Veteran's Day

My sincerest thanks go out to all of those that have served in order to keep our nation free. A special thank you to all of those at Dyess and my air force boys. Love you guys!

Whew! What a weekend!

My weekend was CRAZY!! Friday night Roxie and I drove out to Buffalo Gap to Abilene State Park. Took me a little while to find Lindsey, since there are at least 90 campsites out there. Luckily I was relatively close when she finally answered her phone. I hate getting out there after it's already dark, it makes it a bit more creepy not really knowing what's around you. It was getting pretty cold, but she had a campfire going.

We roasted hot dogs, and then s'mores. Roxie didn't much care for the tie-out I had her on, it had about a five foot lead on it. She'd go to the end of it and then beg and grunt and growl. It was funny, and adorable. I slept pretty well, it was warmer inside the tent, out of the wind. Roxie also makes a very good heater. Saturday morning we made scrambled eggs and potatoes for breakfast in an iron skillet on the fire. Yum!

I drove back into town around 9:45 or so, dropped Roxie off at the house and went to Hobby Lobby to get a new mat for the photo I was submitting into the BCAA (Big Country Arts Associations) art show. Went home and put it together, took it downtown to the gallery (along with a pottery piece). Drove home, took a shower, had a sandwich and watched a little football. Went to the ACU game at 2, left at 2:45 and headed back downtown to the gallery for the announcement of the winners (I was not one), but both of my pieces were selected for the gallery show, which is good. Then back to the ACU game, which we won 47-17, took the LSC title, are 10-0, and have a bye and then at least 2 home games in the playoffs, woohoo! Also got to see my cousin Evan march in the band during halftime. He's on the far right with the drum. Back home, football craziness—Penn State losing in the last few seconds, LSU tying it up to send it into overtime and then blowing it—changed clothes and went to a party with Lindsey. Mango margaritas and fajitas (yum!), got to see Niah and Creed (two new babies of friends of mine) left there at 8:30 and caught the last few songs of the Abilene High symphony concert. They had a group called Barrage perform at the end (which is the only part we saw). Like Riverdance except they played fiddles. It was pretty awesome. Went home and watched a few minutes of the TT/OSU game (the pokes did NOT show up in Lubbock) and then crashed.

Yesterday I went to church, then watched football/read a little/napped a little. Carol and I went up to the church around 5 to take tickets for the Mercy Me/Bebo Norman show. It was completely sold out. Stood at the doors until 8 or so and then went in and found a couple of seats. I got some really awesome photos from several different angles. I've found that if you look like you're supposed to be there doing what you're doing, nobody questions you. I found an almost empty front row on the right side of the stage and got a few amazing photos (imho).

I'm tired. And it's Monday. How unfair is that?

Here are a few more shots of the concert last night!

Final thoughts (for now)

I just read a good friend's blog, and when my comment to her reached a few paragraphs, I decided I might as well just blog my response. So here are my thoughts regarding last night's monumental moment in American history.

After how many months (too many) of constant politics, I am very glad the fight is over. However, it was definitely not the outcome I was hoping and praying for. The thing that frustrates me the most, I think, is the fact that while Obama is a very gifted orator and has inspired millions of people, what is it based on? Can the country be run by a man whose eloquence--along with his race--gained him the office? And before anyone accuses me of being a racist, don't. I'm not. I'm honest. I'm afraid this election turned into a popularity contest, and for some people, just having a black president leading this country was good enough to gain their vote. I kept hearing the same things over and over again from different people. The exact same things. Can we form our own opinions, or must we just repeat the endless lines of BS fed to us by the media? If I hear one more news story on how record numbers of young people registered to vote (in order to vote Obama), I will throw up. You remember college, right? You remember being 18, right? Did you have any idea which candidate stood for what, and more importantly, where you stood on the issues? I didn't.

I am no political expert. But I know what I believe, and who I choose to believe in. Regardless of the man in office, I will continue to support my beliefs no matter what the consequences. There is worry and anxiety in my heart for the next 4 years.

I cannot imagine a society where thousands of babies will be discarded merely because they were 'unplanned.' Take responsibility people!

Talk to most people who are in the military and they will tell you that we are making progress over there, and to pull the troops now would be catastrophic.

The answer to every problem is not to throw more money at it.

How can we truly know what will happen in the next 4 years? We don't. All we can do is pray, because God is bigger than politics.

I voted!

I went to my polling place (a church right up the road from my house) and they made me take off my 'NOBama' sticker and my button. I asked why, and they said it was because there is to be 'no politicking' within the polling places. That seems ridiculous. I understand why they don't allow people with signs and stuff within a certain square footage, but seriously. It's not like I had my face painted or dressed up as John McCain. Anyway. Did you vote?! You better...you know how the saying goes: If you don't vote, you can't complain. =)

The weekend…

The Halloween party was a blast! Rab totally surprised me and drove up from Houston for the party. He apparently told everyone he was coming, except for me! I was SO excited to see him. Here he is being creepy in his creepy mask (he was a streaker). We hung out around the firepit, watched The Changeling, and had a great time! We even had some trick-or-treaters: "whoa…you're house is haunted!!" Lots of great costumes too! Have I said how much I love Halloween?

I drove up to Duncan on Saturday and then on up to Norman for the OU/Nebraska game at 7. There is seriously nothing better than sitting in a stadium full of 85,000+ screaming fans and watching your team lay it down on their opponent. It's amazing. There were, however, a few glitches in the weekend.

1. Texas losing to Tech—I freakin hate Tech. The last two games we've played in Lubbock were total crap. We were absolutely cheated out of the first one, and in the 2^nd one they knocked out our QB in the first half. I will never go back to a game in Lubbock. The Texas loss does help us in the Big 12 race as well as the National Title hunt. They play OState this weekend (in Lubbock though), so that will be a huge game. We play A&M, so that should be an easy game for us. We luckily have a bye the next week, as we'll need it for the next two games, Tech at home (thank the LORD for that) on the 22^nd and OState in Stillwater (UGH) on the 29^th. It works to our advantage though, playing two highly ranked teams. As long as our defense does its job, we may come out of those on top.
   
2. The Cowboys suck. Seriously disappointing. I wanted to watch them play at 3, so I didn't leave OK until 6:15. What a freakin waste of time.
   

On Sunday we had a giant birthday party for everybody in my family who has birthdays from Oct-Dec. There were 5 of us. I got some fantastic homemade gifts from everybody. What a crazy artistic family I have! It's awesome.

I'm tired, and looking forward to a weekend home (my first in awhile). Hopefully the week will fly by…

One more thing. Only in the BCS can you beat the hell out of your opponent and drop 2 spots in the polls. $*#@!(*&#($^@#)$.