Aggies, Don't Hate Me

Cause I made this.

On purpose.

But then we sawed off the horns and at them. So it makes it ok. It was for my sister's graduation. However, cakes apparently don't do well after a couple of hours in the car. By the time we got to Austin, the cake no longer looked like it did in the picture. Does anyone remember the cake scene in Sleeping Beauty? If not, just picture a landslide of icing upon a severly deformed longhorn.


Oh yes, there were tears. At least we captured the "before" picture. I decline to post any "after" pictures :)


Here is the pretty UT grad below.

We went up to Austin on Saturday to attend the graduation. It was the best graduation ever! Under an hour. Really. Unbelievable. I didn't even have to bring my graduation-survival-kit (magazine, electronic sudoku, cards, etc). We hung out with my sister and Cody, played with their new dog, then stayed at my Dad's cousins' home and enjoyed a few rounds of catch phrase. It was a fun time haning out with everyone. Here is the gang below.

Now I Know Why People Pay for Pine Cones

I thought it would be a fun thing to collect pine cones, glitter them, then put them in a bowl on our kitchen table. I was inspired by Becky's post. It would be an inexpensive, pretty decoration. Besides, who would pay to buy pine cones at the store when you can find them outside for free? Um, I would.

We went out Sunday afternoon to collect pine cones with one of our couple friends from church. We couldn't find any good ones at first, just the small, smashed, lopsided ones were all that were left. Guess the black Friday crowd hit up all the pine cones before we got there. I knew we should have come earlier. Our husbands were so sweet to try to get us some fresh ones. They were using the frisbee to knock the real beauties out of the trees. Pretty funny to watch as they were determined to get them down. We finally hit the jackpot in the Japanese Gardens. Lot's of good ones there. We filled up our bags then headed home.

Pine cones are so Christmasy. I love them. Oh, but apparently baby roaches do too. Who would have known a small colony of roaches had taken up residency in the pine cones I collected? I unknowingly sat the whole car ride home with a bag of roach-infested pine cones upon my lap. That is sick. When we got home to form the pine cone line-up to determine who would make the bowl, I began placing them in a height line. That's when they came alive. Each one had 3-5 bugs in them. Greg was so sweet. He violently shook each one until all the bugs came out. We are not talking microscopic slow-moving bugs that you can flick out the door people. We are talking small roaches that can do 0-60 in a millisecond. Has anyone ever played the arcade game whack-a-mole where you hit the moles with those big soft mallets? It was like watching Greg play that game while I yelled their various locations. Left knee, 10 o'clock! Above the towel, by your foot! He's getting away! After an intense roach-war, finally all the casualties were removed. I sprayed all the pine cones with bug spray, then placed them in air-tight zip lock bags in case any of them had decided to lay baby roach eggs to carry on their legacy. After a couple hours of suffocation I figured they were all dead and began the glittering process. Here is the final product. I added a bag of bead fillers from hobby lobby.

Buying pine cones might not be such a bad idea after all...

A Happy Thanksgiving

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Col 2:6-7

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend in Waco. We spent several days with Greg's parents, grandma, brother, sister, and her husband and baby girl. We also got to see some cousins on Thanksgiving day. There was plenty of good food the whole time. We played games, shopped, made bows for the Christmas tree, entertained Hollyn, watched football, talked, ate, and laughed. We took plenty of pictures too. The group shot above took about 15 attempts to get a good one of everyone. There were also probably 50 or more shots taken of Greg and/or Jameson jumping while posing with the frisbee. I'll save those for another post. I should make a collage of all the jumping pictures of Greg. I probably have 100 on this computer.

I am so thankful all the undeserved blessings in my life. I have a wonderful husband who is funny, kind, servant-hearted, and loving, having a wonderful loving family, the best in-laws anyone could ask for, plenty of food to eat not only on Thanksgiving, but everyday, a warm place to eat it, safety and protection, living in America with all the luxuries I take for granted daily (running water, electricity, living in peace without daily fear for my life, freedom to worship and speak openly of Christ), a stable job, our church, so many sweet friends that God has brought into our lives, our newlywed Sunday School class, my health, a mind to read and study and think on God's word, the Bible, excellent Bible teachers, and most of all, the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thes 5:15-18
Now if I could only learn to continually give thanks. I have so much to be thankful. This verse clearly states that it is God's will for me to give thanks in all circumstances. Yet sometimes I still find myself complaining. That is the exact opposite of giving thanks. I have been really convicted of that recently. Whenever I hear myself complain, this verse comes to mind and I realize I am in direct opposition to God's command here. Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on all those things God's has given and remind myself that I should be doing that daily, in all circumstances.

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!