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 :)

To Blog or Not to Blog:

So...I finally did it. I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for some time now, but have questioned weather it would be a good idea or not. Why the dilemma? Well, for starters, I have no spouse, no cute kids, no quirky pets, I've never lived in Europe, and I don't have any extremist views or political agendas that would benefit from a blog. My life could basically be compared to watching a documentary on toenails. Never-the-less, I have decided to give it a shot. So...what could I possibly have to talk about? Well, I have my reasons...

My why I decided to start a blog list:

1. My parents. They miss me, and they are the only people who care enough to inquire regularly about my life. So I want to give them something that keeps them updated on what is going on that is more than just a phone conversation every other day. And since they will be the only people who read this most likely, I can just write about the boring things going on in my life and they will totally eat it up!

2. I am a compulsive list maker. I make lists about everything and anything. My lists range from basic groceries & to-do's, to things like "Reasons I should quit my job and move to Alaska." (or most recently, this list.) There's just something about having a well thought out list that is oh-so satisfying. I consider my lists to be one of my main skills, so this could be a sort-of platform for that, I guess.

3. I am sooo over facebook.

4. I have time on my hands. (see the rather sad list of reasons NOT to start a blog above)

5. I have been a journaler for some time, although not a very disciplined one. And what is a journal if not an old-school blog? (apart from the fact that other people have access to blogs.) Plus I'm the world's worst speller, so at least computers have spell check.

6. I need a creative outlet because my job as an interior designer sadly does not suffice.

7. I just like the word "blog"

Well, there you have it. I hope that this was not too boring for a first blog post. And rest assured that a better title and colors are to follow.