Ross was back in town this weekend- and she brought her friends, Josh & Maggie, with her.  We all headed down to Mi Tierra for dinner on Friday night.  Here we have Josh, me, Maggie, Ross, Mom & Father.  I love that place!

Then on Saturday- Ross & Josh had a Trek bike event to do, so Maggie & I headed to the downtown area and did all things touristy. We did the boat tour along the river... (it was windy- please forgive my hair)

Here's Tom's tree from Christmas 2004.  Still flourishing. 

Then I found a giant cowboy hat- the tag on the shelf read "speedy hat."  Not real sure why...

And this bear was sitting outside a chocolate shop.  He looked like he'd been assaulted multiple times- and I felt sorry for him...

It was a great day- I love being a tourist!

Then on Easter- my friend Rochelle had some people over to celebrate.  We decided to go for a less traditional Easter meal... so we had enchiladas.  Yum.  I made an excellent 7.5 layer dip.  

See, the original 7 layers were supposed to include only black olives, but I added green olives as well.  But since they're still just olives, not a completely new entity- I decided to count them as only 1/2 a layer.  So the end result- 7.5 layer dip. 

Here are Rochelle & Bryan hanging out in the hammock.

Also- I gave up Woodchuck for lent.  So as of yesterday- I can drink it again! 

On a side note- I booked my flight to Philadelphia today.  My PC group is meeting there for a few days for "staging" before we all head over to Botswana.  Yep- I fly out of San Antonio at 6:08am on April 16th.  Wow. 

Even more pictures!  I'm going to spoil you guys... 

I went hiking yesterday. It was a BEAUTIFUL day- and I just couldn't stay inside anymore...  Plus, it'd been almost a month since I was out on the trails. (not including the awesome day of mountain biking with Ross!)  I went to my favorite park right up the road, but decided to try out a trail I'd never done before.

And at first, I thought I'd made a bad decision...  It felt a bit like I was hiking through a gerbil cage.  Very flat, and covered with cedar chips.

I'm into the more "natural" trails... and this definitely didn't start out that way.  But then I got exactly what I wanted- and then some:

One of the best views out there. 

And a self-portrait with the view.

It actually turned into a great hike.  Yeah- it started out slow, but maybe that was a good little warm up?  And then after awhile, I was basically spelunking... and then it tapered off again toward the end. 

Now, the best part of the hike was definitely my outfit.   I didn't mean to look so awesome- it just kinda happened.  I got these new capris the other day- and wanted to try them out.  And I just had to wear my awesome hiking boots!  But I guess I didn't really think about how they'd look together.  And add in the super cute hiking socks-- voila!

I did see a few other hikers out there- and I'm sure they were all thinking "Man, that girl knows how to dress!" 

Then last night, Mom, Dad & I all headed out shopping.   First stop- Bass Pro Shop.  I've been looking for a new coat- and I needed to try them on before getting one online (hopefully cheaper).  Well, I ended up finding the PERFECT coat right there in the store last night! 

Isn't it beautiful??  It's a $190 coat, and I got it for $86.  Good deal? I think yes. 

See- I wanted this particular coat because it's basically 3 coats in one.  It has the zip-out liner (which can be worn as a light jacket), the outer shell (a rain coat), or they can be worn together as a heavy coat.  It'll be great for Africa!  I'll be down in the southern part of Africa- which can get pretty chilly.

Ok- then my favorite picture of the day.

Dad & I found these fun chairs at Bed Bath & Beyond.  Quite luxurious...