Monday, April 15, 2019
Monday, May 14, 2012
Texas Tech Football!!!
In exactly 111 days the 2012 Texas Tech football season will kick off in Jones Stadium. We will be there, for that game and every other one, with our new season tickets!!
I am SO excited -- this is the first year we have actually purchased a full season ticket package through the University. We got great seats on the west side (read: SHADY side) near the 30 yard line. The best part is we didn't just get 2 tickets... we got 4! Can't wait to share our purchase with friends and family throughout the season!
I am SO excited -- this is the first year we have actually purchased a full season ticket package through the University. We got great seats on the west side (read: SHADY side) near the 30 yard line. The best part is we didn't just get 2 tickets... we got 4! Can't wait to share our purchase with friends and family throughout the season!
GUNS UP RED RAIDERS!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Beautiful Rain!
After one of the longest droughts in Texas history (it began in October 2010), it is SO fantastic to finally see some rain around here!
We had 2 big storms a couple of weeks ago but since then have had just a few days of just plain ol' slow and steady RAIN. Exactly what this dry land needs :-)
Thank you, thank you Lord for this beautiful rain!
Praying that it keeps up and the farmers end up with a wonderful crop this year.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Garden Ridge
Our great friends were nice enough to introduce us to this fantastic store while we were visiting them in San Antonio this past weekend! We found so much awesome stuff for our patio!
Be looking for a more detailed trip report, but this will have to do until I get the pics downloaded from my camera :)
Be looking for a more detailed trip report, but this will have to do until I get the pics downloaded from my camera :)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Backyard Reno Continues
Soon I will have something more exciting to post about... I promise. Like a crazy fun party on our newly completed outdoor patio!
But, for now -- you will have to settle with hearing about the outdoor bar we built this weekend! I am IN LOVE with it. It turned out so much better than what I imagined and my husband is a genius for designing and building it himself.
It's the perfect height for the hot tub, which will be on one side, and bar stools will go on the other side. The only step we have left is to install 2 cabinet doors on the bottom and then when we get closer to completion we will purchase a mini-fridge to go on the far left side.
Check out the pictures!
But, for now -- you will have to settle with hearing about the outdoor bar we built this weekend! I am IN LOVE with it. It turned out so much better than what I imagined and my husband is a genius for designing and building it himself.
It's the perfect height for the hot tub, which will be on one side, and bar stools will go on the other side. The only step we have left is to install 2 cabinet doors on the bottom and then when we get closer to completion we will purchase a mini-fridge to go on the far left side.
Check out the pictures!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Tornado Warnings and The Great Mud Tsunami
Last year we had the haboob. This year, we have the Great Mud Tsunami of 2012!
West of our neighborhood is a new development going in. It is going to be beautiful with enormous homes when it is complete, but for now it is just a big dirt field. It was fine before they started working on it, but now that it is smoothed off the dust blows constantly and (as we recently found out) the mud comes POURING into our neighborhood when it rains.
The first rain was bad enough. It poured pretty heavy for a couple of hours and when we woke up the next morning it looked like a mud elf had come in and replaced all of our asphalt streets with dirt ones! It was absolutely the craziest thing. Our poor neighbors down the street got the worst of it, and actually had to use shovels to get the mud out of their grass.
As you can imagine the neighborhood threw quite a fit, and the City of Lubbock came in and told the new developer he had to implement some form of storm water plan.
Enter hay bales.
That's right. He decided that putting hay bales in front of the spots the mud had washed in would prevent any further damage. Hmm. Okay.
This past Saturday we had another crazy dust storm. The hay bales caught some of the dirt but what the developer did not realize was that the sand completely packed the hay bales and they would no longer be able to filter water.
On Sunday things got pretty scary -- we were in a tornado warning and the storm was right on top of us. Even worse, it was even closer to the barn, which scared me to death! Rob and I loaded up the puppies and headed to Nana's storm shelter. I have had my Harry Potter closet prepared for weeks incase of such an occurance, but of course when the time came I panicked so off we went.
We went into the storm closet for a while, but thankfully the tornadic activity stayed a couple of miles south.
We were just about to drive back home when Mom called yelling, "The hay bales have broke! They hay bales have broke!" Not something you hear every day :)
And broke they had. Water was pouring into our neighborhood like a raging river. Literally. We had water standing all the way up to people's steps on their front porches. It was crazy! Hay bales were actually floating down the street!
Rob and I had to drive through 2ft of water on the way home and when we awoke the next morning we saw what we knew was inevitable --- with the water had come the mud. Everywhere the streets were once again covered. They are still working to clean it up, but thankfully the developer has implemented much more reliable sources of storm water prevention.
Hopefully there will be no more tornadoes OR mud tsunamis anytime soon!
West of our neighborhood is a new development going in. It is going to be beautiful with enormous homes when it is complete, but for now it is just a big dirt field. It was fine before they started working on it, but now that it is smoothed off the dust blows constantly and (as we recently found out) the mud comes POURING into our neighborhood when it rains.
The first rain was bad enough. It poured pretty heavy for a couple of hours and when we woke up the next morning it looked like a mud elf had come in and replaced all of our asphalt streets with dirt ones! It was absolutely the craziest thing. Our poor neighbors down the street got the worst of it, and actually had to use shovels to get the mud out of their grass.
As you can imagine the neighborhood threw quite a fit, and the City of Lubbock came in and told the new developer he had to implement some form of storm water plan.
Enter hay bales.
That's right. He decided that putting hay bales in front of the spots the mud had washed in would prevent any further damage. Hmm. Okay.
This past Saturday we had another crazy dust storm. The hay bales caught some of the dirt but what the developer did not realize was that the sand completely packed the hay bales and they would no longer be able to filter water.
On Sunday things got pretty scary -- we were in a tornado warning and the storm was right on top of us. Even worse, it was even closer to the barn, which scared me to death! Rob and I loaded up the puppies and headed to Nana's storm shelter. I have had my Harry Potter closet prepared for weeks incase of such an occurance, but of course when the time came I panicked so off we went.
We went into the storm closet for a while, but thankfully the tornadic activity stayed a couple of miles south.
We were just about to drive back home when Mom called yelling, "The hay bales have broke! They hay bales have broke!" Not something you hear every day :)
And broke they had. Water was pouring into our neighborhood like a raging river. Literally. We had water standing all the way up to people's steps on their front porches. It was crazy! Hay bales were actually floating down the street!
Rob and I had to drive through 2ft of water on the way home and when we awoke the next morning we saw what we knew was inevitable --- with the water had come the mud. Everywhere the streets were once again covered. They are still working to clean it up, but thankfully the developer has implemented much more reliable sources of storm water prevention.
Hopefully there will be no more tornadoes OR mud tsunamis anytime soon!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Backyard Reno Update
It was just over a month ago that I posted about the awesome plan we created for our own little backyard oasis in the middle of West Texas.
Was it really only a month ago? It seems like this has been going on f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
I guess its partially my own fault... I tend to have a little bit (okay, maybe a lot) of an obsessive personality, so tend to throw myself into whatever things I am doing at the time until they become all-consuming. It is being all-consumed with too many things at once that oftens leads to a migraine, but that's a whole other post all together.
Over the past month we have made quite a bit of progress on the yard. Still no hot tub delivery, but we spent one weekend cutting out grass, leveling the yard and building concrete forms, the next actually pouring the concrete and setting pergola posts, the next building a flowerbed out of retaining wall block and finally this past weekend we were busy beginning construction on the hot tub pergola.
Wow. No wonder we have seemed so busy! On the plus side, my tan is already looking quite stellar (at least compared to how ghostly white I was before!)
Here are some pics of the progress so far!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Here are some pics of the progress so far!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wave on Wave :)
I LOVE Pat Green. Some of my fondest Texas Country music memories are with a group of friends jammin' out to our favorite songs at his street concerts. Unfortunately, he made it big (I know, so sad :() and rarely ever comes to Lubbock these days.
He DID come this past weekend though so we went on a double date with the Alley's to Triple J's Chophouse for dinner and then to the concert. We were showing our age a bit by being some of the first in the door, and the saddest part of the night was probably that it didn't sell out by 10, which it would have a couple of years ago. I guess the college students these days just aren't old enough to remember how AWESOME he is!
We had a fantastic time and found chairs up on the balcony looking over the stage. We stayed there all night singing and hanging out. Here are some of the pictures :)
He DID come this past weekend though so we went on a double date with the Alley's to Triple J's Chophouse for dinner and then to the concert. We were showing our age a bit by being some of the first in the door, and the saddest part of the night was probably that it didn't sell out by 10, which it would have a couple of years ago. I guess the college students these days just aren't old enough to remember how AWESOME he is!
We had a fantastic time and found chairs up on the balcony looking over the stage. We stayed there all night singing and hanging out. Here are some of the pictures :)
Friday, March 23, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Mentors
I have been very blessed through the years to have many wonderful mentors in my life. These people have helped guide me in all kinds of areas such as school, work, relationships and riding. Without these people, there is no doubt in my mind that I would not be who I am today.
I think whether we are directly concious of it or not, we all have mentors in each of the different areas of our life -- people we aspire to be like, who we look up to and admire. These people can be parents, teachers, friends or even people we have never met.
I am very thankful for each and every one of my mentors -- particularly those who take the time out of their life to help me become the best person I can be. They have been enormous influences in my life, and I only hope that I can one day impact someone's life in the same way they have impacted mine.
I think whether we are directly concious of it or not, we all have mentors in each of the different areas of our life -- people we aspire to be like, who we look up to and admire. These people can be parents, teachers, friends or even people we have never met.
I am very thankful for each and every one of my mentors -- particularly those who take the time out of their life to help me become the best person I can be. They have been enormous influences in my life, and I only hope that I can one day impact someone's life in the same way they have impacted mine.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
No Hour Wasted...
As Winston Churchill said, "No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle."
And after getting back on Ken today for the first time after 2 1/2 months of being stuck on the ground I can honestly say I couldn't agree more!
And after getting back on Ken today for the first time after 2 1/2 months of being stuck on the ground I can honestly say I couldn't agree more!
It wasn't quite an hour, and all we did was walk, but it felt fantastic to be doing something besides just leading him around like a dog.
He was such a good boy today and I can't wait to see how we progress as a pair over the course of the next few months!
Monday, March 5, 2012
West Texas Oasis
Since making the decision many months ago to take the bulk of our landscaping budget during our home construction and apply it strictly to the front yard, we have been talking about all the big plans we have for the back.
We envisioned a very "resort" feel -- complete with pergolas, an outdoor fireplace and a jacuzzi. A few other extras such as an outdoor tv and (of course) a grill were included in our vision too.
We began really laying it all out a couple of weeks ago and finally got our entire design on paper yesterday morning. A quick trip to Lowes for some wooden stakes and string to map it out in the actual backyard was next on the agenda, and a "quick trip" to the local hot tob store pretty much sealed the fate of our backyard renovation budget over the next few months.
A trip to the store led to a trip to the Home Show down at the Civic Center (who knew?) which, in turn, led to the purchase of a shiny new Jacuzzi J-345 Hot Tub with a roasted chestnut shell and opal interior. It hold 5-6 adults and comes complete with its own waterfall and light show.
(Mountains Not Included)
It's hard to believe that by the middle of May our backyard will no longer be just a blank slate. We are SO looking forward to entertaining out in the yard many, many times over the warm summer and fall months!
We envisioned a very "resort" feel -- complete with pergolas, an outdoor fireplace and a jacuzzi. A few other extras such as an outdoor tv and (of course) a grill were included in our vision too.
We began really laying it all out a couple of weeks ago and finally got our entire design on paper yesterday morning. A quick trip to Lowes for some wooden stakes and string to map it out in the actual backyard was next on the agenda, and a "quick trip" to the local hot tob store pretty much sealed the fate of our backyard renovation budget over the next few months.
A trip to the store led to a trip to the Home Show down at the Civic Center (who knew?) which, in turn, led to the purchase of a shiny new Jacuzzi J-345 Hot Tub with a roasted chestnut shell and opal interior. It hold 5-6 adults and comes complete with its own waterfall and light show.(Mountains Not Included)
To say we are excited about our fun (albeit impulsive) new purchase would be an understatement. And I argue that it wasn't TRULY impulsive, as we already had a hot tub worked into our design plan and had plans to purchase one within the next few months anyway.
At any rate, the purchase of the hot tub did nothing if not expediate the design process and move us quickly along from "planning" to "implementing" and by noon today Rob has already secured an electrical contractor to handle the installation of all the necessary hot tob electrical wiring and we have a pergola contractor coming to the house this evening to give us an estimate on turning our plan on paper into a reality.
I have to say the only downfall of living in a new home is the lack of fun projects to do. Everything is already done! But I have a feeling this backyard renovation is going to cure our DIY itch for, at least, the remainder of this year.
Here are a few of the ideas we plan to implement:
It's hard to believe that by the middle of May our backyard will no longer be just a blank slate. We are SO looking forward to entertaining out in the yard many, many times over the warm summer and fall months!Thursday, February 23, 2012
Worst.Blogger.Ever.
Really?? Has it REALLY been 3 months since I took the time to sit down and blog?
So we bundled up (flannel pajamas and all) and headed over. Of course, we weren't quite fast enough (maybe I shouldn't have taken the time to make coffee?) and ended up getting a second phone call about halfway through our walk around the block. "ARE YOU COMING??"
The New Year took off in a whirlwind (Did I say we hadn't been busy? Maybe I lied...) beginning with a trip to Salt Lake City the first week of January for the Send Out Cards Recruiting Mastery Event.
Wow. I can't believe it! And to be honest, the past 3 months haven't even been that crazy. I have no excuse.
Let's see...
Of course we made it through the holidays and had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas as our first year as a married couple and in our new home. There was something special about recieving a phone call from my sister at 6:30am Christmas morning telling us to hurry and up and come over for Santa.
So we bundled up (flannel pajamas and all) and headed over. Of course, we weren't quite fast enough (maybe I shouldn't have taken the time to make coffee?) and ended up getting a second phone call about halfway through our walk around the block. "ARE YOU COMING??"It was so fun being able to wake up that morning and walk through the quiet, snow-filled neighborhood around the corner to my parents' house. A truly magical Christmas morning!
The New Year took off in a whirlwind (Did I say we hadn't been busy? Maybe I lied...) beginning with a trip to Salt Lake City the first week of January for the Send Out Cards Recruiting Mastery Event.It was awesome getting to see the home office, see all of our SOC family and experience a new state and, yes, some more snow. We had a really fantastic time!
Rob decided to come with me on the trip at the last minute... which resulted in yet another hurried move of the horses. This time, to Premier Park Equestrian Center just down the street. It has been wonderful to be once again imersed into the Dressage atmosphere, and we are absolutely loving calling that place our barn "home"
Things were rolling along great for about a day and a half after Salt Lake when I recieved a frantic phone call from Patty telling me Ken had been kicked in the head and I needed to get out there right away.
Looking back, I really wish I had taken a picture, but to be honest I was too shaken up and too worried about the outcome to do anything like that at the time. My horse had a dent in his head. Right between his eyes a big, giant dent. His nose was bleeding and it was horrible to look at.
THANKFULLY, it ended up appearing much worse than it really was and we were able to take him down to Dr. Brock in Lamesa where he underwent facial reconstruction surgery (yes, that's what it said on the bill) and we have breezed through recovery with just minor complications since then.
To be honest, as horrible as it was, I have appreciated this bonding time Kenney and I have had. Hours and hours of hand walking, hundreds of treats and a lot of quality grooming time has been shared between the two of us over the past 6 weeks and we still have 2 weeks to go until we can begin riding him again. We have become the best of friends.
To be honest, as horrible as it was, I have appreciated this bonding time Kenney and I have had. Hours and hours of hand walking, hundreds of treats and a lot of quality grooming time has been shared between the two of us over the past 6 weeks and we still have 2 weeks to go until we can begin riding him again. We have become the best of friends. The last week of January we took a trip to Niagara Falls for our anniversary.
Insane pretty well describes the premise of that trip. Why would someone who hates the cold plan a trip to Canada in the middle of January?? Yep, insane is pretty much the only answer I can come up with. Well, that and the fact that a romantic trip to Niagara is one of the items on our pre-kid bucket list. So I guess there lies the true reason for the trip.
Despite the cold, snowy conditions we really did have a wonderful time exploring Canada together. We walked arm in arm around the area (more for warmth and to stay dry under the umbrella than for romantic effect) and saw all the sites including taking a trip to the underground tunnels behind the Falls.
We took a taxi up to a little town called Niagara on the Lake and sampled Ice Wine which was really delicious, ate at a little English-type pub called Corks and explored all of the little shops.
Our last night we had dinner at the hotel restaurant overlooking the Falls, enjoyed a beautiful fireworks show and exchanged our anniversary gifts -- Rob gave me the 2nd band to my ring, and I gave him an engraved watch. It says "Play Full Out" -- something he promised we would always do together in his wedding vows.
February has slowed down a bit... we have both been busy with work and squeezed in a wonderful home-cooked Valentines Day dinner. It was actually warm enough to grill outside with the back door open and we had filets, shrimp and home-made chocolate covered strawberries.
The evenings are beginning to get a little warmer and we've had Tim and Ashlea and Brian and Kristi both over for dinner and s'mores on our new fire pit in the last couple of weeks. It's definitely making me look forward to summer :)
So there you have it -- 3 months and you're all caught up. And HOPEFULLY it does not take me 3 MORE months to update this thing!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Just Being Married
Ever since the A&M Game on October 8th, we have been enjoying the routine that comes with just being married. I've mentioned this before, but I feel like this is the first time we've really been able to settle into married life since our wedding back in January.
Of course, we're still both staying very busy! Rob gets up and goes to work around 6am just about every Monday - Friday. Every once in a while he'll be back home by 3 or 4 but it's usually just about dinner time before he gets here.
I divide my time between working, taking care of the animals and all the typical house stuff. I am definitely very blessed to have a husband who works so hard for us!
I've been giving riding lessons to Paige since this past May, and a couple of months ago also began giving lessons to another little girl here in the neighborhood. I really enjoy it, and it helps to off set the cost of the horses, which is nice too :)
Halloween weekend around here was CRAZY! We had over 400 trick-or-treaters over the course of two evenings and gave out close to 1000 pieces of candy. It was nuts.
That is one of the reasons we moved to the neighborhood though.... and we are already looking forward to the fun Christmas celebrations coming up in December :)
I also started participating in our neighborhood Bible Study -- we meet once a week and I've really been enjoying it! It's been a great way to meet some of the other ladies in the neighborhood, which one of the other reasons why we moved here!
Things with SendOutCards are beginning to fall into a routine too. We recently implemented a system for meeting new contacts each day, which has been awesome so far. I see a lot of growth for our team over the next 6-12 months!
I'll do some more detailed posts about what's been going on over the past month later, but for now this short update will have to do. Nothing too terribly exciting has been going on, which is really really nice for a change :)
Of course, we're still both staying very busy! Rob gets up and goes to work around 6am just about every Monday - Friday. Every once in a while he'll be back home by 3 or 4 but it's usually just about dinner time before he gets here.
I divide my time between working, taking care of the animals and all the typical house stuff. I am definitely very blessed to have a husband who works so hard for us!
I've been giving riding lessons to Paige since this past May, and a couple of months ago also began giving lessons to another little girl here in the neighborhood. I really enjoy it, and it helps to off set the cost of the horses, which is nice too :)
Halloween weekend around here was CRAZY! We had over 400 trick-or-treaters over the course of two evenings and gave out close to 1000 pieces of candy. It was nuts.
That is one of the reasons we moved to the neighborhood though.... and we are already looking forward to the fun Christmas celebrations coming up in December :)
I also started participating in our neighborhood Bible Study -- we meet once a week and I've really been enjoying it! It's been a great way to meet some of the other ladies in the neighborhood, which one of the other reasons why we moved here!
Things with SendOutCards are beginning to fall into a routine too. We recently implemented a system for meeting new contacts each day, which has been awesome so far. I see a lot of growth for our team over the next 6-12 months!
I'll do some more detailed posts about what's been going on over the past month later, but for now this short update will have to do. Nothing too terribly exciting has been going on, which is really really nice for a change :)
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Classics for a Reason
All my life I have loved to read. I still remember finishing my first "chapter book" while driving to our lake house when I was 8 years old. It was the first book in The Babysitters Club series, and my parents' couldn't believe I had finished it so fast.
It was, as they say, all over after that -- I begged my Mom to take me to Barnes And Noble like most kids begged to go to Toys R Us. When I was grounded, it was from reading instead of from TV... usually because I would rather have my nose stuck in a book than to be doing my chores.
When I got to High School English though, that changed -- for some reason I hated every book we had to read. I loathed English class, and getting through the pages of the books we were assigned was worse than a trip to the dentist.
For the longest time, I simply held the opinion that I did not like classic literature unless it was authored by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. It was a simple explanation, considering those were the only two classic authors whose books I had ever enjoyed.
They were also the only two classic authors whose books I had read prior to 10th grade English.
Over the past couple of years though, I have come to a more reasonable explanation for my apparent hatred for classic literature. The conclusion is that I don't hate it at all. I simply hated the way it was presented to me.
There is no better way to kill one's imagination than to be forced to hold a red pen while you read so you can underline and mark every piece of imagery, alliteration, oxymoron, paradox or syntax. I don't want to write a summary at the end of each chapter or check out 8 books from the Tech library so I can write a 12 page research paper on the author. I want to get lost in the story.
When I read a book, I like to become completely lost in the characters. For me, a good book is one that will transport me to the time and place in which it is written and leave me feeling like I've had the opportunity to live in a completely different life by the time I close the last page.
It's impossible to feel that way when you are required to stop every 2-3 sentences to make an analyzation!
So, over the past several years I have re-read almost every book we read in high school. It was a great surprise to me (especially at first) to learn that I have loved every single one of them! To Kill a Mocking Bird has to be one of my favorites... The Scarlett Letter and Ethan Frome are close seconds. Right now, I am reading Wuthering Heights and can hardly stand to put it down.
There are only two books that come to mind from my high school days which I cannot bring myself to read -- those are Moby Dick and Portrait of a Lady. I particularly loathed those two novels. I loathed them to the depths of my soul. In fact, I loathed Moby Dick so much that I wrote a speech about it for speech class and Mrs. Boyle made me read it to her in a closet in order to not illy influence the younger students in the class who had not read it yet. Oops.
I will re-read each of those books one day. And, I am certain, I will love them both. But I know one thing for sure... I will get new copies of each so that I do not have to look at all that darn red ink!
Those two books aside though, I have found that I absolutely LOVE classic literature! I love it so much that I have even bought a few books that we didn't read in high school -- last month I read The Count of Monte Cristo. I've also recently finished Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I cannot wait to re-read A Christmas Carol this December.
Even more strange than that... I love to analyze the books too. But here's the kicker -- I like to analyze them AFTER I read them! Finishing up The Count of Monte Cristo led me to a 2 hour google session learning all about the life of Alexandre Dumas... how in addition to being a novelist he was also a playwright, and that his father was also an author -- I was also amazed to discover the parallels between the lives of Edward Dantes and Alexandre Dumas, so similar in some ways and yet in others so different.
It has been refreshing over these past few years to discover that not only do I NOT hate classic literature, but I also don't hate studying it on a deeper level. I enjoy learning (I always have) and it bothered me to think that I disliked learning about one of my favorite subjects: books.
So, I will continue to read classic literature for the rest of my life. I have made it a personal goal to read every classic novel I can find and to take what I learn from each and use it in some way to improve my life.
I love classic literature. I love the stories, the people, the relationships and the lifestyles that are portrayed in its pages. I love the glimpse it gives into our history. I love just about everything about it.
I guess they really are called Classics for a reason :)
It was, as they say, all over after that -- I begged my Mom to take me to Barnes And Noble like most kids begged to go to Toys R Us. When I was grounded, it was from reading instead of from TV... usually because I would rather have my nose stuck in a book than to be doing my chores.
When I got to High School English though, that changed -- for some reason I hated every book we had to read. I loathed English class, and getting through the pages of the books we were assigned was worse than a trip to the dentist.
For the longest time, I simply held the opinion that I did not like classic literature unless it was authored by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. It was a simple explanation, considering those were the only two classic authors whose books I had ever enjoyed.
They were also the only two classic authors whose books I had read prior to 10th grade English.
Over the past couple of years though, I have come to a more reasonable explanation for my apparent hatred for classic literature. The conclusion is that I don't hate it at all. I simply hated the way it was presented to me.
There is no better way to kill one's imagination than to be forced to hold a red pen while you read so you can underline and mark every piece of imagery, alliteration, oxymoron, paradox or syntax. I don't want to write a summary at the end of each chapter or check out 8 books from the Tech library so I can write a 12 page research paper on the author. I want to get lost in the story.
When I read a book, I like to become completely lost in the characters. For me, a good book is one that will transport me to the time and place in which it is written and leave me feeling like I've had the opportunity to live in a completely different life by the time I close the last page.
It's impossible to feel that way when you are required to stop every 2-3 sentences to make an analyzation!
So, over the past several years I have re-read almost every book we read in high school. It was a great surprise to me (especially at first) to learn that I have loved every single one of them! To Kill a Mocking Bird has to be one of my favorites... The Scarlett Letter and Ethan Frome are close seconds. Right now, I am reading Wuthering Heights and can hardly stand to put it down.
There are only two books that come to mind from my high school days which I cannot bring myself to read -- those are Moby Dick and Portrait of a Lady. I particularly loathed those two novels. I loathed them to the depths of my soul. In fact, I loathed Moby Dick so much that I wrote a speech about it for speech class and Mrs. Boyle made me read it to her in a closet in order to not illy influence the younger students in the class who had not read it yet. Oops.
I will re-read each of those books one day. And, I am certain, I will love them both. But I know one thing for sure... I will get new copies of each so that I do not have to look at all that darn red ink!
Those two books aside though, I have found that I absolutely LOVE classic literature! I love it so much that I have even bought a few books that we didn't read in high school -- last month I read The Count of Monte Cristo. I've also recently finished Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I cannot wait to re-read A Christmas Carol this December.
Even more strange than that... I love to analyze the books too. But here's the kicker -- I like to analyze them AFTER I read them! Finishing up The Count of Monte Cristo led me to a 2 hour google session learning all about the life of Alexandre Dumas... how in addition to being a novelist he was also a playwright, and that his father was also an author -- I was also amazed to discover the parallels between the lives of Edward Dantes and Alexandre Dumas, so similar in some ways and yet in others so different.
It has been refreshing over these past few years to discover that not only do I NOT hate classic literature, but I also don't hate studying it on a deeper level. I enjoy learning (I always have) and it bothered me to think that I disliked learning about one of my favorite subjects: books.
So, I will continue to read classic literature for the rest of my life. I have made it a personal goal to read every classic novel I can find and to take what I learn from each and use it in some way to improve my life.
I love classic literature. I love the stories, the people, the relationships and the lifestyles that are portrayed in its pages. I love the glimpse it gives into our history. I love just about everything about it.
I guess they really are called Classics for a reason :)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Home to stay :)
Well I think we are finally done with the marathon of busyness that has been our life for the past year. I was thinking about it, and our life has literally not been in a routine since last November when we left for Florida to go on the 21TEN cruise -- I have to say, it feels good to be home to stay for a while :)
As busy as the past year has been though -- the past 2 weekends had to have been two of the most fun.
On September 30th we woke up at 5:30am and jumped in the car to head to Houston for Trayce and Ger's wedding. It was a long drive, but Rob and I really enjoyed the 18 hours (yes, that's right.. EIGHTEEN) we had to spend together in the car just talking and hanging out. I think I might have actually ran out of things to say by the time we got home!
We pulled into the hotel around 3 and took a quick power nap before meeting everyone at the church for rehearsal. When that was done we had the BBQ rehearsal dinner then went out with the wedding party later that night.
As busy as the past year has been though -- the past 2 weekends had to have been two of the most fun.
On September 30th we woke up at 5:30am and jumped in the car to head to Houston for Trayce and Ger's wedding. It was a long drive, but Rob and I really enjoyed the 18 hours (yes, that's right.. EIGHTEEN) we had to spend together in the car just talking and hanging out. I think I might have actually ran out of things to say by the time we got home!
We pulled into the hotel around 3 and took a quick power nap before meeting everyone at the church for rehearsal. When that was done we had the BBQ rehearsal dinner then went out with the wedding party later that night.
The wedding was at 2:00 on Saturday -- so after waking up and getting ready we met Danielle and Tucker for lunch before heading to the church to help Trayce get ready for the big day! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was SO much fun. We had a blast hanging out with everyone then got back in the car and headed back to Lubbock the next morning. 
The Thursday after the wedding our friends Britt and Lance flew in from Austin to spend a few days with us for the Tech/A&M game. It was so much fun having not only them in town, but so many other people, too! At one point on Friday night I think I counted at least 16 friends gathered around our table at Mesquites... it's so much fun when everyone comes to visit for Tech games :)
We went out each night and tailgated the whole day of the game -- I definitely wouldn't want to live the college lifestyles EVERY weekend anymore, but once or twice a year when we have all of friends around, it's fun to relive the "good ol' days"!
As fun as the past two weekends have been, I'm so excited to get into a routine for the next several months. We are officially home to stay until January 1st when we head out to Park City, Utah for a few days of snowboarding before attending the SOC Recruiting Mastery event that next weekend in Salt Lake. Then in March, we will hopefully be flying out to Hawaii for a few days courtesy of SOC on the 2012 Incentive Trip! We are currently qualified, but definitely need to keep our heads in the game to make sure we STAY qualified over the next few months!If I think our days from now through January will be boring though, then I obviously must not be thinking straight. We have several more big Tech games coming up where I know we'll be hanging out and cooking with family and friends, the Vintage Adult Halloween Ball, and two nights of giving out candy to trick-or-treaters here in the neighborhood. Before we know it, we'll all be gathered around the table watching the 'Boys play on Thanksgiving, then celebrating Christmas soon after that.
It's crazy how the time flies and how life is always so busy. We are SO blessed though -- because 99% of the things we do are so much fun, and we are always making memories. If you ask me, that's really what life is all about :)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Crossing the Finish Line
Fall is definitely in the air and we are finally crossing the finish line in this crazy marathon-like schedule we've had for the past several months.
This past weekend was the Treat 'Em Right event for SendOutCards in Dallas. Unfortunately, Rob wasn't able to go due to some last-minue work stuff that came up, but those of us who did make it had an amazing time!
The team has been growing lots this week... much due to the inspiration we all received in Dallas. We've added a new team member and quite a few customers to our numbers, and I am so excited to continue to watch things grow!
We leave again in 2 days to drive to Houston for Trayce and Gerry's wedding weekend! I'm so excited to be included in their special day, and can't wait to see everyone and celebrate with them while we're there! And call me crazy, but I can't wait to spend 16+ hours in the car with Rob... he's been working so much lately I feel like I've hardly seen him over the past couple of weeks so it'll be fun to hang out :)
Next week is the biggest football week of the year -- TTU vs A&M! We have tons of friends coming in town, and I can't wait to see them all :)
After that we'll be settling into something we've not been too familiar with lately -- routine! Ah, what a wonderful word! I love travelling and being busy, but I love having a routine, too. This weekend marks our last trip until January 2nd! Yay!!
This past weekend was the Treat 'Em Right event for SendOutCards in Dallas. Unfortunately, Rob wasn't able to go due to some last-minue work stuff that came up, but those of us who did make it had an amazing time!
The team has been growing lots this week... much due to the inspiration we all received in Dallas. We've added a new team member and quite a few customers to our numbers, and I am so excited to continue to watch things grow!
We leave again in 2 days to drive to Houston for Trayce and Gerry's wedding weekend! I'm so excited to be included in their special day, and can't wait to see everyone and celebrate with them while we're there! And call me crazy, but I can't wait to spend 16+ hours in the car with Rob... he's been working so much lately I feel like I've hardly seen him over the past couple of weeks so it'll be fun to hang out :)
Next week is the biggest football week of the year -- TTU vs A&M! We have tons of friends coming in town, and I can't wait to see them all :)
After that we'll be settling into something we've not been too familiar with lately -- routine! Ah, what a wonderful word! I love travelling and being busy, but I love having a routine, too. This weekend marks our last trip until January 2nd! Yay!!
Friday, September 16, 2011
I'm sorry... We've been so busy!
Wow -- I can't believe it's been this long since I blogged. On the other hand though, I can... because we have been soooooooo busy!!
The last two weeks of apartment life was hectic and slow all at the same time -- we had tons to do, but it felt like the time would never pass. Lo and behold though, it did. And on Friday, August 5th, at approximately 10:05am we officially became home owners :)
The move was pretty seamless. The only major issue was that our a/c was broken for the first two days... which caused the upstairs to get strangely cold and the downstairs to be unbearably hot. To be honest though, we were so wrapped up in our new home-ownership-bliss that we hardly noticed (not sure I can say the same for our helpful moving volunteers... but they survived :))
1 week after the move we hosted Trayce's wedding shower at my parents' house -- we had SO much fun hosting, and I hope she enjoyed it as much as we did!
4 days following our return from convention I left town again and headed to Austin for Trayce's bachelorette weekend! Again, what a fun weekend it was... hanging out on the lake and partying it up on 6th Street :)
In case you lost track... that catches us up to September. Yep -- we had almost been in our new house for 1 whole month! Although, it hardly felt like it since we'd been gone so much.
Labor Day weekend was a busy one... Baby Stetson Wayne Schneider was born on Thursday, September 1st!
That kicked the weekend off and then Friday night we had mine and Rob's joint birthday party. We had a lot of fun and received SO many wonderful cards -- it was definitely one of the best birthday's either of us had ever had!
The next day was the first Tech football game!! It was a bit sketchy at first, but we came out and won 50-10!
The weekend after Labor Day we hosted a Vintage Showcase of Homes and opened up our home for prospective Vintage neighbors. We had a lot of fun meeting new people, and the open house made us hurry up and finish all of those last moving-in projects :)
The day after the open house we moved Maggie and Ken to a new barn – it sounds silly, but I can already tell how much happier they are there. The space is so open and green, and just a relaxing place to be. It’s still very close to the house, but feels a little more country
And that pretty much gets everything up-to-date. Work with SendOutCards has been going phenomenally since we returned from convention almost a month ago -- in fact, Rob and I promoted to Senior Distributor a couple of weeks ago and to Manager just a few days after that! :)
We received a gift card from my Mom (our sponsor) this week as a congratulations, and are headed on a date tonight to celebrate.
I'm so excited to see where the future goes over the next few months -- we are truly living the dream, and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful things in our lives!
The last two weeks of apartment life was hectic and slow all at the same time -- we had tons to do, but it felt like the time would never pass. Lo and behold though, it did. And on Friday, August 5th, at approximately 10:05am we officially became home owners :)
The move was pretty seamless. The only major issue was that our a/c was broken for the first two days... which caused the upstairs to get strangely cold and the downstairs to be unbearably hot. To be honest though, we were so wrapped up in our new home-ownership-bliss that we hardly noticed (not sure I can say the same for our helpful moving volunteers... but they survived :))
1 week after the move we hosted Trayce's wedding shower at my parents' house -- we had SO much fun hosting, and I hope she enjoyed it as much as we did!
3 days following the shower we were on a plane and Las Vegas bound for what would come to be known as 5 of the BEST days ever. We had such an amazing time at the SendOutCards Convention... it was truly an incredible, heart-changing experience.
4 days following our return from convention I left town again and headed to Austin for Trayce's bachelorette weekend! Again, what a fun weekend it was... hanging out on the lake and partying it up on 6th Street :)In case you lost track... that catches us up to September. Yep -- we had almost been in our new house for 1 whole month! Although, it hardly felt like it since we'd been gone so much.
Labor Day weekend was a busy one... Baby Stetson Wayne Schneider was born on Thursday, September 1st!
That kicked the weekend off and then Friday night we had mine and Rob's joint birthday party. We had a lot of fun and received SO many wonderful cards -- it was definitely one of the best birthday's either of us had ever had!
The next day was the first Tech football game!! It was a bit sketchy at first, but we came out and won 50-10!
The weekend after Labor Day we hosted a Vintage Showcase of Homes and opened up our home for prospective Vintage neighbors. We had a lot of fun meeting new people, and the open house made us hurry up and finish all of those last moving-in projects :)
The day after the open house we moved Maggie and Ken to a new barn – it sounds silly, but I can already tell how much happier they are there. The space is so open and green, and just a relaxing place to be. It’s still very close to the house, but feels a little more country 
And that pretty much gets everything up-to-date. Work with SendOutCards has been going phenomenally since we returned from convention almost a month ago -- in fact, Rob and I promoted to Senior Distributor a couple of weeks ago and to Manager just a few days after that! :)We received a gift card from my Mom (our sponsor) this week as a congratulations, and are headed on a date tonight to celebrate.
I'm so excited to see where the future goes over the next few months -- we are truly living the dream, and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful things in our lives!
Friday, July 22, 2011
T-minus 2 Weeks and Counting!
We are OFFICIALLY 2 weeks away from closing!!!
I've said all along that living in this apartment would REALLY make us appreciate our house more, but I don't think I even understood how much so until recently. I know we would still be very excited, no matter where we had been living for the past 3 months, but this apartment has made the thought of our upcoming move that much sweeter :)
Now don't get me wrong... this apartment has been good to us. And I am not at all knocking apartment-living in general. But the combination of the 1-bedroom apartment with 3 dogs, having almost everything we own in storage, and the actual apartment unit we ended up with has us really looking forward to the day we lock the door never to return!
The house is really starting to look great! They have finished the paint, trim, cabinet work and have the yard all ready for Dad's crew to come in and start next week. Our appliances are in the garage awaiting installation as well as all of our light fixtures.
Really, the only major things left to do are:
I'm sure there are a million little things left to do that we haven't even thought of, but we spoke to the builder today and he said we are still completely on track for closing on August 5th!
Yippiee!!!!!!!!!!
I've said all along that living in this apartment would REALLY make us appreciate our house more, but I don't think I even understood how much so until recently. I know we would still be very excited, no matter where we had been living for the past 3 months, but this apartment has made the thought of our upcoming move that much sweeter :)
Now don't get me wrong... this apartment has been good to us. And I am not at all knocking apartment-living in general. But the combination of the 1-bedroom apartment with 3 dogs, having almost everything we own in storage, and the actual apartment unit we ended up with has us really looking forward to the day we lock the door never to return!
The house is really starting to look great! They have finished the paint, trim, cabinet work and have the yard all ready for Dad's crew to come in and start next week. Our appliances are in the garage awaiting installation as well as all of our light fixtures.
Really, the only major things left to do are:
- countertops
- flooring
- finishing the outdoor paint (garage door, porch railing, front door)
- yard
- appliances
I'm sure there are a million little things left to do that we haven't even thought of, but we spoke to the builder today and he said we are still completely on track for closing on August 5th!
Yippiee!!!!!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)