a year in review (part 1)...

HO.LY. COW!!!  It is only one day away from being 2012.  Where does the time go!?  I have decided that a good way to end this year is by blogging, because this is something I want to do more of next year.  So, why not do a year in review...I will make this in two parts, the first half of the year and the last half of the year, otherwise I will be sitting here typing all morning.  Also, I feel it is most appropriate to include as many pictures as possible because that is how I remember what went on in the year...my memory is bad
! So...here goes nothing! 

JANUARY
Oh January, a month full of such hope and anticipation, such mystery and wonder, such left over holiday weight and plans to go to the gym...
So how did I start 2011...with a trip to Fuzzy's!!!!!

I can honestly think of no better way to start a year....can you!?  After this, I really don't have any pictures from January or any huge memory of things that happened, so on to the next...

FEBRUARY
Oh February...a month filled with such love and blah, blah, blah. 
February started out with this...

And several more days just like it followed.  This also brought a plethora of snow days...5 to be exact!  It sounds wonderful, but being stuck in a house for 5 days is kind of boring!  Here are a few others from "snowmageddon".

This was my backyard!

I watched these movies while trapped!

Also during this time, I did make it over to my friend Suzi's house where I watched Star Wars for the very first time...there is no photographic evidence of this, but it did happen!

I also got to wear my fabulous Christmas present from my sister in February & here it is....

I think the best part of wearing this was all my students reactions...they didn't know if they should take me seriously or not.  But have no fear, I totally intend on wearing this bad boy again in 2012!

MARCH
Oh March...you bring such joy to my life.  Not only do you contain spring break (which I thank you for) but you also have spring training, which only means one thing....we are very near to baseball season beginning.  Sorry...chased a little rabbit there...

The beginning of March brought this...

Yep, that is right, I got a roommate. She moved in at the beginning of March and it has been delightful.

March also brought, as mentioned earlier, spring break, which meant I got to spend time with this little lady...

I don't remember much else about March so let's now move on to the month that begins the most wonderful season of all...baseball season!

APRIL
Oh April, how I love thee, let me count the ways...
My friends and I decided this year to purchase a 20 game package and spilt them with their parents...we figured 10 Rangers games would be plenty.  However, we ended up going to almost 30, and thus begins the long string of baseball themed pictures and months...

We didn't get opening day tickets :( but we did get opening night tickets, which also came with a replica AL Championship ring...I'll take it! 

I kind of feel like this may have been the first game we went to this season, but if it isn't oh well...it was one of the first. 
April also brings about my niece and my sister's birthdays.  My niece had a skating b-day party this year and this is me and my roomie at it. 

We may have had just as good of a time as the kids! 

MAY
May oh glorious May...you bring such joy to my life...you bring the end of a school year! 
May also brought this...

To the untrained eye, this is just a preparation manual and a Starbucks drink in a Starbucks, but this is so much more!  This my friends is how I killed time before I had to report back to the courthouse on the very first time I got called for jury duty!  I was preparing to take my ESL certification test, which I took later that month and past! 

May also brings the time of the year that in my class we talk about abstinence.  When we first began this unit, I was a little nervous to say the least, now, I don't hesitate to talk about a penis or vagina or straight out answer any questions that the students may have.  At the end of each lesson, I have the students write on a slip of paper...on one side they write any questions they still have on the other they write what they have learned that day.  This is one response I got...

Clearly my job was done...at least for one student.  Also, this may be my bookmark to this day! 

May also brought a field trip to the Rough Riders game.  This was the first Rough Riders game I had been to and I am glad that I got to share the experience with 125 7th and 8th graders! 

 May also brought the addition of this to my wardrobe...

Don't judge!  I love me some Joe Mauer!  But the addition of this to my wardrobe may have also been one of the key reasons my beloved Joe ended up on the DL for most of the season...stupid t-shirt jinx!  Sorry about that Joe, but you've got many more seasons left! 

JUNE
Oh June...I have a love/hate relationship with you...I love you because you are summer but I hate you because I live in Texas and it is getting HOT!!!

June brought these things...

To the untrained eye this is just a wonderful picture, but in actuality this was a fun-filled weekend get away with some fantastic ladies!  Oh how I love Austin weekend get aways, especially when they involve views like this and kayaks...how can you go wrong!?

It also involved this delightful surprise...Mitch Moreland on the cover of the program at the Rangers game!  Clearly this brought much joy to my life. 

June also brought the start of my new summer job...education instructor at the Dallas Zoo!!  I taught 2nd and 3rd graders about animals for the summer.  It was spectacular!  There are many quotes that will live in infamy in my life because of the summer at the zoo.  For example:  "Oh good thing I ducked, I almost got bird banged!" or "Well...it all started at the Savannah Base Camp..."  And the summer wouldn't have been nearly as fun if I wasn't teaching with the fabulous Riley!

I will end June, and this post with one last picture that can probably sum up May-October really...

These are my gals!  Many a good times were had at this very ballpark!  Also, may great friendships were began here!  I love this ballpark, I love my Texas, my Rangers, and I love my friends!!!!

Part 2 will come later today or tomorrow....stay tuned!

To my Grandma Betty Jo...

I know that there is a reason for everything, I know that it clearly is your time, but it doesn't make things any easier.  Last July when they told us there wasn't much time, you took that as a personal challenge apparently and really showed them!  You are probably one of the strongest and most stubborn women I know (and people wonder where I get it).  Yet through it all, I have no doubt that you and grandpa both never gave up on God and never stopped praying!  I know that the last several years have been rough on you and grandpa (and the whole family really), but you have shown us all what true love really is.  You and grandpa have truly lived out the part of your wedding vows that you vowed to "love each other through sickness and health". 

I know that you have left this earthly body behind and are no longer experiencing pain!  I know that you are dancing on the streets of glory where you will forever be in the presence of the king!  But it is just so hard letting you go.  I know that I will never again hear you ask me if I've found a boyfriend and then when I answer no, you try your hardest to come up someone for me.  It is hard knowing that whoever my future husband is will never have the opportunity or privilege to know you.  It is hard knowing that the children I may one day have will never know you, only stories.  It is hard knowing that my mom will never be able to pick up the phone again and wish you a "Happy Mother's day" or just see how your day is going. 

But I can rest in the fact that I know where you are.  I know that you are going to spend eternity in heaven.  I know that you have prayed for everyone of your children and grandchildren to come to have a personal relationship with Jesus as well.  So I know that one day we will all be reunited in heaven where we will all spend eternity worshipping our King! 

I love you Grandma Betty Jo and will miss you dearly!  But I know that you are no longer in pain!  Go ahead Grandma, sport those high heels like you have been wanting to do for year, but haven't been able to! 
We no longer have to say "Grandma Betty Jo, where are you?" because we know you are in the presence of the King!!!

i know this about myself...

One of my friends told me the other night (and this may not be exactly what she said, but it is close) "Randa, I love you and you are probably one of my favorite people in the world, but you are weird!"  Some people may not know how to take that, but I accept it and move on.  I know myself, I have lived with myself for 31 years now, and I know that I am weird. 

In middle/high school I went through a phase of "I am woman hear me roar" and I can do it myself, I don't need no man to do anything for me.  I don't know why this phase happened, everyone around me was convinced that I would never have a boyfriend because of this.  I did have a boyfriend, but I can't say it was the most healthy relationship because of this.  I eventually learned that living in West Texas, you aren't going to find a true man that is actually going to let you open any door for yourself, so I got over it! (Why I decided to share that, I have no idea, I just felt it should happen). 

In other things that I know make me slightly weird, here is a list that I will expound on in later posts:

• I have a (what some may call irrational) fear of smelling.  I don't want to be "that" person!  As I said earlier, I will expound on this later, and I will also share with you my scale of smell (now your on the edge of your seat I know). 
• I have to have my movies alphabetized! 
• I won't finish the last of anything.
• I will find something wrong with pretty much anyone that I date--Just call me Charlie McKenzie!
• You start a movie after 8:30, I am going to fall asleep...that is a fact that has been proven time after time. 
• I tend to obsess over small things and not pay attention to big things until the very last second.

I know there are probably many more, but this will get to started and dangle a little bait out there for you for (at the rate I'm blogging) a good 6 months. 
Feel free to add comments that add to the list of things that make me weird...I will accept the things I can not change and work on those that I can. 

I'm so excited...I'm so scared...

If you are a child of the 80s/90s like myself then this clip will be all to familiar to you...


Minus the addiction to caffine pills, I kinda feel like Jesse Spano right now.  I have gotten a crazy idea in my brain to lead a women's Bible study for the women in the singles group at my church.  I am terribly excited about the idea of it and the study itself, but leading it kinda scares me. 
We have decided to do the study "No Other Gods" by Kelly Minter and this excites me beyond belief.  I am a fan of Kelly Minter and a fan of meeting with other women to study the word of God.  However, usually when these meetings occur I am the one that sits quietly off to the side and inputs my thoughts only when called upon.  We aren't starting the study until September so today I went and purchased the book.  I plan on going through it at least once before we actually do it as a group.  I feel it is going to be a challenging study in the lives of all of us involved and it is going to cause us to search our souls and confront the truth in alot of areas, but I am ready. 
Having said all that, if you think about it between now and September, say a little prayer for our group of women, that God would begin preparing our hearts for what He has for us in this study and and we would not just think of this as a time to get together with other women, but as a time to get together with other women and talk about the God that we serve. 

Ranger game observations...

My friends and I have been to about 9 Rangers games this season (yes, it is only the end of May-quit checking your calendars).  During the attendance at said Rangers games, my friends and I have stumbled upon some bits of information.  Now understand that when I say "stumbled upon" that simply means that our own minds have created these things...they may not (and probably aren't) based on any hard facts, just our reasoning skills at work.  These bits of information include:

• Mike Napoli may stink in real life.  This is based on the fact that at a game vs. the Phillies, he went up to bat in the top of the 2nd inning and his curly locks were WET!!!  They weren't just damp, but wet people.  They looked as if either A) he just got out of the shower--which isn't the truth as he was playing a baseball game or B) he has been playing an entire game in Miami or Texas in July or August.  Again, neither A or B were true as they were in Philadelphia in May and it was the beginning of the game.  Based on this information we I have decided that Mike Napoli may in fact emit an unpleasant odor in real life.  To any one that may be reading this an know Mike Napoli please let me know if this is a true statement or not.   Also, his song when he comes up to bat is "Blame it on the Alcohol"--this is not helping his case in my mind!
• Mitch Moreland is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!  There are facts needed to back this statement up, just looking at him will tell you this.  Also, while on the topic of my boyfriend Rangers outfielder/infielder Mitch Moreland, let me say...Mitch, keep the scruffy look, it does you well my friend, it does you well!!!
• Apparently in Minnesota, when someone goes on the 15-day DL, 15 days is a suggestion.  My other boyfriend Twins catcher, Joe Mauer, has been on the 15-day DL since mid April.  Unless the Minnesotian (is that even a word??) calendar is different than mine, that my friends is longer than 15 days.  Just saying!  Also, since we are on the topic of Minnesota, I did find out that if I have my teacher certification through a university, I can take the certification tests in Minnesota and become a teacher there...just in case I needed to move there.  
• My friends and I have a favorite game to play at the ballpark that is totally unrelated to the actual baseball game itself.  Our favorite ballpark game is "How many beers has that guy had!?!?!"  I think the name of the game is kind of self explanatory so I won't go into details, but know that if you join us for a game you may be asked the question..."how many beers has that guy had!"
• For the record...this is not made up or based on other facts...this is a true statement!!!  I CAN'T STAND RANGER CAPTAIN OR THE "TEXAS HEROS" MASCOTS!  I could have put I hate that stupid horse (which is usually what I call Captain) and I can't stand Sam Houston, Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie.  But somehow I feel the last part of that statement may have cause folks to hunt me down, take away anything Texas I may own and sent me to another state.  So for the record I can't stand the mascots, the men themselves, while they each more than likely had their own flaws I am sure they also had some delightful traits. 

I am certain there are many more insights that have been gained by our attendance at the Rangers games this season, but as it is 9:20 a.m. on a Saturday and I have been up for a while, my brain is done.                         

something borrowed...

Last night I went with a few of my dear friends to see the new movie "Something Borrowed".  This movie is based off of the book "Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin.  If you know me, I typically read the book before I watch the movie.  In this circumstance I didn't get the opportunity to read the book first so I had no idea what to expect of this movie.  All that I knew about it was that it included one of my favorite people ever...

This guy....

And let me say...he did not disappoint in this movie! 

When I first started watching the office 7 seasons ago, I fell in love with Jim!  I adore his personality!  And then after I saw John in anything else he seems to play the same role as he does on the office...which leads me to believe that that is how he is in real life.  Can I just say...I WANT ONE!!!

Is it the fact that John is from Boston?  Is it the fact that he is tall?  Is it the fact that he is so mellow and chill?  I don't know what it is ol' John, but I adore him! 

And while I am at it, let me go ahead and talk about another adoration of mine. 

This guy...

In case you are unaware of who this guy is, this is Joe Mauer, catcher for the Minnesota Twins.  He is also number 7.  There are so many reasons that I adore this guy, I can't even begin to list them.  I recently read an interview with his mom regarding his perfect woman.  http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/121292429.html
I could probably fill those shoes!  Just sayin'! 

 

there are two things I can't tolerate....

One of my co-workers once stated to her students "There are two things I can't tolerate:  foolishness and lactose!"  Needless to say, as soon as I heard those words come out of her mouth, I lost it.  I was laughing so hard it was out of control! 

WARNING:  The rest of this post is complaining (or $*@#&ing and moaning--that is for you Kandy)

I have come to realize that I also have two things I can't tolerate:  ungratefulness and laziness.  While they are not quite as entertaining as my co-workers, they are true.  Now let me explain...

Ungratefulness:  I can not stand when you do something for someone and they can't say as much as a nice "thank you" or all they can do is complain about what you did wrong.  If you know me, I am not one that is big on receiving a lot of praise for anything that I do.  If I do something for you, I don't want a big production, I don't want a big announcement about it, I just want a simple thank you.  If it is something that is done and you have not even made an attempt to do it, then don't complain about the way someone else has done it. 

Laziness:  Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of times in which I don't want to do things, but if I know something needs to be done, by golly I am going to get it done!  I can't stand when folks are fully capable of doing things and just put forth no effort to do things!  I mean come on people, let's use some logic here...you have to do something, get it done and there there will be time to be lazy! 

Ok...I am done with my rants and raves for today.  Thanks for sticking with me!