Baylor, three years later

Since I left Baylor three years ago, campus has changed quite a bit. Here are some photos from my trip this weekend (as with all the pics on this blog, click on any of them to see an enlarged version).

Remember the fountain? Gone, replaced with a grassy area:



The Bear Pit? Drastically updated (for the better):







The Bookstore? Completely redone; it now occupies almost the entire first floor of the old parking garage, and looks like a Barnes & Noble inside. The main entrance (seen here) is on 5th Street, not the side.



The old Brooks Hall is gone, being replaced by Brooks Village, a series of apartment-like dorms. The first pic is from the back steps of Martin Hall, followed by one from across the street by the old Texaco (now a Shell) station and then one taken from the top of the old parking garage (basically looking at where the back of the old Brooks was).







I tried to get a picture that would capture just how massive the new science building is, but this is the best I could do:





And lastly, for Bethany, here's the new Mayborn Museum (on University Parks, near the Alumni Center):

Bethany's Latest Project- Laundry Hamper Cabinet

Here it is, Bethany's latest project....

While helping some friends move recently, Bethany acquired this cabinet that they no longer wanted. She had been thinking about making a cabinet for her laundry sorter/hamper before, but hadn't been able to find the right size piece of furniture to start with. She wasn't quite ready to start building one from scratch either, though she had been sorely tempted several times. Needless to say she was very excited when this piece came into our condo.

After dismantling it a bit and adding a few changes, she ended up with what you see below and is quite pleased with herself! Just for reference, here is what the laundry sorter/hamper looked like before:

As you can see, not so attractive. Since there really are not any other places to put the laundry hamper, and the washer/dryer is the closet to the right of it, it very much needed a face lift. Here is what it looks like now!!!

This is it as you turn the corner in our hallway:



Here it is with the lid open:



This is a closer up view with the lid open:



Here is a closer up view of the metal inserts in the doors:




What do you think?

They're home!

My sister and our new niece Elizabeth are now home from the hospital, and everyone seems to be doing fine. Joseph seems to be enjoying his new sister:



Grandma is enjoying her stay in Austin, too, with grandchild #2:



Click here for more pictures.

Fun New Decor

Added a couple of new framed items to our already crowded walls... First, an Astros "Killer B's" collage I received awhile back from the Hudspeths:



(You can also see my new framed rainbow-shoulder Astros jersey, autographed by Jeff Bagwell, on the floor hiding behind the desk; we just don't have a good place to hang it yet.)

Also, Bethany found three old Baylor postcards on eBay; we got them and a simple frame to add to our already green-and-gold bathroom:



(Our bathroom wall is really more of a mustard-gold, but you can't really tell in that picture.)

She's Here!

Yep - we have a niece! My sister Kim and her husband Josh welcomed Elizabeth Johanna (pronounced "Yo-haw-na"--it's German) Spain to the world yesterday (March 12) -- 8 pounds 5 ounces, 21.25 inches long.



Mom and baby are doing well. (So is Joseph, who as of day one seemed okay with "Baby" or "'Sbeth", as he called her.)

For more pics, click here.

Nephew Video!

Okay, this is something new - I'm going to post some video of my nephew Joseph that Kim and Josh shared with me. Enjoy!



Click here for several more videos, from Summer to Christmas '06.