Fun Times in Houston!!

Last Friday morning, I headed south to visit with some old friends and to get to know some new ones. It was a great weekend! I didn't get to visit with everyone I had wanted to, but that just gives me an excuse to go back sometime. I'm almost ALWAYS up for a road trip!! :~)

Friday night, we went to my FAVORITE Tex-Mex restaurant, Gringo's, in Houston. YUM!! I ate WAY too much, but I enjoyed every minute of stuffing myself! Saturday we had a lazy morning, which was perfect. That night, a friend from my time in Livingston (who now lives in Houston) had her birthday party. (Happy Birthday, Kristin! . . . if you're reading this) :-) It was fun to get to know so many people that night. I realized too late that I forgot to get my camera out. But, if you have a facebook account, you can see pictures on Mandy's page.

Sunday was full of church activities and Sunday afternoon napping (after what was in my opinion a very late night on Saturday). I got to go back to the church I attended my last semester of nursing school, UBC. Good times! Like a lot of the more traditional churches, they've started offering a more contemporary worship service. Growing up in a traditional church, that's what I was used to (my comfort zone) until I went to college and attended a non-traditional church. I love both! I enjoy the classic hymns - the authors of those songs were incredibly talented! I also enjoy the more contemporary music that this type of service offers. My ideal worship service is a combination of the two, but I digress. I think this type of service is a way to follow in Christ's footsteps - meet the people where they are. Some people are more likely to come to this more relaxed service and hear the Gospel than one that's more tame (for lack of a better word). I'm very grateful that churches are ministering to different types of people in these ways.

We got to attend the more contemporary service on Sunday night, and WOW! The message the pastor gave was great! It was about worship, and he had us do an activity where we write down how we worship - individually and corporately. We were given a blank page, a pen, and 5 minutes to write down everything that came to our minds when we thought of the phrase: I worship when . . .

I liked it because it made me actually look at how I worship - how often, in what circumstances (ie good times/bad times), places I find most worshipful, etc. It's an interesting exercise if you ever find yourself with 5 minutes of free time, a piece of paper, and a pen. :-)

I thought I'd share some of my list that I made that evening.

I worship when . . . (and these are in no particular order)

• I'm by myself on a beach watching and listening to the waves come in
• I see a healthy newborn baby
• I am surrounded by fellow believers worshipping, and I can just sit and listen to them praising our Savior
• I am on a long drive and can sing at the top of my lungs (completely uninhibited)
• God shows me a verse or reminds me of one that is exactly what I need at that moment

Two Freebirds' meals and one night of sleep later, I left Houston to come back home . . . by way of Galveston. (yeah, I know it's not really on the way) :-) I'm not sure when the last time was that I got to visit the island, so I thought I'd drive around to see the changes. One HUGE change was that Chili's has invaded the island!! For the longest, one family pretty much owned the restaurant part of the island, and they wouldn't allow a chain like that to enter. Well, I guess their day has passed because I saw a billboard advertising Chili's on the island. Hmmm! Another important change was that The Spot now has a roof over the "poop deck". For those of you who've never had the pleasure of eating a "Spot burger", they're very good! But, it was never a good idea to eat it on the upstairs, outdoor deck overlooking the ocean because with the beach comes the seagulls. YUCK!! Never a good combination! It was nice to drive around the old stomping grounds for a little while. Then, it was time to get back home.

It was a wonderful weekend!! Too bad weekends are only 2 days long. We could have used more play time. Well, I hope you have a great week!

A Day of Remembrance . . .

Aggie Muster

"Softly call the Muster, let comrade answer 'Here'..."

Change is . . . GOOD!

Shocked to hear that phrase from me? Well, this past weekend wasn't what we had planned, but we had a blast!





My dad had a conference to attend in Chicago over the weekend, so my mom and I decided to tag along to play in downtown. Well, apparently American Airlines had other plans for us . . . and thousands of other people! :~) As you've probably guessed, our flights were cancelled, and my dad was barely able to get a flight into Chicago so he could attend the conference. My mom and I weren't able to get flights, so we decided to play in the Dallas area . . . more specifically Irving/Grapevine. All in all, it probably worked out for the best after the treadmill incident that occurred earlier in the week. (suffice it to say I should actually pay attention to what I'm doing while running instead of playing with my Ipod) I really didn't need to be traipsing around downtown Chicago for 3 days on a sore/swollen knee.










Friday morning - LONG before the sun was up - my dad left the hotel to catch his flight. Mom and I got up much later and decided to go shopping at Grapevine Mills Mall. I'd forgotten how GINORMOUS this mall is!! About six hours after arriving (and having only covered about half of the mall!), we had to leave so we could get to our next adventure on time . . . A RANGERS' GAME!! :-)

This is us sporting our new 'ratty' baseball caps . . . free gifts with purchase!!!! (can't get much better than that!) You can click here to see the professional picture of us that their photographer took. It wasn't the best game - we lost to the Toronto BlueJays!!!! (can't get much lower than that!). And it wasn't a close game where we just came up a little short. We lost 8-4. Oh well.

It was fun to watch, and we had a great view of the field from our seats by the left field foul pole. We had a great time in spite of the poor game. There was a group of highschoolers to our left that decided to get the wave started. It actually went around a few times before everyone lost interest.

Saturday, we went back to the mall to shop the other half. One of my friends and her youngest son met us there. It was fun to visit with her and play with Joel. Again, many hours later, we all left the mall for our homes. Mom and I got back to Tyler late that evening with all of our spoils . . . COMPLETELY exhausted! We unpacked, and I propped up my leg which was a bit sore after gimping around the mall for two days in a row. :)



Sunday morning, we got up and went to church with my Grandaddy and Granny Shirley. They celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary last Wednesday! CONGRATS!! They both looked SO HAPPY! I had planned to take my camera with me so I could get their picture at the front of the church while they were sang to. (At their church, if it's your birthday or anniversary week, you go to the front, and the entire congregation sings "Happy Birthday/Happy Anniversary" to you.) But, in the rush of getting ready, I forgot to put it in my purse. Sorry, no pictures . . .



After church, we all went to a favorite fish restaurant for lunch. Needless to say, when mom and I got home that afternoon, we just rested after all the activity of the past few days.



Yesterday, my dad arrived back at the Tyler airport. YEA! And now, it's back to life as usual . . . at least for them. I'm still off work for a few more weeks. :-)



It wasn't what we had planned for the weekend, but it was a great time! So, change can be good every once in a while! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Precious Moments

The' Final Four' has nothing on my Evan . . . Check out that shot! Tuesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to have lunch with one of my wonderful friends from college and her two little boys. (who lovingly call me "Aunt Jenn") :~)





After having fun in the McDonald's Playland, we went back to their house so they could run off some more energy before 'rest time'. Evan pulled out the basketball goal and proceeded to "practice dribbling so I can get good at it" (a direct quote that I thought was too cute!) He finally shot a couple of baskets so I could get some pictures. It's SO hard to believe he's almost 5 . . . my 1st 'nephew'! Where does the time go?!?



The boys decided they wanted to "climb" the peach tree again, which consists of their mom putting them in the perfect little boy sized notch. :) So, Aunt Jenn pulled out her camera again to get some pictures of the "tree climbers". It was such a nice day outside with a breeze, but as you can see by the sweaty little boys, they were playing HARD that afternoon!





Joel came and sat down by Me & Melissa after a little bit, and we got a close up view of how filthy he'd gotten in such a short amount of time. Little boys are truly amazing when it comes to dirt, mud, and playing outside. It made me think of that old rhyme:

What are little boys made of?
Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails,
And that are little boys made of.

Melissa called me yesterday morning to let me know that when Joel was thanking God for the food Tuesday night at dinner, he also thanked God for letting me "come play" that day. Talk about making my heart swell with joy!! What a precious little boy.







Later that evening, I headed up to Allen where my sister and brother-in-law live. It was WONDERFUL to get to see my sister feeling better! What an answer to SO MANY PRAYERS!!!! :-) The three of us got to visit a little while before Amy & I left for our sister tradition . . . Studio Movie Grill. (where you sit and eat dinner while watching a movie on the big screen) Back when we both lived full time in the Dallas area, we'd go to this fun place for dinner and a movie about once a week. While in training at the gym, we'd use this night as our "cheat night" . . . the one day a week where we could eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that we were having to do without the other six days. We SO looked forward to these days!! Our trainer was so proud. :D So, Tuesday night, we went to see Leatherheads . Apparently, this movie isn't getting great ratings from the official critics out there, but my sister and I give it an ecstatic TWO BIG TOES UP!!!! We laughed so hard throughout the movie that our stomachs hurt when we left. It was kinda like exercising. It was like old times. :D






Yesterday, after running some errands, I got to go to my Mamma Granny & Papa Art's house for a visit and some fried fish (more specifically, my Papa Art's famous crappie)!! YUMMY!! Their place on Lake Fork is just beautiful, and with all the recent rains, everything was a gorgeous shade of green. It was so nice to sit and visit with them for a few hours. Good times!

Priceless Memories . . .

I've enjoyed dancing since I took some classes in college for my PE courses. (I know . . . not the typical PE class, but it IS me. Since when do I do the typical thin?) :-) My parents started taking dance classes last year as a birthday present to my mom from my dad. They've gotten really good. I'm SO impressed!

Thursday night, their class and another had a "dance party". This is where two of the couples rent out a dance hall, bring in drinks and snack foods, and play music for everyone to practice and have fun. The three of us went and had a great time! People of ALL skill level were there, so no one felt uncomfortable. We met some really sweet people that go to my parents' church who had just had their 3rd lesson that afternoon. All the way to the instructors and their 'significant others' who are VERY good! It was fun.

Of course, I took my camera as is my habit these days WHEREVER I go! :-) I took a small video clip of my parents dancing, but it was too dark to be able to see what was going on. As usual, the dance floor wasn't really well lit, so photography wasn't the best. In case you can't tell, the top two pictures are my parents, and the bottom one is me and my dad. I think we were doing the 'west coast swing' in this picture.

I hope you have a terrific weekend!!

Road Trip Days 4 & 5

Well, I went to be early last night and forgot to update on 'day 4', so this will be a double duty post. :)

Yesterday morning, I got to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN!! Much to my surprise and joy, they had a special section dedicated to Marty Robbins (probably best known for his song "El Paso"). I just love his voice, so I went straight for that exhibit when I arrived. It had some of his rather outlandish costumes - complete with rhinestones and matching, flamboyant boots. It was clearly a different time!! It also had several of his songs playing in the background so I could just sit and listen for a while. :-)

The museum has several famous people's guitars, fiddles, and banjos on display. It also has two cars. One of them (I don't remember who it belonged to) had guns for all the door handles, window knobs, and hood ornament, as well as a few sporadically placed all over the car. Very interesting . . .

Right next to it, they had Elvis' gold plated Cadillac and grand piano. WOW! The gold plated hubcaps are a bit much for me, but I'd take that piano in a heartbeat!!

The actual Hall of Fame with all the plaques is the last stop on the tour. Much to my disappointment, my batteries ran completely out just after entering here. Once again, great planning on my part (a bit reminiscent of when Papa Bush came to A&M to dedicate his library . . . but that's a story for another time). I did have just enough battery to get one shot of me with George Strait's induction plaque. YEA!!

After my fun there in the capital of country music, I headed west yet again to end up in Little Rock, AR, for the night. Sorry, no fun stories from there . . .

Today, I got up early to finish what was starting to feel like the never ending journey back to Texas. I got home this afternoon to see my parents' Aggie Flag waving proudly over the front porch. What a nice welcome home!! I'm about to go have dinner with my Papa Joe for his birthday, so I'll sign off for now.

On a side note - I just found out today that my next (and most likely last) travel assignment will be back in Virginia . . . I just can't seem to tear myself away from the Atlantic coast!! This time, though, I'll actually be working in VA so I won't have to fight the DC traffic everyday. YEA, ME!!!! More on this later.

Have a great day!