October, Y'all!!

OCTOBER has finally arrived y’all!! FINALLY! And it brought with it, very colorful leaves, and very crisp autumn air that makes me so giddy, I might explode with joy. I know I’ve told you before, but to reiterate - I love October, and it is my favorite month of the year for many, many reasons. I hope to get married in this month, and have a child with an October birthday, and I plan to take various trips to the mountains during this month, and play-like it will never ever be November. Not to mention EMILY MIDDLETON, my High School bff was born on the 7th of this blessed month! (SHOUT OUT) Happy Birthday Em!!

Anyways to kick off October the right way, me and 5 of the coolest girls I know took a trip to the beautiful Nederland to camp one last time before the cold air ends
the camping season. We dubbed the weekend a “(girls’) boys weekend” where we camped with all girls, but did all boy activities. We threw rocks, and roasted Bratwursts, and built a fire, and drank beer. No one was allowed to wear make-up or cute clothes or talk about feelings/emotions. We discussed only football and we all wore baseball caps. We did however make an exception to do a photo shoot. It was so fun being boys all weekend, and we did laugh a whole lot more than I assume guys laugh on all boys trips. We even created a hammock bunk bed...see below.



The second weekend of October, my family (mom and aunt and cousin Kabe) came to Colorado. It was so fun to show them around what has been my home for the last year. They had a blast, and I think I successfully convinced each of them that living in Colorado trumps living in Texas. (In SOME, but not ALL aspects…I am still primarily a TEXAN at heart). The weekend would have been perfect if my littlest sister and my two baby broskies were here too. I missed them even more than usual. To make myself feel better, we bought "I Moose Have A Hug" moo moos for Bethany, Brit and I.

Anyways I drove my little family all over this dadgum state, trekking to the mountains in a blizzard, and then back to Denver, and then to Estes Park for a Rocky Mountain National Park adventure. We walked the streets of every hot spot in this state, by God! I loved having them, and it was rather sad to put them back on a plane to return to their desert exiled land with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. IN OCTOBER, Y’ALL!! Blasphemy.



The third weekend of October, (commencing in 1.5 days), I will board a plane with my Denver blonde best to fly across the country to land in College Station, TX to see my littlest sister and company. We are going to tailgate and watch football and wear maroon and cheer for the Aggies relentlessly and Brit and I are going to pretend that we still live on the second floor of a precious 3 story townhome at River Oaks. One thing I have learned about Colorado is that these hippies do not have a proper respect for the game of football. There are no businesses that are closed down on game day, and few people even know when game day is. It’s ridiculous, I tell you! So I am ready to be in God’s country, where football dominates your weekend plans, and tailgating is a way of life.

And while we are at it, SO HELP ME GOD if we lose to Baylor I will scream…for 3 distinct reasons: 1) Because it’s embarrassing to lose to every Big 12 team during this season when we have decided to move to the SEC, where we are at an extreme disadvantage. 2) Because I h ate losing in general, and 3) Because my cute little BFF Megan turns into a crazed psycho when Baylor beats A&M, and since I will be hugging her neck on Sunday, I cannot handle the ridicule that I will receive from my tiny friend in the case of an Aggie loss. But ALAS, choking has been the going theme of the 2011 Texas A&M football season.

And for the final weekend of October, I do not have plans except that I will be carving a pumpkin and eating a pumpkin pie and drinking a pumpkin spice latte, and brainstorming my Halloween costume. Not that anything could ever top Brittney’s and my PB&J costume. That was sort of the epic costume of the century.

Throughout the past few weeks, I have really been experiencing the joy of the Lord in a way that I do not have words for. I love the smell of fire and fall that permeates the crisp air every night. I go on long walks at dusk and I might have even danced a little around the Wash Park trail just to find a couple walking behind me. Oops.

And maybe it’s because I long to be outside every waking hour of the day that writing has been such a struggle for me. Or maybe it’s because I can’t think of the words to put into ink. Or maybe it’s an attack from the enemy, but I have had the toughest time sitting down to write. Something that usually seems as natural as breathing has been much more laborious for the past few weeks. Maybe it’s because I feel a call to write, and satan (with a little ‘s’ because that’s the middle finger of grammar) never attacks things that are insignificant to the kingdom. He never attacks my break dance ministry or my air guitar worship band because I suck at those things. But writing? ALL. DAY. LONG. With the precision of a laser pointer on a sniper rifle, and the fury of a child destroying a piñata. I think it’s because it’s the thing God has given me. It’s the thing that God can specifically use in me to glorify Himself.

So today I am sitting down to write another chapter of my future (imaginary right now) book, and where I see satan’s attack, I raise him the Holy Spirit. And Ben Rector in my headphones. And the Holy Spirit + Ben Rector is a dynamic duo that cannot be beat. Happy October, friends!!!