Lakehouse: Jenna's Wedding + Dallas TX

Dallas TX

Ginger flew to Dallas in June 2016 for Jenna's wedding! Along the way, she got to catch up with several friends. Michelle, Ian and Evelyn toured the Dallas World Aquarium.

Michelle loves teaching her daughter to love all the different creatures.

We got together with our Ft. Worth friends. Andy and Nathaniel are roommates now. Ginger got to meet Nathaniel's girlfriend Rebekah (center) and Patrick and his girlfriend Jessica (right).

Ginger had dinner with Tracy and her wonderful family, Jose, Mona, Sandra and Katherine. Last time we saw them, Sandra was just a few days old in Pennyslvannia. Soon after, Tracy and Joe came home to Texas. They have been building a small family farm, with chickens, goats, and hopefully soon longhorns. Joe also runs a tree cutting business with the goal of hiring veterans and paying them well.

Ginger stayed with Bid and Bill. Bill has been growing a huge aero-garden with fresh tomatoes!

Jenna & Matt's Wedding

Ginger made a simple wedding cake for Jenna- she prepared three tiers of plain white cake. Michelle came along for the wedding (in Jacksboro, TX) and helped assemble the cake and arrange real flowers on it. Jenna's wedding had the most amazing flowers every- their family friend Ms. Grace is a professional florist.

Both families praised the new spouses, saying they "If we could have picked the perfect husband for our daughter, we couldn't have made someone as good as Matt" and the same for Jenna.

The other highlight of the wedding was a surprise- the Tarantolas drove from Lubbock! We hadn't seen Chris and Lauren since graduation, and got to meet their son Peter for the first time.

Here's a more accurate view of our friendship! (Thanks to Chris for both group photos)

Austin to Boston: Lubbock + Dallas TX

Lubbock, Texas 


Our trip truly starts as we leave Lubbock. We both went to college at Texas Tech for five years, and it’s been home.

As we drove, the landscape was the most green we have ever seen West Texas. (But the horizon was still perfectly flat.)
We’ve stored furniture and non-necessities with Stephen’s parents in Las Cruces, NM. Everything we’ll be living with is packed up tight in the trunk and backseat. Stephen has an intensely organized packing system you can see above.

Goodbye, Lubbock!


Dallas, Texas

Part of Ginger’s family lives in Dallas
(We forgot to take a group photo, but here's a recent photo from our wedding!)

We got to see them again, have dinner.
We bought new tires for Lady Penelope (our Jaguar) and also were informed that our brakes needed new pads and new rotors, with replacement an estimated cost of $1000! We decided to wait and see what Stephen’s dad (who happened to be in Austin) would think of that estimate.
Below: old brake pads vs. new brake pads.

Austin, Texas

Stephen’s immediate family were all in Austin this weekend. Our littlest nephew Lukas is crawling now.
Stephen and his dad replaced the car parts for less than HALF the estimated price.

Stephen’s sister Melanie bought a fish tank. Her daughter Sophia picked out most of the decoration, so of course there was a lot of pink. She also probably named all of the fish Sophia.

Niece Sophia (3) and nephew Bailey (7) with the fish tank.


We met our friends Chris and Lauren for lunch.

Top Ten Things we’ll miss about Texas

10. That inexplicable state pride of native Texans.
9. Big sunsets (no interruption from terrain)
8. Shiner Boch.
7. Highway Patrolmen wearing cowboy hats.
6. Wind farms.
5. Tex-Mex food.
4. Warm weather, especially in winter.
3. Cheap rent.
2. The word “y’all.” (it’s a good word!)
1. Our friends & family.

Quote of the Day:

"I just realized why you packed a tent. It's because you're homeless, right?" -Bailey