...several things...

#1 - I had a great weekend! Friday I headed to Waco and on my way stopped at the new 290 outlet mall...yes, I got myself in trouble! 3 words: Ann Taylor Loft! Then I met my sister for dinner with Ashlyn & Cole, and then we headed to Trent's (my b-i-l) high school football game. It was pretty fun, my sister, Katy met us there with her 3 boys. I moreso enjoyed being with all the kiddos than anything!

#2 - My nephew Brady called me last week to tell me that he became a Christian!!! He is so excited about it, called everyone to tell them, and even at the game on Friday night was telling people, "I'm a Christian!" I'm so glad that he's excited about it and hope and pray he understands this is the most important decision he'll make in his whole life! The sad part is I won't be able to be at his baptism, since I am a minister and work on Sundays.

#3 - Saturday I met up with 2 of my dearest friends, Emily & Elaine. We met at the Baylor Bookstore and a made few purchases before meeting up with Jeff, Kristy, Molly & Jen. It was super fun to catch up with old friends! We spent the rest of the day hitting fun spots like Spice & Common Grounds! #4 - I had a chance on Friday to show my sister, Kristy, the dress that I like and was thinking about getting to wear to my sister, Kelly's, wedding in March. No, it's not any of the dresses I presented in the poll that you all chimed in on. She confirmed that it's super cute, and my mom's ordering it for me in Corpus! Yay!!! I'm super excited to have it figured out, since I've been fretting about it for months! Here are 2 pics of the dress. I'm getting the pink one, but it doesn't show the dress very well, so here it is in green as well, so that you can see more of the style.

#5 - Sunday was a real treat because some of my dear old friends, Rob & Lynda, were in town from Colorado! It was super fun to see prego Lynda & catch up with old friends! A bunch of us gathered at a friend's house and decorated onsies for Levi! Here's one of my fave pics of Rob & Lynda from last year's Hallo-wii party!

#6 - I started a Bible Study with a group of girls on Thursday nights! I'm super excited about the study & the relationships!

#7 - We are officially moving into the new worship center at Tallowood THIS SUNDAY!!!

That's about it for now!

Super Duper: "English (pirate)" language setting on facebook!

Super Pooper: I wrote this post 3 times before it saved!

...a hearty good laugh...

I just wanted to share how much I love laughter and how much good I think it can do a person!

I truely believe it is the best medicine for gloomy days, when your down in the dumps. Now, most of you know, that I love to laugh out loud, VERY loud! But I think even the laughing on the inside can be therapuetic. For example, Charis sent me an email yesterday that said "Hot Pocket"...I was cracking up on the inside and let out a "HA" and yes, maybe I was alone in my office.

Or earlier today, I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I was standing at my friend Rebecca's desk (as I often do throughout any given day), and she said something that was so funny I literally threw my head back in laughter (I'm sure the whole office heard....oops!).

And then there's yesterday when Rebecca & I were walking out together being ridiculous, talking about boys, giggling I'm sure, then all of a sudden her ankle rolled off her shoe and made her knee give out...you know what I'm talking about...we just DIED laughing...sooo good for the soul!

So, I challenge you to laugh out loud today. Trust me, you'll feel better about life!

Super Duper: Seeing old friends this weekend!
Super Pooper: the back burner

...the past week...

sometimes weeks fly...somtimes they drag on...sometimes they fly by, but yet a week ago seems like a year ago, sorry if it seems I'm talking in circles. Anywho, here's a run down of the past week.

Friday before the storm...beautiful sky!

Saturday:

• Ike hit Houston in the early hours of the morning
• I was spending the night at Rebecca's house with her family
• We found a newfound love for Farkle & Phase 10 Master's Edition
• Decided to venture out of the house for dinner, to see if anything was open, since the whole world had closed down, ended up at a Japanese Steakhouse Hibachi grill...c'mon, you know that's funny, the night of the hurricane we're eating out at a semi-fancy place, good times!

Sunday:

• slept in
• ventured to my apartment to see if I had power or if there were damages. Everything was fine, but I didn't have any water, so we decided I would stay one more night at Reb's house.
• also drove by the church to check and see how it was...at that point all I could see was severe damage to the sanctuary roof, a huge section of the metal roof had peeled back :0
• I think we played some Farkle and then watched The Other Boleyn Girl

trying to go to bed one night

Monday:

• decided to head to Temple to see my sister and her boys, since the church didn't have power and I wasn't expected at work
• As I was driving to Temple, I got word that the church did have power...oops! I decided to go on and return Tuesday morning
• Hung out with the kids and surprised Brady by picking him up from school!

Tuesday:

• Went and had lunch with Brady at his school...made his day!
• headed back to Houston, found out I now had water at my apt!
• Met up with a group that Jerome had put together to help clean up people's yards because everything was still a mess! Trees everywhere, branches, etc.
• Tuesday night Jamie came and stayed with me, she still doesn't have power so she needed a place to stay

Wednesday:

• back to work
• trying to get things back to normal
• still no internet or phones at work or home
• went to check on a widow that works in childcare, she needed some help cleaning up her backyard, so I called Jerome and the crew, and about 6 adults came and transformed her backyard in about an hour and a half, I wish I had before and after pics to show you!

Thursday:

• work again, spent most of the day on the phone, trying to call and check on people
• Jamie stayed again, we went to dinner with some of her friends
  

Friday:

• took care of a few things at the office
• stopped by the mall
• chill night at home!

Let me just tell you, I'm still not used to driving down the street and seeing a tree split in half, a huge tree ripped up from the roots, a tree so large that it falls from one side of the street and lands across the street in the neighbor's yard.

It's been a week and there are still many many people without power. Of course those closer to the coast are worse off, but even many in The Woodlands and Humble/Kingwood area are equally afflicted. I know of several whose homes are unlivable. It's devastating!

Just wanted to recount the major events. I promise I'll return to more entertaining posts! Hope all is well with you!

Super Duper: lazy Saturday at home

Super Pooper: all the TV stations are running Post Ike coverage around the clock, except for primtime TV at night

...hunkering down...

Just wanted to post and let everyone know I'm fine and survived Hurricane Ike!!

I hunkered down with my dear friend Rebecca and her family in South Katy. We had HEAVY winds and rain in the middle of the night. We lost power from 4:30am - 8:00am. We were sooooo grateful when it came back on...we had thought it would be a few days before it came back!

There are many others on the East side of town and closer to the coast that got hit much harder than we did. We are thankful to have been spared.

Please join me in praying for all of those without power and stranded in their homes, and those who have lost their homes completely.

Thank you for your concern and prayers!

Much love!

...yikes ikes...

Its interesting to see how people react in time of a hurricane!

Ike is looming out in the gulf...EVERYONE is talking about it, watching it, deciding what to do, boarding up, evacuating...its crazy!

All I know is that I don't want to be alone in an unairconditioned apartment with no electricity! No thank you!

So I'm in the process of deciding what to do! Stick it out? Head to Corpus? Head to Temple? I don't like making these decisions. One of those adult things that no one else can really decide for you. My mom and my boss can make suggestions...but the final decision is up to me, and I have to make up my mind on my own.

Also, yes, I know it will all be okay. There may be some damages, but all in all, it will pass and we will move forward and life will go on. So no, I'm not freaking out, just trying to figure it all out!

K, well, that's all I got!

Super Duper: classes canceled tomorrow!!! Thanks Ike!
Super Pooper: my eye has been twitching for days! ugh!

ps - if you use google reader, please take a second to click on my blog and see my beautiful new backdrop!

...a much overdue reunion...

Consider yourselves forewarned...this is kind of longish...

Last Friday morning I woke up at 4:15am Houston time to catch at 6:45 flight to be in Burbank by 11:00am. That was just the beginning to of a 22 hour day!

As soon as I got to Burbank we (Jon, Liesal & I) hit a fabulous bakery called Porto's! It was yummy! Then we went to their great new apartment! We only stayed about 30 mins before we had to head over to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno!!! We stood in line for about an hour and a half before they let us in. It was super cool to see how they do it all! Jay was easy going and came out before the show to talk to us as the audience. My favorite part was seeing Shawn Johnson bring out all of her Olympic medals! Here's the 4 of us that went to see the show:

Then we headed back to their apartment, just to change clothes, then straight to the Hollywood Bowl to meet up with some of their other friends! For those of you who don't know (maybe I was the only one), the Hollywood Bowl is a huge amphitheater that seats thousands. The show for that weekend was John Williams conducting a symphony that played pieces from his famous movie scores like Star Wars and Indiana Jones...oh, did I mention he wrote the Olympic Theme song? It was super cool! Here's a pic of the dome the orchestra played in, and Liesal and I as we watched out in the cool night air. Oh, funny story, their friend Bob was in charge of getting the tickets for the night. But when one of the guys went to go through the ticket line, he was rejected because ALL of our tickets were for the next night!!! YIKES!! We had all ridden the shuttle to the venue, and were stranded there...so Bob went and haggled with the ticket people, who were so gracious to switch out our tickets for the that night! Whew!

I finally headed to bed at midnight after going 100mph for 22 hours straight!!! What a great first day in California!

Saturday Liesal and I headed to Hollywood Blvd & Rodeo Dr!!! Two extremely different experiences! Again, those of you who have never been, let me tell you, Hollywood Blvd is dirty/trashy...but worth the experience. It was cool to see where red carpet events are held - Kodak Theater. I also CRACKED up at the random people who dress up like movie characters and expect you to pay money to take pictures with them! Rodeo Dr was beautiful...and I was a chicken and wouldn't go in any of the stores...tooo expensive! Saturday night we went to dinner with a huge group for one of Liesal's friend's birthday! It was fun to meet some of their friends and see what their life is like!

Sunday we woke up early and headed to the church that Liesal & Jon volunteer at. They work with the special needs kids. Of course it was good to see them in action, and always interesting for me to see how other churches do things! Kind of neat to realize that they may be so far away, but there is still a common method in a lot of ways!

Then Sunday afternoon was by far my favorite thing we did!!! Jon was so kind to drive us down to Newport Beach...a little over an hour away. We picked up snacks and got there around 5pm. It was perfect! Warm, but nice cool breeze. We explored the rocks, took fun picks, threw the frisbee around...seriously, I could have stayed for days! Also, Newport is such a precious town!! Cute little homes...that cost millions I'm sure! We took a trillion pics...here are some of my faves, but if you're not on facebook and want to see all of my pics, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196506&l=28301&id=9205479

Monday we slept in and let ourselves chill! Then we decided to go see the "Hollywood" sign and the view of hazy downtown LA! Again, a good typical California attraction! Here's one last pic:

More than anything, it was just great to be with old friends!!! I love that some things never change. You can go so long without seeing someone, but overall, you still have that closeness, that understanding of each other, that love for each other! What a treat to get to go and spend 4 fabulous days with an old friend! Thank you Jon & Liesal for being such AMAZING hosts! It truly was a fantabulous vacation!

Super Duper: actually being home on my Friday off!

Super Pooper: my Philosophy of Religion class is torturous!