My Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve, I am home researching my favorite subject. 

Europe

I have been constantly studying, planning, and dreaming of the places I will see since I was a child. And in just a few months, I plan to be in Europe armed with my trusty Rick Steve's guidebook, an obsessive love of ancient history, and a romanticized ideal of European culture (along with a quite depleted savings account.) 

Have I set myself for disappointment?  I am sure there will be some along the way, but still I cannot wait until I am standing before the Colesseum, strolling down the Champs-Elysees, or gliding along the Grand Canal.  There will be tons of photos and fun stories, but nothing will match the feeling of accomplishment and memories I will have when this finally happens.

Stay Tuned...

random is quite right

Thanksgiving break has barely begun and I am already stir crazy.  This could be bad especially for my wallet... But on the good side, I now have the newest Taylor Swift album, as well as a couple of other random singles, and a bio about Marie Antoinette. Happiness.  Random is so lovely - sitting here the last few hours have made me think about a lot of stuff, and I just had to share a few. Hopefully they will entertain you as much as they do me.

• I wish we still spoke like they did in Jane Austen's time. It sounds so much more elegant.
• The ridiculous Bieber "oh baby" song get stucks in my head every time I hear it, and that is awful. 
• NKOTB/BSB going on tour together makes me revert to 16. I will be seeing this if they will come to Texas.
• Some people are "book smart but street stupid" and that drives me insane sometimes.  
• I still raise my hand when I have something to say.
• Men should not weather sparkly pants. NEVER EVER.
• I can read "the Illuminati" 1343 times and never get sick of it. It's not even relevant but I still enjoy it.
• Modern Family is the only thing mine and Rachel's sense of humor can agree on. (Shy Ronnie vs Iran So Far.)
• I will not let my love is not influenced by a DJ.
• October is automatically boot and legging season, no matter the weather, deal with it.
• Veins in a chicken make me want to be a vegetarian.
• I am the best gee ever. 

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Go Big Blue!

 

Someone asked me the other day, 

"Ten years ago, could you imagine yourself as a cheer sponsor working in Athletics?"                             

My answer, "Nooo!" 

But regardless... I am working in an athletic department and I am the cheer sponsor.  And I love it. Absolutely LOVE it.  

One of my first duties as cheer sponsor was to plan a Pee Wee Clinic for girls from 4K - 4th grade.  (Total signed up = 50!)  We had a two hour clinic with all of the Middle and Upper School cheerleaders (almost 30 of them.) After a week delay due to rain, we had a pee wee performance at halftime last night.  Almost 80 cheerleaders, their parents, plus 40 pee wee football players, made for an INSANELY fun halftime show.  We survived, they were adorable, and I think it was a huge success.  I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. 

Life

Life is just insane right now. Hence the lameness of my blog as of late.

Perhaps after this week of insanity passes I can find fun things to share... Such as stories of survival of Pee Wee Clinics and my first pep rally as Cheer Sponsor.

Sooo now to sleep and more insanity tomorrow!

Building Cities in the Leaves

"It is almost fall. It is almost fall." If I keep saying it, it will be here soon.

I love fall for many reasons...
cool weather,
pretty leaves,
football season,
and my BIRTHDAY (October 14!!!)

I realized today that August is almost over and around the corner autumn waits patiently for its turn.  I am sure anyone living around Texas this time of year must be as happy about cooler weather as me.  With fall comes a fun memory. 

Soooo I have 7 siblings-four brothers, three sisters. Growing up was a blast, even now is a blast.  Our family get togethers are pure insane bundles of energy and noise.  Part of growing up was entertaining ourselves and with 8 kids under the age of 18 under 1 roof, we grew up playing outside-Obviously.  Every once in awhile my parents will ask us random questions, and recently Dad asked me, "What was your favorite memory growing up?"  I have an instant answer, and it turns out that most of my siblings share the same one...
(Sadly it is not dressing Joel and Jere up in jewelry and make up-if only I could find those pictures)

The favored memory for us... building cities in the leaves.

We lived in our "blue house" which had a massive back yard perfect for a herd of children with imaginations running wild.  We designed intricate cities, houses, rooms, and streets out of leaves and dirt with rakes and shovels.  In these make believe places, we rode our bikes, pulled our wagons, and played for hours. 

I, honestly, cannot remember details of what we did for those hours upon hours, but I do remember spending forever on bikes riding around the "streets" visiting other "houses".  I am sure with my brothers hilarious sense of humor and imaginative storytelling, we must have had some hysterical stories and laughter.

So for me, seeing that fall is almost here, once I see the leaves start changing, this will be the thing that continues to come to mind. I cannot wait to run kick a pile of leaves and remember the fun times in the cities with my family.

Summer is Over

I LOVE my job, but knowing the school year is starting back is y u c k! I finished up the summer the best way possible... pack in as much stuff as possible to have a blast.
I got my hair done, dinner with my work bff, girls night out at a Cowboys Preseason game, Dallas and Denton with the fam, and a tea with cheerleaders and their moms.  Talk about a seriously hectic long weekend but I had so much fun.

we had killer seats.

Me and my newly graduated bro!

Hannah and I

Me, Jenny, and Debra at the game

me and my presh nephew

Who Ya Gonna Call

I have always thought I do not believe in ghostly things, or at least I should say I haven't ever had any encounters to make me think about them.  My sis, Beks, is pretty hardcore into ghostly shows and the like, so she is the closest thing I have to an expert. I usually get too freaked out (overactive imagination) to handle even the tamest of ghost shows and stories... give me zombies, vampires, or gory war movies any day over ghosts.

So I was recently asked to house sit for a couple of months.  It's a super nice place, but is a pretty huge spread.  So from the first nights I was here, strange stuff kept happening.   I would hear voices around the house-sometimes multiple people having conversations, other times just a man's voice.  At first I thought it was the computer in the office having issues with pop-up ads or something, so I muted the sound.  This seemed to help, but then the voices came back! Most of the time it's just a loud booming man's voice, but sometimes he brings friends. 

Before you say "This is just your overactive imagination", other people have experienced the stuff I am talking about while they have been at the house so I have witnesses.


Other random strange things that happen, and they sometimes happen at the same time with the voices.

• Doors opening and shutting-plus knocking on doors.
• Shower turns itself off, on multiple occasions.
• Sinks turning on and off, over and over.
• Internal intercom systems makes clicking buzzing sounds (even though its off!)
• Lights turning on and off in different parts of the house.

Don't get me wrong-this is weird stuff, but I am NOT scared by whatever it is. Just fascinated and I want answers!!! (Plus this makes a great addition to Beks ghost story collection.)
I thought I would just put this out there. Everyone I tell about it is always wants more details so I will update as stuff goes on OR if we find an answer.

 "We came, we saw, we kicked its butt!"

seven twenty five

Many times I cannot recall exact memories or stories from when I was younger, I just don't have that kind of recall. So when people tell stories about something from when they were younger or about some long past memory, I usually strain to think of what I might have been doing about that time in my life.

Even important dates don't always stick in the right spot on the memory timeline. My previous birthdays have begun to run together. Oh some stand outs do pop up ... A costume party, a race car cake, and the like.
I guess my brain is so filled with trival facts that it has done a disk cleanup on dates and memories.
However I know of one very important date that sticks in my mind...

July 25, 2007.

I can tell you what i did this day in great detail. My future sister in law Kelley had spent the night and we got up super early. We got dresses in our matching tshirts-one of the few tunes I would willingly abd proudly wear a tshirt. We jumped in the car and headed across town. It was still dark when we arrived at our destination.
Now the big event wasn't even scheduled for hours but I was acting like a manical crazed teenager about to see my favorite movie star or singer. I wanted to be there before any of the action started, I wanted to get my seat and not miss a minute. Do I sound obsessed? Yes I'm sure I do. And I am okay with that.
Sooo other people start arriving... Friends, family, food deliveries. We all camped out in the waiting area awaiting the big moment. Hours pass and time moves so slow. We try playing cards, which I have no patience for on a normal day, and as always with my family, we eat, tell stories, and laugh.

Finally a little after 3pm, we hear it's time!!!

We line up like cattle down the hallway. Of course, MD (mom & dad) get to go first, but quickly it's my turn. I think I may have run down that hallway into the room. Finally the time has arrived and I have added another piece to who I am.
Daughter. Sister. Friend.

This one I've waited for since I was a small child. It's been my biggest dream for as long as I can remember. I didn't want to be a doctor, lawyer, astronaut, or the like.
I am an AUNT!!!

I have never experienced a feeling quite like the first moment I saw Garrett. Talk about love at first sight.
(My poor sister had just given birth and I don't think I spoke to her for the first few minutes I was in the room.)
I cannot describe how amazing and fun the last three years have been watching this child grow and cannot wait to be there the rest of my life.
And today my amazing, hysterically funny, full of life, beautiful nephew turns 3! Gee loves you more than you'll ever know.

Happy birthday, Garrett Keith!

Three D

Am I the only one who cannot see anything cool when watching 3D movies?I wear the glasses, try sitting in different spots, but never can see an extra dimension?!
Sorta annoying to have to pay that extra fee for glasses and never see stuff cool like the other peeps.
Ahhh well Despicable Me was cute and very funny regardless.

The cuteness that is my nephew must be shared. :)

Garrett and Gee (me) at Cherokee Trace Drive Thru Safari

Same Page ... New Start

Well I have been meaning to restart my blogging, but never actually sat down to do it until today! Finally, slacker no more...As always there are many random thoughts popping through my mind but I am going to try to wrangle it in until I get my blogging skills back.

My Top Five Thoughts Today 

(thus far)

1. Why do people, who live on a volcanic mountain that is about to explode, leave their children at home to go discuss the said volcano blowing??? Really... Is that wise parenting?

2. Can some people really not separate fact from fiction?  There are intelligent well documented historical books  and then there are books that are complete figments of imagination, but all in all there is one I would allow to affect my life and choices... Don't base your life on the wrong thing.

3. Any ideas on how to make hair grow faster? I want my long hair back and it is not getting there as fast as I would like.  I guess I could go ahead and fake it with extensions...

4. How does me having tattoos qualify as a Rebel?  Webster's definition of a Rebel is "a : opposing or taking arms against a government or ruler b : of or relating to rebels : disobedient, rebellious"  Sure does not sound like me at all... Ahh well cultivating a new side of my personality, I guess.

5.  I just finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and LOVED it.  It was very thought provoking, entertaining, and fun. Plus now I have I must live in Europe at some point...  Here is a quote from the book which I identified with a lot.

"Traveling is the great true love of my life. 

I have always felt...that to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.  

I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been love and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feel about her impossible, colicky, retless newborn baby-I just don't care what it puts me throught. Because I adore it.  Because it's mine.  Because it looks exactly like me.  It can barf all over me if it wants to-I just don't care."