Halloweeny-ness

Happy Halloween!

I've been very excited to participate in Halloween activities this year. Last year I didn't get to do anything for Halloween. On that day I was driving back from a trip to Abilene and I didn't really know people to join in on any festivities. But this year I have made up for my lack of thrills and chills.

I suppose the halloween fun started on Friday. Travis went to Austin with some guy friends to look at equipment for their upcoming backpacking trip. So I had a leisurly evening with Sarah and Kim. After dinner (pepperoni pizza with black olives) and dessert (cream cheese wraps) at Boston's and a quick trip to World Market, we headed back to Kim and Sarah's for a movie. With Halloween so close, we decided to watch something fitting to the holiday. So we chose The Ring. I truly forgot how scary that movie is!

On Sunday afternoon our church had a Trunk or treat for the kids. Our GAP class had two games set up for the kids to play: a candy walk and a golf game. The kids loved our games! They kept coming back for more. We had lots of regulars that would play over and over again. When we first started we had a huge mound of candy and I thought there was no way we would get rid of it all. At the end of 2 hours we had maybe 3 handfuls left. It was so much fun!



Last night after nursing home singing Kendra, Sonya, Sarah and I ventured out to Wicked Woods. It was a haunted house set up by one of the fraternities at A&M. The frat house is located out towards the airport on about 4 acres of land--so the rooms you went through were all outside. All the money collected was going to a children's organization (I thought that was a really good gesture). So the 4 of us girls remained huddled up in a ball as we traveled through the different rooms. Sonya, Sarah, and I were the screamers/jumpers and Kendra was our rock that we held on to. The only part we really didn't like were the guys with chainsaws. They didn't have the blades on but they still made a lot of noise. Also the guys encircled us and had the chainsaws really close to our bodies--I was very close to kicking someone. It was a great bonding experience for us!

Tonight the AFC (Aggies For Christ) is going Trick or Treating for cans. We get to dress up and help stock the Brazos Valley Food Bank. Then afterwards we will have goodies and prizes for the best costumes.

Happy Birthday!

Today my sisters, Jennifer and Traci, are 17 years old!

Happy Birthday Girls!

This Week

Monday

My day off was very enjoyable. I slept in (what a shock). Travis was having trouble with his back at work; so, after seeing a physical therapist, he had the rest of the day off! We went to lunch and then ventured off to the fabulous CS mall where I needed to pick up a present for my sister. And Travis picked up some stuff as well: a new wallet, a gift box of colognes (thankfully I like all of them--just kidding!), and a free gift--a bag with speakers in it (made for an ipod).

Tuesday

Hmmm...nothing much happened on this day. We went to our men/women's bible studies where we found out we will be helping out with the Trick or Treat for cans on Halloween! I have to figure out a costume and make a dessert.

Wednesday

This was our last day of the Home School program--yeah! Because of the weather we were expecting alot of no-shows but almost all of the groups came. The children were very attentive and behaved. That evening I taught my 5-year-olds at church about Elijah and Elisha. I had a dry erase board and had the kids come draw a picture for a certain part of the story. To help the kids remember which person we were talking about, I made up some hand motions. For Elijah we did the letter j in sign language. For Elisha we made a swishing motion with our hands. We also had one for Jezabel--we shook our hips and held out the z sound: Jezzzzzzabel! What was fun is the kids would always tell me when I forgot to do one of the signs for the people.

Thursday

Last night after work Travis picked me up at my apartment and we headed to Conroe to visit his brother, Cody. Cody cooked us a wonderful dinner! We had crab, broccoli, pasta with shrimp, and bread with tomatoes and melted cheese. I tell you what those Bodeker men and their cooking skills really amaze me. We went down the road to see the new Shoe Carnival store where Cody is the manager. It was very nice; I hadn't been in that store in awhile--they had some nice shoes. The rest of the evening was spent talking, hearing some fun stories about both of the boys from back in the day :) The whole evening was very enjoyable!

Music and Dance

Last night when Travis and I returned from devo up on campus (I made sure I was nice and bundled up--it also helped having a special warm body next to me) there was a wonderful suprise awaiting at his apartment. Tong was playing a video game, not sure of the name, but you had a guitar that you played and the notes would come on the screen. While watching I didn't think it would be that fun. Tong let me give it a try and wow! After switching the control to left handed player and a quick tutorial I was rocking out to the song "I Love Rock and Roll". I started to really get into it--I missed quite a few of the notes but that's ok. When you do badly the audience will boo or leave and if you do well they start crazy dancing. I think it would be fun if they threw food at you if you were horrible. After playing my song I mentioned to Tong and Leigh that I also enjoy playing the game Dance Dance Revolution. Tong calmly mentioned that he had that game too. Well, you can imagine that I got very very excited. So once the guitar was done we got our groove on. And I forgot how bad I am at that game. All those arrows were coming so fast and my brain and feet couldn't connect. So I just started jumping all around, hoping that once and awhile I would hit the right arrow. It was so much fun! We definately have to play that more.

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As of Monday I have lived in College Station for a year and Wednesday marked my year at work. Isn't that crazy? I can't believe I've been here a year. I can still remember when I pulled out of my parent's driveway. My mom was out of town so I didn't get to see her and there were my dad and sisters waving good bye. I cried the majority of the trip. I remember sitting in my empty apartment wondering what to do. Over the course of the year I have thoroughly enjoyed my work at the museum, enjoyed becoming closer to my co-workers, fallen in love and become involved with my church, found some fantastic and loving friends, and found a wonderful boyfriend who I thank God everyday for bringing hm into my life!

New Song

Last night I learned a new verse to the song "Lord's Army"

I may never march down to Mexico
Eat a greasy taco
Wear a sombrero
I may never speak a little espanol
But I'm in the Lord's army--si senor!

How cute is that?!?!

Tutoring

Last night after church Travis came over so we could finish watching Runaway Bride and to do our study. We went without watching the final episode of Project Runway. We usually watch the show at Sarah and Kim's house. Sarah is out of town until Saturday night so we are going to fight the urge to find out the winner until Sunday.

At about 9:30 there was a knock on my door. I immediately tensed up because the only one who knocks on my door is Travis and he was already inside. Travis went to look out the peep hole and said it was one of the neighbor boys. It happened to be the little boy (he has told me his name and I don't remember) who always says hello to me. We was standing there with a piece of paper. I assumed he was doing a fundraiser for school, but I was pleasantly surprised when he asked if I would help him with his homework!

His little sister and mom were there too. The homework was over different vowel sounds. The family is either Pakistani or Indian so I'm sure this type of homework is rather difficult--heck it's difficult for people who speak English as their native tongue. So Travis and I helped him figure out which word went with which sentence. My co-workers said that I should start a tutoring business for the neighbor kids.

Highlights of Homecoming

We had such a wonderful weekend! I enjoyed seeing and spending time with everyone. Saturday we were going non stop from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Here are some highlights of the eventful weekend.

* Travis making fun of me for thinking the gray farm road on the map was faster than the red highway. (The gray road went straight across, the red one went down and then back up--sheesh)

* Seeing everyone at the ACU parade and Travis's mentor standing right next to the SPF group.

* Fantastic game of Ultimate at 10:30 in the morning. We still got it. Thankfully no momentous injuries--just a few cuts and bruises.

* Lunch with the Abilene girls at Chili's. It was so fun to have almost all of us back together.

* The musical was fantastic! It definately made up for Sussical last year. Singing in the Rain is one of my favorite movies so I was ecstatic to see ACU perform it. And I always enjoy an excuse to get all gussied up :)

* Knowing our group we had to have special picture time after the musical. Which moreso equates to 1 large group picture then 50 pictures of just the girls!

* It was great to attend Highland Sunday morning and see alot of people I have missed. I realize that I have grown out of Highland. I love A&M Church of Christ so much! It has the same family/college feel to it but I feel like there are more opportunities to get involved--especially in the college group.

* After church Travis met the grandmothers at Lytle Land and Cattle for lunch. My mom told me late that he received "rave reviews" from both grandmothers--as I knew he would!

* Alright--here comes the favorite story of the weekend:
I mentioned that Travis saw his mentor at the parade. When I was introduced to him I mentioned that he looked familiar. He told me that for years he has lead groups at the ACU camps. I then remembered that I was in his group back in the day. One year he brought Travis along to help teach. As the weekend went on Travis and I kept thinking about this. I tried to find my group picture from camp but was unable to. I did find pictures I took during that week. When Travis looked at them he started recognizing alot of the kids. When we got back to his apartment in College Station he found his camp picture. And there it was--Travis was my teacher in 1996! I was in 7th grade and he was in 10th grade. It is pretty amazing!

Info

* In about 3 hours Travis and I will be leaving for Abilene! I'm still trying to decide if I want to take my usual path down highway 6 or mix it up a little and try highway 36...hmmm.

* Last night I drove home in a stinking crazy rain storm. I literally could not see the road and a lot of the time wasn't sure I was on the road. Thankfully I made it home in one piece.

* Today we had a tour of 4th and 5th graders. Anne and I had to sit a moment and remember how to give a tour. Once we started it all came back to us. These kids were so wonderful--very polite, attentive, and inquisitive. My favorite question: Could someone ride a horse inbetween the shooting (asking about the Battle of the Alamo)? Answer: Well, they might get shot.

* I love that cooler weather is here! Last night at our devo I was nice and bundled up in my comfy sweatshirt. This morning I bought instant hot choclate (with baby marshmellows) for work.

* My dad has a conference in Orlando in early November. So he is using his flier miles to bring all of us out there for the weekend. We will get to spend 2 days in Disney World! I'm pretty excited! I do have to fly by myself though. It should be interesting but also thrilling at the same time. I think I've been on a plane 3 times in my life so I get excited when I ride them.

No Title

Yesterday was a day filled with children. We had our Home School Days program at the museum. Over the course of the day we had about 60 children filtered through for us to talk to about chores in the 1830's and help them make toys from the time period. I did the morning session and my kids were so cute! The majority of them dressed up in clothes from the time period. Most of the little girls had on long dresses and cute little bonnets. One little boy had the complete Davy Crockett get-up on--including moccasins and a coon skin hat. At one point in the program I choose a little girl to dress up in the clothes of the time period. This time was hard because they were already dressed up. Both the morning and the afternoon sessions went well. All of the kids were very well behavied and listened intently.

Once work was over I had to rush home and get everything ready to teach my kindergarten class at church. Somehow it has worked out to where everytime we have Home School program I also have to teach that evening. It leads to a very tiring day (but enjoyable). We had 15 kids in class and I think they all had caffinee and sugar for dinner. By the end of class they were running all around, one girl was all over the floor pretending to be a sheep, and glue was all over the tables. Whoo! I was very happy to relax with Travis, Sarah, and Kim watching Project Runway.

Tomorrow after work Travis and I are leaving for Abilene! I am so excited. I think I have been ready for this since September. Plans for ultimate, dinners with friends, the musical, seeing my family, seeing the changes at ACU and Abilene have me so excited!

Wake Me Up Before You Go

Last night I helped take care of Travis who apparently now has the same stuff I had/still have. I didn't do as great of a job as he did with taking care of me--he was wonderful!

I also had to make a cake last night for a coworker's birthday. After baking the cake I had a wave of tiredness come over me. It was only 9:00 but I could not stay awake. I defiantly argued that I was not tired at all--how could I be after licking the remains in the batter bowl and in the icing cup? I should have been bouncing off the walls after consuming so much sugar. Once I got home I was in bed by the reasonable time of 10:30.

I heard my alarm go off at 6:20 and quickly hit the snooze button--I typically snooze until 6:50. The next time I woke up a feeling of panic went through my body. There was a lot more light coming into my room than there typically is at 7:00 in the morning. I then looked at my clock and saw the problem--It was 8:05! I was suppose to be on the road headed to work so I could be there by 8:30. I took one of the fastest showers known to man or woman. I was ready within 30 minutes and made it to work a little after 9:00. Sheesh! I almost made it a year without missing my alarm.

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This morning I had a lady call inquiring about one of our programs. She wanted to only come to half of the program which was a rather odd request. So I put her on hold while I asked my boss about it. Apparently this lady had something more important to do or just did not like being put on hold. When I came back she didn't hear my click back on because I heard her say in a rather mean tone, "Come on lady. Why am I on hold for so long?" I waited about 2 seconds and in my sugary sweet voice said, "Hello Ms. Moody." Of course her tone of voice changed completely once she knew I was back on the phone, but little does she know I caught her true colors shining through.

Fog and Black Outs

On Monday, against my will, I went to the doctor to have things checked out--even though I felt super better than the previous days. Someone pushed me to visit the doctor--like calling me at my appointment time to make sure I was there. But I admit that it was in my best interest to go see the doctor and get all this stuff taken care of (are you happy--I put it in writing).

The medicine I was prescribed was one of the biggest pills I have ever seen. I took the pill right after my shower and didn't start feeling the strange effects until I had already started driving to work. The medicine made me incredibly dizzy and loopy--it felt like the room was spinnng. This is not good when you have to drive on a very busy highway. It also doesn't help when on that particular day there is fog thick enough to cut with a knife. My drive to work on Tuesday was very exciting to say the least. My dizzy/loopy state did not get under control until about 2:00 that afternoon. Once I got home I noticed the label on my pills: Medication may impair your ability to drive or operate machinery--oops!

When I returned home yesterday I went to pick up my contacts. I noticed that the traffic lights were acting a little screwy. At one moment they would be blinking red, then they would turn solid green, but then 5 seconds later turn back to blinking red. No one knew what to do or whose turn it was to go. Knowing this town and some of the crazy drivers, I wanted to get home before I got stuck in an accident. From what I heard a generator had gone out causing black outs all over the city. Travis was without electricity in his apartment and had tried calling me to see if I had electricity. The black outs must have affected the cell phones as well because he says he called 4 or 5 times and I never heard my phone ring. Because of the messed up traffic lights, his drive to my house, which usually takes 10-15 minutes, was about 30 minutes. Luckily our church had electricity for our bible studies but before we were finished all of the lights went out. Thankfully some of the girls brought flashlights as a precaution. By the time our bible study was over both of our apartments had full electrical capacity, but some parts of town were without electricity for quite awhile.

I enjoyed the evening events--I find it exciting when the electricity or some other mishap occurs!