Pocket Sandwich Theater

Last week Heidi took me out for a surprise. It just so happened to be on the anniversary of our first date so I thought that we were going to go eat pho or bowling or something but she definitely surprised me by taking me to the Pocket Sandwich Theater. We had never been there to the theater so it was a fun experiment. We always talked about getting out and doing different things so this was right up our alley. What is the Sandwich Pocket Theater you might ask???? Well it is this little place tucked away off of Mockingbird and 75 where they have live theater performances and dinner…and since I am a former Thespian Heidi knew that this would be something that I would enjoy. We saw a show called Tom, Dick, and Harry which is a about a couple is trying to adopt a child and Tom’s brother are trying to help make a good impression send the show off on a whirl wind of antics and odd situations. I enjoy the witty, intelligent, pseudo British comedy so this was greatness. Here is the website for the theater so if you want to go just give us a call and we are there.

http://www.pocketsandwich.com/

The Farm

We just got back from the Farm which as you guys all know if my sanctum sanctorum. Such a great weekend; Heidi loves going down there and as you can tell be the photo is not afraid to do a little work. There is something about working with your hands that really make you feel sore but some how really good. We had a fun weekend clearing fence line, fishing (Heidi caught a little bass) and spending time with the family. I love this place and look forward to coming back down there soon.

Well, we finally did it!!!May 3, I became Mrs. McDow.
I can't tell you how excited I was that day. I'm sure my wonderful husband will wax eloquent on the day, but it was more wonderful then I could have imagined.

The day started with me sleeping in, eating a rather non-bridal breakfast of cheezy, eggy, sausagey yummy goodness that my Aunt made. I figured that I had done all the work I could do to be skinny, so why not enjoy the happiest day of my life!!!

I met my girls, Jeca, Cheyenne and Lacey at the church and we ran around that morning, when and had a fantastic, girly lunch and then back to the church to get ready. I had a wonderful time with them prepping to walk down the isle!!!

My friend and makeup artist, Martha Beresford, came and did my hair and makeup and then touched up the rest of my gals.When it came time to walk down the isle I was definatly picture perfect!!!
The ceremony went by so quickly, but what I remember most is when those doors were opened, I saw my best friend and husband to be, up on that stage, looking as handsome as ever and of course goofing off. I will never forget how excited I was to just be there with him.
Even though we were blessed to have a couple hundred friends and family there, it was somehow for a moment, just us, being showered in the Love, peace and presence of the Lord.

I am so blessed beyond measure to have found my best friend, my example of how Christ loved the Church, my husband. He has shown me such an amazing defintion of what love is and I am truly humbled every time I think about this gift that the Lord has put in my life.

I have long followed the story of Ruth in scripture. I learned several things from her..patience, grace, obedience andmost of all faith. Faith that the Lord would provide exactly what she needed. I absoltuely feel I think what she felt when she met her Boaz. I am home..

I Love you Ryan, more then you will ever know. I will try my best every day to honor you, cherish you and laugh with you..Thank you for being a David..a man among men. I see every day, even more and more that you are a man after God's own heart.

"I am my beloved's and he is mine." Song of Soloman

The Honeymoon

We got back from out honeymoon and had an amazing time. We went down to Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula where we spend 5 days in paradise. The weather was amazing and we got a chance to really experience in the short time we were there. We don’t have many pictures since we forgot to charge the cameral before we left the states so we went “old school” and had to rely on our memories instead of digital shots. We spent on day lying around on the beach just trying to catch up on the whirl wind of the past couple of days. We wondered into the swim up pool and found two of my favorite things: new friends and tequila! Marcel and his wife Veronica were on vacation from Holland I enjoyed speaking to them in my very basic German that I learned in high school. We forgot to reapply our sunscreen and got fried but I think that is what you are supposed to do when you go to the beach. The next day we went to Chichen Itza and had a good time avoiding the sun and learning about the olden Mayan civilization. I highly recommend the tour but once you do it there is no reason to go back. Our last full day we spent on a snorkeling trip and got to go to the Mayan cenote and then out to a inland bay where the fresh water mixes with salt water and that is a nursery area so we got a chance to see a lot of baby fish before they got growns up enough to get out in the ocean. Minus the sunburn we had a great time are looking forward to going back sometime soon.

Aggie Muster

This Monday Heidi & I went to College Station to participate in Aggie Muster. This is a time honored tradition at Texas A&M that happened on April 21st throughout the world for Aggies. It is usually put together by local Alumni Chapters but I think that you can just do it at your home. The one at College Station was held at Reed Arena and was standing room only. I have only been to Muster once before and it was with my dad who drove up from Plainview to West Texas A&M to honor one of his college buddies. I had no idea what I was going to but was moved by the experience. Heidi had never been to Muster so I spent part of the way heading down there to explain what it was. I knew this night was going to be tough but I had no idea what was in store for me.

What is Aggie Muster? It is a time for Aggies to get together and remember there time at Aggieland and then to remember those Aggie who have passed on during that year. They do this in what is called the “Roll Call for the Absent” which is list of those who have passed away that year. There is a candle lit in honor of that individual and friends and families of the Aggie on the roll will answer “here” in there place since they are not there to answer.

This is such a powerful ceremony and it is what some Aggies call the most important tradition since it is the one tradition that EVERYONE will participate in at some point and that it is done all over the world on the same day. What makes it even more meaningful for me it that it is done to honor those who have passed away that year and that that persons name could be called at multiple Muster ceremonies throughout the world. You see the friends and family who go to Muster can add your name to the list of their local Muster ceremony and honor your life by answering “here” for you. This year we went to honor my dad who passed away on December 22, 2007. He loved his university and this was a very important ceremony for him when he was here. The ceremony is powerful as a spectator but multiply that by 1000 when you participate in it. We were fortunate that Rachel lives in College Station so we were able to have Dad’s name called at Reed Arena on campus. The ceremony was wonderful; the speaker was great in talking about the university and Muster and what it means to be an Aggie. Dad was in the Corps and truly lived out what it meant to be an Aggie. Then they dimmed the lights moved on to the Roll Call which starts out with “Softly call the Muster, let the comrade answer ‘Here’…” and they begin. They call your name followed by your class so they started out with class of 2010 and went down. As each name is called a candle is lit to symbolize that while those Aggies are not present in body, they will forever remain with us in Aggie Spirit. This is a very intimate part of the ceremony and all you hear is someone’s name, class and then “here” from people in the audience and then the reader moves on to the next person on the Roll. Some people had one “here” while others had a number of “here” called out. Some people yelled out “here” and some just worked to get the words out of their mouth. The beauty of this ceremony is that people come form all backgrounds and ways of life for one purpose…to honor those gone before us.They worked down the list and it was very interesting to hear people respond to the names being called but I knew that they were getting close. “…Class of 1975. ‘here’; Ross Turner McDow Jr. Class of 1974; ‘here’…” and as the Roll Call continued I stayed right there remembering. “Here” was the hardest word I ever had to say in my life. “Here” was such a simple work that I use many, many times a day. But on that night it took all that I had to say “here” my mind was flooded with memories, stories, & emotions. I had grieved before about the loss of my dad but it was not until Monday night everything came together. This for some reason was more important to me than the funeral. I knew that I was not the only person who was saying ‘here’ that night for Dad but Mom, Heidi, Rachel, Mark, Charlotte, Bobby, Andy & his wife, the twins: Emily & Christy who were all there said ‘here’. Dad’s old aggie buddies at their own local Muster said “here” that random person who might have recognized his name said “here” all in honor of my dad who could not be there to answer the call to Muster.

The night finished with the Ross Volunteers doing a 21 gun salute and the Aggie band playing Silver Taps and a member of the class of 1958 dismissed us until April 21, 2009. We the lights came on and we all headed back to our cars and back to our lives but for a moment we were all joined together to answer the call of Aggie Muster.

April Showers Brings May...Weddings

What a long weekend! We had two wedding showers this weekend: the couples shower on Saturday and the other shower for Heidi on Sunday (which I somehow got roped into going to). It was a really good time and we enjoyed seeing everybody but it was just very fast paced. My family came in town for the showers and poor Mom had a huge sinus headache but she fought through and made it to all the events. On Friday we went out to dinner at our favorite Pho place and then took the family over to the DMA for the Bluebonnet exhibit. It was fun and Mark could stay there for days but Mom was not feeling well so we left after about 2 hours. Saturday was the couples shower and dinner with the families…great time and great conversation. I don’t know how many of those dinners we will be able to have since we all don’t live close together but this one was really, really good. Bower got engaged that night and we got so caught up with family that we were not able to make it over for the party; oh well there will be more parties. Sunday we took the family to church and back out to Carrollton for the second shower for Heidi. Due to timing Mark ended up going and working as our photo guy. Our original plan was for him to go birding and I was going to blast some bad guys that afternoon but the shower started an hour earlier so we all ended up going to the shower. After the shower my family got on the road and we packed up all our gifts and went back to the house to unpack and get ready for our small group. That is a mouthful of a weekend but it was a great weekend and we have had the showers and since we are not clean we can have the wedding!!!!.

Baton Rouge

There has been a long standing McDow tradition of visiting family on Easter Weekend. Each year we rotate between Texas & Louisiana and this was our year to head to Louisiana. I spent a year living there before I moved back to Dallas and met Heidi and in that year really grew to like the place so this year I wanted to share some of Louisiana with my family. We had a great time and got a chance to take a swamp tour and go to New Orleans and check on the Lower 9th Ward. They demoed most of the house but if you drive around a little you can still find some of the houses that we moved off their slabs. It is not as intense as it was two years ago when I lived there but you can still get a feeling of what it looked like. Spending time with the family is always great and as in true for we had a blast getting to see this side of the family. They all loved Heidi and are looking forward to our wedding!

On a side note; I have the odd affection for alligators and constantly joke about having my own gator pit when I retire at the farm. I will call my gator Mr. Bojangles and we will be best friends; people will write songs about Ryan & Mr. BoJangles (Don’t worry Heidi has already signed off on this!). In sharing what I most enjoyed about Louisiana I invited the family to go on a swamp tour at a place called Alligator Bayou Tour. It is a local tour of the swamps around Baton Rouge and we got a chance to up close and personal with some Gators. It was a lot of fun and I was able to get Heidi used to those gators. We will not have as many as the tour place but we can at least have one…right. I mean this is America; the place where dreams come true.