Life In Pictures....

Nothing new on the Miami house yet.....actually, some things have moved. I just can't tell if it's forwards or backwards. I have a sinking feeling it's backwards, so I don't want to post about it right now. Too frustrated. I cannot believe buying a house is this difficult. Really can't believe it. Someone in some government position needs to do something about this. (How's that for vagueness?)


So, as life moves on, here are some fun pics from the past few weeks.





Olivia discovered a cool trick! She was using this 'Hippo' bubble machine in the backyard. She started piling the bubbles on top of each other and it turned into this HUGE moutain of bubbles!!! Then, the best part for a 3 1/2 yr old.....stomping them out!







The pictures above were taken at the 'Concert in the Garden' at the Ft Worth Botanical Gardens. It's a great event, despite the 100+ temps we seem to reach by June every year. You bring a picnic, sit on the lawn, listen to great music (bluegrass this night) and then watch fireworks! Note that Amy Smith (on the left in the top pic) is 5 days from delivering Baby Rylan!! Doesn't she look great! The middle picture is hilarious to me!! One would think that I taught my 3 yr old to take shots at the Budweiser bar quite early in life. However, it was an 'un-manned' bar. Don't know why they had it there, really. So, the girls kept going up and would pretend to drink 'Coke' from it....I swear that was Olivia's answer. Whew!! The last one is Raigen, Olivia and Katie. Or, I should say...poor Raigen getting apparently choked by Olivia.





Julie, Ella and Olivia at the hospital after Julie had baby Charlie. 'Little' Charles Gabrielle Castro came out at a whopping 9lb 9oz!! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of him as he was off with the Dr getting some 'business' taken care of while we were there. Poor guy. But, Olivia and Ella had a great time seeing the nursery 100 times!! I swear Olivia and Ella are lost sisters. They stick together like glue when they are around each other.....doesn't fall far from the tree I guess. Ever since college, people have always asked if Jules and I were sisters!!





Yum.....what more can you ask for on a Sunday afternoon??

Where's Kristin??

Thought this might be fun.....can anyone guess where I am taking these pictures?? It was taken this week.

Make sure you submit your answer.....prizes on the way for the correct answer!! :)

Random pictures....

Not much to update right now....so, I thought I would just upload some pics from the past few weeks. Some fun travel, some work travel.

Actually have some good pics/videos to upload from this past weekend and will get to it as soon as possible. Olivia has started swimming. On.her.own!!!! Very impressed. I know this happens all the time for kids her age. But, we put her in swim lessons about a month ago and she had absolutely zero interest in doing anything on her own. For how much she loves the water and how gutsy she is for everything else, it surprised me that she was so timid in the water. But....not any more!! Now, we can't get her out of the water. And, we were able to get the progression on video from the past few days, so I'll post that soon.

Me, on the other hand, am stuck in NY. I know, sounds like fun, right? However, when you get in at 8pm and are by yourself, not so fun to go into the city at night. So, I'm stuck over by the airport without even a window view of the city. Almost cruel. On my way to Bermuda. My luck, American only has one flight out a day from JFK to Bermuda, so I don't leave now until 5pm tomorrow evening. And, instead of having a night home in between trips, am now going straight from Bermuda to Miam and home Friday night. Thank goodness for Skype!!!

I took this picture, because I thought it was pretty funny. It's in St Kitts. You literally walk off the plane, down the stairs from the plane and into these doors for customs. It wasn't until I looked back and saw this big plane taking up the whole view that it caught my attention. And, despite being 3rd in line for customs, had to wait 45 min!!! (Which is why I noticed the plane....not much else to do). Apparently, if you go on one of the 'fun' vacations, you get whisked away into a private room with drinks while they stamp you through...all 40 of you! While the rest of us 'non-party' people stand in line waiting....

Might be hard to read this, but I took it for our friend and old neighbor, Kyle White, who coaches track at Stanford. Again, in St Kitts. Apparently a big haven for track & field....Chili - maybe you need to start recruiting on this island....at least it's a good excuse!

Taken in Miami a few weeks ago. We were there for our 100th house hunting trip and happened to be there on a night with horrendous storms. Hurricane-damaging in some areas. However, when it all cleared, this amazing rainbow appeared! It was breathtaking! and perfect.

Doesn't this look like Kyle's super-imposed in the picture?? Downtown Miami. That's the American Airlines center (yes, Miami and Dallas have one!) in the background.

Cruise ships, cruise ships and more cruise ships.....I have these from every country so far! This happens to be in Miami. Note the picture above Kyle's. That was taken on Friday night. This one -Saturday morning. They all came in during the night.....kind of weird.

Me and my girlfriend, Allison. We got a quick weekend in NY. This was taken at a fabulous, gluten-free restaurant in SoHo called Rissotteria. Amazing pizza, meatballs, and other yummy stuff that is all gluten-free. (For those of you who may eat gluten-free, you know what a rare find this is!).

Will post more later....and give updates on the houses. We're still waiting on an appraisal in Miami and I won't talk about it until then.....once that gets settled, we'll figure out when and where our homelessness begins and ends.

1304 Crowley Rd.....Farewell, So Long.....

So, I've come to the realization that in order to keep up with a blog, you have to have time to blog. First issue right there. Time. The one thing I don't have right now. Actually, I have time. I just don't have the memory anymore to know where I am, what time zone I'm in, what bills need to be paid (thank you Kyle!) or what I need to do tomorrow. Or, what needs to get done before we move. Thankfully, Kyle and I have a good 'divide and conquer' thing going right now. And, I can tell that he is the light of Olivia's life right now. He was going out to a Rangers game with Mick tonight and Olivia kept coming back in the house to give him hugs and kisses as we went out to run errands. Pretty cute.


So. It's been awhile since I last posted. Where oh where do I start?? I will NOT start with the housing market in Miami that continues to be a mess. Suffice it to say that it has it's challenges, but we are getting close. More on that later.



As for 1304 Crowley Rd - Bye-bye. We sold it!! And, to a young couple about to have their first baby. I'm happy about that. I just hope they have as many wonderful memories in this house as we have had. Oh....the fun times!! I don't know who's going to miss this house more. Us or our friends. It's been quite the 'gathering' place for the last seven years....all the friends/family pitching in when we first bought it and decided to paint every room on our own. The 80's party. Dinner club. Pool parties. Jingle Bells and Cocktails. Dinner parties. Murder mystery. Baby showers. Wedding showers. Olivia's 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bday parties. Olivia's first house. Jackie's last house. Possibly Jake's last house. The house Keith rode his bike from every weekend. Football parties. Poker parties. Game nights. I think you get the picture. Many, many memories. Which makes it such a GREAT house!! Or, great friends and family. Probably the later which ultimately made the house a home.



I am very happy we sold the house. Especially in today's market mess. But, that doesn't mean I'm jumping for joy to pack and move. Excited for the new adventure and happy to get us all in one place again, but sad to leave what's here. For those that have moved, I'm sure that comes with the territory. The details. For all of you wondering.....we close on July 10th. The movers come July 8-10. The 'new' people close on July 15th. But, I can guarantee all of you reading this. The Lane's WILL be having a Fourth of July party!! How can we not?? The last one? The final chapter?? So, if you're reading this....come by on the 4th. Any time. We'll have a pool to swim in and burgers on the grill. The margarita machine going. Any details outside of that. Beyond me at this point. The more the merrier!


So. Work travels. There have been plenty. Almost too many to recap at this point. Quick update though. Islands I've been to at this point - Dominican Republic, St Kitts, St Thomas, Puerto Rico and the Grand Caymans. The next few weeks - Bermuda and St Lucia. For all of you out there that want to travel to the islands, ask me first before you go. They are all so different and magazines can make anything look good. I'll post a list soon of which ones are worthwhile. For now, some pictures. I have MANY of these to post and will do so over the next few days. But, here are a few.

St Kitts. They are known for their monkeys. Two days there. Not one monkey. Will have to find one on the internet to at least see what they should look like.


The beach in St Kitts. Pretty. But, rocky where we were. This is in the morning as I attempted to go for a jog. That's when I realized it was rocky! Turned into a nice walk.



The Grand Caymans. Taken at 6:30am when I went out for a run. The most beautiful beach ever. Perfect.


A 'river' at the hotel. Most beach resorts have amazing pools that are as much of the scenary as the beach, if not more. Not in the Caymans. The pools are very understated because the beach is so amazing.

A true sign of the simple life......

Miami Madness.....and it's not a celebration!

For those that say it's a 'buyer's market'.....go to Miami and try to BUY a house!! It's near impossible. I'm glad I didn't post the news at the time. But, long story now over.....we made an offer on April 29th! Yes, April 29th. And, on June 1st, we found out that the deal is not going through.

Here are the basics. Family tryig to move to Miami. Family trying to find home in nice area with pool and backyard big enough to fit a playground as they bribed child with playground as not to fear move. Found home. Make offer. Make offer $100k less than asking price based on comparables given by realtor. She's smart. Selling family goes back and forth !after getting appraisal and realizing there home is not worth the asking price. Not. Anywhere. Close. Selling family realizes they are going to lose it in the shorts and accept offer. We then proceed to get appraisal. Appraisal comes in $85k UNDER our offer!!!!! Selling family now expects us to pony up the difference in cash! On top of the 20% down!! Do they realize it's not 2006 and people got screwed. Over and over again. Hence, why they themselves are now in this mess.

So, chapter 16 in this book is that Kyle and I are now forgoing my Dad's bday celebration this weekend so we can go house hunting. Again. For the 5th time.

On a happier note.....I had a great business trip last week to St Kitts and San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was beautiful. More on that and pictures today after I charge my camera that I just realized was dead.

And. Today is Olivia's LAST day of school. She does not want it to end. And, we do not want to lose Ms Wixson and Ms Becky. Quite possible the best teachers in the world outside of our two mom's. They have been wonderful to Olivia. So, in honor of my precious daughter, here is a video of her dancing not too long ago at an arts festival! I love you Pooh!

Life Just Got Away......

Well.....no new pics to upload this week. Would've had some great ones from our trip to Chicago last weekend, but Kyle and I both forgot our cameras! Go figure.

I had a business trip in Naperville, IL last week and some good friends of ours (The Johnson's or Mirabelli's, depending on who you ask) live in the area. So, Friday I took the train to Jen's house. We were able to hang out for a few hours before Kyle and Olivia made it in. Kyle got to experience his first flight alone with Olivia, along with a few delays, courtesy of weather in Chicago. They made it just fine and seemed to be having a good time. Kyle, on the other hand, has declared he no longer likes American Airlines. Which is bad luck for him, considering we're moving from one AA hub (Dallas) to another (Miami). Not too many choices....

The weekend was great!! Scott and Jen have a little boy, Griffin, who will be 2 in August. They also have a full size jump house in their family room (Chicago winters) and Olivia and Griff were in heaven!! Olivia is now asking every day when we're going to get a jump house!! Friday we grilled out at their house and just took it easy. Saturday morning, we got up and drove downtown to the aquarium. The kids had a great time. As well as the adults. Fortunately, the kids couldn't read...the aquarium was undergoing renovations and the sharks, dolphins and penguins were not there. The parents, bummed! Afterwards, it was time for Griff's nap, so Jen, Scott and Griff headed home. Kyle, Olivia and I headed down to the Navy Pier. It was a beautiful Chicago day!! We took the trolley down to Michigan Avenue. Olivia also got to experience her FIRST taxi ride. We asked the cab driver if she could ride without a car seat. His response - 'Sure - no rules in Chicago!' We were only going to the train station, so we let her experience. Between the taxi ride and the train, Olivia was beside herself.

Saturday night, Griff's nanny came over and watched the kids while we had an 'adult' dinner at a great Italian place. It was Olivia's first time with someone other than family or Baba (Sara) and she did great!! Back home on Sunday after an afternoon at the park and good Chicago pizza.

This week, I was in Miami and back to the Dominican Republic for a quick trip. We also have some news on the Miami house, but we're waiting on one more thing and I don't want to jinx it.....so.....stay tuned!! I stayed around Miami for an extra day to look at preschools. Found two good ones. One feels like I'm sending her to Notre Dame between the tuition and the set up, but it has some really cool things like a Discovery Barn with live goats, kittens, parrots and a science teacher) that she could not get in most preschools. And, computer class. Very cool for 3 year olds. So, we'll decide soon.

Our friends are throwing us a pool party tomorrow as a 'last get together' of sorts. It will be great to see everyone as I feel like we're partly removed from life here a bit! If I actually stop to think about it, I get sad. So, I hope tomorrow, I can just enjoy the day. Olivia can't wait to see all her friends. She keeps asking if it's her birthday!

Next week.....St Kitts and San Juan, so more pictures to come!!

The First 'Market Visit'

I'm going on my 5th week at 'the job' and I finally made it out to see the market! Last wseek consisted of visits to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and St Thomas. Here are some pics and a few details describing the joys of too much travel crammed into one week!!!

Sunday - head from DFW to Miami....following a 7 hour delay last week, didn't think it could get worse. But, 2 hour delay getting out of Dallas, putting me into Miami at 1am! Not bad, except I had an 8am flight to the Bahamas.

Monday - 1st flight cancelled....go to Admiral's Club and work....2nd flight cancelled....realize we would be in Bahamas for 1 hour before returning flight from Bahamas to the DR via Miami. So, make executive decision to bag Bahamas altogether in fear of missing connecting flight somehow. With final boarding being announced and new gate 3 miles away, we decide to get on earlier flight to the Dominican. We make it!!!

The Dominican Repulic - we flew into the capitol, Santo Domingo. 3 million people strong. Lowest GDP in all of the Caribbean. And, all spanish speaking. Thank goodness for my traveling companions!! The people there are hands down the craziest drivers I have ever come across in my life (and if you know me, I'm a bad driver, so that's saying A LOT!!). It's a near-accident every 2 minutes...no exaggeration. A red light just means that you slow down in the intersection. There are NO rules. There are also these convience store-turned-sports-watching-dive bar things on every corner.

This is the 'dive' one.

Above is the 'nice' one. We stayed here and had a beer. They give it to you sooooo cold that it's wrapped in a paper bag with a napkin on the lip. If you touch it within 5 minutes, you'll turn into the kid from 'A Christmas Story' and your lips will be stuck to a beer bottle the rest your life.

Our 3rd flight cancellation occured in San Juan. Missed our connection to St Thomas as a result. But, we got to have dinner in Old San Juan and see the sights a bit. And, with the 20 min flight, we still landed by 9am the next day and all was good.....that is until we got to the rental car counter and discovered that you drive on the left hand side of the road. So, the bad driver - me! - got nominated to drive. Wasn't as bad as I expected and no near-collisions, so can't complain.

Some meat 'a la carte' option at the colmado (spanish word for what these bars are).

Lunch in St Thomas....they have a giant 3-legged iguana as a pet that roams around.

The view from where we ate dinner in St Thomas.


Hotel view in St Thomas before the rain came in (above)!