Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas filled with joy, peace, and celebrating the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

Ours was wonderful even if we celebrated a few days early. We got to see a lot of family. I got to spend a whole night with my little nephew, Kaleb. He is just the best baby! I love him so much!

I've eaten myself sick nearly every day. January 1st marks the beginning of the "diet" again. Bleh bleh bleh.

Although this is a great and wonderful time of year .. I can only wonder what this new year will bring for us. How many dear friends will we lose this year? How many people will give birth and celebrate life? What job will I get this year? Will we buy a house finally? Will we get pregnant?

2009 has so many possibilities. So what will happen? What do you think will happen in the new year?

What are your resolutions?

Mine ...

- No Cussing
- No Drinking (even wine!) after Feb. 1
- Lose weight (really this year ... really)

I Hate You V.S.

This weekend was the weekend of all weekends for my friend A.D. She is graduating (finally) in December like I will graduate (finally) in May.

We got massages done and went to the cheesecake factory. We got some drinks and had a nice time at home after wards.

But in the middle of that, there was shopping.

We went to the Galleria, which I do not recommend on any day in December. I wanted to go to this new place to get new bras because they alter them for free and they size you correctly. I am astounded by my bra size, 34 H (U.K.) ... 34 K (U.S.). Yeah.

Anyway, I got two new bras that I absolutely love. They make me look so much thinner and make my boobs look AWESOME! So then we go to V.S. (Victoria Effing Secret)

Victoria Secret has been claiming that my boobs have been a size 38 DD for years now. Mainly so that I will some how find a bra that kind of fits me I'm assuming. They never fit correctly. I explain to them that they are too tight here, baggy there, etc. And they simply tell me that that is just the way it is. So, after getting "Holistically" sized at "Intimacy," I suddenly have a hatred for this place called V.S. because it's possible that their incorrect sizing has led to my boob problems to begin with.

But that's not all. They are a bunch of hypocrites.

Those "Angels" that model all of their outfits have huge fake boobs. And yet ... V.S. doesn't make sizes for people with big boobs. And then their workers walk around with an entitled look when you ask for something in an extra large before smirking and replying "No, we don't carry extra large. We only have extra small to large."

I don't need the "extra large" for anything else except to pour my boobs into. The dress/nightgown fit perfectly everywhere else except in the boobs. So how are you going to be a "boob store" that sells sexy lingerie that girls with perfectly skinny bodies and HUGE boobs model ... when in your stores you do not carry sizes that girls with perfectly not so skinny bodies and HUGE boobs can fit said boobs into?

Furthermore, if you have extra SMALL ... how are you going to discriminate the needs of the extra LARGE?

So, Screw you V.S.
Kiss my Huge 34 K'

Five Golden Rings!

I was tagged by my dear blogging friend Jules! I tag ... whoever wants to do this!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper! I love unwrapping presents so very much! I'm not a fan of gift bags at all! Our wrapping paper this year is "Breast Cancer Awareness Themed" It is a pretty silver shiny color with pink ribbons all over it! Aaron even likes it!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I've only ever had an artificial tree. Once we get a house, Aaron says that we can get a real one. However, I'm sure that it is going to be messy and a lot of work ... but it is also going to be AWESOME!

3. When do you put up the tree? We put it up the day after Thanksgiving. It was lighted the next day because we needed to get an extension cord. Unfortunately, Link chewed through the extension cord ... and then he chewed through the light cord. Now we are going to have to get a brand new tree for next year. Hopefully we will by a house by then ... then we can get the REAL tree!

4. When do you take the tree down? The day after new years. Aaron says that that is ENOUGH of tree time!

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Um, I liked all of the presents that I got as a child. But I guess it was probably the Topsy Tail doll I got.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Aaron

8. Easiest person to buy for? Jessica, I always know exactly what to get her!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I definitely want to get one later!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, however we aren't able to do them this year because we didn't take a good picture :(

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't think that I've ever gotten a bad Christmas card.

12. Favorite/Worst Christmas Movie? The Nightmare Before Christmas or A Christmas Story!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Since we have moved to Houston, I start early. There is no going to the malls in December ... no way.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think that I have .. but I really want to recycle this serving platter that we got that we can't fit ANYTHING in.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chicken and Sausage Gumbo!!! FOR SURE!!

16. Lights on the tree? Usually, but like I said before ... not this year since Link ate through the cords.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary Did You Know!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Traveling to Orange the weekend before Christmas. We'll have Christmas at home this year because Aaron will be working.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s? Yes, I can.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We had a bow last year ... don't have a topper this year.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? When I was younger we always talked my grandparents into letting us open them early and then we got unwrapped "santa" presents in the morning. At Aaron's parents ... we open them Christmas morning and it's wonderful!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Rude people.

23. Favorite ornaments? I like silver and black ones!

24. Stockings? Yes, but I haven't put any up this year because we don't have a Chimney

25. Take turns opening presents? Yes, we get all of our presents in big piles in front of us and then we go around the room opening the gifts one by one so that we can take pictures and ooh and ahh over everyone's gifts!

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I want new bras and a Charm bracelet!! And Peace and Joy and Happiness!

Jtv Suicide

I'm not sure if any of you have been paying attention to the news, but a few days ago (Wednesday Afternoon) a 19 year old college student from Florida died from an over dose on his bed while broadcasting it live over Jtv (Justin.tv.)

As a person who used to broadcast my life over the internet for a few months ... this story really resonates with me. I can not believe that a) he talked about this before the act occurred and no one tried to stop him, b) he laid there dying in his bed for HOURS and no one tried to stop it, c) the people in the chat room egged him on saying that he should take more pills and no one tried to stop it.

I think that the people that did that in the chat room should be accomplices to murder. That's right, murder. By not immediately calling the police they helped him commit suicide. His blood should be permanently on their hands. They should mourn his death ... the death that they could have stopped.

But they don't.

The boy, Abraham Briggs, posted his suicide note on "bodybuilders.com" before taking the pills. The people that post on that site have said things like "He was a troll, he has said that he was going to do that numerous times, that whole video is fake, EMS guys don't look like that when they come to help someone, those cops totally looked fake, No one busts down a door like that, Good riddance, this guy deserves all he gets." Etc.

Really? That is a human life that is being talked about! I just can not believe that all of these people do not think that their actions could have saved his life, or even care that their actions could have saved his life.

Here is a time line that I found on "bodybuilder.com" from a guy from India that finally got a hold of the police. He was from INDIA.

- CandyJunkie creates thread telling Misc. he'll overdose himself again on drugs live on Justin.tv
- CandyJunkie posts the amount of drugs he's going to take
- Mods don't take it seriously because of his past trolling
- People egg him on
- CandyJunkie posts a copied suicide note
- People keep egging him on
- He pops the pills and goes to sleep
- He breathes for a few hours, people think he's going to be alright and keep joking and trash talking on his JTV log.
- Some time later many people realize he was not moving.
- I find his personal details through E-detectivery, I figure out his name and number and location.
- Personal details posted on Misc. I request people to call the cops because I live in India and had no way to make International calls all by myself.
- People tell me he's a troll and nobody calls. Staberella especially is quite a huge cynic and says that he wasn't going to die on that kind of drugs, she insists nothing is going to happen and that people should just gtfo of the thread.
- I send an email to Miami Police on their official email on their website, Email not functioning!
- I call Miami Police from my dad's phone and speak to at least three cops and one person from the 911 line (whatever it is) for over 8 minutes about the situation, the people there do not take the case seriously and tell me to call the sheriff of his county, and give me the sheriff's number even after I told them I was speaking from a different country and that this was an emergency.
- I post the sheriff's number on the Misc. thread
- People tell me to quit worrying and that they're 100% sure its a loop and he's just fraudin'
-calls the Broward County Sheriff's office and speaks to them about the situation along with a couple of other people. By the time I called, it turns out 3 people had already called them about it.
- People wait for the cops to bust in on the JTV cam.
- Some people start thinking nobody called the cops, at least 5 more people call the cops, they were told the cops were on it
- 25 minutes after the first call to the cops, the cops bust in. They cover the webcam
- People speculating whether he's dead or not
- Friends post messages on his myspace worried about him, no response from him.
- His best friend posts a thread on the Misc. and informs the people that he's dead.
- Some people still think it's a bluff

RIP Abraham Biggs.

He lied there for 8 HOURS. These people watched him die for 8 HOURS. I just can't fathom that. I honestly can not believe that people did not try to get help after they watched him take the pills that he was taking. Instead, they told him that he needed to take more pills. This is the human race. I am disgusted.

Save Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies is an AMAZING show on Wednesday Nights at 7pm central time.

The ABC big heads aren't sure whether or not to cancel it and are waiting to find out how the ratings go after the election. It's been preempted the past two weeks because of Dancing with the Stars and the CMAs. But it's coming back this Wednesday and they are really looking to see if the viewing goes up!

The show is about a pie-maker named Ned who has a gift/curse. He can touch anything that is dead and bring it back to life. However, if he brings it back to life for more than a minute, something else around it dies for good. He works with a P.I. solving murder cases by touching the dead bodies, asking who killed them, and then touching them again before the minute is up. However, things get a little sticky when his childhood love is found dead. He touches her but can't bring himself to touch her again and causes the funeral director to die instead. Thus is the love story of Ned & Chuck! He can never touch her again because if he does she will die permanently.

It's so beautiful and fairy tale-ish and wonderful! Every episode leaves me with a smile afterwards!

SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WATCH WEDNESDAY NIGHT 7pm CENTRAL TIME!

Ignorance.

I just checked my SAM (University) email account and I had an email from another student (one that I have never met, nor care to meet) telling me that I should vote for Proposition 8.

First, let me remind everyone that I am in the state of Texas. Let me also mention that our proposition 8 has nothing to do with the email that she ignorantly sent out. Our proposition 8 involves clarifying rules on taking out a second mortgage on a house.

The email that she sent out was about Proposition 8 for California. It talks about same sex marriage being taught in schools.

She's an idiot, obviously.

So I sent her an email back:
Johanna,

First things first, I think that you should take into consideration the beliefs of the other university students that you have sent this email to before sending a mass email to every address that begins with a letter "a" on campus.

Personally, I think that you should realize that Proposition 8 in Texas has absolutely nothing to do with this Proposition 8. In fact, this proposition 8 deals with California laws, not ours. Our prop 8 for the state of Texas clarifies rules involved in taking out second mortgages. So, not only has this email that you have sent out probably offended some people, but it also is completely irrelevant to our state issues or propositions. I am a christian woman married to a loving husband, however, I am not afraid of how I will explain same sex marriages to my children. I am not naive enough to believe that my future children will come across an issue or a question involving same sex parents. It's just the way that it is going to be. Instead of passing around insulting emails that force one set of beliefs on other unsuspecting people, perhaps you should try thinking about what you would say to a child if a situation like this is broached. There is no reason to get crazed or upset about something like "same sex marriage", because it is a right that is being given to more people every day. I am not saying that you should embrace it as your own belief at all, however, I do think that you should keep your beliefs to yourself and chose not to send out biased emails in the future.

Once again, this proposition has absolutely nothing to do with our state propositions. So for the most part this is an erroneous email. However, in the future, I hope that you will remember that you could offend other people by sending out your own political views. If you agree with this, fine! But I find it rude and pretentious to think that the other people that you sent this email to has the same views on the matter.

-- Rachel
____________

Their stories are great

We went to borders today so that I could make a list of a lot of the books that I wanted to check out at the library. It's much easier for me that way.

Moving on to the library, I sat in front of the computer for a good while trying to find all the books that I put on my list. Most of them weren't in .... but somehow I ended up checking out 10 books anyway!

While I was flipping through one of them ... a plane ticket fell out.
It was shoved in the middle of the book and left.
Does that mean that she didn't finish the book? Why not? Did she get side-tracked on her vacation? (I say she because the name on the ticket was Jeanne)

Library books are so interesting because they have their own stories.

They've been in so many people's houses.

How many bedrooms or living rooms? Bathrooms?
How many have taken bathes with their readers? Or soothed one of their readers?

How many tears have fallen on the pages of these books?
How many have been used as a weapon? Or used as a pillow?
How many have been lost and then thankfully found?

If only the library books could talk ... I bet their stories would be better than the best selling author that they represent.

The Wind Will Be Blowing

Dear Gustav,

As I sit here calmly writing this letter to a Tropical Storm that could turn into a category 3 hurricane by the time it makes land fall, I am sure that people are lining up at the pump and raiding their local walmart for food and water. Hell, that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now via Aaron's orders. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm not afraid of you.

Yeah, you can blow some winds and we can have some rains ... but I live up in the Northern part of Houston and I don't think that there is going to be a problem. Hell, you will probably just hit New Orleans to try and finish them off.

I'm sure it's not your fault. I blame the News for making people so crazy. All they do is track this storm. It's five days from a possible hit at the moment. You aren't even in the Gulf yet! Who knows what is going to happen ... you could see the Gulf Coast's ugly face and run for the hills for all we know at this point.

But, I have a few requests:

If you do hit the gulf coast of Texas in the Port Arthur, Nederland, Beaumont, Orange area ... here are a few things that I think that you should keep in mind.

1. My grandpa is an old man. He likes living by himself and therefore, if you destroy his house ... it would be devastating.
   
2. Amanda does not need any more relocation from a storm. Rita was stressful on Joey and her last time (what with Rita killing Joey's father and all) and they just painted their house. Leave them alone.
3. Don't mess up Jessica's dad's house again. Seriously. They are going through enough right now ... they do not need more house renovations when they are still trying to pay for funeral expenses.
4. For that matter don't mess up Jessica's mom's house either. They are trying to be able to sell that so that they will be able to have money for the boys. Don't mess it up ... I don't think that Jessica could take more stress.
5. Aaron's parent's house had a tree fall on it thanks to your friend Rita. Don't let that happen again. Also, I know that there aren't many trees left on their property after Rita ... but Aaron will not be able to go and help them so please don't make a big mess. They have lives ... and they don't need to deal with a storm.
   

Alright. That sounds good. I don't think that I have much else to request.

So do your thing. Spin your winds. Rain all you want. But take heed of those requests please.

Thanks,
Rachel Allen

Password Protected

On my way to school a couple of days ago a topic on the radio caught my attention. Roula (the lady DJ) needed to check her email on her boyfriend of five months blackberry. He knew her email address and then asked for her password. She said that it was not that he really wanted to know her password ... but the look on her face when he asked made him wonder what was the big deal about the password.

Everyone that called in seemed to have the same views. Your password is your own. No one should have your password. You shouldn't give it to anyone, not even your spouse or long-term boyfriend.

I just have to shake my head at all of this. What does it matter?

Aaron knows my passwords and all of the websites that I go to are usually saved already. Therefore, every time that Aaron brings up GMAIL he is able to go into my inbox. But even if it didn't come up he still knows it.

He even wrote all of his passwords down in case I needed them if something were to have happen to him or something like that.

So what's the big deal? Why all of the secrecy? I mean, the people had some good reasons ... most had been seriously burned by their significant other, etc. But I just don't think that it's that big of a deal.

Is it because I don't have anything of importance?
Is it because I completely trust Aaron?
Is it because I don't care?

Hm.

Life or Death?

Coming from the great (?) state of Texas, I've been brought up thinking that the death penalty is something that is a natural occurrence. You do the crime, you pay the price right?

About a month ago, my best friend's mother was murdered by her estranged husband after coming home one night. After I found this out, it was almost all that I could think of. I mean, he deserved to die, right? He parked his car a few blocks down and waited in a closet until she came into the room and then he jumped out and shot her in the face. Premeditation. Then, he moved into the living room where her friend was going to be spending the night and shot at her three times, hitting her once in the leg. After he hit her in the leg, she begged him for her life and he shot at her again. He's a dangerous man. He deserves it. Right?

I've struggled with this over the past month because I don't feel comfortable condemning a man to death. Who am I to judge? God has his judgment day and he will definitely pay for his crimes for eternity.

So last Friday I picked up Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. In case you don't know what it's about I'll give you a synopsis.

A man is charged with the murder of a cop and his step daughter. He is charged with possible sexual abuse because he is found with the seven year old girl's panties in his pocket. He, of course, is sentenced to death row. Eleven years later, he is moved to a new prison and is told that he will be put to death in two months time. As soon as he arrives on the I-Tier, miracles start to happen. The water in their section of the prison turns to wine, a piece of bubble gum is able to be split between all of the inmates, a man with aids seems to be healed, etc. Because of this everyone starts freaking out. Some think that he is the Messiah others think that he is the devil. But the main thing that he wants to do is to donate his heart to the 11 year old sister of the girl that he was charged with murdering. It turns into a court battle because he has been sentenced to lethal injection and that will stop his heart which will make it impossible to harvest for the girl.

It's an amazing story. I honestly could not put it down. It was very controversial for me as well because I felt sorry for the man on death row, which really got me thinking.

I don't think that it's right of me to want to condemn a man to death. Isn't that quite hypocritical of me? Committing a murder because someone committed a murder? Of course it's also an issue with money. I don't see why tax payers want to let a man sit in prison for eleven plus years, paying for the food of a dead man. So is it really worth it? Don't you think that God is going to have his judgment day?

Life in prison, heck, two, three, or four life sentences. That should do it. The men in that prison will probably do a lot of damage to him over the course of his time in prison. Right?

What are your opinions on the matter? Life or Death? Death or Life? Is the death penalty hypocritical? Could you do it? Could you sentence someone to death and live the rest of your life knowing that you took it into your hands to end another person's life?

People Watching

Waking up at 4:45 was actually easy. Even when I only had less than an hour of sleep because of the excitement of watching my best friend try out for America's Next Top Model.

I knew that there was going to be tons of people to watch. But it was still surprising every time a new one came up.

There were people that were shorter than 5'7". (Even though the rules specifically prohibited it)

There was a girl in a see-through ball gown.

Two girls in bathing suit tops and jeans.

A few girls that were a little bit too heavy to be considered even a "plus-sized" model.

There was a girl that had blonde hair and about 6 inches of black roots.

And those were only the people that were trying out!

I wasn't able to sit with Jessica in the line, so I found myself a seat next to a nice couple. We ended up saving each others seats if one had to get up to go to the bathroom or run down to target to get something. Which brings me to my next observation:

People are stupid!

If I'm sitting there and there is stuff in the three chairs next to mine ... do you REALLY think that no one else is sitting in those chairs?

I can't even remember how many times I was asked; even by the same people.

I wanted to be like, "No, no one is sitting there ... I just thought that I would make myself at home in this mall and throw everything around like it were my own bedroom." Or "Yes, my three imaginary friends are sitting there."

Jeez people, I think it's pretty obvious. It would be different if nothing was in the chair and people asked ... but jeez!

Anyway.

The casting call was more like a big cattle call.

They would bring in 50 girls at a time and they would have to stand in front of the camera and say their name, age, height, and weight. Then they would pick 2-3 girls out of that entire group (VERY VERY Tall and Thin girls) and then tell the rest of them that they needed to hurry up and get out of the door.

It was a decent experience though. I just wish that they would have actually gotten to know some of the girl's personalities. I don't see how they are going to pick girls that are worth watching if they don't even know how their personality is.

People watching was fun though.
This blog is for Gordon :)

Stay Tuned

ANTM blog tomorrow.

Today's been an exciting day for people watchers everywhere.

However, I think that I am far to exhausted to string together sentences.

Tomorrow.
I promise.

Dreams

So, I've been having these really explicit pregnancy dreams.

Like, I'm pregnant and about to give birth.

I'm really really excited about it all and I feel as if we (the baby and me) have a really good connection. In fact, the labor doesn't even hurt. (Aaron says, "Well then you know it's a dream")

Last night's dream, everything was going wonderful and according to plan. I was just sitting around with the rest of the family and waiting for the doctor to get there. I kept rubbing my belly and was SUPER excited to meet the little one!

It was interesting. Very interesting.

What do you guys think it means?

The Beard

OK, I have a confession to make.

I think that I'm afraid of body hair on a man.

Chest hair, facial hair, back hair (gag).

Luckily, Aaron doesn't have any of this! Something to do with his American Indian background or something of the sort, either way it works for me!

What brought this about you might ask?

I've been reading Fourth Comings by Megan Mccafferty and she has this entire description about a guy's beard. She refers to it as "The Beard" as if it's its own entity. Isn't that weird? So the entire time that I'm reading this part ... I'm really thinking about my dislike of hair. And it starts to gross me out.

Then I start thinking about how a few years ago I was hanging out with Jessica and her boyfriend at the time, and his friend and his friend's girlfriend. His friend had a bread. Like a massive beard. And his girlfriend always talked about how it smelled like a sweaty vagina. A SWEATY VAGINA ON HIS FACE! Isn't that disgusting?

So, I start thinking about how I used to date Michael and how he had facial hair and chest hair ... how did I live with that for such a long time? Ew Ew Ew.

Facial Hair even makes Ryan Gosling look less hot.

I think that all of this is the benadryl talking. But as for now, I'm thankful that the hubby does not have "the beard."

Sick

In more than one sense of the word.

I'm actually sick. With a cold. I think. I mean, if it's a cold that makes me want to take off my nose and suck all of the yucky stuff out and then somehow remove my throat so that I can't feel it being itchy, then yeah ... that's what I have.

In other news, I've been looking for really good blogs to read lately. I've found a couple that are hilarious and family friendly. Sometimes I read their exploits aloud to the hubby and we both get a huge kick out of others misfortune. I've also found some more "raunchy" blogs. One "AlwaysArousedGirl" catches me fancy. She discusses her sexual exploits, toys, and even the occasional blog about her divorce and her little girl.

One post that I found extremely interesting was the post about a "SaSI." Apparently, it's a small egg shaped vibrator that can "remember" things. That's right ... it knows what you like! And repeats it for you the more that you use it!! So, the naughty, I'm sick and have drugged myself with Benadryl, side of me peeks at the website just to see how much this thing costs ... 185.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT?!?!?!

$185.00 for plastic pleasure? I think not.

Although, now that I am considering it ... maybe showing this little bad boy to Aaron will make him to do the deed far more often. I KNOW he won't be paying 185 for my pleasing needs ... which can only mean that he'll try harder to not have to pay anything!

Chopped off the hair

New picture of the lovers

I Will NOT Be Walked All Over!

As I've mentioned before ... I'm sick of older people thinking that just because of my age they can walk all over me. Or any one else my age for that matter.

I went to get gas today and found a great one! The gas everywhere else was 3.99 but this one was 3.85! I was like "Sweet Sweet!" Well of course there was a lot of people there so I pulled in behind an SUV that was getting gas behind another SUV. The one that was in front eventually pulled out and I was going to pull in to their spot but another SUV pulled in facing the SUV that I was behind.

No biggie right? Well, the SUV that I was behind finally pulled out so I went to pull into the spot behind her and start getting gas. Unfortunately, the older lady in the other SUV pulled ALL THE WAY UP into BOTH spots to get gas.

OK, well she wouldn't have done that if I were a man. She wouldn't have done that if I were an older woman like her. She would have somehow made it work so that both of us could get gas. But she didn't ... she was a bitch.

I got out of my car and was like "Maam, I need to get gas too!" She was like "Well, I've been here longer." I was like "Well, you need to move your car back a little ... there are TWO pumps and we both need to get gas." She was like "It won't REACH." So I was like "Well, then you either need to learn how to drive that huge gas guzzler of yours, or you need to get a smaller car so that you can fit into tight spots and not have to get gas as much." And then I got back in my car.

Well, as I get into my car, she starts running her mouth. I got BACK out of my car and said "WHAT did you say!? What did you say!?!?" Well, she just turned her back to me and so I was like "That's what I thought ... TURN around." And then I got back in my car.

The people that were on the opposite side of the pump finally pulled out and so I moved around and got gas on that side. The entire time that I was out of my car, she had nothing to say to me. It wasn't until she was leaving that she rolled down her window and yelled "You better hope your MOMMA doesn't know that you are out this late ... Wouldn't want you to go off and get PREGNANT." (It was 7:30 btw.)

I start SCREAMING after her car, "I DON'T NEED MY FUCKING MOMMA TELLING ME WHERE I CAN AND CAN'T GO YOU FUCKING COWARD. GET OUT OF YOUR CAR AND SAY SOMETHING TO ME."

But no ... she just drove away.

I was LIVID!

I think that my cheeks are STILL flushed and that was an hour ago!!!! But I'm just so freaking tired of people thinking that they can walk all over other people! SERIOUSLY. I don't think that! I'm courteous when I drive, I'm courteous when I'm in stores. I'm always courteous! I don't see why people just think that they can be selfish and rude and a bitch. I'm tired of all that crap! I'm not taking it anymore!! I AM NOT A DOOR MAT!

In other news:

My grandpa is having an arterial-gram tomorrow, so please pray that he won't need surgery.

Crappy Service

Well, I'm back from Nederland! The wedding that I went to was great! I wish that Aaron would have been able to make it because weddings are always so romantic! I love dancing at weddings! But it's cool, the next wedding that we are going to Aaron WILL be able to go! FOR SURE!!!

Funny story: I was going to be going to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding because I was a reader. So, I was going to be bringing two dresses with me right. Come to find out ... I didn't bring ANY! Yeah, I completely just packed my bags, pulled my dresses out of the closet and then didn't bring them downstairs to the car. IDIOT, right?! So, I ended up having to borrow clothes from two people. It worked out pretty good ... but still!

So, before I left today, I went to go and eat with my friend Amanda. We originally were going to be going to Tokeyo to eat. Which is basically the best place to get sushi EVER! It's freaking awesome. I haven't found a better place in Houston. But, apparently neither of them were open. Something about plumbing issues? So we ended up going to Olive Garden.

I think that I'm about done with that place. Seriously. Earlier in the week, Paula and I went to eat at the Olive Garden up here. It took 20 minutes before someone came to our table and then basically everything about the meal was wrong. So, I tipped the girl a dollar. Now, I'm normally one to tip a lot more because I've been a waitress and I know how difficult it can be, but I'm starting to get freaking sick of it. Well, today was worse. It took 20 minutes for someone to come to our table and it wasn't even our waitress. It was another girl who was going to take our drink orders. She brings back the drinks and I'm like "Well, when is OUR waitress going to be here, because we are pretty freaking hungry." The girl was like "Oh, she's on the way." If on the way is 10 minutes later ... then okay. So, she takes our order (I ordered Spaghetti with meat sauce on whole wheat pasta) and then I tell her that I'd like the salad dressing on the side because I don't like the Italian dressing. When she finally gets around to bringing us the salad ... she's like "oh, they put the dressing on your salad." I'm pretty sure that the waitress should be the one to make the salad, so she was either making excuses, or she's too "in the weeds" to even make our salads. We had to ask every time that we needed something to drink, one time I noticed that there was a water pitcher by our table, so I ended up getting up and getting it myself. When we FINALLY got our food, another person brought it to us and my pasta was NOT whole wheat. So, that guy was like "Oh, sorry, she messed up." I was like "Well, she's messed up a lot." So he was like, "Ohh ... I'll get the manager." So the manager comes and takes back my plate and brings back the whole wheat pasta. Etc. etc. etc.

I was pissed! The lady barely came over to us ... she never would check to see if we needed anything else. We weren't asked if we wanted more Salad. Nothing. So it finally got down to bill time ... and I had had ENOUGH.

I didn't leave a tip.
And I left reasons why.
This is what I put on the back of the receipt.

"Dear Waitress,

The reason that you are not receiving a tip is because I'm not sure who it give it to:
1) The girl that brought us the drinks
2) The guy that brought us the food
3) Or the manager that had to fix all of the mistakes that you made.

Next time, try to be more ATTENTIVE!

Amanda couldn't believe that I'd done that. But seriously!!! I'm so freaking sick of that crap. First of all, I hate when Aaron and I don't get waited on very well because we are seated next to an older couple and so the waiters seem to fawn over them the entire time. HELLO, we are probably going to tip you way better than they are because we understand where you come from!!

So, if you are a waiter ... pay attention to EVERYONE. Who knows what might come out of it.

A perfect size What??

Remember these Sweet Valley books from our youth? I can remember the library having every single one of them and me being able to read them all in succession. I think that I might have enjoyed the college years better ... but whatever.

Anyway, these were first published in 1983 and are now being re-vamped.

Notice anything different about the covers?

Instead of newspapers, there will now be cellphones and blogs.

And those skinny little twins have gone on a diet. From an original "perfect size 6" to a now "perfect size 4."

Maybe this is just vanity sizes and they actually still mean a perfect size 6. Granted, I haven't ever found a vanity pair of jeans ... maybe that's because I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on them. Who knows. All I do know is that I still go in and come out just as disappointed.

Some people are saying that actually a perfect size 6 from way back then would probably be more of a 1-2 by now. So does this mean that the twins have gained weight? No way. Not these perfect specimens of blonde goddess beauty.

Are they going to remake these again in another 20-30 years or so? I guess then they will have to re-invent the twins again. "Perfect size -2 anyone?"

Shhh

I know that I'm guilty of this as well ... therefore, as a new years resolution in May, I'm going to try to stop.

Stop what? Stop the Gossip!

I think that as a twenty-three, nearly twenty-four year old, I think that it's time to move on from the petty gossip.

It's starting to be a big turn off when I get together with a group of people and all that they (we) can do is talk about other people.

It's not even worth it. It's not very Christian like, and so I've decided to try not to do it anymore.

It's going to be hard, it's going to be really hard in fact, but hopefully it can be something that I can mature with and grow out of.

What about everyone else? Want to jump on the bandwagon with me?

What ever happened to reading books?

Today I was talking to one of my fellow classmates that is going through methods. I asked her about her experience in a Conroe ISD setting because if things go as planned, then I will also be working in the Conroe ISD for my methods.

She told me that the teacher that she has a great teacher but that she doesn't agree with a lot of the things that she is doing.

She teaches JUNIORS. Their research paper is as follows:

Write a research paper over Romanticism. They watched "The Last of the Mohicans" which was actually WRITTEN by James Fenimore Cooper who is a Romantic writer. Now, they have to write a 5 paragraph paper over Romanticism by using one of the following MOVIES: Harry Potter (not romanticism), LotR (not romanticism), The Last of the Mohicans, The Patriot, & The Princess Bride.

JUNIORS!!!!!

Also, she has laid it all out for them. She has written what they should say on their first line ... then where they should go from there. WHAT THE F***!

Those poor kids are going to have the biggest wake up call of their LIVES when they get into college. That teacher should be brought out and shot. A freaking ENGLISH TEACHER and she would rather her students watch a movie instead of read a novel.

Seriously, what happened to reading books?

Bit with the Home Work Bug

I'm not sure what got into me this weekend but I got a whole bunch of stuff accomplished!

Proud! :)

I had been putting off my geography work; who knows why exactly. But not any more! Now, the only thing that I have left is the Final!!

I've been doing my C.S. work online just week by week like we are supposed too. But, I finished all of the weekly work that I had left and submitted it. Then I emailed her to get her to open up the rest of the tests; hopefully she will do that on Monday. And then I will need to get the tutorials done so that I can do the extra credit work. Fun times!

I also read the story that I needed to read for Tuesday for my American Literature class. Seriously, I'm on the freaking ball!

I have a lot of stuff to do for the next few weekends, so it really feels good to get a lot of this stuff done. Now, I will be able to just enjoy myself these next couple of weekends and not have to worry about getting all of this homework done.

I think that I am also going to work on my power point tonight. Once that is finished, then I won't have any more to work on for the rest of the week really.

I am also starting my new work out regime tomorrow. It's a 12 week program. Aaron is going to be my "trainer." I made him a deal ... if I lose 40 lbs then I get to get a tattoo. This is what I'm wanting ... except on my side:


Awesome hm?!

I don't live on a farm!

I was watching Big Brother the other night and one of the guys was from Texas. Actually, he was from Port Neches; which is the town right next to the town that I grew up in.

So WHY did they show a cow mooing before they showed his house?

It annoys me to no end when people think that Texans ride horses every where they go and live on farms/ranches.

We Don't!!
And it's kind of ignorant of you to think that we do. I also hate when they have movies about Texas and every one has that annoying "southern accent." Yeah, There are some people that have that accent but a lot of us don't! I don't, Aaron doesn't, none of my friends do, none of his friends do.

When I went to California and would say where I was from I always got the "What?! You don't sound like you are from Texas." Good! I think that it makes you sound stupid when you over work your jaw. Do you think that it's cute? It's not! No wonder people think that we have tumbleweeds rolling across our dry lands ... I would think the same thing if when I tried to talk to people they spoke so hick.

Anyway ... that's my rant of the weekend!

What a cry baby!

Aaron called me out the other day: "Rachel, you have been crying a lot lately."

And it really got me thinking, "holy crap he's right!"

I cry about freaking everything!! I don't really even know why! Yes, I have watched sad things on television and stuff like that but seriously it's too much. I cry over songs on the radio, I cry over dog commercials, I cry over The Biggest Loser, I cried when they talked about "Beaches" today on Entertainment Tonight.

Aaron said that he was watching a Dr. Phil show where a girl was talking about how much she cried, and he said that it was something having to do with her hormones.

What does this mean for me? I can only imagine that when I get pregnant if someone cuts me off in traffic I'm going to start bawling!

Weird Weird Weird.

Any thoughts? Do you guys cry as much as I do?

Wow ... You are a dick!

Sunday afternoon Aaron and I went over to his "friend's" house. I was hoping that Aaron would find some nice guys to hang out with and then I'd be able to make friends with their girlfriends/wives etc.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how good this plan is going to go since I can't STAND one of his friends.

He is the biggest asshole I think anyone could ever meet. It really sucks because he does have a lot of the same interests as Aaron and I do ... but I just can't get over how much of a dick he is.

Basically, this guy moved down here from somewhere up North with his girlfriend of six years. He moved here because of his job ... she didn't have one at first. Although, she's right to finally get a job since he apparently can't get over that issue. He has this whole "shtick" that goes something like "raise your hand if you have a job ... if you don't, then you don't get a say in the matter."

He said this quite a few times while I was there. Along with, "Man, I can't believe that you are married Aaron, that's probably the stupidest thing you could have done. Now you will NEVER have money ..." blah blah blah. Another of his favorite phrases is "Who's paycheck is completely spent?!"

So finally I called him out on it:

Me: "How is your paycheck spent already?"
Asshole: "Well, it's like this, When you have a person that lives with you but doesn't WORK then you have to pay for EVERYTHING."
Me: "Oh no, You can't use that excuse because first of all, your girlfriend DOES work, and second of all, I DON'T and Aaron has plenty of money left over at the end of the month."
Asshole: "Well I have a house payment"
Me: "Not my fault you bought a house"
Asshole: "Two car payments"
Me: "It's not my fault that you decided to buy two new cars if you don't have enough money to pay for it.
Asshole: "Credit Card bills ... THAT beautiful new television"
Me: Nope, can't use that ... we've already paid off our credit card bills and our brand new television"
Asshole: (starting to get uncomfortable) "Come on Doug .. Aaron ... back me up"
Other guys: Oh no way ... this is NOT something that I'm going to get into. You've really crossed the line dude.

Eventually, once he realized that I wasn't going to back down he finally started being nice. But I don't really think that I am going to be too excited about hanging out with him anytime soon. No freaking way!

In other news: For some reason I can't sign up for my math class ... Does SHSU hate me!?

Kill Me Now

As the semester rears its ugly head to a close, I once again wish myself a quick death. I know ... I know ... "But Rachel, you only have a little bit left!" Which is true, but it does not make things easier.

There should be a pill that I can take that will make me WANT to do the things that I need to do for school. Instead, I sit online looking at other people's blogs and checking my myspace every two minutes.

I'm on serious burn-out mode, and it just got worse. I found out that I will now have to take both summers again. Two in Summer 1 and One in Summer two (or vice versa ... depending on how I feel). I was so looking forward to being able to take that little break during Summer 2 ... go on vacation with Aaron ... spend time with family and friends ... etc. But now, I will be once again be spending every single day driving back and forth to Huntsville.

If my university was just up the road it would not be a problem! I might even be happy to go because it's not like I don't like all of the classes that I am in or am going to be taking. I think that this is why I'm glad that Methods is coming up so soon. If things go as planned (which they usually don't but I feel that I need to keep an open mind) then I will be taking my Methods in Willis which is only 20 minutes away. I will also only being going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays again (the most ideal school schedule imaginable) which will leave me open for much needed rest and substitution. It's just getting to August 08 that is going to be the long haul.

Who knows, maybe summer school won't be so bad since I will barely have enough time to get tired of it. We can only hope ... and pray ... and possible sacrifice a virgin so that I may keep my sanity.

My favorite place on Earth

Things to do before I die:

Get Married
Graduate
Go to California
etc.
etc.
etc.

I am officially able to mark off another goal of mine and I'm still sitting in a state of euphoria as I write this.

California was absolutely A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! It was pretty much everything that I expected it to be and more.

For those that don't know ... I went out there to meet a friend of mine that I've only known online. We've talked to each other for almost 10 years now and finally were able to meet each other in person. She is incredible! We had such a fun time together, it was like getting to meet up with a best friend that you hadn't seen in a long time!

Normally, after a couple of days somewhere away from my husband I am ready to go home. Not the case when I'm soaking up the California sun. I really did not care to come back to Texas at all! I would have much rather had Aaron fly out there and we could just start a whole new life in the happiest place on Earth.

We did a lot of fun things ... we were on The Price is Right ... tune in April 2nd because we will definitely be on television. The girl two over from me and the two ladies directly behind us got picked to be on the show.

Tuesday we were so exhausted from TPIR we hung around the house and went shopping a bit.

Wednesday we went to Disney land which was freaking AWESOME!!!



Thursday we went shopping some more and then went and had a fantastic time with the SPAZMATICS!


Friday we went to Cartoon Network where I took a picture with the guy that does the voice of Master Shake on ATHF and then went down to the Santa Monica Promenade.


Saturday was my last day there and went down to the Chinese Theatre to take a couple of pictures and then we went to the Harry Potter store! (Which was awesome!) Then unfortunately I had to go home.


Now, I've just gone back to the usual ... watching television all the time and doing nothing fun at all. I guess I just have to focus all of my attention on getting back to California as soon as possible.

Have any of you guys vacationed some place that you never wanted to leave? How'd you get over it?

What an amazing experience!

Aaron and I have been in Spring for a little over a year now and we've yet to find a real church that both of us enjoy going to.

While we were doing our "couple" classes, we went to the catholic church that was giving our classes a couple of times just to see how we'd like it.

Aaron is Catholic, I'm not. However, I'm not opposed to going to a Catholic church. In fact, I enjoyed going to his church back in Orange.

This church that we went to, however, did not give me the same kind of feeling.

1) I never wanted to get out of bed to go and sit in a crowed service where people were not considerate enough to use the "cry room" for their obnoxious children.
2) The main priest was a boisterous man and I always felt that he was yelling at me. In fact, one afternoon before one of our meetings, he WAS yelling and screaming at a group of kids. I understand that the kids were being disrespectful during mass but he was taking it a bit to far.
3) We only actually heard the original priest twice. Then there was "guest" priests, none of whom I understood. Which meant that I spent the entire service picking at my nails, people watching, and feeling uncomfortable since I wasn't supposed to be "kneeling" with the others nor taking communion.

So we stopped going. Through out our time here I've always seen commercials for this church in the Woodlands called "Fellowship of the Woodlands." The services look fun and entertaining as well as give a good message and it seems like a great environment to raise children in. I've been wanting to go for a while, but Aaron's schedules or us going back and forth to Nederland/Orange kind of hindered that.

This weekend Jessica came down and her ex boss and his wife live in The Woodlands and go to that church. She was able to get someone to work for her at her own church so that we could go together to this one and let Aaron and I try it out to see how we liked it.

I'm going to stop the story here and give a bit of some back story:

I was raised "baptist" but I'm not really a practicing Baptist. I like to dance, I enjoy drinking with friends, etc. When Jessica started going to "Church on the Rock" back in Nederland I went with her a couple of times and really enjoyed myself. I thought that the sermons really hit home a lot of the time and the way that the preacher gave the sermon made it easier to relate to. Also, I found myself in tears EVERY single time that I went to church there. I can only imagine that this was God trying to talk to me and tell me that I needed something like this in my life and that He was going to show me the way.

Back to the main blog now:

So, we went up to the church, which has its own street out in The Woodlands, and people have to direct traffic because thousands and thousands of people attend. The church has its own book store and coffee shop/restaurant. The landscape is beautiful and there are two huge fountains that people get baptized in. We met up with Alton (Jess's ex boss) and Robin in the book store and looked around a bit before we went into the main sanctuary. Upon entering the main sanctuary, I was floored. There was people everywhere! It was like a convention center on the inside with a huge stage, big screen televisions to broadcast what is going on on the stage, as well as a band and singers.

The sermon began with Praise and Worship, which I absolutely love! I would LOVE to be in a church choir at some point in time in my life! It was like a concert and very awe inspiring. Then the preacher, Kerry Shook, came up on the stage. He talked about how him and his wife had ran a half marathon the weekend before and they had a video up about it ... "to show proof that they really did it", the video was hilarious and I loved the way that him and his wife treated each other. They wanted to do the marathon and cross the finish line hand in hand and they did just that!

This month's sermons revolve around one topic: The Biggest Loser. Which basically means "What are you going to lose by becoming a Christian and how to be a big loser." Last weeks sermon was about losing fear, which I really would have liked to have seen ... but this weeks sermon was about running your "own" race.

Aaron and I have been trying to work out and eat healthy in the New Year, therefore this sermon really hit home almost immediately ... but then it got better!

He talked about how God set each of us up with our own race and our own race track, but that we always try to compare our races (lives) to other peoples. He said that while they were running the half marathon the finish line coincided with the full marathon and there were people that ran twice as far as he did and still beat him. He said that if were comparing himself to them ... then that would have really discouraged him, but he was just comparing himself to himself ... and he was just happy that he finished without dying! This really hit home because I feel as if I always compare myself to other people, or those "hot bodies" that are on television and in magazines, when I really just need to focus on myself and the life that I'm leading and the race that I'm running.

Then he talked about letting go of the bitterness in our life and focus on the positive. This is another thing that I need to work on. I feel as if I have so much bitterness in my life that it leaves a funny taste in my mouth. I really need to expel this bitterness and have a healthier soul.

He talked about how there were obstacles that everyone had in their life ... and that some people just carried around a 45 pound weight all their life. This weight was made up of negativity and bitterness, and all of those other nasty feelings that we have about ourselves and others. Then he said that if we were carrying around a 45 pound weight ... when we came upon these other obstacles that inevitably going to come up in our lives ... that we would just stumble and not be able to recover from this obstacle. But that if we kept the weight out of our hearts then we would be able to bounce right over those obstacles in no time.

Then he showed us a video ... it was from a football movie ... something about "____ the Giants" ... I really need to look it up and watch it though. But the part that he showed had a guy that was the best player on the team and was the one that needed to lead the others but he had fallen into a rut and didn't care about practice and didn't care about his team mates. The coach made him do a "death crawl" (which has something to do with a person on your back and you have to walk across the field on only your hands and the balls of your feet.) The guy said .. "I might be able to go to the 20 yard line but that's it" and the coach told him ... "I think that you can make it to the 50 yard line ... I want you to do it blind folded and I want you to only give up when you think that you can't go ANY MORE." So he blind folded him, the other guy climbed on his back, and off they went. The entire time the guy was crying about how difficult it was and how he wasn't going to be able to do it, but the coach kept on and on about how he COULD do it and that he knew that he just had a little bit more in him ... and not to give up until he couldn't do it any longer. Finally when the boy collapsed, the coach removed the blindfold and the boy had collapsed in the end zone. He had carried a 140 lb man across an entire football field. Then he told the boy that he needed him to be a support system for this team, that if the team saw that he didn't want to do something that they wouldn't want to either, and that the coach believed in him and he knew that he would be able to do anything.

By the end of the clip, I was in tears. This also really hit home for me! Here I am complaining about how I want to lose weight, and how I'm tired of looking the way that I am ... etc etc etc. And yet what am I really doing to try and change it? When we go to work out, I basically complain the whole time ... and I'm not going to see any results doing that what so ever! Plus, I want to be a support system for my other friends, those that might have strayed from God's love, or those that have never known it. I want to be able to answer any questions that they might have, or even just be someone that they can come to if they just need someone to listen to them.

Once the service was over, I asked Aaron what he thought about everything, since he was not used to an experience like that at all. He didn't much care for the praise and worship part ... which I knew that, but he did really enjoy the sermon. His only problem was that it's hard for him to trust churches that are that big. He feels like these people might be taking money from the goers to fund their bookstores and restaurants, etc. But he did say that when he wasn't working the night before that he would go with me, and when he is working ... I will always be able to meet up with Alton and Robin, and of course Jessica when she comes back up here.

I am very interested in learning more about this church because I want to be able to be a member of a church before Aaron and I start having kids so that our children will be able to be raised in an environment such as this one. I'm also very excited about next month's series which is called "30 days to live" which focuses on what would you do with your life if you were told that you only had a month to life ... and being able to live your life like that not only for these 30 days but for the rest of your life ... which is weeks, months, years, and decades more!

Meet and Greet

Aaron and I went out to Dallas last week so that he could drive around and look at his territories. While we were there I was able to meet up with two ladies that I've been talking to on Xanga (and now Blogspot) for a while!
It was very exciting!! I've been reading Christin's blog (on the left) since around 2003 and Miss Jules (on the right) for around a year and a half or so.

We went to eat at Crackle Barrel and chatted for a while. It was really nice to put a face to their blogs (besides the pictures) and both girls are sooooo very sweet! I loved them :)

While we were there we also picked up our new little puppy! His name is Link and he's freaking adorable! Right now however, he has an ear infection :( And it makes me very upset to hear him whimper like he has been. We've got him on antibiotics and ear drops and I'm hoping that things will clear up very soon.

I can't figure out how to get the pictures of him up on here ... so you'll have to check out www.xanga.com/still_me_21 or www.myspace.com/sufirachel for them.

P.S. Everyone should see Juno!

She's gone off her rocker

As I'm sure that all of you know (due to the fact that this is the top news story) B. Spears was taken away by ambulance last night after a dispute over custody.

Apparently, B. Spears "just wanted the kids to spend the night" but since it was K. Fed's turn with the children he sent out some body guards to get the kids back. This is when B. Spears locked her self in the bathroom with the two children and refused to let the body guards in to take them.

Police were called ... of course! And the fight ensues. They had to have certain papers for the cops to be able to enter the house and take the children and once they found B. Spears, they realized that she was on some SERIOUS something. Drugs, Alcohol, over dose on her perfume? A combination of all three?

Then of course there are the videos ... a giggling hysterical Spears leaving her home in the same straps that they would have to use to hold a crazy person down with.

She's off her rocker for sure. For SURE FOR SURE. But who's fault is it? Well, of course it's the media. I mean, I'm sure that there are plenty of other people every day that are this freaking crazy that don't get on CNN or blasted all over the gossip news. Plus, I'm sure she really loves it!

There is probably an ongoing bet between L.L, P.H., and B.S. as to who can get the most head lines. Britney has always been up for the challenge! So it's official, we'll never see another up rising of the pop star ... except perhaps when she succeeds in killing herself.

(Some are claiming that is what she tried to do last night) But I seriously think that it's only then that everyone will rest. And that's really sad ... she was the most popular star EVER only a few years ago. Sad. Really Sad. Poor Brit Brit

Resolutions

Alright, Alright. New Years Resolution time. I said that I wasn't going to make any of these ... but then after reading Amanda's blog about hers ... I figured that I mine as well.

This way I can keep track of them and might actually keep them!

1) Make a healthy change in my life style: This means that I need to start watching my portion sizes, eating healthier, and trying to exercise when I can. I don't want to say "Exercise everyday" because I know that's not going to happen.

2) Really focus on school this year: I always say that I'm going to do this every semester ... but there is really no reason why I shouldn't be able to. I need to just put other priorities into play and make sure that I keep the grades up ... now is the time that I need to have good grades so that I can get into the Education program and all that jazz.

3) Try not to cuss: I think that I should start working on this now ... because I don't want to be cussing up a storm when I have a baby. I also need to watch certain things that I say, especially since there will be new babies in our families future ... I don't want to corrupt them!

4) Read as many books as possible: I'm going to try to put up the 52 books in 52 weeks thing again ... but I'm not going to get stressed out about it like I did in 2006 (where I read 60) I'd love to be able to read 80 in 08 but I don't think that it's going to happen. We'll see.

These are all that I can think of right now ... maybe I'll add some more later. We'll see! Have a great 2008 every one!!!