The Hay Ho's

I post way too much

2011-06-09T15:18:00.005-05:00

So it's time for a yearly update...

You all know we have this beast:

It's GODZIRRA!!!

He's a pretty chill cat, we love him except when he wakes us up just to feed him.

But recently we decided we wanted to get a companion for him. So we got this guy:

They're the best of friends:

A great protector:

and a pathetic dog when we put him in his crate:

Welcome to our home Charlie...

Summer 09

2009-08-08T16:48:00.006-05:00

So just got back from my last trip of summer 09 and wanted to blog about something that completely disappointed me... my footwear.

See, I knew I would be going to tube the Guadalupe (we ended up at the Comal instead) and going to Kaua'i so my wifey bought Keen Waterfronts. Not the sexiest shoes but they got the job done and Robin loves them. I was looking for the same thing and decided to get the Vibram Five Fingers, slight problem though, I couldn't find them anywhere. These things are apparently the hottest thing to go on feet this year. I had intentions of some barefoot running then I remembered I haven't been doing any running of any kind so barefoot running is the least of my worries. But while shopping for the Five Fingers, I came across the Salomon Techamphibians.

Note the mesh construction, nice an airy right? Soles looked like my trail runners so plenty of protection and grip right? For half the price of the Keen's I got me these suckers and I'm thinking to myself "SCORE!!"

So I start wearing them around, they're designed to be worn sockless so I do that, and there's a stitch or something in the right one that starts rubbing on the top of my pinky toe. No blisters but you do notice it and it is an irritation.

Time for the river trip so I have these bad boys on and yeah they're good... sheds water when you get out but then I noticed how long it took for it to dry. It took FOREVER, almost 2 hours after getting out of the river and intermittently taking them off to let them air out, they were finally dry. I'm thinking, no big deal, it'll take longer to dry.

Well time for Hawaii, and these are the first things I pack. I wear these things everywhere the first few days, I had to wash them every night because of how sandy they were inside and left them outside to dry. It was during this routine that I discovered a few things.

Kaua'i is humid and rains alot.
These shoes don't dry well in central Texas, and they really didn't dry well in the humidity
Whatever goes on between my feet and these never really dry shoes caused them to get rank

When I say rank, I mean FOUL! After day 3 in Kaua'i these things were unwearable the were so disgusting. I really wanted to love these shoes, I really did but they ended up going to the dump with the rest of the garbage.

So what have I learned? There is a reason flip flops and sandals are brilliantly conceived wet/humid weather pieces of shoe tech. Just because a shoe has tons of holes it doesn't mean it will dry out quickly. I'm not sure what the solution is for something like the Techamphibians. I'm sure part of the issue is that it secures your foot to the soles, maybe a quick release of some kind so it does allow you to flip flop it so the entire insoles are allowed to see sunlight as you walk? Maybe they need to figure out a different material for the soles? Who knows, all I know is I'm out $60 bucks for shoes that lasted me all of 1 month.

The end of the world is nigh

2008-09-26T16:55:00.005-05:00

Okay so I went to Inside Basel with my good friend Doug, the only man more OCD than me. It's an event sponsored by WatchTime magazine where we got to see some of the latest at Basel this year. Now, I'm a man with simple tastes and I think classic aesthetics when it comes to wrist watches. And I never begrudge anyone their own tastes... but I have to draw the line somewhere...

First up is the Harry Winston Opus 8

Now think about this for a second... a mechanical watch designed to mimic a digital watch but at 10,000 times the original cost. Crazy right? But you'd be wrong... very, very wrong.

Next up is the Dewitt WX-1

Okay, you're probably thinking why? Why the size? Why the USB watch winding tool? Well, not really sure. But surely some things don't need to be made do they? I mean somethings are better left unsaid and this is probably one of them.

Okay the one that really takes the cake Romaine Jerome's Day and Night

So why? why a watch that doesn't tell time? For those that don't know a tourbillon, is one of the most complicated "complications" in a watch. I won't go into it but the tourbillon is designed to make a watch more accurate. But is accuracy something you're worried about when your margin of error is day or night? I already have something that handles that, they're called windows...

Some people have way too much money... But if any of these watch makers read this and want to send me something for mentioning their wares, like what happened with my wife's post on Toms, I'd be happy to take it.

TOMS

2008-05-23T14:24:00.003-05:00

I just went and bought myself a pair of TOMS. They are simple, cute, canvas shoes. The cool part about the company, TOMS, is that for every pair of shoes purchased they give a pair of shoes to a needy child in Argentina or South Africa. Maybe everyone already knows about these shoes because this company started in 2006 and they've given away over 60,000 shoes, but I just heard about it today. I went and got a pair right after work. They come in really cute color patterns, but so far I only have black ones (the store only had black in my size). I'm excited to order another pair soon from the website.

Stilwell Wedding

2008-05-23T14:03:00.005-05:00

We went to Melanie and Bob's wedding in Houston last weekend. It was at the Parador House, which is a beautiful little place to have a wedding.

The photographer let me use his wide angle lens and I took this picture with it. I already want to upgrade my camera accessories.

The Fambrough Wedding

2008-05-13T17:11:00.004-05:00

Gina, I mean Regina, got married yesterday. She is now Regina to me because Regina Fambrough sounds better than Gina Fambrough. Anyway, I already miss her. She is moving to North Carolina this week because that is where Colin lives. Sooo...I'm looking for a replacement for her...I'll be needing another friend! :) Haha...

The wedding was beautiful. Gina, I mean Regina, looked absolutely gorgeous!

Andrea, Amber, me, Torrie, Nealei

Congrats Regina and Colin! I hope that I can make a trip to visit you this summer!

Sister & Ronnie's Grad Party

2008-05-13T16:48:00.006-05:00

My parents had a nice little party for Katy and Ronnie Saturday evening. It was fun getting to celebrate with friends.

Sister Graduated!

2008-05-13T16:42:00.003-05:00

Katy graduated on Saturday morning from TWU! Congrats sister! Ronnie (her bf) graduated later on the same day from UNT.

my hubby.grace.love.

2008-05-06T17:38:00.003-05:00

Many of you know Hwa well, but some of my friends who live far away don't know him well. This story will show you a little of his fullness of grace and mercy and love.

I confessed some things to him this past weekend (things that I should have told him a long time ago) and didn't really know how he would react to my confession. His reaction overwhelmed me. He said
-it's ok, I forgive you
-don't worry baby, I don't love you any less or think of you any differently

...and that was it. No questions, no trying to make me feel bad about my past (which is what I do to myself). Complete forgiveness given immediately. It showed me a glimpse of Jesus' grace and love towards us--probably more than I've ever experienced before. It makes me tear up just thinking about how amazing Jesus is and how he loves us now just as much as he ever will.

Hwa, love you baby, and thanks for showing me more of who Jesus is :)

The Simple Life

2008-04-30T20:33:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to 'simplify' our home somewhat and get rid of the clutter. Also, it feels so much better to live in a clean home so I'm figuring out ways to keep it clean. Neither Hwa nor I am neat people so keeping a clean house isn't easy for us to pull off. I'm going to try the '15 minute a day method' and see how it works for us.

Today I did quite a bit:
-went through all the mail and thought of how I will try to get in the habit of filing or recycling the mail right when I get it each day...no more stacks.
-picked up all the 'stuff' in the living room and put it away (bag, box, 2 pairs of shoes, 5 coats/sweaters, hat, sunglasses, lots of books/journals). I'm going to try to pick stuff up each night and before I leave the house.
-started cleaning out the closet-off to Goodwill are a few pants, a pair of tennies, a few shirts...yay!

There are a few things I'm going to try to clean after every use:
-the sinks, which just need to be wiped down, except for the kitchen sink which I'll disinfect after cooking
-toilet, shower, and tub
-bathroom floors, which are also really easy to wipe off if you just keep up with them

This all sounds so SIMPLE but I know in a couple days it'll be easy to fall into old habits. I'm going to conquer this!

And to top it all off Hwa got a grill today. It took him a couple hours to go buy and then put together...so the fish is just now cooking. Haha. Simple life with dinner 3 hours later than we normally eat...perfect.

No really. Life is good. We are blessed with so much. Good friends. Good food. Good laughs.

Happy Birthday

2008-04-28T07:03:00.007-05:00

Sister, Me, Gina, and Amber at Denton Jazz Fest, which was on my birthday:) Sister, I'm thankful for you because you know me in a way that only a sister could know. Gina, you are so easy to be honest with, and Amber because you push me to be a better person.

These are the other 2 swim coaches I work with at the high schools. They are some of my best friends. We saw a HUGE shooting star. It was really neat. Coaching with Stephanie and Coach is like working with family. I couldn't ask for better coworkers.

Hi mom and dad! Aren't they cute? This picture was taken at the Denton Jazz Fest. Mom and Dad like to break it down to Brave Combo...you should have seen them. Hwa and I and my friends were packing up to go home at around 8:45 and mom said 'ok, we'll see you later. We're going to dance up in the front.' I love them so much and am SO thankful for them. I wish everyone had parents who they could look up to like I look up to mine. This world would be a better place.

Lastly, here is me and my baby. I'm thankful for him because he is so patient and loving and kind to me. I'm so totally undeserving of such an amazing man.

More flowers

2008-04-21T16:47:00.002-05:00

I just love this little green bug who lives in one of my roses:)

As you can see I love flowers. God is so sweet to give us such beautiful little things to simply look at and enjoy :)

I'm off to cook salmon for dinner. And then I'll be reading more of Toni Weschler's "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". I recommend it to all women! I've learned things about my body that I never knew before (and I at least thought I knew a lot before).

I'm back to blogging...

2008-04-20T17:44:00.008-05:00

Hi friends!...we'll see how long this (blogging) lasts, but I got some new toys for my birthday 'month' of April and I'm inspired to blog!

I got a new camera (Canon Rebel XTi--whoop!) that I am loving. Even though I know nothing about all the cool manual features yet, I'm learning slowly. Here are a couple of my favorite 'nature' pics. My mom took the bird one and I took the bug-flower one.

Last night was Gina's Bachelorette Party. It was almost an exact replica of mine and we had such a good time. Here are pictures from our parties. Girls nights rule!!

Tonight Hwa and I ate dinner at The Abbey Inn on the square. The atmosphere was very nice, but the food was nothing to rave about. After we ate we took a few pictures at the famous Denton Courthouse. Here are a couple.

New Parking Directions

2008-03-15T11:49:00.002-05:00

Ignore the directions below. It's better to park on the street in front of the house. The address is 7801 Stallion St. Denton, TX 76208. Take Lakeview instead of Trinity and you'll hit Stallion.

Here's a map

Sorry for any confusion.

See Y'all tonight

Reception Directions and Parking

2008-01-25T20:55:00.000-06:00

Here are the directions on where to park for the reception. Please do not park at the house, park on Trinity which leads to the back of the house.

Make sure to use University/380 and not Blagg.

Click on the image for a larger version

Please send us your address if you did not receive an invitation but would like one.

Meet the family

2008-01-03T11:57:00.000-06:00

So one of the things we had to do in California was to take family pictures.

We went to this guy... he was cheap, but he was bad. He had things like a family portrait up on the backdrop we were using... clocks and open doors... bad composition you name it. But he wasn't stupid. We asked for a CD and he put low resolution pics on there instead of the original images.

But here we go:The little baby is my niece Jolene. She's objectively the cutest baby in the world. She's scared to death of her uncle and her new aunt.

There's more... but they all pretty much look the same cause the guy sucked. But the whole thing only cost $50.

Christmas Eve

2008-01-01T16:16:00.000-06:00

Well, it came and went pretty quickly but we finally got married on Christmas Eve. It was a very low key affair, and it all went off so well. Definitely no regrets about the way we went about it.

I've included some pictures that Lisa Allen took.

This was during the Christmas Eve services:This is our Pastor Beau Hughes, he managed to work in a reference to the Transformers during the ceremony. That right there made it greatness:

This was right after we exchanged vow el s (we love you Gina!):
We were introduced as man and wife:

More on our honeymoon to California wine country real soon...

my ABC's

2007-11-20T10:18:00.001-06:00

I've been tagged! This is going to be a little challenging but here I go...

Rules: List a word that describes you for every letter of the alphabet. Offer as much or as little explanation as you wish. Please keep the words positive (for example, don’t use “fat” for F or “lame” for L), and feel free to get creative. Tag as many or as few people as you wish.

appetited
bootylicious :)
coach
dealer
encourager
fun
goofball
happy
intuitive
joyful
kind
loving
milo's mommy
normal
open
positive
quick
robin
sister
tasteful
uninhibited
very happy that I'm marrying Hwa
woot woot
x-clamatory
young at heart
zealous

Yes, Em, I did steal some of yours. Notice I didn't put creative on my list!

The ring

2007-11-04T20:50:00.000-06:00

For those wondering what her ring looks like, we took some shots of it the other night. Not the best pictures, I'm not in a photography class nor did I just get my camera... But there it is.

And Andrea, the person who posts is listed at the bottom of the post right next to the comments. I guess I should as a smiley emoticon to indicate that this is just a friendly fyi... but I shan't.

Hope

2007-11-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

Since I'm getting married soon, I decided that I should deal with some of my 'issues' in a big way before I tie the knot. A month ago I joined a Christ-centered 12 step program and am in recovery for depression, anxiety, guilt and fear of man. I've realized that as messed up as I am, I am actually SO normal. We're all broken and won't be completely fixed until the return of Christ. Until that day we can rejoice that we have a God of grace who is forgiving and who can help us feel better because we're facing our recurring sins.

"I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns." (Phil 1:6)

I have faith now that God will help me change and be able to feel more 'free' for my time here on Earth. It sounds so simple, but is an amazing feeling to finally have. I've started living day to day instead of constantly worrying about tomorrow. I've also started living for God instead of others.

Hope lies in freedom.

October is Pink Month

2007-10-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

While I was looking on Emily's blog I ran across something neat on Alyssa's blog. I made my very own virtual girl to walk in the gal to gal foundation.

This is Robin H. She is walking across the country with about 6500 friends to support women battling breat cancer.

The Thought Process

2007-10-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

So the initial idea for the proposal was for me to be "arrested" and have her come down to jail to bail me out. I know plenty of police officers that work up at our church and I was sure that I could pull it off. However Billy said it might not work out too well and made allusions to Silence of the Lambs.

Then I struck on the idea of getting pulled over. What I would do is pretend to have a zip-lock of grass or lawn clippings with the ring in it. The office would tell me to open the trunk, and he would "find" the zip-lock. He would then ask me what it was, and I would totally throw Robin under the bus and say it was hers. He would ask her to step to the back of the car and she would see the ring in the bag and viola...

Now this proved to be somewhat controversial. The comments I got on this ranged from THAT. IS. AWESOME! To "if it was me I'd say no". But I was struck by this idea of being pulled over. So I contacted Roland A. He agreed but turns out he was out of town so he had his partner Kenny do the pull over.

It all went pretty much according to plan. I had her sufficiently confused to achieve complete and total surprise. It was Pearl Harbor all over again... except there were no bombs... and there were no ships... it was in Highland Village... and the surpriser was Chinese not Japanese... and the surprisee was an American. Uh... so in retrospect, it was nothing like Pearl Harbor.

I tried to prep the event by saying stuff like "I use to sell weed in college..." to "we need to stop at a pawn shop so we can get you a ring..." so the stop and the proposal would be completely unexpected. As you would expect, Robin's a pretty smart cookie and saw right through it all. So I just had to wing it and pray.

Special thanks to Kenny and Roland for making this possible but especially Kenny for executing the stop.

Engagement

2007-10-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

Hwa proposed yesterday!!! He is so creative...here is the story:

We were driving back to Denton from Houston on Sunday and on the drive I probably brought up not having a ring and not officially being engaged about 20 million times. I wouldn't admit that I was sad that I still didn't have a ring, but it was killing me! Another weekend went by and I was disappointed that I wasn't officially engaged. Anyway, Hwa insisted that we go to church on our way into town. About a block from church we got pulled over by a denton county police guy. He said he needed our licenses and was pulling us over as part of a seat belt grant. When he walked away I got onto Hwa for taking his seat belt off when he pulled off the road. I was sure he was getting a ticket. Well, the police officer actually walked over to my window and questioned me about just putting on my belt after he pulled us over. I promised him that I had my belt on for like 4 hours. He ends up telling us that he is writing us both citations for not wearing our belts. I was freaking out and before I even had time to get really argumentative he handed me a ticket to sign. It was a piece of paper that said, "Will you marry me? Hwa." Ah!!! I was so happy. We kissed and the officer told us to quit neckin' and get to church.

Pretty sweet/funny/creative, huh?! I sure am blessed to be marrying such an amazing man:)

I'll post ring pictures soon. It's absolutely beautiful.