el campo and matagorda

This past weekend alone made my decision to come to texas worth it. it was an absolute human experience. My friends lalo and nohemi had their baby shower in el campo, tx, where her family lives. It's crop-land out there and they grow mostly corn, milo, and cotton. Her family has so many kids. its insane. but they are all so sweet. Lalo and i were assigned to watch all 21 of them as they ran around playing tag and hide-and-go-seek outside while the women went on with their baby shower activities. I probably sweat more than i have in my entire life but still had a blast (the humidity there is unprecedented). The food was some of the best you'll ever eat. Homemade tamales, beans, and all the other fixings for tostadas.

After the baby shower we went to our motel room and relaxed for the rest of the night. Lalo and i drank beers and talked until 5:00am about life, fatherhood (not that i know anything about that), family, germany, and how funny it is that us hanging out together in texas is probably the last we thought we would be doing a year ago. He believes there is a reason for all of this.

In the morning we headed out to matagorda, along the gulf of mexico. At this beach you can drive on the sand and just keep going until you find a spot to your liking. The water was really warm. perfect for swimming. Lalo and i both got super sun burned. absolutely roasted. we looked like lobsters, we were so red. At the end of the day i took some photos of Lalo and Nohemi, and i think they turned out pretty good. Our happily exhausted bodies barely made it back to austin.

it is hard to explain what made this weekend so awesome and special, but that's exactly what it was to me. and i think it's a pretty average couple days to a lot of people, but i enjoyed it so much. The whole time i have been in texas, i have been in such a good, up-beat, mood. It's what i call my "vacation mentality", where nothing really bothers me and i jump at every opportunity that comes along. It has made me so content, and i want to try to transfer this into my everyday life, no matter where i am.

Here are several pictures from the weekend: