Our First Christmas

Although this is our first Christmas as a married couple, it didn't feel much different than the 3 Christmases that preceded it. I wanted to recount the details of this Christmas, but I thought this post might be better spent looking back a little further. So let's see the highlights of Christmases 2007-2010!

2007
Our first Christmas together - for real. Mike and I had been dating about 7 months. We drove to Wichita to meet my mom and dad. They were going to Colorado and then we'd go out the next day so I could be with my high school friends for our celebration. Well, record snowfall changed all that. The highway to CO was shut down the morning my parents were going to leave. When my parents came back to the house, I just remember everyone deciding we should go to Best Buy. When we opened the garage door it was snowing moderately and starting to accumulate. We all looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and got in the car. This is America. If you can't go see your family, go shopping!! After Best Buy, we met my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandma for lunch.

On the way home from lunch, my aunt and uncle got stuck in the snow. And so it began. Mike and my dad pushed 20+ cars out of the snow (driving around in my dad's Prius, which had no trouble). Mom and I spent most of the day at my Grandma's.
We left for Colorado the next day and had a great time with family out there. When we got back to Wichita, I was able to see a few high school friends before heading back to Oklahoma.



2008
Now, I'm trying really hard to remember anything particularly special about Christmas 2008. I know we traveled to Louisiana and Kansas. We saw a lot of family, for sure. But nothing really sticks out as different from other years. Oh, wait...WE GOT ENGAGED!!! That's right. It was Christmas.

Mike had taken me out for a gorgeous dinner at Melting Pot and proposed in the OKC Myriad Gardens with all the beautiful Christmas lights. The next day, Mike wanted to take a picture of the ring in his 9 foot live tree (see below). He got the money shot and then went to move it and BAM! The ring disappeared into a maze of pine needles. 30 minutes later, Dave (Mike's roommate) returns to the apartment find ornaments strewn across the living room and Mike and I shoulder deep in the tree. Exactly 3 seconds after seeing us he says "You lost the ring in the tree." Mike and I replied "HELP US!" Dave got a flashlight and not 5 minutes after he started looking he pointed and said "I FOUND IT!" And that's how Dave became our Best Man. :)
2009
Christmas 2009 found us in Kansas. We got a bit of snow (nothing compared to the OKC Christmas Eve blizzard which covered the metro with 14" of snow). Mike and I had narrowly escaped OKC the day before. Being from Louisiana, Mike always enjoys the novelty of snow (I do, too, of course!). The Wichita snow and Mike's artistic skills came together in this snowman he built. Notice the candy used for facial features...
2010
We had a great Christmas this year. Mike was in Ohio for 3 weeks after Thanksgiving and flew straight to Arkansas to be with family and then drove to Louisiana where I met him on the 23rd. Mike's sister Courtney was back from a tour in Iraq and everyone was glad to have her home, especially her children, Landyn (7) and CJ (4). Mike and I got the kids presents we secretly wanted to play with ourselves - Legos and Play-Doh. This made it a whole lot easier to say "yes" when they asked us to play with them! I had some amazing Cajun food (I had gumbo TWICE and Mrs. Kathy sent some home with me!!). Courtney got us some awesome gifts - a US flag flown in Iraq, OU and LSU coins specially made in Iraq. Mike's mom and Mr. Bo gave us allllll kinds of Cajun spices and sauces. I'm so excited to put them to use! Mike's going to think he's back in Louisiana!!!!

Happy Holtzgiving!!

Well we did it! We hosted our first Thanksgiving and made it out alive!
It all started with the arrival of my dad the Friday before Thanksgiving. That weekend he helped us put up Christmas lights. We had to get it done early since Mike would be leaving for a 3-week class in Ohio the next weekend.Mom got into town on Monday and Grandma and Grandpa showed up Wednesday evening. I baked some bread (THANKS, ELLIE!) and made a spaghetti dinner complete with fresh oregano and parsley from the garden!
The Thanksgiving feast itself was great. We had turkey (of course), spinach salad, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing (made with the homemade bread), cornbread, couscous and homemade pumpkin cheesecake!










Everyone was ready to get out of the house on Friday. Mike, Mom and I went to the Gap for 50% off before 10 am. (We showed up at 8, we're not hardcore...) Then we all had lunch at one of our favorites, Sugarbakers. We thought we'd take on the Black Friday shoppers once again so we went to DSW and Best Buy. Mike helped my grandparents get set up with DirectTV, a 46" flatscreen TV and a Bose home theater system.

On Friday evening we celebrated Christmas and exchanged gifts. Mom brought a fireplace DVD to set the mood and I had my 2 foot tree set up. We didn't get a live tree this year since I would be the only one around to enjoy it pretty much.So we survived hosting our first Thanksgiving! I had a blast and I'd do it again any time! I'm glad we started with a part of 6. More people would have been more work for sure. We probably won't host again any time soon. I missed seeing the rest of my family and my Kansas friends. Maybe we'll host each time we PCS so folks have an excuse to come see us! :)

Happy Halloween!

We must have been living in our house for a year by now because we found ourselves giving candy to droves of children again! Last year we were watching the OU/K-state game in the only two chairs in the house on a 17" television with our new bed in the dining room. We had only been in our house for 3 days. A sign in our neighborhood stated that Trick-or-Treating would happen from 5-9pm that night. A little before 5pm we finished installing our new Texas porch lights, ready for scores of Trick-or-Treaters.

By 6:30 we were giving handfuls of candy to the few children that had stopped by. We certainly didn't want to keep it and it looked as if we'd bought too much! Then at 7:00 they came from every direction and before 8pm we ran out of candy.

With children at the door.

I felt horrible.

Looking back, I doubt they even cared that much. They don't know us from the neighbors and they know there's more candy down the street. In the end it was a fun night (that may or may not have involved wine).

This year, I was going to be more than ready. I researched online what the 'healthiest' candy was. I decided York minis (50cals and dark chocolate), 3 Musketeers minis, and mini Snickers. 5 bags total. Mike dressed up as Walker Texas Ranger and I pulled out the Angel/Devil costume I'd gotten a few years ago. The kids started coming around 6:30. A few said we had the "good candy" (yay!) and a few of the little girls said they liked my costume! They were all super cute and we were happy to help them celebrate Halloween. Just before 8 we were down to 5 pieces of candy left (but Mike had stashed a reserve for himself). Then a few big groups of kids all came at once. We had to bust into the reserve, but we didn't run out. When they left, we blew out the candles in the pumpkins and turned off our Texas lights! Success!!

Here are the pumpkins we carved last week. LSU fleur de lis, upside down Longhorn, and OU!

Big Weekend for the Holtzes!

I know we've only been married not 5 months, but let me tell you what love is: Love is saying "ok" when your boyfriend asks you in February if he can sign up for a Half Ironman triathlon that will be held on your birthday!! My family knows that my birthday is quite an affair. This has been contained over the years. After all, once you turn 21, there isn't much to get excited about. But it seems to be spread out over the entire month and there were always a few (or more) parties.

There wasn't a party this year and Mike and I decided a long time ago we weren't into giving gifts. I got lots of lovely cards from friends and family and a few great gifts along the way and my birthday weekend was an absolute blast! We left for Austin on Saturday morning to get Mike checked in and drop off his bike. Let me tell you, these Ironman events are just that: EVENTS! There was staff everywhere and packet pick up consisted of at least 5 different stations. I was in awe. A lot of people, just like Mike, had trained very hard to accomplish this goal. There was definitely an energy at the expo hall!

After Mike got signed in, we met the Qualleys and Mongolian Grill. A favorite of all of ours. After lunch, we headed back to Ashley and Grant's house to get ready for the OU game that night! Grant's brother Duke came over with some ground Bison and we enjoyed Bison burgers along with an OU victory! Mike went to bed early while Ash, Grant and I stayed up to watch the end of the Dallas Stars hockey game and visit some more.

The next morning Mike left early, early while I slept in. It was my birthday after all!! :) Ashley took me to Kerbey Lane Cafe for a birthday breakfast consisting of Pumpkin Pancakes and Migas (mexican breakfast dish consisting of eggs and some other stuff and tortillas!) It was delicious! I even had a birthday mimosa! We talked and talked and talked! We both enjoyed some girl time on a Sunday morning.

By the time we got back, we only had time to run to the nursery with Grant to get some more plants for thier yard before we had to head to the expo hall and cheer on our (half) ironman!!

Mike showed up shortly after 3pm which is when he said we should arrive. (Remember, he started at 8:15!) I decided to go for a high five as he was finishing rather than a picture. Grant had his fancy camera and snapped a few shots as Mike came in. This was good because Mike didn't see my hand until the last minute and he didn't even know it was mine! He couldn't speak for a good 10-15 min afterwards and even when he could he didn't want to say much!

We returned to the Qualleys' house where Mike showered and we got packed up. We drove home and grabbed a burger on the way back to the house. I was very hungry and ate mine right away. When I was done, I looked at Mike and there was half a burger just sitting there and Mike was just looking at it, defeated. I'll never understand why the body rejects food after burning so many calories (Mike estimates 5800). He finally got it down and then it was time for bed!

I'm so proud of my husband!!

Fall has fallen...

The weather has cooled down quite a bit here in South Texas. The Gulf moisture finally got shut off and humidity is low. Highs in the mid-80s and lows in the low-50s - I'm loving this weather!!

This has inspired things like baking granola, going to football games and enjoying hot drinks!


I found a recipe for granola bars in Food Network magazine over the summer. I've been meaning to make my own bars for years and this specific recipe for a few months now. I finally took the time. I wasn't sure what to expect because I couldn't fathom that making granola bars was as easy as the recipe said. If it was that easy, wouldn't everyone just make their own? (Ok, maybe not in a society where you can pay a bit more for pre-chopped veggies...) They filled the house with warm, autumn scents as they baked. I was patient to let them cool completely before gently cutting them into bars (they didn't come out as pretty as a pre-packaged bar). When I tasted one, I was shocked. They were AMAZING! They tasted just like Kashi granola bars....nay, BETTER! How did I make this?! Usually I'm underwhelmed with my own cooking because I'm critiquing it the whole time I eat it. Meanwhile Mike is like "THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN [insert store bought version]!!" But these were fantastic. Pretty much addicting. Today I bought ingredients to make the same kind, but with dark chocolate, as well as Pumpkin Spice granola bars.

Ever since we first moved into our house last fall, we've been threatening to go to an Alamo Heights football game. High school football is huge in Texas, of course, and Alamo Heights is our "home team". We went to the homecoming game a couple weeks ago. I went to a local boutique, "The Spotted Mule", to get us some Alamo Heights Mules spirit gear. We were able to walk to the stadium and the weather was fantastic. Let me tell you, I've been to plenty of high school football games during my times as a cheerleader. Granted that was for a very small school, but I swear this game was only slightly less of a production than an OU game. Wow. Three cheer squads, what seemed like 400 football players on the sideline, giant flags, a dynamic marching band complete with fuzzy hats and capes, even a group of guys similar to the OU Ruf/Neks (minus guns). I was in awe pretty much the whole time. I had a hard time focusing on the game because of all the other side shows. It was mind blowing. I couldn't wait for halftime! Sure enough, dance teams from both schools performed. The opposing team's dance team had ladders that they did a routine with. Alamo Heights' dance team did a clog (tap) routine which included having many men/male students carrying countless panels of flooring onto the field before they performed and then removing them afterward. A mom sitting near us told us they usually do a couple clog routines each season. In the end the right team won and we even had time for gelato on the way home! :)



Something I've enjoyed doing over the past couple months is using Yelp.com. If you're not familiar with it, it's a website that can be used to access and/or post reviews about different businesses. The most obvious and popular use is for restaurant reviews. I love it because I can use it on my iPhone and find great local places near me when I'm out and about. I can also "check-in" wherever I am and the when I log on at the computer it will remind me to write a review. You may have noticed the Yelp box on the right side of my blog. There you can see some of my recent reviews. This resource has been very helpful since we're in a new city and don't know many people yet.

Through Yelp I kept hearing about a local coffee shop called "Olmos Perk" which is located in Olmos Park. (Think "Central Perk" from Friends!) Anyway, they make AMAZING oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and their Tiger Spice Chai is a force to be reckoned with. My first time there, the barista recommended that I get a hot drink next time since they do 'latte art'. I was excited to see this, but it was still hot as heck so I told him I'd have to wait until it cooled off outside. Last week Mike requested that we go there as he had a bit of work he needed to do and the coffee shop would provide a nice setting. When we got there I saw they had pumpkin spice lattes. PERFECT! It was cool enough for a hot drink and I could get a yummy fall drink. The picture even showed a pumpkin as the latte art! When I ordered my drink I requested the pumpkin art specifically (I think it's usually whatever the barista thinks of at that moment). As you can see, he did a great job! This place rocks!

Holtz: We Tri Hard

Well it's been more than a week (ok, more than a few weeks) since I updated my blog. Since my last post both Mike and I have competed in triathlons. I did an all-women's tri in Spicewood, TX at Pace Bend Park. I had SO much fun! WAY more fun than at my first, and only other, triathlon in Shreveport last summer. I finished 26th out of 58 in my age group. Not too shabby! I was most proud of my run: 13th in my age group at a 9:19 pace!!

Mike participated in a triathlon here in Alamo Heights last weekend. In fact, he rode his bike to the starting line! I drove over in time to say 'hi' before he got in the pool. I watched his entire swim, saw him at each of the 3 laps for the bike and watched him cross the finish line less than an hour after he jumped in the pool! I'm VERY proud!

Mike will be training for a half IronMan in Austin October 17th. My next big thing is a full marathon, the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll Marathon, in November. Mike is also planning on running the full that day as well. It will be a first for both of us! I've heard the Rock 'n Roll races are really fun with great music and great food! Can't wait!

A Week in Review

Uh oh! I let more than a week slip by without updating! Well here's a brief overview of the past week:

Volunteering
I've been volunteering with Spina Bifida Texas since mid-June. I found them by going to UnitedWay.org and entering my zip code. I saw they needed someone with professional skills so I gave them a ring. Turns out it the organization was pretty much just the executive director, a part-time girl and some hit-or-miss volunteers. So far I've been helping out with some database work and design work 2 days a week.
Last Saturday they held their July Lunch Bunch event. It's designed to teach children with physical disabilities about nutrition and get them active. I decided I should probably attend an actual event so I could better help the organization. It was a lot of fun. We played "Power Soccer" which is essentially soccer in wheelchairs (or walkers) with a very large soccer ball. I got in a sports wheelchair and did my best to keep up with the kids. After that we had turkey dogs and watermelon! Pretty good Saturday!

Job Hunt
Big developments this week! The lady I volunteer for, Nora, has a friend (and board member), Heather, who works at Rackspace, which is an IT company that has a similar company culture to Google. Nora was kind enough to introduce me to Heather over lunch one day and Heather invited both of us to come take a tour of Rackspace. I was elated and this past Thursday was when I got my chance! Nora wasn't able to make it, but Heather showed me around what used to be a shopping mall that Rackspace has turned into their world headquarters. There are "fuel stations" everywhere with free sodas and, since it was lunch time, Mexican food was being carted in for the employees (Rackers) to purchase. Everyone had a giant flag that represented themselves hanging from the rafters. I didn't see any OU flags....I think it's time they got one! ;) So, Heather introduced me to her good friend Larry who happened to work in HR. We had a good chat and what do you know, the next day I got an e-mail asking to schedule a phone interview...for a job for which they'd already rejected me! Just goes to show, it's all about who you know!!

Swim, Bike, Run
Well, the triathlon is in 2 weeks. I hadn't swam AT ALL this year until this morning (Sunday). Mike and I have been flirting with the idea of joining a local gym (with several locations) called Spectrum. We've been going to a local university's gym, but the pool's been closed for months and we have training to do! We got a weekend pass and this morning we tried out the pool. I was shocked at how well I did after a year off. I really enjoyed it, although I'm sure my technique isn't the best! After that we went on a lovely 15-mile bike ride...with no falls! :) Tomorrow we'll try Spectrum's spin class. I can't wait!

Home Work
We're working on the house less and less each weekend, which is great! I've had time to put our wedding photos into a fun movie sequence and we've got to have more fun together. Last weekend, Mike grouted the backsplash. Lots of cursing involved in that. Yesterday I sealed the grout which took just an hour and a half and wasn't hard at all! Just some caulking, painting and molding to finish and we'll be DONE with the kitchen and on to bigger and, I'm sure, more difficult projects.