Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

A Time for Everything

2011-08-20T21:25:00.010-05:00

As I was reading the blog of an author that I have started to love, Shauna Niequist, I was basically hit by a large piece of wood on the side of the head!

Niequist wrote on her blog about how Dr. Henry Cloud, spoke at her church recently. Dr. Cloud just finished writing a book called Necessary Endings. I haven't read this book, nor has Niequist, but the statement on her blog that truly struck a chord with me was "What's present in your life today that's not in line with what you want for your tomorrow?"

Was there a relationship that I needed to end? Ummmmmmmmm....unfortunately I could scream YES!!! to this question. Thankfully this unhealthy "relationship" that I have basically been holding onto for a year has finally been thrown away (as healthy as it probably could have been).

So to continue on with this theme....the Forest Gump soundtrack has been fun to listen to in my car this week. I forgot I even had it in my disc changer! Anyway...the song that meant so much to me from this soundtrack was Turn! Turn! Turn! The song takes me back to elementary school music class where we listened to this song via a record player. I digress...the song is straight out of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3...and the most meaningful verse for me now is verse 6..."a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away".

I'm so ready for a new season! I'm excited about the future!!

Make a Beautiful and Joyful Noise

2011-05-28T22:02:00.021-05:00

Sounds and smells have always been a huge part of conjuring up certain special memories that I have of my life.

Today let's focus on the noises of my life...

My absolute favorite sound in the world is the shrill of two babies screaming "Aunt Ishy!!!" when I ring the doorbell to a house in Cedar Park, TX. I can watch through the side window to see these babies run to the front door to greet me. This shrill noise will always melt my heart, and it will probably kill me when I no longer hear this noise as I arrive at their house.

I got to hear two of my other favorite noises this weekend when my mom laughed loudly during the sermon at church and when my dad shouted his typical "Nice shot!" while sitting at the green of the first hole at the Colonial Golf Tournament.

Not to leave out the other two folks in my immediate family...I love to hear when Todd and Candace "Whoop!" during any Aggie event/TV broadcast that I get to watch with them.

I really wish that I had a recording of certain phrases that each of my grandparents said and recordings of each of their laughs. Although both of my grandmothers had Alzheimer's Disease at the end of their lives and didn't know my name or who I was, the few times I got to visit, I loved to tease them so that I could hear their laugh. They both seemed back to their normal selves when I heard their laugh.

Songs of course take me back to certain parts of my life. I probably have burned holes in certain CDs from listening to a particular song over and over and over and over again....it might be my OCD!! I have recently looked at my iTunes song statistics, and I have listened to some songs like 80 times, and only other songs like 10 times. Those songs that I have listened to 80 times were probably listened to back to back to back for at least 15 times in a row at some point in my life.

There are too many to name here, but one song that particularly comes to mind when thinking about memories is Angel by Sarah McLachlan. That song will always take me back to when Bonfire collapsed during my sophomore year at A&M. I heard I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me this morning on the radio and it took me back to the car ride we had as we were going to my Grandma's viewing at the funeral home. I teared up as I thought of her dancing with Jesus or just sitting in awe as she entered Heaven.

Today I added some awesome new sound memories into my brain. Hari, the sweet mother of the Bhutanese family we volunteer with, read the story of Noah. I bought their kindergarten son a hardback children's book about Noah and the ark last year, and they usually bring that book out for us to read. Although my heart breaks that she doesn't know the God that brought the flood to kill all the wicked people but saved Noah, his family, and the animals, I had an opportunity to show her a glimpse of a Bible story. I continue to pray for this sweet family to come to know my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that a future memory I have is hearing Hari pray to the Lord Jesus Christ because she has accepted Him as her personal savior.

Dr. Awesome

2011-05-27T22:14:00.022-05:00

I have been reading several books at one time, but I have truly been enjoying a biography written about a female missionary surgeon in India. This wonderful woman of God (she will be called Dr. Awesome on this blog in case someone would "Google" her name and it would link to my page) is so special to me because she actually goes to my church, and I have met her. She is working on starting a free health clinic at my church, and I pray that I get a chance to work with her and the people of Fort Worth. Dr. Awesome sat in front of my at church one Sunday and I went to reintroduce myself to her, and she remembered that I was a pharmacist. I felt extremely special!!

I have only read 3 chapters of the book, but Dr. Awesome gives me a lot of hope in doing great things even though I may be shy, introverted, and have a retiring personality. The author discusses how Dr. Awesome was more comfortable with adults than children and grew up a child in an adult world. I often felt the same way while growing up! Although I have come a long way from how shy I was while growing up, I find myself still struggling with being bold when I first meet people.

Dr. Awesome lived in India from 1974-2002. During 1991-1996 she was the only residential missionary in her part of India. She was able to treat patients very much like we treat them in the United States. Dr. Awesome discusses though about how she had to familiarize herself with the medications available in India and spent a whole day hanging out in the hospital pharmacy when she first arrived in India.

She talks about saving a man in 1976 who was biten by a cobra on the hand after trying to catch the cobra to sew its mouth shut. Dr. Awesome really had little confidence that the man would make it, but after 12 vials of anti-venom, the man was on the path to recovery. The book talks about how she prayed with every patient before each surgery and had such a gentleness with teaching the nurses at the Indian hospital....simply amazing!

When probably the most risky thing I did today was stick a Q-tip in my ear (yeah...I know better!), her story of constantly being at risk of getting her Indian medical license denied and revoked makes my life seem pretty boring. I continue to pray for India as I feel that my heart has been touched by two dear Indian friends that God has placed in my life. I also continue to pray that the Lord will provide a chance for me to minister to people here in the Fort Worth area and when He wants me to go to India, the path will me clear.

Cardboard Testimony

2011-05-13T18:26:00.005-05:00

What would be my cardboard testimony in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Wow...this You Tube video is from a local church in Amarillo that has a pretty amazing pastor and congregation. I have watched this video several times since I received an email about it 3 years ago and it always brings tears to my eyes.

I especially tear up with the cardboard testimonies that state:

Front: Diagnosed with MS May 2007
Back: Worth it

Front: Donna's Neurologist Unchurched
Back: Baptized Easter 2008

Front: Loss of son to suicide
Back: Found God's amazing grace!

Lately I have truly needed a change in heart. I really have been convicted about how I try to portray a perfect Christian on the outside but my heart is hardened and bitter on the inside. I'm not good at sharing my brokenness and being authentic very often, so here you have it.

What would be my cardboard testimony?

Front: People pleaser, Annoying Apologizer, "Self-righteous, Good Christian Girl" trying to earn salvation

Definitely not there yet, but hope for it to say:

Back: God pleaser, Apologies said in true humility, "On fire for God Girl"

Thank you dear Heavenly Father for your abundant love and grace!!

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

Not Settling For Less Than the Best

2011-04-13T21:02:00.020-05:00

I recently had an epiphany when dealing with a broken Chi blow dryer. Look at the picture above: there is my newest shiny red Chi blow dryer that even came with a diffuser, my slightly less fabulous blue Chi blow dryer that I travel with, and finally my beat up Chi dryer that has been held together by mailing tape for the past year.

A few weekends ago, I was drying my hair with my ghetto fabulous taped Chi when all of a sudden I smelled a gross burning smell and then the Chi just died. I was slightly bummed, but excited to get the opportunity to open the new box with my red Chi that my parents had bought me two Christmases ago. Yes...for some reason I had guilt about opening the new Chi because I felt that I needed to wait for my ghetto one to die. Well...it miraculously took a full year and a half for it to bite the dust after I was forced to put mailing tape on it to keep it together.

It was a total eye opening experience to use that new red Chi!! It dried my hair faster and straighter, and I have been receiving many more compliments about my hair recently. I give all credit to the little red Chi!

This blow dryer scenario made me think about how much I had been missing out on during the year and a half of using my tattered, taped up Chi.

I began thinking about how there are other areas of my life that I have been settling for a mediocre, less than the best quality.

Let's begin with how often I settle for less than the best by watching TV instead of going to exercise. Is it healthier for me to watch Oprah and know how many sex partners Shirley MacLaine has had in her lifetime or get out and run on the Trinity Trail?!? (Don't judge too much for me watching that Oprah show...I'm a sucker for Shirley since she was Ouiser on my favorite movie Steel Magnolias...but Shirley in real life is not one of my people!) My jiggly arms that wave back at me would tell me to get my act together and MOVE IT!!

Or how I settle by often wasting so many hours each week on Facebook or surfing the internet instead of spending time in God's Word or in prayer. How stupid that I think it is more important reading what a girl that was mean to me in middle school had for dinner (I have seen this on Facebook!) instead of reading my Bible or in prayer!!!

Or how I settle by grabbing the first junk food that is available when I am starving. I get so frustrated at myself that I will scarf down Fritos that were left over after my small group because I am ravenous RIGHT NOW instead of making and eating a healthy, well-balanced meal. Again...my jiggly arms would tell me not to settle for less than the best.

Or how I'm guilty of having unhealthy rationalizations about certain dating situations. Do I continue to talk to the guy who is nice enough and stable but the zip just isn't there?! Or do I continue to dream of what could possibly be with the guy who I had such a spark with (someone call the fire department...just kidding!) but he was irresponsible with my emotions and doesn't really know if he should be dating?!

Now don't get me wrong...I don't deny myself the finer things and settle for less than the best in everything...just settling for less than the best in many areas of my life that are VERY important. Everyone knows that I don't skimp on appliances...I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and blender, Cuisinart coffee maker that grinds my beans, Dyson vacuum cleaner, Shark steam mop, Rowenta iron, and Chi hair blow dryer and flat iron. My car has more bells and whistles than I need. I must use Tide for my whites, Cheer for my colors, and Downy as my fabric softener. I routinely get pedicures. I have an iPhone. I have become addicted to Dior foundation and I really like their mascara (but only buy it every now and then!). Boy I sound high maintenance all of a sudden...

Ok...back on track. I am just beginning to realize how important it is to not miss out on God's absolute best for me in these areas of my life that I struggle with. My life is flying by...and time's wasting. Lord, please help me realize the blessings that come from your absolute best.

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

A Tea Party Birthday!!

2011-04-11T20:45:00.014-05:00

My friends were so sweet to throw a birthday tea in my honor at the Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. We even had to valet our cars...high class!

The waiter was a little stuffy, but we drank some good tea and ate some amazing treats! My friends then gave me precious and amazingly delicious sugar cookies in the shape of cupcakes with my name on them!

It truly reminded me of some of the wonderful friendships that the Lord has blessed me with. I was ok turning a year older thanks to my thoughtful friends!

Deep Thoughts in March

2011-03-25T16:54:00.017-05:00

So I will be another year older tomorrow...woohoo (can you sense my sarcasm?!?)! I really do kid though...the 30s have been good to me. I can say that a lot of things have happened during my 30th year of life including buying Polident for the first time, getting told by my hairdresser that my hair is changing colors, and getting a vacuum cleaner for my birthday and being excited about it!!

It seems like I do a lot of reflecting on my life during the month of March since it involves my birthday. For some reason there aren't many "reflective" songs written about the month of March...maybe because it doesn't rhyme with something very deep and thought provoking. I'm not feeling a song that uses the words: larch, parch, starch, or arch!!! The fall months get all the song due to their multiples syllable names and ability to rhyme with "remember"....just saying!

For example:

"September" by Daughtry

In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain

Nothing to lose but everything to gain

Reflecting now on how things could've been

It was worth it in the end

"Back to December" by Taylor Swift

So this is me swallowing my pride
Standing in front of you, saying I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December all the time

It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I go back to December, turn around and make it alright
I go back to December all the time

Alright...enough deep thoughts by Alisia (still 30 for the moment)!!! Here's to a wonderful 31st year of life!!! I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me!

Here is a picture of my beautiful cake from last year that my sweet friends got me!

Where are my Training Wheels?!?

2011-02-05T13:23:00.026-06:00

So I hope that all my readers watched this sweet video of my nephew, Brennan, and listened very closely. The first thing I want you to notice that my super brave and cute nephew said was "I just can't turn." He successfully keeps riding without training wheels and catches the eye of my super observant and cute niece who states, "Here comes bwother." Brennan then gives himself a pep talk by saying, "Steady....steady." Oh and please notice my brother (Brennan's daddy) closely following the brave little boy. I think that is all the background you need for my post!

After watching this video, I began to think about how there are some large overall themes occurring that are issues in my life.

1. The minute that I heard Brennan say "Steady...steady" on the video, I began to think about the analogy I have in my life where I like to verbally state that I have it all together, but I am an internal disaster. My pea sized brain often tricks me into thinking that if I verbalize that I have it all under control...then I WILL have it all under control. These are horrible lies that set me up to tip my "bike" over because God is the ONLY one in control of my life.

2. Family and friends are wonderful at cheering me on in my life (note Ella's encouraging words to Brennan in the video), but ultimately God is the one who matters. Ella couldn't have saved Brennan from falling off the bike. Only Brennan's daddy (playing God's role in this video) was right there for Brennan to lean on if he needed to fall. God ALWAYS knows the balance I am maintaining in my life.

3. I realized that I am a total "training wheels" kind of girl. Like most Christians, learning to trust in the Lord has ALWAYS been a challenge to me. Poor Brennan states first thing in the video, "I just can't turn." How often in my life am I uncomfortable for God to call me to a new place to turn and ride?!? I pray that the Lord will give me the courage to learn to walk in faith to new places He is calling me to, and that I can learn to ride to these places confidently without training wheels. I want to rid myself of often just giving up, putting my feet down, and refusing to ride any farther. I must trust the Lord to help me master a new skill or new location that He wants me to pursue.

4. Although thankfully Brennan did not fall down in this video, I am going to fall down in all areas of my life. I just pray that I am honorable when I tip over while riding the "bike" of my life. I know that I will fall down when I act in a manner unlike Christ. Whether these "falls" happen to be pride, harsh words, jealousy, apathy, failing to forgive, laziness, or other horrible sins that permeate my life, I pray that I can dust myself off and learn from the scrapes and bruises from these falls.

Matt Redman's song lyrics of "You Never Let Go" came to my mind with the training wheels that I sometimes put on areas of my life.

"And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life

I won't turn back

I know You are near

Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low

Oh no, You never let go

Lord, You never let go of me"

Philippians 1:16

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

OPERATION COTTON: Mission Accomplished!!!

2011-01-11T11:52:00.010-06:00

So I really did it...I ran my first 5K on 10/21/10!! I had a wonderful time running in the Friends of the River race that started at Montgomery Plaza. I am sorry that I got a little busy and am just now posting about my fun adventure.

Here is the shirt from the run! Isn't it cute?! Some great cotton!!

For proof that I actually completed the 5K, you can view my run results at: http://www.clinesrunningcorner.com/results2010/friendsofheriver_oc21_2010.pdf

I am listed under "Ali Baker" which I have decided will be my running name...kinda like how actors and actresses sometimes change their names!

Group pic at the end of the race (I jacked it from the photographer's website!): Leland, Deva, Ali (aka me), Melanie, Mark, Julie

So I felt the need to write something like an Oscar speech about completing this run.

I definitely could not have accomplished this without the Lord. I never would have thought that I could go from couch potato to actually start running. Throughout the process I often was a weakling, whined, and would stop to walk. I have to be honest that sometimes I would stop and just focus on my pity party of how tired I was and how I could never accomplish anything that involved any shred of athletic ability. I was often reminded of the song, "You Are my All in All" when I was running and I was then motivated!

I need to thank my co-worker and friend, Deva, who got it in my head that I could actually complete a 5K...who knew?!? She is such a running speed demon now, and I am so proud of her!

I am also eternally grateful to my co-worker and friend, Mark, who encouraged me all along the way. If you had asked me a year ago today if I would ever run with Mark on a weekly basis ...I would have laughed hysterically at you! I was intimidated by his speed and ability to run long distances, but he was always patient and encouraging every step of the way. Mark is the only reason I kept pushing myself and didn't give up like I so often do. He ran at my snail pace and kept me going!

I would like to thank another co-worker and friend, Melanie, who went from couch to 5K in a day and blew me away on the day of the race by always being by my side. She kept encouraging me to kick it up a notch when we got to the end, and I wanted to throw up!

Oh, and I must not forget to thank Kung-Fu man who was always nice to look at on the Trinity River running trail. Also, I cannot forget to thank all of the ropes and sticks on the trail that always had me believing that they were snakes, so I ran a little faster!

I could not have completed the race without music, so I must give it up for my iPod.

Here is a list of what I listened to during the race:

All of Creation by Mercy Me (hey if it works for Josh Hamilton when he gets up to bat...it can work for me!)
Better is One Day by Kutless
Collide by Howie Day
Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks (aka Corps Boy Take Me Away when I was at A&M)
Don't Stop Believin' (no need to expand on this awesome song!)
Friday I'm In Love by The Cure
I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas (my nephew loves and know this song!)
Just Dance by I'm not sure...it is The Biggest Loser jazzed up edition
Let's Hear It For the Boy by I'm not sure...also The Biggest Loser edition
Party in the U.S.A by Miley Cyrus
Today Was a Fairytale by Taylor Swift
Time After Time...also The Biggest Loser edition
Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell (I ended with this mellow song probably because I didn't have enough energy to reach up to my iPod to change the song. I'm not sure how this got on my running list, but I downloaded this song after watching the opening ceremony at the Vancouver Winter Olympics...so I guess it has some athletic qualities!)

What a fun memory to say that I ran my first 5K during my 30th year of life! I definitely want to beat my slow time this year, and I may (Lord willing) try to go for a 10K. I have been a slacker over the last month, so I need to hit it hard!

I feel so much better about myself, and FYI I did indeed reward myself with something from the Coach store!

Quit Complaining!!

2011-01-09T14:22:00.007-06:00

During my quiet time today, I got slammed with the following questions in the book Called and Accountable: "Would you (or someone close to you) be able to describe your life as a life that abides in love? Have recent actions and attitudes toward those you relate to daily (your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, and your church family) been expressed in love?"

I began to think about how jaded, flippant, and harsh my attitude has recently become. It seems that I have turned into a person who takes anything and makes it into a sarcastic joke.

Right before New Year's Eve, I was talking to several of my co-workers about their resolutions for 2011. I was being silly as usual, and I just shot off the statement that I was "not going to be rude to another nurse again on the phone." Everyone kind of laughed at me because pharmacists are notorious for being rude to nurses, and a co-worker started to encourage me to read a secular book called "A Complaint Free World." She even brought me a bracelet that is to be used to remind me to quit complaining. Now I am not going to read this book and I may try my best to wear the bracelet at work, but it got me thinking that I am missing out on so many opportunities to enable God's love to be expressed in my relationships because I am too busy griping or being sarcastic.

I must admit that I initially was a little perturbed that she handed me a "Complaint Free" bracelet. I know that I do my fair share of whining at work, but I could name many other folks who beat me on the "complaint ladder"....oops...there I go whining again!

My pastor told the following story today that convicted me about this recent conversation in my life and my serious need to quit my yammering. John Hyde was as missionary who left for India in the 1800s. When he was on the ship headed to India, Hyde opened a letter from a friend who wrote that he would pray until John was filled with the Holy Spirit. He crumpled up the letter because he was so angry that his friend would dare say he lacked the Holy Spirit. He had yielded his heart to the Lord and agreed to go clear across the world for his life's work. But when he settled down, he realized that his friend was right and prayed for the power of the Holy Spirit.

I know that I will continue to stumble with my complaining while I am here on this earth, but I pray that the Lord continues to convict me and teach me that by getting rid of the grumbling, I will fulfill the call and plans that God has placed on my life.

It's Cookie Time!!

2011-01-08T14:55:00.004-06:00

I just returned from Tom Thumb where the Girl Scouts have taken over...it's cookie time!! I saw a cute little Girl Scout who was rolling her eyes at her mother because she was being pressured to be a good salesperson, and you could tell her heart wasn't in it!

I quickly identified with this cute little girl and wanted to tell her my heartwarming Girl Scout story where I looked at my mom, threw down all of my Girl Scout calendars in my neighbor's yard when no one would buy one, and kept on walking. My mom was SO proud!! I thought her mom might frown at me though for my story...her mom looked like one of those people who could sell ice to an Eskimo!

It just got me thinking about how some of us just aren't salespeople! I definitely would fail selling ice water to people in the desert! Thankfully selling Girl Scout cookies was kind of like selling ice water to people in the desert, but the Girl Scout calendars were always unfortunate! No one wants to look at little girls in beanies for an entire month...that is unless you are related to one!

Anyway...no point really to my post...just buy some cookies to help certain poor little Girl Scouts who stink at selling things!

Woohoo for 2011 !!!!

2011-01-05T12:26:00.000-06:00

It blows my mind that 2011 is upon us! I have been a very bad blogger lately, so I thought I would start off with some housekeeping thoughts for my blog!

I am not calling these resolutions but more like a list of what I would like to accomplish or continue to accomplish in 2011!

Have a consistent quiet time with the Lord (I had an epiphany over the Christmas break about a theory I have about my walk with the Lord and Brennan and Ella's stretched out Slinky...watch for a later blog post on this!)
Run another 5K and beat my time
Run a 10K (most likely late in 2011!!)
Continue with my weight loss (when hasn't this been on my New Year's resolution list or accomplishments?!?) Maybe I should quantify a number and say be 20 lbs lighter by 12/31/11
Blog more often. 2010 was a bad blog year for me. I apologize to all friends and family who got cheated out of a birthday post. I just got overwhelmed and those folks who had a birthday from January-July got the short end of the stick!
Become more adventurous. It wouldn't take much adventure for me to be more adventurous! I want to rid myself of the comments I have received previously in my life such as "I picture you driving a mini-van" or "I don't really see you doing much on New Year's Eve".
Cook more. Make at least two meals a week...I am aiming low!

That's it for now! I hope that everyone is having a great start to 2011!!

Hymnology

2010-10-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks, I have randomly been getting the words to some of my favorite hymns in my head at the most random times! I was placing IV piggybacks into the freezing refrigerator at work the other day and suddenly I kept hearing "On Christ the solid rock I stand...all other ground is sinking sand!"

I am very grateful that my parents raised me in the church and made sure that I was plugged into many activities throughout my childhood and teenage years. My mom was a choir mom and every Wednesday night during elementary school I was at Saint Stephen Singers Choir. During my fourth grade year, I earned my very own The United Methodist Hymnal after memorizing the first verse to twenty or so hymns. We had to go test in front of the choir moms to make sure that we really knew the words, but I am grateful that I know many of these verses still!!

Don't get me wrong....I do love the newer praise and worship songs that we sing every Sunday morning, but I really do miss singing some of the great old hymns. I have fond memories of singing hymns every Sunday morning with my mama in the pew (my Dad was usually still up in the choir loft!). She always seemed to tear up especially on Easter Sunday because the hymns would remind her of my grandma and grandpa. I do have fond memories of hearing my grandpa's booming bass voice sing a good ol' Southern Baptist hymn. He was never a very loud speaker, but he could sing loudly!! It used to entertain me during the 1.5 hour service when I thought I was going to die of boredom. I was a Methodist and we didn't know how to worship longer than one hour...haha!!

Growing up, I always dreamed that during my wedding the congregation would sing my favorite hymn and my groom's favorite hymn. It always got me thinking of what I would finally choose as my absolute favorite hymn!

Here are some of my favorites!

Up From the Grave He Arose (I loved this on Easter Sunday!!!)

1.Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:

Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
2. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! (Refrain)
3. Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior; he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! (Refrain)

It's Me, It's Me, O Lord (Standing in the Need of Prayer)

Refrain:It’s me, it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer.It’s me, it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer.
1 Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer.Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer. (Refrain)
2 Not the preacher, not the deacon, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer.Not the preacher, not the deacon, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer. (Refrain)
3 Not my father, not my mother, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer.Not my father, not my mother, but it’s me, O Lord,standing in the need of prayer. (Refrain)

Standing on the Promises

1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring; glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:Standing, standing, standing on the promises of Christ my Savior; standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)
3. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, bound to him eternally by love's strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)
4. Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)

My Hope Is Built (probably my favorite!!)

1. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When Darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. (Refrain)
3. His oath, his covenant, his blood supports me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. (Refrain)
4. When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found! Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne! (Refrain)

Blessed Assurance (probably my second favorite!!)

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight; angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. (Refrain)
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. (Refrain)

Here I Am, Lord (this one makes me tear up!!)

I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry, All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save. I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?

Refrain: Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.

Preschool Brunch

2010-09-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful visit with my babies this weekend! This lucky aunt got to eat lunch at 10:50 AM with Brennan at his preschool. Those poor 4 year olds are basically eating brunch at that hour! Being the only adult at a table full of fifteen 4 year olds was a treat! Brennan and I sat across from Hannah and Julia who provided much comic relief for me. Hannah, I have decided, is Brennan's future wife. She passed the kind eye test, was wearing a lovely blue dress, and is hilarious. Hannah had the perfect combination of smarts and grace. She wanted to let me know that the fruit painted on the wall was a pomegranate and pointed to every item in her lunch as "healthy" or "not healthy." She did quite well until she got to her Hostess cupcake and just decided not to name its "health factor."

We then all had a great discussion on pickles! Poor Julia had quite an unfortunate lunch. I'm thinking that her daddy packed it for her as strawberries were sitting directly on her pickles in her lunch container. Hannah proceeded to let the whole table know that she hates pickles. Her sister, mom, and dad like pickles, but she thinks that they smell bad. One time her dad ate a pickle in her bedroom and she made him get out!! What a fun time I had listening to her stories!

So as I was eating lunch, I was looking out for a little boy named Will. Brennan told me before he left for school that morning that Will in his class said that "Lightning McQueen was for babies" after seeing Lightning McQueen on Brennan's lunch box. I'm trying to give Will the benefit of the doubt and think that he has a mean older brother who has told him the same thing...but he's treading on thin ice with this auntie. I actually pegged a poor little boy wearing a Texas Longhorns shirt as being Will, but his name was actually Trevor. I felt bad for giving Trevor the evil eye!

I know that we have to let our babies grow up, but I pray so hard that my sweet Brennan and Ella will have minimal meanness and teasing in their lives. This aunt can't handle anymore sad stories right now!

Butterfly in the Sky....

2010-03-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

So I could think of a ton of butterfly quotes, but my absolute favorite is from You've Got Mail:

"Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one. It got on at 42nd, and off at 59th, where, I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake - as almost all hats are."

(See my big head post about the whole hat mistake....I concur!!)

I went with some of my sweet co-workers to see the Butterfly Exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We had tons of fun! I had my pathetic camera while most people there had their professional type cameras. Their cameras made my little "point and shoot" digital camera look like a disposable camera, but enjoy the pictures!

Love My Parents

2010-03-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

Just a random "love my parents" post!

I love my mom because she is the MOST selfless person I have ever met. She would fight my every enemy, obtain my every need, and fulfill my every dream if she could! I love you!

I love my dad because he knows how to cry. He is mad at me because he was "crying like a baby" on an airplane as he finished the book I bought him, Same Kind of Different as Me. I can't wait to sit in the movie theater with you as we watch this story on the big screen. I love you!

I hate Abuelo's...but not because of their food!

2010-03-02T12:26:00.000-06:00

BLANKET STATEMENT: I love my mom so much, and this is not meant to make her feel bad....it's just actually pretty funny when I look back at it!

I have come to hate Abuelo's, but not because of their food...but because of the events that have occurred there with my mom's attempt to ignite my love life.

Abuelo's incident #1 (November 2004):

The incident begins at the start of my Thanksgiving break, and I was EXHAUSTED!! It was my third year of pharmacy school, and I was being killed by all the stress. I had planned just to go into a vegetative state that evening when my mom comes home and tells me that I am going to Abuelo's with my dad and her friend Shirley to celebrate my parents' 30th anniversary. I kept telling my mother that my parents just needed to go by themselves for dinner since it was THEIR anniversary. That would just not do with my mom...she was being severely pushy....which she really isn't very often! Well it turns out that a single and wonderful (couldn't be so wonderful because he turned out to be a t-sip) medical student had been invited to attend this dinner too! I screamed....threw something (maybe a hairbrush)....called my brother to ask for his support....and stated (SCREAMED) that I was not going to dinner. My mom begged and pleaded because it would not be ANY fun for this medical student to show up and have dinner with just my parents and Shirley. I could just NOT win this situation!

Well after some time to calm down and a permanent scowl on my face, I got in the car headed to Abuelo's. The medical student walks in, and I am floored! I actually had been on the same internal medicine team as him during one of my rotations. This boy was not for me....he was a Zach Morris....when I am more looking more for a Screech (a non socially-awkward and kind Screech). I really heart nerdy, cute boys. Anyway....he was a pretty boy, and he drove a black Firebird....that should tell you enough right there! Let's just say that I never really saw that boy again. Can we say AWKWARD dinner?!?

Abuelo's incident #2 (November 2009):

BACKGROUND:
So here is a typical conversation that occurs between my matchmaker mother (MMM) and any random boy's (typically from my past) matchmaker mother (BMM) in a shopping location in the city of Amarillo (ex: Sam's, Walmart, Target, United, or local nail salon)

MMM: Wow....(insert random single boy's name) is STILL single?

BMM: Yes!

MMM: Alisia is STILL single TOO!

BMM: (Insert random single boy's name) has a heartbeat!!

MMM: No way!!!...Alisia has a heartbeat TOO!

BMM: (Insert random single boy's name) lives in the United States!

MMM: You'll never believe this!!!....Alisia lives in the United States TOO!!

BMM: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

MMM: It's a PERFECT match!! When can we get them together?!?

Ok...it probably isn't that bad, and I may be a tad bit dramatic...but come on!!

So my mom ran into a sweet family friend from the past while they were both getting pedicures. These family friends used to live on the street over from us. Todd, nameless boy, and I walked to elementary school together every morning. We all then carpooled to middle school together. The nameless boy was always a sweet boy growing up, but we weren't as in touch with him when Todd and I entered high school and we moved to a new neighborhood.

So you got a little background now. Well when I was home for Thanksgiving this year, my parents decided to go to Abuelo's for dinner. I think I actually might have joked about the previous medical student incident that I described above. We were almost finished when all of the sudden walks in the WHOLE family from the past including nameless single boy. I get up and give nameless single boy a hug and we talk a little. His parents also come over and they talk to us for quite a bit. Everything was normal...nothing out of the ordinary. My parents then want to go over to their table and say goodbye and see nameless single boy's brother and his two children. I tell my parents to just go by themselves, but they were pretty insistent that I go over with them. We small talk a little more, and then we are on our way out. My parents actually invited random nameless boy over to our house to come visit Todd the next day, but it never worked out.

So let's fast forward to February 2010. I am sitting at lunch with my parents and friends....and it comes out that the reunion just described above was PLANNED....not by random chance!!! It was planned by my mom and his mom....my jaw almost hit the floor!! I was mortified....I could feel myself turning red as I remembered going over to the table of his ENTIRE family and saying howdy! Can we say AWKWARD again!! They probably ALL knew except for poor nameless single guy! This is where you can start feeling sorry for me. Nameless single guy is a great guy, but I have NO idea what made our mothers decide on this crazy plan! I wonder if he has any clue...it makes me completely embarassed!

I love my mom with all my heart, but some of the choices she has made to try to find me a husband have been a bit awkward! Just venting! Should I start writing a book yet?!?

Reconnaisance Mission to Find OPERATION COTTON

2010-01-28T20:39:00.000-06:00

Well I was kind of hoping that my two readers would have forgotten about the little series I started called OPERATION COTTON, but I know that you probably just think that I am lazy or have forgotten. Let's recap on the last time I wrote about this subject which was Week 4 of the series:

Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
Patience and persistence...that's what I need!
Eye of the Tiger, It's Your Life, and Don't Stop Believin' are my theme songs!
After accomplishing this goal, I visualize something from Coach in my future!
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Well for those of you who don't exactly know what this operation entailed, it was my training schedule for a "Couch to 5K." I was making an acrostic to motivate myself to follow through with this athletic training plan. The name OPERATION COTTON came from my desire to obtain a cute t-shirt from the 5K race I ran so that the WHOLE world would know about my mad running skills. As you can see, I have failed pretty miserably at this mission. Christmas hit, and my exercise routine kind of came to a halt.

I am pretty upset with myself because I truly wanted to follow through with something that made me healthier and allowed me to achieve something athletic in my life. I like to equate my athletic ability animal equivalent to a hippopotamus. I once compared my athletic ability to a monkey, but that is giving myself entirely too much credit. Didn't monkeys play basketball or football or something in Space?!? I have a caring co-worker who often asks how my running is going, and when I tell him how discouraged I get, he tries to think of ways to make running more enjoyable or offer the thought of maybe trying to start riding a bike. Me + bike + Trinity River trail = FIASCO. I've got to keep up the running gig!!

Let's take a trip down memory lane as we go back to my enchanted (NOT!!) middle school years. I was forced to take P.E. during my 6th and 8th grade years. My 7th grade year was the most awesome year ever because I got to take Computer Skills and Life Management in the place of P.E. Coach Smith was my P.E. teacher for both of these horrible years. Coach Smith and I kind of had a special understanding...she knew I HATED P.E., but she still tried to push me. Every six weeks, you were alloted two sick notes from your parents to allow you to sit out of P.E. class...it was never hard to get my mother to write one!! The two sick notes were like Willy Wonka golden tickets in my mind....especially during the gymnastics six weeks. I would have rather bought my lunch every day in the school cafeteria for a year than to have to perform the crazy gymnastics skills we were forced to do. Each girl had to get tested on different gymnastics skills in front of Coach Smith. So let's see...the only skill I ever passed was a somersault. Yes...to the world...I CANNOT do a cartwheel...GASP...I know! I would save that golden sick note for the cartwheel test day as well as for the back bend test day. The note at least saved me from the test for one more day of my life, but I was always then forced to test the next day, which I failed miserably! P.E. was my only "B" during that six weeks.

For some reason I liked Coach Smith, and for some reason she liked me (or felt pity on me!). She chose me to be interviewed by the NBC news station reporter when the solar eclipse occurred. Maybe she picked me because I was so quiet, and she knew I wouldn't do something crazy like do a cartwheel in front of the camera...hehe!!! I was just happy that I didn't have to put on my stinky P.E. clothes that day! I know that my caring mother called Coach Smith and probably had a long discussion with her about how much I hated P.E. Coach Smith never gave up on me, and when I was in high school, she always sent me a sweet note when I made Superintendent's Scholar every six weeks. I actually ran into her back in A-town when I was in pharmacy school. For some reason, she always remembers me! It is probably due to the sheer terror that she can't believe that there is actually someone out there who can't do a cartwheel!

So back to my present day athletic situation...I did very good last week at getting back in the saddle of my version of "running." This week has been sketchy due to my cold...excuses, excuses!! I encourage you as my reader to keep prodding me and keeping me accountable to follow this mission. I have Coach Smith to make proud, and there is also that promise I made to myself that I deserve a new Coach purse! I also would like to up my hippopotamus status to maybe a stately, mature mare!! What do you think?!?

So here we go:
Week 5
Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
Patience and persistence...that's what I need!
Eye of the Tiger, It's Your Life, and Don't Stop Believin' are my theme songs!
After accomplishing this goal, I visualize something from Coach in my future!
Ruh-ro...I messed up! Back in the saddle again!
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The Talented Friend

2010-01-02T21:44:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my talented friend!! I am late as usual, but I guess I have the holidays to blame!!

You have always been in my life! Since you are my cousin who is only 1 year and 3 months older than me, I only have family memories with you in them! You were always at the kids' dinner table with me, were always willing to let me share your bed when we visited Ohio, and were always there for a good laugh!

I used to love eating Christmas dinner with you at Grammie and Granddaddy's house. We always thought we were high society putting a cinnamon stick in our tea...that was until we went low society by interviewing each other using our eating utensils as microphones or making bread people out of our bread. Oh and there was "One the sandbox..." that always made us die laughing at the dinner table for some reason! I would pay good money to be able to sit at the dinner table at Grammie and Granddaddy's old house on Old Sawmill. I wouldn't even mind the cigarette smoke smell! I would love to touch the fuzzy wallpaper one more time! I am sure the house would seem so much smaller to me now, but growing up I always thought it was a mansion. Sorry to digress!

I have many Christmas morning memories with you as well. We often had to open our gifts from Grammie and Granddaddy at the same time because we got the same present. Whether it was matching sweaters or dolls, we didn't mind getting the same thing. You were definitely the closest thing I had to a sister, so I thought it was exciting to match you. There is a one picture that sticks out in my mind where we are wearing matching bright turquoise t-shirts that say "Texas" on the front corner. We were styling!! Christmas at Grammie and Granddaddy's also often ended with me receiving a teeny bopper board game in the early 90s. I remember loving playing Dream Phone, Mall Madness, and Girl Talk with you!!

Other wonderful memories with you include hunting for snipes with Granddaddy. Boy he tricked us! Then there was the card playing that always took place when we all got together. I am thankful that I was exposed to all these poker games, and it was always fun to get to choose which game to play when we were the dealer. Poor David always wanted to play "In Between the Sheets" which we never wanted to play. I would also pay good money to hear Granddaddy say, "Nothing is wild but the dealer!" I also miss playing "Penny Poker" with Grammie and the wonderful old coffee can (think it was Yuban brand) that was full of coins! I'm making us sound like we belong to Gamblers Anonymous, but I also have wonderful memories from our Las Vegas trip with Grammie and Heather. We truly lived it up! You taught me how to play Blackjack, and I got addicted to your little cheat card that always told me what to do. I think we may need to return to that city together sometime.

Getting to the title of my blog post, you are my talented friend! We are very different in the fact that you perform and do wonderfully on stage while I would rather take a beating than get up in front of people and perform. You are such a talented actress and singer. I loved getting to hear you sing Ave Maria at David and Joy's wedding this summer.

I am so proud of how successful you have been in your career. You were so brave to move to the Big Apple...and to stay there (even after 9/11). I admire how you aren't afraid to move jobs and have moved up the ranks quickly in your career.

I had such a wonderful time visiting you in NYC after I graduated from A&M. It is always a pleasure to hang out with you because you have such a fun-loving and easygoing personality. Your laugh is wonderful! I truly wish we got to see each other more often. Maybe you need to attend a conference in DFW soon! Or maybe we need to plan a vacation together!!

I thank God for placing you in my family and for having a cousin that I love so dearly!! Although my children (if I ever get married!?!) probably won't be close in age to their cousins, I pray that they love each other as much as I love you!

O Canada How My Heart Aches For Thee

2010-01-01T22:01:00.000-06:00

There are several things about Canada that have always made me sad for its citizens. As a kid I was always amazed by how every book had a higher price in Canada compared to the US. Then there are the winters that must be just miserable. Oh...and nationalized healthcare...don't get me started!

But this is just a social injustice:

Canadians can't use Chi flat irons in their homes! What is their government afraid of?!? That they will burn their ears off?!? I don't know what I would do without my Chi! I guess the poor Canadians will just have to wear hats at all times to hide their hideous hair...at least it is cold enough to warrant constant hat usage!

The Gentle Friend

2009-12-10T20:29:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my gentle friend! I actually have not officially sent your birthday card (only almost 2 weeks late!!) because I am having some issues getting stamps in the city of Fort Worth...excuses...excuses! Back on track...I am honored to call you my gentle friend, and I am honored to be blood related to you!

I don't know if I can pinpoint the first memory I have of you because you are in so many of my childhood memories! You are my cousin who is six years older than me. You had every excuse and opportunity to ignore me due to our age difference, but you were always so kind to me growing up. I remember how you would take the time to play with me even though I am sure it probably wasn't the most fun activity for you! Boy was I thankful that you paid attention to me!! I unfortunately was closer in age to Todd and Christopher, but as we know, they are crazy!!!

I thought of you as my big sister! I loved it when we had matching outfits! I think we had matching outfits when we went to Disney World together in 1986!! We probably even wore the same size...haha!! You are the skinny bean pole, and I am the chunky monkey!

I unfortunately have one sad memory of you in my past. That sad memory occurred the night before my family moved from Pataskala to Amarillo. I remember that your entire family came over, and you came into my room and we sat on all the large boxes that held my treasures. Little did I know at that young age how different my life would be in Texas. I often wonder what my life would have been like if my family had stayed in Ohio. On to a happier note...

You were always the sweet cousin who let me share your bed whenever we came back to Ohio. I always thought that your water bed was the coolest thing ever! I have fond memories of spending summers with you in Ohio. You got me addicted to One Life to Live and General Hospital. I thought that your life was so glamorous because you could drive, and you read long books for PLEASURE...not for school!

Your personality is so wonderful! You are such a gentle, positive, and fun-loving person. I love your laugh and how you laugh at my stupid comments and jokes! It has been fun to watch you become a mother. What a great job that you have done with sweet Jacob! He has inherited you sweet personality.

I thank God for placing you in my family. What a blessing you are to me...my cousin...my gentle friend!

OPERATION COTTON

2009-12-10T20:25:00.000-06:00

Week 4

Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
Patience and persistence...that's what I need!
Eye of the Tiger, It's Your Life, and Don't Stop Believin' are my theme songs!
After accomplishing this goal, I visualize something from Coach in my future!
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The "Phone a Friend" Friend

2009-12-06T00:06:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my "Phone a Friend" friend! I have only known you for about 1.5 years, but it feels like we have been kindred spirits forever! You would roll your eyes at me for calling us kindred spirits, but we must be like Anne of Green Gables since we both have red hair!!

My first memory of you involves Bennigan's on Hulen Street. It is such a tragedy that they tore that building down...the memories! I remember sitting at a table in Bennigan's after Sunday School and not having a soul to talk to! You were sitting a few people away from me, so I decided to say something that probably scared you away from being my friend! I decided to tell my section of the table all about my plans on traveling to North Carolina and the opportunity to visit Mount Airy where Andy Griffith grew up! Little did I know that you probably thought I was the weirdest girl in the world! A few weeks later, I remember coming into church late and asking if anyone was sitting next to you, and you were very welcoming to me! You must have forgotten the Andy Griffith comment! We got to chat a little bit as we walked across the street to Sunday School. Little did I know that you would soon be my very dear friend and my personal "Phone a Friend" with any information that I could ever want!

We then reunited at Julie and Lee's Memorial Day party. I think we both grabbed on to each other because we were the newbies to the group and a little intimidated. We had great conversation at the party! A few days later we ended up going to Cantina Laredo where we truly began our friendship! It was then that I knew you would HAVE to be my kindred spirit...your blog was too awesome to pass up such a friendship!

You are the most creative person that I know! I would love to be a fly on the wall in one of your English or Yearbook classes. I know that your students love you and are so blessed by you as their teacher! You constantly blow me away with your knowledge of what seems to be basically EVERYTHING!! If I was on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and was asked by Regis (or Meredith Vieira) "Which president had a middle name that started with a 'Z'?" or "What was Flo Rida's first single?," you would totally have my back! You will always be my "Phone a Friend!" I think that I probably should have just phoned you to ask the correct punctuation for that last sentence....too many quotation marks I'm afraid!!

You are a hoot to travel with!! You are a hoot to people watch with!! You are a hoot to laugh with (especially when the "silent inhale" laugh occurs)!! I truly can't imagine any activity that you wouldn't make fun!!

Your walk with the Lord also AMAZES me!! The path that you have paved in your Christian walk is a pretty impressive resume and witness (I picture you hitting me hard in the arm now!). Your wise words and biblical knowledge blow me out of the water. You are the coolest seminary graduate that I have ever met!! Your knowledge and wisdom challenges me to strengthen my relationship with the Lord.

I hope that you have a wonderful "Jesus Year" since it is your 33rd year of life! I am so blessed by your friendship!! In the words of "your people" in Louisiana and Steel Magnolias, "You worship the quicksand I walk on!!" Love you!!

OPERATION COTTON

2009-12-05T16:42:00.000-06:00

Week 3

Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
Patience and persistence...that's what I need!
Eye of the Tiger, It's Your Life, and Don't Stop Believin' are my theme songs!
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OPERATION COTTON

2009-11-27T23:13:00.000-06:00

Week 2

Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
Patience and persistence...that's what I need!
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Poet Laureate of Dogwood Lane

2009-11-24T17:37:00.000-06:00

During my time in Amarillo, I wandered across some of my old high school folders that my mom has kept for me over the years. They are mostly folders containing my great literary works (hehe!), and it really amazes me at how good I used to be able to write. I guess it is true...you lose it if you don't use it! The last huge paper I had to write was a 20 page paper in pharmacy school reviewing a journal article. It definitely wasn't one of my finest literary masterpieces. I miss (kinda!) the days of Mr Biggers' English III-AP class where I really had to pour over every word that I chose to type on my paper. The portfolio that I was left with at the end of the year really made me proud of my writing ability! Todd was always the author of the family. If came naturally to him. I, on the other hand, had to work and work and then rework everything I ever wrote.

During my sophomore year in high school, we covered poetry for one six weeks period. I was forced to write a poem pretty much every night. The best poems that I composed during the poetry six weeks were classified as "sense" poems. Todd always made fun of me and said that I should get a beret and bongos and go read these poems down at the local coffee shop! I will share how pathetic sounding these poems seem to me now! Oh...and I had to add artwork ...if only you could see the great artwork too!!

"Worry is puke green.
It sounds like the chewing of fingernails.
It feels like an ulcer forming in the pit of your stomach.
It smells like a hospital room before going into surgery.
It tastes like Maalox."

"Contentment is peach.
It sounds like a supportive family.
It feels like accomplishing a goal.
It smells like the earth after it rains.
It tastes like chocolate cake after a hard day."

The Always Positive Friend

2009-11-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my "Always Positive" friend!! You turned a special number this year, and I am glad that you will pave the way for me to understand the decade that begins with a 3!!!

I met you over a dead dog. That's right...a DEAD DOG named Pudge. I praise the Lord that our last names both begin with "BA" because I don't think I could have made it through Anatomy without you!! Our group was made up of Matt (now a veterinarian), Lauren (now a dentist), you (now an AWESOME nurse), and me (now a pharmacist). We did Dr. Ruoff proud....even though I was terrified of her! The dog that we ended up with was definitely the fattest dog in our section (hence the name Pudge). I remember that they never wanted to use good old Pudge during the lab practicals...I wonder why...maybe it was his nasty smell?!?

Anyway...enough about the dog...I knew the minute I saw your smile and experienced your kind spirit that you were a Christian. I had actually prayed for my Anatomy group the entire summer before we started the class because I knew that we would be spending so much time together, and I was VERY nervous about Anatomy for some reason. God totally blessed my socks off by allowing me to have you in my group and then become my dear friend! We struggled through Anatomy together while our lab partner, Lauren, made a 100 on every practical...she was super sweet though!

I was quickly blown away by your serving heart and your huge volunteer work with Breakaway. I remember studying with you in the West Campus Library and dropping everything on a Tuesday night to head to Reed Arena for Breakaway. It was always a much needed break, and our outlook on Anatomy always seemed a bit different after hearing Gregg Matte preach! I am so proud of the work you did for Breakaway as an intern after we finished with A&M. It is such a small world that you became so close to my dear friend, Kelsey, during your intern year at Breakaway. That college ministry was truly blessed to have you and your beautiful smile!

Anatomy wasn't our only classroom adventure together at A&M. We actually randomly signed up for the same Beginning Tennis class. That blows my mind since there were a ton of Beginning Tennis sections to choose from. The Lord totally knew that I needed you in my life. We then proceeded to take Venture Dynamics together. I might have been more cautious about signing up with you for a class that involved ropes and heights after seeing your wonderful falling record (over completely random items)!

It's crazy to think that we ended up living right across from each other in San Antonio four years after graduating from A&M. I am so glad that I chose your apartment complex to reside in, and it blows my mind that I lived in a building directly across from your apartment. My residency year was SO crazy that I'm not sure if I would have made it without your positive, kind words everyday when I wanted to break down crying. You were always there to listen about a bad day and to calm my continual fears about my residency. We had great stress release times of watching "Strong Bad" and listening to "Real Mean of Genius" commericals together. It killed me when you left San Antonio in December of that year (darn graduation from nursing school!).

I am SO proud of the nurse that you have become...a fat, smoking, lazy nurse that is...HAHA...just kidding!!! I know that you are a ray of sunshine for every patient that you encounter. You have such a caring, serving, and Godly heart. I am so thankful God called you to be a nurse.

I had the time of my life on our adventure to the Aloha state in February/March of this year! What a trip of a lifetime, and it was so wonderful to get to experience it with you. Your laid back nature makes you a wonderful travel buddy, and I love that you can find humor in anything! We definitely make perfect travel buddies after both falling asleep on the Road to Hana (leave it to us)!

I continue to thank my God for you and your friendship! May you have a wonderful start to the decade that begins with a 3!!

My advice to you during your 30s...in the words of Pauline (our tour guide).."Always go to the loo-a before looking at the nature!"

Hawaii trip

OPERATION COTTON

2009-11-15T22:55:00.000-06:00

OPERATION COTTON is set to commence tomorrow morning! Stay tuned for more details as to what this operation involves. I am going to create an acrostic to get it started with a bang!

Oh my goodness...what was I thinking?!?
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Watch for t-shirts, bumper stickers, and maybe even some TV public service announcements. Woohoo...here we go!

Is This the Way to Amarillo?!?

2009-11-09T22:48:00.000-06:00

So I will be returning to my hometown soon! I just realized that I haven't been to Amarillo since February (see apron blog), and I haven't seen my mom since June. That just may be a record for me...not something I need to repeat though!

A few years ago, I remember hearing that a song about Amarillo was on the top of the music charts in England. Tony Christie did such a wonderful job with the song "Is This the Way to Amarillo" that it topped the English music charts in 1971 AND 2002! I think it may have resurged in popularity purely due to its exciting topic of Amarillo. Can you imagine what people in England think about Amarillo? It sounds like quite a sexy location...I mean....sweet Marie...who waits for me!

Many folks like to spoof the original Tony Christie video. I have attached a You Tube video for your pleasure of this awesome song! It is of the Royal Dragoon Guards who were serving in Iraq at the time!

Hopefully I will remember the path to Amarillo! I don't think that there will be a sweet Marie waiting for me, but a Steve, Vicki, and Sandie will do just fine!

I guess I will have to hug my pillow a little longer...dreaming dreams of Amarillo...sha la la la la la la la!!

Oh...and George Straight may now have some competition for my favorite hometown song...

The Big Sister Friend

2009-11-02T11:11:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my "Big Sister" friend. It's not that you are that much older than me...it's just that you took care of me when I truly needed you!

I met you when I was a junior in high school. We instantly bonded. You were so kind to find out what was going on in my life! I remember sitting on the bar stools of my house and carrying on such a fun conversation about EVERYTHING. You were the outgoing girl who could talk to a wall, and I was the shy girl who hated talking to strangers...but we instantly clicked! I remember thinking how high class you were by the fact that you drove a new Ford Mustang, and you were the valedictorian of your high school class! And oh...let's throw in that you were the Luling Watermelon Thump Queen!! I never had such a classy friend!!

I arrived at Texas A&M in the fall of 1998 as a clueless Biomedical Science major. The horrible science classes quickly kicked my behind. You too were a Biomedical Science major and knew exactly how to encourage me and help me make it through the classes. You also made sure that I had a little bit of fun during my A&M career. I always got great football seats at Kyle Field because of having you (a junior!) pull my ticket to the game. I always looked forward to Tuesday nights as you would come pick me up in Mosher Circle, and we would head off to Breakaway together. That was back in the day when it was still located at Central Baptist Church! I would never have found a parking spot back on campus if I had driven myself!

If I had never met you, I might not be a pharmacist today! By meeting you, I met your wonderful crazy family! "We're not all crazy here!!" I got to spend a day in the wonderful Luling Discount Pharmacy where I started my pharmacy career by knocking over an ENTIRE pharmacy shelf full of medications. I think I turned five shades of red that day! Who would have thought that I would ever get into or make it through pharmacy school!

We got to experience graduate school together! You amazed me that you could go to PA school and be a wonderful wife at the same time...and then be pregnant during your last semester! I was proud of myself if I brushed my teeth at bedtime while I was in pharmacy school!

I was so blessed to stand by your side when you got married...wearing a naked dress and having cornrows in my hair was definitely one of my greatest looks! I will always treasure those pictures...haha! It has been so fun watching you become a mother to two sweet little boys and a girl on the way! You never got your bald-headed baby, but they sure were cute babies. There might be a chance for this last one!

I am so thankful that God placed you in my life, and that we have remained friends through all the crazy parts of our lives! We have been friends for 13 years now, and I thank my God everytime I think of you!

The In-The-Trenches-With-You Friend

2009-11-02T10:26:00.000-06:00

I apologize for my blog hiatus and being late with these posts about my dear friends! That horrible BCPS test took all the power out of my brain for awhile!

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my "In-The-Trenches-With-You Friend!" I met you during my pharmacy school interview. We can definitely call that a "day at war!" You sat next to me in the huge lecture hall during that horrible interview day, and I knew instantly that there was something special about you! I think we kept each other sane on that day! You were already encouraging me, and I didn't even now you! I knew that we had to be friends since our names are almost exactly the same...you're just missing an important "I!!"

Little did I know that we would soon be spending FOUR LONG YEARS together! They weren't long because it was with you...they were LONG because we were getting our butts kicked in the trenches of pharmacy school! Actually...they weren't long at all...the time flew by, and we didn't even have time to sleep! We of course sat next to each other during the entire first year of pharmacy school. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do as no one could figure out how to say your name or my name! I kinda wished that Dr. Weidanz had gotten our names confused for Immunology because I truly could have used your awesome grades!

You amazed me by how fast you jumped into being a leader for all of our pharmacy organizations! Your many activities encouraged me to dive right into the trenches of the organizations with you! I never knew how you held all of those leadership positions and worked so much at Walmart pharmacy during those years. You probably still haven't caught up on all your sleep deprivation!!

Now that we are many miles apart from each other, we rely on the phone and funny emails to keep in touch! Oh and by the way...why did you move to Arizona?!?...you know it's hot there...HAHA!! I love it when I get off work and have one of your crazy LONG messages on my voicemail! I miss your laugh! I miss your teasing! I will always treasure our roadtrip around Minnesota for Julie's wedding. Only you would allow me to see go to Walnut Grove and see the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.

We shed many tears and shared many laughs during our journeys to become pharmacists. I truly am proud to call you my friend as you are a wonderful pharmacist! I know that your customers love you, and I can just picture how patient and helpful you are to your elderly patients! You truly are living the "Oath of a Pharmacist." Thanks for making my pharmacy school journey so fun...it would have been miserable without you!

Here's a toast to staying out of the trenches!! But if you end up in another trench, I've got your back!!

Friends are Friends FOREVER!!

2009-08-22T13:36:00.000-05:00

I recently came across an article on MSN titled "7 Friends Every Woman Needs." It made me think about how blessed I am with the friendships that the Lord has given me.

I would like to start a new series on my blog honoring my AWESOME friends, and I have chosen to compose a blog post about each one of these friends on their birthday. Some of the friends that I will choose to blog about don't even read my blog or know it exists...it's just for fun...and it allows me an outlet to thank the Lord for each one of them.

The History Friend

Happy Birthday to the AWESOME Christian woman that I am blessed to call my history friend!! I must admit that I copied a lot from the letter I wrote to you before your wedding...they were special words then, and I wanted to make sure I got it all right!

I met you in August 1998 (goodness...11 years ago...almost to the day!), it was definitely a life changing month for me!! I had not only moved more than 500 miles away from my parents, but I met YOU during that month!! I know that God was totally there on that one fateful August afternoon when He had me ask you to go to Freebird’s with me. I typically was a shy girl, but for some reason when I saw your bright, warm face, I just had an urge to ask you to come out to lunch with me. That was definitely one of the greatest decisions that I have ever made!! (A much better decision than me choosing to wear a "House of Blues" t-shirt and you choosing to wear a tie-dyed "Joe's Crab Shack" t-shirt.) We have truly evolved in our fashion sense...haha!!

You were an answered prayer for me! You were an answered prayer from my mother’s awesome prayers! I always wanted a friend like you while I was in high school, and I prayed that God would bring me a once in a life time friend while at A&M. You fit the mold of my prayers for a friend: Christian (which you are an AWESOME woman of God), honest, great listener, considerate, trustworthy, compassionate, and of course FUN! I never had to question if you would be there for me because you were always there before I even had to ask for help, and you always gave me wise advice.

You will never realize how much your cheerful words and praises helped me throughout my time at A&M as well as in present day. I think we all know how easily stressed and worked up I can get about pointless events in my life! Every time that I move now, I find a ton of “Good Luck” signs and notes you made for me throughout our A&M career that I have saved in different plastic containers. Your wise words and Bible verses were so meaningful to me, and I probably never thanked you enough for the encouragement. I treasure your kind words and artwork, and I know that I will never get rid of them!

You brushed away my tears continuously! I will definitely never forget how much trouble you went through to make sure I got back into Underwood Hall after finding my lost student ID card. I was already having a meltdown due to my upcoming Chem 101 test, and you knew exactly how I was going to react once I found out I had lost my ID card. You had only known me for a couple of weeks, but you were such a generous and understanding friend to go through all that for me. You always listened to me relay my bad day and offered words of wisdom. I never had to cry alone with you around!

There are so many “little things” that I share with you, that I’m not sure if I know where to begin, and I definitely know I will be leaving a ton of stuff out! Probably my favorite “little thing” was eating dinner with you almost every night. I never realized how much my family meant to me until I left for A&M. It was so refreshing to get to eat and PRAY with you every night at dinner. Another favorite “little thing” that stands out in my mind is going for ice cream on a Wednesday night freshman year! We were like two prisoners getting released from prison when we left campus that night! I think we may be the only 2 people on the face of this earth to laugh at that experience, but I still remember the fun we had! A huge “little thing” that I miss dearly to this day is our time in my room with you sitting on my bed. I’d pay good money to get one more night again where you would come sit on my bed and we would just cut-up about the day and of course procrastinate our studying! Maybe I could hear you say once more..."I want to marry an AGGIE!!!" (I'm SO glad it eventually happened for you!) I also miss the “little thing” of making sure that the other didn’t oversleep for a final. We were always like each other’s mother!

I feel that we really progressed to "mature" women by the time we graduated from A&M. We had those many days and nights of wanting to just be through with school and the stress that it entails, but we helped each other through all the hard times. You were my shoulder to cry on during the times I thought I was going to fail, and you always had a joke to cheer me up. You always had a way of entertaining me in the library even by sending me funny messages over the study carrel! You were also always there to tell me I was having a wonderful hair day when it probably was one of the worst hair days of my life!!

I prayed hard that our friendship would not cease after we left A&M. I knew that we were going to be living far apart and doing our own separate things, but I truly wanted to still be connected to you. You were my faithful friend that talked to me every Sunday night, and I SO looked forward to your calls. It was a rough start for me at pharmacy school, and you always cheered me up! You are such a faithful friend that always remembers my zany stories and asks me about my life! At the age of 80, I still hope to reminisce with you about our fun memories!

It has been so fun watching you in the role of wife. You have truly blossomed in this role, and I am so happy to see you in such a solid, godly marriage. We each have our own "adult" lives, but I always know I can pick up where I left off with you. I am so proud of all of your work accomplishments and am so proud to call you my friend.

You will ALWAYS be my dear friend! In the words that you have often shared with me over the past 11 years (and I hope many years to come), “Thanks for being my friend!”

"I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life"

2009-08-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

So I heard this song by Green Day tonight and it got the squeaky wheels in my brain turning. I have had writer's block recently due to the pressure of blogging about my Ohio trip, which I SERIOUSLY need to do, but let's go with this thought for now!! I love you Ohio relatives!!

This song by Green Day makes me think of happy times at the end of my high school career and just puts me in the mood to reminisce about my times growing up in A-town. I began thinking how romantic it sometimes seems about the possibility of moving back to A-town and falling in love with a local or even someone from my past. This crazy notion is probably due to my love for the now cancelled TV show "Ed" and the few times I saw the TV show "October Road." These shows seem so glamorous to me because the show's main character was at a crossroads in his life and picks up everything from his exciting life in the big city and moves back to his hometown to all the people he left behind. Ok...so the people I left behind are basically my parents and my cat, Sandie...not so glamorous for me!! I unfortunately don't have a cool group of pretty, single friends back in A-town, nor does one of my friends own a restaurant/bar where I could find the love of my life. So maybe I need to be like "Ed" (the "Bowling Alley Lawyer"), and open a pharmacy in a bowling alley. I do possess my own bowling shoes and my dad does have his own bowling ball.... Maybe one of my customers will be a blast from my past AND the love of my life...haha!!! I also dream of having a smoke-free bowling alley where I counsel everyone on smoking cessation and hand out nicotine patches like they were candy!!!

I digress... So I actually guess I did get the chance to move back to my hometown after college when I attended pharmacy school in A-town, but I definitely wouldn't call it an "Ed" experience. I did reunite and date a childhood friend, but he then proceeded to be a complete jerkface and break my heart just a tad. I guess I just should have bought a bowling alley, and it might have worked out!! The bowling shoes just weren't enough?!? I digress AGAIN...

So now on to my serious point...I have been convicted lately about not being content with where my life is RIGHT NOW. I either keep thinking about the great times of my life in the past or wanting great times to happen for me in the future. Why are we wired like that?!? Why am I complaining and not feeling satisfied when I have a God who is giving me constant grace and is in control over EVERYTHING in my life. I pray that God will keep teaching me to be content with everyday, and that I will learn that it is through Christ that I get my strength and sustenance.

Philippians 3:13-14

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

PS...For all my 2 readers from Fort Worth, I am in NO way planning to leave Fort Worth anytime soon...I just dream about weird things...that's why I should probably have an anonymous blog!!!

National Campaign to Ban Designer Stiched-On Cloth Labels on Coat/Suit Sleeves

2009-06-01T19:38:00.000-05:00

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

I apologize for the somewhat long title to this blog post, but it pretty much sums up the whole point of my message today. You see, I want to start a national campaign against designers being able to place a stiched-on cloth label on the sleeves of coats/suits. It has brought extreme heartache to my family, and I know we aren't the only ones...

The heartache story begins Spring Semester 1997 (I think!?!). My brother, Todd (who I hope doesn't hate me for sharing this...but he doesn't really read my blog)!), was beginning his second semester at A&M when he decided to "rush" a prestigious organization. I will let this organization remain anonymous as I truly think it is a great group of Christian men. This organization has members who have gone on to be great Christian leaders, GQ models, and even American Idol contestants. Anyway... back on track... So to try to join this organization you had to be invited to an event at Kyle Field for a time of mingling. Everyone who was anybody knew that you wore the typical dress of the organization to this event which was a navy blazer with khaki pants. Todd went to the mall to purchase this said navy blazer. I am sure he looked totally snazzy in his preppy outfit, and I know that he used wonderful conversation skills at this "mingler." Well...it turned out that he didn't get selected for this very prestigious organization. I truly think it killed me more than it killed him. I think I cried for him on the phone and then I bawled after I finished our phone conversation. I was heartbroken for him...how could they not want my incredibly awesome and cute brother?!?

Let's go a few months down the road when Todd returned home to A-town for the summer. He brought his suave and preppy navy blazer home with him which made my mother cringe the moment she laid eyes on it. THE DESIGNER LABEL WAS STILL STICHED ON THE SLEEVE!!! I think more tears were shed at this point!! Todd had been with these classy college men, and he totally didn't realize the need to remove the designer label from his sleeve. You know...I think they should start teaching this life skill during the senior year of high school. It is very hard for some people to think that the label should be removed since it is such pretty cloth!

So this brings me to an ethical question... I try to picture myself in a real life situation, and I wonder if I would tell a total stranger that the designer stiched-on label was really meant to be removed. Let's picture me riding on the subway to work (it sounds much for glamorous than my normal work transportation of a Honda Accord), and the girl sitting across from me is wearing a new Ralph Lauren black suit with the designer label still very evident on the sleeve, and she looks like she is headed to a job interview. Do I tell her that this label is really meant to be removed? Am I brave enough to embarass her for just a second so that she is not embarassed in front of everyone she meets on her job interview? I sure hope so!

That's why I think that I should start a full blown campaign (bumper stickers, buttons, airplane flying messages) to make Joe Public aware of the fashion faux pas that can occur with designer cloth labels left on sleeves! Maybe I can prevent a lot of heartache, and maybe that girl that I informed on the subway about her fashion faux pas will go on to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or something!!

Gargantuan Sputnik Head

2009-05-24T21:55:00.001-05:00

So here is the famous line from the film "So I Married an Axe Murderer" that inspired this post:

"Head! Paper! Now!
Move that melon of yours and get the paper if you can!
Haulin' that gargantuan cranium about!
I'm not kidding, that boy's head's like Sputnik!
Spherical, but quick pointy in parts.
Well, that was off sides, wasn't it?
He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight on his *huge* pillow."

**I wish that you could all hear Mike Myers read this line...it's hilarious!!**

Here is a picture from my cruise with Jalen and Kelsey that also inspired this post:

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

**Does anyone see any difference in the size of my head compared to Kelsey's?!? I can't believe that I opened up this picture to my friends and family.**

Ok...so I must admit...I have a HUGE head. The proof is in the picture. I probably should have composed this post on my birthday as I must apologize to my mom for having to give birth to me and my big ol' head. Or maybe I should phrase it as my big ol' head and then came me! I think that my birth raised my mom's pain threshold to an insanely high level. This later prepared her to be able to walk around Washington, DC for an entire week on a church trip with a broken foot and not ever think twice about seeking medical attention. I think my parents wanted to post a copy of the head circumference growth chart on the refrigerator because I was always WAY above the curve!!

The pain of having a massive head has followed me throughout my entire life. I never owned a Brownie beanie when I was in Girl Scouts because I don't think they made one large enough. As a band nerd in high school, my hat size always began with the number 8 while everyone else had hat sizes that began with the number 7. I used to blame my thick hair for needing such a large hat, but I actually think I have SO much hair because I have such a monstrous scalp that covers my jumbo head. It was always fun getting all of my hair up under my silly band hat.

Since I am quite sensitive about the size of my head, it often leads me to notice the size of other heads. Ryan Seacrest has an insanely small head (or maybe David Cook has an insanely large head?).

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

Due to the fact that I pay fine attention to detail and realize that Ryan Seacrest has such a tiny head, I refuse to try out for American Idol. It has nothing to do with my singing ability...I just don't want to look like Mr. Potato Head next to Ryan!!

Maybe I need to look into a head reduction, or maybe I just need to lose some weight so that my head may look a tad smaller!! I guess I will now just go cry myself to sleep on my HUGE pillow!!

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY...THIS POST IS IN HONOR OF YOU AND THE HUMOR YOU FIND FROM MY BIG HEAD!!**

Book Worm...

2009-04-12T16:40:00.000-05:00

Ok...I have broken my silence. The pressure I felt for blogging about my Hawaii trip, News Orleans trip, birthday weekend of fun, Orlando trip, and two trips to Austin has prevented me from blogging earlier. That just made me sound shallow and high maintenance, which I promise I am not!!

Anyway...I just decided to throw out a random blog for everyone. Thanks to all of my faithful readers who have voiced the need for a new blog. I hope that I don't disappoint, and I will eventually blog about all of my recent fun trips and experiences (cross your fingers!).

Everytime I drive down the race car track to Austin (aka I-35), I see a Scholastic Book Fair building just south of Waco. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling everytime I think about book fairs. It is probably hard for all of my readers to believe, but I used to spend hours analyzing the book fair catalog. I think my mom would give me a set number of books that I was allowed to purchase, and it really stressed me out! Should I get the newest Where's Waldo? book or another book by Beverly Cleary? Now knowing my mother, she probably would have let me purchase any books I picked out because she really just wanted me to be excited about reading. She might have placed some restrictions if I had only chosen Where's Waldo? books or Clifford the Big Red Dog books since she wanted me to read quality books appropriate for my age. On a side note, why is Clifford always all over the book fair catalogs and signs? Back on track...thinking about book fairs just brought back fun memories of reading while I was growing up.

My mother got me to be passionate about reading after we read The Wizard of Oz together every night before bedtime when I was probably in the third grade. Todd was always the book worm in the family, and I preferred to watch game shows on USA during the summer. Don't I sound like a braniac?!? After we read that book together though, I was hooked on reading. I became the biggest fan of The Babysitter's Club book series. I even wrote the author, Ann M. Martin, a fan letter. I made sure that I was at the Waldenbooks in Westgate Mall the day that the newest book in the The Babysitter's Club series was on the shelf. I could read one of these books in a weekend. I always kind of cheated because I skipped the entire section of Ms. Martin telling the reader about the history of all of the babysitters in the series. That was a good 20 pages, and it was always the same in each book! I think I may need a blog post just on The Babysitter's Club series...the wheels are turning in my head about an awesome post!!

I really don't know where I am going with this blog post, but it has made me excited about reading again! I think I may even finish Twilight since I am the only woman in the United States who is stuck in the middle of it. Long story!! I am happy to be back to my blogging world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMS!!

2009-03-18T10:19:00.000-05:00

So this is a tad bit late, but I wanted to give a shout out to my Mams! Her birthday was on Monday, and I hope that she had a wonderful day! This woman can work ANY sewing machine, pattern, or fabric. She can also work ANY kitchen gadget, ingredient, or recipe. And I must say she is getting pretty handy with a computer!!

I love ya more than my luggage (and I recently received some nice luggage from you and Dad for Christmas)!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMS!!

This picture isn't so great, but I had to go with the birthday theme...

I love this picture of Mams with Brennan. It pretty much sums up what a great mom and grandma she is!!

Amarillo by Morning on Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T22:45:00.000-06:00

I left for Amarillo bright and early on Valentine's Day. For some reason I really enjoy the drive to Amarillo. There is no big city to slow me down as I make my trek. I think I saw a meth deal occurring on the side of the road between Clarendon and Memphis. There were some shady looking people with several coolers. A little odd.

Anyway, when I arrived in Amarillo, Mom and I got to work on my apron. I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and it hadn't been removed from the box. I was a little intimidated about getting started on this new sewing machine (or ANY sewing machine), so Mom set me up. The lady who cut my fabric at Jo-Ann's really inspired me to become a great seamstress. She highly recommended the sewing lessons offered at Jo-Ann's and was telling me about a teenage girl who was making her own prom dress. Wow...an apron seemed like a formidable challenge to me!

Here are a few pics throughout the entire apron making process. I looked too bad that day so you won't see any pics of me!

PS...My next project is a leisure suit for Todd....be jealous!

My Red Headed Sweatshirt

2009-02-08T20:45:00.000-06:00

This one will be quick and not very interesting, but at least I'm blogging! I had to come up with a catchy title (funny Adam Sandler song) although it is not exactly the sweatshirt that I am describing!

Ok...on my Thursday full of errands, I saw TWO (not just one, but TWO) ladies wearing an oversized EXPRESS sweatshirt from the early 90s. Did anyone else have a sweatshirt like this? Mine was hunter green and had the big "EXP" letters on the front made out of plaid material. People wore them with leggings and stirrup pants. It just made me chuckle that I saw one while I was at Northeast Mall and one while I was at Sam's.

Please tell me that someone else had a sweatshirt like this, or maybe it was just and Amarillo thing! I totally wish that I had a picture of one!

Crazy Day Off (am I a Soccer Mom?!?)

2009-02-05T19:42:00.001-06:00

My day off just started weird. I finally had everything set up to take my car into the body shop for repairs, so I headed there first. I waited quite awhile for the Enterprise people to show up, which frustrated me greatly. When I arrived to get my rental car, they handed me keys to a black Dodge Grand Caravan minivan! What in the world?!? That's all they had left. They stated that the ice storm last week caused so many wrecks that there is now a rental car shortage! I never realized how long a minivan is until getting to drive one today!

After picking up my Soccer Mom mobile (please don't be offended if you have a minivan...it just isn't my ideal rental car), I headed off to Northeast Mall. I have been on a hot pursuit for cruise clothes, so shopping is my new hobby. I had a little bit of luck finding some fun clothes. I also needed some more foundation so I headed to the Clinique counter in Dillards. The makeup associated lured me into purchasing more makeup by asking me if I wanted to try a new eye color. I stated that I was looking for a fun new eye color, so I sat down for her to CHANGE my face. She went very dramatic with my eye and lip colors. I felt VERY made up and kept thinking that people were staring at me as I walked through the mall.

I then headed off to Sam's as I needed to get some food items for a bridal shower that I am helping with. My parents gave me Sam's Club membership gift certificate for Christmas, so I had to get my picture taken for my membership card. I was chuckling to myself that I got my makeup done just for my Sam's Club card picture. I look great on the card! I must say that it was nice to load all of my Sam's goodies into a roomy minivan. I felt like I needed to then rush off and pick up my 2 kids at soccer practice.

Where did the last eight years go?!?

2009-01-20T22:41:00.000-06:00

I didn't get to catch much of the inaugural festivities today due to work, but I had a flashback today of watching George W's inaugural events in 2001. I vividly remember Dad and I helping Todd move into his Austin apartment during that January 2001 weekend. I watched George W's Inaugural Parade from a blow-up mattress in Todd's new apartment. I began to think of how many major things have occurred in my life during the eight years that George W. was in office.

Here are the highlights (I hope I can remember everything!):

Todd and Candace got married
Graduated from Texas A&M
Moved back to Amarillo to start pharmacy school
My Grandma passed away
Brennan was born
Graduated from pharmacy school
Moved to San Antonio
My Grammie passed away
Completed a pharmacy practice with emphasis in geriatrics residency (praise Jesus!)...this should almost count for 5 years...I think it knocked 5 years off of my life!
Took job at Harris Methodist and moved to Fort Worth
Ella was born
Many weddings (including a cousin, many friends, and both of my college roomies!)
Several trips (Columbus, New York City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Indianapolis, Anaheim, Playa del Carmen, Boone, Minneapolis, New Orleans)

It is amazing how fast eight years can go by, but a lot of wonderful things can happen in this quick time!

Thanks President Bush for all of the leadership and service you gave to our country. I pray that President Obama seeks wisdom from the Lord as you did.

The Whiskey Dent

2009-01-20T21:58:00.000-06:00

So Saturday night turned out to be a little weird for me! Jessica and I headed downtown in my car to meet some other friends at Mi Cocina and then to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We chose to park in the parking garage close to Bass Hall and Barnes & Noble. As I was heading up the first ramp in the garage, I had to stop to let a Civic pull out. All of a sudden, Jessica and I felt a large bump and rock to the back of my NEW car!! Argh! A truck that was also backing up decided to hit the right rear and bumper of my NEW car!! The guy got out of his large truck and called the damage to my car a "whiskey dent." Anyone else heard of this phrase?!? I decided to Google this phrase because I wasn't sure if it is a dent caused by someone who had been drinking whiskey or if it is a dent caused by someone throwing a whiskey bottle at a car. It turns out that the phrase "whiskey dent" is actually in the Toby Keith song "You Already Love Me." Who would have ever known? There also is a folk band named the Whiskey Dents who play Irish and Americana music. Thanks Google!

I have included a picture for you! It isn't horrible, but the first boo-boo sure does hurt! I've only paid one car payment...what a bummer!!

Bring out another box of Kleenex...

2009-01-15T00:29:00.000-06:00

I know I totally need to be in bed, but I usually can't go to sleep right away after working the evening shift. Anyway, I decided to watch yesterday's episode of The Biggest Loser. WOW...I needed a whole box of Kleenex for this episode. Did anyone else feel the same?!? The scene that got me the most was when 19 year old Daniel (heaviest contestant EVER on the show) struggled to climb up the mountain and all of his teammates came to help him. It was like I was watching the hospital scene in Terms of Endearment or the cemetery scene in Steel Magnolias. Please tell me that someone else out there feels the same way!!

I'm trying to figure out who I want to won this season. I'm definitely going with Daniel and Tara. Hopefully they won't backstab anyone so that I have to remove my allegiance to them!!

Move it or Lose the Yogurt....

2009-01-09T23:15:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else have trouble getting their yogurt at the grocery store? It never fails that by the time I make it to the yogurt section there is some slow poke trying to gingerly pick out their yogurt selection. I usually get everything else I need around this section and then head back to the vast yogurt wonderland. There is then usually ANOTHER slow poke trying to decide his/her yogurt flavors like it was as important as picking out a diamond ring or something! I eventually push my way through and grab all of my favorite yogurt flavors that I can get my paws on!!

My current faves (all Yoplait Light--yeah, yeah I'm supporting a French company, but I love the flavors!!):

-Strawberry (Thick and Creamy)
-Key Lime Pie (Thick and Creamy)
-Boston Cream Pie
-Lemon Cream Pie (do you see a theme?)
-Apple Turnover
-Orange Creme

I haven't seen any of the new flavors that have been recently advertised! That will just make more flavor choices for all of the yogurt slow pokes out there!

O Christmas Tree (yeah I know it's kinda late!)

2009-01-06T17:50:00.000-06:00

I realize that Christmas is over, but I really wanted to talk about the special ornaments in my life. I got inspired as I was taking my Christmas tree ornaments off the tree this year! My family always put every Christmas ornament my brother and I ever made on the tree. My mom never felt the need to be selective and have a theme for our Christmas tree. I am very grateful for this as I have several special ornaments that I always had to place on the tree. It would infuriate me if anyone else took the duty of placing these ornaments on the tree.

Here is a list of my special ornaments:

The pink elephant with sugar coated all over it! I now have inherited this ornament! It makes me think of my grandma, and that's why I love it! It really is quite ugly, but I LOVE it! Why does an elephant have sugar all over it?...because it CAN!
The 1980 "First Christmas" ornament with a cute little baby on it! The ornament has now frayed a little bit since it is 28 years old!
The mouse thumbprint wooden ornament from 1982. My thumbprint makes the head of the mouse. I am always amazed by how small my thumb was at the age of 2! Todd has an ornament just like it too!
The glass ornaments my grandpa brought back from Europe after World War II. My mom always tells me about them, but I can't tell you exactly what country they came from! Tells you how well I am listening...but I still love them!
The fan angel made out of purple ribbon. No exciting story behind this one...I just like it!!
The Peanuts ball ornament from the late 1980s. I always make sure that it is on an ornament spinner so that you can see all characters!!

I must also talk about the ornaments I hated placing on the tree:

All the crazy apple ornaments I received at church that had my name painted on with a paint pin as "Alicia." I have enough misspelled ornaments like this to start my own personal "Alicia" Christmas tree.
All the Star Trek ornaments that lit up and made noise. I hated having to take out the light bulb from the strand of lights and making sure that it worked properly!
Any Winnie the Pooh ornament. For some reason I am not digging Pooh on a Christmas tree.

So all of the special ornaments in my life prompted me to purchase engraved ornaments for my babies this year. Hopefully Brennan will look at his engraved manger scene ornament, and Ella will look at her engraved angel ornament, and make sure that Aunt Shishy is placed in a good nursing home!

I don't even know where to begin.....

2009-01-05T23:51:00.001-06:00

So my sweet, faithful readers keep requesting an update on my blog, and I have finally complied. I apologize to everyone, but I just felt SO much pressure on having to blog about all of my recent adventures! I will hit the high points and those events that my special readers have requested!

Let's first start with the fun event of me buying a new car! The Saturn finally frustrated me into buying a new car. I went shopping by myself and then later took Dad back with me to seal the deal! I purchased a "Polished Metal Metallic" 2009 Honda Accord from Frank Kent Honda. Bob was a great salesman! I am a real life grown-up now!

Let's now move on to the great date I had with my sweet Kelsey. We promised each other last December that we would do everything possible to attend Michael W. Smith's Christmas concert, and we pulled it off lovely!! Kelsey and I both admit that we have a little crush on MWS even though he is a grandfather of two!! The Meyerson Symphony Center was just gorgeous, and we had such a lovely time. Excuse the fact that I look like a linebacker in my green jacket!!

Let's now move on to the fun I have experienced with my Travis friends. I don't even know where to begin... My social calendar has exploded due to these friends, and everyone can truly blame them for my lack of blogging!! We all had great fun at Bufkin's birthday party that ended at Simply Fondue and Sundance Square. It was then on to more great fun celebrating Julie's birthday at Campisi's, looking at Christmas lights in ritzy Highland Park, and eating my FIRST Sprinkles cupcake. The girls also had a dainty Christmas Tea at the Parson's Table in Aledo. Great fun!!

Let's now move on down to Christmas. I was SO happy to get to go home for Christmas this year. We had great fun with our Brennan and Ella! They are at such fun ages! Todd and Candace got a Wii from Mom and Dad, so we got great practice perfecting our bowling and tennis skills. I have included a picture of all of our Wii characters. My sweet family decided to give me "Sally Jessy Raphael" red glasses in honor of the glasses that I wore in the third grade. I got a new Rowenta iron (Professional grade), sewing machine, camera, and many great Fiesta pieces for Christmas! And why am I not married everyone asks?!? My family was WAY too generous to me this year! I'm open to suggestions on what I should sew first!

Let's now move on to me going to bed...this blog isn't that most exciting...but it is getting the ball rolling for me to document on more fun...I PROMISE!!

Getting Hitched in the Big Easy

2008-11-24T20:10:00.000-06:00

WOW...I had such a blast at Amanda and Kent's wedding weekend in New Orleans!! Let's see if I can give you a fun account of the Big Day and all of the events that led up to the Big Day.

Mom and I left on a jet plane on Thursday night, and I think Dad was a little frightened that we had no clue of what we were doing. He insisted on getting us to the airport ~2 hours early. Needless to say, we had PLENTY of time to get through security as well as catch dinner at Chili's inside the DFW Airport. I think that I navigated well in our rental car, and we made it to Slidell quickly.

On Friday morning, Mom, Emily, and I headed out to the Pfeffers' house for the bridesmaid luncheon. It was so good to get to visit with Amanda's family and get to know Kent's mom, sister, and nieces better. Amanda's grandomther is so precious, and I decided I wanted to put her in my pocket and bring her home with me! She is welcome to come sit on my "davenport" anytime!! Amanda's mom was so calm throughout the entire wedding weekend. They had all of their plans finalized way before we all arrived!!

Amanda, Emily, Sandy, and I then headed out to get out nails "did." We had a relaxing time, and I got one of the best compliments ever from my nail guy. He told me that I had very "soft feet!" Crazy stuff...he made my day!

The rehearsal went off without a hitch! We all then headed over to Palmettos on the Bayou for the Rehearsal Dinner. It was SO yummy, and the Morgans were wonderful hosts to all of us!

We had one more event on Friday...the Lingerie Shower! Poor Amanda must have been exhausted by the end of the day! Emily and Brad graciously let us have it in their hotel suite. Thanks so much Mr. Brad Gentry for leaving and wandering around Slidell for 2 hours while we had a great time! I had emailed Kent several questions about Amanda to see if he would get the answers right. We had a great time laughing about the questions and answers during the shower! He did a great job except that Amanda wears a size 8 shoe instead of 9! Notice the cute petit fours with an "M" on them! The "M" was in honor of Amanda's new last name, Morgan!!

Emily and I headed over to the Pfeffers' house bright and early to get our hair and makeup done. It was so fun to all get "beautified" together. I really liked my hair for the wedding! Mom called it "Samantha Who" hair as I had a lot of curly ringlets! Amanda and her mom remained VERY calm when they found out that the photographer was violently ill and was sending some other people to photograph the wedding. It all worked out perfect!!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful! I managed to make it down the aisle without tripping in my 3 and 3/4 inch heels! I couldn't exactly feel my right toes after the wedding and reception though!

Everyone headed to Southern Oaks Plantation for a GORGEOUS reception. We all waited outside for the limo to arrive so that a Dixieland Band could lead them into the reception!! It was so neat to watch! We took awesome pictures around the beautiful plantation house and then the eating festivities began! Mom had already gorged on the 70 different types of heavy hors d'oeuvres by the time I got to sit down. Amanda and Kent performed a beautiful first dance, and they truly should be on Dancing with the Stars. The groom's cake included a picture of Andy Griffith, Barney, Opie, and Gomer. Kent is so awesome for his love for the Andy Griffith Show!! Everyone should be extremely proud of me as I gave the wedding toast and was not completely terrified. All of the bridesmaids and flower girls got to pull a cake charm, and I ended up with the airplane. I think that means that I will travel!! At least Amanda was kind enough not to put in a thimble cake charm that symbolizes being an old maid forever!!

The entire day was absolutely beautiful and classy! I hope that Amanda and Kent finally made it to St. Lucia after having an unplanned extra night in Miami!! May God continue to bless both of your lives as you begin this marriage!!

Stomp!!

2008-11-11T23:11:00.000-06:00

Well tonight I got all artsy and went to see Stomp at Bass Hall. It was my second time to enter Bass Hall, and I was amazed again by how beautiful this building is!! I wish I could have gotten a picture inside the performing hall, but I was afraid of the ushers yelling at me! Stomp was really awesome to watch, and it was amazing how much the performers could express without having to say a word. I have included pictures from the entrace to Bass Hall and at Barnes and Noble after the show.

I should be studying my ACLS algorithms for the long class I will sit through at work on Thursday! I totally have no clue how to read an EKG! I felt the need to google "EKGs for dummies" and have found an awesome site called TheMedStud.com. Everyone should check it out at their leisure!!

Aggieland Saturday

2008-11-08T22:15:00.001-06:00

I got talked into going to the A&M/OU game a long time ago by my co-worker, Eric. After the fun this football season, I probably should have reconsidered this game choice. It was fun to go down for an Aggieland Saturday though! The Aggies tried their hardest, but again we ran out of time!

I caught a ride down to College Station with Scott. We met Eric and Melanie at Rudy's for lunch, and then we headed to the game. Our seats were unfortunately close to many OU fans and were VERY close to the OU band. If I hear Boomer Sooner one more time, I may have to take a fork and gauge my eyes out!

Here are some highlights from the trip:

1. While sitting at the intersection of Wellborn and George Bush, Scott and I saw the old man who hangs horizontally from the street sign. Old Ags, give me a shout out if you remember this crazy old man! He wears super short shorts! I tried to get a picture, but it didn't turn out!

2. I teared up when I saw the A&M band perform as they announced it was the last home game for the seniors. For some reason it struck me and made me emotional! It kinda made me want to pick up my flute and be in band again!

3. I felt sorry for the OU band as their own fans said bad things about them. It made me think of my band nerd days and not always feeling appreciated!

4. I think I have truly moved on from certain things in my life because as the A&M/OU game commenced this year it didn't bring up certain memories that should be in the past!

5. It has been 10 years since the first Maroon Out Game against Nebraska. Manda...remember getting pooped on by the bird!!

I Love the 80s

2008-10-26T17:44:00.000-05:00

I had a great time at the totally awesome 80s party! Who knew it would take almost an entire can of hairspray to get my perfect 80s hairdo! I kinda enjoyed my big hair for the evening, and I was really digging the blue eye shadow everyone was wearing!! I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

Totally 80s

2008-10-24T13:26:00.000-05:00

So I have been invited to a Halloween Party tomorrow night with the fun theme of the 80s. As I have been constructing my fun 80s outfit, I have ventured into some interesting places. Last week I went into a new accesories store at Hulen Mall to buy some huge hoop yellow earrings and leg warmers! We'll just say that there was nothing in this store that I would actually wear with a normal outfit. The girl behind the counter told me to make sure and tell all my friends about this store. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I would be wearing the items I purchased to a Halloween Party. I returned to the store today to purchase one more item for my outfit, and the girl remembered me! It made me realize that I really stick out in a crazy accessory store!

I also purchased a horribly bright 80s sweater at Goodwill today. The lady checking me out decided to have a discussion with me about how beautiful the sweater was and how versatile it truly was!! I again didn't have the heart to tell her that I was wearing it as a costume to a Halloween Party. I just nodded and agreed that I could wear it with jeans, pants, or EVEN a neon green skirt!! I will post pictures soon from this fun event! And Mom, I promise that I washed the Goodwill sweater on hot and used Lysol...no need to freak that I will get cooties from someone else!!

Car Blood Bath, Tears of Frustration, Family Time, Tears of Happiness, Aggie Football, Tears of Disappointment, Family Leaves, Tears of Separation

2008-10-12T19:55:00.000-05:00

It has been a crazy couple of days, so I guess I should document them for posterity!!

It all began on Thursday morning when I went to start my car at 6:30 AM, and it decided that it didn't want to go in reverse. My car actually didn't want to go in any direction at this point. I decided to get out of my car where I heard liquid gushing heavily from some part of my sick car. Thirty seconds later my garage looked like a murder scene. The six paper towels just weren't doing the trick to sop up the crazy red transmission fluid mess that was on my garage floor. The most frustrating part of this whole ordeal is that my car had just been repaired at the dealership two days before the blood bath scene occurred. This is why the frustrated tears began to flow...

I quickly called work and told them that I would probably be about 1-2 hours late because I was going to have to get my car towed to the dealership. This made me feel completely awful as work has been chaos due to the recent change to a new computer system. There are great stories from this to be saved for a later post!! Anyway, it was 6:30 AM in the morning, and I decided to use my AAA for a tow. AAA quoted me 45 minutes for a tow truck. I sat feeling sick to my stomach for 50 minutes and there was still NO tow truck. I called AAA back who told me that the tow truck driver could not get in my apartment gate (which I know is broken, so it's open!!) and could not get a hold of me (had wrong phone number!!). They then tell me they must dispatch the tow truck again, and it will be ANOTHER 45 minutes. I am getting panicky at this point as I am picturing even more chaos at work due to being one person down! Tears continue to flow as I wait and keep calling the dealership who supposedly opens at 7 AM, but still no one is answering the phone at 7:45 AM. Finally my mother talked some sense into me and told me to call someone for a ride and just leave the car sitting in the garage. The wonderful part of the story is that my parents were coming to visit me on Thursday afternoon. She told me that they would arrange for the tow truck to come when they got into town. I felt bad to be calling my friend and co-worker, Tina, to take me to work, but she quickly rescued me and I was at work about 1 hour and 15 minutes late! My parents got my car towed, and the dealership is STILL working on fixing my transmission.

I cried when Dad picked me up from work (more tears). I was just SO happy to see my parents! We went to eat at Texas de Brazil and had a wonderful Thursday night together. How do my parents always make everything better!!??!! After eating we went by the Toyota and Honda dealerships to just do some window shopping. It was great fun, but I don't know what I'm going to do once my car is fixed.

Mom, Dad, Kelsey, and I headed down to Austin on Friday morning to stay with Todd, Candace, and the babies. We had a wonderful time visting with them and seeing their new house. Their decorations are perfect...they have been working SO hard. Dad, Todd, Candace, Kelsey, and I went to the A&M/K State game on Saturday. Sweet Grandma stayed home with Brennan and Ella who had a wonderful time with their Grandma. The game brought tears of disappointment for all Aggie fans, but it was great to get to College Station. There is always next year...

Mom and Dad drove me home today, and I was really dreading having to say goodbye to them. I haven't cried in a long time during our goodbyes, but for some reason I cried today. I think it was a combination of stress at work, car problems, and just plain missing them TONS. I haven't been to the A-town since Mother's Day and probably won't get to go home until maybe Christmas (if that is where we do Christmas this year!). I appreciate my parents so much for all they have done for me and how much they love me, and I am not embarassed to admit that I do miss them TONS!!

Thanks for riding along with me on my weekend's emotional roller coaster....

College Gameday Makes me Emotional!!

2008-09-27T10:13:00.000-05:00

No, it wasn't Lee Corso stating that the Aggies are no good that made me emotional. It was another heart warming story about a college football player and his family! I think I tear up every chance I get to see this show! I also tear up because I miss fall in Amarillo and watching football with Dad. He always has colorful commentary for every game!!!!!

I will now let you take a look at my favorite man on College Gameday. I have a special place in my heart for cutie Kirk Herbstreit since he is a Buckeye!!

CLAP ON!!! CLAP OFF!!

2008-09-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

So I think I need to head to the nearest Walgreens or CVS for the product shown above! The answer for why I need such a random product should be evident after you read my story below!

I usually don't have trouble going to sleep with the BLARING tv one floor below me, but for some reason I just couldn't do it last night. Every night I usually fall asleep easily to the interviews that Jay Leno is conducting on the Tonight Show. I always know Jay Leno's guests without ever having to turn on my own tv. FYI: I think Charlize Theron was on last night. Most people would have a rational discussion with their neighbor about the excessive volume on their tv, but I just can't do it. The biggest reason I can't do this is that the tv belongs to my neighbor, Vivian. Ms. Vivian is an 80 year old woman with beautiful soft, white hair who drives a very sha-sha white Jaguar. She is sweet as can be, but also deaf as can be!! I think she falls asleep to the Tonight Show every night even though the volume is blaring. The most frustrating part of it all is that sometimes I will think she has gone to bed because it suddenly becomes dead silent, but then 30 seconds later the tv comes back on at full blast! I decided that her neighbor on the other side must have placed a Clapper on her tv. When they think she has fallen asleep, they clap hard and miraculously the tv turns off!! I can't take credit for this Clapper idea as I saw it in the hilarious movie Duplex. I guess Ms. Vivian will never be as bad as the little old lady in that movie!

And if for some reason Ms. Vivian reads my blog, I am sorry for any disrespect. I love your soft, white hair, and I totally want the same kind of hair when I get old!! I'm still off to buy that Clapper though!!!

It's Fair Time!!

2008-09-22T10:12:00.000-05:00

So I have not been to the fair in years, but I was so sad that I did not get to go to the State Fair of Texas last year! I have actually never been to the State Fair, so it bummed me out to live so close and not get to go!! My family figured out that Texans took their fairs seriously when we moved to Amarillo and got a day off of school for "Fair Day!" Crazy stuff!! We usually did not attend the Tri-State Fair, but I always loved when it arrived in Amarillo because it meant that the weather was getting perfect!!

So Big Tex, I will be seeing you sometime within the next month....even if I have to go to the State Fair by myself!!

Engagement Party Fun Times!!

2008-09-21T22:43:00.000-05:00

I am SO sorry for such late post on the engagement party of Manda and Kent!! I had a wonderful time in Cameron, TX!! It was so great to meet the Morgan family and get to see Manda's parents again! I can tell that Manda is marrying into such a precious family! They have to be spectacular since they have an extreme love for the Andy Griffith Show!!

Emily, Brad, Penny Lane, and I had a great roadtrip down to Cameron! The Garmin led us an interesting way down to Cameron, but at least there was no traffic! We might have gone a full 45 minutes without seeing another car.

The Morgans have the most incredible backyard that contains a putt putt course, castle, and fun town with storefronts. There is even a corner focused on the Andy Griffith Show!! This backyard deserves a full hour time slot on HGTV.

Here are some pics from the fun party! I unfortunately did not get a pic with both Manda and Kent. Also, sorry for the bad lighting from my not so good flash!

Emily and Brad

Andy Griffith corner in the backyard town!
Manda, Emily, Sandy, and me

Emily and Brad in front of the castle

I can't wait for the wedding!! We'll all be headed to New Orleans before we know it!!

Sick Day Movies

2008-08-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

The Sound of Music is currently playing on ABC Family, so it made me think back in the day to what movies I loved to watch when I stayed home sick from school. I don't want my readers to think that I stayed home from school often because I swear that I didn't!! Just ask my Mom....she would tell me that I really should stay home from school, but I wanted the perfect attendance award. In 5th grade, I eventually had to succumb to my strep throat and stay home from school. I loyally performed my crossing guard duties the day before I stayed home though and even had to walk home uphill in the rain that day!! I think my temperature was like 105, but I had to make sure that the 1st graders crossed the street safely!! There was no perfect attendance award for me that year!

Ok...back on topic...does anyone else have memories of the movies they loved to watch on sick days?!? Todd always watched the Star Wars trilogy. He had a lot more sick days than I ever had...love you Boy-boy!!

Here are my favorite sick day movies:

The Sound of Music
Mr. Mom
Rags to Riches (I think I am the only person in America who has watched this made-for- TV movie over and over again!! My Dad taped it on a VHS tape for me, so I was in heaven!!)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Annie
Little Women (the cartoon version! I totally want to find this version, but I can't!!)
The Last Unicorn
The Flight of the Dragons

Since we're on the topic of school, I would also like to discuss the Jerry Lewis Telethon. I always kind of dreaded this TV event because it meant that the school year had just begun! My parents and I have this joke about Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme!! I think that both Steve and Eydie are still kicking it! I wish I was in Amarillo watching the Telethon with them!! Maybe I'll TiVo the Telethon just so I can see the Steve and Eydie performance since I must labor on Labor Day!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Feliz Cumpleanos (imagine there is a tilde over that "n")!!!

2008-08-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Although it is a day late, I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend Emily!! I cannot believe that we have known each other for 10 whole years!! What in the world?!? We have come a long way from our Joe's Crab Shack and House of Blues shirts!! Enjoy the following images, and no, I don't know the random people in the picture. It is amazing what you can find on Google images!!

I would also like to wish a HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY to the precious little boy named Wilmer who I sponsor through Compassion International. Wilmer just so happens to share the same name as one of my nephew Brennan's favorite actors, Wilmer Valderrama. No...Brennan isn't watching That '70s Show....he loves to watch Handy Manny who Wilmer Valderrama provides the voice for!!

Also, I apologize for not updating my blog in forever. I have so much more that I would like to talk about. For all of my sweet readers who questioned how I broke my toe....I don't have a very good story. I was walking downtown with my dear friend Kelsey and clumsily whammed my toe into the uneven sidewalk. I really think I heard my big toe bone crack!! The reason I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking was due to the fact that I was passionately explaining to Kelsey why The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a must see movie!! I think the poor homeless guy that was sitting close to my accident heard my big toe bone break too!! He looked like he was about to allow me to sit down on his part of the sidewalk!!

Conquered Two Fears Tonight!!

2008-08-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

Well I conquered two...that's right...TWO...fears tonight! I thought that I was going to my co-workers' co-ed softball game to leisurely watch and cheer, but I quickly got talked into playing on the team. They needed one more girl. Well this girl: a) has the athletic ability of a turtle (I used to say monkey, but that is giving myself too much credit)....b) was wearing flip-flops and capri pants with no pony-tail holder in sight...c) broke her right big toe last Friday night. I was quite proud of myself that I agreed to play. I'll blame my even slower turtle speed on the broken toe. I actually made it to base 4 times and eventually got to run across the plate once!!

The second fear involved killing the little pink gecko that was in my bathroom this evening. Go ahead...call PETA...see if I care. The geckos are taking over the outside of my apartment. I can't take it anymore!

We'll say that conquering those two fears were on my "Bucket List." Number 142 and 235 I think!

My Reality Show

2008-08-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

So today I started thinking about the reality show I probably have the greatest shot of becoming a contestant on. I then felt the need to create a great reality show in my head!! Don't make too much fun of my random imagination again!!

Here we go with my reality show setup...

I can totally picture myself walking along the Trinity River with my iPod when all of a sudden, Stacy and Clinton from TLC's What Not to Wear, pop out of a bush and tell me that I have a horrible taste in music!! They have clips of me singing and listening to hideous music in my car (I had no idea they were filming me!)!! They then proceed to tell me that if I give up all of my Cd's and iPod and go to LA with them that they will present me with an iTunes gift card of $5000. I am mortified as all of my family and friends laugh at my atrocious music selection. It is a hard decision ,but I don't think my Asics will carry me away fast enough, so I decide that I might as well give in to the new reality show that I have created in my head, What Not to Listen To. So maybe Staci and Clinton shouldn't be the hosts for this reality show since they aren't music experts. I think my host picks might be Baby Spice and Vanilla Ice (they rhyme!). Anyone have any other great suggestions?!?

I guess I really do have to agree with my family and friends...I really do need to turn up the coolness factor in my music taste. My most dreaded date question is, "What kind of music do you listen to?". I think I would rather be asked what my dress size was!?! I always answer emphatically with the generic answer, "Oh...ALL kinds." Wow...I flew under the radar with that one! They then ask me who my favorite band is....hmmmm...."I just like EVERYTHING....I can't pick just ONE band". The reason I can't answer this question is because I DON'T have one. Can't they understand that!! I just want to ask them, "Which Greatest 80s Hits Cd did you like better, 1986 or 1987?". My radio selection isn't very exciting either, so I also want to ask my date, "Did you hear the sweet kindergarten class recite the Pledge of Allegiance today on KLTY?". I am not dogging KLTY because I do love Christian music, and I hope that I am not coming off as making fun of Christian music. The thing that scared me the most this week though is that I realized that since my battery went dead in my car three weeks ago, the only radio station that I have programmed into my car is KLTY!!

So for everyone to read, I would like to confess some "Guilty Pleasure" songs that I secretly smile when listening to. These are also songs that I make sure my car window is securely rolled up before blasting them in my car!! I believe that you will see an 80s theme going on.

"That's What Friends are For" by Dionne Warwick
"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
"All that She Wants" by Ace of Base
"I Just Called to Say I love You" by Stevie Wonder
"Eternal Flame" by the Bangles
"Wind of Change" by the Scorpions
"Wannabe" by the Spice Girls (Baby Spice might like this selection!)
"Can't Fight this Feeling" by REO Speedwagon
"Africa" by Toto
"Against All Odds" by Phil Collins
"Anything for Love (But I Won't do That)" by Meatloaf
"We Built this City" by Starship
"Everytime You go Away" by Paul Young (inside joke with this one)
"Sister Golden Hair" by America
"Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen
"Heartlight" by Neil Diamond

I just laid it out there people!! I'm embarrassed, but I have gotten these songs off of my chest! They are only the tip of the iceberg though!!

I can totally picture Baby Spice and Vanilla Ice ambushing me at Best Buy to tell me to "Put that Neil Diamond Greatest Hits Cd down!".

So people...help a girl out...what should I start listening to? What are your guilty pleasure songs?

Where is the O??!!??

2008-08-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

I worked a double yesterday, so you'll have to forgive me for the following post. The neurons in my brain aren't synapsing properly yet!

Is anyone else annoyed by the newest name for a tropical storm?? Edouard?? Everytime I hear the Weather Channel person say it, I am waiting for an "O" to be on the end!! It should be Edouard-O!! They spelled it funny too!

I make a pledge to have some more interesting posts soon! I have had many adventures at work lately that I think are blog worthy!!

Better Late Than Never....

2008-08-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

So I was supposed to blog about my fun Fort Worth weekend with the fam a long time ago, but it just didn't happen!! Let me try to sum it up quickly!! I really want everyone to see my fun pics and videos!!

Saturday (July 19, 2008):
Brennan woke up to find Grandma and Shishy sleeping in the bed next to him. It was so cute to hear him say "Gandma?" and then totally realize it really was "Gandma!" I made waffles, and we just had some laid back fun on a Saturday morning. Brennan did a wonderful job singing the ABCs for us as he was preoccupied playing with Granddaddy's quarters (how did he find these?). Brennan's other grandma, Janny, thinks that Brennan has perfect pitch! I totally agree, but I am a VERY proud aunt!! Don't look at Mom in her pajamas as she is ironing!! She might kill me for posting the video!! We also got to bathe Ella who looked like a drowned rat!!

After all of that, we headed over to see the Delich family in Frisco. We had a slight minor fiasco when Dad backed into Peter's brick mailbox and hurt Mom's Acadia! The guys got the mailbox upright again! Then there was another minor fiasco with Brennan's dirty pool diaper and Mom's white capri pants. I'll let your imagination figure that one out!! I am not sure if the Delich family will be inviting us back anytime soon! I like the fun video of Brennan running so hard to get to the pool and then slowly creeping into the pool!

Sunday (July 20,2008):
Mom, Dad, Todd, Brennan, and I headed to the Fort Worth Zoo. Poor Candace had to watch Ella back at my apartment to keep her out of the heat. Brennan's big request all morning was to see the giraffes. Once we got to the giraffes, he wasn't too interested! We didn't stay very long at the zoo because Brennan got overheated! We ended the morning with everyone going to Pappadeaux's for lunch. Oh, and the group pic of Mom on the cell phone is just typical you know! Can't get her off of her Jitterbug!! It was actually Candace talking to her on the phone!!

I was sad when the family finally left. I felt like a real grown-up after having my entire family stay with me. It was a little tight, but definitely manageable!!

A Rose by Another Name Would Definitely Smell Much Sweeter...

2008-07-25T18:13:00.000-05:00

So here is another random post....

The last few weeks at work have made me think long and hard about how my name sometimes drives me crazy! I always pick up the phone in the pharmacy and answer with the wonderful phrase, "Pharmacy, this is Alisia." I don't know why the nurses feel the need to repeat my name back to me, but they do! Anyway...the name they repeat back to me is never the name I just said! I get "Lawisha", "Militia" (my personal fave...as well as Kelsey and Pat's personal fave), and the newest "Aloe-wisha" (let's say that is the phonetic spelling of that name!). These names that they repeat back to me are oh so beautiful, don't you think?!?! When I get "Militia", I want to repeat back to the nurse, yes, my parents decided to name me after a small army made up of ordinary citizens rather than professional soldiers. They just thought the definition of militia summed up my personality so well that they just had pick that name for me! I also really enjoy when the nurses on the floor decide to call me "Pharmacy" rather than butcher my name. When I am called "Pharmacy," I just want to open up my lab coat and act like I have multiple shelves of medications in my coat, and say something like, "Which medication would you like now?!?" Kinda like a street vendor in New York who is selling watches in a brief case or coat!?!

My parents actually picked my name from the lovely TV show, "Little House on the Prairie." I totally forgot to mention this in my Sexy Minnesota post. I know all of my readers are thinking, how can one blogger include so much about "Little House on the Prairie," but it is quite easy! Ok...back to the topic on hand...I was named after "Alicia" on this wonderful TV program. Alicia, for those of you who don't remember, is Mr. Edwards' adopted daughter. A few weeks before my birth, my parents were watching the show and just decided that "Alicia" was such a beautiful name. Unfortunately it wasn't beautiful enough with a "c" and the strong "e" in "A-lee-sha" just would not do! My parents are yankees (start throwing the tomatoes at me), and so they came up with "A-lish-a." My parents swear to me that if I still lived in Ohio that people would be correctly pronouncing my name. They say that Texans just like the strong "e" too much. I'm not so sure about this. I strongly believe that they are fibbing to me as I think my Grandpa had a crazy time remembering how to say and spell my name. This lead him to call me "Ramono" due to the actress on the TV show, "One Day at a Time." My Grandpa called me this because Ann Ramono had red hair like me. Random....I know! Now you kinda understand where I get my crazy, random thoughts and ideas....

So this lead me to start thinking back to the third grade when we got to change our name for a day at school. I chose the wonderful name "Wendy." What do you think....should I legally change my name?!? I don't think anyone would butcher "Wendy"?!? What do you think?

Tuesday Field Trips

2008-07-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

Well...today was my day off. I unfortunately don't get another one of those for about nine more days. It's my own fault, so don't feel too sorry for me.

Today was a great day! I met my friend Michelle at the Dallas Aquarium and then we went to eat lunch at the West End. To top the day off, we ended up at the Dallas Farmers Market. I have wanted to go there since I moved to Fort Worth. Actually, I have wanted to go there since I saw the Hidden Valley Ranch commercials that were filmed at the Dallas Farmers Market! The experience actually lived up to my expectations even though not all of the booths were open. Michelle and I ended up taking tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, corn, green peppers, red peppers, onions, and squash home with us!! It made me want to start a garden in my non-existent backyard! It also made me think of a quote from my all time fave movie, Steel Magnolias. When Ouiser is asked why she grows tomatoes when she doesn't even eat them, she replies: "Because I'm an old, southern woman, and that's what we do. We wear funny hats and dig in the dirt." I'm ready for a funny hat and overalls and dig deep into the dirt!

Two other random thoughts for today:

Happy 56th birthday Daddy!
There is going to be a second movie to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie, and I am not even embarrassed to admit it!!

Well...I eventually would like to post about my Saturday and Sunday full of family fun, but my brain is not ready for this yet!

So Much to Blog....So Little Time....or Brain Power!?!?

2008-07-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

Let me just start by saying that I had one incredible weekend!! It started with a BANG on Thursday night and rarely slowed down throughout the entire weekend!! I love weekends full of family fun!!

Thursday (July 17,2008):
Todd called me on Wednesday morning and invited me to go see Glenn Beck with him at the Majestic Theatre on Thursday night. I was excited that I could go and it turned out that my parents came down early so that they could go see the show too. Mr. Beck is currently on his Summer Political Tour and is just plain hilarious! For those of you who do not who who this man is, Glenn Beck is a conservative political commentator with a talk radio show on CNN. We got to see his tour program live, but they were also doing a national simulcast to 300 movie theaters across the nation. They joked that only two tickets were sold at the Chelsea theater in New York City!! Those tickets were actually bought by one of the camera man's family members. Governor Rick Perry was there with his family. He continues to have nice hair! Marcus Luttrell, the lone surviving member of Navy SEAL Team TEN, was also there. His team was on a mission to kill or capture a high ranking Taliban leader in Afghanistan when goat herders betrayed the team's location and were then attacked by about 200 enemy fighters. I was even more proud to be an American after going to this show. Some other random things I learned at the Glenn Beck Show:

I love my mom's laugh!!
There was actually a law passed in California that makes it illegal to dry a car with used underwear at a carwash!
Tuberculosis is on the rise in California due to illegal "Mexican Bathtub Cheese." Who buys this stuff...made in a bathtub...nastiness?!?!

Friday (July 18, 2008):

I unfortunately had to go to work early on Friday morning while my parents were here. It was a good thing that they were here because the Saturn decided that it didn't want to start! I had a dead battery, so it was nice that my dad could take me to work! After work, I met my parents and our good friends, the Delich's, at the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert. It was a wonderful concert with just Steven Curtis Chapman alone with his guitar. He did a great job of sharing his raw emotions of the recent tragic death of his daughter, Maria. There was not a dry eye in the sanctuary when he sang "Dancing with Cinderella." SCC makes me think a lot about my years at A&M. I loved the Speechless album and listened to it a lot on road trips during my college years. SCC also had at least one song on each of the WOW albums during those years. I always got a WOW CD in my Easter basket...thanks Mom!! Fun memories! I really love the song "Be Still and Know."

I will have to save the adventures of Saturday and Sunday for a journal post tomorrow!! Gotta keep my audience on the edge of their seats...

The Orphan Wedding Dress....

2008-07-16T00:42:00.000-05:00

I went to the dry cleaners today, so it reminded me of a great blog topic that I have been meaning to post! It also is in conjunction of the third wedding anniversary of my good friends Brad and Emily Gentry. Where does the time go?!?! Congrats!

Ok...back on topic. A few months ago when I dropped off some dry cleaning at Centre Cleaners on Hulen Street, the girl working behind the counter asked me my name and then proceeded to ask me if a wedding dress in a box behind the counter was mine?!?! I was a little shocked by the question, but then she told me that the person who left the dress had the last name of Baker, and that they have been trying to contact the owner for a little over three years. I couldn't really see what the dress looked like but I picture it to be just hideously ugly in my head. It makes me feel better that it is an ugly dress since it is now an orphan at the dry cleaner! I found a really fun picture of an ugly wedding dress but crazy Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures at the moment...ugh!!

So my crazy imagination made up several different scenarios as to why someone would leave a preserved wedding dress at a dry cleaner for OVER three years.

The bride and groom were tragically killed on their honeymoon. Someone had taken the dress to get it preserved after their wedding, and they just could not face the dress again and therefore left it at the dry cleaners.
The person who took the dress to the dry cleaners for the bride was tragically killed and the bride has been trying to track down her dress ever since. No luck obviously!
The bride and groom split up right after the bride took the dress to the cleaners and she just can't face the dress (the most "Debbie Downer" scenario...oh wait...they are all pretty depressing!).

Ok...so my scenarios aren't that interesting. Anyone else have an idea of why this wedding dress is now an orphan? I hope the owner reads my blog and suddenly feels compelled to pick up their property! I asked the girl at Centre Cleaners about the usual policy of donating unclaimed clothing to Goodwill after 3 months, but she says that they can't do that with the wedding dress!

Enough Already About the Barnett Shale...

2008-07-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

OK...I am first going to make a blanket statement that I am neither for nor against urban gas drilling. I also would like to make a blanket statement that I honestly don't know much about this whole Barnett Shale thing and the urban gas drilling business. Shame on me since I am a resident of Fort Worth!!

What I really want to discuss is why did Chesapeake Energy decide to pick Tommy Lee Jones as their spokesman to tell Fort Worth citizens to "get behind the Barnett Shale"!?!?

Here are a couple of reasons why I am probably annoyed by the fact that they picked Mr. Jones:

I think of Tommy Lee as being a t-sip after he filmed the wonderful sleeper film "Man of the House." I don't even think that the movie references the university of the cheerleaders that Tommy Lee is protecting, but I assume that it was t.u. since that is where the movie was filmed. Actually, Tommy Lee went to Harvard where he roomed with my next point...
Al Gore. Yes...every time I pass the billboard with Mr. Jones' picture I have to chuckle to myself thinking about what Al Gore must feel now that his college roomie is involved with this whole Barnett Shale campaign. Wonder how Tommy Lee's carbon footprint has changed with his association to the Barnett Shale?!? My carbon footprint has recently decreased now that I only use my private jet monthly instead of weekly! Sorry...back on topic!!
What does Tommy Lee Jones know about the Barnett Shale?!?!....he is an ACTOR! I just feel that the marketing people for Chesapeake could have come up with something better! I think that lots of credibility was lost by picking an actor....but that's just me. Maybe their marketing people are the same people who chose the name for the store Dress Barn. I have always been perplexed why the marketing people of Dress Barn haven't suggested a name change!! This is my impersonation of someone who shops at Dress Barn...."Bubba, drive me down to the Barn so that I can buy a feed sack to cover my ginormous, square body." Makes me want to shop at the Barn!! I digress greatly again!

Ok...I am done with my rant for the evening!!

Sexy Minnesota Trip (See Reason for Title in Previous Post!)

2008-07-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well here is a recap of my fun wedding weekend in Minnesota!!

Thursday (July 3, 2008):
I arrived pretty late in Minneapolis and headed to my hotel near the airport. It was crazy to see all of the foreign tour groups that were headed to the Mall of America. I later learned that there are a ton of charter planes from Japan that have one mission: MALL OF AMERICA!!

Friday (July 4, 2008):

Alisa and I headed out in our Chevy HHR for Walnut Grove!! Here is a pic of us before our crazy journey and our trusty rental car with Florida license plates!

We had a fun rural route to Walnut Grove where we saw lots of corn fields ("knee high by the Fourth of July") and cute farms. We passed a crazy large rabbit outside Wabasso, MN and then saw two random exercise bikes in the middle of a field. The rabbit kind of scared me with its big pink eyes. Do rabbits really have pink eyes?

When we arrived in Walnut Grove, we first headed to Nellie's Little Cafe on the Prairie. I ate broasted chicken (definitely a Minnesota/Wisconsin thing!) at Nellie's. We then headed to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. It was tons of fun! I think we brought the age range down by about 30 years! I don't care...I am a true aficionado of Little House on the Prairie!! Here are some fun facts that I learned at the Museum:

Charles Ingalls (Pa) helped pay for the Congregational Church bell by donating his last $3.00 which he had intended to use for new boots. The bell continues to call people to worship every Sunday morning!

The family depicted as the Olesons on the show were really named the Owens.

People in Minnesota cannot use a camera and have a great talent of taking pictures of Alisa and I that say "corrupt file." That is why we have no fun group pictures!

I also included a pic of Doc Baker because that is what a co-worker like to call me! It appears that the actor who played Doc Baker really enjoyed coming to visit the real Walnut Grove!

It was then time to head to the wedding at Lake Shetek State Park in Currie, MN. It was a perfect day (about 80 degrees) for an outside wedding! Julie and Jake had a beautiful ceremony and then we headed to the Key Largo Ballroom for the reception. The pictures of me at the reception are horrible. I look like I am scared! Maybe it was a combination of me thinking about the size of the mosquitoes in Minnesota as well as my exhaustion from all the fun at Walnut Grove. We got to see fireworks over the lake, but I unfortunately did not get to hear my two favorite July 4th songs: "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood and "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond." Maybe I'll download these wonderful songs to my iPod now!

I really roughed it after the wedding and stayed overnight in a cabin. No bathing for 24 hours was hard, but I accomplished it well!

Saturday (July 5, 2008):
We headed back to Minneapolis to stay downtown. My pictures of all the bridges in downtown did not turn out because it was too dark. I did get my picture taken with the Mary Tyler Moore statue (long live the TV Land Summer of 2008!). Alisa and I also randomly stumbled upon the headquarters for Al Franken for Senate. That scares me greatly people!

Sunday (July 6, 2008):
We arrived at the Mall of America when it opened at 11 AM. The number of stores was overwhelming, but we managed to see almost all of the stores. There is a Nickelodeon amusement park in the middle of the mall and a fun Lego Land exhibit.

We then had to head back to the airport!! I had great fun on my adventure to Minnesota! Some random things that I learned about Minnesota include:

Women are TALL in Minnesota. I felt really short a lot of the time while I was there! I even saw a shop called Tall Girl!
Mosquitoes are definitely the state bird of Minnesota!
Women don't wear makeup in Minnesota.

Sexy Minnesota or Bust!!! (See Explanation Below Please!!)

2008-07-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

Let me quickly explain the need for "sexy" before Minnesota in my post. I promise it is nothing dirty! My friend Jessica is the person who named my trip this weekend for me because she too has been to "sexy" Minnesota. She showed me the need of adding this adjective to my trip name since Minnesota isn't exactly the most glamorous destination for a summer vacation. I am SO pumped about heading there though. I will be attending the wedding of my good pharmacy school friend, Julie, in Currie, MN. She will be marrying Mr. Jake Lindberg at Lake Shetek State Park on July 4th! I will be staying with my friends Alisa and Tammy in a cabin located at this lovely state park. I get to wear shower shoes as I bathe this weekend!! This will definitely be a new experience for me!

I also just did some really great research about fun destinations around Lake Shetek. No...it's not the world's biggest twine ball....that's in Darwin, MN (too far north for our adventure!). The awesome destination is Walnut Grove, MN!! I can't believe that I didn't think about this earlier!! It is the home of Little House on the Prairie!! This is just too fun. I got to visit Mayberry in June and hopefully I can visit Walnut Grove in July!! I think I shall dub the summer of 2008 the TV Land Summer. Maybe I will head to Scranton in August to visit Dunder Mifflin.

Many more stories to come!! Keep your fingers crossed that my friend Alisa will stop at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum for me.

Big Bird Does the Jitterbug

2008-06-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

This is a really random post, but I thought it might be thought provoking!

I don't usually pay attention to commercials, but I was comatose one night after work and was glued to the tv screen. It came to my attention that one of the actresses on the Jitterbug commercial was the same actress who played Olivia on Sesame Street. On this crazy Jitterbug commercial is a woman that I faithfully watched as a child to teach me my letters and numbers, and NOW she can't even use a simple cell phone. The roles have reversed and Miss Olivia is the person that needs to learn! She now must use a senior cell phone with 3 huge buttons (#1: Operator, #2: Home, #3: 911) because she is too dumb to figure out how to use a normal cell phone! She has to call an operator to place a call because a normal cell phone is just too complicated! I also find it really funny that none of the actors/actresses in the Jitterbug commercial appear to be over 60! See the fun videos below!

PS...Todd doesn't believe that it is Olivia on the commercial...you be the judge!

A Pox on Your House

2008-06-28T00:18:00.001-05:00

Well it sounds like my sweet nephew, Brennan, has the chicken pox. He does have responsible parents who took him on time to get his varicella vaccine, but I guess he drew the short straw and still got the chicken pox! I am praying hard that he doesn't give it to his baby sister, Ella. I also pray that he doesn't give it to his daddy who actually never had the chicken pox. Maybe Todd has a super human immunity to the chicken pox. I luckily got the chicken pox after sharing a condo at Myrtle Beach with our good family friends, the Millers. Eric most graciously gave me the chicken pox, but Todd beat it! We shared a bed and long car ride, but no pox for him!! It just makes me itch when I look at the pictures of me during my chicken pox episode. Does everyone have one of those crazy pictures? Anyone have a really cool chicken pox scar?

I keep praying for Todd, Candace, Brennan, and baby Ella. I guess it is a blessing in disguise that Todd is separated from them while their house is finishing up. Their poor family is having some crazy, stressful times!!

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

A Blast in Boone with the Balcones Babes!

2008-06-24T17:09:00.000-05:00

Well...I finally succumbed to the pressure of Mrs. Emily Gentry and decided to create a blog. Actually she set up everything and even knows the password to my blog! Any boring posts can therefore be credited to her!

Since my life is usually not that exciting, Emily persuaded me that this was the perfect time to have an interesting first post since we just returned from Boone, NC! We had a great college roommate reunion with our other roomie Amanda. She is currently finishing up her internship at Appalachian State. Amanda was a great chauffeur and hostess, and I am so glad that I got a chance to see God's wonderful creations in North Carolina!

Here is a small recap of the weekend's events!

Friday (June 20, 2008):

We left super duper early on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. Emily and I got to encounter a smelly fellow passenger and a nasty telephone located in the seatback in from of us. Other than that, it was a smooth flight into North Carlina. As Amanda was driving us to Boone, I pulled out the crazy mixed tape I had made just for our roomie reunion. Here are a few of my favorite selections on my crazy mixed tape that remind me the most of A&M and my roomies:

"Cowboy (or Corps Boy) Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks
"Barlow Girls" by Superchick
"Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer
"Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog
"Redneck Girl" by the Bellamy Brothers
"A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion
"I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys (dance included!)

Saturday (June 21, 2008):

Amanda and Emily let me fulfill my dream of visiting Mayberry! We headed out to Mount Airy, NC, Andy Griffith's hometown. It was no surprise that Main Street in Mount Airy is very similar to Main Street in Mayberry. I was a little worried that Mount Airy wouldn't be as perfect as I thought when we passed a tattoo parlor and tanning bed salon! Nobody in Mayberry would be so vain!

My roomies let me search for wonderful Andy Griffith paraphernalia at many of local shops. We then headed to Opie's Sweet Shop and got lots of fun bulk candy. We then saw the Darling house with a moonshine bottle on the front porch! I was waiting for Ernest T. Bass to be chasing Charlene Darling out in front of the house! Only true Andy Griffith fans will understand what I am talking about! We got to see the Mayberry jail where we were locked up for a few minutes. There was already a line for the Mayberry Squad Car tour at Wally's Garage, so we didn't get to hear all of the behind the scenes information about Mayberry. Darn those NASCAR dressed people who beat me to the squad car tour line! I don't think they were true Andy Griffith aficionados! I left Mayberry with a sweet picture of Andy, Barney, and Opie, a Mayberry coffee mug, and a swell Aunt Bee's cookbook. What more could a girl ask for?!? FYI: my favorite Andy Griffith episode of all time is "The Pickle Story" where Aunt Bee has a fiasco with making pickles for the county fair!

Sunday (June 22, 2008):

We headed out to Asheville to fulfill Emily's dream of seeing the Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore is America's largest privately owned home. It was built in 1895 and is just amazing! We took a behind the scenes tour and got to see much of the "high tech" amenities that the Biltmore offered for back in the day!! Everything was so fancy around the Biltmore! The McDonald's across the street had a piano, fireplace, and even fresh flowers on every table!

Monday (June 23, 2008):

The roomies and I headed out for a short hike to see a waterfall along the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. It was so peaceful and beautiful!! I also got to see more Christmas Tree farms along the way!

It was then time to head back to Charlotte for our flight home. What a wonderful reunion I had with my roomies! I love these girls who laugh at my stupid jokes and listen to my crazy stories! We will hopefully get to see each other more as Amanda is marrying Mr. Kent Morgan in November! I know that he is a wonderful man since he is an even larger aficionado of the Andy Griffith Show than I am!

Well...I hope I haven't bored people to tears. Stay tuned for my life's crazy journeys and random thoughts!!

PS...I am SO frustrated with the picture posting! It keeps giving me an error! I will post pics after my roomies help me figure this whole thing out!!