Abilene Preservation League

Tuesday, I was so privileged to attend the luncheon for the Abilene Preservation League – the house we live in was redone by the owners (another B-1 family) and won the Beautiful House Award last October (a month before we rented it). At the luncheon, they were to announce the grand winners out of all the 11 monthly winners. As the husband was working, Kristen asked me to attend with her – so nice!

Just to clarify, this is the house we live in. I posted a photo of another house in the neighborhood earlier, but that was because of the astounding rose bushes it had.

I should have guessed, but the Abilene Preservation League is a big deal! We sat at a table with the mayor and many of the Abilene big-wigs were there. I realized further what a small town Abilene still is as I know the APL staffer from my yoga at the Elks Arts Center (they house the APL offices). Another couple at our table lives on our street, along with the VP of the League and a very prominent Abilene Police Officer who was recently killed in the line of duty.

We also learned some really neat trivia about Abilene!

Before Abilene was a town, it was identified as milepost 407.

Abilene came to be when the T&P Railroad moved to town.

Abilene was named after Abilene, KS as the founder hoped it would become a cattle shipping town.

The first building the Abilene Preservation League saved from destruction was the Paramount Theater (where I was so pleased to watch Red River last month!)

The Elks Building was used to house the Elks Lodge and later for USO functions in WWII… and also for yoga in 2010! :-)

And Lawrence Welk played at the Windsor Hotel (then the Hilton) for room and board in the 1930’s.

Bet you didn’t know Abilene was so interesting, huh?

So, now you’re probably asking, “aren’t you going to tell us who won the Beautiful House Award?” Well, our house didn’t win, but every home was really gorgeous and the winner was especially so, plus the owner was so poetic and beautiful in how she described older homes, that it made you want to cry!

In other news:

Mom gave me a sewing machine!!

I’m so excited! I think I’ll make some napkins first… I looked when I was registering for wedding gifts, but all the napkins I saw were so boring! Not for my decor at all! But, now!!!! I can make my own awesome napkins! YES! Plus, I think napkins are good place to start and practice making straight lines with the sewing machine. :-)

Yoga classes have been going well. The one at the Center for Contemporary Arts is my biggest challenge because there’s such a wide diversity of ability. There’s some young people who are up for a challenge every time and want more. And there’s some seniors that have trouble with the flows when we go faster. It’s really hard for me to lead a class that I feel makes  both extremes happy.

The Wednesday morning class at the Elks Center is my more advanced class – they’re mainly working moms who have done yoga before and some pretty advanced ones who don’t want to loose their advanced practice. It’s a fun class! Yesterday, we worked hips and Karen was so happy that she could touch her head to the floor in seated wide angle pose (upavistha konasana) that she wanted a little more… we had to take a photo! :-)