Ignorance is Bliss

So, apparently I am accidentally celebrating Kwanzaa this year. I picked up a few Christmas decorations a few weeks ago at IKEA, and I thought this little candle light thing was cute, and only $7, so I got it and have been simply and quietly enjoying the Christmassy atmosphere it brings to my apartment ever since. But last night some "friends" decided to smash my naive Christmas Spirit-filled world by telling me that I had Kwanzaa decorations in my apartment. I was immediately freaked out and decided to prove them wrong by googling it today only to find more information that affirms that it is indeed true. Apparently 7 candles represents the "7 Candles of Unity" in Kwanzaa. Whatever. I'm just going to pretend that I never found out and just go on thinking of it as my 7 Candles of Christmas Christ-Centered Cheerful Christmassyness.

How the Grinch made me cry:

Growing up I remember this old VHS tape that my parents had recorded all these classic Christmas shows on. I remember getting super excited about FINALLY being able to pop it in the VCR when Christmas time came around, (because watching it at any other time would have put a serious kink in my universe.)

It had some totally awesome 80's commercials and sometimes the sound would slow down and do that weird whiny thing that old VHS recordings tend to do. It was the best! There was Frosty the Snowman, the classic claymation Rudolph, and of coarse, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I've probably watched it about 50 times.

BUT.... the other day, I just happened to turn on the TV just in time to catch The Grinch attempting to steal Christmas, and while I watched, I found myself overcome with tears! I know, dumb huh? Well, aside from the fact that I cry @ least once or twice a week over MUCH less, the movie really is well, moving (no pun intended, seriously.)

I think it was the combo of nostalgia, the Christmas spirit, and my need to meet my crying quota for the week. (No, I'm not depressed, mostly my tears are over things like touching news stories, little kids with cancer, stories about old people in love, etc.)

This is the part that turned me into a blubbering buffoon this time:

It was quarter past dawn... All the Whos, still a-bed, All the Whos, still asnooze

When he packed up his sled, Packed it up with their presents!

The ribbons! The wrappings!

The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,

He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!

"PoohPooh to the Whos!" he was grinchishly humming.

"They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!"

"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!"

"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,

Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry BooHoo!"

"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "That I simply MUST hear!"

So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low. Then it started to grow.

But the sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!

It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook!

What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, Was singing!

Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"

"It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!"

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more."

So true, Dr. Seuss, so true...hmmmmm....I think the Dr. must have known about Jesus.

Thanksgiving

I've got baby pictures!!!! (get ready to be jealous, Sister)

Well, Cousin Boothe just had a baby girl the week before Thanksgiving. Also, I am in love. Baby Emerette is a sweet and adorably squeezable little ball of love. FYI: I don't feel this way about all babies (judge me if you must.) Lets be honest, some newborns are just not that cute. All sweet, all loved equally by their mothers and by Jesus, not all cute. This one is:

So, other than sit around and take turns holding the little sugar muffin, we also did a lot of this:

(Nina & Jared)

Watching a lot of football, eating a lot of food, loving life:

Also over Thanksgiving: Cousin Mallory got engaged! Her boyfriend/fiance flew in and surprised her in Nashville. It was such a great surprise! I'm so happy for you, Mal :)

"I simply remember my favorite things...

....and then I don't feeeeel soooo baaad!" - Maria

Question: Why is this considered a Christmas song? I've been listening to a Christmas radio station and heard this song at least 3 times. I mean, I love it. But Christmassy? Isn't the entire movie set in Spring and Summer? Some of Maria's favorite things are kinda wintry, I guess. I just always relate the song to the movie, and the movie is totally not a Christmas movie.

Anyways, the non-Christmas Christmas song got me thinking. I wonder what things I would sing about to calm 7 frightened Austrian children during a thunder storm...jk, jk. This is simply a list of things that I find enjoyable/inspiring/cool for anyone who cares enough to be interested.I also threw in some leftover "what I'm thankful for" things that didn't get used up @ Thanksgiving.

1) Scented Hand Sanitizer from Bath & Body Works If you want your hands to feel clean, but not smell like pesticide, this is for you. It's wonderful. I use it all the time.


2) Natural Life products: My mom, Aunt Teresa & I discovered this at a store in Longview and I fell in like. I really like the pillows that look hand stitched, very cute. I bought this one.

3) The song "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale I dare you to listen to this and be in a bad mood.

4) Heifer International. This is the organization that we have chosen to donate to this year for Christmas as a family (Mayfield Cousins) I think it is very fitting considering our farming/agriculture background. If you happen to be a member of the Mayfield cousins and you have not donated your share (ahhem, Trevor), then please see the long list of family emails that you have not read yet and find the link.

5) Clorox Wipes I use these all the time, like the hand sanitizer, but it's ok if these smell like cleaner. I love coming into my bathroom and it smells like Clorox. I'm turning into my mother.

6) Ayala Bar Jewelry This is an Israeli artist that makes the most beautiful jewelry that I've ever seen. It's so colorful and different. I'm inspired by it.

7) Ray Lamontagne His voice sounds kinda old fashioned, which is what I like about him. I like his new album, but it's all pretty good.

8) Sonic. Sonic Drinks. Sonic Commercials I just love me some Sonic. I miss the Abilene Sonic though, the one closest to me stinks, literally and figuratively.

9) Vintage Pyrex. For some reason I've gotten into 50's vintage dishes. Maybe because they are so well made, and cheap. I got a set of casserole dishes at an antique store back home in this same color for MUCH less than the price listed on this site.

10) Scarves. The best winter accessory. I really like the soft snuggely ones. (could this be a serious Christmas hint?)

11) Teapots. Tea is awesome! I can't believe I never drank hot tea until recently. And teapots, what an adorably round and cheerful shape they are! I'm not sure why I'm just realizing this, but lately I've been drawn to any teapot that I run across.

12) Wassily Kandinsky This guy is one of my favorite artists of all time. He used music as the inspiration for his paintings so they are all extremely colorful and full of movement. I think they are incredible.

13) ACU. Every time I go back there, I'm flooded with nothing but fond memories. Since I've been out of "the bubble" for a while, I realize that not everyone gets to have such a great college experience. Wildcatz 4 life.

14) And......last but NOT least, this amazing, exciting, incomprehensible fact.

That's it. Sorry this is so long. Just know that I could have added much more to this list. I like a lot of stuff. Thanksgiving pics to come soon.

Curse you, Father Time!

Ahhhh! I'm going crazy waiting for 5:00 to arrive. It seems like time has slowed down to 0.5 mph. I guess it might help if I would stop starring at the clock and just do my job. It's slow here though. I could NOT be any more ready for Thanksgiving!

The Fam and I are going to Nashville to see the Extended Fam. They're picking me up on Wednesday @ noon and we're driving all the way. That's 10 hrs. of family close-quartered funness. Actually, I'm not dreading the drive too much. I like road trips. Plus I'll get to catch up on my reading. I just started "The Shack," which I've been trying to dive into but I haven't really had a good chance yet. I also have like 5 other books that are waiting in line to be read. So I'm pretty much all set.


(ps: I like this song: "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron and Wine from the movie Twilight which is also a book about vampires that I made fun of when my sister read it, but is now on the list of books I want to read and will read soon. Yes, I know that I'm a late bandwagon jumper.)

--- I thought I would add that little tid-bit of randomness to your day. Hope you're having a good one.

Busted

How embarrassing is falling down?

(Erin, I know you can relate to this.) I am not athletic, by any definition. My high school basketball coach once told me that I didn't have a single athletic bone in my body. (thanks, Coach Scott) Most if not all of my embarrassing stories have something to do with me attempting to participate in some sport that I am horrible at. Anything that requires hand-eye coordination, (or any kind of coordination) is difficult for me. There is one exception to this...running. Running is something that has always come fairly easily for me. The rules are simple, run from point A to point B without stopping. I ran Cross Country in high school, and kept it up off and on through college. Although I will never be a great competitor, I like to get in a few miles every once in a while. It's usually a de-stresser. But not today.



Today I busted. That is different than falling. To bust is to go from full standing position to face-planted on the ground in less than a second. I was running full-force, feeling pretty good about myself, then the next thing I knew I was skidding on the ground. It didn't help that I was directly in front of a guy's flag football game, plus two Asian women, who passed by snickering. SNICKERING! Did everyone forget the words "Are you ok?" Maybe they didn't know English, but still.



Anyone who has fallen like this knows the feeling. First there's the initial shock that you're now on the ground instead of your feet, then embarrassment, looking around to see who saw you, then pain, when you realize your knees and hands are bleeding. I had to resist the instinct to just sit on the ground and start crying for my Mom, which is ok for anyone under 4 yrs. old, but not grown ups. So I only teared up a little bit, picked myself up, mustered all the dignity that I could, and finished running. (btw, isn't "mustered" a great word?)



Turns out it's not too bad. Just a couple of knee strawberries and a slight hand scrape.

Does anyone know the best thing to do for strawberries? Neosporin? Bandages? I've never been a huge fan of my knees, but I don't want them to be even uglier with scars on them.

Mmmm, that hit the spot...

(I didn't take this picture, but I love it)

As I am typing this, my back is sore, I can't lift my right arm fully up, and I'm sniffling constantly from an oncoming cold attack....BUT I had the best weekend ever! I went camping. Yes, on the coldest weekend of the Fall season so far. But it was just what I needed. Even though I got hardly any sleep, I feel so refreshed!

Living in Dallas has its good and bad points. Good being that I have a job, and great friends and family here. Bad being that it is a HUGE, concrete, corporate, non-stop, super-speed-racer world. The Bad is whats been getting to me lately.
Example: The other day I was stopped at a red light, singing out loud, minding my own business, then out of nowhere I heard a loud screeching tire sound from behind me. I looked back to see that this man in a pickup had come very close to rear-ending me. I guess I had an instinctual "what the heck, dude?" reaction for a few seconds, and apparently that was his only grounds for practically terrorizing me for the next 2 miles. He followed inches behind me with a dead and cold expression on his face, the whole time flipping me off constantly. For a moment I really thought he was going to try to end my life. After it was over I was a little freaked out, but then I told myself that he was just a very scary, angry, deranged person. Not that we don't have those people in small towns, but you don't run into them very often. Small towns usually have crazies, but not killer-crazies. They seem to be plentiful here in "Big D" however.

So, that said, it was time for me and Dallas to take a break. I was starving for the outdoors! Thats why this camping trip could not have come at a better time. I went with some friends from church that I have been SO blessed to find. I have had kind of a hard time finding people who I can really befriend here. The "t-shirt n' jeans/Christian" type isn't really the norm in Dallas. (I don't like to limit my friendships to just people who are exactly like me, but it helps when you find a few who are.) I also want to say that I LOVE hanging out with the friends from ACU that are here. Ashley K, Sara, Brandon, Kasey, Lana, Andrea and Cliff, you have been SUCH a blessing for me here and are not forgotten! I in NO way want to suggest that I am lacking for friends here, but new friends are always good :)

These latest t-shirt n' jeans friends are alot of fun, I have to say. It was a weekend full of campfires, blankets, sweatshirts and apple cider...(see the post below and realize the relevance of these things). We spent the days on adventures in the woods, skipping rocks on the lake, throwing footballs and frisbees, and the night telling scary/funny stories around the campfire, singing songs from the early 90's, staring at the moon, freezing, and just enjoying each other's company. We ended up spending most of the weekend up there. It was a remote campsite on Grapevine Lake surrounded by trees and biking trails. I'm seriously thinking about taking my bike up there to ride this weekend.

When I got back yesterday, sore bones and runny nose in tow, I felt tired and drained, but ready to take on another week of Dallas crazy-ness. It was a great sit-back and sigh moment. There is so much more that I could write about, but I'm not going to bore you with too much information, (if I haven't already). I just hope that everyone who reads this will take the time to sit back and thank God for the small things that all add up and accumulate and make your life big, deep, meaningful.

We are all blessed.

Feeling Fallish

Just to get this out of the way, you won't be getting any political advice from me. So sorry to anyone who was counting on hearing my opinion on politics, you are sooo out of luck...whoever you might be. I believe that God was, is and always will be in control, so politics are a minor concern, but nothing to take focus from what is truly important. Honestly it makes me tired and annoyed to think about it.
So, instead I've been thinking about how much I love Fall. Today was a blustery Fall day, and a tad bit chillier than it has been lately. I am now officially in the Fall mood...

Why Fall is great:

1. Pumpkins. Both the orange plant and as a food, and the word. "pumpkin" is a very fun word to say if you make sure to pronounce the 2nd "p"
2. Football. My favorite sport to watch, even though the Cowboys have been a disappointment this season. Whatever.
3. Apple Cider. Thank you, Kelly for reminding me about apple cider! I'm officially addicted.
4. Fall Colors. Red, Orange, Brown, Yellow, all good colors.
5. Fall Backward. I've already mentioned this, but I love it.
6. Halloween Candy. Specifically caramel.
7. Pumpkin Spice Lattes @ Starbucks. Heavenly, and they should be a year round menu item.
8. Blankets. Throws, afghans, wraps, basically anything to snuggle under while sitting on the couch reading a good fall-themed book.
9. Campfires. Nothing says Fall better.
10. Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday of all the holidays. Yes, even before Christmas. That is how much I love Fall, and being with family.
11. Harvest time. Must be from growing up on the farm. I feel like we're participating in an ancient tradition, even though we use combines instead of like in Bible times when they used...big long knife-like things?...(forgot what they're called.) I love the farm during harvest time.
12. Sweatshirts. The best item of clothing ever invented.

Weekend Update:

Ahhh, weekends, you are my precious treasures. I thought I would share with everyone what all I accomplished on the most savored 2 days of the week. (give or take a few hours)

Top 10 things that happened this weekend:

1) Friday...Sprinkles Cupcakes yet again...and I wonder why my jeans are getting tighter lately...

2) Halloween shopping. I love costumes. Therefore, I get really into Halloween, even though I'm a 23 yr. old. This year, I was a geek. My costume was from Goodwill. I tried to find the worst outfit ever to be as authentically geeky as possible. I ended up getting several nasty plaid skirts and one hideously ugly orange vest. I chose several options because the store was closing and I didn't want to try on anything there. While waiting in line to check out with my extreme array of unflattering, bold, plaid, pleated attire, I received a very genuine compliment from a lady behind me for my "Beautiful selections"...he he.

(my geek smile..or what I imagine a geek smile would be like)

(FYI: I didn't end up going to my work party for reason's I'd rather not discuss, but luckily my friend, Leslie had a party I could go to instead. This is me and Ashley the...Indian?)

(Leslie as Jessica Simpson, and yet another variation of the geek smile)

3) California Pizza Kitchen. I had dinner there w/ Kasey and it was sooo yummy. She helped me get stuff for my Halloween costume too, thanks Kase!

4) Bible Time. I went with my old roomie, Andrea to a lecture on Saturday morning @ The Village on how to study the Bible. To be honest I was a little annoyed at having to wake up early on my precious Saturday, but it was SO worth it! I felt very rewarded for my (really small) sacrifice. It was all about studying the Bible daily and actually injecting God's word into your life. I've already experienced the changes that one hour in The Word can make on your day, I would recommend it to everyone. If anyone is interested, email me and I'll give you the details on the study. I was so blessed to be able to spend time with my old roommate in such a way!

5) Homer Hiccolm. Some friends from ACU are in a band called Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys. They played in Downtown Dallas on Saturday afternoon and I had the best intentions of going, but as I was looking for a parking spot, they were finishing their last song. I just stood outside the little gate and talked to people for a while, then left after like 30 minutes because I didn't really care about the other bands playing and I didn't want to pay to get in. (sorry, that was a boring one.)

http://www.myspace.com/rocketboys

6) Cousin Slumber Party. Dear Sweet Cousin Mallory spent the night with me on Saturday night. I spent the night with her last weekend in Abilene, so it was the least I could do to let her "crash @ my pad." (I like to throw in some street talk sometimes for cultural effect). It was so good to get to see her 2 weekends in a row! Rare treat :)

7) A morning with Friends. I am no longer a Sunday morning church goer. Because tons of people actually get turned away from every Sunday morning service at my church, I know myself well enough to not expect to be on time for a seat. Soooo, I spent a nice leisurely morning with a cup of coffee, and FRIENDS re-runs which is basically all the TV that I watch...besides the news (for you, Daddy).

8) Church. My good buddy, Ashley came to church w/ me last night, and we happened upon Andrea and her husband, Cliff on the way. Then, wouldn't you know, Shane and Lana appeared a pew or two over, so they joined us in worship as well. There is something very comforting about attending such a big church and still running into people you love and are close to. The preacher had a wonderful message and I felt very blessed by it. It was a perfect way to start my week. (see the link to The Village Sermons on the side)

9) Fall Backward. Couldn't go without mentioning this! I purposely didn't change the time on most of my clocks this morning JUST so I would feel like I was sleeping in an hour. It worked really well, but I'm going to have to change them before I forget and show up early to things. I get really mad when I'm early to things. Every minute that I'm early is just time that I could have spent doing something else.

10) Attempted Robbery. As I was about to pull into work this morning, I got a call from my boss that our office had been broken into and everyone was meeting @ Cafe Brazil for breakfast, which is the usual routine whenever this happens...(yes it has happened before.) So I spent my morning over a stack of pancakes @ Cafe Brazil while waiting for the police to do their report-thingy. Turns out someone threw a rock through my boss's window, but nothing was stolen. Don't freak out, parents, its not like I work in the ghetto. Our office is on the 1st floor so its an easy target for street-rats and hoodlums. (and yes, my street talk needs work).

Blog design.

I'm just trying to figure out how to do this whole blog design thing, so there will probably be several new things going on here for a while until I get the hang of this. Just FYI to my readers (mom and dad) who might be wondering about the new header...

I would also appreciate some feedback, I've been obsessed with this blue and red color scheme lately, but I think it might look too "4th of July-ie" however it's also very 50's Vintagy to me, opinions?

ACU Homecoming

This weekend I went back to ol' ACU for Homecoming, well, actually I went to see Erin and Todd and friends, but Homecoming was a good excuse. I hadn't been back to ACU since the spring, and I really didn't realize how much I missed it. I think it missed me too, because I had a magical movie moment on my drive into Abilene...

...So I was driving in late Friday night, and right as I got to the spot on the interstate where you can see ACU in all its glory, (you know, where the combo of the Bible Building and Tower of Light kinda make it look like ACU is giving you the finger)...well...FIREWORKS started exploding into the air behind it! I was also listening to one of my favorite songs, "Big Country" by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (which reminds me of being in Abilene, and that's why I was listening to it in the 1st place) and the song was at its greatest finale moment right as I saw the fireworks. It was magnificent. Then the moment ended and turned to one of confusion because the fireworks seemed to be coming from Hardin Simmons, so I tracked them down and low and behold, they were! That kinda put a damper on my big dramatic ACU moment, but I heard they later started a fire on Hardin Simmons' campus, so there...jk, jk.

(Erin and I @ the Siggie Homecoming Breakfast...6:30 a.m.)

(Garett got the cutest little puppy! He's like a little white fluff ball.)

(Todd's niece, Glory is adorable and so sweet with "Bentley")

(Family @ the Parade)

(The Siggie's float was really good, the best one, in my un-biased opinion.)

(I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist taking this picture of Kool, the opportunity just keeps presenting itself. And he just asks for it.)

(Erin and Todd @ the Parade)

(Mallory & me)

(The group @ the Football game, we won, go Wildcats!!)

Hooray Ouray!

Last week I decided to surprise my mom and little brother by flying home for their birthdays. My dad and I had been conspiring it for a while, we even had an elaborate plan that included me pretending to be Daddy's John Deere dealer on the phone needing him to pick up a "part" from the airport on Saturday. The plan worked like a charm, and I was completely satisfied with their reaction. I ended up jumping out of the car and scaring my mom when she was about to get in. She had NO idea, and neither did Trevor! I'm a pretty big fan of surprises...but I have to admit that my plan was a little selfish because I knew that my parents were planning a trip to Colorado, so when I showed up the day before they were going to leave, they HAD to bring me with them, ha.

(I arrived in Lubbock just in time to see Trevor and help him pick out a new bike that he got for his birthday!)

Then we were off to Colorado! It was a great trip, we drove up to Ouray where my dad has been year after year with his "guy-buddies" but me and my mom had never gone. It was absolutely beautiful. Here are a few of the pics, I took like a million of them, but none of them really quite capture how stunning it was. But I tried.

(This is one from the drive up there, we went on some pretty windey and narrow roads)

(Mama and Daddy in the town of Ouray)

(These deer let us get SO close to them, and they didn't even act scared, even though it was hunting season, brave.)

(This doesn't even come close to doing it justice.)

(I kept trying to take pictures of my name in the cold frost on the window but it was harder than it seems, this was the best one.)

(Some views from the drive back)

We stopped in Santa Fe for a day on the way back, but unfortunatly by then I was all picture-taking out, so I didn't snap any shots of our time there, but it is and always will be a great memory and I'm so glad that I got to spend this time with my wonderful parents! I love you so much, thank you for being amazing.

Ode to Friday...

Ok, so, Friday is without a doubt my absolute favorite day of the week. Specifically, 5:00 on Friday is my absolute favorite time of all the times of the week. (as opposed to 6:55 on Monday morning, which is my least favorite time of all the times, but that post will have to wait for another day). So, we all love Friday, why is it so great that it deserves a whole blog post? Besides the obvious reason, it's the last day of the workweek...on Friday, the sun shines brighter, birds sing, and little children and puppies laugh and play on the streets. Even when its raining outside, every forecast is perfect, on Friday. It's like a sigh of relief that lasts all day long.

Friday is the day that I am guaranteed a free breakfast, plus about 30 minutes to chill out while vendor reps come to the office to give us a presentation on the newest carpets, the latest innovations in wall coverings, new ways to "go green" with design, etc.

It's also the day that people will randomly pop in with goodies like Sprinkles cupcakes or JD's Chippery cookies. yummmmmm......

Friday is the day that people are allowed to take an hour of their time to spend chatting in the break room about weekend plans, take a few extra minutes on their lunch break, or browse the Internet for interesting things to share with friends.

(for instance, this online musical that I sometimes watch off and on when I have spare time @ work, you should check it out if you have 42 mins to spare. )

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

My favorite line is, "foour sweeeeater vests!"...you just have to watch it.

In general, people just seem to be in much less of a hurry, a less rushed, more relaxed state of mind, which is by far my favorite state of all the states of mind that exist.

It makes me want to sing the song "don't worry, be happy" all day long.

So HAPPY FRIDAY everyone! Remember to not worry and be happy. You have until Monday @ 6:55 am.

Summer Summary

Well, this summer was great. Its really hard to believe that it is already mid October, so I thought I would reminisce a little about what all has transpired this summer.


May 24th - Memorial Day Weekend

I had such a hectic beginning to my summer when 2 friends got married on the same day. One in Lubbock and one in Abilene (3 hrs. apart) and I was determined to go to both. So...one almost missed plane, a broken shoe, two sets of "I do's" and about 1,000 miles later, I arrived back home and got to spend some quality time with my family on Memorial Day before I had to go back to Dallas!

(I am so mad at myself for not getting any pictures of Danielle's wedding, just one of the things that got lost in the hecticness of that weekend.)

My awesome roommate and friend, Kelli married my awesome friend and almost relative, Jeffrey.

Every year, our little farming community of Oklahoma Lane gets together on Memorial Day to clean-up the cemetery. It could be considered morbid, but I kinda think its a fun old tradition. This is my Uncle Bruce & Uncle Byron with Mom and Grandma.

June
June was slightly uneventful in the sense that I didn't take many pictures so I don't really remember what I did or who I did it with. I do know that I began helping with TRANSFORM, a church group that meets every summer and works on a school in a needy neighborhood. We did things like painting and landscaping. I was a group leader for the "A" wing of the school, we painted a mural on the kindergarden wall, which was sooo cute, and I met a ton a amazing people.
The rest of my June was good, as far as I know, I remember having fun with friends and family, but the details are vague. If only I would take more pictures! I need to work on that. (guess I'm more like my Mom than I realized.)

July
If June was uneventful and undocumented, July was event-filled enough to make up for it. I spent the 4th with my dear friend Kasey Wilson, I'm so glad that Erin was nice enough to let me have Kasey as a friend (because Erin & Kasey have been bff for ages), but good friends are hard to come by, so when you find one, you gotta share them w/ your sister. I guess Kasey is sort-of on-loan to me and I have to give her back to Erin when she comes to town. Anyways, we rode the DART to West End and participated in the "Trinity River Fiesta". We could ride the DART because Kasey's boyfriend, Justin came so he was like our body-guard. We ended up watching the fireworks from blankets on the grassy knoll. It was a very Dallas-y 4th.

I had a fun girls weekend in Ft. Worth with Kelly and Leigh, my favorite Interior Design major buddies from school. Kelly lives in Ft Worth and knows all the fun things to do down there. We had a fun-filled shopping trip, went to Joe T Garcia's, and later we went to the stock yards to a real life Honky-Tonk! I'm not an amazing dancer, as anyone reading this knows, but it was fun and I danced with a guy who dipped me at the end of the song, for real.

Here we are with John Wayne. We have a thing with taking pictures w/ fake people.

And of course I could not forget the ultimate summer event...Border Town Days! Or "BTD" to the seasoned Border Town Days go-er. This year was so much fun, as it always is. I like to think that I have the worlds funnest family, and I don't think that is very far fetched. There is never a dull moment when our friends and family get together and this year was no exception.

NERTZ!

August

My Birthday! Number 23 was one of my favorites because I got to hang out with so many of my favorite people. Leigh and Kelly came to spend the night with me and we had so much fun. We ordered pizza, watched the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics and stayed up all night talking and played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (Leigh's idea). Later we went shopping and ate lunch @ The Cheesecake Factory, sooo goood. Then later I got to go to dinner with some great friends, Ashley, Sara, Courtney and Heather. In the end it was a wonderful birthday, and I could not have asked for more.

Also in August, all my family (minus Trevor) came to Dallas to go to my cousin Byron's wedding. It was so great to spend time with them, even if it was a short weekend!

September

September flew by. I don't know why because its not like I was super busy. I did join a home group with my church, so I've been having fun getting to know new people through that. I also went to Kelly Conklin's engagement party in Ft. Worth, she is getting married in May and I'm so excited to be a part of her wedding.

So that pretty much sums it up! What a great summer. If I wasn't already so in love with fall, I would be sad to see it end :)