Miss Us?

Wish we could say that there was some excuse for our -ahem- month long absence, but no.

Just click the link below.

http://meetthevances.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/hello-world/

a new blog?

Jess's latest obsession has been fashion blogs. Her afternoon routine includes a shower (gotta wash of the kid/playground smell what comes with teaching) and some time in front of her laptop winding down with some unique fashion blogs (in and outside of Texas). With a closet full of clothes and some of the best thrift stores around, she's constantly inspired to rework her wardrobe and find something new to wear. 

The point of this post? Would you read a blog she writes about her daily outfits. The angle of the blog would be about how a teacher doesn't have to settle on something boring or within the "holiday sweater" genre. A (newish) hobby that allows her to feel good about expressing herself through her daily outfit picks. 

Jake gives the thumbs up and even offered to host photo shoots. Honestly, would you read? 

p.s. any blog (teacher theme) title ideas? 

so far we have "Teacher, Teacher I Declare..." or "A Lesson in Fashion" --feedback?

free day of yoga

Today's yoga experience was one for the books. Jess chose a few favorite teachers and/ studios for us to check out today. One of her fav teachers is named Zoe. She met her during her brief stint at Lulu having taken a few of her classes around town. Zoe comes to class with an open heart, great messages, and a cool little accordion that she plays (and sings to) both a the beginning of class.

We didn't think of bringing our camera to class because we expected it to be like any other class we have taken. Totally wrong.

First off, Love Yoga Co-op is a new studio to us. It looks like house with 2 small bungalows behind it. The leveled areas and floor to ceiling windows that overlooked Bouldin Creek gave you the feeling of practicing up high up in a tree house.



Zoe co-taught the class, giving a great mix of teaching styles. Perhaps what made it the most memorable was the message that the instructors gave. The theme for the class was, "Finding you Bliss". We learned the your bliss is simply being in the moment and using all of your senses to drink up and absorb it. Too many times we've been guilty of just wanting something to be over and done with so we can get on to the next thing. This class was a beautiful reminder that all you have is the moment. Seems like we've been getting a lot of these messages lately...yes Universe, we're listening. Carefully.

AND on top of an amazing 60 minute practice, Jake won a raffle at the end of class and scored an awesome new yoga mat. It was much needed on his end. BIG thanks!

Perhaps a yoga retreat is in our near future? Yup. One is definitely in order.

This one looks right about our speed.

hot dog

Wishing each and every one of you a Happy Labor Day! We'll be spending the day by the pool, relaxing, and taking advantage of a few of the 200 free yoga classes being offered all over town for Free Day of Yoga celebration.

In the meantime, sending you a little video of your hot dog and his swimming lessons with Jake.

a hunting we will go

Before you read this post, read this to see the reason behind this post.

One of our favorite things to do on the weekends is to get in the car and drive around, exploring neighborhoods or other parts of the city. We've posted on this before but really feel like our house hunting adventure has been kicked up a notch over the past week. While driving through an area of South Austin (by far our favorite part of town) we stumbled upon a new single-family house neighborhood, The Skyway. We went through a few of the open houses last Sunday, took some notes about our likes and dislikes, and left it at that.

As the week went by, the houses we saw never seemed too far away from our conversations. So Jake called the real estate agent, got some information, and we decided to head over the the neighborhood again for a second look.

Now, we knew when we moved to Austin that buying a house was a year to maybe two year away goal. We love our townhouse, location, as well as the $799 price tag that comes with it. We figured that we could stay here for a few years, stowing away extra savings every month. Although this may still be in the cards, our house hunting adventure has seemed to motivate us in a whole new direction.

We took little ol' Stew along for the ride with us this time because we wanted to test out the communities private dog park and see if the backyards would be enough space for our little man.

our apologies for the "stagemom" in the background}

Stew LOVED the dog park...we will definitely be back to play fetch every week!!

Here are a few pictures from one of our favorite models. There are still some spots available in the community that are yet to be developed so we are hopeful that this may be a top contender for our first house (believe it or not!).

{exploring the neighborhood}

{in progress}

{our future lot?}

The Keen is one of our favorite floor plans that we've seen over the past few weeks (although we like The Robinson too but haven't seen it first hand). We loved the patio and backyard area along with the fact that the master suite is on the first floor (this is pretty common here in Texas).

We also love the fact that this neighborhood is only 8 minutes from downtown (yes we timed it). It's also close to some of our favorite outdoor activity spots (ie Zilker Park, Barton Springs, and the Greenbelt) and, coffee shops, HH bars. Although Jess originally wanted something with a little but more character, those houses are completely out of our price range because they have been gutted from top to bottom, or will require A LOT of work every free weekend we get. Mr. Nig and Mr. Penske (Jake) advised against the latter so it was definitely a compromise (on both parts) at its best.

...........................

The whole point of today was to "plant the seed" and declare what we want. The Universe has endless possibilities and opportunities for each and every one of us. We're doing our darndest to stay in touch and and in tune with its vast abundance. Acting "as if" seemed to have worked for us so far (um, hello? displacing ourselves from Cali to Austin), why not keep it up?

tis the season for burnt orange

{source}

To say that Texans love football is an understatement. It's pretty much a way of life down in these parts. This time of year the whole city transforms into a sea of burnt orange flags, t-shirts, and football-themed food (is it a surprise that Texans love their Queso?).

Yesterday we went to Sam and Lauren's house to watch the game and enjoy a lazy Saturday with some friends. Although Jess isn't the hugest fan (can we say she's even a fan at all?) she was a trooper and managed to clue into the game more than a few times -- UT won btw, she's just not sure of the score. We had a lot of fun playing Cornhole, eating artery clogging dips (anyone want to send us some healthy alternatives from our fav: TJ's?) , all the while taste testing the "best margs". You better believe that tailgating is in our near future.

Who wants to come visit for football season this year? Our blow up mattress and beer cozies have your name on them!

no mail on sundays and a vegetarian on the verge

let's start with the (dare we say) vegetarian, or lack there of. no no, jess hasn't changed her eating habits (picky-ness?) since living in the bbg state. although there are plenty of bbq pits around town claiming to have the best bbq sauce this side of the mississippi (ok they don't use that exact term, we just thought it sounded cool), the possibility and options for a vegetarian are also endless.

the vegetarian on the verge is jake. while this may or may not be a surprise to you, this is a big step in the land of jake. whether or not jake realizes it, he's pretty much been a vegetarian for as long as jess has (about 3 years now). not buying meat at the grocery store and finding ways to make veggies more fun has been a weekly habit in the vance household.



what jake is referring to is giving himself the title, "vegetarian" as well as sticking to this lifestyle even we are dining out. this decision was recently prompted by (what else?) some reading, documentaries, and knowing the fact that eating meat has been out of convenience over anything else. stay tuned for jake's last meal and his official new title of "ova-pescatarian".

any votes for how long it takes jake to beat the meat?

.....

it's so easy to get caught up with everything else but relationships and enjoying the small things in life. we both have jobs that require us to be "connected" for a majority of the day, and although we love the easy access there are times when the convenience of it all can become both all consuming and somewhat daunting.

for awhile now, jess has been entertaining the idea of "no e-mail sundays". the idea was prompted by a friend she met at lulu who doesn't shower or check her e-mail on sundays. while the whole no showering thing doesn't really strike her fancy, she's been talking about using sunday as a day to "just be" instead of unconsciously checking her e-mail via mr. iphone. well folks, today is her first no e-mail day. only two hours into the morning and she already confesses that she was tempted to check it (both personal and work) two different times just because she's used to checking in.




on the weekend, jake's always asking "what's the rush?" and now it seems as though jess is finally listening.

seems like we're both taking some inspiration from one another as we embark on changing habits and and taking names. : )

Veggie UPDATE 9/4:::: Meat 2, Jake 0