Costume Contest...

Yesterday we tried on Taryne's Halloween costume for a "test run" to see how she reacted to wings and the dress and headband. She did surprisingly well I am pleased to say. I hope she is that good on Halloween night.

I posted a picture of her, all dressed up, on Facebook yesterday and a friend of mine suggested I enter her into the MLB World Series of Costumes, so I did. The winners will be shown during Game 3 of the World Series this next Saturday night.

So, now I ask each of you to please go here and vote for Taryne so she will win. From what I can tell, you can vote as many times as you want.

Here is the picture I submitted. For some reason it posted in its original format and is sideways, but the way I took the picture, it could go either way.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Are you ready for a Throwdown?

Throwdown! is Bobby Flay's new cookbook that just came out last week. Last night Charlotte and I had the opportunity to meet Bobby Flay and get a cookbook signed by the chef. It was an awesome experience and despite the long line at Barnes & Noble, it moved quickly and we got to meet and snap a quick picture with Bobby.

Charlotte and I in line to meet Bobby Flay

Me with my copy of the cookbook Throwdown!

Charlotte, Bobby, Me

So glad I heard about this on a sports talk show last week. The host had Bobby Flay on to interview him about his new book. 

Until next time...Gig'em!

Changes...

As you most likely know, I lost my full time job in March. I was lucky enough to continue working, but on a part time basis. Since March I have been searching and applying for jobs all over the country. I also spent a lot of time looking at what I really wanted to do for a job.

Kyle and I spent countless evenings and weekends discussing various possibilities and places to live. We had just as many agreements on things as disagreements.

I think I applied for close to 50 jobs in academic advising. Most were athletic advising, but there were several in regular academic advising.

I have always felt I could and want to make a difference in a college student's life and campus experience. I had a few bad experiences with advisor as an undergraduate, but I had one that made all the difference. I want to be like her...I would love to know that I made a difference to all students, but that is not realistic.

After several phone interviews and a few campus interviews (locally and out of state), I was offered an academic advising position here at Texas A&M. I love A&M and I am so excited to be part of campus again. While I would have loved an opportunity to go elsewhere, this just wasn't the time. I feel God has a plan for us and right now that involves us staying in College Station. I am very thankful that plan keeps us here compared to one of our alternatives which I was not a huge fan of, but if it was the last resort, then so be it.

I will be working in the General Studies department at A&M as an advisor. In case you are unfamiliar with this degree area, it is for undeclared students, for the most part. Students are a General Studies major until they have reached 60 hours, then they must select a major. I think General Studies is a great option for so many students. I often think it is impossible for an 18 year old person to know what they want to do for the rest of their life when they have not had an opportunity to experience life outside of high school.

I only have one week left at my current position and while I will miss many things about my current company, I am so excited about this new opportunity.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Unlikely Following...

If you know me, you know I am a sport fanatic. While I follow most sports, there are just some that I follow more than others. And in those sports there are the teams I love and the teams I hate. I have always had this sort of "Top 5" list of sports teams I hate. And as I reflect on those teams, I have a very good reason for each team on the list except one. In case you are wondering my list includes (in no particular order):

1. Texas Longhorns
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders
3. Dallas Cowboys
4. LSU Tigers
5. New York Yankees

So are you wondering which team I am referring to that is on the list but in reality maybe should no longer be on the list? I can easily move the L.A. Lakers into this team's spot.

I had a realization yesterday and that made me reflect on my list and why each team earned a spot on this list. That is when I knew one team should come off the list.

So I feel I must digress a little in order for all of this to make sense. I grew up south of Houston. I watched a lot of Astros baseball with my dad as a kid. So while I am not necessarily an Astros fan today, I am not a Rangers fan. Similar situation with football. I felt loyalty to the Houston Oilers even though I was not a huge football fan as a kid. When they left Houston for Tennessee, the team just died to me. I cannot follow the Texans either, it is not the same. But because of my geographical location and family upbringing, I can never, ever follow the Cowboys. My hatred of the Cowboys increased when we moved to central Texas where EVERYONE is a Cowboys fan. It continued to grow as I got older and I feel they are a team that I could never, under any circumstance root for or follow.

So, back to my original story. The Rangers won their first playoff series EVER the other night. Their next opponent is the Yankees. A team I have on my list. However, as I was driving to work, listening to Mike & Mike talk about the Rangers and the upcoming series with the Yankees, I could not help but feel like I wanted the Yankees to win no matter what. I can't root for the Rangers....but wait, I can't root for the Yankees, they are on my hate list.

I realized then that over the past year and a half, I have slowly become a Yankees fan without realizing it. One of my co-workers is from New York and is a HUGE Yankees fan. I think our discussions about the team over the past year and a half have changed my outlook on this team. I have never met a true Yankees fan before. You know, someone that is actually from New York and grew up with the team. Not someone that chose to follow the Yankees because they win...ALOT.

I have always disliked the Yankees because I felt they "bought" their championships, but through my discussions, I have changed my opinion. Yes, they may have bought their championship, but that is the way MLB is currently set up. They have the means to take advantage of the current system and I have to say any good business person would do that.

And before I go, I will give you a brief justification for the other teams that are deservedly on my list.

Texas Longhorns: I am a Texas Aggie. Do I need to say anything else? I will never, under any circumstance root for this team.

Texas Tech Red Raiders: I went to this school my freshman year and while it was not for me, that is not why this school is on this list. It is also not on the list because they have beat us in football many more times recently than we have beat them. It is because of their fans, students and alumni. And I know that is a broad generalization, but it is the more recent students/alumni. While I was there, the "hatred" for A&M and UT was really beginning and it has continued since then. I have never been flipped off, cussed at or given grief by any school's fans more than Tech. Baylor is a close second....and they are the religious school. The "hatred" I speak of is the numerous students that are attending Tech because they were not granted admission to A&M or UT. I encountered this with over 75% of the people I met while there my freshman year.

Dallas Cowboys: already discussed, see above.

LSU Tiger: They have always been a big rival with A&M, especially when the SWC was still intact. They also have bad fans...maybe it is the hot-headed cajuns, but they are fairly unfriendly. And right now, they have Les Miles as their coach. Oh and they also had Nick Saban at one point.

I have blabbed on way to long, but now you know the craziness that goes on in my head!

Until next time...Gig'em!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown...

Sunday afternoon, we took a trip to the Habitat for Humanity Pumpkin Patch in our neighborhood. It is a great fundraiser for Habitat and it gives the community an opportunity to get pumpkins at a great price. We are lucky that the pumpkin patch is about 2 blocks away, so we were able to load Taryne up in the stroller and walk over instead of drive. It was a great afternoon for a walk.

They have all sorts of pumpkins: big and small, smooth, bumpy, orange, white, blue, green and more. When we first got there, we went to the far side of the patch to take pictures at their photo-op set up. We took a few pictures of Kyle with Taryne, me with Taryne and a few of Taryne by herself. Then we asked another family to take a few of the three of us.

After the pictures, we let Taryne roam around and pick out a few pumpkins to take home. She had fun and really wanted to take several pumpkins home. In the end we decided on a bluish-green pumpkin, a small smooth pumpkin and 2 minis. All picked out by Taryne.

Until next time...Gig'em!

10-10-10

That date is significant for more than just it being October 10, 2010. My grandmother Milady Martin was born on October 10, 1910. If she was still with us today, we would be celebrating her 100th birthday.

As a kid, I thought it was the neatest thing that her birthday was 10-10-10. When I was really young, she had a stroke and after that Grandma Milady always had trouble remembering things. However, despite her forgetfulness, she always knew her birthday.

Here is the last picture I have with both of my dad's parents: Papa and Grandma Milady...this picture was taken in April 1987. In December of that year, my Papa passed away, but it was several years later that my Grandma Milady left us. I know my mom has pictures of her as we got older, but this is the only picture I have at my house....

Until next time...Gig'em!

Snack time...

Taryne has a pretty set schedule at day care during the week and I am very thankful for that, but on the weekends, we sort of go with the flow on somethings. However, we do our very best to keep her meal and snack times as well as nap time as consistent as possible.

This afternoon after Taryne's nap, I got her out of her bed and set her down on the floor. She grabbed her blanket and walked straight to the kitchen, only stopping periodically to make sure we were following. Once we arrived in the kitchen, she walked straight to her chair and raised her arms in the air as if she wanted to climb up and sit down. It was snack time. That is what they do at day care. Right after nap time is snack time. Wow, that blew us away that she just knew it was snack time. Not sure why, but this is the first time she has deliberately gone to her chair right after a nap.

So it was snack time and we gave her snacks and milk and she was happy.

Until next time...Gig'em!

The finished kitchen...

I bet you never thought you would see those words...especially as long as it has taken for me to blog about our finished kitchen.

We actually finished the kitchen right before Taryne's birthday weekend. Yes, I realize that was almost a month ago, but we have been busy and I just haven't really had the time to get everything perfect for "final" pictures.

Just a quick reminder of what the cabinets, counters and floor looked like before we started...

I honestly cannot believe it is the same kitchen! Everything looks amazing and the best part is we did EVERYTHING ourselves. Yes, it took a lot of time and sweat, but we saved so much which allowed us to spend a little more on the materials than we might have otherwise. I am very proud of our work and even though at times it seemed like it was never going to end or we were frustrated with something, we stuck through it, finished it and now we have a wonderful kitchen to cook and spend family time in.

Until next time...Gig'em!

The Princess' New Pajamas...

Last year at Target there were these beautiful, whimsical, me-type of pajamas in the kid section. I decided I had to have a set for Taryne. I waited and waited because I thought they were a little pricey for toddler pajamas. Finally they went on clearance and I picked up a set. I hoped she wouldn't get too big that she wouldn't fit in them the next winter.

Well, tonight after her bath, she acted like she was a little cold, so I thought I would get these out and see how they fit. They are a little big...and they are size 12 months. Taryne is just a petite little girl. However, they are absolutely, positively adorable on her and I am so glad I had patience to get them on sale.

We had to roll the sleeves and pants up a bit, but she is loving her pink pajamas with colorful birds!

Until next time...Gig'em!