The holiday season is over!! Goodbye Thanksgiving, Goodbye Christmas, and Goodbye New Year's! All of this is very important because the end of the holidays, means the beginning of fabulous reality TV: American Idol, The Bachelor, True Love/Beauty & the Geek/Whatever Ashton Kutcher comes up with this year, and equally as important as reality TV, the birth of Pam & Jim's baby! As long as Ellen Degeneres doesn't ruin American Idol for me, it looks like my DVR will be getting another terrific spring workout! There will also be new Criminal Minds and CSI's contending for space on the DVR! Of course, the problem is that I always end up watching them live so that text messages from friends make sense and don't spoil things!

Aside from the boobtube, I am making preparations for spring. There are flowerbeds to fill, flowerbeds to build, bushes to uproot, and irises to up-bulb and destroy. I have made a list of flower seeds that I want and Cody has approved! I think he secretly knows that if he doesn't let me have lots of flowers, I will get upset about all of his vegetable and herb seeds. :) I learned an important lesson last year...Delphinium does not grow here! Don't let Home Depot convince you otherwise!

Family Frenemies

For a long time I peeled layers in my blogs, then, at some point, I stopped being so transparent. This blog hasn't peeled so many layers, but those of you that knew the old blogs understand what I mean. I posted this paragraph a few years ago:

I am positive that many of you reading this have never really been to my blog before. Let me set something straight, I write alot of stuff down in here. It is my outlet. I write what I'm thinking and many times I type what comes to my mind before I think about it. I have a hard time editing my original thoughts. I don't use this to "pretty" up my problems; I use this to show them at their ugliest moments, and I feel editing would cheapen my thoughts and feelings. Having stated that...I'm moving on.

I would like to reiterate that. It was true back then, and it is true now. I have always found that writing is the greatest stress relief for me. It allows me the freedom to unravel my tangled thoughts and to approach each tangle individually. In the past few days I have been stuck in one tangle. It's a 'family tangle.' Which, is the worst tangle of all. It's always more difficult dealing with family members than friends. I guess it's the fact that you can choose and lose friends; whereas, there is no loss of family.

"Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength."--Eric Hoffer

I understand that not everyone in the world is going to like me, and that's perfectly fine. There are plenty of people that I'm not fond of either. However, there is such a huge difference in not liking someone, and being rude to someone. I don't understand such perfected rudeness.

I also understand that there are women in the world who simply love drama. They thrive on it. Sadly, some women never outgrow it. My presumption is that these women over the age of 25, probably cling to drama because they are completely unhappy with their own lives. It seems the older the woman, the more unhappy she must be. I pity her. It must be a terrible life to spend every day planning and manipulating others' lives to feel happy and successful in your own. (Oddly enough, I believe she has made a very similar statement about someone else.) Unfortunately, I now have one of these 'frenemies' in my life. I don't have to see her very often, but her rudeness and immaturity baffle me. You see, I was raised to be kind and polite. I was taught to 'pray for those who hurt you,' and to 'kill 'em with kindness.' I guess I've always believed that everyone was raised that way. So, you can imagine my confusion of being thrown into the lion's den with the most manipulative, rude person I've ever met.

"Why give into rudeness, when you can fight back with kindness."--Donna Favors

At first, I was angry and appalled at her behavior. Then, I realized it wasn't really worth my time. I can't change an inherent behavior that has always been a part of her. I guess I'm glad she takes it out on me and not someone that equally loves drama. I find it all kind of humorous now, and I have a compassion for this woman that she'll never understand. I'm thankful that I do not act this way. After spending some time in prayer about it, I've come to the conclusion that the only thing I can do is pray for her. I pray that she finds happiness in her husband and children. I pray that she finds peace and purpose in her life. I pray that God will heap blessings on her. Of course, I also have to pray for my attitude toward her. I still feel somewhat slighted by the whole mess, and I just wish that she would realize how much she is missing in life by her rude and self indulgent drama. As much as I want to punch her face in sometimes, I have to remember that punching is neither a form of encouragement nor lifting her up. :)

"All of you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble. Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing." 1 Peter 3:8-9

----Still have a lot to work on with that.....

*For the record, I am not referring to my sister-in-law, Beth! I love her and she is wonderful to me!

We are officially in business..

So it's official. Cody has opened his own company. We've been talking and praying about it for a little over a month now, and we really have nothing to lose! We've kept it quiet just because we wanted to wait until we actually made the decision. So, as of today Studio UP Graphics is in business. Cody was offered a contract opportunity via a friend with 365 Connections to draw and "touch-up" floor plan drawings for apartment complexes. Basically apartment complexes purchase 365's software to allow future tenants to see all of the ameneties and floorplans available. Cody simply draws the floorplans in autocad and the companies purchase his drawings to post on their website. I'm sure it is more complicated than that, but that's the general idea. The extra income will not only help us out, but Cody will also be able to give work to a few of his architect friends that have also been laid off from firms.

Because I Know What the People Want!

For those of you that enjoyed my most famous masterpiece of a blog....and for those of you that have yet to experience it, I have decided to repost an old entry from July 2005. This is categorically the most amazing blog you will ever read. If Obama can win the Nobel Peace Prize...I could DEFINITELY win the Pulitzer Prize, and most likely, the Biggest Dunce Award!

Anna vs Treadmill/The Treadmill vs Anna

Ok...I hope ya'll are ready for this one because it's a doosy. By now, most of you know that I'm accident prone and if anyone can do something absolutely stupid...it's me! So here's this day, week, month, and year's BEST story (like EVER):

From My Perspective:So there I was, listening to the radio, singing along, focusing on running, when I see my precious little dog with a ball in his mouth begging me to throw it. So I step off the treadmill...which is no big deal, I've stepped off and stepped back on the treadmill with it running hundreds of times...well not today. Normally, I step off the treadmill from the side, and step back on the treadmill from the side to avoid any catastrophes. Well this time, I was in LaLa Land and I stepped on the back. It doesn't take physics for you to guess what happens to a person who stupidly steps on a treadmill going 5 mph...I go down. However, it does not throw me completely off, so I start trying to crawl my way up to the front so I can pull that thing out to make it stop. Which took awhile because I was laughing so hard I couldn't focus on the task! So I finally reach the cord and pull the clip out. It stops abruptly sending me back and laying me out on the floor. By this time my roommate and her boyfriend come down the stairs (apparently the whole ordeal was pretty loud lol) and they double over in laughter because they just see me with my face on the treadmill and the rest of my body sprawled out on the floor. Pretty obvious what had happened I guess! Being the true champ I am, I gather up my skinned knees and get back on the treadmill...I will not be defeated! The best part is that right before I stepped off, I was thinking "I think I'll wear a skirt tomorrow." Now I look like I have psoriasis on my knees!

From The Treadmill's Perspective:So there I was, resting from rolling my tread along those steel rollers, when I see that crazy redhead coming down the stairs in knit shorts, a t-shirt and running shoes. I know what this means...she's ready for her late night rendezvous with me. She hops on like she's some stud and turns me on....1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 4 mph, 4.3 mph. This is where she leaves it for 1 min until she's "warmed up." Then she bumps me up to 5 mph and starts to jog. Then I see that little dog of hers with his tiny tennis ball in his mouth...I hate that dog, it has relieved itself on me in the past. So the ditzy redhead steps off to throw the ball to him. I figure, now's my chance! I'll send telepathic messages her way and interrupt those brain cells of hers. (I mean, come on, she can't have that many anyway.) I see her walking toward me...but this time she's coming from behind me...not the side. This could only mean one thing...my plan was working! Muhahaha! So she steps up on me and BAM! I send her to her knees! If I were an Aggie, I'd have given a big WHOOP for that one! I could have stopped myself, but it was too much fun. Instead of just rolling off the end like most normal humans would do, she decides to fight me! She starts crawling toward my power source. I'm dumbfounded by this bold move and she uses this weaknesses against me as she struggles forward, reaching and grasping for my little cord. Then she grabs the cord and it shuts me off. I got the last laugh because my abrupt stop sent her flying backwards. She stands up laughing that annoying laugh of hers and I can't help but stare at my handiwork on her knees. I did good. Real good. But, she's a trooper and starts me up again and I roll along...maybe we both have a little more respect for one another now...just maybe...

So Cody and Me, along with our friends Justin and Allia were having dinner the other night and this story came up...as it usually does because they were their to witness the tail end of this magical event...when Cody remembered reading about it one of the many notebooks full of letters I had written to my "future husband" years ago. He found it and I had definitely drawn an AWESOME picture to go with my story:

Battle of the Fleas

I do not understand how such a tiny little jerk can be so hard to kill. We offically waged war on them in June and they are still here! Kind of like terrorists. Actually, they are ALOT like terrorists! They hide, and we cannot find them. They sneak onto our land unnoticed. They breed and form terror cells on our dogs. The only difference is that there is no apparent leader named Osama Blood-Sucking-Flea Hussein Bin Laden. Maybe I should start listening for high pitched prayer calls. We have had the yard sprayed and used every shampoo/spray/spot treatment there is and they will not leave. Our neighbor has a large dog that lives outside...and I'm sure they hop off of him and onto our little dogs. We're trying one last spray outside called BioSpot. I've also read that salt will dry out the eggs, so I'm sprinkling salt on the rugs tonight and vacuuming it up tomorrow. Cody has talked to our neighbor and suggested a flea bath for his dog, he is an older man so he always says his grandaughters are going to do it when they come over...which never happens. I'm afraid I'm going to have to hop the fence and do it myself...

Do you ever get that whole "used" feeling after all of the hullabaloo that comes along with Christmas? It's so exciting and new every year and you can't wait for Christmas morning...then it finally happens. You open all of your gifts...others open their gifts...and in a matter of a couple of hours (or minutes)...it's all over. You just sit there and look at eachother. I usually get that feeling, but this year was different. I had Christmas from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2. I felt like Christmas would NEVER end. I think that feeling was way worse. I will no longer feel "used" after Christmas! Now I know there is the whole "true meaning of Christmas" aspect and all of that...but I'm being really honest right now...we are all guilty of putting more into Christmas shopping and gifts than we are into celebrating the birth of our Saviour. This is sad and selfish...but just compare sales records to church records for the month of December and you'll see how true it is.

Moving on....

I've never been a fan of sex education, but after a semester of teaching a bunch of high school kids, I'm beginning to change my mind. Unless you work with teenagers on a daily, or at least weekly, basis, you are probably oblivious to all of the false information they are fed from who knows where. Maybe it's because I teach biology, but the majority of these kids have absolutely no clue about STD risks or pregnancies...yet they are sexually active. I have girls who believe you have a higher risk of pregnancy while ON your period. I'm sure some hot-blooded boys have convinced them of this. I'm not supporting the notion to pass out condoms at lunch or anything like that, but I am in support of a class that teaches absolute truths when it comes to being sexually active. I have 14 year olds that believe AIDS only affects gay males. Maybe it should be incorporated into health class or have a specially certified teacher. Maybe it should not be a coed class. Maybe we should do away with TAKS and it can be incorporated into Biology. :) No matter how it's done...I really think something has to give. I understand that many believe this is the job of parents, but I don't think these people understand how irresponsible most parents are.

Ok...that's my soapbox for today.

I'm pretty sure that the JP's office or a destination wedding would have been MUCH simpler. There is entirely too much to plan when it comes to weddings. If I had a million dollars...I would definitely have hired a wedding planner to do all of this. Some of it is fun..but parts of it are frustrating! We changed our colors (or at least one) a couple of weeks ago to pool and brown. Cody didn't like the other color I had originally planned to go with the pool...so we're going with brown. It was a great decision because you can find TONS of stuff in blue and brown! I have my bridesmaid dresses, my dress, a place, a pastor, a bakery, a man...and that's it. lol We're meeting with a photographer this weekend and I really need to get on the ball with finding a florist and hair stylist and stuff like that. We also have to go pick out tuxes...but I'm leaving that up to Cody.

Keith, Beth, Wyatt, and William were here all of last week. The house became "baby-proofed" very quickly! Wyatt just finished his first season of football! He's in 6th grade now and he loved it. William is beginning to walk. He takes about 4 steps then starts giggling and falls down. (Sounds like his Aunt Anna!) It will be fantastic when they can move back to Texas.

The big game is tomorrow night...yikes. BTHO tu! WHOOP!