Shelby and I are leaving this evening to head to Dallas.

I’m getting closer & closer to moving into my new house.  While in Dallas (Frisco, actually), I am going to visit IKEA.  I’m sure I will find way more than I can afford or need but I look forward to look around for ideas.

Sunday is NASCAR time!  Shelby and I have the best seats we’ve ever had (up near the top at the start/finish line).  I thank the season (actually lifetime) ticket holder that decided to sell their tickets for the great view we will enjoy!

I have been looking forward to this past Saturday’s football game since the series was announced in March of 2008.  The game?  The University of Arkansas vs Texas A&M in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium!

Shelby & I went to the game with our uncles Mark & Rod.  None of us had seen the new stadium up close, much less inside, so we were very very impressed by the whole experience (well, exit traffic not so impressive).

The stadium was unbelievable to see in person.  I’ve never even been to an NFL stadium so that made this stadium that much more impressive.  Here are some of the better shots from in & around the stadium.

On to some football…The game was fantastic!  Arkansas beat Texas A&M 47-19.  The game started with 2 scores by A&M so we were a bit worried in the beginning but then the offense and the defense hit their strides and off we went.  These three shots are from the 2nd touchdown (1st at our end of the field) Arkansas scored.

I love watching good marching bands.  I’ve been lucky enough to have a high school (Springdale High School) and college (University of Arkansas) alma mater with great marching bands.  Texas A&M’s is like none I’ve seen.  Their precision marching was unbelievable and the crowd gave them a great standing ovation when they were done.

The only negative about the whole evening was the traffic getting out of the stadium and back to Mark’s house in Dallas.  We had no problem getting to the stadium and into our parking spot.  We literally did not move within the parking lot for 30 minutes trying to get out.  We finally gave up that route and turned around to try another one.  It still took us another 30 minutes to get to I-30 (a mile from the stadium) and on our way to Dallas.  It then took another hour to get back to Dallas.  The great stadium and game made up for the traffic issue getting home.  It’s just one of this Grrr! moments that we won’t forget.

Here is a slideshow of several of the photos I took outside and inside the stadium before, during, and after the game.  Enjoy!

I went by the house yesterday and took a bunch of pictures inside and out of the house.  As soon as the keys are mine, we plan on doing a bunch of painting and floor cleaning/replacing so I wanted to have a set of pictures that I can use to compare to later on.  Plus, more than one person have asked for more pictures of the house.  This kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Here is a quick tour of the house followed by a link to a Flickr photo album with these photos and more.  I’m going to hold off sharing what our preliminary plans are for wall colors and so forth.  I do want to let you know that the paint color on all of the walls (minus trim) will be changing.  Plus, the carpeting will eventually all be replaced (with wood laminate, more than likely, in the dining room & master bedroom and then new carpet everywhere else).

Let’s start with the exterior of the house.  Right now, the yard is not fenced in (except for the sides where the neighbors’ fences are & a barbed wire fence at the back of the property line where it separates me from a large field).  It is a great shaped yard, though.  It will be perfect for my dog Gracie to run and play (after a fully enclosed fence is put up).

This is a view from the front door looking straight ahead.  The doorway to the right is the formal dining room.  The little closet ahead is the coat closet.  The staircase to the left leads upstairs.  The door to the left is a little half bath for guests.  The back room is the living room.  The 2nd picture is a view down to the front door from the upstairs balcony.  As afraid of heights as I am, I’m going to have to rely on people who climb ladders to clean and decorate that ledge.  Haha.  The 3rd picture is a view from the back of the house to the front door.

This is the dining room.  I love the light fixture.  I actually love all of the light fixtures in this home.  They are the colors I would pick (not a gold-tone person so I lucked out & have none of that in the house).

The dining room has a doorway that leads into the kitchen.  (You can see through to the dining room in this picture.)  I love this kitchen!  (You’ll have to excuse all of our junk sitting on the counter.  There is a sink in the midst of that clutter.)  On the right hand side of this picture, between the refrigerator space and the top cabinet, there is a door.  This is a good sized pantry.  To take this picture, I am standing in a breakfast nook area.

If I make a 90 degree turn to the right from where I was taking the above picture of the kitchen, I can duplicate the next picture.  This is a view from the breakfast nook into the living room.  The open glass door on the right leads to the back covered patio.  To left of the fireplace is the utility room/garage and the master suite.  I love all of the windows on the main level of this house.  There are 5 in the living room/breakfast nook area plus the glass backdoor.

Here is the master bedroom, bath, and closet.

Now, let’s head upstairs.

On the 2nd level there are 5 rooms – 2 spare bedrooms (pics 1 & 2), an office (pic 3), a bonus room (pic 4), & a full bath (pic 5).

That does it for the walk-through.  You can check out the full photo album here.  I’ll start posting during/after photos as soon as we get started.  I’m hoping that is very very soon!

If all goes well, this should be MY house within the next month or so.  The home buying process up to this point has gone very quickly.  I went to the bank a week ago Friday to get all prequalified.  I looked at this house on Wednesday and then I made an offer & accepted the counter-offer on Friday afternoon.  The house is in a great location – a quiet cul-de-sac 5 minutes from work, as a matter of fact.

The house is going to need a fresh coat of paint in all of the rooms and the carpeting will need to be replaced.  Other than that, it is a 2150 square feet house in great condition.  I’m looking forward to officially getting the keys and being able to decorate and move in!  I have a feeling the closing process is going to take what seems like forever!

Last Thursday evening, Mom, Shelby, & I saw Casting Crowns in concert at the Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers.  (You can see the 3 crosses in the top righthand corner of the windows.)  I think this was only the second time I’ve been in this church (and the first was for Lindsey’s wedding).  We had pretty close seats over to the side of the stage.  Except for the sun blinding us at first, they were great seats.

Prior to the concert, I really only knew of a couple of songs Casting Crowns sang.  (Although, I did realize I knew more once they started singing them.)  One of my most favorite they sing is Every Man.  The song illustrates that there are all sorts of people in the world and that Jesus is the hope that can get “every man” through their trials and tribulations.

Here is a YouTube video (that is actually just the audio) for the song Every Man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pytHn7XJvnE

Here are the pictures I took during the concert.

Last Friday & Saturday was The Poultry Federation’s Poultry Festival.  It was held here in northwest Arkansas with Saturday’s events being at the Embassy Suites & John Q Hammons Center in Rogers.  I was able to attend 3 of the events.  I went to the Ladies Luncheon on Friday, the barbeque dinner on Saturday night, and then the Chuck Wicks concert.

I actually got to technically see Chuck Wicks 3 times Saturday evening.

Chuck # 1: After the bbq dinner, we decided to walk across the street and get some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery.  We walk in and there is Chuck Wicks with his mother.  He immediately said hi to us and introduced himself.  He was in buying his mom ice cream before he went next door to get himself a sandwich.  He ended up buying Bailey’s and Marguerite’s ice cream when he bought his mom’s.  (Shelby & I didn’t get any ice cream but I’m sure he would have bought ours too.)

Chuck # 2: We were lucky enough to be given meet & greet passes.  When Chuck walked into the meet & greet room, he immediately noticed us and said hi.  We waited toward the back of the line since we had just met him.  When we got up there, Shelby & I first got our stuff signed and pictures taken.  (Just a side note…See Chuck’s facial expression in this photo?  He is the master of making faces.  He took the cutest pictures with some of the kids – even making Taylor Swift’s heart sign with a young girl.)  Marguerite decided she was going to ask Chuck to twirl her for her photo with him.  Chuck decided he’d do even better and dip her.  It was cute.

Chuck # 3: The concert was great!  We had front row seats!  I must admit that I’m not very familiar with all of his music, probably mostly because he really only has 1 CD at this point.  I didn’t necessarily notice that I didn’t know the songs given the mixture of songs he sang.  He sang Pick-Up Man by Joe Diffie.  He also sang another song that he said was a #1 in 1980 (when he was 1 years old according to Chuck).  I have a bad memory, though, at times when it comes to remembering songs that I want/need to and this particular one has completely left me.  I’ve always loved Chuck’s debut single which was Stealing Cinderella.  His performance of that definitely didn’t disappoint.

Oh yeah…Julianne wasn’t with Chuck in northwest Arkansas.  (This was a popular speculation before the concert.)  She is the opening act for George Strait’s tour and had a performance the same night.

And…Chuck recently co-wrote a song with Brian McKnight for his (Chuck’s) new album.  Chuck sang it.  It’s a very good one!  I look forward to it on the radio.

I definitely recommend seeing Chuck Wicks in concert if given the opportunity.  You can find him online at ChuckWicks.com and on Twitter at @ChuckWicksMusic.

Here is the set of photos I took during the concert and the photos that were taken of us during the meet & greet.  Enjoy!

Jeff Gordon won on Sunday, April 5, 2009 not only for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway but also for the first time since October 2007 (47 races ago, if you are keeping count).

This was the first race I attended with my new camera.  I wasn’t really sure how it was going to work given the high speeds.  (I was spoiled to the sport/action setting on my old camera.)  I think my pictures turned out ok for my first try.  Here are some my favorites (picture-wise and subject-wise).

I probably say this after every race when I share pictures but I love seeing the crew members lined up on pit road during the invocation and the national anthem.

Dale Earnhardt Jr started 20th and finished 20th in the race after having a little connection with the wall.

Jimmie Johnson started 9th and finished 2nd.  Jimmie & Jeff battling for the win made the last few laps pretty interesting.  Given the wind at the track on raceday, I’m surprised the drivers could keep their hats on riding around the track.  Jimmie’s trying a different technique by wearing his backwards.

We’ve been lucky to have a direct view down pit road and of the exit of pit road when we go to TMS.  From this view, pit stops sometime look like mass chaos with cars and crew members everywhere.

This is Max Papis.  I love this photo.  He’s so enthusiastic.

Boogity! Boogity! Boogity! Let’s Go Racin’, Boys! When I’m seeing a race in person or even later in the season when DW isn’t an announcer, I so want someone to yell this.

You can see all of the pictures I took at the race by visiting my Flickr photo album.

History, after all, is the memory of a nation. – John F Kennedy 1917-1963

While we were in Dallas, TX a couple of weekends ago for the NASCAR race, we decided to visit Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum.  For those that may not recognize those locations right off hand, Dealey Plaza is the area in Dallas where President Kennedy was fatally shot.  The Sixth Floor Museum is located on the Sixth Floor of the Texas School Book Depository where it is believed Lee Harvey Oswald was located when he assassinated the President.

Dealey Plaza

Dealey Plaza is a significant part of Dallas history. The site marks the birthplace of Dallas, originally founded by John Neely Bryan in the 1840s. Almost a century later, during President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the familiar concrete colonnades and triple underpass were constructed, making this vehicular park an example of successful city planning. These projects were spearheaded by civic leader George Bannerman Dealey. After G.B. Dealey died in 1946, a bronze statue to honor him was installed in the park that already bore his name.

Hailed as “The Front Door of Dallas,” Dealey Plaza served as the major gateway to the city from the west and, equally important, as a symbol of civic pride.  (The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza)

Dealey Plaza is located on Houston St and between Elm & Commerce Streets in downtown Dallas.  President Kennedy was in Dallas as part of a 5 city tour of Texas for part of the 1964 campaign.

It was presidential politics pure and simple. It was the opening effort of the 1964 campaign. It was going beautifully. – Lyndon B Johnson (The Vantage Point, 1971)

The above photo contains 2 red arrows.  The arrows are pointing at X’s painted on Elm St.  The foreground arrow is the location of the President’s limo when he was first shot in the upper back/lower neck.  The background arrow is the location of the President’s limo when he was fatally shot in the head.

Who shot President John F Kennedy?

The year 2000 will see men still arguing…about the president’s death. – Journalist Harrison Salisbury (The New York Times, 1964)

Well, my simple answer to that is Lee Harvey Oswald on the 6th floor in the Texas School Book Depository with a rifle.  I didn’t see anything in what was presented there to make me think there was another shooter.  I know I’m no expert but it sure looks to me like the shots came from where Oswald was perched.  I’m not completely convinced it was all of his doing, though.  Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald definitely makes me think there might have been more to the story than it just being as simple as Oswald deciding to shoot Kennedy.  I don’t think we’ll ever truly know the entire story, and I’m sure it will be discussed and debated forever as the journalist said in his quote above.

The Sixth Floor Museum

“John F Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation” is the permanent historical exhibition that examines the life, death, and legacy of the 35th US President. From his 1960 presidential campaign through his influence on current events, the exhibit features documentary films, historic footage, hundreds of photographs, and artifacts. Two areas that appear as they did on November 22, 1963, highlight the exhibit: the sniper’s perch and the staircase area where the sniper exited the sixth floor and a rifle was found. Also on display are the cameras used in Dealey Plaza on that fateful day and a scale model of Dealey Plaza created by the FBI for use by the Warren Commission.  (The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza)

I took that explanation of the Sixth Floor Museum from a brochure I picked up as I was purchasing my admission into the museum itself.  The adult admission price was $13.50 (with reduced rates for seniors, youth, & free for children under 5).  I thought that was a great price.  It took us a good 2 hours to go through the audio tour of the museum (which is included in the admission).  I wasn’t born until 1980 so I really only knew what I learned in school and saw on television and in movies about Kennedy’s Presidency & Assassination.  I must say I learned a lot and came out of there with a whole new respect for President & Mrs Kennedy.

If you are ever in Dallas, I recommend visiting Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum.  Whether you are Republican or Democrat, whether or not you supported Kennedy, or even whether or not you are old enough to remember JFK, it is neat to visit there and listen to & read the account of the events leading up to and on that Saturday afternoon back in 1963.

Overall, it was great to get away for a little bit of a Spring Break with Kelly to San Antonio (& Corpus Christi).  It was definitely a packed 3 full days but we saw a lot and enjoyed ourselves.

You can read all about what I thought of what we saw by clicking here to see all blog entries from the trip.  You can also click here to see my Flickr photo album of the trip.  (Believe it or not, I didn’t most near all of the pictures here on my blog so you need to check out the photo album to see them all.)

Up Next: I’ll be heading back to Texas in a couple of weeks for the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway.

We had gotten somewhat close to the tower while in San Antonio but hadn’t really gotten close enough for the full height of the structure to hit me.  When we drove up & got out of the car, I must say the thought of going up in the elevator (which you can see in the photo above) really starting sinking in.  I am NOT a heights person so it is definitely very freaky.  I wasn’t going to not go up there, obviously.  I just had no idea how I would be when we got to the top.

I must say the elevator ride up was not near as scary as I thought it would be.  Only 1 side of the elevator is glass and I made sure I was on the opposite side from that so I didn’t have to look out.  The elevator ride did take forever.  It was weird not knowing how much farther we had to go.  (Although, that may have been a blessing in disguise for me.)

We got to the top and got out on the restaurant level.  As I mentioned before, the restaurant rotates around so you get a view of the whole city.  It didn’t move around very fast at all.  The food was delicious.  Of course, it was expensive but we knew that ahead of time.  We all three got the chef’s special which was a crusted salmon that was stuffed with cream cheese & spinach and served over pasta with a little marinara sauce.  It was delicious and has had me wanting some more salmon.  For dessert, I tried their key lime pie.  Not to sound like a broken record but it was delicious as well.

After dinner, we decided we were brave enough to go up a level to the observation deck in the tower.  (The observation deck is open to everyone, not just restaurant goers.)  I didn’t get too close to the edge of the deck, especially when we were outside.  (There was a series of glass & bars that were obviously holding us in but my fear of heights kicked in and the wind whipping around just didn’t make me very comfortable being on the edge.)  It was pretty neat to look around see all of the sights of San Antonio from that height.  We were kind of kicking ourselves that we hadn’t come up there first or earlier in our trip because it was dark at this point and so some of the sights (i.e. The Alamo) were hard to pick out.

This was a very good ending to our San Antonio vacation.  It was great to see Wyndi again and to have a very nice dinner while in San Antonio.  I recommend at least visiting the observation deck at the Tower of the Americas if you are ever in San Antonio.  If I go up there, you can too.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.