Hangin Tough!

So last summer I got a frantic call from my oldest sister that she had the perfect girls weekend and I NEEDED to attend! She practically squealed on the phone when she told me the New Kids on the Block were doing a reunion tour and we HAD to all go! Now my sisters and I were all fans when we were younger, each claiming our favorite boy band member (Me = Jonathan, Rae = Joey and Missy = Jordan) but we had never been able to attend one of their concerts. This was her shot! We were going to go! So I told her I was in and let me know when and where. So we grabbed my sister-in-law one of my BFF's from High School and my Mom of course! (Because seriously if we were recreating childhood here, we could not have gone without her in the first place!) My sister got up SUPER early one Saturday morning to get us tickets to the San Antonio show, because with distance and my travel schedule it worked out the best. It was quite funny hearing from her afterwards I guess she was so nervous she did not get tickets that she actually bought tickets twice! Then she was trying to sell them and so on and so forth, it was quite the ordeal!

But alas we had our tickets, right off the floor a perfect spot I thought if you were not going to drop the serious dough for the first few rows. And began to make our weekend plans. We secured a Two floor Marriott suite to hang out in, and I secured my plane ticket to Texas. And off we went! The day started off with us all in the car heading down to San Antonio with a strict only 80's and early 90's rule on the music. Lots of laughter and singing along... but what made it even funnier is my sisters car does not have an IPod hook up so she brought her stand alone speakers and placed it on the dash board, a bit ghetto but totally worked! Once we got to San Antonio we checked into the hotel, did our hair, changed our clothes and headed off to indulge in some Mexican food! It was glorious to be home! (I do not eat enchiladas outside of the state of Texas, no one else does them right, so why waste the money!)

Off to the arena we went! The place was PACKED with 30 something women! We saw about 25 women who were doing a mini high school reunion, lots of ladies busted out their old shirts or made shirts! (I tried to convince everyone to do a puffy paint craft project but no one seemed to have the time) My sister-in-law and I decided to wait in line to get the BIG buttons with their faces on it and t-shirts! I just got a Jonathan button which I later wanted to throw to the ground after he was sporting his political shirt during the concert, but I got over it... When the concert started the place erupted in screaming! I did not know that 30 yr old women could still hit that note but oh my gosh I thought I was old because I totally had to put on ear muffs a couple of times! The guys did all their old steps, everyone sang along, even Mom! And danced too! it was all we had all hoped it would be! We were so stoked to make our first NKOTB concert!

At the end my sister decided she needed a shirt, so we had to fight the crowds to get to the front, I had to laugh because my initial thought was you should be fine getting a Large or Extra Large because the Smalls and Mediums usually sell out first... ummm then I forgot the stadium was filled with women our size and not teen size... and thus two tables later no shirts to be had! Oh how times have changed!

We drove home blasting the music and singing along, got to the hotel and chatted a bit but then crashed! Mom woke us up early at like 7 am to get breakfast and head back to Austin, I told everyone you knew we were old when no one complained and it was a Saturday morning...

It was an amazing night and short girls weekend, that I will forever treasure! Childhood dreams coming true with your amazing Family does not get much better than this ladies!

Our Group... Jenn, Rae, Missy, Mom, and Grayson

Rae, Jenn and I and the stadium full of screaming 30 yr olds! (If you look over our heads you can see the guys...they came out to the middle of the crowd to sing!)

Grayson and I sporting our Buttons and her shirt! (She still is tiny so was able to get a shirt!)

The same ol Boy Band Moves and Songs... to Melt your Heart!

Here is a little video to keep you Hangin Tough!!!

VOTE!

President George W. Bush fills out his ballot for the 2008 election during the early voting process from his Oval Office desk at the White House Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. Ballots cast by both the President and Mrs. Laura Bush were mailed back to Texas.

White House photo by Eric Draper

Everyone needs to get out and VOTE today! Let your voice be heard and if you don't you are allowing someone else to choose for you! Therefore you do not get to complain once it is all over. Wait however long you need to! This is important people! The President took time to VOTE so I am sure you can as well!

On another note if you vote and let the good people at Starbucks know they will give you a free cup of coffee! And at least at my Starbees the new Christmas cups are out!!! That always makes me happy!

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE

Women's National Team and my Beijing Soccer Ball!

So this summer while I was in Beijing my two new BFF's endured the craziness that was the Olympic store to get me an Olympic Soccer ball! When they got there Ju Ju called me to make sure they got the right one, there was a red one, a silver one and a gold one... she wanted to make sure I got the perfect ball! The background noise sounded like the place was under revolt and kids were way too hopped up on sugar! But I told her which one (the gold of course because I was certain our Team would bring home the Gold!) So Cody and Ju Ju retrieved the ball for me and I was OH so happy to get it!

In September Jenn flew up to travel with me to Philly to watch the Women's Team take on Ireland in their Achieve Your Goal Tour! The Lord completely covered us that night as when we walked up to the stadium I had my Beijing Soccer ball tucked under my arm, not hidden in any way and Jenn had one as well, we presented out tickets and continued in... On the other side this Dad looked at us in shock and asked how we got our soccer balls in... I told him nothing special just walked, he told us they were making everyone bring theirs back to their car! What! We took the subway 20 minutes so that could have been BAD! I think it was our good looks... so I got a handful of signatures that night and all was good!

Then I saw the team was playing in Richmond, its a much smaller stadium and a lot more opportunities for signatures... so I grabbed my friend Lauren and we headed down for the game! A friend here is actually related to one of the players husbands so made a call and Lindsey Tarpley came and sought me out after the game! She was very gracious signing the soccer ball and helped me get other signatures and a lot of pictures! So here are some photos from the night now I have a wonderful Gold Soccer ball thanks to the hard work of Cody and Ju Ju! And now I have all but 3 of the entire Olympic Teams' Signatures on it including the alternates and coach! (The three I am missing are back in college, so maybe I will make some college tours! who knows!) Here are a bunch of pics!

My Good Friend Cody! At the Great Wall in Beijing!

His wonderful Wife Ju Ju who we realized is my long lost Twin!
(I realized we somehow did not get a pic of all three of us all trip! At least on my camera...)

Lindsey Tarpley and I

Carli Lloyd and I (She scored the winning goal of the Olympics!)
(Check out my cool Soccer ball!)

Tarps BFF Heather O'Reilly and I

Aly Wagner and I

Captain Christie Rampone and I

Heather Mitts and I (She was super jealous of my soccer ball and tried to buy it off me!, she said when they went to the store there were not any there and she was super bummed! Thanks again to Cody and Ju Ju!)

Natasha Kai and I

Angela Huchles the hometown Hero!

Lori Chups and I

Nicole Barnhart and I

Brianna Scurry and I (She was the Goal Keeper in '99 who made the awesome saves against China in the World Cup!)

Rachel B and I

Back to Phi Lamb

(Katie, Alex, Me, and Courtney... TIRED!)

So this year I was given the great opportunity to step back and be involved again in Sigma Phi Lambda. The Christian sorority I was a part of all through college that I really credit to developing me into a more mature christian woman. I made my best friends through this group and had a lot of laughs! So when I received a phone call this summer to see if I "had time" to be involved in the Alumni Council for the A&M chapter I told them "have time! what! Of course I have time!"

First it was great to see how the Lord is moving me out of leadership in the Gathering an organization I have loved for so many years, and helping me out with giving me another way to serve college students, who He has given me a deep passion for. He never moves you from one ministry without giving you another way to pour out and that is so awesome!

So as a part of the Alumni Council I get to pour into three of the officers Alex the VP, Katie the Secretary and Courtney the crazy Pledge Trainer (they told me we would get along, but I don't see it...) These girls and even the other 4 have become a great part of my life this semester and I look forward to all our chats. Last month I had the great privilege to speak at their fall retreat and share with them a lot of what the Lord has taught me since I left A&M. It was a great event and I will post some pics on that soon. (as soon as I get my camera back! ~ Which is also holding the pictures to the awesome NKOTB concert that I have yet to tell you about!)... But I digress, lets just say I did 3 talks in 14 hours... 8 pm, Mid-Night and 7:30 am, and was super sick, and on top of that I TOTALLY forgot about this college thing of not sleeping. So I did not got to bed until almost 3 am... see when you are 28 this is the perfect storm for a body crash! It was almost worse on my body than a campaign! So the photo up top is the four of us getting lunch after the retreat... man do I look ROUGH on so little sleep but hey it was a great night and some great food, with a lot of bonding and some embarrassing moments only we could love (**wink, wink Alex**)... nothing is right when you are running on such little sleep... I love you girls and I am looking forward to seeing you and the others in less than 9 days!!!

A Little Bragging...

So my friend Shea was covered by CNN recently and they have a little video essay on her. So I had to brag, she is great and we used to travel together a lot. Once we had Thai food delivered to our van parked across the street from the resturaunt because we had to stay in the van. It was Shea's idea she is always thinking on her feet! So click the link and hit play in the middle of the screen.

Team Dickerson

Well folks, with the ending of my lease this month, and that whole, not knowing what I am doing next things hanging over my head... I had to find a place to live and one that would not make me sign any crazy lease, or pay a ridiculous amount of money and so on and so forth... so after much searching (and by much searching I mean I was having lunch with Ashleigh and said stink I need to figure out what I am going to do and she said you are moving in with us, and I was all okay...)

I have landed on Team Dickerson, there were many teams looking to pick me up for the final three months of the season, but alas the Dickerson's won! Ashleigh and I were in Phi Lamb together in college and both lived in the wonderful world that is the L Building in Scandia Apartments! Shout out 12 L! And we reconnected when her and Joe moved to the DC area a couple years ago. It has been great having another Aggie friend here, and living with them will be even better! So get excited for lots of fun Dickerson posts to come! The best thing is they have a Lab named Hank who is very sweet! So I get a dog for a few months! WHOOP!

Grand Central Station... and Quiet Times?

Lets be honest (I mean y'all know me, no one else reads this) I am a little weird... well lets just say weird. One of my favorite things about extended time in New York is being able to do my quiet times at Grand Central Station! Quiet and Grand Central Station is a bit of an oxy-moron, I know. But when I was growing up someone showed me this picture of Grand Central Station that just struck me. I loved it but was not too sure why.

As I got into college I took saw the picture again and the Lord showed me something in it. You can see the people moving about and going through their lives and then from the windows the light shines in illuminating the place. At that place in my life the Lord needed to remind me no matter how busy or crazy things around me got or that I myself got. His light was always shining down on me guiding my path and my way. So Grand Central Station became this amazing place of encouragement to me even before I ever saw the place!

I did not get to see it until 2005 and when I did I loved it and have ever since. Now every time I am in New York, I like to go there grab my bible, my ipod and a Venti Extra Hot No Whip Mocha from Starbucks and meet with the Lord. In the midst of the business of Grand Central Station the Lord stops me and reminds me He is the light on my life nothing I accomplish or do it, but Him and Him alone, and He is the one guiding and leading me. Its just more proof that the Lord will meet us no matter where we are!