I'm still here!!

I am still here and blogging...I have just been kind of busy lately. I have been planning a shower for my sister-in-law to be. Training a girl to take over my job when Collin and I leave in a week and a half. And today Collin and I had some pictures (and by some I mean about 650 shots :D) taken by one of the sweetest and most talented girls ever. She takes the most amazing pictures and I can't wait to see them. We went to several places here in Abilene and also took some at just random places like in an alley and on the rail road tracks. She really has a knack for making ugly things look really neat in pictures. From the few that I saw on the little digital camera screen they look awesome! I am so excited to get them back!! I will definitely be posting them on here for all of you to see when we get them.

Life is good...

It's Friday, payday, and the sun is shining!! Life is good!!


Edited to add: the Stars and Mavs won tonight so life is VERY good!!! :D

Serious Post...

So last night before going to sleep Collin and I were talking about my blog...we were trying to come up with a new title for it and were unsuccessful (hence the title still being Holly's Blog - very original).

Then I was asking him what I should post about today and he said something serious because as you can see I don't tend to post about serious and important stuff, even though I would argue that who gets kicked off of Idol and what's happening on my favorite TV show at any given time is pretty important. :D

So I have been sitting here this morning trying to come up with something serious to post about but am having a difficult time, which has led me to post a post about serious posts that isn't actually serious at all...lol. I just don't spend my time pondering the implications of stuff like Pre-millennial dispensationalism and proleptic eschatology (I have no ideal what either one of those are...I actually had to text Collin while I was writing this blog to ask him what some of those theories with really long names were...haha). My thoughts usually lean more towards the new plot line on a TV show or the cute shirt I saw at the mall last week. Don't get me wrong, I am concerned about important stuff in the world and think about those things as well but just not to the same degree as someone with a more serious personality. I can be serious when I need to but would much rather goof off and joke around.

One of these days I will come up with something really serious to post about and hopefully it will be really profound and thought provoking but until that day I will just continue to post about my favorite Idol and funny things that happen in my everyday life! I hope that is OK. :D

Idol time...

Ok well its Wednesday so that means that American Idol came on last night and its time for my pick of the week!! It was Andrew Lloyd Webber week so everyone sang songs from his amazing musicals. It is really tough to pick just one favorite this week!! My all time favorite musical is Phantom of the Opera (Collin took me to see it on our first anniversary) and the 2 people who sang songs from that musical sang them exceptionally well!! So I am just going to cheat and pick 2 favorites this week. I truly think that unless something crazy happens (like when Daughtry was voted off early) that these 2 contestants will be the final 2.

Even though last week I said David Cook wasn't one of my favorites (even though I picked him as the best of the week)this week he did amazing!! He has definitely become a front runner in my book based on last nights performance. He sang Music of the Night and did an outstanding job. I really think he sounded a lot like the guy that plays the Phantom in the movie. Here is his performance.



My second favorite performance was David Archuleta. He sang Think of Me, which is one of my favorite songs from the musical. He made it more contemporary and just has an awesome voice to sing those kinds of songs. Here is his performance.



Sadly, I think that either Jason or Brooke will be going home tonight. I like both of them but neither one did very well last night. But we will just have to wait and see. As I have learned from watching 7 seasons of Idol is that you never really know until it is announced.

On an unrelated note...I took the top off of my Jeep yesterday for the first time since like my freshman year in college. It was so much fun riding around yesterday and the weather was perfect. But you know how a lot of people say "I just have to get a car wash and without fail it will rain" well for me that is "I just have to get a car wash or take the top off my car and without fail it will rain" and I did both yesterday and what do you know...its cloudy and looks like it is about to pour...which is very unfortunate because my jeep is a hard top and not a soft one so the top weighs about 200 lbs. is back at home in my garage and I can't just put it back on when it starts raining. Right now I am lucky enough to be able to park it under a covering at work and I'm just hoping that the rain will come and pass before lunch time when I have to get back out!! Cross your fingers for me!! :D

New Layout!!

Hooray for a new blog layout...for some reason I never realized there was a whole world of layouts out there just waiting to be used. I always saw other peoples blogs that look really neat but still just thought I had to choose from the few templates Google blogger offers.

I looked for about an hour for my new layout. I was looking for something with some crosses on it but couldn't find any which is a little strange but I like the one I have decided on. (If you know of a site with some good (free) christian templates please send me a message and let me know about it!!)

I have also been trying to come up with a new and creative title for my blog. If you would like to throw in any suggestions I am open to hearing them!!

I hope you enjoy the new layout...I think it is pretty...I love the color brown!!

Oh, one more thing...today is Earth Day so do something good for the environment...pick up some trash, turn off your lights and save some electricity or car pool...we only get one Earth so lets take care of it!! :D

What to post about when you don't know what to post about?!?!?

Ya so I don't really have anything interesting going on in my life right now so I'll just post about some random stuff...

1. Tonight is like the greatest night of television ever. Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The Hills, The Bachelor, and Samantha Who? I can't wait.

2. I am going to play Pokeno tonight with M'chelle!! YAY...its really fun. It is pretty much like bingo except with playing cards!! It will be my last time to go before Collin and I move away from Abilene...so that is kind of sad.

3. I am co-hosting a shower for Lara (my sister-in-law to be) in a couple of weeks and it has been a lot of fun planning it. I have been buying stuff for it for the last few days and am excited for it to get here because I think we will have a really good time.

4. The Stars won their game last night which sends them to the next round of the playoffs...so yay for that.

5. Only 19 more days until Collin graduates so that is really exciting also!!

That is pretty much all that is going on right now!! Hooray for randomness!! :D

Playoffs...

It that time of year...both the NBA and the NHL have started their playoffs. Of course I will be cheering on the Mavs and the Stars!! The Mavs are starting their series tonight against the New Orleans Hornets and the Stars are up 3-2 on the Anaheim Ducks. I really hope they both do well this year. It is always really disappointing when your team gets knocked out early on. To be honest I usually stop watching the playoffs if my team loses. So lets just hope both the Mavs and the Stars make it all the way!!

I gotta go put my Dirk jersey on and cheer on my team!! GO MAVS!!

Idol of the Week

This week was Mariah Carey week on Idol. Everyone did pretty well but my favorite this week was actually David Cook. He usually isn't my favorite contestant but he did really well this week. Check out his performance!!



Kristy Lee Cook was voted off this week, which I think was the right choice. Next week is Andrew Lloyd Webber week and should be really awesome!!

A trip to the Mile High City

Collin and I just got back from our trip to Littleton, Colorado. We had a great time!! Again we met a lot of wonderful people and got to see what the church is like. The weather was perfect, we got everything from snow on Saturday when we arrived to 70 degree weather on Monday, it was wonderful! During this trip we had several meals with different people and just got to spend time getting to know them and letting them get to know us. Collin didn't preach or teach at all on this trip so it was little more laid back. We really had a great time and are thankful for the opportunity we had visit the church and meet everyone. We also really enjoyed the views, I mean how can you beat a view of the mountains covered in snow.



We still do not know exactly where God is calling us to but continue to be in prayer for His guidance through this process. Collin and I would ask that you also be praying for us as we continue on this journey and seek God's will for our future.

Meet Aminata

Aminata Anold Muhapa is 3 years old and lives in Kihesa, Tanzania. We have adopted her through the Compassion International program that gives support to children in third world countries. I decided to pick Aminata in particular because of her precious smile. We have already gotten a letter from her and it was just so sweet, of course some one has to transcribe it for her as she is only 3 and then it had to be translated. She did draw us a few pictures at the end of the letter that were so cute. I pray for her often because she is living in an HIV/AIDS affected area and an area that is very poor. She attends the local church to learn about God. She lives with just her mom and helps with chores like cleaning and running errands. Aminata will turn 4 on September 16th. I pray that God will bless her life and keep her healthy. I also pray that she will feel our love and prayers even though we live thousands of miles away.

Favorite Idol Performances of the Week...

My 2 favorites this week are Jason Castro and David Archuleta...In case you missed them check out the videos below!!

Jason really rocked it this week, which he really needed to do after 2 off weeks in a row.



David is pretty consistent each week...the beginning of his performance was a little weak this week but once he got into the higher pitch he sounded great!!



I think my new thing will be to post my top 2 favs each week!! So check back each week for who I think are the best of the week!!

The Nerve of Some People...

So as you know we lost one of our credit cards about a week ago and someone picked it up and used it. Well up until now we didn't really know what all they had spent because we were waiting for our new card to come so that we could set it up online and look at the purchases. Yesterday I called Citibank and got it all set up and was definitely surprised to see the damage. They ended up spending over $1000.00 in a period of about 5 hours. They spent like $65.00 at Buffalo Wild Wings, $100.00 at Hollister, over $200.00 at both Bed, Bath & Beyond and Ross, $50.00 at Sears, $30.00 at Big Lots, filled up their car with gas and then apparently paid their own credit card bill of over $300.00. Bringing their grand total to $1,050.85.

It really just blows my mind that someone can just steal money like that. Thankfully we aren't responsible for the purchases they made but man what a pain this has been. And all because our lost card was found by someone that apparently has no problem stealing money instead of someone like me that would either just cut up the card and thrown it away or call the credit card company to report it lost. But I suppose such is life. It's sad but there are people out there that aren't considerate of others and have the nerve to take a credit card that is not theirs and buy whatever they want. It really makes me appreciate places that check id's a lot more now.

It's Back

Well its official, TV shows are coming back on!! Last night a new episode of Samantha Who? came on which is the start of new episodes for all the scripted show that have been on hiatus due to the writers strike. I love TV!! One of my favorite things to do it sit on the couch and watch my favorite shows!! I have still been able to watch reality shows since they were able to air during the strike but they just aren't the same as scripted shows.

This Thursday The Office comes back with an all new episode. Next week One Tree Hill comes back and the week after that pretty much everything else is back...Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl.

A few shows won't start back up until the fall but that is OK...October Road, Private Practice and Friday Night Lights.

As you can tell I love TV and am really excited to have new episodes to look forward to each week!!

I'm so tired...

I'm running on about 5 1/2 hours of sleep after a busy and tiring weekend and I am really feeling it about now. I am one who needs AT LEAST 8 hours of sleep a night so this is just not really working for me. And with us having been in Arizona for a few days waking up at 6:30 this morning was really like waking up at 4:30 am which is just not cool. I am definitely going to bed early tonight so hopefully I can get caught back up on my sleep but usually that takes a couple of days. So most likely I will be going to bed early for several days in order to get ready to return to the mountain time zone next weekend!

Coming Home!!

Well Collin and I are now sitting at the airport waiting for our flight back to Dallas after our interview! We had a GREAT weekend!! We have met so many amazing people and love the Phoenix area! The weather was great while we were here but everyone has told us not to be fooled because in a few months it will all change and it will get up into the hundreds.

This trip has really gotten us excited about what God has in store for us whether it be in Arizona or somewhere else. We just can not wait to see where He sends us. The church in Gilbert has some awesome things going on and I know God will do great things with them whether we end up there or not. It is always exciting to see the work God is doing through His people.

We are glad to be going home because it was a tiring trip (and I miss my puppy, Toby) but we could not have asked for a better weekend. We continue to pray for God's guidance as we go through this process of discerning his will for our lives!!


And one more thing...GO MAVS!!!! Way to beat the Suns!!!!!

Today's the day...

Well today we are heading to Dallas in order to fly out to Arizona tomorrow for our first interview. I probablly won't post while we are gone because I don't know what our internet situation will be. But check back to see how things went!!

Sale Day...

Well today is what we call "sale day" at work. It falls on the first Tuesday of every month and I will have to say it is not my favorite day. I drive my boss to San Angelo which is about 80 miles each way and sometimes we come back through Ballinger and then end up back in Taylor County to do our sales. By sales I mean auctioning of properties that are being foreclosed on. It really makes for a very busy day...but the good new is that after today I only have one more left!! May sale day will be my last one, which is pretty exciting!! So hooray for that!!