Man Cold

Typical for this season

Trunk-or-Treat

Trey and I got to spend Halloween with Gavin, Elizabeth, Eli, and Ella. We went to Trunk-or-Treat at their church. Elizabeth's parents and my mom were there too. Oh, and Finnigan. He was quite a hit. Trey kept telling people he was a chihuahua dressed up as a Great Pyrenees. That's my man!

Ella as a parrot with Liz


Eli as a pirate


I taught Eli some great pirate phrases such as, "Walk the plank!" and "Where's me booty?" Elizabeth says it was Eli's idea to be a pirate and have Ella as a parrot. What a little genius! I'm pretty sure he's going to take over the world some day.

Amazing Football Finish

If you like college football, you have to watch this. Apparently there are 15 laterals thrown on this last play of the game. As my dad always said, "Don't ever quit!"

CONGRATS!!

Just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley and Kelly on their new little girl, Ella. Beautiful name by the way. They are wonderful friends who I have known for farther back than I can honestly remember. They were sweet enough to have a little party for me at their house when I came to Michigan in September. They even lent me a comfy pair of pregnancy pants (I say lent because I promise I will send them back :) and let me nap on their bed. In exchange, I only had to let them in on the secret of internet TV. All us Texans love you guys and we are so thankful God has blessed you with Ella!
Photo taken post "the incident"

Sports, Culture, and Family

SPORTS
On Thursday, Elijah, Gavin, my dad, and I went to an FC Dallas soccer game against Chivas USA. I personally thought it was a great game despite there being no goals. Everyone played really well so it was fun to watch. At each game they give out some sort of item. We got a great Gatorade water bottle (can't ever have too many of those!).

They also were giving every one these wigs to wear that looked like the hair of #8 Juan Toja. So we had a great time putting on the wigs and laughing at ourselves, although Eli was sort of scared of them.


Me and my dad with the wigs on while Eli chows on a hot dog


Me and Gavin


My favorite nephew, Eli



CULTURE
****WARNING****nudity ahead
On Saturday, Trey and I went to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to see the Ron Mueck sculptures. They were incredible and so unbelievably life-like.






My favorite was "Wild Man" (below) because he really did look like he was going to jump out of the chair and run screaming out of the room.


Then we met up with Garrett and ate burgers at Fred's in Fort Worth.


FAMILY
On Sunday, we went over to Dave and Heather's house. They're our transplanted Seattle BFFs who God truly blessed us with up there and then amazed all of us by bringing them down here. We always have a great time with them. Anyhow, we went over there to watch the Cowboys' game and we have always brought our dogs over to hang with their dogs. They used to watch Layla for us when we went out of town and we would take care of Howser and Moffet for them. Anyhow, the dogs were all in their backyard and I went out there at halftime to see how everyone was doing, and all of the sudden Howser starts trying to get in Finnigan's face and then he attacks him! Howser was intent of kicking sweet Finn's butt and Finnigan didn't even try to fight back. After it all was over, Finn had a nasty gash under his eye. The vet said he doesn't need stitches, but he looks so bad! Dave and Heather felt terrible, but they're dogs so what are you gonna do?

Big Fatty Greek Wedding

So I have not written in awhile, and I really should be writing about my 10 year high school reunion and my trip to Michigan or about Sarah's wedding in Cape Cod and our trip to Boston. Instead, I am a little behind and I decided I just need to get going. So I am going to write about current things and get to the past when I have time.

This last weekend, Trey and I and my friend Anya went to our friend Lindsey's wedding. She is Greek Orthodox and the wedding was 100% Greekified. Much of the ceremony was in Greek and there were lots of names like Cristos and Efthiomos, and her new last name is Petropoulous. The ceremony was at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Dallas . It was so beautiful! It was a traditional Greek ceremony, very similar to the Catholic mass wedding ceremonies, but with a lot more chanting and singing/talking. This is the best picture I could get of the church since you can't use flash as it is a wedding and not a fashion show. So there was lots of delicious Greek food (hence the "fatty" title) and circle dancing and Greek toasts and "Ompah!" going on. We had a really great time seeing a more ethnic wedding than we are used to.

Expensive Summer

Trey and I had planned on having a low-key, almost boring summer. It was extra long due to the TX law saying we can't start school until right around Labor Day, so I have been off since May 25. That is almost 3 months! So with only a trip to Florida planned for me and nothing for Trey, I anticipated a lot of lounging around and reorganizing of closets and drawers. Well, things turned out much busier, and expensive, than we imagined.

Trey spent last week in Fredericksburg helping his family build their cabins for their new business, Der Fels.




He then made a stop in Austin to do some music stuff before heading home.

I just returned from a last minute trip to Rocky Mountain National Park with my mom and dad. We drove up there and did some incredible hikes and stayed at a bed and breakfast (my dad's first). The best part of the trip was the 5.5 mile, 300 ft elevation hike which turned into the 11 mile, 1,600 ft elevation hike that went straight uphill for 3 hours. Minor mistake on my mom's part. It all turned out ok because on the way down we saw two huge male moose (meese? :) in the meadow.



After all this fun stuff, we thought we would be ending our summer on a high note. We were quite ticked then, when we headed to the car yesterday to find out it had been broken into by some idiots who thought we had anything worth stealing. They broke out the back passenger window and threw everything around. Luckily they didn't steal anything since we don't own anything worth taking. They broke into 14 cars in our complex that night. So this is what our car looks like right now.



We don't quite have the money right now to fix it after Layla's surgery and then emergency blood transfusion (never did write about that drama), one plane ticket to Michigan, 2 plane tickets to Boston, 2 vehicle registrations, a flat tire, a cracked windshield, and no paycheck for Trey until the end of September. So now I am humbled at being one of those people on the freeway with the wind flapping around my plastic window covering. I would like to give a shout out to Dave Ramsey because had we not been following his plan, we would have been in quite a pickle. Hip hip hooray for emergency funds!

I'm a Winner!

I love to enter contests. I entered the HGTV Dream Home contest every day for 3 months. So I was quite excited when I arrived home from my last minute vacation to find out I had won something! Even though it is small, IT'S FREE!

Heavy Metal Suicide

I am happy to report that Layla has made it through surgery! She is recovering at the vet's office and we'll know tomorrow if we can bring her home. When Dr. Whitworth went in, he discovered that it was not a needle that was causing the problems. It was a shard of metal that had gone through her stomach and was now completely enveloped by her liver. Layla had
heavy metal poisoning and that is why her red blood cells were down a month ago. All the medicine we gave her must have boosted her system, so that's why we thought she was better. I had decided not to get x-rays in May because she recovered. Whoops! So anyhow, Layla has had a piece of metal in her for about 3 months.

It was when Layla first got sick back in April that she started being really mean to Finnigan. They used to play together all the time. Well, after she "recovered", Layla never really went back to being friendly with him. We're hoping that this piece of metal is the reason, and not just the fact that Layla is a heartless b.

I Can't Even Sew!

I just dropped Layla off for emergency surgery to remove a needle from her stomach. Apparently she has been bleeding internally since a few months ago because this needle perforated her stomach and possibly her liver. When she stopped barking when we came home, as well as let Finn bound around the house unchecked, we knew something was wrong. My only question is, how on earth did she swallow a needle? Layla is not a chewer. In fact we leave her out by herself when we are gone. She never touches anything (except wooden pencils weird as that is) so I can't imagine how she swallowed a needle, let alone a sewing needle. We don't even have sewing needles in our house! Anyhow, Dr. Whitworth said there is a chance Layla won't make it as she has already lost so much blood, but he said he was confident she will be ok. I started to cry a little but I hardly got to say goodbye to her before they took her away. Anyhow, say a prayer for Layla!

Spoiled Rotten

So I'm back. Well, I've been back but I have yet to receive any pictures from my mom or Aunt Cindi hint, hint, so I really didn't have anything to put on here because without pictures, who wants to look at my page?

Anyhow, I had a great picture that I took last night, but something went wrong with my card and i had to reformat it, aka delete all my photos. Anyhow, I was craving something bad for me and we did not appear to have anything. So I randomly decided to open the bottom vegetable drawers of the refrigerator to see if there was anything sugary hiding down there. Our bottom drawers are opaque, so you can't see what is in them. So I pulled open the drawer and found something similar to this:


Only of course there was no bowl and there was more black to it and it was rotting through a plastic vegetable bag. I think it might have been parsley, but I'm not sure. I needed dental records to identify it. It did curb my appetite though.

And, for all those of you who think myspace is a waste of time, I would like to share a website I discovered thanks to a post from Jennifer Kirby. I think you will find this infinitely valuable, or perhaps just mildly entertaining.
This website allows you to look up the #1 song at any point in history, and of course history really only goes back to the 1890's. I'm pretty sure there was no music before then anyhow, other than chanting monks. Considering the era I was born in, I am quite happy to report that my song was one of the few disco songs that is tolerable.

Gone to Florida

Death and or Taxes

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
Benjamin Franklin
It seems that it won't be death AND taxes for Mr. and Mrs. Brown, but instead, they have vowed for death BEFORE taxes.

The story talks about Ed and Elaine Brown who claim that there is no law requiring citizens to pay taxes. Therefore, they have avoided paying taxes for the last decade. Because of their refusal to pay, they have been sentenced to prison and been told they owe the government $200,000. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have said that they will die before they pay or go to prison. The government is now in a perplexing situation as they get to choose between ignoring this or getting into a shoot-out with a grandma and grandpa over money.

When I first read about this case, my initial thought was, "Crazy people." Then as I read on my thoughts changed to, "Could they really be right?" I was intrigued that the Brown's could actually make a case for not paying their taxes. Very interesting.

But as I read on further, I discovered something that really ticked me off. I found out that our own government is pushing a bill that will forgive all back taxes owed by illegal immigrants. So the Brown's own hypocritical government would like to lock them up while at the same time they smooth the way for the millions of people here illegally by erasing their debts. What a quandry we are in as a country. How can our goverment wave a special wand of forgiveness over illegal immigrants, but refuse to give it's own citizens the same consideration?

Fight for Life

You really need to check out this video. You have to watch all of it though, don't stop early. No, I am not sick and twisted, just keep watching.

Oh no you di'int!

Today I dropped Finn and Layla off at the vet. When I came to pick them up that afternoon, the nice, yet weird vet assistant was there. He just happened to have a giant snake around his neck and was acting like that was a normal occurance, which perhaps it is seeing as I was at the vet. As I was paying, here was our conversation:

Me: "How soon can we get Finn neutered? I don't want to do it too early."

Finn: Stares out door while panting.

Snake Charmer/Vet Assistant: Petting snake. "I would wait a month or so. Well, let me see...if I can get personal here for a minute." Walks toward me.

Me: Staring at snake waiting to see if maybe it would start to constrict on the guy's neck. Wondering if I would finally be able to find out if I have the strength and courage to save someone from a snake attack.

Snake Charmer/Vet Assistant: Bends down over Finn and reaches hands under and back to Finn's special purpose. "Well, he only has one testicle dropped...wait, no there's the other one. He has both, but I would give him some time with them."

Finn: Stares out door while panting.

Me: "You just grabbed his testicles." Sick.

BAP

In honor of Father's Day, I would like to let everyone know what a fantastic dad I have. While many women end up marrying someone like their father, I instead ended up as my dad's female clone. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Here are the top 5 reasons I appreciate my dad:

#5: My dad raised me to be interested in the world around me. He instilled in me an interest in politics, cultures, psychology, and basically people in general. He's just about the greatest "people" person you could ever meet.

#4: My dad is big into character, and he never let me do lackluster or careless work. He showed me how important it is to work to the best of my ability, no matter if the situation was playing in a soccer game or picking weeds in the backyard.

#3: My dad always makes me feel smart. He tells me how helpful and brilliant I am for even the smallest things, like showing him how to attach a file to an email.

#2: My dad tells it like it is. I have never had to guess how my dad felt about a choice I made or a boyfriend I had. I appreciate that he lets me know if he's proud of me, as well as telling me when I disappointed him. He's always held the bar pretty high, but I see that as a compliment because he obviously believes I can reach it. Because of that, I have always had high standards for myself as well.

#1: Lastly, my dad always has supported me in any hobby, sport, or adventure I've undertaken. From soccer to study abroad to moving to Seattle, he has continually encouraged me. My dad has been there for me
physically by being at events to cheer me on or driving me thousands of miles,
financially by giving me the money to participate or the funds to get on my feet,
mentally by talking me through potential problems or pumping me up to dispel any nerves, and
spiritually by praying with me or reminding me Who I belong to.

I am truly blessed to have BAP as my dad.

Pump it Up - Summer Vacation Days 14-18

Personal Accomplishments: ***
Memories: **
World Impact: **

The last few days have been really fun. I have been busy, but in a good way:

-I actually worked out at the gym instead of eating lunch, cleaning a bit, and going to bed at 7:30. Who knew being an art teacher was so tiring?



-went to see Surf's Up with my students for a field trip



-made an awesome art project at camp with giant coffee filters and watercolor paint



-kicked Trey and Tim's butt in Phase 10



-watched The Privileged Planet with our new small group from church



-played soccer with my nephew at his Soccer Tots program (he's awesome at Red Light, Green Light)



-Got to meet Rigaud, the visiting minister from Haiti who is staying with Gavin and Elizabeth (my mom spoke French with him, which always makes me so proud of her :)



-And lastly, I started my volunteer tutoring program

Daughters - Summer Vacation Days 12 & 13

Personal Accomplishments: *
Memories: *
World Impact: n/a



These are some pictures of my super cute niece, Ella Grace. Ms. Nola, my mom's great friend from Michigan, brought a tiara and a feather boa for her all the way from Michigan. Tiaras and boas are Ms. Nola's thing. Anyhow, Ella loved it and I thought I would share. So, Elizabeth wrote in her blog about the incident and I thought she made an excellent point. She said that she never thought she would see her daughter in a tiara because she doesn't care for the whole "princess" mentality. Elizabeth then went on to say she had changed her opinion because, it's one thing to dress your daughter like a princess, but quite another to raise her like one. I wholeheartedly agree.

It has been incredibly helpful and uplifting for me to see how my sister-in-law, Elizabeth, handles motherhood. While I originally (9 years ago original) thought that we were total opposites, I now see that we are far more alike than we are different. Seeing how gracefully and comfortably she handles all types of parenting situations thrown at her gives me confidence that I, most likely, won't permanently emotionally damage my children. When I do finally decide to step into the role of mother, I know that she will be an incredibly valuable resource and confidant.

Bowling - Summer Vacation Days 10 & 11

Personal Accomplishments: **
Memories: **
World Impact: **

Today was bowling for Camp Tejas. I worked with three kids, one of which had his own bag, ball, shoes, and team shirt. Oddly enough, he scored the lowest of the group. There was also a boy who used the bowling ramp to play. I would have to remind him every time to gently place the ball on the top of the ramp and then push it, DO NOT THROW THE BALL AT THE RAMP!!! One staff member decided that he could teach aforementioned student to throw the ball without the use of the ramp. The student dropped the ball on the staff member's foot and that was the end of his lessons. We had fun though. The kids really like to be able to do well at something, just like any other kid.

Yesterday was a lazy day, aside from a trip to Costco, because today was supposed to be so busy. I have been anticipating for weeks a dinner with a great friend in from Boston on business. Sarah and I were supposed to meet up for Indian food at Madras Pavilion in Dallas (props to Tim for introducing me). Unfortunately, Sarah had to cancel last minute as she had to fly back. I am so bummed! I really was looking forward to some unrushed time to talk with her before her wedding in September. Sarah and I were very close friends in high school, but we sort of lost touch for awhile as we are both not very good at calling and such. We never really completely dropped out of each other's lives, but we were not real consistent. Anyhow, we were able to take a trip together to a friend's wedding in October and we had a great time together, picked things up right where we left off.


Although we talk more now, it's not the same as being face to face, so I was looking forward to tonight to catch up a bit more, as both our lives have changed drastically in the last 5 years or so, as have we. But things happen and there will be other dinners. I'm crossing my fingers it will be soon!

Swimming Freak Out - Summer Vacation Days 8 & 9

Personal Accomplishments: **
Memories: ***
World Impact: **


On Friday, Camp Tejas went swimming. The previous night I had searched for my swimsuit but could not find it. Instead of going to buy a new one at 8:30pm, I decided to wear an old one that did not fit at all, much like everything else in my closet. I planned to simply wear shorts and a shirt over it. No big deal.

So I was assigned to a sweet boy who was very pumped to be going to the pool. We got to the there and I put sunscreen on him and got him his life jacket (all campers must wear a life jacket) and we headed to the freezing water. This is an outdoor pool with no heaters, just like at Shiloh, so you take it as is. I got in some but mostly just watched him from the side and watched when he said, "Watch this!" and cheered when he went down the slide.

We had been at the pool for over an hour and all was good, so I headed to get my water bottle and yogurt. I was heading back and watching Zach as he climbed out of the water and headed toward me. Now, it is difficult to understand what he is saying sometimes so when I asked him where he was going, it sounded like, "Want out." I assumed he meant he was done swimming, so we headed toward the benches and I stopped him to take off his life jacket. As he got out of it, he immediately turned and ran back toward the pool.

I started running after him, balancing my water, yogurt, and the dangling life jacket. I was barely able to grab him with my semi-free hand before he jumped right back in the pool. Earl was running over so I said, "Can you help me Earl?" What does big, strong Earl do? He takes my yogurt and water out of my hands and walks away. Thanks for all your help! Thankfully, Tracy was there to help me restrain him and we spent the next 30 minutes at the edge of the pool with a crying camper who desperately wanted to get in without a life jacket.

Eventually he calmed down and we got him changed, but that was quite enough excitement for the rest of the day.

On Saturday, Trey and I enjoyed our mostly clean apartment, as Trey had spent most of yesterday cleaning. He told me to make myself scarce as he was focused and really wanted to get some stuff done. When he says that, I definitely will not get in his way. The dogs were freshly groomed on Friday so we had no hair to vacuum. Life is good. The dogs needed something to chew on (other than our carpet) so since I never got to make it to Costco, I headed to Petco. The bones are more expensive at Petco, so I wanted to be sure to buy the best value which means bigger bones. You would think little Layla would have a tough time with this, but obviously not.


Saturday night, we went over to my parents' house to go out to dinner with them. Their good friends the Cucherans and the Kirbys, from Michigan, were in town and staying with them, so we all were going to hang out. Of course the Corbett's came too and Gavin and Elizabeth so it was quite crazy for awhile. Lots of babies and laughing and catching up, so the volume and insanity were welcome.

Ella was there, naturally, and I am amazed at how much she changes every week! Just last week she was fighting to lift her head for a few seconds. Now she has almost no problem holding it up. She smiles so much more too. I guess we're just starting to see her personality. I can't wait to find out more about what she's like!

Nikki's baby, Stone, was there too. He is so cute and BIG! He looks like he could kick some butt already. It only occurred to me after that he was born right about the same time as Eveyn. I can't believe that Eveyn would be walking and exploring like he was, and we would know if she likes to be held or if she likes to be tickled. It makes me really sad that I'll never know or see her like that.

Everyone had a great time together and Trey and I stayed until late with the girls out on the deck and the guys watching the game inside. I CANNOT BELIEVE THE PISTONS LOST!! The only thing that could make this basketball season any worse, would be if the stupid Spurs win the championship. So I am now officially a Cavs fan, but only until October.

Postcards - Summer Vacation Day 7

Personal Accomplishment: **
Memories: **
World Impact: **
Yesterday we decorated postcards. I'm not sure they will go through the mail as they are covered with so much glue and sand. They are really cute though. The kids really enjoyed writing them and had fun with all the glitter and glue. One boy had so much fun he threw up in class. A couple times. Oh the joys of working with kids.


I also took the dogs to the vet as the groomer said we had to have proof of rabies shots and Finn had never had his. Thank goodness there was an opening that evening. We also got Layla's sick skin thing checked out. She has this crusty, scabby thing over her elbow. Really gross. It took the vet $60 to tell me that it's not mites and to spray some stuff on it. We were only at the vet for 20 minutes, but it cost over $200! I'm beginning to wonder if these dogs are worth it.