Hook 'em....I mean Go Aggies!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  I have lots of plans in my head for some fun, local events to celebrate with (hmm...perhaps I should run those by the hubs sometime soon).  Unfortunately though none of those plans include swimming.  It's currently 52 degrees and FREEZING!  I even saw a tweet that said tomorrow morning will be in the 30's, what in the world?  Perhaps my life long dream of living in Texas isn't looking so far off after all.

Speaking of TX, my mother's day present this year was a lovely Texas A&M hoodie that I may or may not have bought for myself (read: I ordered it from the university bookstore & used Nic's credit card to purchase).

Apparently wearing college paraphernalia, around a different college town, that you don't have a *direct* connection to makes you an easy target for people to make fun of.  By no means am I a bandwagon fan, I mean I did start following Johnny Manziel on Twitter after he won the Heisman this year, BUT I have been listening to podcasts out of Breakaway Ministries (a ministry on the campus of A&M) for a few years now.  So by way of hearing Ben Stuart talk about Reed Arena and the Aggies on a regular basis, I think I'm allowed a sweatshirt.  (And to further convince you of my  connection, in terms of colleges, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M are quite similar actually.  Big state schools with a corps of cadets and a large emphasis on tech & ag related fields.)

Anyways, all this is fine & dandy until I walk into our local Starbucks last week proudly wearing my new hoodie.  (Mind you, I'm already totally ignoring the fact that it's 80 degrees outside and I'm melting, but gosh darn it I will wear my new shirt!) Immediately the barista behind the counter says, "I love your shirt!  I have a cover for my phone too!"  and then she proceeds to pull out her iPhone proudly adorned with an Aggies cover.  I freeze.  Oh my gosh, she knows my secret. How does she know my secret?  What do I say?  How am I supposed to respond?  In that moment all that comes to mind is "Hook 'em Horns" but I know that's not right, so I mutter out the only words I can think of,  "Ummm..thanks."  Biggest. letdown. ever.  Here this innocent barista thinks she has found a friend and fellow Aggie lover and all I can do is say thanks.  Apparently buying another school's hoodie comes with more responsibility than I realized. 

Obviously I'm still wearing the hoodie but I won't be caught off guard again.  I did my research (thank you, faq page on the Texas A&M website).  Gig 'em Aggies!


Disclaimer: Don't worry Hokie fans, my heart still belongs to Virginia Tech.

Well folks, if you're still here after a 5 month hiatus, welcome!  I really have no excuse for my absence- there are still plenty of cute Sadie pictures to post, a thousand and one "April" thoughts to write about, and other random things to include on here.  Truth be told I sort of forgot about the blog for a while and then, well, I just didn't know what to post.  

Over the past couple of months I've been on a reading kick. (P.S. I apologize to those of you who live near me and receive my unsolicited book recommendations.  Maybe I should look into working at Barnes and Noble or the library.)  One of the books I enjoyed the most was Freefall to Fly by Rebekah Lyons.  The book is all about Rebekah's struggle with anxiety, depression, and how she found her way back to a life of meaning through it all.  At the end of the book she includes a few exercises to help in finding our own meaning:

• Write down your earliest dreams
• Write down the turning points in your life
• Write down your talents
• Write down your greatest burden 

To say I've answered all those questions and now know exactly what God's purpose for my life is, well I'll probably be dead by the time that happens.  But one of the things I do enjoy and feel like is somewhat of a talent (why do we have such a hard time admitting to our talents?  Arrgh!) is writing.  So my goal is to make more time for that.  And this blog is one way to do just that.

Since my super smart computer enginerd husband is all done with seminary now and looking for ways to fill his now free time, the blog may take on a different look this summer.  I might get my co-author back (see first sentence), maybe I'll follow the rules of building your blog 101 and come up with some kind of "blog platform."  One thing I do know for sure (at least I really, really hope) is I'm back!

And now for a super classy picture taken during the hub's seminary graduation last weekend: