Today starts the Christmas holiday for the team here. And by team, I mean…today starts my vacation. We have a small and intimate team on the blog staff here. I am flying out of Denver (prayerfully….assuming there is a blizzard on its way. Funny too…because Colorado has had a record low amount of snowfall this year, but Mother Nature picks TODAY to dump white death on our city!? BLACKOUT RAGE…but alas this is what happens when southerner meets snowstorm. …I digress) tonight and headed to Dallas to see my BFF Becca Feagin who has finally graced America with her presence once again. Missed her like WOAH and can. not. wait. to hug her neck!
Then I will spend the next week and a half in the Shady T with the best family on the planet. I plan to go crazy. Do off-the-wall and bizarre activities. Like go deering with my broskies. Or like eating pumpkin pie and ice cream out of a coffee mug. Throwing off every unsuspecting person by eating it in a non-bowl. Mayhem! Chaos! Like I said…planning to go absolutely nuts. Also planning to wear sweat pants at all times unless I am in a bridesmaids dress on NYE. I conceded to Beef on that one.
A few things exciting to note about the upcoming two weeks would be as follows:
Seeing Rebecca Ann Feagin. Prolly gonna cry. And by prolly I mean definitely.
Telling my blonde best, Bethany, HAPPY BIRTHDAY over the phone (tragic). Quarter
life crisis time!
Going shopping in the metroplex with the fam. Brittney raging about my purchases.
At least one breakdown in one of our cars. We wouldn’t be us if we didn’t have shiZ cars.
Celebrating Christmas BROWN RICE style, fully equipped with a color coordinated photo shoot and/or all of us holding weenie dogs wearing Santa hats.
Spray tanning with Cara (Cacka) in Sketchville, USA with all the toddlers in tiaras. LEGIT.
ALL THINGS BEEF’S WEDDING!!!!!!!!! CANT WAIT!!
Reuniting with the High School gang. Pretending to be 17 again.
Cuddling the shiZ out of Carson.
Laughing more than usual. But not to the point of shrieking. This doesn’t apply to the rents. They shriek on a daily basis while together.
Some crazy tragedy, as per the norm in my family. Needing Jesus.
PRESENTS!
Not working or even so much as thinking about work. Being as unproductive as humanly possible.
Binge eating. PUMPKIN PIE. Over and over and over.
OBVIOUSLY the reason for the season, celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus. HALLELUJAH.
That pretty much sums up the holiday for me. So help me God if someone doesn’t put a Starbucks gift card in a stocking for me. HINT: MOM.
Anyways, Im here to wish you a happy holiday. Go nuts, people. What better reason could you possibly have to celebrate than Christ’s birthday!?? Even Zoe, my 4 year old roommate, knows this!! She has just survived a Santa trauma, because she knows he is not real but a man dressed as Santa came to her daycare and told her that he WAS REAL. She therefore cried for hours as her parents tried to explain, and last night when I asked her what the meaning of Christmas is she said: “Weeellll, it’s all about giving…and loving…and Jesus’ birthday…and it’s not about SANTA because he is just an old man dressed up that says he will bring you presents but WONT!”
I felt so sorry for her. God love her.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Reason for the Season
With December came relief from the pressure of blogging every day and also, December left me lost blogilogically..with nothing really left to say. And plumb out of creativity. December actually brought a lot of things, come to think. December brought my Texas friends, Rita and Sydney, for a weekend in the mountains and a weekend of laughter. December brought goodbyes and hugs and slumber parties with Bethany before she left for home & India. December brought the freezing cold, and the snow has not left the ground since its arrival. December is also bringing a trip home to Texas, seeing my collegiate best, Becca Feagin for the first time in a year, a high school reunion, Beef’s wedding (18 days and counting), and most importantly: Christmas!
Tis the season to be jolly, people! It is HERE. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and I am roasting chestnuts on an open fire tonight. And by open fire, I mean…in the oven. I hear jingle bells (because Kathleen at my office wears them on her shoes during this time of year) and I definitely love the White Christmas that Colorado has been so gracious to give me, even though it presents some Cold December Nights. We have been Rockin’ Around the Christmas tree and are planning to have a Happy Holiday. I hope you are too.
Did you guys see what I just did there? I scripted an entire paragraph with song titles of popular Christmas songs. Clever, eh? Alright, let’s soldier on people.
I love Christmas season. And I love that the reason is exists is because Jesus Christ was born. Hallelujah! Matt Chandler and the Village Church are doing an Advent campaign to “get underneath the meaning of Christmas” instead of getting caught up in all of the presents and shopping and stress and binge eating. Which is difficult assuming that we live consumer driven America. But I am going to join them in their feat.
God has been teaching me a lot of things lately and the most resounding theme goes under the title of: I CANNOT FIX MYSELF. What a crazy easy thing to believe in my head, but my heart is so very reluctant. I mean seriously. I honestly think that if I try hard enough, I will be able to fix myself. I can be better. I can stop this, or start that and STICK WITH IT. I can decide today that I want to be a certain thing, and succeed. I think I can take control and make myself into the person that I want to be. The sad truth is that I cannot. I absolutely and positively cannot. I am hopeless and sick and in need of a Savior.
We are all guilty of the same thing: rebellion against God. And whether it manifests itself in an obvious manner or whether we are living in pride or secret sin, the point remains. We are all guilty. There is not one who is good, by nature. We are by our nature objects of God’s wrath. We are actually incapable of righteousness. CUE: THE GOSPEL. (and the reason for the season)
The gospel, if anything, is a story about remarkably wicked people who cannot fix themselves, and how God—in his never ending love and mercy—answers to our problem. It’s the most marvelous story of all time, and the best news to those of us who are failing miserably at “being better.” I despise not being in control, but the beauty of the gospel is that I don’t have to be, because God is.
God is all about God being glorified, which translates into God being about our joy. His provision, care, and love for me is NOT because I am spectacular but because HE is spectacular. God is glorified by his coming to save sinners. Jesus came to save and heal what could not save or heal itself.
So for those of us who are tired of trying to be better, forgiveness is here. We can let go of our clenched fists over the control of our life because Jesus Christ was born. God has made a way. And that is something to celebrate, people. In the highest degree.
Tis the season to be jolly, people! It is HERE. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and I am roasting chestnuts on an open fire tonight. And by open fire, I mean…in the oven. I hear jingle bells (because Kathleen at my office wears them on her shoes during this time of year) and I definitely love the White Christmas that Colorado has been so gracious to give me, even though it presents some Cold December Nights. We have been Rockin’ Around the Christmas tree and are planning to have a Happy Holiday. I hope you are too.
Did you guys see what I just did there? I scripted an entire paragraph with song titles of popular Christmas songs. Clever, eh? Alright, let’s soldier on people.
I love Christmas season. And I love that the reason is exists is because Jesus Christ was born. Hallelujah! Matt Chandler and the Village Church are doing an Advent campaign to “get underneath the meaning of Christmas” instead of getting caught up in all of the presents and shopping and stress and binge eating. Which is difficult assuming that we live consumer driven America. But I am going to join them in their feat.
God has been teaching me a lot of things lately and the most resounding theme goes under the title of: I CANNOT FIX MYSELF. What a crazy easy thing to believe in my head, but my heart is so very reluctant. I mean seriously. I honestly think that if I try hard enough, I will be able to fix myself. I can be better. I can stop this, or start that and STICK WITH IT. I can decide today that I want to be a certain thing, and succeed. I think I can take control and make myself into the person that I want to be. The sad truth is that I cannot. I absolutely and positively cannot. I am hopeless and sick and in need of a Savior.
We are all guilty of the same thing: rebellion against God. And whether it manifests itself in an obvious manner or whether we are living in pride or secret sin, the point remains. We are all guilty. There is not one who is good, by nature. We are by our nature objects of God’s wrath. We are actually incapable of righteousness. CUE: THE GOSPEL. (and the reason for the season)
The gospel, if anything, is a story about remarkably wicked people who cannot fix themselves, and how God—in his never ending love and mercy—answers to our problem. It’s the most marvelous story of all time, and the best news to those of us who are failing miserably at “being better.” I despise not being in control, but the beauty of the gospel is that I don’t have to be, because God is.
God is all about God being glorified, which translates into God being about our joy. His provision, care, and love for me is NOT because I am spectacular but because HE is spectacular. God is glorified by his coming to save sinners. Jesus came to save and heal what could not save or heal itself.
So for those of us who are tired of trying to be better, forgiveness is here. We can let go of our clenched fists over the control of our life because Jesus Christ was born. God has made a way. And that is something to celebrate, people. In the highest degree.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thankful Day 29 & 30
November 29: Cell Phones
This is so obvious that I almost decided not to include it. Can we all just agree that we need cell phones!? WE NEED THEM LIKE WE NEED OXYGEN. I mean we are the most impatient lunatics that have ever graced this earth and can you imagine our life now without our smart phones with GPS and texting and picture capabilities?! I, for one, cannot. It’s a dark world that I personally don’t want to be a part of.
One guy explained it like this: “Without cell phones, we would just wander aimlessly to strangers’ doorsteps and knock. Someone would answer and look at us blankly. Unsure of what to do, we would “HOO” at them like an owl, before malfunctioning like a robot and dissolving into a puddle of burnt wires.” BINGO. I mean seriously…do you guys have Siri?! We are getting dangerously close to cyborgs taking over the world with that shiZ.
We are known for not having the money to pay rent, but spending like…five hundred dollars on an updated phone. Apple has got us all in a death grip. They own us. Seriously, Apple has more money than the US Government. This is not a joke. Maybe we should ask Siri how we can make money and get out of debt to avoid eating Ramen Noodles for the rest of our lives. She’ll respond probably with, “IDK LOL.”
In my defense, I do not have Siri. I just have the regular old iPhone3G. But I want her. I want a personal assistant that talks to me and answers all of my questions. And damnit, I deserve her! *Side Note: While we are agreeing on a few things, let’s take the time and acknowledge that the iPhone is sitting at the popular table and if you don’t have one, you aren’t in the cool club. You probably sit at the loser table eating cafeteria food. Anything other than an iPhone is unforgivably lame, and no one will take you seriously.
One time I tried giving up technology, including my cell phone, on Sundays. Half of me loved this idea and then the other half of me screamed “I CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!” because I just twiddled my thumbs until I fell asleep for my second nap of the day. At this point, upon waking, I remember yelling “WHAT NOW?” and shaking my fist at the sky. That was when I decided that giving up my phone was just not going to happen. I mean what is this, 1993?
We were born into this culture of the Internet and instant gratification and it has only intensified with the advances in technology. So it’s not completely our fault. I say we just indulge in the craziness of it all and be thankful that everyone in our lives is one fingertip touch away. (Unless you are wearing gloves, which is infuriating because it is then that you have to decide between texting and hypothermia.)
November 30: The Real Stuff
I have lasted 29 days being thankful for things as random as hair ties, and for things as shallow as the Twilight Saga. All of which were 100% true. But on the last day of November, on day 30 of being thankful I would like to make a quick list of the things that I am REALLY thankful for.
1. The Lord 3 in 1. God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit – the whole gang. I am so thankful that this all knowing, all loving God who created me loves me in spite of me. He never gives up on me. He wants to talk to me. He is wholly different than me, and infinitely bigger, but wants to meet me where I am at, and cares immensely about the things that matter to me. I am thankful for the salvation that assures my eternal security with Him. And I am thankful that God is God and I am not. I am thankful that he chose me, loves me, cares for me, forgives me, and reveals himself to me. I am thankful that my purpose in life is to bring glory to him which results in my own joy. I am thankful that he orchestrates His will and that he doesn’t smite me when I step outside of the umbrella of his protection but that he cradles me and sometimes just has to let me cry. I am thankful that when I am hurting he hurts with me and is faithful to pick me up and dust me off. I am thankful that Jesus can relate to me. I am thankful that the Holy Spirit speaks and moves through me. I am thankful for His provision and for his timing. I am thankful that over all, I am His and He is mine.
2. My family. It shouldn’t be shocking to you that I have a phenomenal family. I talk about them often. I am thankful for my mom, who has loved and supported me through my crazy. I am thankful that she stuck around even when she took me to the girl doctor when I was 14 and I told her I hated her. I am thankful that she allows me to be myself even though I am nothing like she expected a daughter to be, and she loves that I am me. I am thankful that I look just like her and that she genuinely wants the best for me, and will stop at nothing to facilitate that. And I am thankful that even though we are so very different, we are finding avenues back to one another, that we laugh together and that she is the most selfless person alive.
3. Then, I am thankful for my second parent, my aunt Trudy. I am thankful that Trudy is honest, real, and speaks so clearly into my life. I am thankful that I have a phenomenal role model to follow if everything in my life gets turned upside down. I am thankful that she is funny and that she loves me even when she thinks I am being a total idiot. I am thankful that she is perfectly blunt and that she would do anything for me.
4. I am thankful for my littlest sister who is my partner in life, and who is so obviously following the Lord with reckless abandon. I am thankful that she is the perfect sidekick and thankful that she and I are so much alike. I am thankful that she makes me laugh harder than anyone I know and affirms me so well. I am thankful that (only she) laughs when I tell my mom that her decorative-sparkly-winter-sticks kick ass! Because they do. I am so thankful that she is following the Lord’s direction and no one else’s. And that she is black and white. I am thankful that she listens to my stories over and over and always gives good, solid advice. I am thankful that she is funny and really wise and the best friend I will ever know. I am thankful that God made us sisters, because He knew I would need her.
5. I am thankful for my little broskie, Carson - my cloned personality in male format. I am thankful for the fact that he is my protégé. I am thankful that he is funny and outgoing and perfectly handsome. I am thankful to have a boy in my life who I think of as my hero, who will walk me down the aisle and who is going to do big things in the Kingdom…right after he grows out of his teenage idiocy that I know all too well. I am thankful that he is mine, because I love him like I cannot explain in words.
6. I am thankful for my Brown broskies, Kaleb and Roman. I am thankful for their comradery and their ability to step up when things go wrong. I am thankful that Kaleb is compassionate and an amazing servant who is growing in the Lord so much and I am thankful for Roman who is quietly the most hilarious person in our family (even though some of his best comments go unnoticed.) I am so thankful for the both of them and for the example and standard they are setting for the next generation of men in our family who we are praying will break the trends set before them.
7. I am thankful for Grandmommy. Who loves me harder than anyone in the world and who cooks the best and sets such high standards for each of us. I am thankful that everyone knows her and she loves everyone, including all of our friends. I am thankful that she puts up with all of us being so absolutely insane. And I am thankful for her emoticon filled texts that are usually at least 3 pages long.
8. My friends. I’m not going to name each of them but you know who you are. The girls and guys that God has so outrageously and gloriously ordained to speak into my life and to walk beside me as I am being progressively sanctified. My fristers, soulmates, BFFs, and even just my normal friends. They love me well, call me out on my crap, and encourage me towards the cross of Christ. They are from all over this country and some of them live overseas. I am so very thankful for the whole lot of them and am so unbelievably thankful for their love and presence in my life.
9. America, Texas, Colorado. I am so thankful to live in America. 1. Because it’s the greatest country ever, and 2. Because we are free to worship, free to speak, free to do whatever. It’s the biggest blessing that I so often take advantage of. We live comfortably, secure, and with plenty. I am thankful to be a Texan at heart, and I will never be anything else. I am thankful to call the Lone Star State my home and thankful to have a southern twang (when I am not actively controlling it). I am thankful for Colorado and for Denver and for my home for the time being, and the mountains and the camping and the snowboarding and sometimes even the snow. I am thankful that God has placed me in each of these places for a time. For a purpose.
10. Health. I take the ability to move, walk, breath for granted. I have no serious ailments and I am not in chronic pain. So many people are hurting and sick and I am thankful that God has lavished grace on me and has granted me health. It is so unbelievably merciful.
So thanks for sticking with me for 30 days of being thankful. I hope November has treated you as well as it has treated me. It did a pretty bang up job on following October. Onward to December!
See you guys there! Bundle up!
This is so obvious that I almost decided not to include it. Can we all just agree that we need cell phones!? WE NEED THEM LIKE WE NEED OXYGEN. I mean we are the most impatient lunatics that have ever graced this earth and can you imagine our life now without our smart phones with GPS and texting and picture capabilities?! I, for one, cannot. It’s a dark world that I personally don’t want to be a part of.
One guy explained it like this: “Without cell phones, we would just wander aimlessly to strangers’ doorsteps and knock. Someone would answer and look at us blankly. Unsure of what to do, we would “HOO” at them like an owl, before malfunctioning like a robot and dissolving into a puddle of burnt wires.” BINGO. I mean seriously…do you guys have Siri?! We are getting dangerously close to cyborgs taking over the world with that shiZ.
We are known for not having the money to pay rent, but spending like…five hundred dollars on an updated phone. Apple has got us all in a death grip. They own us. Seriously, Apple has more money than the US Government. This is not a joke. Maybe we should ask Siri how we can make money and get out of debt to avoid eating Ramen Noodles for the rest of our lives. She’ll respond probably with, “IDK LOL.”
In my defense, I do not have Siri. I just have the regular old iPhone3G. But I want her. I want a personal assistant that talks to me and answers all of my questions. And damnit, I deserve her! *Side Note: While we are agreeing on a few things, let’s take the time and acknowledge that the iPhone is sitting at the popular table and if you don’t have one, you aren’t in the cool club. You probably sit at the loser table eating cafeteria food. Anything other than an iPhone is unforgivably lame, and no one will take you seriously.
One time I tried giving up technology, including my cell phone, on Sundays. Half of me loved this idea and then the other half of me screamed “I CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!” because I just twiddled my thumbs until I fell asleep for my second nap of the day. At this point, upon waking, I remember yelling “WHAT NOW?” and shaking my fist at the sky. That was when I decided that giving up my phone was just not going to happen. I mean what is this, 1993?
We were born into this culture of the Internet and instant gratification and it has only intensified with the advances in technology. So it’s not completely our fault. I say we just indulge in the craziness of it all and be thankful that everyone in our lives is one fingertip touch away. (Unless you are wearing gloves, which is infuriating because it is then that you have to decide between texting and hypothermia.)
November 30: The Real Stuff
I have lasted 29 days being thankful for things as random as hair ties, and for things as shallow as the Twilight Saga. All of which were 100% true. But on the last day of November, on day 30 of being thankful I would like to make a quick list of the things that I am REALLY thankful for.
1. The Lord 3 in 1. God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit – the whole gang. I am so thankful that this all knowing, all loving God who created me loves me in spite of me. He never gives up on me. He wants to talk to me. He is wholly different than me, and infinitely bigger, but wants to meet me where I am at, and cares immensely about the things that matter to me. I am thankful for the salvation that assures my eternal security with Him. And I am thankful that God is God and I am not. I am thankful that he chose me, loves me, cares for me, forgives me, and reveals himself to me. I am thankful that my purpose in life is to bring glory to him which results in my own joy. I am thankful that he orchestrates His will and that he doesn’t smite me when I step outside of the umbrella of his protection but that he cradles me and sometimes just has to let me cry. I am thankful that when I am hurting he hurts with me and is faithful to pick me up and dust me off. I am thankful that Jesus can relate to me. I am thankful that the Holy Spirit speaks and moves through me. I am thankful for His provision and for his timing. I am thankful that over all, I am His and He is mine.
2. My family. It shouldn’t be shocking to you that I have a phenomenal family. I talk about them often. I am thankful for my mom, who has loved and supported me through my crazy. I am thankful that she stuck around even when she took me to the girl doctor when I was 14 and I told her I hated her. I am thankful that she allows me to be myself even though I am nothing like she expected a daughter to be, and she loves that I am me. I am thankful that I look just like her and that she genuinely wants the best for me, and will stop at nothing to facilitate that. And I am thankful that even though we are so very different, we are finding avenues back to one another, that we laugh together and that she is the most selfless person alive.
3. Then, I am thankful for my second parent, my aunt Trudy. I am thankful that Trudy is honest, real, and speaks so clearly into my life. I am thankful that I have a phenomenal role model to follow if everything in my life gets turned upside down. I am thankful that she is funny and that she loves me even when she thinks I am being a total idiot. I am thankful that she is perfectly blunt and that she would do anything for me.
4. I am thankful for my littlest sister who is my partner in life, and who is so obviously following the Lord with reckless abandon. I am thankful that she is the perfect sidekick and thankful that she and I are so much alike. I am thankful that she makes me laugh harder than anyone I know and affirms me so well. I am thankful that (only she) laughs when I tell my mom that her decorative-sparkly-winter-sticks kick ass! Because they do. I am so thankful that she is following the Lord’s direction and no one else’s. And that she is black and white. I am thankful that she listens to my stories over and over and always gives good, solid advice. I am thankful that she is funny and really wise and the best friend I will ever know. I am thankful that God made us sisters, because He knew I would need her.
5. I am thankful for my little broskie, Carson - my cloned personality in male format. I am thankful for the fact that he is my protégé. I am thankful that he is funny and outgoing and perfectly handsome. I am thankful to have a boy in my life who I think of as my hero, who will walk me down the aisle and who is going to do big things in the Kingdom…right after he grows out of his teenage idiocy that I know all too well. I am thankful that he is mine, because I love him like I cannot explain in words.
6. I am thankful for my Brown broskies, Kaleb and Roman. I am thankful for their comradery and their ability to step up when things go wrong. I am thankful that Kaleb is compassionate and an amazing servant who is growing in the Lord so much and I am thankful for Roman who is quietly the most hilarious person in our family (even though some of his best comments go unnoticed.) I am so thankful for the both of them and for the example and standard they are setting for the next generation of men in our family who we are praying will break the trends set before them.
7. I am thankful for Grandmommy. Who loves me harder than anyone in the world and who cooks the best and sets such high standards for each of us. I am thankful that everyone knows her and she loves everyone, including all of our friends. I am thankful that she puts up with all of us being so absolutely insane. And I am thankful for her emoticon filled texts that are usually at least 3 pages long.
8. My friends. I’m not going to name each of them but you know who you are. The girls and guys that God has so outrageously and gloriously ordained to speak into my life and to walk beside me as I am being progressively sanctified. My fristers, soulmates, BFFs, and even just my normal friends. They love me well, call me out on my crap, and encourage me towards the cross of Christ. They are from all over this country and some of them live overseas. I am so very thankful for the whole lot of them and am so unbelievably thankful for their love and presence in my life.
9. America, Texas, Colorado. I am so thankful to live in America. 1. Because it’s the greatest country ever, and 2. Because we are free to worship, free to speak, free to do whatever. It’s the biggest blessing that I so often take advantage of. We live comfortably, secure, and with plenty. I am thankful to be a Texan at heart, and I will never be anything else. I am thankful to call the Lone Star State my home and thankful to have a southern twang (when I am not actively controlling it). I am thankful for Colorado and for Denver and for my home for the time being, and the mountains and the camping and the snowboarding and sometimes even the snow. I am thankful that God has placed me in each of these places for a time. For a purpose.
10. Health. I take the ability to move, walk, breath for granted. I have no serious ailments and I am not in chronic pain. So many people are hurting and sick and I am thankful that God has lavished grace on me and has granted me health. It is so unbelievably merciful.
So thanks for sticking with me for 30 days of being thankful. I hope November has treated you as well as it has treated me. It did a pretty bang up job on following October. Onward to December!
See you guys there! Bundle up!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thankful Day 28
November 28: Good Tags
I hesitated severely about putting this onto the world wide web. In an attempt to be very transparent though, here it is. If you know me at all, you know about my obsession with soft tags. You know that the best tags are found on comforters and that target receipts can sometimes suffice, especially for my littlest sister (who has the same fetish). My best friends in the world have actually mastered the task of finding a “good tag” and can now pick them out for me. Savannah once stood in a store for hours feeling of the tags of what I assume to be a massive amount of ugly dolls to pick out the one with the best tag to send me as a “get well soon” present when I shattered my face. She did a phenomenal job. If you have no idea what I am talking about, welcome to my life. I am crazier than you thought.
This tag fetish began when I was an infant. The problem is that I never grew out of it. My mom says that when I was in my crib, I could find the tag on any stuffed animal and/or blanket and put it up to my face to feel of it while I sucked my thumb. Yes I was a thumb sucker….until a really embarrassing age. I have finally kicked that habit though, in case you were wondering. (First things first.) Further, when I was 2 years old, my Grandmommy gave me a stuffed elephant for Christmas. Great present right? My all-time favorite animal in stuffed form. Should have been a hit. However, (and we have this on video) I took the elephant out of its box, squealed in delight and then immediately started the search for a soft tag…which it did not have. I promptly looked at the animal in disgust and put it back in the box, closed the box, put the bow sloppily on the top and handed it back to my Grandmommy. She laughed and asked me what I was doing, and I told her it didn’t have a good tag and so I didn’t want it. If I was her, I would have slapped me in the face but she just hugged and kissed me and laughed at my ridiculousness. So help me God if my future daughter is just like I was…(I kind of hope she is). So, instead, God so help my future husband if my future daughter is just like me.
I mentioned that my littlest sister Brittney has the exact same fetish. Weird huh? She prefers Target receipts to anything else, which I cannot understand for the life of me. There was one instance when both of us had receipts (and the only way to properly execute a receipt is to “feel it with your face”) and so we both had receipts on our faces and a friend in the back seat finally exclaimed: “Y’ALL ARE SO WEIRD!” We looked at each other and erupted into laughter because before she addressed it, we were completely unaware of what we were doing. It’s involuntary. And plus, we pride ourselves on being weird. And as I re-read this paragraph I am embarrassed for both of us.
Obviously I don’t care that much because this is just going to get weirder. A good tag can calm me down and/or make me feel better if I am having a bad day. They especially aid in anxiety. I don’t know how to explain this, but it’s like having a blanket when you are shivering. Or soup when you are sick. I LOVE a good tag, y’all. I can get a buzz off of finding a perfect one, which I did last weekend on Karla’s bed comforter. I can find them on anything. Towels, pillows….the inside of Bethany’s purse. It’s uncanny actually, and my best friends would agree. So judge me if you want, but tags are here to stay.
Last night I was having a bit of a rough night, and was laying on Briggs’ bed talking, when Behnke came bopping in and said “Ally look what I brought you!” In her left hand was a jumbo box of nerds and in her right hand was a PHENOMENAL tag that she had ripped from some unknowing object. She said “is this a good one??!” It was. It so totally was! I almost cried because my new Denver friends are really starting to really know me. And, oh my gracious God, I am so very thankful. For the friends, and for the good tags they bring me when I need a little pick-me-up.
I hesitated severely about putting this onto the world wide web. In an attempt to be very transparent though, here it is. If you know me at all, you know about my obsession with soft tags. You know that the best tags are found on comforters and that target receipts can sometimes suffice, especially for my littlest sister (who has the same fetish). My best friends in the world have actually mastered the task of finding a “good tag” and can now pick them out for me. Savannah once stood in a store for hours feeling of the tags of what I assume to be a massive amount of ugly dolls to pick out the one with the best tag to send me as a “get well soon” present when I shattered my face. She did a phenomenal job. If you have no idea what I am talking about, welcome to my life. I am crazier than you thought.
This tag fetish began when I was an infant. The problem is that I never grew out of it. My mom says that when I was in my crib, I could find the tag on any stuffed animal and/or blanket and put it up to my face to feel of it while I sucked my thumb. Yes I was a thumb sucker….until a really embarrassing age. I have finally kicked that habit though, in case you were wondering. (First things first.) Further, when I was 2 years old, my Grandmommy gave me a stuffed elephant for Christmas. Great present right? My all-time favorite animal in stuffed form. Should have been a hit. However, (and we have this on video) I took the elephant out of its box, squealed in delight and then immediately started the search for a soft tag…which it did not have. I promptly looked at the animal in disgust and put it back in the box, closed the box, put the bow sloppily on the top and handed it back to my Grandmommy. She laughed and asked me what I was doing, and I told her it didn’t have a good tag and so I didn’t want it. If I was her, I would have slapped me in the face but she just hugged and kissed me and laughed at my ridiculousness. So help me God if my future daughter is just like I was…(I kind of hope she is). So, instead, God so help my future husband if my future daughter is just like me.
I mentioned that my littlest sister Brittney has the exact same fetish. Weird huh? She prefers Target receipts to anything else, which I cannot understand for the life of me. There was one instance when both of us had receipts (and the only way to properly execute a receipt is to “feel it with your face”) and so we both had receipts on our faces and a friend in the back seat finally exclaimed: “Y’ALL ARE SO WEIRD!” We looked at each other and erupted into laughter because before she addressed it, we were completely unaware of what we were doing. It’s involuntary. And plus, we pride ourselves on being weird. And as I re-read this paragraph I am embarrassed for both of us.
Obviously I don’t care that much because this is just going to get weirder. A good tag can calm me down and/or make me feel better if I am having a bad day. They especially aid in anxiety. I don’t know how to explain this, but it’s like having a blanket when you are shivering. Or soup when you are sick. I LOVE a good tag, y’all. I can get a buzz off of finding a perfect one, which I did last weekend on Karla’s bed comforter. I can find them on anything. Towels, pillows….the inside of Bethany’s purse. It’s uncanny actually, and my best friends would agree. So judge me if you want, but tags are here to stay.
Last night I was having a bit of a rough night, and was laying on Briggs’ bed talking, when Behnke came bopping in and said “Ally look what I brought you!” In her left hand was a jumbo box of nerds and in her right hand was a PHENOMENAL tag that she had ripped from some unknowing object. She said “is this a good one??!” It was. It so totally was! I almost cried because my new Denver friends are really starting to really know me. And, oh my gracious God, I am so very thankful. For the friends, and for the good tags they bring me when I need a little pick-me-up.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thankful Day 26 & 27
November 26: Sarcasm… and/or Humor
THANK GOD FOR SARCASM and for people who have a decent sense of humor. Am I right or am I right?
For a long time now, I have thought sarcasm might be my love language and it’s taken me right around 23 years to realize that it is not EVERYONE’S love language. (A difficult lesson to learn if I do say so myself.) Sarcasm got me through the day on November 25. Black Friday means nothing to our family as far as shopping goes, but it means everything to our family as far as attic organization goes.
This year, we got to (happily, with a smile on) organize 3 households of Christmas decorations into one and hoist color-coordinated boxes up and down the attic ladder for something around 6 hours. All the sibs were outside, sweating to death, packing Thanksgiving décor into orange boxes and trying to figure out how many wreaths one family could possibly own. The answer would baffle your mind. I’d say we have over 20 Christmas wreaths. Maybe 30. Not to mention, more “Snow Village” figurines than any gift shop in this town.
We were determined to tear down the Thanksgiving/Fall décor, and re-decorate for Christmas over the course of one 12-hour day. We did not accomplish said feat. Not even remotely close. It took us 3 days of blood, sweat and tears. We banished Carson and Roman to the roof for stringing lights, while Kaleb, Brit and I were cussing at lighted Christmas trees because nothing, I repeat NOTHING can make us blackout rage more than the light-up Christmas trees in the “DO NOT DESTROY” trash bags. Extension cord mania, and about 12 blown fuses later, we lit that house like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Brittney and I put garland and ornaments around the front door frame and wrapped the banisters with greenery and twinkle lights. When I say “we” I mean that I did all that, and she just got stuff out of boxes while looking at me like “our family has lost their damn mind” the whole time. I think she might have even vocalized that once or twice. Trudy and Mom were organizing maniacs and if you were to have walked into our garage on Saturday morning you would have thought we were having a holiday themed Garage Sale. They designed a holiday house display that looks as if it were in a Better Homes and Garden Magazine. And so one minute we had pumpkins gracing our mantle, and then…a mere 72 hours later, we have got a reindeer up there with jingle bells hanging from his antlers. Mission Accomplished? Absolutely.
Amongst everything already mentioned, we planted real Christmas trees for the sake of their smell and played Justin Bieber’s Christmas album along with the Folk Angel Christmas CD and Silent Night on Piano. We blared the music as loud as we could and we set up the tree. We loaded that thing down with ornaments and bows and lights and beads. We put up wooden mooses (I know its grammatically incorrect and I don’t care) with Christmas sweaters and busted out the Holiday dishes. We hung wreaths on every window and door and we put out all the Christmas pillows. We switched all the candles to Christmas scents and put red and green dog collars on our ridiculous amount of pups.
And by golly, we did it using sarcasm! Because otherwise we would have all needed counseling. We decked the halls with boughs of holly like you have never seen before. We giggled and wrestled and made fun of ourselves for having so much C.R.A.P. One time I got stuck between a box and the attic and was stranded mid-way up the latter but couldn’t stop laughing long enough to un-wedge myself. We laughed at how horrible one of the light-up trees looked and nobody volunteered to fix it. We laughed at whatever the hell we were wearing which in my case involved tall socks on top of leggings like an idiot. We laughed at how many dogs were nipping at our heels. We laughed and laughed and laughed and we were thankful. And sarcastic as hell.
Some of my favorite displays of humor included, but are not limited to the following list:
1. Carson’s impression of Brian Regan jokes. Specifically the one about Animal Sounds, like dogs saying bow wow. Could. Not. Pull. It. Together.
2. Being literal. A surefire way to drive people (READ: me) absolutely insane is to respond to well-known expressions as literally as possible. It’s hilarious and infuriating. For example, if someone is commiserating with you and says, “Join the club!” respond by asking about their annual membership fees. Or if someone is agreeing with something you commented briefly about by saying, “Tell me about it!” look them squarely in the eye and say, “I just did.” Roman and Carson are champions at this and it gets me every time.
3. Using “I know you are but what am I” as my one and only comeback for everything. I never did this, but I think it would be awesome. Add that to the to-do list for Christmas break.
4. Making fun of any person who seemed to be doing less work than the rest of us during the decoration commemoration of 2011.
5. Over emphasizing our Texan Accents, and speaking ONLY in movie quotes, which we did an amazing job of on Friday night during dinner because all of the guests that we had over were absolutely silent as they had no idea what we were talking about for the majority of the night. Inside jokes make the people inside feel like a million bucks and the people outside feel like idiots.
But humor is humor and sarcasm is sarcasm and if you don’t understand that, then I will probably never marry you. But that’s neither here nor there and regardless, I am thankful for sarcasm and humor and laughter and all that comes with it. And to legitimize this whole argument I could talk for another hour about how funny God is, especially in my life. I mean, the whole humor thing was his idea in the first place.
November 27: Man’s Best Friend
Remember that movie “All Dogs Go To Heaven”? Please note that all cats do not go to heaven, because cats are selfish and arrogant and deceitful and Jesus doesn’t like any of those character qualities. I love dogs. Or, better, I love the idea of dogs. I love the idea of wrestling a huge, slobbery dog and sleeping beside him and going on runs with him. I love big dogs. But as Megan so lovingly pointed out, I really would prefer that said dog did not smell like a dog or cost me money or pee in the house.
As it stands, my family is a bunch of dog hoarders. It was one thing when we lived in separate homes, but throughout the past few years, our entire family lives in one little house and we have 5 weenie dogs. And a bulldog is living with us while my aunt is too sick to take care of him. So, make that 6 dogs. Animal hoarding at its finest. The dachshund pups are named: 1.) Oreo 2.) Skittles 3.) Kinsler (After Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers) 4.) Kipp and 5.) Tucker. And although small dogs usually infuriate me, I can’t help but love these little guys. Kipp and Kinsler cuddled with me all night last night while watching a movie, and Kinsler has velvet ears making him my favorite to snuggle.
I have always kind of been against having 5 weenie dogs for pets. But sometimes you don’t choose the gift, the gift chooses you. And like we already established: God is funny that way.
After much deliberation I have decided that weenie dogs are not so bad. They aren’t Huskies, Labradors, Mastiffs or Golden Retreivers but they love our family more than life itself. And they know when we are sad and act accordingly. And they are fun. And sometimes dare I say, even cute. They bring us a ton of joy and a ton of messes to clean up, and we don’t even mind, as long as I am not primarily in charge of cleaning up.
So thanks God, for blessing our family with 5 little companions whose bodies are too long and legs are too short. We really do love them dearly. Even Skittles, our massively overweight weenie pup whose head is at least 8x too small for her blimp like body.
THANK GOD FOR SARCASM and for people who have a decent sense of humor. Am I right or am I right?
For a long time now, I have thought sarcasm might be my love language and it’s taken me right around 23 years to realize that it is not EVERYONE’S love language. (A difficult lesson to learn if I do say so myself.) Sarcasm got me through the day on November 25. Black Friday means nothing to our family as far as shopping goes, but it means everything to our family as far as attic organization goes.
This year, we got to (happily, with a smile on) organize 3 households of Christmas decorations into one and hoist color-coordinated boxes up and down the attic ladder for something around 6 hours. All the sibs were outside, sweating to death, packing Thanksgiving décor into orange boxes and trying to figure out how many wreaths one family could possibly own. The answer would baffle your mind. I’d say we have over 20 Christmas wreaths. Maybe 30. Not to mention, more “Snow Village” figurines than any gift shop in this town.
We were determined to tear down the Thanksgiving/Fall décor, and re-decorate for Christmas over the course of one 12-hour day. We did not accomplish said feat. Not even remotely close. It took us 3 days of blood, sweat and tears. We banished Carson and Roman to the roof for stringing lights, while Kaleb, Brit and I were cussing at lighted Christmas trees because nothing, I repeat NOTHING can make us blackout rage more than the light-up Christmas trees in the “DO NOT DESTROY” trash bags. Extension cord mania, and about 12 blown fuses later, we lit that house like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Brittney and I put garland and ornaments around the front door frame and wrapped the banisters with greenery and twinkle lights. When I say “we” I mean that I did all that, and she just got stuff out of boxes while looking at me like “our family has lost their damn mind” the whole time. I think she might have even vocalized that once or twice. Trudy and Mom were organizing maniacs and if you were to have walked into our garage on Saturday morning you would have thought we were having a holiday themed Garage Sale. They designed a holiday house display that looks as if it were in a Better Homes and Garden Magazine. And so one minute we had pumpkins gracing our mantle, and then…a mere 72 hours later, we have got a reindeer up there with jingle bells hanging from his antlers. Mission Accomplished? Absolutely.
Amongst everything already mentioned, we planted real Christmas trees for the sake of their smell and played Justin Bieber’s Christmas album along with the Folk Angel Christmas CD and Silent Night on Piano. We blared the music as loud as we could and we set up the tree. We loaded that thing down with ornaments and bows and lights and beads. We put up wooden mooses (I know its grammatically incorrect and I don’t care) with Christmas sweaters and busted out the Holiday dishes. We hung wreaths on every window and door and we put out all the Christmas pillows. We switched all the candles to Christmas scents and put red and green dog collars on our ridiculous amount of pups.
And by golly, we did it using sarcasm! Because otherwise we would have all needed counseling. We decked the halls with boughs of holly like you have never seen before. We giggled and wrestled and made fun of ourselves for having so much C.R.A.P. One time I got stuck between a box and the attic and was stranded mid-way up the latter but couldn’t stop laughing long enough to un-wedge myself. We laughed at how horrible one of the light-up trees looked and nobody volunteered to fix it. We laughed at whatever the hell we were wearing which in my case involved tall socks on top of leggings like an idiot. We laughed at how many dogs were nipping at our heels. We laughed and laughed and laughed and we were thankful. And sarcastic as hell.
Some of my favorite displays of humor included, but are not limited to the following list:
1. Carson’s impression of Brian Regan jokes. Specifically the one about Animal Sounds, like dogs saying bow wow. Could. Not. Pull. It. Together.
2. Being literal. A surefire way to drive people (READ: me) absolutely insane is to respond to well-known expressions as literally as possible. It’s hilarious and infuriating. For example, if someone is commiserating with you and says, “Join the club!” respond by asking about their annual membership fees. Or if someone is agreeing with something you commented briefly about by saying, “Tell me about it!” look them squarely in the eye and say, “I just did.” Roman and Carson are champions at this and it gets me every time.
3. Using “I know you are but what am I” as my one and only comeback for everything. I never did this, but I think it would be awesome. Add that to the to-do list for Christmas break.
4. Making fun of any person who seemed to be doing less work than the rest of us during the decoration commemoration of 2011.
5. Over emphasizing our Texan Accents, and speaking ONLY in movie quotes, which we did an amazing job of on Friday night during dinner because all of the guests that we had over were absolutely silent as they had no idea what we were talking about for the majority of the night. Inside jokes make the people inside feel like a million bucks and the people outside feel like idiots.
But humor is humor and sarcasm is sarcasm and if you don’t understand that, then I will probably never marry you. But that’s neither here nor there and regardless, I am thankful for sarcasm and humor and laughter and all that comes with it. And to legitimize this whole argument I could talk for another hour about how funny God is, especially in my life. I mean, the whole humor thing was his idea in the first place.
November 27: Man’s Best Friend
Remember that movie “All Dogs Go To Heaven”? Please note that all cats do not go to heaven, because cats are selfish and arrogant and deceitful and Jesus doesn’t like any of those character qualities. I love dogs. Or, better, I love the idea of dogs. I love the idea of wrestling a huge, slobbery dog and sleeping beside him and going on runs with him. I love big dogs. But as Megan so lovingly pointed out, I really would prefer that said dog did not smell like a dog or cost me money or pee in the house.
As it stands, my family is a bunch of dog hoarders. It was one thing when we lived in separate homes, but throughout the past few years, our entire family lives in one little house and we have 5 weenie dogs. And a bulldog is living with us while my aunt is too sick to take care of him. So, make that 6 dogs. Animal hoarding at its finest. The dachshund pups are named: 1.) Oreo 2.) Skittles 3.) Kinsler (After Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers) 4.) Kipp and 5.) Tucker. And although small dogs usually infuriate me, I can’t help but love these little guys. Kipp and Kinsler cuddled with me all night last night while watching a movie, and Kinsler has velvet ears making him my favorite to snuggle.
I have always kind of been against having 5 weenie dogs for pets. But sometimes you don’t choose the gift, the gift chooses you. And like we already established: God is funny that way.
After much deliberation I have decided that weenie dogs are not so bad. They aren’t Huskies, Labradors, Mastiffs or Golden Retreivers but they love our family more than life itself. And they know when we are sad and act accordingly. And they are fun. And sometimes dare I say, even cute. They bring us a ton of joy and a ton of messes to clean up, and we don’t even mind, as long as I am not primarily in charge of cleaning up.
So thanks God, for blessing our family with 5 little companions whose bodies are too long and legs are too short. We really do love them dearly. Even Skittles, our massively overweight weenie pup whose head is at least 8x too small for her blimp like body.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thankful Day 24 & 25
November 24: Sweet Potato Casserole (SPC)
I am going to be completely honest with you. The sweet potato (pronounced "patayta") casserole (SPC) is an understudy to the best Thanksgiving dish ever. The best Thanksgiving dish ever is obviously pumpkin cheesecake…a thousand times over. But thanks (but no thanks) to the lactose intolerance that I have recently acquired; pumpkin cheesecake has the tendency to make me puke. And nothing is worse than puking on Thanksgiving. And so unfortunately I have to pull a “don’t mind if I don’t” on the dairy products and a “don’t mind if I do” on 4-5 helpings of sweet potato casserole (SPC).
Lucky for me, my grandmother can cook better than yours and she made the best SPC I have ever tasted in my life - full of brown sugar and pecans and I gained at least a pound just from that casserole alone. (Hips don’t lie.) I demand orange food at Thanksgiving and pumpkin is my favorite flavor of all. (I seriously like pumpkin anything, and even if I don’t, I can trick myself into thinking I do. I am a master of trickery.) Sweet potatoes come in at a close second. I love orange food like I love autumn and Grandmommy hit this one out of the park.
Speaking of orange, the Texas A&M / Texas game is played every year on Thanksgiving and it’s always the most anticipated game of the season for the Aggies. God knows we are obsessed with beating UT, which is usually rare, but we actually have a decently balanced W-L record over the last few years. This year, the Longhorns beat us by a devastating one point in the last few seconds of the game. I have to give Case McCoy credit though, because that kid has heart and he absolutely won that game for them. Well Case, and their very reliable kicker. What is more devastating, though, is that from now on, there will be no more maroon / orange rivalry. No more Lone Star Showdown. It’s the worst idea A&M has had…ever. I mean did y’all watch LSU play Arkansas? They could beat half the teams in the NFL. We are going to be the SEC’s JV team. And moreover…I guess we should think about changing our fight song since like 3 stanzas reference the University of Texas. TRAGIC!
But as far as Thanksgiving dinner goes, I am so very very very thankful for Grandmommy’s sweet potato casserole.
Here are some pics of the Brown-Rice family in Aggie football mode. This is my favorite place to watch football games, and my favorite people to be with:
God love 'em.
November 25: Verbal Processing
I am typing this to you at 30,000ft or something so I cannot be held responsible for any and all idiocy henceforth. I am tapping out on taking responsibility. I have had a lot of sugar and minimal sleep, so lay off. And to the kind overweight sir beside me: you are breathing on my neck while sleeping and as peaceful as you may look, that’s just simply not going to fly (no pun intended). I am about to stick my empty cup into your mouth to plug it up. Please do not take this action personally because I am doing you a favor. So you’re welcome, or I’m sorry. Or both.
With that being said, let’s continue. Some days I feel like my thoughts are a pre-school classroom. There’s paste and glue everywhere and its snack time and the kids are pulling each other’s hair and screaming at the top of their lungs and the shy kid just wet himself. Do you know what I mean?
Those days I feel as though clarity is hiding behind my windshield in a snowstorm and my driver’s side windshield wiper is broken on the driver’s side and the defroster is being unbelievably slow. And to make matters worse, Hoobastank just came on the radio and my fingers are too frozen to change it.
(Honestly…can you imagine better analogies?)
But then…like a light through the cloud: Enter God who is stable who constantly asks me to trust him in my chaos. Enter the faith to believe that God has all things under control and that He loves me. Enter glimpses of rationality. Enter verbal processing. And subsequently, enter close friend or family member to listen and respond.
I have a chronic need to verbalize because like I have said a million times: I am a geyser of emotions. What can I say? I love to emote.
So I talk about it. To God. To Brit. To you. To anyone that knows me and will listen. The verbal processing, it saves me. And I am learning (SLOWLY) to hand things over to God. And then hand them over to Him again later on because let’s be honest, as soon as I feel peace about it, one of the 3yr olds takes his pants off and runs down the hallway.
And the chaos begins again. So I am thankful for people to listen, or in your case – read as I process through this perfectly crazy life that God has so graciously blessed me with.
I am going to be completely honest with you. The sweet potato (pronounced "patayta") casserole (SPC) is an understudy to the best Thanksgiving dish ever. The best Thanksgiving dish ever is obviously pumpkin cheesecake…a thousand times over. But thanks (but no thanks) to the lactose intolerance that I have recently acquired; pumpkin cheesecake has the tendency to make me puke. And nothing is worse than puking on Thanksgiving. And so unfortunately I have to pull a “don’t mind if I don’t” on the dairy products and a “don’t mind if I do” on 4-5 helpings of sweet potato casserole (SPC).
Lucky for me, my grandmother can cook better than yours and she made the best SPC I have ever tasted in my life - full of brown sugar and pecans and I gained at least a pound just from that casserole alone. (Hips don’t lie.) I demand orange food at Thanksgiving and pumpkin is my favorite flavor of all. (I seriously like pumpkin anything, and even if I don’t, I can trick myself into thinking I do. I am a master of trickery.) Sweet potatoes come in at a close second. I love orange food like I love autumn and Grandmommy hit this one out of the park.
Speaking of orange, the Texas A&M / Texas game is played every year on Thanksgiving and it’s always the most anticipated game of the season for the Aggies. God knows we are obsessed with beating UT, which is usually rare, but we actually have a decently balanced W-L record over the last few years. This year, the Longhorns beat us by a devastating one point in the last few seconds of the game. I have to give Case McCoy credit though, because that kid has heart and he absolutely won that game for them. Well Case, and their very reliable kicker. What is more devastating, though, is that from now on, there will be no more maroon / orange rivalry. No more Lone Star Showdown. It’s the worst idea A&M has had…ever. I mean did y’all watch LSU play Arkansas? They could beat half the teams in the NFL. We are going to be the SEC’s JV team. And moreover…I guess we should think about changing our fight song since like 3 stanzas reference the University of Texas. TRAGIC!
But as far as Thanksgiving dinner goes, I am so very very very thankful for Grandmommy’s sweet potato casserole.
Here are some pics of the Brown-Rice family in Aggie football mode. This is my favorite place to watch football games, and my favorite people to be with:
God love 'em.
November 25: Verbal Processing
I am typing this to you at 30,000ft or something so I cannot be held responsible for any and all idiocy henceforth. I am tapping out on taking responsibility. I have had a lot of sugar and minimal sleep, so lay off. And to the kind overweight sir beside me: you are breathing on my neck while sleeping and as peaceful as you may look, that’s just simply not going to fly (no pun intended). I am about to stick my empty cup into your mouth to plug it up. Please do not take this action personally because I am doing you a favor. So you’re welcome, or I’m sorry. Or both.
With that being said, let’s continue. Some days I feel like my thoughts are a pre-school classroom. There’s paste and glue everywhere and its snack time and the kids are pulling each other’s hair and screaming at the top of their lungs and the shy kid just wet himself. Do you know what I mean?
Those days I feel as though clarity is hiding behind my windshield in a snowstorm and my driver’s side windshield wiper is broken on the driver’s side and the defroster is being unbelievably slow. And to make matters worse, Hoobastank just came on the radio and my fingers are too frozen to change it.
(Honestly…can you imagine better analogies?)
But then…like a light through the cloud: Enter God who is stable who constantly asks me to trust him in my chaos. Enter the faith to believe that God has all things under control and that He loves me. Enter glimpses of rationality. Enter verbal processing. And subsequently, enter close friend or family member to listen and respond.
I have a chronic need to verbalize because like I have said a million times: I am a geyser of emotions. What can I say? I love to emote.
So I talk about it. To God. To Brit. To you. To anyone that knows me and will listen. The verbal processing, it saves me. And I am learning (SLOWLY) to hand things over to God. And then hand them over to Him again later on because let’s be honest, as soon as I feel peace about it, one of the 3yr olds takes his pants off and runs down the hallway.
And the chaos begins again. So I am thankful for people to listen, or in your case – read as I process through this perfectly crazy life that God has so graciously blessed me with.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thankful Day 23
I have spent the last week in the Lone Star State with family, and therefore have fallen extremely behind on my Thankful Thirty blog series. My sincerest apologies to you faithful readers. In order to catch up, these few thankful blogs are going to be a little shorter than usual. Thanks for loving me through it. Y’all are just absolute dolls.
November 23: Carry-On Luggage
Yes and AMEN for carry-ons. You better believe that I am the girl who straps like as many bags as I can onto my body, ties bags together and stuffs an inordinate amount of things into a very small space in order to get out of checking a bag. Checking your bags is ASKING for your trip to end in catastrophe. I like to tell myself that I am an under-packer but that is far from the truth. Especially when I had to fit not only the normal visit home items in my carry-on luggage, but also a bear blanket, loin cloth and all of the things I needed for the Brown-Rice Family Thanksgiving Extravaganza complete with Pilgrim and Indian costumes (as pictured here):
God knows the Brown-Rices all needed a little break from reality and I am just the person to give it to us! We had a Pilgrims vs. Indians party and Grandmommy was the big old (cute as hell) turkey - obviously because she is the most important part that brings all of us together. She was the greatest turkey you have ever seen and at one point was laughing too hard to hold her orange construction paper beak in her mouth. She was such a sport and we laughed until our stomachs hurt at her tail feathers. Kaleb was also a riot with his suicidal pilgrim class act. We thought it was funnier for no one to smile because that’s how old-timey pictures looked. He played a very convincing role, and any activity that allows my clone of a broskie, Carson, to go shirtless is A-OKAY with him. He made an adorable Indian chief and it ended up being the greatest idea I have had since moving to Colorado.
Anyways back to being thankful for carry-ons. I love to get off the plane and mock the people waiting on checked baggage. I laugh at them in their waiting game misery of hoping their bag comes spinning around that moving tram. I laugh mostly because in previous flights, (when I naively checked my bags) mine never came through. It’s like they put a special, different colored bagtag on it that says “This bag doesn’t really need to go to the right place. Just throw it in a pile and hope for the best.” Seriously though, checked bags are for morons and I love living life in the fast lane with my roller bag and backpack. (And purse, and pillow, and blanket, etc.) I was out of the airport at DFW before those other plane riders even knew what hit ‘em.
So in the spirit of mile-long holiday security lines and randomly selected passenger pat downs and inevitable lack of overhead space, I am thankful for carry-on luggage.
November 23: Carry-On Luggage
Yes and AMEN for carry-ons. You better believe that I am the girl who straps like as many bags as I can onto my body, ties bags together and stuffs an inordinate amount of things into a very small space in order to get out of checking a bag. Checking your bags is ASKING for your trip to end in catastrophe. I like to tell myself that I am an under-packer but that is far from the truth. Especially when I had to fit not only the normal visit home items in my carry-on luggage, but also a bear blanket, loin cloth and all of the things I needed for the Brown-Rice Family Thanksgiving Extravaganza complete with Pilgrim and Indian costumes (as pictured here):
Anyways back to being thankful for carry-ons. I love to get off the plane and mock the people waiting on checked baggage. I laugh at them in their waiting game misery of hoping their bag comes spinning around that moving tram. I laugh mostly because in previous flights, (when I naively checked my bags) mine never came through. It’s like they put a special, different colored bagtag on it that says “This bag doesn’t really need to go to the right place. Just throw it in a pile and hope for the best.” Seriously though, checked bags are for morons and I love living life in the fast lane with my roller bag and backpack. (And purse, and pillow, and blanket, etc.) I was out of the airport at DFW before those other plane riders even knew what hit ‘em.
So in the spirit of mile-long holiday security lines and randomly selected passenger pat downs and inevitable lack of overhead space, I am thankful for carry-on luggage.
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