Amy Lauren

What would you willingly wake up early for on a Monday morning. And I mean early. Like 8am?

I'd wake up for my sister.

Knowing she would arrive at 11:30 that day, I was in work at 901 Trinity street by 9am. Ask the ladies of the office. They'll vouch. It was like a miracle. Bur the Pitts was coming in to town so I worked hard Sunday and Monday to get a lot of work done so when she arrived we could spend maximum free time together.

We fared pretty well. Of course, I had rehearsal three nights and church two nights of the four she was here, but other than that and a couple of hours here and there in the office, we got a lot of time together!

So what did we do, you ask?...

What we always do... eat, drink and shop.

It was glorious.

Day one we drove straight to church where we were hosting the annual Christian Life Commission Conference. But for lunch, we quickly headed to, you guess it, Amy's favorite restaurant in Austin, Opal Divine's. Ah... a little slice of heaven.


Amy wanted to see two people when she was in Austin: Amy and Michelle (and of course, Grant and Chris who go with those women). When probed further she added Frank and Jane & Bill to that list. We almost covered everyone.

Monday night after rehearsal, we ate dinner at Katz's and visited MoMo's where Grant & Amy's band were playing. We met up with Michelle and Chris and it was a fun, if late, evening.

Tuesday, Amy, Michelle and I worked out at the Y (love you steam room!) and then lunched at Zocola, a new restaurant for Michelle and Amy who loved the frozen sangrias.
Delicious, I agree. Then we crossed the street to one of the old time drug stores still in Austin and I bought, you guessed it mom and dad, a chocolate malt. And then shopping on SoCo! God, I love Austin. We grabbed coffee at Jo's and then headed to church. Dinner was eaten late when we picked up Parlor Pizza after rehearsal and returned home to watch Ocean's 13, a series of movies Amy and I love. Don't ask my why.

Wednesday Janie, Amy and I walked a little around the dog park on the Hike and Bike Trail and then joined Frankie for lunch at Moonshine (another of my to 5 Austin restaurants) which was glorious (love those Ruby Red Slippers).
After another short shopping spree (again on South Congress), I went to work where Amy and I heard one of my former and favorite professors speak about the war between faith and science and a spectrum of reactions to their relationship. Afterwards, we met Aaron Valentine, Mel Behrends and Chris minus Michelle at Vivo's for drinks and queso. Yea! for restaurants that put flowers in your drinks!



Thursday started off sad. The last day of having Amy or my mom or whomever in town always starts off a little sad... I have trouble having fun when I know it's the last day. And I always obsess over whether or not enough fun is being had. Thursday brought a good deal of time at work, despite what i tried to get done ahead of time. Fortunately, Amy brought her own work along. After rehearsal and then Beresheth, Amy was exhausted and we went home so she could pack. And for our final evening together, we crawled into my bed (which we share) and watched Bridget Jones' Diary. I was alarmed at how relevant it is to my life now that I've crossed over the Thirty mark, but it was still fun to watch. It always makes me feel a little bit better about my life. At least I don't have Bridget's public speaking problem...

Then again, I don't have her Colin Firth problem either.

Sigh.

So now Amy's gone and I'm lonely and sad and homesick, but still grateful. Always. For a wonderful family...

who should all move to Austin as soon as possible.