Brian and Amanda Lain

Here is our garden, complete with marigolds, petunias, pansies, bamboo, aloe, vinca, gerbera daisies, an oleander, a beautiful geranium, a mystery plant, christmas cactus, another mystery plant, a jade tree, several different kinds of herbs, and lots and lots of tomatoes. We are running out of patio space, which means our garden is almost complete!!

Who says animals aren’t smart? Here’s a few video clips highlighting some of the brighter ones: Click here to see the video.

Brian and Amanda found a house to rent! It is almost 1900 sq ft and has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, oversized 2 car garage, huge kitchen, and a nice backyard with a view. We will move in by the end of April! Check out the pictures by clicking here.

Kassy and Nicole visited New Mexico in March (I know, pictures are a little late). We had a great time. We went to Old Mesilla, Phoenix, Silver City, White Sands, and Las Cruces. Click here for more pictures.

WOW! We splurged and bought Brian a new car!! He will be commuting 60 miles per day, and with gas prices rising again, it was clear that his truck would not be an efficient (nor reliable) mode of transportation. It is a 2002 gold Impala, 36,000 miles, one owner, and lived in a garage all it’s life. We got a really good interest rate on the loan (5.8% for 5.5 years) and we hope to pay it off by the end of the year.

Check out the pictures of our new fish tank and venus fly traps. We have 6 guppies, 1 chinese algae eater, and Al the Gator.
UPDATE: We now have 5 guppies, 6 neon tetras, 1 chinese algae eater, and Al the Gator. We had one fatality early in the game, but Brian has since fixed the ammonia and ph level so all should be well from here on out.

We have not had professional pictures taken together for 5 1/2 years. So, here is the next best thing–quasi professional!

Well, Amanda made it back from Washington D.C. safely. She was there for just under a week. The weather was beautiful, and there was SO much to see. She was in the conference meetings most of the day, but was able to site-see afterward. Plus, on Friday, she had the whole day off, so she and her co-worker, Yvonne, went on a 3-hour trolley ride around D.C. The tour was very informational. Who knew you could go to the top of the Washington Monument? Or tour the Capitol building? Or tour the Senate building while they were in session? Unfortunately, she only learned of this Friday morning, and she left Friday afternoon. Oh well–next time.

In the meantime, it will be nice to have a couple of weeks off. We have both been traveling practically non-stop since Thanksgiving!

We went to San Diego and had a GREAT time! We went to the beach, Sea World, the beach, the zoo, and the beach. We about walked our legs off, but it was a wonderful vacation. And Sea World is AWESOME! Check out the pictures!!

San Diego Trip Page
Sea World
San Diego Zoo
Beaches

Wow, talk about a busy month! Amanda got her teeth straightened (pictures here), Brian graduated (pictures here), Brian flew to Dallas for an interview (results are pending), we had Christmas in Silver City, and are going to go to San Diego for New Year’s pictures here.

For Brian’s graduation, a lot of family attended: Brian’s wife (Amanda), brother (Brad), mother (Sue), mother-in-law (Kitty), father (Steve), step-mother (Jan), grandmother (Dannie), grandmother-in-law and friend (Polly and Vernell), grandfather (Jack), uncle (Steve), aunt (Jolene), and cousin (Samantha). Afterward, his aunt and uncle threw him a graduation party at their house, then we went to the Living Christmas Tree concert.

For Christmas dinner, there were 14 people at Amanda’s grandma’s house: Amanda and Brian, Amanda’s brother Chris and his wife, Melissa, Amanda’s sister Laura and her 2 kids, Brad and Natasha, Amanda’s uncle Chris, his girlfriend Linda and her son Shane, Amanda’s grandmother and her high school friend Bob, Brian’s mom, and Amanda’s cousin Andy. There was a lot of good food and good conversation.

Everyone was supposed to leave Polly’s house on the 26th, but nothing ever goes as planned. So, Brian, Amanda, Chris, Melissa, and Shane (the 120 pound dog, not the kid) left Silver City at 1:00. We got as far as Bayard (10 miles out of Silver) and the truck broke. So, we waited on the side of the road for a long time, then decided to take out the front drive line and limp it to Las Cruces (100+ miles away). We went another 10 miles (30 minutes worth) and decided to go back to Silver. In the meantime, we could only drive 30 miles per hour, so we had to drive on the shoulder. So, Murphy’s Law (what can go wrong, will), Amanda ran over something sharp on the shoulder and got a flat tire. The mechanic won’t be able to fix Chris’ truck until at least Thursday, and they have to be back to Fort Hood on January 2nd. Amanda got her tire fixed–and this is the best part about the day–and it was at no cost. Big O was the only place open, and they didn’t realize that she has gotten new tires since seeing them several years ago! If you have Big O tires (or if they THINK you have Big O tires) all rotations, balances, fix-a-flats, etc are free!! So, Brian and Amanda made it back to Las Cruces at 10:00 at night, only 9 hours after leaving Silver City (typically a 2-hour drive!).

So, now that that adventure is over, we have to hurry up and recover so we can go to Sea World and the zoo in San Diego. We leave Thursday (12/29) afternoon.

And it was!

Hey
Check out this shirt! (WARNING: It’s amusing, but not entirely appropriate!!) Andy, Amanda’s cousin, got it in Juarez, MX. It is a perfect prevention message, and everybody at work LOVED it!!

We just got back from South Padre Island, Texas. Amanda had a big HIV/AIDS conference there, and Brian went along to relax. The conference was really neat, and the island is beautiful. We went at the perfect time–the weather was great and it was “Sand Castle Days” on the island. Check out the pictures of S. Padre (click here), the sandcastles (click here), and the ocean (click here).

I found this comic in our student newspaper. It seems to be fitting…

Wow! Who would have thought?!? Chris, Amanda’s brother, got married on October 1, 5 days before his 20th birthday. He and his beautiful bride, Melissa, are very happy, and make a cute couple. Check out their pictures under “Chris’ Wedding”. Click Here

This past weekend, we went to hang out with Brian’s family in Dallas before going to Chris’ wedding in Temple, TX. We had a great time–we went to dinner, the arboretum, and Jan, Brian’s step-mom, fixed a WONDERFUL dinner! We had a great visit, and were able to relax! Check out the “Dallas” pictures. Click Here

Check out my new suit! Click here for more pics

We went! We went! We really, really went!! We went to Cozumel for Brian’s birthday and had a great time! Amanda, Brian, and Brian’s brother Brad all went to Cozumel for a 4 day, 3 night snorkeling and scuba diving trip. We saw tons of really colorful fish, and lots of coral and seashells. Brian also got to go on a deep dive (90 feet down a sea wall!!) where he saw huge lobsters (70+ pounds), pufferfish, barracuda, and a sea horse. In the meantime, Amanda saw (and felt) a lot of jelly fish.

In all, we had a really fun time–the hotel was nice, the people were very friendly, and the water felt great. Now, all we have to do is save up enough money to do it again!

Below is a picture of the Fiesta Americana. It was right on the water, and the staff were excellent. See “Cozumel 2005” for more pics.

Here is one pic of Amanda, ready for the Gala. This is the dress Grammy got her for formal occasions (90% acetate, 10% spandex).

The Gala brought in over $13,000 in the auctions, and $25,000 in tickets/donations. The final numbers will be available next week. All of the money goes toward the Aid and Comfort Program to help people with AIDS pay for their meds and/or copays. For one new AIDS drug, the copay is $250 (the max allowed for a copay)!!!! The actual cost of the drug is upwards of $1500 per month!

She ran the credit card machine, and we were VERY busy (which is a very good thing, but I was exhausted–over $7000 in credit cards
between 9:00 and 10:00. I got out of there at 11:00).

There are two other pics under Gala 2005 on the right hand column. Finally–all dressed up WITH someplace to go!!

Hi again,
This past weekend, we went to a Hummingbird Banding Festival in Lake Roberts. Check out the pictures and the fun facts! Cick Here!