homecoming 2013

It has officially been over week since Em and I were last together. I have now given myself the appropriate amount of grieving time and am able to write out our recap.

I had written out a 3-page long detailed Homecoming recap, but then realized – no one wants to read that, not even me – and I wrote it.

So here’s a summary:

Thursday...

Starbucks in the sky, Pigskin, Mega HEB

Flew to Texas. Starbucks with an extra shot of espresso. Plane door wouldn’t close in Dallas…delay. Made it to Waco. Hung out with Coach Husband. Went to school to help Emmy clean. Quick wardrobe change. Dinner with Amanda and Melissa. PIGSKIN!!! (click here if you aren't familiar with the amazing tradition that is Pigskin and All-University SING). H-E-B Plus stop for ice cream sundae supplies. Late night ice cream and girl gossip with Amanda. Sleep.

Friday...

Bonfire, Georges, Bush's
(also I really hate the top pic, but it's the only group one from bonfire)

Common Grounds with my favorite prof! Said “hi” to the Bears. Went to the Bookstore. Bush’s Chicken for lunch. (yummmm).  Shopping. Shopping. Shopping. Sonic Happy Hour!! Shopping. Shopping Shopping. Went home and took a 10 min rest break. Quick wardrobe change. Went to George’s (“I’d like to thank ol’ George’s Bar for the classes that I missed”). MEAGAN ARRIVED!!!!! Delicious dinner. Saw lots of AXOs and my BFF Catherine! Bonfire. Saw friends. Met parents. Watched a big fire roar. Drove around Waco looking for trouble, psych we drove around being dorks. Sleep.

Saturday...

Lunch, game, parade

Woke up super early. Coach Husband dropped us off at campus for parade. So cold. Searched for donuts. Went to School of Ed. Em & Megan talked to a professor, I went looking for more friends. Found Dyann. Dyann and I found Amanda and family. PARADE!!! Looked at floats. Cheered for Holly Tucker. Criticized floats. Looked at floats up close. Went to AXO brunch. Talked to a bunch of people. Gave seal of approval for new couches. Reminisced on winning, errr getting 3rd place, at StompFest. Sat on a street corner waiting for a ride. Went to Poppa Rollo’s pizza (mafia style pizza parlor) with Amanda’s family. Yuuuummm. Went home to rest. Quick wardrobe change. Tailgate at “The Beast”. Baylor demolished Iowa State. Saw more friends. Emily terrified a child. Post-game tailgate at “The Beast”. Sleep.

Sunday...

Sunday was too sad of day for happy, pretty pictures :(

Slept in. Lunch at Chiptole. Meagan and Purdey leave L. Target run with Em. Sonic Happy Hour. Rested and watched A Walk to Remember. They dropped me off at the airport. Said goodbye to Em. Silent cry on the plane.L Airport McDonalds for supper. Dad and Jasper pick me up at the airport with a Large Sweet Tea! Sleep.

Adios, Tejas

 I can’t even explain how wonderful this weekend was. Meagan, Em and I had not all been together in over 3 years – however, it was like we spend every day together. One of my favorite moments of the weekend was after the football game heading back to “The Beast”, sitting in lawn chairs with blankets and spending hours talking under the beautiful Texas stars. While it was really really cold, it was fun…just a bunch of friends and family enjoying each other’s company and telling life stories - the perfect last night in Waco and at Floyd Casey.

Tailgate with my loves

My ultimate goal for the weekend was: Cowboy Coffee from Common Grounds, meal at Bush’s Chicken, Georges, buy Baylor apparel for my niece and I, partake in all Homecoming festivities (well all the main ones), soak in the splendor of Waco, Baylor and Floyd Casey and see lots of friends. I successfully accomplished every single thing on that list!

AXO sisters

Baylor was as lovely as it was my entire 4 years there, and seeing old friends reminded me how incredibly blessed I am to have such a strong support system… even if they are 639 miles away.

That good old Baylor line! That good old Baylor line!

We'll march forever down the years, as long as stars shall shine.

We'll fling our green and gold afar, to light the ways of time 

And guide us as we onward go; That good old Bayor line!

Goal #2: Sponsor a Compassion Child

This might be one of my top five favorite goals I have made! The best part was that this was something Coach Husband & I were able to do together.

For almost as long as I could remember my parents have sponsored a Compassion International child.  His name is Charles, which just happens to be my grandfather's name, and he lives in Kenya with his grandmother.  Nothing elicited quite as much excitement as receiving a letter from Charles or his yearly update.  His picture is proudly displayed in our living room next to the picture of my brothers and I.  The example my mom set to put Charles out with the rest of the family is one of the little things I have taken with me after moving into my own home.

 Coach Husband & I were at church about a month ago when our Pastor delivered a very compelling and convicting sermon titled, Sheep & Goats.  The thought that if I am not serving the poor, hungry & needy or actively seeking the welfare of the city I am in fact being a goat instead of a sheep was so basic yet so convicting.  Coach Husband & I began to seriously consider in what ways we could actively seek the welfare of the city.  About two weeks later I was sitting on the couch writing lesson plans for the upcoming week when I realized one way we could act like a child of God was to sponsor a child through Compassion International.  I sent CH a text telling him I had a fabulous idea & tried to wait patiently for him to come home (it was in the middle of football practice...yes, there is weekend practice)!  Once I explained my lightbulb moment we began actively searching for a child we could sponsor.  Many, many years ago the Lord gave me a passion for Africa so we decided to narrow our search to the African countries and look specifically for a young child that we could sponsor until he graduated from the program at age 18.

Call me crazy but we fell in love with little Emmanuel as soon as we saw his picture.  Bonus: our best friend's (real) name is actually Emmanuel!  Just yesterday we received our official sponsor packet from Compassion International & so I am proud to announce that we have added another member to our family! Meet Emmanuel Kwemoi, the precious three year old child from Uganda that we have already been blessed by.

Compassion Child: Emmanuel

We will be referring to him as, Little E!  Coach Husband & I would be grateful & humble if you would join us in prayer for this precious child of God specifically for his spiritual growth, physical health & a desire to learn God's Word.

Already we are in love with this little bundle of joy and are so very excited to see him grow and change physically & spiritually over the next fifteen years.


Here is the link for the Sheep & Goats sermon that convicted CH & I so deeply.  I highly recommend taking 30 minutes to watch.  Brady is entertaining but does not allow that to keep him from delivering God's Word with conviction, honesty & love.

http://www.harriscreek.org/resources/sermons/sheep-goats-return-on-investment


I have also included the link for Compassion International.  This non-profit organization is incredibly unique.  The sponsorship links you to an individual child in need to provide them the resources and learning opportunities they need to break the cycle of poverty and become happy, healthy, Christ followers.

http://www.compassion.com/default.htm


Emily

Patience is a VIrtue

Just a reminder that Bre & I only have to wake up FOUR more times before we are reunited!  I am so very excited to see my best friend & sister.  Coach Husband is already bracing himself for the craziness that will ensue & reminding me to be patient...

Happiest day of my life with my very bestest friend at my side!

Just wait for the influx of pictures, posts & stories from this weekend!

#tbt - sisterhood retreat 2009

Sisterhood Retreat 2009 at Flipnastics in Waco - both with our Sonic Dr. Peppers...absolutely nothing has changed! :)

Goal #70 Pumpkin Patch

One of my goals is officially complete!  This Saturday Coach Husband came home from football practice to surprise me with a trip to a Pumpkin Patch!  Fall has (hopefully) come to Texas to stay & we decided a trip to the pumpkin patch was just what we needed to spice up our weekend.  Since Dixie May is working towards her Canine Good Citizenship we are trying to take her everywhere we go.  Lucky for her the pumpkin patch had no problem with a Canine in Training coming with us!

Funny story to add to our day, Coach Husband only owns one pair of jeans.  Yes you read that correctly...one!  Since the weather has turned a bit nippy he was on a hunt for them today. Somehow in his four moves since May he has misplaced those one pair of jeans.  Our first stop was the only place T will let me purchase clothes for him from, Target, to grab a new pair of jeans.  Any Target run is always accompanied by a Starbucks trip we obviously had to stop & grab me a Passion Tea.

Passion Tea shaken & sweet.  Yum!

After our impromptu Target trip we headed out to the Pumpkin Patch!  I was so stinking excited, especially when they handed Coach Husband a CART to hold our spoils in.  I promised him I would not go overboard with the quantity of pumpkins.  We live in a two street neighborhood that is made up mostly of older, retired couples whom we absolutely adore!  The downside though...their yards & porches are always manicured, groomed and decorated to the nines.  Newlyweds on the block were definitely late to the fall porch party.  I was looking for three imperfectly perfect pumpkins to finally get our porch up to par. I had a very specific number, shape & size in mind so with that promise we started shopping.

Our little red wagon.

 After picking our our porch pumpkins it was time for a little photo shoot with the joy of our lives, Miss Dixie May.  Dixie loved all the pumpkins, smells, small children & adults walking around the patch.  I am always beyond proud of how she deals with small children.  Somehow she knows that they are little and must be handled with care.  Her tail starts moving double time & her entire body starts to wiggle.  Normally people are always a little wary of her and I can understand that.  She's a 75 pound German Shepherd and the stereotype for the breed isn't exactly stellar, but given the opportunity Dixie will win them over!

Checking out the pumpkins & loving her life.

They say taking pictures with a toddler is super difficult.  The same can be said for a dog.  Enjoy the following photos of Dixie.

We finally got some good ones.

Love my girl!  

Somehow I convinced Coach Husband to smile!  

Coach Husband is a firm believer in "Happy wife, happy life"

Crossing this goal off my 100 goals list really just serves to highlight that I am so blessed to have a husband that loves & blesses me in the small ways!

Hoping & praying that you are falling in love with fall as well!

eli young band concert

I am officially 1/5 of the way to completing 1/100th of my goal list! This week a friend and I went to an Eli Young Band concert, supporting a local food pantry. The proceeds from the concert (and some other fundraisers that I don't recall) netted $92,000 to be donated! Also Richard Petty was at this concert, which I guess is kind of a big deal? 

I was super excited for this concert because it was my first time seeing EYB. Surprisingly, our paths never crossed the entire time I lived in Oklahoma/Texas.

I picked up CK and off we went...according to Siri the venue was only 15 miles from her apartment! Flash forward an hour and a half and we finally pulled up to the correct location. Not only did Siri lead us to a dead end once, but twice. Straight up dead ends, as in no roads. Whatever, luckily the program/concert hadn't even started yet and frankly I wish we had been lost for another hour or so instead of having to stand around waiting for it to start.

Let me just set the scene for you. Do you remember the episode of Full House when Uncle Jesse has his 10 (5?) year high school reunion? And he goes back to high school and his band plays on the stage and his ex-girlfriend Carrie shows up in the tight red dress? Okay well there was no Carrie, but other than that it was the exact.same.thing.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, well then I'm sad for your life and feel the need to educate you. 

John Stamos..you are so welcome :)

Back to my concert. After some introductions (Richard Petty, racecar man driver Eric, a lady named Gayle) and talk of good will, EYB took the stage. Frankly I only knew about half of their songs because I realized that I mainly listen to their older music. They main songs they played that I recall knowing were: "Even If It Breaks Your Heart", "Always the Love Songs", "Drunk Last Night". The band was pretty good live...Mike Eli was shorter and more compact than I thought he would be, but the drummer had incredible SING facials (Baylor frats, you should sign him up). 

Patiently waiting

REAL Farmland racecar!!

Towards the end of the show, I was devastated by the realization that they were most likely not going to sing my favorite song. Why would these Texas boys sing their song about an Oklahoma Girl, whilst playing a show in Missouri? Luckily for me, they did - and I think I was the happiest girl in the gym...until they changed the lyrics to "Missouri girl". Wrong senor Eli Young Band. Oh well, I just ignored that part and danced anyways to my song, in my heart I know the real lyrics. After this song we decided to bid adieu to EYB and call it a night - and life was good. 

Overall, I give the band a thumb and a half up (is that an accurate means of measuring??). Definitely not the best concert I've seen (cough, Lady Antebellum), but also not the worst (ahem New Politics). 

Until next time...

#tbt - Big Sis Rev 2009

I feel like it is only fitting that M&Ms first edition of Throwback Thursday takes us back to the day Emmy and I became family. 

It was a little windy that fateful day in Waco, TX

One of Baylor Alpha Chi's biggest traditions is Big Sis Rev. The "Big" showers the "Little" with anonymous gifts all week before revealing themselves at the end of a very tangled yarn maze on Saturday.

Meagan and I showered Emily with gifts all week, so there was no way we were going to make the reveal easy. If memory serves correctly, Emily was the last New Member to finish the yarn maze. Everyone kept telling us "just go get her, don't make her finish it" - but that's not how we roll. Never fear, she finally untangled her yarn and met us at the merry-go-round where we hugged, took pictures and then quickly left to meet everyone else for lunch - since they were waiting on us. ;-)

Oh and if you are wondering about the middle picture, this was obviously during Jason Mesnick's Bachelor tenure. One of Emmy's gifts was a framed pic of her and Jason, because back then we loved him. And then he dumped Melissa and we hated him. Now that he's married to Molly with child and Melissa is married with child, I guess we can accept that everything happened as it was supposed to.