kind-of ranch style, with some sheep, chickens running around everywhere, cats lounging about as if they owned the place, dogs and even a horse. Ok, scratch that "kind-of" it WAS ranch style. Jopie and Ingrid has gotten up there a couple days before we flew in and were helping Carlos build a new shelter and manger since one of the ewes was suspected to be pregnant. They also have their own mini-vineyard (I think they have about 750 vines, I don't remember what types) but they do some of their own wine-making so we did get to do some wine tasting and learn about the process. It looked like a really fun hobby! Carlos opened up 6 different bottles of wine (don't worry we didn't drink all of them!) but I sure did sleep well that night. I think Ryan fell in love with northern California. It's absolutely beautiful, even while it was raining our whole time there. Shame on me for not taking pictures of it. Didn't even think about it.
Then we headed down to Porterville, a small agricultural town at the base of the Sierras for some pheasant hunting. Jopie also has a friend who has a house there so we had another great place to stay. We planned to be there for about three days then finally head down to Riverside for Ben's birthday (Christmas Eve). Pheasant season ended Christmas day, so we were taking a gamble that there would be birds left but we had to go and give it a shot.
Since my family celebrates Christmas with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and extras, we do a Secret Santa gift exchange so that no one is left out, and no one goes broke trying to get a gift for every single person. Ryan's secret santa (he lucked out and got Brooklyn's mommy!) totally spoiled him. Kelly and Oom Tiki sent his gift up with my parents since they were meeting us in Porterville to bring Shelby, my uncle's hunting dog. He got to open his gift early since he would most likely need some of these things for hunting.

that's a pretty big box of goodies

waterproof camo jacket. PERFECT for duck hunting

a vest and hat

trying 'em on

a handy knife set

"Who has two thumbs, is completely set up with nice hunting gear and ready to get some birds tomorrow?" This guy.

Ha ha, my ode to The Office. actual pheasant hunting coming next time....

The Reptile Show

This weekend, a few of us went to the reptile show. It was Ryan, me, Chris and little Ryan (we have two Ryan's in our group now). Ryan was hoping that some good rainbow boa breeders would be there, and to his delight, there were!
Bryan Hummel, of Rainbowboas.com and Bob Clark both had booths. Rainbows aren't Bob's specialty, he focuses more on pythons, but Ryan bought two baby rainbows from him at the show last year. Bob was sold out, so we spent most of our time with BH.
He had a few on display that weren't for sale. I wouldn't sell these either! Of course I didn't have my camera because I wasn't planning on going on Saturday so I took these pics from his website.

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.

I don't know if he actually had this snake at the show, he had four on display, but he had a high red snake there. The colors are so phenomenal, I didn't think it was real at first. I love the red ones. Ryan doesn't have any reds yet, they are all orange hued.

Check out those eyes. Crazy. The orange on this one is insane.

So pretty. The crescents on the side I think are my favorite marking on these snakes. This ones are perfect.

It was a lot of fun. BH was very helpful too since he has been breeding these snakes since the mid-nineties. We must have talked with him for at least 45 minutes. He had some tips on what to look for in terms of markings and coloring, also on timing when it comes to actually breeding them. Ryan wants to try his hand with Johnny and June this year. She has been feeding really well, so she has bulked up and is ready for such an endeavor. I bet mom and any of the girls reading this have the million dollar question running through their head right now, " Did Ryan get another snake?"
Ready? Yes he did. He got one more male. He really doesn't need any more males, but that was all BH had left, plus this one he got really good looking and has a special genetic trait.
I'll explain....
So you've seen in the above pictures that the color can vary alot. There are the oranges, reds, browns, and I have seen pictures of some that look mauvey. But there is a recessive gene that causes hypomelanism - basically black pigments are reduced. It's kind of like albinoism (is that a word? spell check is not catching it, so I'll assume so), just not complete absence of these pigments. See the following pics of BH's snakes for example:

hypos on the right

hypo yearling. He is pretty red. The hypo he had at the show was more apricot colored like the ones above. But see how his lines are not as pronounced? The black dots get lighter moving towards the belly... BH called this "blushing"

Anyways, Ryan did not get an actual hypo, they are too pricey for him right now (female babies are $2200), but his male is 100% heterozygous for this trait. This means that if he were to breed this male with another female that is heterzygous (still to be aquired) then statistically, half of the clutch/ litter should be hypomelanistic - which he can keep the best for his own stock and then sell the rest for a huge amount of money. There are many other breeding scenarios requiring a good knowledge of genetics, and it makes me wish I had paid more attention in my undergrad class, but it's pretty fascinating! Either way, Ryan and I both think that even though he needs more females for a breeding collection (right now for the rainbows he is 3.2 : male.female), this male is a great addition to his group.
He recently named the babies he aquired from Bob last year, the boy Jem and the girl Scout, after characters in his favorite book: To Kill A Mockingbird. But I think he is contemplating selling Scout. She hasn't colored up very well (their color increases over time with each shed) and she is still pretty brown. In addition, her crescent markings aren't very nice. She is pretty tame though so she'll make a great pet snake. We thought Jem was coloring nicely until we put him next to the newby. Wow. The new snake whoops him. I didn't have my camera to demonstrate, but I will take pics soon. Jem however has very nice crescents, so I think Ryan is leaning towards keeping him. And boy is that one mean. I've been bitten three times by him (on separate occasions) and Ryan as well. When we took him out to look at the babies together he was not having it, he went strike crazy and got Ryan. He wasn't like that before, it must be some sort of phase.
BH is based in San Antonio, so he told Ryan that he could come down when his next litters are born in the summer and take his pick of a few females. He can't wait for that! It will be pretty cool too if he will let us see his setup...another educational experience.
For right now, he needs to figure out his caging setup. I think he wants to build some racks with his dad at Thanksgiving. Then he will be ready to get a couple more babies in the summer. He also needs to practice just getting them to breed, which Johnny and June are perfect for. And while they aren't outrageously colored, they are still good looking snakes. Their previous owner had no trouble selling their babies when he bred them.
It will take a while to get snakes the quality BH has, he'll just have to take his time. I know he'll have a blast every step of the way. I already am!

Last Night

A trip to Cabela's: $6.80 (in gas)

Floating camo shotgun case: $25.00



Shotgun cleaning kit: $19.99

12 gauge 9 and 4 shot (ammo): $30.00

Going to the "restroom" and coming back with a surprise early birthday gift card thus putting a huge smile on this man's face: priceless

Happy early birthday Mister. I love you!
(in his winter coat from this past year)

Now he's ready for skeet shooting this weekend!

Guy stuff and activities

Ryan went home to Oklahoma this past weekend to see his family. It was a good break for him, especially since last Monday was his departmental seminar and this semester has been particularly hairy. He had a really good time there and was given an early birthday present from his brother Chris....a shotgun. His brother also has a skeet pull so they went skeet shooting all weekend. He LOVES it. They were shooting so much, he came back with some bruising on his shoulder. There is a skeet club in town, and I think he wants to take me this weekend. Should be interesting. This post is particularly for the men in my family....maybe a hunting trip for the fall/winter break should be in order soon? He's never been hunting before, and is itching to go. Dad, Ben, you guys haven't been in a while either....it would be good for some male bonding time! Just a thought. =)

I'm so proud of Ryan!!

Today, Ryan found out that he won the UT Continuing Education Fellowship! It is a one year fellowship awarded through the UT system, but it is a good one. Each professor is allowed to nominate one student, and then the fellows are selected from this group - this isn't limited to chemistry.
So, congrats to him! Now that he has a larger stipend from this fellowship, I hope he puts it to good use. =P
I love you mister!!

It took me long enough!

Last year for Christmas, part of Ryan's present to me was a "queen for the day" package at an Aveda spa. This includes an hour long facial, spa mani and spa pedi and hour massage. And I have not used any of it! I'm pretty much nuts.
I don't have a really good reason.... but I guess I wanted to save the massage for a time when I was particularly stressed out, and the mani and pedi for sometime special (and when my nails were grown out since I am usually so stressed I pick at them and keep them short). I wouldn't want to waste such a nice treat on little stubby nubbies. However, my nails are nice and long now, so I am thinking I will do the mani and pedi before I go home with him for Thanksgiving (at least that's kinda the plan for now) so that I am nice and presentable. =P And, I just booked the facial. I just figured, heck, why not? What else do I need to wait for? I am excited....I have never had one before. I have heard they can be kinda painful, but I am still looking forward to it. It's next Friday evening. yay! I will cash in on the massage sometime soon too. =)