Enemy Territory

Last weekend Jeremy and I got to take a road trip with our good friends, Allison and Jordan (and their dog Raider, who stared at the car ceiling the entire trip because of the reflections from our phones). The Texas Longhorns were playing the Tech Red Raiders and it was a perfect opportunity to go to a football game and spend some time w/ Allison and Jordan's family in Lubbock. As an added bonus, we got to see my Dad, who is a huge Red Raider fan, some of Jeremy's old pals from Dumas and my cousin, Aron with some old friends from FBC Odessa.

That was the ugliest game I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of Baylor football games. That's all I will say about the game itself.

I have no connection w/ either school, so I decided to default to my hubby's alma mater and wear burnt orange. I should have pulled a Switzerland and worn my Baylor green and gold, but I wanted to have a team to cheer for. Plus, Jeremy is always supportive of the Bears so I had to reciprocate. I even made the little Longhorn w/ my hand at one point! :)

I was laughing at all the cheers that the Longhorns do. There is one that says "give 'em hell" and I told Jeremy he was not allowed to teach that cheer to our kids. He probably will.

We had so much fun meeting the Gristy family and playing in Lubbock. The Gristys were so hospitable and it was fun to put faces with names. I told Allison I wanted to see all the fun places they hung out when they went to school there. I love taking people to my old stomping grounds! They showed us where they used to live, where they used to work, where Allison got stuck in a dust storm (love West Texas) and lots of other fun sentimental things. One of my favorites was stopping at Sheridan's after the game for a late night snack (dinner at that point). I had the Mother In-Law which had vanilla custard, Rice Krispies, chocolate chips and bananas. OMG. I want more. After that we stopped at Taco Villa for a burrito and my life was complete. I literally thought I was in Heaven (especially after seeing that West Texas sunset)!

Road trips with good friends can't be beat (unlike the Red Raiders). :( Sorry fans.

Facebook Moods

I have realized lately how Facebook can really help/hurt my day. I am so lucky that the bulk of my friends on Facebook are really positive and encouraging. I get a lot of inspirational quotes, Bible verses, happy news, funny stories, etc. I don't always have a happy reaction to FB, but for the most part, I can feel really uplifted when I read through the status updates. Have you noticed how that stuff can affect your day?

Here are some thoughts I have when I read FB statuses (Keep in mind I never get on the computer version of FB, only my iPhone.)

1. I needed to hear that today.

2. For the love, when do you people have time to play these ridiculous games! I don't have a sheep to give, I don't care to beat you in Bejeweled and I don't know anything about dungeons and dragons.

3. I hope I can have that attitude when I go through hard times.

4. Holy crap, another one of my girlfriends is prego.

5. Holy crap, they are having a girl.

6. TMI. Seriously, why would you post that on Facebook for the world to see.

7. I am inspired by (insert name)'s faith. What a blessing they are in my life.

8. That video was hilarious and I should share. OR That video was a waste of 2 minutes and 34 seconds of my life...why is it taking up Youtube space?

9. Please stop updating your location every five minutes. I feel a little stalkerish knowing where you are.

10. I am SO lucky to have so many friends, family and acquaintances whith whom I can stay in touch.

11. You should probably keep that REALLY hateful political comment to yourself (I get both sides).

12. I am glad they shared that product/service. I will have to look into that.

13. HONK!! (That is someone behind me getting mad that I am looking at FB statuses instead of going through the green light.)

14. I like learning new things about my relatives. We are related by blood, but how did I not know that about them?!

15. My eyes hurt.

The Gifts We Won't Regift

Don't worry people, I don't make re-gifting a regular habit. Jeremy and I were recently talking about the wedding gifts that we use the most and I decided to make a list. I will preface by saying that we loved ALL of our wedding gifts. But it's fun to see the stuff that we can give other people knowing it's extremely useful. Sometimes the most practical gifts are the best!

Dyson Animal Vaccum
Best vacuum ever! Can I get an AMEN? We don't have a lot of carpet in our house, but this bad boy works on wood, tile, concrete, carpet, etc. I am convinced it would work on asphalt if we needed it to. Thank you Dyson for making our dog-ownership a little easier. Dog hair tumbleweeds cannot stand up against our Dyson.

Cuisinart Handheld Blender
We use this thing almost every day. Jeremy and I both love our Shaklee shakes. We have the Soy Protein and the Physique (a natural muscle recovery drink) on a pretty regular basis. This blender is perfect because we don't have to drag out our huge blender. I also love the little food processor attachment. My favorite wedding gifts are starting to have a theme...attachments!

Coffee Maker
Every. Single. Day. We love our coffee and we are a little snobby about it. We order our coffee online from New Mexico and it's a pinion bean. It's the most amazing coffee ever and we have our friend, Rick, in Dumas to thank for it. He has a cabin in Taos and he introduced Jeremy when he lived in the Panhandle. Anyway, my BFF, Amanda, got this for us and ironically she lives in New Mexico and drinks that coffee now too! It has a grinder so it sounds like an airplane taking off when we make coffee. So worth it!

Washer and Dryer
This one is obvious but it was a nice wedding/Christmas gift from Jeremy's dad and step mom that we couldn't live w/out. We realized that these appliances could have easily been a huge expense for us when we moved into our house, but we are lucky to have supportive parents. We love our washer and dryer even more now that we use our Shaklee laundry products. They are phosphate-free and smell so good! I know that's cheesy, but for real.

  

Knives 

Remember that time I almost cut my thumb off? Or the other time I almost cut my thumb off? Yeah I love my knives and I use them every day, but I am so clumsy. Every time I use them Jeremy says "be careful!" My routine in the morning is to get up, make a salad to take for lunch and cut up some fruit for Jeremy and myself. I will say I don't think I have ever used that huge knife. If I can't handle a paring knife I think I should stay away from the machete. 

Board Games
It seemed silly when we were registering for these, but they have been awesome! We have a fun group of couple friends here in Austin, and we get together a lot. It's fun to drag out the games every once in a while. If you come across a wedding registry w/ games on it, buy one!

 Pearl Studs

This is what Jeremy got me for my wedding gift. I love pearls and I wear these a lot! There is nothing classier than a pair of pearl studs and you can wear them with anything. I have worn them to weddings with a formal evening dress, and I have worn them with shorts and a t-shirt. I have a feeling I will be using this wedding gift for as long as I live.

Other Practical Gifts We Use Every Day
Towels-Yes, we bathe every day (usually)
Pots/Pans-Calphalon gave us a free fajita pan w/ our set. I have never used it. I don't really get what to do w/ it since we make fajitas on the grill. Anyone?
Margarita Machine-I guess this isn't practical...I just wanted to throw it in since we love it! We didn't pull it out for about two years but hey, better late than never.

This is definitely not an exhaustive list. I have many more wedding gifts (and just gifts in general) that I love and use all the time. What gift have you received that you use the most?