JP's Pictures

Adventures in the Underground

When we bought our house, the most we had seen of the crawl space was what we could see through the vents in the skirt. that wasn't much. I wanted to know about the condition of our crawl space but I didn't want to discover a pack of beavers under our house either. So, as with many great dilemmas it was out of sight, so I kept it out of mind.

However, I knew the day would come when I would venture into the nether regions of College and Maddox to discover what treasures dwelt there. As we fast approach the end of this round of renovations, JP and I took it upon ourselves to put some big holes in the floor. The first was to gain access to the mysteries that sat below our house. So as I stood in that closet (there is a joke there I just know it), and basked in the stall; slightly damp air that rose out of the imperfect square I had just cut in the floor, I knew that worst thing that could happen is that I would get stuck. I quickly realized how horrible that would be, put that thought aside and got down the hole. JP took pics so as to memorialize the moment. No buried treasure, no attack beavers; just trash. Oh, and massive amounts of concrete.

Thought this was cool

These two together, playing in one the coolest venues ever, is very much worthy of a post. This is the one time I am thankful someone held up their phone during a concert. Usually that drives me nuts. Enjoy

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Pictures of You

Well, no. Its pictures of us. Got your attention though. A couple of weeks ago we treked to Tulsa for Aubrey and Drake's wedding. We love Tulsa. We love weddings. Put two together and you get what's happening in these pictures. Its always good to see friends. Weddings out of town always seem rushed and once you catch your breath, you're eating breakfast on your way out of town. Drake and Aubrey, the Drakes from now on, had a beautiful wedding and I was truly honored to be a part of it.

It is wedding season and we attended another wedding closer to home prior to our jaunt to Tulsa. This time we were just guests and enjoyed watching Damian making the rounds. Kid likes to party.

New Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen London Calling Trailer from Columbia Records on Vimeo.

I think that anyone who reads this blog knows that Springsteen is my all time favorite. He and the E Street Band are the best live act I have ever seen. I've never been to a Springsteen show and seen anyone not engaged by the show. It's a pretty great thing.

New Alejandro Escovedo

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Check this video out. He is one of our favorites. Le us know what you think

What we have been up to

Ok, I just realized I could do slide shows on the blog. how cool is that? These are snapshots of what we have been up to for a couple of months. The big thing is the big hole in the wall. John, Sara and I took out the old chimney that wasn't working and re-purposed the bricks. they are going in our yet to be built drive way. We'll put a new wine rack and bar in that area. Cool stuff.

Los Lobos and other things

Last week Sara, John, Brenda and I trekked out to Bass Hall and saw one of the greatest bands around, Los Lobos. They are from east LA and have been a favorite of ours forever. I think you can find some of their songs on the music player below. The concert was so awesome and we were so busy singing along with every song that I only snapped a couple of pictures. I finally thought to take a picture after I completely lost the beat and decided to stop clapping.
Our other big event is the giant hole we put in our wall. We are at the beginning of a project that grows everyday. What started as a way to hide cables from our TV turned into quite a project as you can see from the pictures. We had a wheel barrel in the house, that is how you know this was a serious job. As of right now we are still in the demo phase, but will have more to show very shortly. Trust me, its a big hole, and will be hard to hide. I will get those pics up tomorrow. I do not want to overload anyone. Its only been over a month since our last post.

Swearing In

About a month ago, I was sworn into the brethern of attorneys by Judge Steve Owens in the family law center downtown. This was the last step towards being a full fledged attorney. The attorneys from the Texas Attorney's Office, Child Support Central Office join us. I spent the summer volunteering with them. My mom took some great pictures and I wanted to share them with everyone. Here you go.

Our side Stairs

A couple of months ago, I looked in our backyard and saw the beginnings of a rock garden.
We had stones left over from our retaining wall and the pergola. Well it was high time those stones got put to use and we decided to add some stairs.
We haven't many projects around our house as of late. But, building these stairs is our first step towards a new season of things to do.

Christmas Tamales

First off, this posting more promise is hard!!I am going to start posting email forwards soon just to up the post count. Its going to be all people of Walmart here before you know it.
We had a great Christmas. While Sara and I missed the big Pereda Christmas eve, due to ice and snow in Texas (crazy weather!!) it was just as fun keeping it low key. In preparation for Christmas, we did two rounds of tamale making. The first tamale making session was more of a tutorial for our tamale novices. John and Brenda hosted WLIT and it turn into a Italian/Mexican cooking class as Luciano finished a lasagna that he had started at home. While we ate Sara and Brenda led the ladies in the process of tamale making. The fellas kept to the kitchen and only took over spreading the masa when the it was brought over to us to do.
The next tamale making session took place at Ray and Kim's the Wednesday before Christmas. Watching the family make tamales reminds me of a nascar race. Its fast, everyone has a job that that have to do, and there is always the danger of being hit by a tire.