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2007:
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Austin TX
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Homecoming
Misc 2007 |
Letter
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Special |
Fort Family
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e-SCRAPBOOK |
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NI week in Austin, TX For our 7th anniversary we both flew back
to Austin, Texas to visit friends. Dave was attending National
Instrument's annual conference for work, and I went along for a
vacation. |
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Morning presentations were more like rock concert meets TV talk show &
comedy hour for engineers. They demonstrated their latest and greatest
technology--how their "software instrumentation" helps everything from
tumor reduction to tracking birds on space shuttle launch day.
There was a 10 year-old was using NI's Labview to run his train set,
and a mind-controlled wheelchair, which when they demonstrated, the
audience didn't clap at first, we were so dumbfounded. I am not lying. |
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There were thousands of engineers, scientists, and businessmen from all
over the country. There was so much brainpower in the room, you could
feel higher IQ as you stepped through the door. Engineers are
sometimes called nerds, but I like to think of them as the inventors of
America. They might as well all have light-bulbs floating above their
heads. |
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Dave and I at one of the morning presentations, which I attended. |
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We ate all of my favorite foods: Tex-Mex, BBQ, and American! Chuy's is
an Austin landmark, with funky art and delicious unique food. Dave loved
the cilantro ranch dip so much, we started making it at home.
This location is on Town Lake, so we took a walk up to Barton Springs
while we waited for a table. I won't repeat the brag about Austin's
Zilker Park like I've described on other pages. It's like a New York
central park, Texas style--the heart of the city--and we love it.
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My good friend Shannon Turner let me hang out with her while Dave was at
his conference. We served in the same Relief Society presidency for 2
years, and I visit taught for the same time. I tried to learn Spanish
just like she was, and we loved talking about science and gardens and
books and laugh about people. We went to a local zoo in the Texas
summer heat with her three girls and had a great time. |
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We ate at Rudy's, which is not the worst BBQ in Texas, despite its
claim. We stood in a cafeteria-style line, where a boisterious cashier
gave us samples and advice. We got our dry-roasted meat of all varieties
in a crate with a stack of white bread and napkins. The famous sauce was
waiting in jugs for us on indoor picnic tables covered with
red-and-white checkerboard vinyl tableclothes. A whole corner is devoted
to handwashing after, and the place is covered in funny signs. Yee-haw! |
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We loved seeing many of our friends when we went back to our favorite
city. I sit here with Megan Barahona's cute kids in her house that she
had just moved into.
We also went to see Giovanna Hill and her family; she's Brazilian, so
Dave always liked speaking Portuguese with her. She told us about
homeschooling, and her daughter who taught herself to play piano. We
also saw Francia and Thomas Carrizales and their son and new baby. |
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Austin, live music capital of America, and lover of the arts, has giant,
painted guitars installed around downtown. What a blast! |
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Dave and Liz Robertson
Family
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