Twins

The bird posting was a little disturbing to me (yes, I may have some issues when it comes to birds), so here's a much more fun posting.

Last week we had life group at our house. When Erin showed up we were wearing the same purple shirt. We both have such good taste!

The really funny thing is that Erin had worn the shirt the last time we had gone out to dinner with our husbands. I bought the shirt the day before we were both twins. Was I trying to copy Erin? I don't think so, but she's a great friend to maybe it was a subconscious thing.

If you know me very well, you know how I feel about birds. They're gross, dirty, do not belong near people and just really really freak me out! I saw this flyer posted on our mailbox last week and was speechless. You can't read the words very well in the picture, so this is what it says...

On January 18th, 2007, my bird named Joe got loose. Please contact me at 281.***.****. If you see him, call to him and he will answer to the name Joe or Pretty Baby.

If you already caught him, I am eternally grateful. Please call me immediately and I will come for him. This is his picture.

Reward offered!

I can't imagine how much money it would take for me to call to someone's lost bird so I could catch him and return him.

I have such serious questions about this person not just because they are looking for their lost bird, but because they actually had to write "This is his picture"! We'll who else's picture would be on the flyer? Big bird?

I've got to wrap this post up, because this dumb bird looking at me is gonna' give me nightmares.

Bored? Try this...

My sister sent me the link to this fun website. You can go to it, enter your name, and then it tells you how many people there are in the US with your name. Who knows how accurate it is, but it says there are only 4 people total in the country with my name.

How special are you?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

On Sunday I ran the Houston Marathon for the third year in a row. Here are some of my random thoughts and observations from the 4 hours and 44 minutes I was running.

• That man has the biggest calves (or is it calfs when you are talking about a person?) I have ever seen. Seriously, above the knees he was normal, but each calf was probably the size of my thigh.
• This was my favorite sign along the way: "Run like you've got a cougar on you!" If this doesn't make you laugh, watch Talledega Nights, the Ballad of Ricky Bobby and then you will. I don't think that anyone I was running with at this point got it.
• There's a guy in a "I heart Hot Moms" t-shirt
  
• Where are all the Elvis runners this year?
• There's my fertility dr's office, followed by prayers for a baby.
• Man, this is tough followed by prayers for Laura and her family's safety in Bolivia. Plus prayers for God to do amazing things through them there. This made my trial seem pretty small.
• Here I go turning on to San Felipe. I guess Matthew and my parents missed me on Post Oak again. Oh well, I guess I'll see them again somewhere.
• There's the guy in the "I heart Hot Moms" t-shirt.
• Matthew, this iPod was the best Christmas gift ever.
• Mile 17: Ok...down to single digits left. I can do this!
• There's the guy in the "I heart Hot Moms" t-shirt.
• This is where I heard the girl singing Here I Am to Worship along with her iPod last year. I could really use that boost right now. I wonder if she is running again this year?
• Mile 20: Wall...what wall?
• Sorry Sean, but there's no way you could run this whole thing without any training!
• Imodium, don't fail me now!
• I have the best friends in the world! They were really amazing to send me all the treats they did this week.
• Mile 21: oh, this wall!
• Its ok to be hurting. Lance Armstrong was hurting at this point too when he ran his marathon.
• There's the guy in the "I heart Hot Moms" t-shirt.
  
• Mile 22: Do I dare look down at my right shoe? My big toe hurts and I'm afraid I might be leaving a train of blood.
• There they are! Hi Matthew! Hi Mom! Hi Dad!
• Mile 26: Where did I park my car again?!?
• There's the guy in the "I heart Hot Moms" t-shirt. AGAIN! Is he trying to spot all the hot moms?
  
• Mile 26.2: I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rocket Encounter

Today was an exciting day for me. As part of the marathon tomorrow, I had to go to the GRB convention center to get my race packet. I knew that Roger Clemens would be making an appearance at the Expo. The expo was officialled called the Roger Clemens Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Expo or something like that. I thought it would be cool to see him, but didn't put much more thought into it than that.

While I was walking through the crowd and exhibits, I saw a big Memorial Hermann area in the middle. As I looked closer I saw a especially large gathering there and then noticed Roger Clemens himself standing in the middle of it all. I thought cool, I can tell my family that I saw Roger and went on to get the rest of my stuff.

Fast forward a few minutes. I'm getting ready to walk out when I see my friend from church, Frank Brown, near the Memorial Hermann area. Frank is a good friend of ours from church, so I headed that way to say hi. As I'm walking closer I see that he is in the midst of a conversation with you guessed it, ROGER CLEMENS. My heart starts racing because I realize I now have a chance to actually meet Roger! I quickly planned my strategy. I walked up close to the rope that was separating Frank and Roger from the regular people. I stood there waiting and sending mental messages to Frank hoping he'll see me. Thankfully, Frank was listening. He looked up, saw me and waved for me to come over. As I walked up, someone actually pulled down the rope keeping the crowd back so that I could walk in where Roger was.

The rest was great. Frank introduced me to Roger Clemens and his agent, Randy Hendricks. I go to shake Roger's hand. He commended me for running the marathon. I wish I could say that I had something great to say to him. That I said something to make him come back to the Astros to pitch this year, but I didn't. I just said how great it was to meet him as my heart beat faster than I ever imagined it would.

Looking back on it, it is a big boost to think that I am competing in an athletic event that an athlete like Roger Clemens is impressed by!

On that, I'm off to bed with a stomach full of carbs to get a few hours of sleep before my big morning.

What could be more fun than today?

Here are just a few of the fun things that I have gotten to do today.

• Sleep in
• Eat beer bread for breakfast
• Go to Old Navy, Chick Fil A, and Target with my sister and her kiddos. We do this whenever I'm here. You would think I didn't have an Old Navy & Target 5 minutes away from my house.
• Decorate cookies with Anita and Nathan
• Get some sweet kisses from Abby
• Share some popcorn with Nathan
• Laugh with Nathan
• Laugh with Anita a lot
• Figure out how to put links to my friends' blogs on my blog.

Here is a picture of Abby. Nathan wouldn't let me take one of him, so this is all there is.

I had to join in on the elf fun...
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=166dc7366838a68b630d9ecG06122016

I should soooo be sleeping right now, but I have a good excuse. No, I'm not wrapping Christmas presents or cleaning up the spare bedroom. I just watched an episode of Friends I've never seen before!!! What an exciting discovery... Phoebe was dating a teacher and a fireman. Monica thought Pete was going to propose to her. Ross had a kundis on his butt.

I was looking through some pictures that I took a month ago at work today. I came across this picture. I'm not sure how I ended up taking a picture of the sidewalk and my toes, but I'm pretty sure it was an accident. I was on my way out to take pictures of the "You're now entering the mission field" signs for Matt, so I know it was an accident. This picture made me laugh for some reason when I saw it, maybe you will laugh too.

Has anyone tried one of these 3-barrel curling irons? I'm trying to figure out a way to get a wavy look for my hair. I think I might put this on my Christmas list.
If I get it and it turns out like the hot rollers experiment, I'll let you know.

I'm trying out new colors/layouts for my blog. Is the gray hard to read?

A Trip to the DPS

I recently lost my drivers license so I had the pleasure of spending two hours at the DPS today getting a replacement. Here are some of my thoughts and things I learned while there...

• If you are concerned about passing the vision test, just read off whatever numbers/letters you feel like. The ladies working behind the desk aren't paying any attention because they use this time to talk to each other.
• Dude...you look really rough! Are you on meth?!?
• Ma'am, you seem to be having trouble following the waiting lines in the office. Maybe you should quit driving and let your great-great grandchildren give you a ride.
• A t-shirt no one should wear: For Rent (and in small letters) by the hour
• Maybe Houston really is one of the fattest cities in the country.
• Things sure were different when my license was stolen and I went to the DPS in Lubbock 6 years ago.
• When you thing you're really hot, you don't wait in f****** lines! You just storm out. (Matthew thinks I need to clarify this one. The "f**** lines" was a quote. The hoochie-mama in line said it not me!)
  
• I AM NEVER GOING TO LOOSE MY LICENSE AGAIN!!!

Oh well, I survived. Now I just get to wait 2-4 weeks and see how beautiful my new license turned out. If I don't like it I can always loose it and get a new one...

My sister sent this to me as a "getting to know you" email. I haven't filled one of these out in years, but I thought I would do this one since its Christmas. Plus, I didn't have to answer all the questions myself. I just copied my sisters, we did have the same childhood after all.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, but I like Carmel Apple Cider at Starbucks too.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Sits them under the tree and then some are wrapped under the tree from "Mom and Dad". The stocking stuffers we used to get from James Avery were always wrapped.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White only. Red and white is ok too. Matthew and I had a conversation about this last night. The blue and white seem Jewish to me, but I have no idea why!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? nope
5. When do you put your decorations up? It depends. If I’m going to have anyone at my house I use that as my goal to be decorated by.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Mom’s chocolate meringue pie, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, orange pudding. I don't like dressing, call me crazy if you want to.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Waking up with my sister and then going out to see what Santa had left then going over the the Erwins for the day.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I remember Mom pretty much saying to me, “You know Santa isn’t real, right?” one day as we were going into the mall. That sounds kind of mean, but it really wasn’t. I had already figured it out before this.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? It depends on what the Christmas schedule is between both our families. We NEVER did growing up.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I did all of it last night while Matthew worked on outside decorations. I did get him to put one ornament on the tree, I think it was the police car one.
11. Snow - Love it or Dread it? Love it! I miss the couple snows a year we got in Lubbock. It was just enough to be fun but not be a pain.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I its been a long time. I’ve been so klutzy lately, maybe I shouldn’t try it any time soon.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I wouldn't say this is my all time favorite, but Matthew gave me a oscillating tower fan with a remote control a few years ago. I use it in the bathroom every day when I dry my hair. It is wonderful.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Fun times with friends and family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Chocolate pie. But I'm an elf, so I love most desserts.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Its all fun! My sister answered this question with one of my most frustrating traditions. At our parents house, we have this German tradition where mom hides a pickle ornament in the tree and then after all the presents are opened me, Matthew, Anita, & Clay hunt for it. The winner gets a CASH prize. Either Clay or Anita always find it. I have got to find this thing soon, before Nathan gets old enough to beat me to it.
17. What tops your tree? a big red bow this year.
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Both are great.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. It makes me smile.
20. Candy Canes - Yuck or Yum? Again, I'm an elf so I like most sweets. I don't eat many of them. We did get some really cute lighted ones last night for the yard.
21. Look forward to Christmas or wish it would pass by as quickly as possible? no way do I want it to pass by quickly. I love having lots of Christmases (with Matthew, and one with each of our families) to make it last longer.
22. Shop all year round for gifts or are you last minute shopper? I haven't bought one yet this year. Maybe I should start soon...
23. What's your favorite holiday movie and why? It's a Wonderful Life! Just like my sister :)

This isn't the best picture, but here's our tree.

THEY STOLE OUR IDEA!

The last time I was at the movies I saw a preview for Night at the Museum. When I saw this preview I immediately told Matthew, this was just like our Spring Sing show. Our show, "Is It Still In the Night?", was about statues that come to life at night when the museum is closed to sing and dance all night long. The movie is about museum exhibits that do the same thing! Surely they stole this idea from the Chi Omega Pi, Zeta Rho, TNT show. Who knew that movie producers visited Searcy, Arkansas to get their ideas?

I had to go way back to find a picture from Spring Sing. This is so far back that we didn't even have digital cameras back then. How did we survive? Anyways, here is a picture of 4 Chi O statues. That's Tracie in front, Rachel in back in copper, Emily on the right in gold, and me in silver. Fun times!!! :)

Is working at the church great or what? The ladies retreat at WHCC was a couple of weeks ago. They had some leftover ingredients from S'mores that weekend. Being the nice ladies that they are they brought them back to the church building for the youth or anyone to use. Well, this afternoon when things were slow we found someone to use the marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. That's right, the church staff snacked on s'mores today. I may not have been able to fix the internet and email for the office, but at lease I made everyone happy with an ooey gooey chocolate snack!!! Where else can you have an afternoon like this at work?

So they do come in threes...

A couple of posts ago I wrote that I hoped things didn't come in threes because I had just tripped twice and didn't want it to happen a third time. Well, the third came this morning! I was up running before work (shocking I know), when I rolled my ankle and fell off the edge of the side walk. I was and still am very mad about this. I managed to walk/run home without any real pain, so I thought I was safe. I got ready and went on to work not thinking much of it. The problems didn't start until I was at work of course. Every time I got up from my desk, it would hurt a little worse. I took my boot off and yep, its swollen and a little blue. As Matthew put it, I have my first sports injury. Isn't he sweet?

So, does anyone have any tips on recovering from a sprained ankle without missing too much time off from running?

This is only the third time I can remember getting up before work to run. Maybe this is a sign I should go back to sleeping in?

What Was I???

This week my friend Amy turned our monthly bunko time into a Halloween party. Most of us dressed up. It was so much fun!!! Here's a picture of some of us. I'm still not sure what I was, but I definitely didn't look like my regular self. That morning at work I went through the Impact collection clothes for some ideas with friends at work. (Don't worry, I put the clothes back the next morning). This is what we came up with...what do you think I am?

I realized that I have been playing bunko for 4 years. The group has changed a whole lot over time, but each month when we get together it promises to be a fun time. I just looked at the list and of the 20 girls we have on the list, only 3 others were playing when I started. I think we should get an extra prize next month for being the bunko seniors. :)

 

If you need something to laugh at...

Here are two things that you can imagine if you need something to put a smile on your face.

I decided yesterday that I wanted to buy some hotrollers and try rolling my hair. I'm not sure what I was thinking with this idea. After I tried them I decided that they were actually magic time machine rollers. My hair was giant. It was like I had gone back in time 15 years. Just think about that and try not to laugh.

Tonight Matthew was going to Target so he said he would take the rollers back for me. Ok...think of Matthew. Do you have a picture of him (and his hair style) in your mind? Good, now imagine him returning hot rollers to Target. Now try not to laugh. He said he told the girl working there that he really wanted to use them, but when he woke up this morning he was bald. She didn't think it was funny.

Something new...

I started something new this week. I began a Bible study, "A Heart Like His" by Beth Moore. In the past, I have never been very good at following through with things like this after I start them. I remember talking to my sister one time about doing one of Beth Moore's studies. I told her how I didn't think that I would keep up with the workbook. She assured me that once I started, I would not be able to stop. Well, after two days of the study I can tell Anita was right. So far I am loving the study because it gives me a plan and direction to study the Bible. In just today's study, I was reading from I Samuel, Deuteronomy, Jonah, and Ezekiel. It leads me to see things from God's word that I might not have learned.

Thanks Anita for the example you are to me. Thanks to my church for offering this study. Thanks to Beth Moore for following God's direction to write. Most importantly, thanks to God for giving us his word.