Eugene H. Peterson's Remix

Lately I've been studying in a new Bible translation called the message. It's radically different compared to the NIV Bible. I'm not sure what other people think of this new translation, but I've really enjoyed the conversational style.

Here is a sample verse from I Corinthians 9:26-27
"I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself."

A nice day to be indoors

It's a little cloudy and a little chilly. I feel like having the dogs inside and just relaxing.

Good Night

It's sort-of late, but I felt like writing. Trey and I just got home from the Abilene High football game and I'm so tired. We got season tickets and have one more home game to attend, before playoffs start. It's taken me awhile to understand how the game works, but I finally understand it. I want Trey to see that I'm trying to take interest in something that he absolutely loves. A few days ago I watched the movie "Fever Pitch" and couldn't help, but compare the lead actor to my husband's (sometimes unhealthy) obsession with football.

Well, I'm getting ready to go to sleep and Trey is heading out the door to go to work. Yeah, he's on call this weekend, which means 24-7. He has to answer the company pager, but hopefully he won't be out too late.

Cleaners Anonymous

To anyone who truly knows me, it's no secret that I'm a neat-freak. I like the house to be clean and in order. But yesterday, I was in a cleaning frenzy.



I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the base boards, color coordinating the closets, and rearranging the sock drawers... it was ridiculous. I think I need a full time job to exert more of my energy, because otherwise my cleaning might turn into a serious problem.

Don't Blame Me, Blame Our Culture

Another example of the internet age and "our" self-indulgent boredom.

Please refer to the sidebar.

The Bi-Racial Mariachi Band

Today I had lunch with my family at a Mexican restaurant. As we were eating, there was a Mariachi band entertaining the crowd. I leaned over and told Amy, my sister, I wanted to join a band like that. She thought I was joking, but I wasn't. Chances are, I probably won't, but I like the idea of dressing in the "Three Amigos" attire. Natasha plays the violin and she said she'd play as long as I play guitar, now all we need is a singer. I wonder if Trey would be up for it. Yeah right, it's bad enough I have pale white skin and can't speak a lick of Spanish, even though I'm Hispanic....all I need is a red-headed white boy singing in my band. I can imagine it now: The Bi-racial Mariachi Band.

Praise and Radiohead

Before I begin you must understand that I have this red notebook full of praise and worship music. Every now and then I pull out the dusty guitar and jam.

Now moving on to my story, Trey and I met today for lunch. Afterwards, we had some time to kill so we went out to the car to listen to music. He had a guy from work burn him some Christian music and he was expecting to hear that when he turned on the CD player. Well, instead of hearing nice Christian music he heard my favorite band instead, Radiohead. He absolutely hates their music and he doesn't know good music when he hears it. He told me, "Dominique, you must worship this band because I was looking through your music folder and I saw their music in there." Trey is so funny sometimes. Even though I knew he was joking, he said it so seriously I almost thought he was genuinely concerned about the welfare of my worship. Trey's such a dork sometimes.

Raise Your Hand If You're On Myspace

Everyone and their mamma's momma is on myspace....it's an epidemic. I bet if I searched for your mom on there I'd find her and she'd be my friend.

I've been terrified of "the space" for a long time, but now that all the hype has died down, I'm a little more comfortable. I created an account a while back, but not until recently I've been spending time at the site browsing and what not. Honestly, I'm probably wasting valuable time, so I try to limit myself to 5 minutes max.

An Audio Cord Saves the Day

An engaged couple contacted me days before their wedding and requested my video service. At first, I didn’t want to record it because there are better things I could be doing with my time, like staring at the ceiling for 20 minutes before I roll out of bed, sitting at home vegging out in front of the tube, and of course making my weekly grocery list (all very important things). Instead of saying no, I said, “Why not?”

The ceremony was running late and I noticed the groom looked anxious. For a moment I thought the bride wasn’t going to attend, but apparently the audio guy told him he didn’t have a specific cord to play the ceremony music. I was eavesdropping on the conversation because I had the groom mic’ed. It never fails, I always go to weddings over prepared with tons of audio cables JUST IN CASE. This time was a just in case occasion. Luckily, I had the right audio cable and it made me feel really good to know that if I didn’t have the cord they would’ve gone without the music, which would’ve been really awkward.

Quality of Life

Life post graduation has its upsides. For one, the absence of homework. My favoirte day of the week is now Sunday because when I was in college this was my catch-up day. I would sit for hours reading, typing papers, and I was slowly going insane. Now my life is filled with spontaneous events. I love it!!!

But I do have to work, which so far hasn't been bad. I really enjoy working at red3 productions and a few weeks ago I was asked to work at the radio station and fill-in for the development director while she is on maternity leave. So, I'm at a good place in my life right now.

A Room Full of Lawyers

I'm on my way and out the door to record a legal deposition. I'll be in a room full of dull lawyers. I just wanted to write something becuase a few days have gone by without me posting anything. So, hopefully tomorrow I'll have somehting interesting to say.

Not As Bad As It Looks

I've expressed my concern with several Doberman owners and dog lovers about how I can't control my 90 pound Doberman when he's on a leash. Those people and a few others told me about this training collar. I know it looks extreme and painful, but I put it on Bruiser and it's truly a miracle. The collar works!!! If Bruiser leads and begins to drag me the collar tightens and pinches him until he gives. It's a tool that many dog trainers use and I want to make clear that I don't stand there and pull him until he turns blue. I pull the collar if he wants drag me or if he wants to eat another dog, he usually gets the point by the second pull I make at the collar and stops. For the first time since Bruiser was a puppy I took him walking and later that day we even went jogging. To me this collar is more of a security blanket knowing that if Bruiser ever wanted to attack someone, I'd be able to hold him back. I doubt he would ever do that, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

To anyone who thinks this collar is cruel and unnecessary I'd say: What's cruel is having a dog and isolating it by never exposing it beyond your backyard....that's cruel.

Girls Only

Last night I spent time with my adorable niece, Angelica. We went to the Balloon Festival, which would've been lame if she wasn't with me. The reason I say that is because she makes any event enjoyable.

She was dancing around and shouting, "DOMO-NIQUE, TAKE A PICK-SURE!!" And so I did. I took tons of pictures to please her and most of them were really bad. I don't know if you've ever taken digital pictures around a four year old, but they always say let me see it afterwards. They want to see ever photo you shoot immediately.


We had so much fun at the Festival, after it was over, we went to the mall until they closed and then headed over to a bookstore. When we finally met-up with Trey around 10:30 p.m., Angelica was still full of energy. Everytime she'd do something cute I'd look over at Trey and say, "I want one."

My Older Sister Turned 25

Amy, my older sister, works at a Mexican resturant and for some odd reason that's where she wanted to celebrate. We all had a great time together. I laughed a lot last night especially at Amy. She was acting really insane.
Someone needs to take those drinks away from her...seriously.
I made this strawberry cake for Amy's birthday. I was too proud of it.
Amy's co-workers singing to her.

My momma and Angelica
Natasha and Me. This is my little sister.
Trey and my other mamma. Ofcourse Trey is wearing his cowboys get-up.
Smile big.
Trey was getting trigger happy wtih the camera and he snapped this photo of me as I was trying to grab the camera out of his hands. I look really scary. YIKES!

Funky Sofa

An Empty Room

When we have guest over the first room they see is our formal living room. They walk in and see an empty room.

The living room is really formal and a little dramatic with white chair railing, dark red paint and refinished hardwood floors. The last time I went to visit my grandma Mary, who lives 7 hours away, I feel in love with her sofa. Well, my grandma recently moved and wanted to know if I wanted her sofa. I forgot what it looked like so I had my aunt take a picture and e-mail it to me. I really like it! I'm going to talk it over with Trey and see what he thinks. It has some crazy colors, but I should be able to re-upholster it with no problems.

I've been trying to post the picture, but I'm having some problems. I'll try to have the picture up by tonight.

Harley's Ain't Got Nothing On This

Okay, my husband has a motorcycle so I don't know why he wanted us to ride the scooter over to his parents house, last night. Everytime we get on the scooter together I get a mental picture of the guys from dumb and dumber and I can't stop laughing. So there I am laughing and I see two guys beside their Harley's, hanging outside of a tattoo shop. I told Trey, "Honk the horn!" So he honks it and it goes, "BEEP, BEEP!" The Harley guys looked at us and started laughing. Gosh, I love acting stupid.

So, the whole reason for getting out of the house was to see Trey's parents. It was really nice because they've been going out of town every weekend and it was nice to just sit down and talk with them. We talked about the upcoming holidays and where we were going to have Thanksgiving. It looks like I'm hosting Turkey Day.

An Unexpected Repair

As I've mentioned before, Trey and I play in the church praise and worship band. We've been having serious problems with Trey's guitar the last few weeks.

Last Sunday his guitar went completely out of tune in the middle of a song and I told him he should stop playing because it was very noticeable. It was fine that he stopped because we have another guitarist who also plays.

So, yesterday I dropped his electric guitar off at a music shop and they told me it was going to cost 80 bucks! That's crazy, but what else are we going to do...I mean Trey needs a guitar to play. It just sucks.

P.S. The instrument Trey is playing in that picture is my bass because I didn't have a picture of his guitar.

Funnel Cakes & Cowboys

I've been anticipating the West Texas Fair and Rodeo for almost a year. Last year I was in LA and missed out. So this weekend Trey and I went with our next door neighbors, Kurt and Amanda.

A long, long time ago when Trey and I went to the fair I made him ride the rides with me and the poor guy got sick to his stomach. So this year instead of going in circles, we ate food and went to the rodeo. Besides, everyone knows there's nothing like fair food.

The rest of the weekend was great. Some friends came over Sunday to watch the football game and later that night Trey and I watched the cowboys game with my little sister, Natasha. I'm glad she came over because we hadn't seen each other in a while. She's in middle school and growing-up fast and it's been really hard when she'd rather hang out with her friends than with me. Yes, I remember being in middle school and I didn't spend much time with my older sister, Amy....that's alright, she'll come around more.

Goodbye Sweet Summer

Back in April I posted a list of what I wanted to do during the summer break. Well, here's the list and next to it I put what I really did.

1. Lay out in my backyard
I did this a lot in May, but it was so HOT during June and July that it wasn't worth it. Besides, I rode my scooter all summer and developed a dark tan, but it sort of looked funny because my face was pale.

2. Walk my beagle more
If you've been reading my blog, you might remember the posting of Daphne when I took her walking and she refused to walk home. Oh and how can I fail to mention that I had to carry her for a mile. Saying all that, I haven't walked her much.

3. Eat healthier and put that gym membership to good use
This I did frequently and my eating habits have improved greatly. I wasn't trying to lose weight, but just by eating right and exercising I lost 5 pounds. Crazy!

4. Attend several gym classes
Didn't do this just because...

5. Buy and watch a season of South Park
Trey and I now own, something like, six seasons.

6. Play my guitar more
My acoustic guitar has only accumulated more dust, but I do play the bass every Wednesday and Sunday.

7. Get involved in a church bible study
I now attend the First Baptist Buffalo Gap's women's bible study.

8. Travel somewhere (Clyde doesn't count)
I didn't really do much traveling this summer. The farthest I traveled was South Lake.

9. Go bike riding
My sister and I rode bikes this summer, but not as much as I wanted to. Trey and I should really renew our bike membership with ABC.

10. Go camping - We didn't go camping because Trey got hurt the weekend I made reservations at a State Park.

You might think this is crazy, but the best part of my summer was waking up a five am to go to work. I really miss that, I guess because it was so nice to be awake and ready for my day when everyone else was sleeping.

The Escape That Failed

I mowed the front and backyard this afternoon and whenever I'm in the back I like to put the dogs in the shop, so I won't run over them.

I put them there and Daphne was trying to escape through the shop window. She was unsuccessful, but I thought it was pretty funny so I grabbed the camera.






Here's Bruiser enjoying the trimmed grass.

It Has Arrived

It's that season...Football season.

I think I'm married to the biggest football fan on the planet. Luckily he's not too crazy. I'm fortunate because he's not a weirdo who paints his face or anything like that. Although, he can watch 10 hours of football in 1 day. I guess the only thing left to say is...I'll see my husband in January after the super bowl.

Hoodie Reads "Fearless Leader"

I'm that person who dresses their dogs in hoodies and shirts.

Something to Look Forward To

Looks like I have a part-time job. Yes after weeks of trying to find a job, I have finally found something that I will benefit from. I'll be working at Red3 Productions, a video production company here in town. They're made up of only a few workers, but they do great work that I won't be ashamed to be associated with. Oh and the best part is they don't record weddings....YES!

I'm still looking for something full-time while I'm going to be at R3P. I'm starting to learn that if you're out of touch in this kind of industry for more than six months you can easily be left in the dirt, so by working here I can really hound my skills and learn from some great veterans. I'm so stoked! Another great thing about this place is that they produce projects in High Definition.

Here is the website where I will be r3p.com

Purple Sky

When Trey came home from work he asked me, "So, what did you do today?" I didn't do anything! I'm sort of in limbo... out of work and out of luck. Trey's been really encouraging the entire time. To make me feel better he thought it would be a good idea to go for a ride on the motorcycle. It was a great idea! After dinner we rode all over town on the bike and the temperature was just right. The sky was purple and it felt good to be out of the house.

Labor Day Weekend

My niece celebrated her 4th birthday this labor day weekend and here are a few pictures. They grow-up so fast. I always tell my little sister who is now 12 years old turning 13 very soon, to promise me she won't get any older.

You Can't Have It...It's MINE!

Okay so scratch the last blog entry I made. I won't be donating blood anytime soon. Why? Because I felt horrible the entire day. I was extremely parched and weak. I complained and was very unpleasant to be around, trust me.

You know I try to do something nice and it just back-fires on me.

On a side, side, side note: Trey and I met our neighbors across the street. They're a young married couple just like Trey and I and they are also fixing their house. Well they do have names: Kurt and Amanda. They were telling us their house is almost a hundred years old. Yeah, they're really nice and interesting. We're going to try to get together soon to do something. The fair is coming to town and I think we're going to invite them to go with us. Yes, fall is here.

Take My Blood

Giving blood is awesome!

Today I donated and got the following for free:
1. Bottled Water
2. Pizza
3. Blue Bell Ice Cream
4. T-shirt

I should make this my new career (giving blood). I'm just joking, but seriously, I need a job!

Managing Your Moods

I joined the women's group at church and we're reading a book called Managing your moods. I mentioned it to several men in the church and they said they wanted their spouses to attend the group. I told them I only paid six bucks for the reading material and they thought that was a great investment for happiness. Men are so funny!

Front Porch America

When I was in High School I read a book by Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine. The author would constantly refer to "front porch America" and the slow disappearance of that culture. This weekend I thought about that book.

Saturday afternoon it rained for the first time, in no telling how long. It was so nice that Trey and I pulled out our lawn chairs on the front porch and watched as the rain fell. We talked for half an hour out there and watched the neighbors kids as they ran in the street.

Daphne's Room is Missing a Bed

We've lived at our home for well over a year and we still had bare walls in the guest room/Daphne's room. I've had frames and artwork ready for hanging, it was just trying to get Trey to mount the things. Well, this past weekend Trey and I finally got around to hanging things up. It looks really different and I think D-dog likes it. One thing I should note is that our friend Sean doesn't have a bed so we let him borrow our matress from this bedroom. He needs it more than we do right now. So here is the bedless room.


Finally, pictures on the wall.


I've never been to a bed and breakfast, but this room makes me think BNB.


This corner of the room hasn't changed much, but now that I think of it, I'd have to say more dust has mounted on the guitar.


This is the tierra I wore on my wedding day. It was in a box before. It's too pretty to be in box where it can't be seen.


In this corner we put up the very purple picture. To the right are two small frames hanging. There's suppose to be one more, but the frame fell off the wall last week and the frame was damaged. I was home alone when it happened and it scared me half to death.

Sunday Morning Church

For half of my life I've been raised in the Catholic church. I was baptized when I was an infant and I recently made the decision to be baptized as an adult. This past Sunday I did it.


This was after the dunk


This isn't the whole band, but here is half of us practicing early in the morning before Sunday school


Bass Stealer!


Trey snaps a photo of me practicing the bass


My mom went to church with us to support my baptism


Johnny Lang face


Trey is such a show-off

UnderRated

1. Wrist Watches
2. H-E-B Coffee
3. Employment
4. McDonald's bacon ranch salad
5. Reliable transportation
6. Family
7. Air Conditioners

One thing I forgot to add to the OverRated list....Starbucks

OverRated

Yesterday I made a mental list of all the things that are highly overrated:

1. Coldplay
2. Living in L.A.
3. ipods
4. Wes Anderson
5. The movie Sideways
6. Sushi

Stop Feeding Me Junk

ACU human resources hired me to tape an event yesterday and they feed me too. I was so hungry that I tried to convince myself the food was good. I'm usually really good about clearing my whole plate, but this time I just couldn't do it.

Later that night Trey and I were running late to Wednesday night church and I knew we had to eat beforehand because after class we had band practice. We stopped by Sonic and I ate a greasy hamburger, fries, and a soda. I told Trey no soda, but he insisted. Since I stopped drinking sodas I've realized when I occasionally drink one it burns my throat. It really hurts, no joke. It feels like acid.

Later, at church I joined the women's group and they had a pot-luck feast. I didn't want to be rude, since it was my first time there, so I grabbed a plate and ate more. It was around 9 o'clock that night, when Trey and I were heading home, he asked me if I wanted to get desert. I just looked at him like he was crazy and I told him my body was telling me to stop feeding it junk.

Change is Hard

For the past few minutes I've been trying to change the face of my blog, but I just can't do it! After changing the face, my sites saved to the right were deleted...grrrrrrr.

About the Truck: Before & After

Lots & lots of rust on the frame

Here is a one picture of afterwards

I like how it looks like new



I've been meaning to post these pictures of Trey's truck for a while. This is the first step we've taken to restore the C-10 1969 Chevy. We're both excited, but realize it will take years before it'll be complete. Here are a few before and after pictures of the frame.

TV Junkie

It's funny how we can go most of the year without cable, but when football season is here Trey insists it's a necessity we cannot live without. This year we opted for Dish Network and my eyes are bloodshot from watching. I watch because I'm bored and partially because I feel like I have to catch up with the TV world. I've been watching TV for about 2 days and I'm already getting bored with it.

Trey is out of town for a few nights. He went with several men from church to Promise Keepers, a Christian men's retreat. He touched base with me last night and it seems like he's having a ton of fun. It's sort-of scary being at home by myself, but last night my mom came over and we watch two movies before I went to bed. And to let the time fly, before she came over, I watched The Notebook. I managed to watch it by myself and cried like a baby because it's so heartfelt.

About the job thing, it's hard being rejected, but it's their mistake not mine. I'm a great worker and I thank God for something else. As they say, I'm still on the market...the job market, that is. Well, I'm going to have as much fun as I can before my summer ends officially forever!

P.S. It looks like it's gonna rain so this morning I drove the car and I didn't realize how much I missed listening to music while I drive. I cranked up the stereo and yelled out lyrics from the Starting Line as loud as I could: "SNAP BACK INTO FORMATION AND GET TO WORK, UNTIL THE JOB GETS DONE. EVERYONE'S GETTING READY, 'CAUSE THEY'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FRIDAY NIGHT."
It felt good. I have to say everyone should use music as a stress reliever.

The Way It Goes...

Didn't get the job. Guess I'll keep looking.

A Divine Workout

Okay, I rarely go to the gym past 8 o'clock, but for some reason yesterday I thought it would be a good idea. I'm really glad I went because I had two great oppurtunites to share my faith. One of them is too personal to share to the world, but I can tell you about Zena. I was just about to leave, but before I left I saw this young woman. She smiled at me and I couldn't help, but notice a massive bump on her neck. She was nursing it and told me a spider bit her. She went to the doctor and had it checked out. I didn't know what to say, but I knew the Holy Spirit was tugging at my mouth. I asked her for her name and told her I'd be praying this week for it to heal. I know it's not much, but the more I share my faith the more it becomes natural for me. I turned the corner and stepped out of the locker room and I heard her say, "That is so sweet." I don't know if she meant for me to hear her say that or not.

I'm still waiting to hear something about this job that I was interviewed for. No word yet, just lots and lots of waiting.

Shopping & Open Houses

This weekend was Tax Free Weekend, so I took my 12 year old sister to the mall to shop. We were there for almost an hour and she still hadn't bought anything. I wasn't planning on buying any clothes, but I walked out of American Eagle with very, very long pants. Even when I wear my tallest high heels with them they still drag. I guess I'll need to buy some new heels...Bummer. But they are super cute! That night Trey and I went to the movies to see Will Farrell's new movie. It was so funny and I think I embarrassed Trey several times from laughing so loud.

Even though Trey and I own our house and don't plan on moving or selling, we like to go to open houses at least once a month to see what's on the market. Sunday, we made a game out of it. We made a list of all the houses and ranked them on a scale from 1-10. The best house we both agreed on was worth the money and move-in ready. It was listed at 160,000. It was nice, but I don't know if I would want to live there. I'm a big fan of older houses, like ours. We did find a house in our neighborhood that was built in the 30's. I got some good decorating ideas by walking through that house.

Judaism is Illuminated For This Gentile

I finished reading Everything is Illuminated and I was blown away with the book. The next day I rented the movie and was deeply dissatisfied. I mean, the movie was good if I hadn't read the book, but I was let down completely. Last night Trey and I were talking about the Jewish faith and I had more questions than answers. I don't know what it is, but I'm really fascinated with learning about Jewish culture and beliefs. One of the questions I asked Trey was, "Why are the Jews, God's chosen people?" He thought this would be a good discussion for our Sunday bible study. I feel so ignorant, but I'm determined to learn. I always hear people on the evangelism channel saying we should pray for Israel. But why? Am I the only Christian who doesn't know? I bet more people are like me, they just won't admit it.

Ha, Ha, Not Funny Then, But It's Funny Now

Last month I hit the gym pretty hard so yesterday morning I thought it would be a good idea to give the gym a break and go jogging around the neighborhood. I grabbed my sneakers and thought it would be fun to take Daphne, my beagle. Last year she would jog with me on a mile route with no problems. I figured she would enjoy it, boy was I in for a surprise.

We jogged from South 7th street all the way to 14th, which is roughly half a mile with no problems. As we ran around the corner to head back home Daphne decided she was going to lay her little behind down and quit. I tugged, pulled, talked, and pleaded without any success.

I had no choice but to carry her in my arms like a little baby all the way home. This is not what I had in mind when I originally woke up. There's an older man who lives around my neighborhood, he saw me walking with her in my arms as he was pulling out of his driveway. He stopped me and said I could get water from his water hose to hydrate her. Somewhere between getting drenched in the sprinkler system and Daphne running away from me, I just wanted to cry. I was wearing a black t-shirt that was drenched in water mixed with sweat and topped with dog hair. Oh, I didn't even mention that Daphne was smiling and breathing her dog breathe right in my face. I was so mad at her, but all I could do was laugh.

P.S. I got an email that said I won't hear about the job until next week. I want it, I want it!

Air Hockey Leaves My Arm Sore

Friday night was I guess, date night? Trey and I went to Mr. Gattis and bought 20 dollars worth of tokens. We hit-up the air hockey table and played about 8 games. The next morning I woke up sore. To tell you the truth my right arm is still in pain.

Saturday we managed to meet up with a couple we hadn't seen in about a month, Linda & Steve Eilers. We went to dinner and watched You me & Dupree. It's a pretty good movie, but I know Trey didn't like it. He's super picky about movies, Yes this is from the guy that loves movies like, the whole nine yards, Friday, Little Nicky, and has at least six seasons of South Park. Speaking of movies, I just finished reading the Book Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foe. Last year it was released by Warner Bros. Independent Films and I can't wait to watch it on DVD. I told Trey he's more than welcomed to join me when I watch the movie, but I have a feeling he's not going to like it. I guess we'll see.

Sunday was amazing! I don't know if someone talked to pastor Steve about me, but I'm telling you he was talking directly to me. Even Trey said, "wow, this sermon is for you," my eyes were getting a little wet and I agreed.

The week ahead should be an interesting one. Today I will hear if I get a job, I applied for.

It's been a few days

It's been a few days since I've posted. I haven't been too busy, just the usual. Last weekend Trey and I were suppose to go camping. I had the whole trip planned with reservations at the campsite and everything. The day before we were suppose to leave Trey came home and said he feel down while he was working and needed to ice his leg. We talked it over and decided we wouldn't go camping because the main activity we had planned was bike riding. We scratched that and at the last minute made plans to go to South Lake to visit our Uncle Jerry and Aunt Karen. We made it a day trip and went swimming in their swimming pool and lounged in the jacuzzi. It was so relaxing and much better than camping. After we swam for a while we cleaned up and went shopping.


Trey found the official Dallas cowboys store and drooled on everything. He was like a baby in a candy store. We walked out of the store with a T. Owens jersey. He doesn't even like T.O., or at least he didn't when he played for Philadelphia . Yes, I know it's that time of the year...Football season. It's coming, it's right around the corner. I might as well kiss Trey goodbye for a few months.

Trey and I had a fight and I found a wonderful solution

My husband says I'm not much of a morning person, wow, I should record him waking up in the morning.

So the story begins, yesterday morning I woke-up first and turned on the main light switch. Trey is still asleep in bed, but once he realizes I have the light on he freaks out and starts yelling..."TURN OFF THE LIGHT!" What am I suppose to do get ready in the dark, could you imagine what my make-up would look like?

I was a little mad as I left the house, but Trey eventually called me at work and asked me if I was ready to apologize. I'm telling you that boy has nerves. Despite the whole ordeal, I found an easy solution. That evening I went to bed bath and beyond and purchased a sleeping mask for him.

We went out to eat last night and as we were sitting there I told him to close his eyes. I pulled out the mask and put it on him. He really liked it and he truly appreciated the gift.



So, this morning I had to come to work and I got out of bed around 5 am (I know it's ridiculous). Right before I left I looked over at Trey and he had the sleeping mask over his eyes. God, I love him and all is forgiven!

Scooting About Town

Rolling over a thousand miles the scooter is going strong. When I first got it the sticker claimed it got 75 miles to the gallon, but when I started riding it, I was only getting 70. I read online and found many owners claiming it took their scooters a while before they were getting 75 miles to the gallon and some of them even said they were getting 80. Now that I've broken the engine-in, I'm now getting 80 miles to the gallon too.

I ride it to and from work and it gets me from point a to point b. I would say I fill-up at least once a week and last time I was on empty I paid about $2.70. That's it! Can you believe it? Sometimes I feel silly, but then I think to myself "You don't look retarded, you look smart (and cute)." I get a lot of smiles and waves, especially from old men. I'm not too flattered, because most of the time it creeps me out.

It was super scary when I first started driving it. It's not like anything I was familiar with. You have to get a motorcycle license, which means taking a written and driving test. I don't know how to drive a motorcycle, but I have a license, if I wanted to. Maybe I'll get Trey to teach me on his motorcycle. One day. Now that I've been driving the scooter for a few months I'm not scared of driving anymore. Okay that's not entirely true, I do get scared when I see gravel. A month ago I feel off of the bike when I stopped at a stop sign. It was no big deal. The bike fell to its side and I hopped off before I fell on the street. Now when I see gravel I slow down, but not abruptly. I also stay away from highways and busy areas.

P.S. I always wear a helmet. I've almost been hit twice by crazy drivers. Everyone who rides tells me you have to look out for the other person.

Anorexic Christian: A Vulnerable Posting

Sometimes it takes an event in someone’s life to challenge his or her faith. Maybe a death, a break-up, a serious tragedy, in my case it's a major transition. I'm at that point in my life where all is possible and all is unknown. I recently graduated with the hope of landing the perfect job and with a promise that one was waiting for me. To my surprise, I was crushed to find out not all things work to my advantage. Despite the news I am hopeful and seeking God like never before.

I'm so thankful for this experience because it's drawn me closer to God. There for a while my spirit was so hungry. Since my focus has changed from me to Him, I feel so satisfied. I don't know how I did it for so long without feeding my spirit. I now know that whatever happens, everything will work out. Besides there are greater tragedies in life than not landing the job you hoped for. All I know is something is out there, bigger and better.

Hold The Pager

Sometimes the weekends are all Trey and I have to spend time with each other, especially in the summer. He works long hours and for the most part he has weekends off except when it's his turn to answer calls from the pager. I suppose he has the pager at least twice a month. He has to carry it and if anyone needs service, 24 hours he's suppose to respond.

Well, yesterday he received 6 pages in about 5 minutes. Even though he was busy we managed to have supper at a nice steak house. We sat down at the restaurant and played a few rounds of tick-tack-toe. Trey is extremely competitive and never lets me win any games. I won a few rounds, but he ultimately won the game. I told him he should let me win, but he said no way.