Happy Halloween!

Another fun weekend has come and gone. My mom came in town while my dad went on his annual fun trip with his friends. Friday night she babysat Kaitlyn while James and I went with some friends to the Abilene High/Cooper football game. It was sooo fun! There were over 15,000 people there easy. Too bad it was a blowout 40-0 AHS. That's who we were going for, but I like to see some competition!! We had fun though, watching all of the CRAZY fans, cheerleaders, students, and the game, of course. While we were at the game, Kaitlyn wanted to be a clown - her halloween costume. My mom put her in it for the first time - painted face and all. She said she just kept looking in the mirror at herself - not quite sure of what she was looking at!






Saturday morning we hung around the house and played with Kaitlyn. She loves when anyone comes to visit!! We made a good breakfast - Kaitlyn's new favorite thing is to crack eggs into a bowl. She is pretty good at it! As soon as she went down for her nap - mom and I went on a mission to find Kaitlyn her "big girl" bed. We started off with just some used furniture places... ads in the paper, etc. I wanted to get her a full size bed if possible. However, as we looked we remembered that we already had some queen mattresses that were being stored in our shed in the backyard. SO.. if we didn't have to buy mattresses, we could get a nicer bed! So, we found the cutest rod iron queen size head board and footboard at Gallery Furniture. I love it!! They even delivered it and put it together that same day! It's a huge bed, for such a little girl - but she will never grow out of it! :) It looks really cute in her room. She's just getting so big.... I want her to stop growing up!

Saturday was also James' last soccer game with the Butterflies. They did great! I don't even think the other team scored! They came in second place for the season - only losing 2 games. Those sweet girls (and their parents) really loved James. Many of the girls don't have good father figures in their lives, and it was neat to see them latch on to James. We are having an ice cream party at our house on Tuesday to celebrate and pass out their trophys. Until next season...

Saturday night we went to Mr. Gatti's for dinner. It was a mad house in there! They were having some Halloween costume contest that we did not know about. Sensory overload! Kaitlyn loved playing the games. Her favorites were ski-ball (where she tried to just walk up the thing and drop it in the highest hole), and the game where you bang the alligators on the head when they pop out. It was fun watching her play and have a good time! Some nice people even gave her their tickets - so Kaitlyn got to pick out some fun toys from the prize counter.

Sunday was good at church. She lasted until halfway through the sermon!! The longest ever! At that point she just said, "I'm all done with this. I need to go to class now." And off she went!! She has really loved her bible class - and even yelled "I LOVE YOU!" to her teachers as we left. Sweet girl...

We went to the park Sunday afternoon where she almost knocked herself out like 37 times. She has no fear. She will just jump off the tallest thing and hope she catches a bar to swing on. She found a fake spider ring on the ground that she attached herself to.

Sunday night was our small group Halloween party. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up in their costumes! All the kids looked so cute. James and I weren't going to dress up, but we feared we would be the only ones that didn't, so at the last minute we threw on 2 of his Manchester United jerseys and went as soccer fans. Original. I know.





Back at work now. Tonight is our carnival at church and maybe some Trick or Treating after.

I will post more pictures to our Flickr thing during lunch time, so check back for some cute ones!

Have fun today!!

Going to work with Dad

Kaitlyn went to work with her Daddy today. She was SO excited. James usually has a very light day on Fridays, so he thought it would be fun to have Kaitlyn tag along. I'm anxious to hear how it goes, and if James' customers bought more food because he had a sweet little girl with him. She is pretty persuasive!

I remember getting to go to work with my dad. He drives around in a big truck - and I mean BIG - and sells electrical supplies. He has done this faithfully for over 20 years. It was so much fun to get to ride with him, and sit up high in his truck. Sometimes he would even let me type the invoices on his computer. (That's a high tech way of saying he let me push "Enter" a few times) But that made me feel special. I even got to go inside some of his customers buildings with him. He was always so proud to tell people who I was - and that, too, made me feel special!

There was a time in my life though, where my dad had to take me to Jr. High in his enormous truck. Any of you remember your Jr. High years? I mean, who wasn't the biggest dork? I know I was. I made my dad drop me off way over on a side of the school where no one could see. That makes me feel so sad now! I remember there was another girl who's dad drove a truck similiar to my dads and we would sometimes be dropped off on the side of the school building together.
But looking back now, I am so proud of my dad and the work that he does. He can take me driving in his truck any day - and I will totally think it is cool.

Kaitlyn got to ride in her Pappy's truck last time we were in Lubbock. Yes, he sure did strap her carseat into the seat right next to him. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever seen. They both had huge smiles on their faces when they drove back up in the drive way. I'm sure she will continue to love playing in his truck as she grows up. My brother and I used to play "ambulance" in the back of it. When Neil and I moved away to college - a little boy down the street asked my dad to come speak at his elementary school about his job. This little boy said he wanted to grow up and sell stuff like my dad. He was so proud of it! My dad went - and I'm sure did an awesome job. This little boy would come down to my dad every once in awhile with a dollar or two in hand, wanting to buy stuff off my dads truck. My dad was so good about making that little boy feel special - and giving him just the right item for whatever project he was working on.

All of this to say - I love you Dad! I am so proud of the work that you do! But more than that - what you taught me and Neil about loyalty, making work fun, ministering to others through your job, and not letting your job take prioritiy over your family.

I am thankful that Kaitlyn is with James today. I hope there are many more days like that in the future. I pray that she grows up with an appreciation for what her dad does to support our family.

Ramblings

I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments, and seeing who stops my to read about what is going on in our lives.

I have severe "bloggers block" as Kristen once called it. I can't think of anything interesting to write about, and I haven't taken any new pictures lately. I guess I'll just list a few things that are going on...

1. It's POURING down rain. I love the rain!

2. Kaitlyn has somehow made it into our bed every night for the past 2 weeks. We just wake up in the morning and she's there with whatever stuffed animal or toy that she brings.

3. I still have not bought a Halloween costume for Kaitlyn. My next opportunity is tomorrow during lunch. I hope there is still somewhat of a selection! I doubt it though...

4. Friday night James and I are going to the much anticipated Abilene High/Cooper football game. It's already sold out... West Texas football is so much fun!

5. I went to church by myself last night so Kaitlyn could go to be early.. she only had about a 45 minute nap at school. (I guess that is what you get when you have a Fall party with lots of sweets right before nap time) But, when I got home she was still awake, so I went into her room to lay down with her for a little bit. She is always so talkative late at night. This was our conversation - not really funny, but just sweet:

"You went to church Mommy?"
"Yes, I did."
"You sang songs?"
"Yes."
"You read your bible?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Jesus?"
Totally choking back tears, "Well, Jesus lives in our hearts, but I saw a picture of Jesus, and we talked about Jesus."
"Oh. Okay. Did you sit in your chair?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Scott and Canyon and Teacher Sheryl?"
"No, but I saw a lot of other people."
"Okay. Bye. Bye."

So sweet... I love this time in her life where she talks so much, and asks so many questions! I'm afraid of the day when I don't know how to answer a question that I should know the answer to.

Why God thought I deserved Kaitlyn is beyond me. There is no greater blessing!

Who Are You?

Okay, I've seen this post on several other blogs. I can't think of anything to blog about today, so I'm using this as a cop out. Plus, I really do want to know who all reads this blog. I have had over 1,100 hits just since the 14th. So, if you are reading this - take just a second and leave me a comment, so I know who you are! (Sara D., this means you too.)
How did you find my blog and why do you read it?

Have a good Wednesday!

Blessed

What an amazing weekend! Our family was, yet again, in three different place. I went on the Ladies retreat with our church, Kaitlyn spent the weekend with my parents, and James stayed home for some much deserved rest.

The ladies retreat was incredible. I could write and write about everything we did, but it's just one of those things you just have to experience. There were 6 girls from our class at church that went, and then many other women of all different ages. It was so neat to get to interact with these amazingly smart, wise women. The weekend was spent looking at the story of the Woman at the Well. I have read that bible story numerous times, but left the retreat with a much fuller, in depth appreciation for it.



I literally feel closer to Jesus. I think that I have just been carrying him around in my back pocket - only choosing to take Him out when I need him - not allowing him to be with me every second. He longs to be with me always... He wants me to meet him face to face, and not run past him - as the woman at the well did.

I feel like I made 6 new best friends! It's amazing what just 2 days can do to a friendship! I also feel like I have about 50 other women at the church that I can call on for anything. Highland is such a personal, inviting, warm, friendly church. I truly feel like this is where James and I are supposed to be. I feel like I can finally say - this is our home church. This is where we are welcomed by others, and this is where we will serve. This is where Kaitlyn will grow up. This may be where our children will be baptized. This is where many strong friendships will be established, and grow stronger through the years.


I came home from the weekend, totally exhausted and emotionally drained. But I also came home to a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and a clean house!!




Have a good Monday!

I'm so Lonely

So Leslie is out of town, kaitlyn is out of town. Party time!!! . . . Nope. Too quiet. I miss some things on the weekend

I miss:
Kaitlyn's footsteps around the house
Leslie telling me to go do something
Kaitlyn always wanting to go outside
Leslie telling me to get that bug
Kaitlyn wanting to do "flips"
Leslie groaning when Kaitlyn jumps on her stomache
Kaitlyn spilling half of dinner on the floor
Leslie looking for some sort of activity to go to
Kaitlyn walking around in my shoes
Leslie wearing my shirts

That is just what I miss up till now. She gets back tomorrow around noon and then we go get Kaitlyn. She cleaned up the house real nice and I plan to keep it that way.

On the way to dropping Kaitlyn off in Synder (where I met up with the in-laws) Kaitlyn was in her cute moods where she talks and sings to herself. She told me that she was a sugar bear. I said "Sugar Bear?" She said," I'm daddy's Sugar Bear!" She's right. Then she proceeded to sing the I love you song to about every person in our immediate family. Then she wanted participation from me and would sing the song and only say half of their first name and I was to fill in the rest. I did ok for a while but then I missed one. She sang I love you Pa . . . ppa (that's what I said). She stopped and corrected me by saying not Pappa but Pappy. I apologized and we continued with Pappa coming up next.

So to summerize I miss my ladies and now I have two women correcting me at the house.

Good day dear diary

To Be a Mom

I received this in an email a long time ago. I was re-reading it this morning and just decided to post it. You may have read it before - and I am mostly putting in on here just so I have it saved somewhere. I'm sure many of you moms have felt many of these feelings before, and if you're not a mom quite yet - you will feel them soon enough!!

We were sitting at lunch on day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of starting a family.

"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. "I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?"

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "MOM!" will cause her to drop a souffle; or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for child-care, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never fell the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a Cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings. This blessed gift from God...
That of being a Mother.

She keeps growing and growing....

So, today is picture day. I took Kaitlyn out last night to try and find her 2 cute outfits. Yes two. They take group pictures today and tomorrow to accomodate for both the MWF kids and the TR kids.

This is the first time I have actually taken Kaitlyn into the dressing room to try on clothes. It's been awhile since I have bought her any, so I thought we had better make sure they fit. She has always had a very long body and short legs, so I grabbed some 2T and 3T pants. I literally could not even pull them up and once I did they were way too short. I was sweating trying to pull them up on her, and she is CRACKING UP. I was thinking, what girl starts laughing when she can't pull her pants up all the way b/c they are too tight? I mean, Kaitlyn thought this was the funniest thing ever. She had the full blown belly laugh going. I'll remind her of that about 20 years down the road when she goes to try on clothes.

I finally got 2 sweet outfits with size 4T pants. I also found her some cute shoes that will hopefully replace the Hello Kitty plastic rainboots that she wears EVERYWHERE now.

Now, if Ms. Sheryl can just keep her clip in her hair until the picture has been taken....

My little Scarecrow

Yesterday, Kaitlyn was quite the talkative little girl. When James got her from Rainbow School her face was all painted. She said that teacher Sheryl had made her a scarecrow. Later, I took Kaitlyn with me to the store. When we were in the frozen food aisle, I saw a mom with her 2 kids. Kaitlyn said, "Hi Robin!" (By the way, Robin was the boy. Random name for a boy, but oh well.) I introduced myself to his mom and asked her if his face was painted when she picked him up today. She said no.

On the way home I asked Kaitlyn if teacher Sheryl painted Robins face, and Kaitlyn - in her longest phrase yet, said "No. Robin is in the Bears class, he has Teacher Audra. I'm in the Ducks class -quack quack. I have teacher Sheryl. Sheryl only painted my face because I'm in the Ducks class - quack quack."

I about died laughing. You just had to hear the tone of her voice when she said it to get the full effect. But that girl cracks me up.

In the bath tub she just cried and cried when I washed her face. She just kept saying, "I want my scarecrow back...."

Maybe that's what she could be for halloween...

Whew! I'm Tired!

What a weekend.... to say that I am tired is a HUGE understatement. We had so much fun - but I am beat! Here are the highlights:

* Friday night carnival on campus at ACU. So many fun things for kids - bounce houses, face painting, games, food... all free!! Kaitlyn was terrified of Willie the Wildcat. That was a funny picture.

* Our friends Andy and Amy Bowman came to stay with us Friday night! Amy turned our guest bedroom into a hospital. She was popping all sorts of pills, giving herself shots, hooking herself to some breathing machine.... good grief!! Stay healthy for that baby Amy!! We were so glad they stayed with us!




* Friday night Kaitlyn (after about 2 1/2 weeks) realized her fish, Gill wasn't in her room anymore. That totally took me off guard. She just asked, "Where did Gill go?" Amy chimed in - your daddy took him away. Nice. Kaitlyn just said, "Oh, okay."

* James enjoyed lots of "guy time" with his friends.

* Siggie breakfast at 6:30 Saturday morning. It was fun to see my cousin Brenna singing her little tired heart out on the steps. Only 4 girls were there from my class, but I hung out with all the girls that are a year or two older than me. Shout out to Amanda, Ginger, Becky, Sarah C., Kacy, Rene.....



* The parade around campus was great. Kaitlyn loved it. We taught her how to make the Wildcat sign with her hands and say, "Go Wildcats!" Pretty cute.

* It's always fun to walk around the parade and see tons of friends that you never get to see. It was such a pretty day - we had a blast out there. Siggies float was pretty dang cute - but Kojies won. Siggies got homecoming queen though! :)

* Saturday afternoon James went to his soccer game and I hung out at home with my Grandmother and my cousin Taylor. I even squeezed a 20 minute nap in while I was there. Later, Ashley and Cody Nelson came over to get ready for the 5 year reunion dinner. I love that girl!! She cracks me up. It was neat to get to chat with Cody for awhile too!

* The reunion dinner was fun. James has some WAY fun girls in his class that I got to hang out with. Another shout out to Jennifer, Shanta, Kacy, Katie, Kimberly.... We took some pretty funny pictures.




* When we got home, Kaitlyn was still awake. She was smiling so big and just kept saying, "I was born!! I was born on my birthday! I was born!..." Totally random, but pretty funny.

* Also, on Thursday night when I was giving Kaitlyn a bath she was counting 1-10... so out of the blue I just said, can you count to 10 in Spanish? We have been working on it just a little bit here and there - but nothing consistent. The girl just took off and said it perfectly. It was pretty funny. Now, everytime she counts anything - she counts in spanish.

*Church on Sunday was awesome as usual! Mike talked about blessed are those who are persecuted, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. He showed this video of a married couple who were held captive for their belief for an entire year. The husband was eventually killed. She has just written a book about her time there. Just when I thought I had a lot to worry about....

* After church I got in the car and drove to Lubbock for a wedding shower of a girl that I grew up with. I saw some good friends that I had no idea would be there. So fun! After the shower my parents took me to Applebees for a nice dinner.

* After my dad picked a few nice apples off their apple tree for me, and cleaned the windows of my car, I was on my way home!

* I went straight to bed and am still trying to wake up.

* One of my roommates from college - Sara Hejl - had her baby on Sunday!!! Happy Birthday Cooper!!

It was a totally packed, but VERY fun weekend!

Need Some Understanding

Leslie complains EVERY season about having nothing to wear. I complain about her complaining every season about her having nothing to wear.

My question to her is this, "Why do you need to go shopping every season?"

Her response, "I'm a girl"

She said if I didn't believe her that I should make a post about it and see what comes up. You see what this crazy blog has done to my ability to make points. I am now incorporating the opinion of "crazy women" to back me up on this. No way!

When I shop I purchase neutral colors and patterns that do not look trendy and cannot be dated. On the othehr hand, she likes to buy prints and designs that will never be worn again because they are dated. We have homecoming this weekend and apparently her closet is empty and shows no signs of winter clothes (it has done this every winter we have been married). My winter clothes just recently came out of the box she put them in.

Am I crazy or does it really take the opinion of women to help me sort this out.

PS I am a tough guy.

Memories!

This weekend in ACU Homecoming. I am totally excited, but really sad that many of my girlfriends from my year can't come back! Coming to work today I noticed purple and white streamers on all of the light posts, huge canopy tents all over campus, buildings decorated.... everyone is in the spirit! It is also ACU's Centennial year - 100 years!

On this memorable occasion, I thought I would just share some of my favorite memories from college.

Freshman Year:

Feeling totally overwhelmed at Welcome Week
I went pot-luck on my roommate who transfered out of ACU at semester. She didn't like the rules.
Meeting Meredith Speck (Clayton) on the basketball court. (I had just got a REALLY bad haircut)
I worked at TCBY
Went on a Spring Break Campaign to Chicago
Went with a totally random group of friends to my uncles lakehouse at Possum Kingdom.
Meredith and I went back by ourselves and had a near death experience with a dog named Killer.
For Sing Song we were teeth. Wore huge cardboard cut outs of teeth. We though we were awesome. Not so much.

Sophomore Year:

Pledging! I pledged Sigma Theta Chi.

Bid Night - my bid-night buddy was Meredith. She put so much afro sheen in my hair - it was greasy for weeks.

This is the year that I met my best friends. Friends that I will have for the rest of my life.

Went on a Spring Break Campaign to Nashville, TN where a bunch of us got tattoos. (We all got an Icthus (sp?) on our ankle. That was a fun experience.

Road trip to Muleshoe!

Porch parties outside of Sara and Noelle's room. Listening to awesome 80's music.

For class Sing Song we were police officers, for club we were Annie. That was a bad year for Siggies.

Junior Year:

I lived in the L-house with Sara, Sara, Noelle, and Stacy. SO much fun! It had an awesome porch with 2 swings. We hung out out there practically every night.

I remember the night we all waited nervously before finding out that Sara made Sing Song hostess!!

Road trips to Emory, San Antonio, Galveston, Tennessee

Watching FRIENDS on Thursday nights at Angie, Hayley, Julie and Cara's house.

I took a summer mission trip to Asia where I visited Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Phillipines.

Was a counselor at Leadership Camps.

James and I started dating 2 weeks before school was out.

For class Sing Song we were Egyptians, for club we were Chili Peppers.

Senior Year:

I lived with Cortni in Riatta Ranch apartments. (I moved a lot!)

I remember having so much fun playing intramural football and basketball. James and his friend Brandon Stover were our coaches. That was the funniest thing ever. They went to Goodwill and bought yellow sweaters to wear for the games. Or they dressed in their nicest suits.

I developed an awesome friendship with Julie!!

Cortni and I DROVE from Abilene to Virginia for Travis and Kelly's wedding. That was a great experience - one that is recorded on video.

For class Sing Song we were Greek People, and Siggies were Cowgirls.

Going on walks with Meredith around campus.

These are just a FEW of my memories. I absolutely loved ACU and wish everyone could experience college here. I loved going to chapel everyday at 11:00 and listening to4000 people sing. I loved having professors that knew you by name, and you could call them by their first name. I loved that many of my professors prayed before class, and often had us over for dinner in their homes. I loved listening to the bell tower play hymns before chapel. I am truly blessed and thankful for my parents that allowed me, and sacrificed so much for me to get a Christian education.

Happy Homecoming!!!

No Tears from Kaitlyn!

So, yesterday Kaitlyn and I went to watch James's soccer practice. It was perfect weather outside! Kaitlyn usually does really good and just runs around a plays with whatever kid feels like playing with her. I was keeping a good eye on her while I was talking with one of the moms that was there when I noticed her laying down in the grass. She would lay down, sit up, lay down, sit up. Strange, but Kaitlyn does weird things sometimes. She started walking toward me just staring at her hands and kind of walking funny. When she got to me I noticed that she was COVERED in fire ants. The girl was not crying at all, just watching the ants crawl all over her. Me and this other mom start freaking out, stripping her clothes off and swatting them off of her. By the time it was over she had no less than 20 bites all over her back, tummy and in between all of her little fingers. This mom that was helping me just happened to have Benadryl cream in her bag. The bites look much better today, but her little hands are still kind of swollen. Poor girl!

WOW

WOW. I don't even know where to start. It's been so long since I posted! What a weekend.....
The Zoe Conference was absolutely awesome. It was so refreshing to just spend time in prayer, praise and worship and really refocus my attention on what is important in this life. The singing was great, Mike Cope and Jeff Walling were awesome.. and it was SO good to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time.

HOWEVER.. getting to Nashville was the hard part. I am telling you, this was one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had. And I've been a lot of places! The plan was to fly out of DFW to Little Rock, Arkansas at 7:10AM.. arrive at 8:10AM, rent a car and be on my way to Memphis to pick up Julie. So, I get to Little Rock and proceed to rent the car that I had reserved 2 weeks in advance. I was all ready to go when he says, I'm sorry - "I can't rent you this car because the debit card is not in your name." (It just had James Mayo on it, not me) I told him I thought that I was an authorized user, so he calls the bank and they say I am NOT an authorized user. Nice. So.. I ask if I can just give them the money in cash. Nope. Okay - from there I ask the other NINE rental car places if I can rent with either my debit card or cash. All of them say no. I'm sure. I don't understand the problem here. I have money - you have a car. AHH! At this point, I try calling James to see if he has any bright ideas. The cell phone is shut off b/c the bill didn't get there on time. What next??? At this point it is about 10:30. I could have already been in Memphis. I call Sprint to pay the bill and they said they would have my phone turned back on in the stellar time of 4 hours.

I go BACK to Enterprise where I started and literally begged them to find a way for me to rent a car. They tell me if I can give them a $300 cash deposit and a copy of my boarding pass for the flight home, then I can do it. Great. I go to the ATM and withdraw the money. I go to the Southwest ticket counter where they can only print out an itenerary (which I already had). You can't get a boarding pass unless you are 24 hours away from your departure time. I trek back to the nazi's at Enterprise where, shocker, they won't accept an itenerary - it HAS to be the actual boarding pass. I tell them I can't get that because I'm not returning in less than 24 hours. He says he's sorry. He's about to think sorry.

I then begin to freak out. I can't call anyone b/c the phone doesn't work.. I can't leave the airport. I ask the man behind the counter what in the world I am supposed to do and he just says, "Taxi?"

Right. Take a taxi 2 hours to Memphis. Just to humor myself, I go and ask how much that would cost and he said $300. No thanks. I go to a bench and just sit down and cry. How the heck am I going to get out of here? The taxi man came and found me and said he could take me to the Greyhound bus station for $17 and from there I could take the 1:00 bus to Memphis for about $25. What other option do I have?

I get to the bus station. To say that I was in the "hood" is a nice way of putting it. I was the only white person (I am not racist, I promise) and, more importantly, the only girl. I was immediately approached by this scary man that kept saying, "Hey beautiful.. smile." He followed me around everywhere. I bought my ticket and tried to ignore everyone around me. As I am waiting, I am offered cocaine twice, and had a really nice invitation to join a man in his car. A police officer came in with 2 parolees (sp?) that would be traveling on my bus. This is when my brain kicks into gear and I think - I can use the pay phone!!! I don't know why I didn't think of this in the airport. I guess I was just too flustered.

I call my friend Julie - I was totally crying and freaking out. She said, "Call me back in 10 minutes and I will have you a ride." This is where I am SO extremely thankful to be a part of the "church family." Julie and her husband Charles lived in Little Rock before they moved to Memphis. Within 15 minutes, the youth minister of their old church showed up with a car that belongs to another member of their church. They let a perfect stranger take their car to Memphis!! It turns out that the lady who's car I borrowed was already in Nashville at the conference. I could NOT believe it. SO... finally at 1:30PM, I am was my way.

Yikes. Talk about a travel experience. I'll post more about the weekend with some pictures later... just thought I should go ahead and record that story!

I'm a little Freaked Out

My daughter is freaking me out. She has been doing this for a couple of days now. Every time I put her diaper (pull-up) on her she says, "I want my belly button to show!" She pulls it down just enough to where it shows. This morning, she did the same thing when I put her jeans on. She literally cried until she got her pants lowered just enough for her belly button to show. She kept lifting her shirt up to make sure that her pants didn't move up any.

WHAT THE HECK?!?!? What in the world is she going to be like when she's 13?? Is this a sign of what's to come? Did she learn this from some other punk girl in her class??

I'm just a little shocked that at the young age of 2, she is concerned about having low-rise jeans.

Sidenote: I'm so proud of myself for figuring out the Flickr thing. There aren't any new pictures on there, but those are the ones I had at work that I could upload.

ALSO... James, Kaitlyn and I will be 3 separate places this weekend. Pray that we all stay safe! I will be in Tennessee for the Zoe conference, James will be at the lakehouse with his friends from ACU, and Kaitlyn is staying with Nana and Papaw. (James' parents) . We are all leaving tonight and not coming back until late Sunday night. I'm taking Monday off to hang out with Kaitlyn. What will I do with no blogging for 5 whole days??? Surely I can find a computer somewhere in TN!!!

First and Last

I didn't get Tagged or anything, I just saw this on another blog and thought I would do the same. It may be fun to read a few years down the road.

First Memory:
I have a horrible memory. I vaguely remember sharing a room with my brother and we would throw his baby blanket back and forth.

First Kiss:
YUK! This random guy named John something. It was in the 7th grade at the park behind my house. I'm sure my mom was watching the entire time. I remember just running home and swishing my mouth out with sweet tea.

First Concert:
Does Sesame Street Live count? I was 5.

First Love:
My first TRUE love is James. I never truly loved anyone before him. I did have a "boyfriend" a couple of years in Elementary school named Aaron Fowler. In the bottom of one of my drawers in Lubbock it still says, "I love Aaron and he loves me!" Hilarious.

First thing you think in the morning:
How many more times can I hit snooze before I HAVE to get up?

First book you remember loving:
The Three Billy Goats Gruff

First pet:
Jessie Blue. He was some kind of a husky dog. I don't really remember him too much. I do know that my Papa gave me a chick for Easter one year, and Jessie Blue ate him.

First question you'll ask in Heaven:
I have absolutely no idea. Maybe, how in the world am I deserving of this?

First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation:
Here's a few words: sleep, relax, sun, beach, reading lots of magazines, peaceful...

First best friend:
Probably Anna Maria in Elementary school. I haven't talked to her since the 6th grade, but I remember loving spending time with her. She always had really fun toys. I remember very well when her dad died. That is one of the first times I remember being truly sad!

Last time you dressed up:
This morning. I have to dress up every day for work.

Last thing you ate:
Chocolate chip cookie. There is ALWAYS food up here.

Last CD you bought:
Bethany Dillon. I bought it for my parents, but I totally forgot to give it to them when they left on Sunday. Oops. (She's awesome if you're into Contemporary Christian music. She's only 16, but she has an amazing voice)

Last time you cried:
About 2 hours ago. One of those days....

Last time you told someone you loved them:
I told Kaitlyn this morning when I dropped her off at school.

Last really fun thing you did:
Two nights ago I played with Kaitlyn for a really long time. We painted more pumpkins, colored together, made puppets, danced, sang, did puzzles, read books.. man - that girl just has my whole heart!

Last thing you watched on TV:
Oprah. I tivo it and watch it at night before I go to bed.

Last Halloween costume:
Last year our block had a halloween party. I was a hula girl. Thanks to Meredith Moore for lending me the costume!

Last Concert attended:
Ray Charles. James's mom won tickets on the radio and gave them to us. It was actually really good!

I'm not going to TAG anyone, but If you would like to join in, I would love to read it!

I'm Back...

Sorry, I haven't posted in awhile! We had a busy weekend and I was out yesterday, so I am just now at a computer! Let's see...

Friday night we walked over to campus and ate dinner in the Bean Sprout. This is a restaurant-type setting on the bottom floor of the campus center. It is actually really good food, and really cheap! They have a big stage down there for concerts, and even a bowling alley. Kaitlyn loved running all over the stage. After dinner we took Kaitlyn to see Freshman Follies. (A production kind of like Sing Song, except on a MUCH smaller scale that just freshman put on) She loved it! It was actually pretty entertaining. They had free Dr. Pepper and 25 cent popcorn that we enjoyed throughout the show!

On Saturday morning we straightened up the house a bit and ran a few errands. I bought a pumpkin decorating kit for Kaitlyn. It came with paints, stickers, stencils (didn't so much use those) and even a small pumpkin. As soon as we got home she wanted to "paint her pumpkin." It looks pretty dang cute! I'll post pictures tonight.

My parents came in later that morning. I LOVE having them here. My dad is always looking for projects to do - and boy did he have plenty of them! Within 30 minutes of them arriving he had finished replacing the heating element on our drier. Yay! No more laundromat! The other big project was replacing two of our doors. Our bedroom door, and a closet door that is in our dining room. All of the interior doors are very old and just plain brown. So, I was ready for a change! So after much measuring, sawing, and painting, we have two brand new doors. It makes such a difference! Thanks Dad and James! I can't wait to replace the rest of them.

Mom and I had fun chasing Kaitlyn around. She is so much fun right now. (Besides her sleeping - or should I say Non-sleeping habits) She has such a funny personality, and it is so fun to just listen to her talk, sing, pray.... We are so incredibly blessed. I appreciate her life and our love for her more and more every day.

I have a new favorite snack! KETTLE CORN!! I was just introduced to this at work on Friday afternoon. It really is one of the greatest things in the world. Why did I not know about this until now?? I have been deprived for 26 years! I just went on and on about it.. so James bought me an $18 dollar box of it from some Boy Scouts that were selling it outside Walmart on Saturday. Too bad he forgot that we still don't have a microwave! But never fear..my cousin Brenna is near!!! (Okay, that was totally gay) One of her roommates moved out and left her microwave, so I took it! She'll never know....

Anything for my new favorite snack!