Thanks

I am thankful for...

-not ever getting the swine flu
-text messaging
-an actual autumn in Texas
-laughter
-the internet (well done, Al Gore)
-being on health insurance until I'm 25
-my driver's license
-coffee
-Grover Diego (my pet Beta fish)
-lamps
-the television shows Glee, HIMYM, Big Bang Theory, and House Hunters
-Netflix
-my journal
-the recession... oh wait, JUST KIDDING!
-warm socks
-chapsticks and lipgloss
-meteor showers
-an occassional margarita
-the giraffe statue in front of the Dallas Zoo with the huge... oh, you know ;-)
-paintings
-hugs
-extra rolls of toilet paper
-dental floss
-empty highways
-sparkly, shiny, and/or shimmery things

and of course...

-faith, friends, family, joy, love, consideration, and courage

Meh.

Dear Blog, 

Please excuse my brief absence.  I have been away working as a "Personal Assistant."  What is the life of a P.A. you wonder? Well, it involves running errands, random chores, and home repairs.  With all my new knowledge of power tools and continuous do-it-yourself repair work,  I think I could go into the home-building business.  My P.A. job is pretty sweet deal; my benefits include, free transportation and sometimes free lunch, flexible hours, no early mornings, and I just get to have an awesome employer ;-)

But besides being a P.A., my life hasn't been anything too exciting.  I've had a few entertaining and shocking moments sprinkled between long durations of dullness, but none of those sprinklings have moved me to write. Blog, I just haven't been inspired.  But I hope to shake things up in the near future.  I turn 22 soon, Thanksgiving is near, and Christmas(!) isn't too far behind.

I do have a bit of news that would be of interest: I'm about 90% "yes" to moving to Florida at the start of the new year.  Change is always a good thing, and let's face it, Dallas and I have been stagnant for awhile.  Maybe we just need some time apart; a few weeks or months to regroup, find our true selves again.  Dallas, it's not you... it's me.  I think I need Miami right now.

A little more news: I've been trying to read more, stimulate my dragging brain.  I think I want to start another separate blog devoted to the books I read, songs I currently obsess about, and new delicious foods I eat.

I'd like to share a little preview.  Lately, I'm obssessed with the song To Make You Feel My Love - Adele.  The song was written by Bob Dylan and I believe Garth Brooks sung it for the movie, Hope Floats, but I LOVE her version.  It's not a new song; not one of those new discoveries; nor something that's currently on the radio or will hit the radio soon.  It's just a good tune with lyrics that I've connected with and I can't stop listening to it.  There are certain songs that make me wish I could sing... and this is one of them.  I would sing this my future husband at our wedding or to my kid before bed... yes, I like it just that much.  Thank you Bob Dylan and Adele.

Waiting to be Inspired,
Elizabeth

October 30th

Exactly one year ago, I had my last conversation with my Grandmother, Camille Redden, wishing her a happy birthday and talking about our days. That phone call ended like most: "I love you. I miss you. Talk to you later." The next time I got to "talk" to her was two weeks later at the hospital. She had suffered a stroke and could no longer communicate verbally. She was able to make sounds, but that was about all.

She was so beautiful inside and out. I miss her all the time. Every time I pick up a book to read or drink a cup of coffee, it reminds me of her… in a good way. She always seemed generally content and happy, so thinking of her makes me content and happy. I'm hardly ever sad now when I think of her, and I don't have any reason to be sad because I'm certain she is not.

Happy Birthday, Grandmother.

thanks but no thanks

This past weekend was a-mazing! It was Baylor’s 100th Homecoming Celebration. It was my first Homecoming as an alum and it made me miss Baylor and my Baylor friends more than anything. Although I’ve been to Baylor recently, just being there for homecoming was perfectly nostalgic and beautiful. I. Love. Baylor.

The day before Claire and I left for Waco, Cedar Valley called asking for my references, always a good sign. Turns out they called most if not all my references listed. Not only was I just having a great weekend, but there was a chance of employment once the weekend was over.
Homecoming: Baylorbound friends, Scotland friends, hall friends, former roommates, former bosses who are friends, FCC friends, church friends, former neighbors, old friends, re-connected friends, bonfire, good music, dancing, fireworks, good food and drinks, long parade, bad football, naps, Settlers of Cataan, kolaches from West, and Café Cappuccino. SO GOOD!

After returning home, I napped, showered, and went to rearrange my room. My room now has hard-wood floor instead of dirty, stained carpet. I took a break and got online. Checked my email and there it was… an email from Cedar Valley just waiting for me. It had been sent late Friday afternoon. I then remembered that I didn’t check it before I left, and it was a good thing that hadn’t. It was yet another rejection letter… really?!? Yep.

At least I didn’t read it before leaving for Waco. It may have put a damper on my weekend. I was so confident about this one; it was such a good fit. “Another candidate is better suited for the position.” I can’t imagine how someone else is more qualified or better suited… I just can’t. But I guess it’s not what God wants me to do either.

Dear God,

Please use me. I’m ready.

Love,
Elizabeth

G.D.

Name: Grover Diego

Age: 18 months

Sex: Male

Color: Shimmery Red

Grover Diego, my beautiful Beta fish, has been sick. He was overdue for a water change, but has been living swimmingly... until last Sunday. As Sunday night's church group was leaving, one of the ladies alerted me that Gover Diego was floating on his side and appeared dead. Dad tapped and shook the bowl. He eventually started moving...but he was so weak. I rushed to change his water and fed him a small amount of food. I monitored his progress throught the night and continued into the next day. He was having trouble swimming normally. He could only sink, float, or rely on his little plastic tree for support. My poor baby. Part of his little aquatic body kept skimming the surface of the water, like he couldn't really submerge himself. His swimming was laborious; he would flap his little fins so hard and couldn't get where he wanted to go... :-(

I played him his favorite song, Private Dancer by Tina Turner, and sang him the song I wrote and sang for him everyday when I got out of class and both lived in my dorm room. He liked that. He swam at little better. I think he's ready to move out of the kitchen area. Maybe he's tired of his new location. Grover Diego and I so similar. He has simple joys, likes good music, enjoys company, and likes change. Grover Diego entered my life a month after I returned from Scotland. He's charming and adorable, the best listener ever, and so brilliant both mentally and in color. He's the perfect Beta. I was so worried about his survival.

Thankfully after a few nights of rehabiliation, close monitoring, and intensive care, I'm proud to say that he has finally fully recovered. I was worried about losing a best friend but crisis averted. Sic 'em Grover Diego.

"Meet me at the fair."

Friday: hello, Nikki!!! Baylor does this whole Fall Break thing. It’s only one day, Friday, so not to be equated with Spring break, but as I recall, it's glorious all the same. I was so elated to get a call from Nikki saying should be in town to for break, and that we would hanging out. I am truly fond of all my friends, especially Nikki. That Friday evening, the two of us rode up together to Claire and Dana’s place for a small dinner party they were throwing. It was fun with delicious foods, delicious drinks, funny stories, and Patton doing his usual “business” on the floor. Afterwards, most guests were pretty tired, but I somehow always get re-energized at the end of the night. My hypothesis is that I absorb the entire room’s leftover energy, so while everyone else is ready to call it a night, I’m up for another round… I bet I get annoying.

Well, Dana had a little life in her, too, so we managed to convince Claire to come with us to Pete’s Piano bar. When we got there, it was full of OU and UT fans in town a night early before the next day’s big Red River Shootout football game at the Cotton Bowl. The majority of people were OU fans, and they paid about $150 to get their Boomer Sooner fight song played. That sounds like a mighty large amount of money until just two seasoned OSU women paid $200 for their Cowboy fight song. What the heck were OSU fans doing there anyway?!?! Then those very same two cougars started dancing on stage. The skinny gal began shaking and rubbing her butt along the piano, a new dance move I’d like to call “buffin’ it” since it appeared like she was buffing a newly washed grand piano with her hind parts. The other cougar, being much larger and wearing a stunning shiny black and gold tiger print blouse tried to seduce the pianists and shamelessly flashed them a boob. Little did she realize in her drunken state that the wall behind the piano is, in fact, one big mirror. The entire bar got a boob (at least those not yet in a completely drunken stupor). Those two probably won’t remember their debut performances, and that’s probably for the best. The rest of night progressed just as wildly. Another pair of boobs came out, a bride-to-be carrying a giant pink inflatable penis got some on-stage recognition, and finally, we conga-lined out the door (quite literally!) and went back home. Instead of going to sleep, the three of us attempted to learn the ho-down throw-down Miley Cyrus dance and posted a video of it on dear Nikki’s facebook wall.

The next day was all about the State Fair of Texas. This was my first time to go the State Fair of Texas and not just go to the Cotton Bowl for a football game. Bryan drove up from Waco to go with us. We parked at Victory Station near the American Airlines Center to catch the new Green Line to the Fair. It took almost an hour to get the 5 miles to the Park. The new DART rail was having some serious issues. But once there, we were greeted by Big Tex, and I got my first State Fair corny dog. Best.Corny.Dog.Ever! I finally got the chance to ride the huge Texas Star Ferris wheel! We also rode another ride called the X-Treme which was fun. We explored a science exhibit, ate fried peaches and cream (life-changing-ly delicious), fried oreos and a Belgium waffle, became Deputy Texas Hill wine tasters, went to the car show, saw African Acrobats, and left the fair by hailing a Taxi. Our taxi driver was a bit reckless and we mistakeningly told him to drop us off at the wrong spot which left us walking close to mile to the car, but it was still fun. Needless to say, it was a glorious and fantastic weekend.

"That's just what Baylor girls do."

*This is my second post of the day. I was going to combine two posts, but they’re better separate, so if you’re still interested in reading… scroll down to read the other new post below.

Today was my interview with Cedar Valley College. The position I interviewed for is a part-time position but with the office of student life. A friend from church, Kay, came by to drive me to the interview. I was a little nervous because I applied for this position about a month ago and on that day I applied to at least eight different jobs one right after the other. Basically I walked in not really remembering what position I was interviewing for.

I got there a little early and just sat for a few minutes, but then my curiosity got the best of me and I figured it would be beneficial to explore the student life center. I passed by a room where a few women were eating lunch, and just as I passed by, one of them popped her head out and said, “Hi. I’m guessing you’re Elizabeth. We’re in here.” It was still at least 15 minutes before noon, my scheduled interview time, and the conference table was still covered with the remains of their lunches. I apologized for being so early, but just as I said that, another woman walked in and said, “That’s just what Baylor girls do.” She had a big smile on her face when she said it, and the other women started giggling.

All the ladies introduced themselves and happily explained that I was the first interviewee there to represent Baylor University. The other lady was pretty excited that another bear was there, and believe me, so was I! I really think that the interview went well. I answered all the questions they asked me to the best of my ability. Every time I said, “while I was at Baylor…” it just sent one of my interviewers into a fit of giggles as she tried to do a sic ‘em. I joked and said that I feel like I should do a sic ‘em after I answer each question. They all laughed and smiled and continued to joke around.

I was really hoping that Travelers would call me before going to that interview with a job offer. I wasn’t looking forward to a part-time job, but after that interview, maybe that’s where I need to be. I don’t know. Only time can tell how everything will unfold. Well anyway, it was a great interview. The job would require maybe one night shift a week and possibly a few weekends. I may have to do a bit of travelling and I’d be trained to drive a 15 passenger van. Bring on the van! I would probably only work 18 hours a week, but I think it should all be really fun.