Paul Stafford 2014 11/1/2014

We all had such a great time on the cruise that the buzz was already in the air about making plans to all get back together one weekend once we were back. Two weekends after our legendary cruise, Paul and I decided to head to Gatesville for Halloween, Donella and Sherman were also coming into town.

 

Friday night was fairly quiet, just a few drinks on the back porch and Paul LOVING his momma's cooking that night (we just didn't understand!), but Saturday night we had plans to hit up the Gatesville VFW club for some ice cold beer, live music, dancing, and FIREBALL. Little did we know, the night would also turn into a campaign party!

 

Phil and Karen happen to live in Waco which is only a short drive from Gatesville and Paul's sister Amy decided to come in from Belton. Being from Beaumont, I was familiar with the concept of a VFW hall as they are plentiful in my neck of the woods however; I think Lori's description of it was pretty hilarious. "Well, it is a room smaller than our house with folding chairs and tables. The ceiling is about 9 ft tall and the top two feet are filled with cigarette smoke, but don't worry Sam, you are so short the smoke will not even reach you."

 

As cold as the beer was, it wasn't long before it was smoothly flowing through all of us, the plan of the night was to take over the bar - and that is exactly what we did! During a break the lead singer of the band came over to our table to thank us for being there and for constantly being on the dance floor. Next thing we knew (I am still not even sure how this happened) the singer motioned for me to walk over to the stage and he asked what Paul's name was. "Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we have Mr. Paul Stafford in the house - let's give him around of applause." After a loud round of applause and a few loud "WHOOP WHOOP"'s our poor waitress came over and asked who in the world Paul Stafford was?! That's when we decide to tell her he was running for office, little did we know there actually WAS a Paul Stafford running for office in Dallas!

 

The waitress quickly came back and said she had googled him and found his campaign page but could not find a picture of him. Without thinking I just replied "And you probably wont, as his campaign manager we pay a lot of money to ensure his picture isn't all over the internet. Why do you think we are out and about in Gatesville at the VFW? No one knows him here so please don't tell anyone!" She insisted she would not, and thus the fun continued.

 

 

The more beer that went down, the more shots that were ordered, the more animated and into full campaign character mode we all got. Paul even decided he needed to get on stage to give a speech and the band agreed to it! In his speech he decided to thank "Platinum Phil" and call him up on stage as well. I think the rest of us were far too busy laughing and hollering to hear what either one of them said but we certainly had everyone in VFW hall convinced that these two were celebrities (even if in their own mind)

 

The night got a little fuzzy for us all after that - but stay tuned because we promised everyone at the VFW a campaign/victory party in a few weeks! (Even if the REAL Paul Stafford candidate lost the election - our Paul Stafford will not!) :)

Let's Set Sail!! 10/12/14

 

A few weekends ago we were sitting in Lori and Marshall's living room in Gatesville visiting with them and the Greenawalt's. They were talking about their upcoming cruise and someone mentioned that Paul and I should look into flying down to Cozumel to meet them while they were at port. Knowing that we are both always up for an adventure Paul looked at me and said, "Well, do you want to go to Mexico, pretty girl?" We toyed around with the idea for a few days and then the week before decided, Why Not? Let's do this!

 

After looking into all inclusive resorts and coordinating flight times, for some reason I found myself glancing at the carnival website. Much to my surprise the 7 day cruise everyone was going on was only $329!! That was less than HALF of what we were going to pay to fly to Mexico for only 3 nights! We just didn't feel like we could pass that deal up so with 5 days to pack and prepare - we booked the LAST room available on the ship. Literally.

 

 

Friday evening we headed to Kemah to meet Lori and Marshall, after drinks and dinner we were off to bed and up the next morning headed to Galveston to meet the Faulkners, Grangers, Greenwalts and Higginbothams for a night of pre cruise fun! Sunday morning we boarded the ship and were off on yet another adventure, and just like everything else we do - there were a slew of unexpected turns and excitement!

 

Our first stop was Honduras! We boarded a Catamaran and set sail to a remote location for some snorkeling. The seas were super rough and at one point I even asked one of the deck hands if my boyfriend had paid them to try to throw me over board or something! We saw some BEAUTIFUL fish and reefs before they bused us back to the mainland (the seas were too rough to take the boat back) where we found ourselves at Fat Tuesdays enjoying drinks and music with Lori and Marshall, Sherman and Donella and the Nikki's. 

 

 

Next stop - Belize! Platinum Phil had originally set up an AMAZING excursion for us - cave tubing down the Amazon, but the rain had a different idea. The water was far too high so the excursion got cancelled. Luckily we ran into Speedy, an excursion tour guide(who liked to hear himself talk - ALOT) and before we knew it we were on a bus headed to zip line and then to ride ATVs in the jungle. Zip lining was a blast (aside from the HUGE Mosquitos!! Paul used them as an excuse to slap me every few minutes while smirking, "mosquito") and while we had both zip lined before it was our first time overwater - the Amazon River at that! The ATVs were a muddy blast due to all the rain. Paul made the mistake of getting on the 4 wheeler behind me - he once bumped into me and I turned around to remind him that one little spin of my tires and he would be COVERED in mud. He admitted he didn't think that one out fully and I never got bumped again :)

Once back on the boat Paul's feet began to swell LIKE CRAZY!!! We can only assume from standing all day in crocks without much support. (It couldn't possibly be from all the salt we were consuming eating pizza multiple times every single day!) Needless to say, it was early to bed that night with Paul's feet elevated on 4 pillows in the bed to try to get the swelling to go down!

 

The next morning we were scheduled to arrive in Cozumel around 8AM, when we woke up and headed to breakfast around 7 - we realized we were nowhere near land and THAT'S where things got interesting! A few minutes later the Captain came over the speaker and notified us that there was a lab supervisor on board from the hospital in Dallas that had treated the Ebola patient. Ill never forget sitting across the breakfast table from Paul and hearing the Captain say "I am standing here on the bridge with our Medical Physician..." I immediately looked at Paul and said "it's freaking EBOLA!!" Most of you already know the story from there, the poor lady was quarantined in her room for 4 days even though she didn't have any symptoms, Mexico wouldn't let us dock, Carnival gave each of us a $200 on board credit as well as 50% off our next cruise. Oh, and we got chased to sea out of Mexico by gun carrying military boats! What was left to do? DRINK IT FUN! 

Drinkin' it fun consisted of attempting to max out our 15 drinks per day max (I DID IT ONE DAY!!!) and of course SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS! Mainly Fireball for the men - Rumor has it, this group is the reason Carnival Cruise ships now have Fireball available!

 



After docking in Galveston and getting off the boat, we were greeted by a gazillion reporters trying to shove cameras and microphones in our faces. Luckily we were able to dodge them and we were quickly on our way to Midland! (I rode back to Midland with Paul and flew home the next morning so that he didn't have to make the 7 hour drive solo.) 




A week or so prior, Marie posted a picture on Facebook of this fabulous little diner in San Antonio, LuLu's. The food looked amazing and it was featured on Man vs Food so we decided to check it out for lunch. It certainly did not disappoint!! The only downside was that we enjoyed our food so much that we were too full to order the 3 LB cinnamon roll we had heard so much about!!





Chicken Fried Chicken with Queso on Top at LuLu's

 The perfect end of the trip was when we stopped for gas. Paul went into the store, without me knowing, and brought back my all time favorite candy and road trip food - gummy bears!! And not just any gummy bears - HARIBO!! Best boyfriend award, by far :)

 

A Weekend in the Country ..... Kerrville 10/3/2014

 

 

I honestly do not even know where to start with this trip! Paul's birthday was on October 1st so we wanted to do something fun and out of the ordinary this weekend! I have a FABULOUS friend who lives in hills of Medina, not far from Kerrville, with her husband. Marie is the Director of Sales for the Kerrville Convention & Visitors Bureau and has been asking me to come visit for quite some time. Once Paul and I realized Kerrville was smack dab in the middle of us - our weekend was planned!

 

We arrived in Kerrville Friday afternoon to find a bag waiting on us at the front desk when we checked in the hotel with a letter that started with "Paul & Samantha - Welcome to Kerrville!" Marie had completely outdone herself and put together a bag full of brochures, maps, goodies and much more! She even included a dining guide and took the time to mark which restaurants we should definitely try and which ones we should avoid. There was NO WAY to knock everything out in one weekend so we knew we would definitely be going back often!

 

 

 

We had an amazing dinner on the river the first night at Billy Jean's while watching the sunset over the water. The funny part was, Paul actually picked the restaurant because he liked the name but he had been saying all afternoon that he wanted chicken fried chicken. Sure enough, we pulled up to Billy Jeans and the marquee said "Voted Best Chicken Fried Chicken in Town!"

 Then Saturday we spent most of the day driving around the town and exploring. We ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant for lunch, owned by two brothers from New York - Paul knew what he wanted but couldn't find it on the menu. Both the owner and chef came to our table to discuss what he wanted and whipped up his favorite dish in no time (penne pasta, Italian sausage and rosa sauce - marinara and alfredo mixed together!) I think we both decided we would move to Kerrville TODAY if we could both retire!! The town is AMAZINGLY clean, beautiful and people are so friendly. We did make our way to The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden. We both saw the 77 ft empty cross from the road on our drive in and were determined to get to the top of the hill to find it!

 

 

Saturday night we drove out to see Marie and Woody in Medina. As expected they were the BEST hosts we could have asked for and we had a great time sitting outside, enjoying the view, eating an awesome dinner (steak kabobs) and conversing with such amazing people! We even fed the deer corn tortillas from their back porch.

 

 

I can not say enough about the fun and beauty to be found in this unique little town. We will definitely be going back SOON! We even kept the bag of brochures and information for our next trip :)

 

 

 

 

First weekend in Midland 9/12/14

 

What we haven't mentioned yet is that the day Paul found out he was moving to Midland, I also found out that my best friend of 25 years and her husband would be staying in Midland for 3-4 years! Not kidding, the EXACT same day!!! They had been living in Midland for a few months but Blaine, Erin's husband, had accepted a position with a company in Midland - what are the odds, right?

 

Without having anything planned this weekend, it turned out that I had to be in Houston Thursday for a work event and then had to travel to Fort Worth on Sunday for a conference. Since I was driving and not flying, I decided to make the drive to the big city of Midland to see just what Paul had gotten himself into agreeing to move there! The week started off with a little too much excitement for me, I actually totaled my car the Wednesday before. EEK. First wreck ever and it was totaled! Needless to say, the insurance company quickly had me in a rental, a HUGE Tahoe that we referred to as the BUS, and I was on my way.

 

 

I got into Midland on Friday afternoon and brought the wind, rain and cold weather with me! We even had to go shopping on Saturday to buy jackets! The streets were a flooded, muddy mess and I was immediately blown away by the over populated city! Dust, dirt and sludge EVERYWHERE - but what would you expect from an oil town? We spent most of the weekend laying low and running a few errands. Since this is a catch up post I will add that we have spent a few weekends in Midland since. The highlights include having dinner and drinks with Erin and Blaine one weekend (drinks because we tried to go bowling and there was a TWO HOUR wait time!), going to a movie theatre where you have to pick your seats ahead of time AND you can order beer and regular food, discovering that convenient stores in Midland HAVE A DRIVE THRU and you can buy anything thru the drive thru except lottery tickets, and using YELP to find unique locally owned eateries to eat at. OH - and I also ate at CiCi's Pizza for the FIRST time in my life while in Midland!

 

I will say that the sunrises and sunsets in Midland are the BEST - blame it on the flat desert I guess but I am blown away each and every time!

 

 

Our future plans are to start traveling a little bit when I fly to Midland, driving to Marfa or New Mexico - anywhere and everywhere we can find. OH - AND I want to go to the drive in movie!! Midland has a double feature drive in movie theatre and I have never been to one - Paul has promised to take me as soon as it is playing movies we want to see :)

 

 

Sand, Sun, Fun and ..... FIREBALL 9/4/2014

  WOOHOO! To no surprise Paul managed to work things out and Thursday afternoon  climbed in his truck to make the 9 hour drive to Crystal Beach! His plan was to pick up his sisters, Jayme and Amy, along the way then grab me in Houston and off to the beach we would all go! We had spent a lot of time talking about our families in Vegas and since we had been back and therefore had come to the conclusion that they were quite similar; both loud, fun, crazy and full of excitement. Never a dull moment with either of them. I will never forget when Paul got on the road to drive down he said, "I know this wont be a problem for you but, just don't be nervous. If you are nervous, they will eat you alive." Thanks to my family, I felt amply prepared for a weekend with the Stafford clan! (And the Faulkners, and the Grangers - hey - just go ahead and get meeting everyone out of the way in 3 days, right?) As prepared as I felt for the sarcasm and jokes that would be thrown my way - I am not sure I could have prepared myself for my initial introduction to Lori, Paul's mom, at 2 am when we arrived at the beach "So you're the girl who whisked my son off to Vegas, huh?" Ha ha - I knew right then we were in for a fun weekend.

The next three days were an absolute blast! Paul wasted no time in sharing his nickname for me, moonshiner (because he thinks everyone from southeast Texas makes and drinks moonshine), and Sherman quickly came up with his own, Vegas. Good food, great friends and lots of laughs. Oh, and FIREBALL! The weekend even consisted of a prank war between Paul and Sherman (I won't get in to the details about that because Lord knows it is far from over yet!) I think a highlight of the weekend was Paul and I attempting to jet ski together. I warned him ahead of time, "if you try to throw me off - I promise you are going down with me!" Sure enough, I think he managed to throw me off twice, and BOTH times he ended up in the water with me. I actually STILL have a scar on my right foot from one of the falls. Above all, I think we are two of the only people in the world who have somehow managed to flip a jet ski completely over with us. Not sure if we should be proud of that one of not! 

Back in Texas 8/31/2014

Well, we survived Vegas and decided our story wasn't going to end there! What I didn't mention in the last entry was that the day before we left for Vegas, Paul accepted a job in Midland! He asked me my thoughts on us going on a first date to Vegas and then him moving 8 hours away the next week and all I could tell him was, "let's just go have a GREAT time and talk about the rest when we get back. After all, there are no guarantees at this point that we will even hit it off!" He quickly came back with "You got it, pretty girl! I swear you are the female version of myself! Pack your bags!"

We arrived back in Texas in the wee hours of the morning Monday, and we were both completely exhausted!! The flight back was terrible! Paul had the week off before his move and I certainly didn't feel up to a day of budgets and reports so we decided to stay in Houston that day/night and catch up on some sleep! I think we slept from 7am to 7pm, woke up and grabbed some dinner and then straight back to bed and slept until the next morning! Vegas definitely got the best of us. 

Tuesday I was back to work and Paul was busy making preparations to move the following week. He headed up to Jonesboro and Gatesville to visit his family and Wednesday I hopped on a plane to South Carolina and Atlanta with friends for opening weekend of college football. After our FABULOUS weekend in Vegas and talking day in and day out once we got back we decided to really give this thing a shot. Sure, long distance isn't easy, but if you want something badly enough you can make anything work. Not to mention, it was evident neither of us were afraid to hop in a car or on a plane to go see the other one and we are both accustomed too and not intimidated by the others ever changing crazy schedule! 

The more we talked about it, we realized most people would probably think we were crazy! After all, neither of us really told anyone we were jet setting to Vegas. How could two near strangers hop on a plane to Vegas, hit it off perfectly and come back a couple? Can that really even happen? Once we both got back and shared the story with our friends and family and kept having people tell us things like this really DO happen - it became more of a reality to us both! 

After only a few days apart, we were ready to see each other again ASAP. I was flying back to Houston on Sunday and with Labor Day being Monday and Paul flying out to Tulsa on Tuesday, we decided to spend a few nights in Houston together before the big move. It was a low key weekend full of relaxation and preparation for all we both had ahead of us. The highlights were both of our first trip to James Coney Island for hotdogs (how either of us have grown up in Texas and frequented Houston yet NEVER been to James Coney Island is beyond me), FINALLY finding Paul a new A&M hat (we looked all over Vegas and went to three different malls in Houston before we found one), and Paul's personal favorite - all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster (a first for me)!

Tuesday came far sooner than we would have hoped and with that, I was dropping him off at the airport and he was off to Tulsa for his first day of his new job! Little did he know, I had a surprise in store or him. In passing Paul told me he was staying at the DoubleTree - I called and arranged for a little surprise to be delivered to him when he checked in :) 

Paul left Texas that week with talks of him trying to make his way back down here the upcoming weekend for a trip to the beach with his family and a few family friends. Meeting the family on week 3? Only time will tell this tale.