O Tannenbaum

This weekend Bryan and I set-up and decorated our Christmas tree. Yes, it did take a few hours to accomplish this task.

You see, it's a rather large tree.



Nine feet tall in fact.


It took an afternoon to assemble the tree (yes, it's a pre-fab - at least this year). An evening to check the strands of lights (our tree is sporting holly inspired lights). A night to rest.

Insert an afternoon of shopping for our angel tree gifts. (If you need a slight chuckle ask Bryan about shopping for 20 nuns. The man always does appreciate a challenge.)

After those adventures it was time to add the finishing touches to our tree.



And then there was time to admire our handiwork and pose for silly pictures. Yes, take note - there is a fire in the fireplace. We were momentarily sidetracked as we added that particular set enhancement.

At some point we will take our picture when we are cleaned up and not exhausted or sickly.


In the meantime, from our house to yours - we wish you a very Merry Christmas
and hope that you are able to spend some time with your family and friends this holiday season.

Horses on the streets of Amarillo

A few months ago, Bryan and I first saw this sight


Yes, these are horses - and they, along with their riders, are confidently enjoying a trot on the streets of Amarillo.

I have seen these horses and riders a few times - and sometimes they are parked at the nearby Dairy Queen. We saw the sight again yesterday and I was reminded that I had not posted this image.

I suppose this is another one of those, only in Amarillo images.

Thanksgiving Feast

This Thanksgiving Bryan and I invited members of his family to join us for a Thanksgiving dinner feast.

Well, more acurrately, the feast started as a small dinner with Bryan, his parents and I. However, circumstances changed when family members learned that we would be serving a turducken. The numbers grew and we were joined by Bryan's brother Steve, his wife Carol, and their two boys John and Philip, and Bryan's brother Lem drove over from Dallas. Suddenly our dinner for four was a feast for nine.

After much research, Bryan and I decided the best way to cook the turducken was low and slow. So, at 6:40 a.m. I received a wake-up call so that I could put the beast in the oven.

I made dinner rolls (yes, from scratch), a green bean casserole, and cranberries. (Honestly, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without cranberries!). Members of Bryan's family brought additional fixin's including salads, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and pies.

The table was set in our living room. We only had to remove a pair of ottomans to make room for the large dining room table!



Once the birds were cooked and carved, folks were ready for the feasting. I didn't take very many pictures on Thursday, but I did get one of the carved birds. If you wonder what it looked like before it was carved - it looked just like a normal turkey. Ok, maybe not a normal turkey - it was a little flatter than a normal turkey.



Here are a few pictures from Bryan's mom of the afternoon.

Let the feast begin!


Yes, Bryan had everyone watching the proposal video. Here Lem, John, Gene, and Steve enjoy some post feast relaxation.


After the feasting, the kitchen was in pretty good shape.

I think after all was said and done, everyone really had a good time. Such a good time that there was even some rumbling that maybe Bryan and I should host the family Christmas. Oh my!

I hope y'all enjoyed a Thanksgiving filled with good food, family and some fun.

Woohoo! Christmas Came Early!

Woohoo! Christmas came early!

Mr. Bryan surprised me this morning with a new laptop! Woot! Woot! I'll need to spend some time exploring this new piece of fine machinery and a blog about yesterday's turducken dining experience is soon to follow.

Woot woot!

Thank you, Bryan! You are amazing and I love you very much. Then again, all that is true with or without the laptop. :)

Yes We Did! Part 3

Here it is, the long awaited video of Bryan's romantic and creative proposal at Cadillac Ranch. Get your box of Kleenex and enjoy!

The Source

Yes We Did! Part 2

Last night I neglected to take pictures of Bryan's handiwork at Cadillac Ranch. So, earlier this morning I made a trek back to the ranch to take a few pictures of the 4 cars. As could be expected, most of the cars had been tagged.

Yes we did!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 is a date that Bryan and I will not soon forget. Yes, we just finished watching President-Elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech; this is a memorable event.

However, that's not the reason we will most likely remember today. We will remember today because it is the day that Bryan proposed marriage to me and I said yes.

One year ago Bryan and I had our first date. It was supposed to be a post concert beer (the youth symphony had a concert earlier that afternoon. We were going to meet for a chat before I was to head on to a faculty recital at WT. I didn't make it to the recital that evening and the rest is history. We began as friends, but soon realized that our bond was more than just friendship. We have learned that we are an incredible team and that we are stronger together than we are apart. We have faced our challenges, and will most likely encounter more obstacles, but we know and trust that we will find solutions together.

For some time we have talked about the possibility of marriage. In fact, Bryan has asked me to marry him on more than one occassion - but none were the official proposal as it were.

To say that I was not expecting anything today would be an understatement. We had both talked about how busy our schedules would be on this day. Bryan had numerous work obligations (or so I thought) related to the election results and I had a busy day ending with an orchestra committee meeting.

I was ecstatic to arrive at my office this morning and find a dozen long stem red roses on my desk with a card from my sweetie. There were many oo's and ah's in the office as many commented on the romantic act of my sweetie.

Why would I think there would be any other surprises today? Apparently that was the thought, the flowers were sent as a decoy so I would not suspect anything else.

Ahhh, how wrong I would be...

Here's the story from my perspective...hopefully y'all can convince Bryan to write in with his proposal story.

Around 4:45 p.m. this afternoon Kelly (she works with me at the symphony) told me that Bryan had called me and it was important that I return his call. I returned to my office and was also alerted by Chip that my cell phone had been ringing and I would please call Bryan back. I had missed a call from Bryan, so I checked my voicemail message. I listened to what sounded like a panicked Bryan pleading for me to return his call. I grabbed my purse and called him as I walked out the door because I knew he needed something soon.

Bryan told me that he was stranded on the side of the road. According to his phone tale, his Explorer had a flat while he was towing his trailer full of dirt on the way back from Bushland. He was stranded and desperately needed me to bring him an hydraulic floor jack so that he could change his flat. The jack was at the house so I would need to make a stop before rescuing him on the side of the road near Cadillac Ranch.

I made the trek to find a stranded Bryan. A stranded Bryan is not exactly what I found. I pulled up on the frontage road near Cadillac Ranch to find a Ford Explorer that was not suffering from a flat tire.

Bryan's friend Steve met me at the gate to the ranch and asked me to walk with him. As I stepped on to the path I heard the faint sounds of Joe Cocker and I immediately knew this was something more. As I made the final approach to the Cadillacs I heard the familiar strains of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" and noticed that four of the cars had been painted white. Next I saw Joe Hendrick armed with a video camera behind the row of cars. It was then that it was hard for me to keep it all together. I looked for Bryan but could not immediately see him. I passed behind one of the cars and finally saw Bryan.

Bryan was down on one knee wearing his tuxedo with a ring in hand. He asked the question he didn't have to ask, because I already knew the answer. Bryan asked me to be his wife.

Of course, I said yes!

There was a rapid explanation of the tale of how the proposal came to be. (I'll let Bryan fill in the details!) He had painted 4 of the cars at the ranch white. He had also stenciled lettering on each of the cars.

Car 1
Susan
Marie
Buelow

Car 2
Will you

Car 3
Marry Me?

Car 4
Dare to Love Completely

The final car is of special significance to us. We originally found the phrase on a Dove Chocolate wrapper. Often we can be caught exchanging this phrase.

Bryan had also brought a portion of his sound rig (a powered speaker, aka an Eon) and a generator to provide the power for the event.

I'm amazed at Bryan's creativity and sincerity. I'm delighted to be engaged to this wonderful man and looking forward to our future adventures together. When is the wedding you ask? Hopefully next summer. Stay tuned for further details.

There is video from the event that hopefully I will be able to post soonish.

Bryan, thank you for making this amazing memory for us. I love you, completely.

(The picture is of the engagement ring in one of the roses that Bryan sent me)

Halloween Hijinks

Here they are, proof of our 2008 Halloween costumes.


That's Bryan in his Wizard of Oz balloon. It's a pretty impressive build. Know anyone who would like to purchase the costume? He's willing to sell for the right price.


Bryan and I pose for a pic. I'm the Wizard. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"


LJ is the Lion, Jenny the birthday girl is Dorthy, Chip is the scarecrow and Kevin is the Tin Man.


Here the entire staff gathers for a group photo at the end of a successful concert.