Houston Day 367! One year and one day after arrival in Houston

Well, we made it through a year! We had a celebratory drink in our lovely little breakfast nook a couple of days ago, almost exactly a year after we were sipping pre-flight champagne in QANTAS Business.  It was a much tastier drink this time around, mostly because last year it was alcohol before noon on a Sunday, when we'd had only two hours' sleep the night before, from a combination of a long-stretching last dinner at the James Squire Bar (where Lucas told Sarah Chadwick about twenty times that he loved her....oh, Sass, I miss you!), having to pack our bags yet again, and sleeping in a hotel right on St Kilda Rd.
This time, as we drank Lucas' inventive version of a classy fruit punch, we discussed the highlights and lowlights of the last year.  We both agreed that my brief spiral into depression for our first four months was a definite lowlight.  The highlights include how much we enjoy getting to know Houston and Texas, how much fun and adventure and meaningful goodness we have encountered together, and our new friends.  There are a handful of people I still can't believe that most of my Australian friends don't know yet - how could good friends who are so much a  part of me not know each other? - but it's particularly been a blessing to have the friendship of Nick and Bekah.  It's just wonderful to have the support of fun people who are exploring this city for the first time too!
So it's pretty much gone as we have expected.  When I think about the details of our life here, there's not a lot that would have surprised me a year ago.  The most surprising thing to me is that we own bikes.  And we use them as transport.  Who would have guessed :)

My bike, a fabulous 90s number from Blue Line Bike Lab.  I call her Jessi.