Penned and Packed for Posterity

Now that Taylor and I are home for the summer, my parents are taking advantage of the fact that I can finally sort through my haphazardly packed boxes, of well, let's just call it "crap" for lack of a more appropriate word. My brother, Mark, can attest to this as he has helped me move every time I've ever moved (except this last leg from Charlotte to Houston). And for the record Mark, I don't begrudge you this one second. I know I owe you more than I could ever repay. Because...

I am horrible at packing.

Especially before I got married and had nice things that I didn't want to find broken when the moving truck delivered us to our newest destination. You see in college, my idea of packing was to secure Mark's help in moving my stuff, throw whatever would fit into any shopping bags I had lying around, leave the rest piled in the living room, and then go out of town before Mark came to load and unload. Needless to say, he has wanted to kill me on numerous occasions. I think this may be part of the reason he moved to Hawaii.

Sorry Mom.

Back to my parent's house... As they culled through cabinets, closets, and the attic, they kept stumbling upon bags and boxes of random stuff of mine that contained items like: a scratched beyond belief Justin Barnard CD (good thing I hung onto that these 6 years), one out of the nine cheerleading uniforms I have saved over the years (no telling where the other eight are), stacks of VHS of movies like "Austin Powers" and "Empire Records", and used kid sized t-shirts I bought for 25 cents a piece at Good Will in College Station. What treasures!

With the likelihood of moving to Scotland in mind, I have been sobered by all of the treasure crap I have collected over the years. However, among the scratched CDs and obsolete videos, I came across an envelope overflowing with random pictures from my childhood and school years and of course, had to stop and look through all of them. You can't throw away professional pictures taken by Olan Mills of you and your brother aged 2 1/2 and 4 months can you? And what do I do with all of the wallet sized senior pictures of my friends that were so eagerly traded after we penned heartfelt personalized notes on the back (ie - "Stay Sweet! I am like going to miss you so much next year. Have a gr8 summer! LYLAS, Your BFF Jill*")? Do you just throw those away?

So what did I do with all of that stuff? Well it's probably not hard to believe that Justin Barnard ended up in the trash, the cheer uniform set aside to eventually be repacked with the others, the VHS sold to the highest bidder in a garage sale, and the t-shirts restored to their rightful place at Good Will. But the pictures got put back in the envelope, packed, neatly this time, in a new box until I come across it in the future in which I am certain I will again be compelled to stop whatever I am doing, sit down, and leaf through them again.

Who knows, maybe some day one of my ancestors will hang that Olan Mills picture on their wall among their other ancestors like the trend seems to be these days. And without this blog maybe all they would know is that long ago she was a teacher and he a boat captain. The moving wars, cliff diving, Heavenly snowboarding, John Grisham trading, Jack Johnson listening, stir fried beef eating, Mexico mission tripping, Ghost playing, Destin vacationing long forgotten.

I am OK with this because someone very wise often reminds me that only two things in life will truly last: God's Word and people. So I don't need to horde my Christian CDs and t-shirts for posterity. The photos however, I'll keep - maybe one of my schoolmates will become president someday. What?! It happened to my mom! We keep trying to talk her into selling her yearbook with Obama's senior picture in it on eBay.

Don't I look innocent? The truth of 2 year old me is reflected in Mark's eyes.

*Disclaimer: This is not my actual high school friend Jill's note on her picture. It's an allusion to what TV commercial...anyone? Bueller?

Photo Shoot!

Again, never a dull moment at Sus and Jas' house.  We were eating take out from El Rey (so good by the way; try their Summer Special), and I noticed Lizzie had disappeared from the kitchen.  I figured she was headed for her favorite place, the stairs, so I discreetly tailed her. She was making a beeline towards her target, so I followed her, and Lillian followed me.

We ended up in Lizzie's room in which she discovered that fans are obviously hilarious and provide endless hours of entertainment.  Who needs Baby Einstein?  

Not Lizzie!

How cute is this?

(I have no idea why this is blue...my computer has a mind of it's own!)

Lils and Thrills loved it too. With a nick name like that, how could she not?!

 

(And we're inexplicably back to normal font again.)

This girl can strike a pose.  

I think this is a tribute to John Travolta. I can hear it now, "those suhummer, niiiiihhhhhiiiiiiiiights."

Lizzie, did my Danny Zuko impression scare you?

The serious pose.

This one is my fav!

Lils, wind blown is a good look for you!

Ahhh! Blue then back.  This computer is starting to scare me!

Thank you Vornado.

A Bunny named Maxi

Oh, the joys of living with Susannah and Jason. Here is just a little slice of life at their house.

"A Bunny named Maxi"

Once upon a time, there was a baby named Lizzie.  Her sister, Lils, thought Lizzie's life would be enhanced greatly if she were a bunny instead of a baby sister (maybe her motives were less pure, but we'll leave the inner workings of the 3 year old psyche for a another story).

With her new bunny ears, we felt it appropriate to name her Maxi. 

Maxi loved playing with Lils. Who wouldn't love having a big sister who could change babies into bunnies? Maxi felt so proud to have such a creative big sister.

Maxi was very content on staying a bunny as it gave her the ability to do beyond what a 1 year old human could do.

She was now proficient at playing the piano.

And she could read.

But still, her very favorite thing was to be held by Mommy.

She was a happy little bunny, but soon wished to become a little girl again.  She looked and looked for her sister to change her back, but Lils was nowhere to be found.  

However, she had the good fortune of crossing paths with a hobbit named Taylorina who also had the gift of changing bunnies back into little girls.

With a magic kiss, Taylorina caused her bunny ears to disappear right off her head, and instantly she was Baby Lizzie once more.

She was very thankful for that cute little hobbit.

And she went off on her merry way.

The End

Bringing you up to speed

We're loving being back in Houston especially seeing that big Texas sky, living with Susannah, Jason and the girls, sharing meals with our families, seeing old friends, and eating Tex-Mex (this list is not in any sort of order because if it was,  you know Tex-Mex would be first)!

Before we got here and since we got here a lot as happened: I had surgery, Taylor graduated from seminary, I had surgery (yes, again!), I missed the last week of school to go to Houston to see more doctors, Taylor and Matt went on a 50 mile bike ride in the mountains, Taylor visited Shelley and Ben in Lexington, Taylor preached in South Carolina, we moved to Houston, the girls had a joint birthday party, Taylor preached in Houston, we landscaped, we found a possible flat, and we met with a possible future employer for while we're in Scotland - whew!

This is why I have been neglecting the blog.  

As far as my health is concerned, most of you probably already know the details, but if not, I'll spare you.  Bottom line is things are looking back to normal, but I will have an X-Ray in July to make sure, so please pray that it will show that I have healed properly and can put this all behind me.  Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for me! Other prayer requests: we would love you to pray for Taylor's job in Houston, Taylor's Hebrew translation, our visa applications - we can't do this until Taylor finishes this Hebrew translation, and this possible job opportunity in Scotland (will give more details later).

Here are some photos of what we've been up to:

Lizzie (aka Gooster) at her 1st birthday party

Mia and Gooster

Shelley, Ben, Evan, and Taylor in Lexington

Matt and Taylor after the ride

Jason, Susannah, Nathanael, me, Taylor, Mia, and Pops at graduation  

Yes, I regret wearing those shoes!

Taylor, Dr. Kelly, and Matt

We made it - Praise the Lord!

"With a garden there is hope."

Wow, I haven't been able to blog in a really long time because we have been in the process of moving. I have that selective memory thing going that deleted any remembrance of how painful and involved moving is so that I would actually go through with it again.  Otherwise, we would have set up shop in Charlotte...for life. 

It has taken a ridiculous amount of time and energy, but we see the light at the end of the tunnel; however, that light is shining on the city of Edinburgh which means more moving. Ahhhhh! At least our flat will be the size of a shoe box and won't require us to bring anything, but clothes and books. And maybe Merriweather.  

She hasn't taken to moving very well, so I may just leave her here.  We have a love/hate relationship and right now I am not so fond of her.  I'll spare you the nasty details, but it has to do with needing to administer Pepcid AC on a regular basis. Can we say high maintenance? Actually, my saint of a mother-in-law is taking care of her for me, so I guess I can't complain too much.

For Fathers' Day/Mothers' Day, Taylor and I helped my fam landscape their yard.  My dad is chomping at the bit to see the pictures, so I don't have time to think through a clever blog post. I had this grand plan of writing a tribute to each of the fathers in my life (Taylor, Dad, Pops, Grandpa Bob, Papa, and Paw Paw), but that is a lot of dads, and our family is ready to kill us if we don't get our stuff out of their usable living spaces, so I mustn't tarry. These photos and captions are to explain what we did to the yard for my dad, so don't expect anything riveting unless gardening is your thing.

We finished the stone walkway and planted Mexican Heather on either side of the tree. It's hard to see because of the lighting.  Taylor says it will grow up to about 18 inches.  This was Mom and Kaitlyn's favorite plant.
In the main beds, we planted vincas, and on the far right are the agapanthus which will get bigger and bloom though I know not when. We lined the back of the monkey  grass with stones which will help some with drainage and should take the brunt of the rain from the roofline. The edge of the roofline falls right over the monkey grass, so the flowers should be safe.
In this planter, Kaitlyn planted a foxtail fern, vincas, and some potato ivy which will get huge and spill over the sides.
It's hard to see in this photo, but there are foxtail ferns in the two planters by the benches as well as the inside of both of the front beds.

Hope you like it Dad!  We missed seeing you on Fathers' Day. Love you!

Tom and Gina Tie the Knot

This weekend I got to spend about 28 hours in Houston. Everyone kept complaining about how hot is was while I just soaked it up, humidity and all. Yesterday it was 59 degrees in Charlotte people! Be grateful you're getting the benefits of lots of Vitamin D while I still freeze walking to my car in the morning on the way to work.




So why was I in Houston a mere 28 hours you might ask?




If you haven't already figured it out by the title, I was a witness to Tom's wedding. Yes, Tom Hicks is married.





I couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner, but Will stood in for me and read my toast. It's kind of long, so I'll spare you any further comments...



First off, I am so sad not to get to share this speech in person and be with all of you tonight, but since I can’t make it to Houston until tomorrow, Will so graciously agreed to stand in for me. So just picture Will with long hair, a higher voice, and much skinnier, and it’s like I’m actually here. I mean if you’re friends with Tom, I am confident that you have been talked into crazier things in your life than this.



When I think of Tom, so many things come to mind: the Trainstopper, football, the Robonian Monster, Colorado, stunting in the pool, taunting truckers with CV radios, youth group and the Cone of Silence being the only thing I was ever excluded from on the basis of being a girl, Tom always giving me shotgun in Will’s car, getting 2 million dollars from Tom when he becomes a millionaire (I’m still waiting on that one), but I settled on one memory that shows the essence of Tom’s character in my mind.


Rewind exactly 10 years…


After little cajoling, I convinced Tom and Will to try-out for cheerleader for our senior year of high school. Notice I said little as they quickly came to the conclusion that cheerleading meant hanging out with a bunch of girls everyday as opposed to running up and down a basketball court or wrestling with sweaty guys on a mat.



Knowing Tom’s penchant for enduring pain and taking risks, I immediately tagged him as my stunt partner, and we practiced throwing stunts all summer in my pool to prepare for cheer camp and the upcoming season. Once camp rolled around, we were feeling pretty comfortable with trying these stunts on solid ground without the protection of the water in case he dropped me. Before the bus pulled out to take us to camp, my mom accosted Tom making him promise that he wouldn’t let me hit the ground. Tom confidently pledged this to her but not without letting her know that his pride was slightly wounded that she would think such a thing was possible.



Camp went pretty smoothly until the last night. It was our chance to contend for the honor of All-American Cheerleader. Each participant had to try out individually in the middle of Baylor’s basketball arena with the whole camp watching. Talk about intimidating. When he got to the stunting part of his tryout, I joined him on the court. Will may need to act this out for you guys so you can get a true picture, but Tom throws me in the air by the waist with the intent of catching my feet in his hands at shoulder level where I then stand upright and cheer on the crowd. But somehow the stunt went terribly wrong. As he grabs my feet, my toes point forward tipping me face first towards the court. My life flashes before my eyes. With ninja like reflexes, Tom dives under me just in time for me to land flat on his back consequently knocking his chin into the floor. The crowd was silent, not believing the amazing save they had just witnessed. After it was all over, Tom matter-of-factly commented, “Hey, I promised your mom you would not hit the floor. So you were not going to hit the floor.”



The point of the story is this, when you are friends with Tom, he may let you fall, but he’ll take the hit for you every time.




Here are some pics of the big day. Actually to be accurate here is a picture because it takes way too long to post photos on this thing; plus, according to my brother that lives in Hawaii, I look like a ghost, so I refuse to splash those pictures all over my blog. You'll have to hunt them down on Facebook instead:

Me, Brent, Tom, and Will

Congratualtions Tom and Gina!

Footloose and Fancy Free

Do you ever get that nagging feeling that you have forgotten to do something really important? With my fabulous memory and all, my system is to make a mental note whenever I am reminded of something important I need to do so that I don't forget to do it later. Maybe I should figure out another way as I get that nagging feeling multiple times a day.

So this happened to me after reading Big Mama's post just a second ago. By the end, I had this terrible sinking feeling that I hadn't done something really important.  Once I figured out what it was, I had to let you join in on my insanity. Picture this:

Frantically I  scan back through her post searching for clues.

Nope, I didn't forget to do The Shred yesterday - that was on purpose. 

Nope, I didn't forget to put tater tots on my grocery list as I do not have a five year old. 

Nope, I definitely didn't forget to watch Nascar ( I am totally against this sport and all it stands for...actually I just think it's boring to watch cars drive around in circles - though whoever came up with this sport is genius as most of the sophisticated state of North Carolina tends to disagree with my opinion on its ability to provide endless hours of entertainment). 

Nope, I didn't forget to clean/organize my closet.

And then it dawns on me, and I laugh out loud. 

I am ashamed to write this, but at the genesis of this blog, I pledged my undying honesty (or something a little less dramatic) to my fellow blog readers, so here it is - my elusive mental note and cause for slight panic brought to light: 

Must research why Zac Efron isn't doing the remake of "Footloose" anymore! 

Wow - I really shouldn't be wasting such important brain space.

But I totally did look it up :) 

So obviously I am in need of your help.  Please leave a comment giving me much needed advice on how to remember things besides making mental notes because that is just making me crazy!

Love,

robs