Don Strange

So I work at Don Strange of Texas. Don passed away this morning. It was a great lose to San Antonio...

Don Strange, the patriarch of the internationally renowned catering company, Don Strange of Texas Inc., passed away Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at the age of 69. Strange is best known for his larger than life presence, passion for his family and his life-long love of Texas cuisine. Don Strange is often credited by many for putting Texas on the culinary map.

For the past 57 years, the name Don Strange has been synonymous with world class catering and events. From a small, family-owned grocery store and party house opened by his parents, Edith and Joe Strange in 1952, Strange grew his family business to become the quintessential Texas catering company.

Strange loved Texas and promoted the flavor of the state throughout the nation from the White House, where he catered Presidential events, to the hills of Hollywood and to New York City introducing Southern hospitality and cuisine to guests across the continent and world. He was proud to share his love of authentic Texas food, such as pan de campo, the official bread of Texas, at his lavish, colorful and elegant southwest events. He was the preferred caterer for generations of Texas families at legendary ranches, haciendas and homes.

Strange was an active member of the San Antonio community, volunteering his time, talents and vision to several non profit organizations. A man passionate about food, he enjoyed educating others on the importance of nutrition and was responsible for the award winning Helping Hands and Breakfast of Champions programs for the children of Roy Maas Youth Alternatives. He often shared the use of the historic Don Strange Ranch in Welfare, Texas with families, non profit organizations and Texas companies dedicated to the future of Texas children, education and commerce.

But of all his passions, Strange’s true love was his family. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Edith Strange. He leaves behind his wife of 48 years, Frances, his three sons and their wives, Brian and Shanan, Matt and Kelly, and Jason and Mandy, his brother, John Strange, his grandchildren, Emily, Alexandra, Austin, Molly, Jake, Parker and Olivia, his mother-in-law, Mary Singleton, his many brothers- and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and his dedicated staff, and of course his many clients and the guests he served so faithfully.

He will missed by all.

November

I think November is my FAVORITE month... not just because it's my bday month but because it's the holiday season and it's cooler weather!

Halloween was nice - nothing special - just had trick-or-treaters come to the house. They were all so cute.

I don't really have much to report back... my life isn't very exciting right now. Just working and attempting to keep our house clean. It's just so hard.

This weekend was the first time we didn't have plans in a while - so i worked. Boo.

P.S. - I love my puppies! And I miss my Briggs Girls

oops

I forgot the incriminating photo.

quick update

Hello!

• I miss y'all... a lot.
• My amazing boyfriend decided he wanted to give me an early birthday present: $100 "decorating dollars" - I always want to buy things for the house and he never approves because he doesn't think it's necessary. (Especially holiday decor) He always says we have enough stuff. SOOOO he took me shopping and said I could buy whatever I wanted for the house and he would not disapprove! It was so much fun... I loved it.
• It's official: I have 3 jobs. I work at RMYA from 7:45am - 8:45am Mon-Fri and then 9am - 5pm Don Strange, and then some nights/weekends I am dealing.... blackjack that is! It's actually a lot of fun. Evan's dad has a casino party company and I am now a dealer. My first party was Saturday... we had a blast! haha
• Jager is fat. Chris took the puppies to petsmart Friday and Jager weighed in at 86 lbs! Then chris proceeded to buy the puppies sonic hamburgers - proof below. Anyway, looks like I will be buying diet food in my near future.
• Chris and I are trying to save up to go to Paris next July. Wish us luck.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Whitney

inspiration

So, I cut Chris's hair Sunday night. It actually turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, I didn't have all attachments so the transition was a little off, but for a free haircut it was pretty good!

Thanks Christen and Colleen for the inspiration!

don't judge

Ok... so don't judge me.

I went to psychic today. My mom went to him a month ago and really like it... so she wanted me to go. It was a lot of fun.

In fact, a bunch of universities study this guy.

With out going into to much detail... he was very details and his a lot of things right on... it was weird at some points.

Overall, it was just fun. Very interesting... good time.

He said I have some of the best friends in the world and they are all really good people.

Colleen: He said you are very very bright. He said you have very happy animals and they are well taken care of. And you are a great friend.

He also said I am going to have a diamond on my finger soon. haha

Anyway... just thought you might get a kick out of my interesting adventure today.

Love y'all!!

jobs

ok so i like my job... they are SUPER flexible... with days off... needing to take off an hour for a dr. appointment... etc. I can take a week off and they don't mind... it's really nice. Also, it's a fairly casual environment... if i feel like wearing jeans to work they don't care... if i wear cute flip-flops they don't care... the people are nice.... my boss is GREAT. i learn a lot.

BUT....overall, i don't DO a whole lot... i mean some days i am working my butt off... but then others i sit and watch a movie. my daily tasks are so petty. label this... print that... copy those... call so-and-so.... schedule don's (the owner) dermatology appointment he has a rash.... you get the idea. i just feel like this time in my life is such a great learning experience... that i am missing a lot by staying at this job. don't get me wrong some days i get to meet with clients or go to an important meeting but those days are so few and far between. i just feel that i have some good talents and this job isn't letting them grow.

is it worth loosing the flexibility for a new job?

honoring a fallen soldier

So my mom and I were driving from SA to San Marcos to the outlet malls to do some shopping. As we were driving we saw some ambulances on the overhead bridge... then some police on the side of the highway... then some firetrucks and firemen on the overhead bridge.... then some more ambulance and police... then about 100 civilians waving American flags on an overhead bridge.... THEN another 100 (or so) military personnel in uniform along side the highway...

My mom and I were very confused... we had no idea what was going on so we decided to make a few phone calls. Finally, David (my semi-godfather) had the answer. A soldier from New Braunfels, Texas was killed in Iraq and his body was arriving back home. The town was out to welcome him back home and show their support to the family.

It was very sad, yet so humbling and amazing. It was just so nice to see all that support. Not gonna lie... I got a little teary-eyed.

God Bless Our Soldiers.

long time no type

Sorry I have been away for so long... life has been keeping me busy. My catering job has been really slow so I have been taking off like one or two days a week... but my mom has needed my help... so on my days off I work for her.

The weekends have also been very full... with dog-sitting, family vacation, trip to dallas.... this leaves very little time to unpack my new house! I have the living room and kitchen pretty set... the upstairs is a disaster still... I am really hoping I can get it done this weekend. Chris is working and I don't have anything planned... so it's unpacking time... finally!

So I just have to tell you about my cousin Michael. He is the "golden child" of the family. He is really really really smart. He has just taken a job in Saudi Arabia for a brand new university that King Abdullah has built. See... King Abdullah owns the Red Sea and has never allowed any research to be done there... until he hired Michael's research team a couple of years ago to come start some of the first research ever to be done there. This inspired him to build a university of science and technology (King Abdullah University of Science and Technoloby - KAUST) with a huge Marine Biology ceneter.... where Michael will be the Assistant Dean of the Marine Biology Dept. This is a great oportunity, because not only are they paying him to teach and do research on the read sea... they are also funding his other research projects... to include: Butterfly Fish, Whale Sharks, and the waters surrounding Papua New Guinea. Plus... he's only 29! I just think it's amazing what he has accomplished so far... I can't wait to see what else he does.

But anways... I really enjoy talking to him and learning all kinds of things.... Including a cool story he told me: Jonah and the Whale is a very plausible story! In fact, they are pretty certain the whale was not actually a whale at all... but a Whale Shark! Whale sharks typically feed on the surface of the ocean where plankton and other small fish are... but if a larger object (such as a human) was in the path of the open mouthed Whale Shark... it could very easily accidentally swallow a human. Males grow up to 45 feet long! Plus... when the Whale Shark cannot digest something.... they invert their stomachs out of their mouths to get rid of what they cannot eat! I just found this very interesting... so I thought I would share.

Anways... enough about my cousin.... I hope you ladies have a wonderful week!

I promise to be in touch more...

Colleen: I LOVE what your doing... Chris and I really loved that movie so I'm excited to see how it goes. Remember... patience is the hardest... for everyone! I wish you the best!

disney & house

so i went to Disney World with Chris's family last week. We had a BLAST. I absolutely love his family. That was either my 6th or 7th trip to Disney World... but I had forgotten a lot and they had added and changed a lot... so it was fun. We would be on the 8:30am bus every morning and we usually wouldn't be back to the hotel till midnight. It was really hot and very humid... I can only recall one other occasion that I have ever sweated so much over a whole week.

we got back saturday. sunday we moved from our apt to our new house. so... we didn't get much of a recovery after vacation...

I will be posting pictures of disney and the new house soon!

I miss everyone... a lot.

just a couple of things

the Dyson Animal vacuum is amazing... just in case anyone was wondering.

my parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary... yay mom and dad

anxious

i don't know why but i have been very anxious recently. i wish i could shake it off.

longview was nice. i really enjoy chris' family a lot... and i get to see them again in just a couple of days. i wish it wasn't such a long drive.

i'm ready for our vacation to disney... i need a vacation

i wish people would stop asking when chris and i are going to get married. we will get married when we want to get married. it will be on our time, not theirs. it is kinda pressuring... it is very pressuring acutally. i sometimes need to remember to pull back and remember that there is no pressure and that when we are ready we will be ready. i mean... what's the rush? i'm only 23 years old. don't get me wrong we WANT to get married... it will just happen when we are ready... emotionally and financially. is this so wrong?

things to do

May 21st - Drive from SA to College Station - have dinner with Colleen :o)
May 22nd - Drive from CS to Longview - wedding
May 24th - Drive from Longview to SA
May 29th - Drive from SA to Longview - Todd's Graduation
May 31st - Drive from Longview to SA
June 13th to June 20th - Disney World
End of June - Move out of apartment to ??
???- Go see Michael (my cousin) before he moves to Saudi Arabia to work for the king

yay

Congrats Jess! You looked beautiful in your pictures. I am so happy for you!! Yay.

life is hard

Life is hard... sometimes it can be really hard. Seaseme Street didn't prepare me for this...

funny

Someone once said that a black man would be president when pigs fly.

Well 100 days into his presidency... swine flu.

lock me up

i am in a terrible mood today. i am pretty sure it would be best if i was locked up in a room for a couple of hours so i don't bite anyone else's head off....

fries

i'm eating some crispy fries and can't help but think about colleen.... she would love these

get over it

to all those "old" people that complain about texting, facebook, twitter, myspace... and everything else...

get over it... just because you don't get it doesn't mean you have to knock it.

rude

so there is this girl at work that i don't love... she's ok... i try and put up with it.

one day she says to me: "my husband need a new aggie ring - his is all worn down" I was like NO YOU IDIOT.... but i got past that comment.... until today....

she says "my husband still wears his stupid a&m ring - i don't know why he still wears it"

i about jumped across the room to hit her.... pissed me off

the nerve of some people....

must have

i love.... Jon Hart bags... http://jonhartdesign.com/newstore/main/index.php

Best part is... i get a discount :o)

I predict new luggage in my future.

just call me tmz

guess what - andy roddick is getting married this weekend and we are catering his sunday reception! how exciting... the williams sisters are going to be there too :o) i seriously thought about selling this knowledge to TMZ but i thought that would be bad. haha j/k

we are catering 5 weddings this saturday... 4 of which are out of town... and its been raining... not a good combo

i am really ready to move out of our apt... i think we have found a couple of places but i don't know if they will still be available when we need a new place... we can just hope.

we have so many things we want to save for... wedding, house, vacation... why does everything have to be so expensive... we are actually saving our money really well... i surprise myself sometimes.

just stuff...

ok so nobody laugh... but chris and i started discussing how disney puts their movies in a "vault" and you can only by the classic movies when hey are "out of the vault".... so we are buying classic disney movies cause we want to be able to share them ALL with our kids someday, not just the movies that are out at the time... so far we have pinoccio, jungle book, and mary poppins :o)

ALERT: Whitney actually is going to the gym on a regular basis... and i am enjoying it!

i am ashamed to admit it: i finally got sucked into american idol.... but with that said... OMG.... i am hooked. Adam Lambert is basically amazing. I get hooked to every song he sings.

sunday night i had this urge to go get all the briggs girls from their dorm rooms and go eat some wings n more... sad day

our apt lease is almost done... so now we are looking to rent a house. such a pain. why does everything have to be so expensive... and why can't people have bigger back yards... don't they know i have dogs to take care of? :o) j/k... i think we are getting close to finding one...

i thought this was funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMJ1Walco0

love everybody!

life

as i'm sure many of us are going through... this time in my life is very new and very different. i have always been a person that knew what i wanted and i knew how to get it.... but right now i'm not sure what i want and i'm not sure how to get it. it's something i have been struggling with for a little while now. until i figure out what i want and then how to get it... i'm just trying to move through the motions of life.... maybe it will come to me.

ever since i can remember people have always said "you are going to be so successful"... but they never told me IN WHAT i was going to be successful. i have such a strong desire to be so "successful" but i'm not sure where to start and that is where i'm struggling.... i want it too soon and too fast. i keep having to remind myself... that you have to build to succeed... and if i got everything that i wanted now then i would have nothing to look forward to.

i miss everyone very much.

church

so chris and i went to church last night... it was really nice. VERY nice actually... but i thought the priest told a cute story, so here it is:

it was a freezing day at the farm and a little bird was trying to stay warm. it was curled up on the ground when a cow walked by and dropped manure on the bird. the manure was really warm and the bird began to enjoy the warmth... so much so that it began to sing will sitting the warm manure. a cat heard this singing and began to explore where it was coming from. the cat discovered the manure and pulled the bird out and ate it. the bird was dead.

moral of the story: those who manure on you are not always your enemies... and those who pull you out of the manure are not always your friends

weekend wrap up

chris and i were both off all weekend... and we didn't go out of town... a rarity theses days.

so we took advantage of the moment and slept in late saturday and man was it great. we woke up and went shopping, which was nice cause it was a beautiful day. Chris's brother was in town for a UIL competition (math and science tests) on saturday and we were going to try and make the award ceremony but didn't know any details.... Todd calls at 2:50 and says the ceremony is at 3pm... so we hurry over to UTSA to see the ceremony (that didn't actually start till 3:45) and he won 1st in number sense, calculator, and math... so he did amazing! it was nice to see him and chris's dad LOVED that we went and took pictures of Todd. Todd has decided to go to A&M next year... whoop! He has been offered a scholarship and been asked be in the honors program... he's a smart boy.

after that we went to dinner with my parents and then went home, watched a movie, and slept. we ended up sleeping a lot sunday too... i think we were both catching up on like 6 months of sleep.

sunday we went downtown to the IMAX and saw Deep Sea 3D... we really enjoyed it! after that, we met our friend Laurie to see Knowing... the new Nicolas Cage movie. it was strange. we decided Deep Sea 3D was much better.

so our weekend might not have been eventful... but it was relaxing... and that's what we needed.

and for some reason, decpite the relaxing weekend, i woke up in a TERRIBLE mood this morning... so boo.

yuck

my face got WAY too much sun this weekend... and now i'm peeling like crazy... it's SO gross and embarassing. boo.

i want to cut off my hair. but i don't know what i want it to look like and i don't know if it will look good.

my weekend

so we went to the coast this weekend... and had a great time!

we went deep sea fishing... and chris caught a shark!! he was really excited... which was good cause it was a rough trip that's for sure. we were on the boat for 10 hrs! we basically came back and fell asleep. we are having shark for dinner tonight... yum... ? no, i really am excited to try it.

the puppies LOVE the beach... oh goodness, they had a blast. they are STILL recovering... haha

nothing else really exciting going on... but i will try an keep updating.

funny

Please watch when you need a laugh and have a few minutes.

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=37974

what i was thinking about in the shower

ok. so 2 things: 1. obama 2. girls at work

1. i still don't like obama. i think he speaks in a condescending manner... as if we don't get what he is talking about. i can't stand it.

2. ok... so you probably know i work for a catering company. it is a well-known, family-owned company that mostly does high-end hill country events... there are 3 sales girls and me... i help out around the office... whether that means meeting a client for them or answering the phones at the office. so anyway... the girls at work really rub me the wrong way sometimes. there is one girl who i will call L... L made a comment today that i really didn't like....

she says to another sales girl "do your friends think you have a real job... cause i have to explain to my friends that i have a hard job and it's not just planning parties, but that it's real and it's so hard... blah blah blah"

i really wanted to stand up and say... YOU IDIOT! THIS ISN'T REAL WORK... i mean... yes they come to work at 9am (more like they stole in at 9:30) and stay till 5:00pm (sometimes)... and talk to clients and sit at their computer and plan a menu. heaven forbid... they have to get out of their chairs to meet a client at an event facility (this happens maybe 2 times a week). the kitchen will bring breakfast and lunch to their desk and pick up after their mess. they don't have to take out the trash or file their own files.... its all done for them. i'm sorry but it's comments like those that make me want not want to be an event planner.

my mom is the hardest working person i know.... i look up to my mom in many ways. i don't want an easy job. i want to have a challenging job. i want to be able to have accomplishments at the end of my day.

catch up

so i obviously haven't written in a while... but i'll try and catch everyone up...

Chris and I went to college station this weekend.... it was a lot of fun. we had a really nice weekend. a couple of notes:
-it was kinda sad/scary... scary that i didn't have that security of not being in the real world yet... and sad b/c of the memories i have - we had some good times there.
- they are building so much... i won't recognize the place in a year with as much construction as their doing
- i really hope my kids go their some day
- the people are just so nice
- while it's full of memories... it's sadly not the same... knowing all the people are gone is sad.
- i miss the food. mostly, wings n more.
- every time i get chick fil a... i think of the commons

There is definitely a lot of people getting married this year!! Holy moly... more and more every day! I'm so excited for them all... It's just proof that everyone is growing up so quickly... please no babies yet... i'm not sure my brain can soak that up quiet yet. i mean we were sitting around ashley and holly's room like 4 years ago taking turns telling our "story"... and now everyone is all grown up! (I really am very happy for you Jessica... it just scares me to see everyone growing up *tear*) :o)

That's all I can conjure up right now... hope everyone has a great week!!!

Rachel's Wedding

Rachel & Brian's Wedding was a blast! She looked beautiful and everything went as planned :o) I couldn't be happier for her...

God is good, isn't he.

keeping up

i just want to say that i LOVE these silly blogs. i get to read about everyone and keep up with y'all.... it's great! i love hearing how everyone's day is going and how things are going. can you believe... none of the Briggs girls live in the same city anymore! i figured... but i didn't know we would be so separated so soon.

love you girls

life

ok. i know. so far i have not been a very good blogger.... but here i go anyway

*obama is now our president.... it should be interesting, other than that i'll keep my comments to myself.

*rachel yeats is getting married this weekend... and i'm in the wedding. i'm kind of stressing out because i have a lot to do to get ready.

*my friend Evan Tupa and I (with Patrick (colleen's brother) as "contract help") are starting our own website building business... we have not come up with a name yet... but we have done one website and in the middle of our 2nd and 3rd.... i'm pretty excited. it won't make us rich but maybe bring in a little extra cash, if not at least keep up busy.

*i feel like people are growing up so fast and things just seem to be passing by... and the ride is too fast for people to even notice....

*i am never alone... and when i do find myself alone... i make myself so busy, that i don't even notice. i wonder what i would think about and how i would feel about my life...

Hello World

holy moly... colleen emailed me to say that i was the only loser without a blog! i had no idea... but it was so nice to read up on everyone. with everyone growing up and spreading around to different cities... i thought it was a nice idea that everyone could still keep up with eachother.

so i guess this is my first post and here are some updates:

spent my first christmas with chris - amazing... 17 people together christmas morning

working at a catering/special event mgmt company in San Antonio - love it

i love my puppies - they are doing very well... jager is almost 3!

living in an apt... looking for a house soon

hopefully going to grad school in the fall

i miss everyone...