Oh Texas, my Texas

I did not expect to be ambushed by memories and sentimentality as my plane landed in Austin on Wednesday. But that is what happened. I actually teared up on the plane as a flood of wonderful memories filled my mind and heart. What a pleasant surprise, especially when my greatest expectation of Texas was experiencing heat misery (which definitely occurred at times).

I spent two days in Austin, Texas for a work conference this past week. It was a great conference with the highest value being the people I met, conference attendees and organizers as well as friends from "prior lives." Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera! Ugh! So I'll steal some pictures from people's blogs for this post. I want to tell you about the people I got to see from my "prior lives."

First, my Baylor classmate, Jaime, generously went to work a little late and met me for an hour Thursday morning. Talk about an hilarious exchange as we tried to catch up on over six years of life after Baylor in about an hour! We tried to describe our significant others (which was quite a task—really, how do I sum up Greg in a few minutes?!), talked about our career paths, life in Austin and Boston, and of course we reminisced to Baylor and some of our strange professors and classes. Thanks for reconnecting, Jaime (and for the caramel machiatto)!

(This is stolen from his Flickr account. Maybe family?)

Thursday evening after a fun hotel happy hour and getting to know some of the conference organizers (who are also my account reps for our office's recruiting software) a little better, I took a walk over to meet Amy and baby Audrey at Chuy's. Even though the walk was definitely one of those "heat misery" moments, it was a beautiful little hike along the Colorado River and a very popular hiking/biking path. (I think I was the only one NOT in work-out clothes.) Amy and Audrey were as beautiful as ever, and I think I'm a better person after spending a couple hours with the two of them. I especially enjoyed our conversation about storing up treasures in heaven, finding and connecting with community, and of course being a mom. Thanks for sharing life with me, Amy! Those of you who know Audrey just wouldn’t believe how big she is; what a happy, talkative little girl!

(Stolen from the Douglas' blog -
See more pictures of Amy & Audrey here.)

My conference ended at noon on Friday, and I scurried to meet Baylor and First Woodway friend Sarah for lunch near the Capitol where she works. Again, it was a crazy hour of playing six-years catch-up. I was thrilled to hear about Sarah and Jon’s preparation to be part of a church plant in Austin, and it was special to reconnect with another Baylor/Woodway sister. I can’t wait to see pictures of your home, Sarah! I’ll continue to stalk you on Facebook.

(Stolen from Facebook - Sarah & her hubby Jon)

Wow! What a blessed two days God gave me in Austin! It was fun to see how He multiplied my time as I wasn’t even sure how I’d fit meeting one person into the 48 hours in Austin!

If you’ve made it this far, I just have to share a couple pictures of the Hyatt Regency in Austin because it was wonderful!
And the famous bats which come out at sunset and make their daily flight south(?) from the bridge by the patio above.
Oh Texas, my Texas…I really do miss you. I’m a changed person from the years I called you home, and you will always hold a special place in my heart.