tour de love

Greetings. 

I felt bad not blogging for so long, but soon realized that my the only people that read this fabulous blog

 were all people that were on the 

Tour De Love stops, 

so they would surely understand the lack of updates.

Then I spent the last 2 days, not blogging, but rather trying to do some maintenance work on the blog. I discovered that depending on what size screen you view the blog on depends on how you view the pictures. That can't be right. So, every once and a while if you see a picture that has about 25% cut off, it is NOT me trying to be creative (Misty!) it's something that I can't figure out. I will continue to work to better understand the behind the scenes of blogging.
Oh and of course once we get settled in Colombia, our blog will reflect that...
(as in the "Texas Lifestyle" will be gonzo)

So, where were we...

Tour de Love....

Unfortunately, the negative aspect to not blogging for over 2 weeks is that I really have to 

try to go back and put pieces together. So bear with me. 

We set off from Beaumont for Tennessee. Matt in a 16 foot U-Haul trailer which pulled the car and Sarah and Bella in the big red truck. Sarah loves driving the big red truck....

Okay, so this is a blatant lie, but it was better than the U-Haul. 

It was a full day of driving but we arrived in Knoxville in time for bed (and a drink).

We are storing our furniture and other belongings in a storage unit in Knoxville while we are abroad. 

So after the unloading of the truck we were able to really begin our vacation.

We enjoyed a lot of food, drink, laugher, outdoors, and 

of course quality time with the 4 legged family members.

My parents recently purchased a "cottage" on the water. Now, when I say on the water, I literally mean, on the water. It is surrounded by water on all 4 sides and is in the middle of a lake. The previous owners had as my mother would say, a different style than what she was going for. However, I would call it tacky. So, The Schoenfelder's have been busy renovating this cottage to their liking. This involves demo, like you see on HGTV and lots of work. We have had the opportunity to spend some time out on the cottage and see the vision it is moving towards and witness a lot of progress. I should probably clarify. I witnessed progress, my husband, was a part of the progress. I believe due to his assistance we now have part ownership in the "floating cottage". We are very much looking forward to
visiting this spot when we migrate north.

the view

before

after. that's called progress

the bar that i plan to belly up to next time I am here.

Of course you're all aware of Matt's crazy work schedule and once that slowed down 

we prepared for our exit from 885 East Drive
 then prepared to move abroad.

So obviously, seeing this made me really happy...

Bella's tour de love stopped here.
She reached her final destination.
She is home.
B transitioned fairly well and is enjoying her new housemates.
I am not sure if I can say the same for Bailey,
but she and Lola seem to have a good ole' time.

In all honesty, I expected the "parting" to be difficult
but thought I totally had it under control.
Nah.
But the good news is Bella is doing well,
she is extremely loved,
& gets lots of attention.
I miss her lots already.


After we dried our eyes we headed to Chicago...





It's pretty hard to recap that weekend, but it involved delicious food, story telling, laugher, amazing friends and quenching our thirst.

From Chicago, we hit the road to home sweet home Iowa. Our week's stay in Iowa went so fast.
There are so many special people to see and spend time with.
We had a great time catching up with Matt's parents and we even
road tripped to Missouri to see Matt's grandmothers.
Since we have moved to Texas we have not traveled that way so
 it was nice to have some extra time and visit with some extended family.
It was great to be able to see several people throughout the week.

Good friends of ours, The Bethel's, welcomed a baby boy at the beginning of this year.




We got to see the Brown's twice this week, once for dinner in Kansas City and at Jakes...
we are lucky!
(and I am hoping my luck continues and I also get to see them in VEGAS)


Matt's sisters came into town for the weekend with their adorable families.
We usually only get to see them around Holidays so it was nice to spend time
with the kids and the girls without an agenda. We ate some great
home-cooked meals, they helped us get through our Napa Valley wine stock,
(I think Marcie is an official Cakebread fan)
and we enjoyed everyone's company.



(If you read Shelley's blog, Yes, I stole the above pictures from her.)

We are so thankful to everyone who made time to see us
during our Tour de Love.
While it was difficult to say goodbye for now
it was also a great feeling...
For
this adventure would not be possible if it were
not for the
love and support
of our friends and family.

we love you. 

flouride

Hi.

I'm still processing....

This whole move thing.

To another country.

And guess what...

It's happening fast.

Fast as in....

We are approaching our last week as Beaumontians. 

Residents of Beaumont, Texas. 

Right now it looks like our last day in "Big Money Texas" is March 11.

From their we will begin our "Tour de Love"

We will be in touch about the destinations and dates.

And I believe we will be Colombians on March 28th.

It's been an interesting week. 

Between the conversations I have had with people attempting to explain 

the idea that I am moving to another continent

and

the random things that continue to puzzle me about moving to another land.

For example, today I was at the dentist and the kind Doc

made some comment about his lack of knowledge of the flouride in the water in Colombia.

Seriously.

Like, who would have ever thought of that.

Right?

Then I started to think about the water in general.

Are we entering a country with general rules to drinking water
(I will have to get back to you on that)

And now it is several days later and I am working on finishing this post.
So expect it to be random.
As random as the title.

We are now leaving Beaumont Friday morning.
Packing a U-Haul and heading to Tennessee to unpack it and begin to soak up
all the love, laughter, and joy
we can out of family.
Then we get to continue the journey and soaking in
Chicago and Iowa.

One thing I am not looking forward to:
Leaving this love:

She will be in good hands.
This much we know for sure.
She will be a resident of "Good Ole' Rocky Top"
and we are looking forward to our weekly skype sessions

We are also looking forward to soaking up some bottles of this:

We totally planned on bringing the Valley with us to CO...
Then we decided we should probably look into it.
Apparently it's not really all that easy to bring alcohol into a foreign country.
Praying the Colombia has their own fine wines to offer.

Last weekend as Texans:
Spent in Galveston, Texas.
Mardi Gras 2011.
Fab way to go out.


Tomorrow is my last day of week.
I have quite a bit of anxiety about this whole
Good Bye
thing.
I have been really, really, really
blessed
to work with some extraordinary people
and
truly enjoy the work I do.
Now, you may be able to better comprehend my anxiety.
Pretty difficult thing to say good bye to.
But as someone just told me:
"It's not Good Bye.
It's
See Ya
Later"

See Ya'll Later.

location, location, location

Good Evening.

I am blogging from a brand new spot. 

That's right.

885 East Drive is no longer the place I call home. I had a lot of mixed emotions about this moving experience and even started a blog post last week all about my feelings.

 But I have to be honest. This weekend, while we were moving out... I didn't feel sad. I just wanted it to be over (ie: moving sucks). Today I went over there to let Bella play in her backyard one more time, 

before it officially becomes the residence of a nice new family and I felt like I was in someone else's home (maybe because I basically was?)

. The house felt completely different empty. What made it our home, wasn't there anymore. 

It was the perfect first house for us. 

But we are on to new adventures.

That new adventure includes a move to....

(drumroll please)

Cartagena, Colombia

We are very excited for this next chapter. 

We have lots of questions and some curiosities about what this next chapter will truly look like. 

But most of all we are looking forward to being in this adventure together.

(please get your passports situated, as some visits are going to be necessary)

Hopefully I will be able to share some of those details and answers to my questions soon. It's a little chaotic preparing to move out of the country. Each time I take the time to think, I come up with another random question or an item to add to the to do list. 

And that to do list is currently staring me in the face, reminding me that I will need to deal with each individual item in the near future as well as those tasks that come to me in my sleep tonight. 

So, as they say in Colombia....

Buenos Noches

logging

"much like blogging.

but it involves, pen, paper, and Kathleen."

A weekend that has been highly anticipated for me has now passed.

The best friends a girl could ever ask for

graced the McQuinn's

with their presence. All the way from

Chicago, Illinois.

It was a perfect ending to our era at 885 East Drive.

We utilized every square inch of this home.

We danced.

Laughter resonated through the walls.

Bella was spoiled rotten with attention.

Every cupboard and drawer was opened as we prepared our

Sunday dinner.

We managed to utilize the bedrooms for some rest.

And I was happy. 

So while I again have that very regretful, "oh man, I wish I woulda taken more pictures"...

It's okay. Because I logged it...

away in my heart.

2006-2011 celebrated

Well, hello there.

In the midst of a pretty chaotic time 

(remember, house has sold and we still haven't the faintest about 

where we will lay our heads in a month) 

Matt and I had the opportunity to remember what its all about and how it started 5 years ago.

Some of the highlights from January 28, 2006 to January 28, 2011

(this is a microscopic view of the incredible amazing experiences and memories we have made the past half decade)


We felt like celebrating year 5 needed to be something special. A few months ago Matt and I began speaking about planning a trip to mark the occasion. While we travel quite often we realized it had been a while since we had taken a trip just for us. Matt came to me about a month ago with a few different destinations he was looking into, we discussed and in the end he informed me that he would be making the final decisions. So, now I get to tell you all about the amazing (long) weekend my husband and I had in....

WARNING. This post is going to have a lot of information. A lot. Mostly, because I want to remember all of it and this is a great way to do so. So, if you're not feeling it, I apologize, and will not be offended in the slightest if you just want to look at the pictures or want to skip it entirely (and it's not like I will ever know anyway, right?)


Thursday, January 27

Matt had filled me in the day before about our destination so I could pack accordingly. We landed in San Francisco and headed straight for Napa Valley.

 Let me sidetrack for a moment... 

I love the Bay area. Like want to move there. absolutely gorgeous. 

Matt had done quite a bit of research and we visited three wineries that were highly recomended and were new to us 

(our first trip to Napa was summer of 09 and we fell. in. love)

St. Supery

Really kind staff, some great wine, beautiful grounds...

but they have some seriously awesome artwork that they change with each vintage that I was loving.

On our way to the next destination, we stopped at the most adorable local market for a sandwich and other goodies. Another reason I want to live in Napa... the markets. I could make some amazing food with all those fresh deliciouso ingredients.

 And don't get me started on the cheese selection. 

We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the grounds at a winery... purrr.fection.

Grgich Hills

Here we enjoyed a little education from a former Texan. It was fun to discuss things that

 only a person familiar with SETX would understand. 

We definitely realized that visiting during the off season really allows you to learn and 

interact with the staff. We had another round of great tastings and left with some wine and some "chocolate covered wine"... 

imagine a chocolate covered cherry, take out the cherry and fill it with wine. 

Yep. AH-mazing.

We had some fantastic dinner reservations. Yes, had. I was reminded what 

marriage is really about.

 the good with the bad. 

in sickness and in health.

 Matt didn't feel so well and he tried to go to dinner, but we made a decision that if he couldn't really enjoy it, it wasn't worth it. So room service it was. But, the weekend was 

full of so many fabulous moments, we really don't have time to focus on the "not-so" ones.

Friday, January 28

Our Anniversary

We started our morning off with a fabulous breakfast at Boon Fly Cafe. 

One of the most adorable places I saw through the weekend. The food and coffee was fantastic and I want to decorate my kitchen like Boon Fly.

 And I could totally live in a barn,

if it was a chic as Boon Fly.

The rest of the weekend was full of surprises. 

My favorite wine is Cakebread. 

Matt and I have shared many special moments with a bottle 

(when we found out we had a contract on the house we opened a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay Reserve).

 So, I was thrilled when Matt informed me that we had a food and wine pairing scheduled at Cakebread. If you have not ever had a bottle of Cakebread, 

I highly, recommend it. 

Their Chardonnay is on another level. 

The surprises kept coming as Matt had found a winery in which we had the opportunity to blend our own wines. 

Conn Creek

 offers an experience to learn about, taste, and blend wines from the various regions that make up Napa Valley. 

It was an absolutely amazing experience and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in wine and taking a trip to the Valley. 

The staff was so kind and helpful and it was both a fun and educational experience. 

Matt and I each have our own that we blended and bottled. 

We are looking forward to some celebratory moments in the future to taste each of our unique creations.

I know, I know, it's hard to believe, 

but the day got better at dinner. 

We ate at Bottega, a restaurant by Chef Michael Chiarello. 

Some of you may be familiar with Chef Michael from his show on Food Network, Top Chef Masters, or his retail store NapaStyle. 

It was amazing, the food, the ambiance, the service. 

What topped this dinner off was that handsome charming Italian chef... 

stopped by our table and complimented the lady at the table. 

The perfect ending to a perfect day.  

Saturday, January 29

The surprises were not yet over. Matt had yet another

 incredible day

 planned for us. We had plans to do a limo tour through some wineries in Napa. Accompanying us was 4 others. We had a great group, 

2 woman that were friends from college, and "co-workers". 

The tour took us to 4 different wineries 

(that's a lot for 1 day)

 but we thorougly enjoyed it and got to see parts of Napa we weren't 

familiar with while visiting both small and large wineries. 

Including:

 Rubicon Estate, a gorgeous winery that is owned by

 Francis Ford Coppola (yep, the guy who wrote & directed The Godfather is a wino). 

It was a beautiful estate, had great red wine, and had one heck of a "gift shop".

Bravante Vineyards, a smaller winery 

with beautiful views and fabulous wines. We had a great wine educator on this tour

 and we even had his dog accompany us on tour 

(can't you see Bella as a wine dog)

Frank Family, first thing I noticed here, pictures of Oprah. Apparently she is 

friends with the Franks and had a birthday party at the winery.

 Enough said.

Stags Leap, our final destination, has a connection to the movie Bottle Shock 

(movie recommendation) 

They also submitted a wine for the tasting in Paris. 

Chateau Montelena was the winner, 

which is a stop I intend to make on my next trip to Napa.

We finished our incredibly romantic and fabulous long weekend with dinner at Brix.

So, I have to say Thank You

to my best friend, 

the man who makes me smile,

laugh

and at times....

scream.

But there isn't a person I would rather be on this journey with.

And I know.

That I am.

I am.

The Luckiest.

Oh.

and check out the

 loot.

(if you are still with me, i promise not to make it so long next time. xoxo)