Prayers for Ft. Hood

Yesterday my mom called and said, "There has been a shooting at Ft. Hood."  I knew why she was calling.  Soldier Cousin is stationed at Ft. Hood.  Immediately, his little, dimpled, 20 year old baby face was in my head.

Fortunately, she went on to say that he was okay and that they were all on lockdown, but he got a call out to his mom and asked her to let the family know before we saw it on the news and panicked. 

Of course, my initial reaction was one of relief.  I was thankful to God that Soldier Cousin was okay.  That he was not one of the 4 people killed or 11 people injured in this rampage.

But as I watched the news coverage last night, I realized that not everyone got the call that my family got.  For 4 families, the call was the opposite.  Their worlds were turned upside down.  Their lives were changed forever. 

The truth is that life is fragile.  It can change in an instant.  We never know which of the phone calls we will be receiving.  The other end of the receiver could hold thankfulness or heartbreak.

So today, I ask that you join our family in thanksgiving for the phone call that we received, and please pray for peace and comfort who did not receive the same news on the other end of that line.

Weekend Recap

“In terms of days and moments lived, you’ll never again be as young as you are right now, so spend this day, the youth of your future, in a way that deflects regret. Invest in yourself. Have some fun. Do something important. Love somebody extra. In one sense, you’re just a kid, but a kid with enough years on her to know that every day is priceless." ~Victoria Moran

It's Tuesday folks, and that means we're closer to the freakin' weekend than we were yesterday!  I thought I'd give ya'll a little weekend recap of the happenings around here.

 

 On Friday night, Soldier Cousin came to town!  I love that he's stationed within driving distance so we can hang out.  We ended up meeting up with BFF at the Dixie Chicken for a beer and just general conversation. Which somehow led to BFF suggesting that maybe I should consider getting some eggs harvested because my biological clock is ticking.  Just normal Friday afternoon conversation for me and BFF.  (We have an interesting relationship.)  After The Chicken, we headed to this amazing restaurant here in town called La Bodega for tacos with my New Roomie.  It was (by some miracle!) cooled off enough that we got to sit out on the patio, eat our tacos, and just hang out.  It was an awesome Friday night in my book.

But....I failed to take a single picture.  FAIL.

On Saturday, I was wide awake at 7 in the morning, while Soldier Cousin slept in like a good teenager.  So I ran a bunch of errands, balanced my checkbook, did some shopping.....wild and crazy, that's me!  After we grabbed some lunch, I took him on a tour of the A&M campus, including the ever-popular photo op at Kyle Field. Look how tiny he looks!!

Then it was time for a little road trip.  BFF, The Persuasion, Soldier Cousin and I headed to Waco.  First stop:  Baylor University to take some pictures to send to their biggest fan, Cousin Swiss Mister.  We drove all over that dang campus trying to find the bear habitat, where the mascots live.  We must have asked 5 people--Baylor students/alum, no doubt--and none of them could give us coherent directions.  Come on, people!  But we finally found them.  And they were taking a nap.  Grrr.  But we took the picture that Cousin Swiss Mister requested.  I don't think he was so impressed with my foam finger....GO POKES!

Check out the anatomy of taking this photo

Setting up the foam finger....

BFF thinking he was too important to get off the phone...

The money shot.

Then we headed off to check out the new football stadium being constructed.  Looked like a construction sight to me.  That's about all I can say.

And then, it was time for the main event.  Kiddo was playing an acoustic set at golf course/country club.  I've heard him play his guitar 100 times, but it was my first time seeing him play at a show.  He did great!

He looks a little Eric Church-ish, no?

Instructions to BFF here?  "Look cute."  

Love that kid!

Then we wrapped up the night with dinner/breakfast at Denny's (attached to a truck stop, no less) and the hour drive back home.  I'm way, way, way too old for this kind of thing.  Especially when I wake up at 7:30 on the dot Sunday morning.  I'll be trying to catch up on sleep for the rest of the week.

Freedom Isn't Free

"On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free." ~ Dan Lipinski

Today is not just a day to enjoy an extra long weekend.  Instead, it's a day to remember those who have served our country, and those who continue to do so.  These men and women make countless sacrifices to protect our country and our freedom.  Nowhere is this more evident than Arlington National Cemetery.  If you've never been, it's something that everyone should see.

My family has an amazing military history--we've had someone from every generation since the Civil War serve our country.  Currently, Soldier Cousin is in the Army and we could not be more proud.

So today please say a prayer for our troops, for their families, and for our country.  God bless America.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

"People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you're fortunate. But happiness is the result of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert

It's Wednesday.  Halfway to the weekend.  I'm loving some stuff.  That's all.

*ONE*  This article about OSU Defensive End Cooper Bassett befriending a six year old girl with cancer.  Melt.  My.  Heart.  Is this dude single?  Because I'd marry him tomorrow.  This is what it's all about, folks.

*TWO*  Brett-Brett and Mrs. Texas' wedding was featured in Society Bride.  Who would have ever though I'd be a bridesmaid in that kind of wedding??  No one.  That's who.

There we are...I'm the one who needs to hit up a beach to get a darn tan!

*THREE*  That Soldier Cousin graduates from Boot Camp tomorrow.  We're so proud of him. 

I'm a little concerned for Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, however.  My mom and aunts arrived yesterday for the graduation and these three together......well.....let's just see how this plays out!

*FOUR*  I've got a blog about the State Fair sheep show coming up, but I don't want to leave out the fact that we raised a steer that made the sale!  Not too bad for sheep people playing in the show steer business!

*FIVE*  This article about game day in Stillwater from the perspective of opposing fans.  Just further proof that Stillwater really is the Happiest Place on Earth.  Even opposing teams think so.

*SIX*  That my insane travel plans for my 30th birthday next year might actually be doable.  Check out this little tour that proves it.  The main places on my list are Berlin, Auschwitz, Warsaw and Prague.  But if I can throw in Vienna, Budapest, Krakow....well who am I to say no?  Anyone want to join me?

*SEVEN*  In two weeks, I'm headed to South Bend with two of my favorite ladies to hit up a Notre Dame football game, spend too much money at the ND bookstore, eat some pretzel pancakes and see ND Friend.  Could not be more excited!  Go Irish!

*EIGHT*  This blog with some great step-by-step advice for guys.  It's perfect.  As a bit of an old fashioned girl, I'm a firm believer in this list!  Here are a couple of my favorite paragraphs.

"You tell her.  Not in a text. Not even on the phone. You tell her when, and only when, you can see the green in her pupils. The birthmark on her neck. You tell her when your palms are sweaty and your words don’t feel like they hold an ounce of eloquence. You tell her, even when the whole thing could collapse at any moment on any one of your syllables. She might reject you. She might turn away. But you need to say it all the same."

"You recognize.  That what you feel is very good. That we– the fleshy messes that we are– were made for these kinds of feelings. The Overwhelming. The Anxiety. The Goodness of Falling in Love. In Finding a Someone Who Soon Becomes Your Only One. You let the feelings own you for a little while, break you down to dust for a girl who weakens your knees in the very best way. You recognize. Not everyone has this. Most people want this. They might be lying if they tell you different. You recognize that it is good, very good. The Best Stuff in Life."

North/South Football

"Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable." ~Wendy Wasserstein
In New Mexico, a handful of seniors are chosen as all-stars and get to play in a game.  They split the kids up and the north plays the south.  Last weekend was North/South Football for the small schools.  It was a little like the Civil War for me....I had Soldier Cousin playing for the South and the Logan kiddos, including my potential future husband (you know when he catches up to me in age and cuts back on this 10 year age difference...we're cute together in the top left picture, no?), playing for the North.  So I just cheered for all the kids whenever they did something good and spent half the game on the south sideline and the other half on the north. 

That's the thing about small town New Mexico.  All the small town kids across the state know each other.  We know each other's parents and what animals we showed and what judging contests we won.  Take my potential future husband's family.  His family and my family have been friends for three generations.  His mom played against Soldier Cousin's mom in North/South basketball when they were in school.  My mom, aunt and grandma taught his dad in high school.  My uncle and aunt are good friends with his grandparents.  It was sure fun to watch the boys play against each other!

Most of the family came into town to watch Soldier Cousin and, because it is my family, we all stuffed our faces with Mexican food before the game and had cake for Aunt Evil Kineval's birthday after the game.  And we cheered like crazy during it.   A group of people that we knew from Melrose (just an hour or so from Logan) would periodically yell, "Number 50, yea!" and our whole family would go nuts screaming and cheering. Yep.  We were those people.

The Family

Oh, and because it was Cousin Kevin's birthday, we had to give him a little shout out.  Uncle Black Belt even took his fake teeth out to hold them in the picture for the celebration.  Why?  I have no idea.  As Cousin Kevin said, "This is where reality shows come from."  Yep.  Those are our genes.

Nothing says happy birthday like a denture picture.

It was a great night for Soldier Cousin and we couldn't be more proud of him!  He's got about a month before he heads off to basic training, and this was a perfect way for him to wrap up his high school football career!