Friday, December 29, 2006

I'm a blog slacker...

I know...I have been seriously salcking on the whole blogging thing lately...I just have a boring life...but tune in Monday (maybe Tuesday) for a recap of my Cotton Bowl experience!! Go Auburn!! :D

Friday, December 22, 2006

It's Bowl Season...

The most wonderful time of the year...well for Collin anyway. We go for about 2 1/2 weeks with a college bowl game on just about every day. It's fine for the first few days, but I will have to say I get a little tired of it by the end. We plan everything we do around the bowl schedule. It's all pretty crazy if you ask me.

The whole thing is a lot more fun if your favorite team is in a good bowl. Last year this was the case for Collin and me, our favorite team the Texas Longhorns were playing in the National Championship game vs. USC, who had like a 40+ game winning streak. Texas won...It was amazing. This year; however, is a different story. Texas is playing in the Alamo Bowl vs. Iowa...how boring. And the thing is...it's still questionable if they will win this game. Things just haven't been the same since our beloved Vince decided to go pro.

We do add a little excitement to this time by engaging in a friendly competition to see who can pick the most wins. We have all of Collin's family, Clark’s girlfriend, my brother and me pick who we think will win each of the games and see who comes out on top at the end. I won last year...yay me!! We will just have to wait it out and see who wins this year...I am 1-1 right now.

Well that's all for now...Happy Bowl Season...

Only 3 more days until Christmas...yay!!!!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

I have been named...


Time Magazine's Person of the year!!

How cool is that...well not really that cool because so have millions of other people. What a cop out!! This year instead of picking one person Time magazine has named anyone who uses or has published information on the Internet as the person or I guess it would be people of the year. I think that is so stupid, but whatev nobody asked me what I thought. So, I suppose I will just bask in the glory or this wonderful honor with the rest of the world (because who doesn't use the Internet?!?!)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Chain of Love

Have you ever heard that country song by Clay Walker called "The Chain of Love?" It's a pretty good one!! Here's how it goes...

He was driving home one evening,
In his beat up Pontiac
When an old lady flagged him down,
Her Mercedes had a flat
He could see that she was frightened,
Standing out there in the snow
'Til he said I'm here to help you ma'am,
By the way my name is Joe

She said I'm from St. Louis,
And I'm only passing through
I must have seen a hundred cars go by,
This is awful nice of you
When he changed the tire,
And closed her trunk
And was about to drive away,
She said how much do I owe you
Here's what he had to say

You don't owe me a thing, I've been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

Well a few miles down the road,
The lady saw a small cafe
She went in to grab a bite to eat,
And then be on her way
But she couldn't help but notice,
How the waitress smiled so sweet
And how she must've been eight months along,
And dead on her feet

And though she didn't know her story,
And she probably never will
When the waitress went to get her change,
From a hundred dollar bill
The lady slipped right out the door,
And on a napkin left a note
There were tears in the waitress's eyes,
When she read what she wrote

You don't owe me a thing,
I've been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

That night when she got home from work,
The waitress climbed into bed
She was thinkin' about the money,
And what the lady's note had said
As her husband lay there sleeping,
She whispered soft and low
Everything's gonna be alright, I love you, Joe

We experience a situation today much like the ones described in this song. We were having lunch after church today with some friends at a restaurant where the tables all have 8 chairs so often times you sit with some strangers. We got to talking to the couple and their 2 kids who were seated at the same table as us. As it turned out they had gone to ACU several years back, known one of Collin and my teacher's from Dallas Christian, had a sister that goes to the same church I grew up at and my parents still go to, and oddly enough go to the same church as us here in Abilene. And yet after all of that we had still never met them before. All of that is really neither here nor there because the point of my story is what happened as we were about to head up to the front to pay our bills and leave. The husband of the couple got up to go pay his bill and as he was walking from the table he pick up our bill and the bill of the couple we were with and told us Merry Christmas and paid for our lunches!!! This is one of those things that you don't really expect to happen when you go to lunch. We graciously thanked the couple for their kindness and went on our way.

I immediately thought of the song above after this happened!! This is one of those things you want to pass along. Just like the song says..."Don't let the chain of love end with you." I want to make sure that chain doesn't stop with me. It doesn't take much, paying for someone's gas or someone's food behind you in the drive through. All it takes is a small act that will hopefully be contagious. It really shouldn't take someone doing something nice for me to get me to do something nice for others, but sadly enough sometimes that's what it takes. I hope that I can learn from this experience and make this a common attitude in my life.

Monday, December 11, 2006

No exams for me...

On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited am I that I don't have final exams this week?? Definitely a 10!! While everyone else spent their weekend studying, I was able to clean my house and go shopping!! YAY!! It is so nice to not have to worry about a huge test that counts like half of your entire grade.

However, the down side of the whole thing is that while everyone in school gets a whole month break with nothing to do, I have to go to work. It's really sad. Everyone else gets to go home and spend four long weeks with their families while I get four days. That's the bad part of being out of school, no more winter break, no more spring break, and no more summer break. It's painful really.

After being out of school for a whole year now, this past Saturday marked one year, I have decided that although it's a pain while you are there, it's better than what you get when you get out. I would rather endure that one week of hard tests and studying for the reward of a months vacation in the fall and three months vacation in the spring. It is just so worth it. Oh well there's no going back for me...I've crossed that line that takes you from being a student to being in the real world. Let me just warn you...stay away from that line as long as possible because what is on the other side is not as great as it looks.

Oh well, at least I get a paycheck on this side of the line...that helps a little bit!!

oh ya...and hooray for the fact that Christmas is only 2 weeks away!!!

Saturday, December 9, 2006

White elephant...


I will have to say I am not really a fan of the whole white elephant Christmas gift thing. We had a Christmas party for our young marrieds class at church and every one was supposed to bring something from their home to give that they didn't want or need anymore. We brought this salt and pepper set and cream and sugar set that we had received as a wedding gift 2 1/2 years ago and still not used. It just didn't go with any of our stuff. However, what we got in return was much worse (see the picture above...although Collin seemed to like them...so I don't know??) We came home with that set of Christmas bunnies names Hip and Hop which to me look like they are at least 20 years old. They are hideous. Collin said he thought they were cute and wanted to put them out at our house, while I wanted to leave them at the house the party was at. We compromised and brought them home and put them up in the closet for safe keeping until the next white elephant party.

In my opinion, you can get something like a $5.00 gift card to Starbucks and that would be so much better than the junk you end up with at those things. I just really do not understand the point of it all. Just bring your junk and trade with someone else for their junk...it's just silly. I suppose it's all in good fun, but really I would rather save the wrapping paper and just hang out and eat some good food. Oh well, I guess now we just have a new gift for the next white elephant gift exchange.

Friday, December 8, 2006

Did that seriously just happen?!?!


So last night I was taking a shower before my Chinese food delivery arrived. It was a normal uneventful shower until I hear a noise...I look down when I hear this noise to see that a tile has fallen off of the wall of my shower. At this point I'm thinking, huh that's kinda weird...oh well one tile is not a big deal we can just glue it back on the wall or whatever it is you do to tiles.

Then I proceeded to wash the conditioner out of my hair trying to pretend like nothing has happened when I hear a loud crash...I turn around to see that nearly two whole rows of tiles have fallen off the wall and broken into small pieces on the shower floor. Now I am thinking great this can not be good. And it's not just that the tiles have fallen off and broken, it the fact that there is now a giant hole in the wall of my shower leading to who knows where. So I jump out of the shower soaking wet and just close the door and leave the room to eat my Chinese food and wait for Collin to get home from his school meeting.

This was one of those situations where, it's not really funny but all you can do is laugh. I know it is going to be a huge pain to fix but all I could say was, "SERIOUSLY?? Did that just happen??" I guess I can be thankful now that we have two showers at our house, because otherwise this would have been a much bigger problem than it already is. We would not only have to worry about fixing the shower but we would smell too. So, thanks God for blessing us with two bathrooms at our house!!

Just so you get the full effect of what happened, I have attached a picture for your viewing pleasures...

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Is it Christmas yet???

Man...I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year by far!! It's not just the presents...don't get me wrong, I love presents, but it's more than that. I love decorating the house, not that we have that many decorations yet, just some lights and a tree and stockings, but I still love it. I love Christmas parties. Hanging out with friends and eating lots of good food. I love love love Christmas music. I would listen to it year around if Collin would let me. I love hanging out with my family. We have so much fun together. I love going to look at Christmas lights with Collin's family every year and I love spending the night with my family and waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought...Yes, we still do Santa even though the youngest member in our fam is now almost 14 years old. :) I also love taking pictures with my mom and sisters in our matching pj's that we get every year. Christmas is just great.

One thing I hope to experience before I die is a white Christmas. I have lived in Texas my whole life and love it here, but I can't remember it ever snowing on Christmas since I have been alive. I think it would be so awesome to wake up on Christmas morning to snow covered lawns and houses. I suppose it's not very likely as long as I live here but I'm still holding out!!

Christmas time is a lot different now for me that it was when I was in school, grade school all the way through college, because I used to get to go home for at least a month at Christmas time. Unfortunately that is not the case anymore. I have entered the real world and to be honest, I wish I could go back to the...ummm...not real world?!?! If that's what you call it...I don't know. I always heard older people say one day you will miss being in school, I never believed them. Now here I am only one year out of school and I already miss it. Most of our friends here are all in school so they go home during the winter break but we only get to go home for about 5 days because I have to work and it makes me sad. Oh well I will just have to make the best of my time there.

So...that's about it. I love Christmas and can't wait until it gets here...only 18 more days...yay!!

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Most embarrassing moment of the year...

So...I thought today was my boss' birthday. "Thought" being the keyword in that sentence. Here's what happened...

I checked my iCal on my computer and noticed that it said "Terry's B-day" for today. So I went out and bought him what I think was a nice gift and a card and brought it to work with me today. I set the gift on the counter at work and proceeded to do my work. When my boss walked into the office I said in a cheerful voice, "Happy Birthday" to which he responded with a very confused look. I saw the look and thought uh oh what's wrong?? Does he not like my gift? I then responded with, "it is your birthday right???" He smiles and shakes his head NO...At this point, I think oh no what have I done?!?! I politely ask when his birthday is and he tells me that it is on January 6, which is exactly one month from today. It turns out that I accidentally typed his birthday in December instead of January. We both laughed at the situation and decide that he could go ahead and use the nice new mug I got him from Starbucks even though it is not actually his birthday for another 30 or so days.

So the lesson in all of this...make sure to ask your other boss if it's really your other boss' birthday before making a fool out of yourself on their non-birthday. Although, I think it is better to remember someones birthday on the wrong day than to forget it altogether, but that is just my opinion.

And Terry if you read this...Happy Birthday...in a month... :)

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Life in Slow Motion...

Have you ever felt like everyone around you was living their lives while yours was stuck in pause??

That is how I have been feeling lately. I feel like all my friends have graduated and are moving on with their lives, moving to new places, getting dream jobs, and having babies, while I am stuck here in Abilene. This is something I have been struggling with for a while now and something I have spent alot of time thinking about and complaining about. However, I decided a few weeks ago after a conversation Collin and I had with two of our very best friends (who have moved to New York) that I needed to change my attitude. I have spent so much time during the past six months griping about my situation here in Abilene that I haven't been able to enjoy my time here.

I have really been praying lately for God to grant me with the gift of contentment, becuase it is something I have lacked for a while. In high school I couldn't wait until I moved away to college, then college came and I couldn't wait to graduated, now I have and find my self longing to move to a new city, get a house, and have kids. It's like a never ending circle. I have really been trying to make the most out of the time I have left here in Abilene because I know I will never have a time in my life like the time I have now. I have basically no worries right now. I work for great people, have a great house, and only have a husband and dog to take care of...not that they are anywhere close to the same :). I just really want to make the best of my time here so that when I look back on it I have great memories instead of six years worth of complaining.

Monday, December 4, 2006

My first blog...ever!!

Well here it goes...

I have been looking for something to do with my time since I have finished school and no longer have homework to worry about (hooray). So, I have decided to start a blog. I'm sure there will only be like 2 people reading it, Collin and well myself, but oh well...I still thought I would give it a shot.

I suppose I will use this blog to share my views on whatever I am thinking about at the moment, which could be as profound as politics and religion or as trivial as my favorite movie or tv show. Which by the way are How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Grey's Anatomy. Just in case you were wondering, I will probably lean towards the latter of the two because that's just who I am. I tend to enjoy talking about last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy more than getting into a deep theological discussion, which makes for some interesting conversations at my house because Collin is the EXACT opposite. I.E.

Collin: So what do you think about the Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory?? (not sure if I spelled all those big words right??)
Holly: Can you believe Meredith and Derek are finally back together??
Collin: I think.....(I'm not really sure what that is so I dont know what to write...but he would respond with some more big words)
Holly: Oh and I can't believe Christina ratted Burke out to the Chief...

Ok...maybe its not that bad but you get the point...Well I guess that is all I have to say for my first blog. Now I'm gonna go edit my profile and add a picture since that is what I am really good at. Check back for updates daily...I will try to write once a day. It's not like I have something better to do...lol. Thanks for reading!!

Hols