Fat and Happy

Six plates of food, 185 dollars, and five extra pounds later,

Thanksgiving break is officially over and the start of a new week has officially reared its ugly head at me.

Truly, this manic Monday consisted of a bad hair day, a near-death experience by filing cabinet, miscommunications, cramping, and terrible terrible classes. Instead of focusing on the terribleness of today, I'm going to reminisce on the lovely weekend I had with just

about the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Okay, ready?

Grahm and I arrived in Dallas a little after eight on Wednesday evening. We snuck up to the top of Reunion Tower and took some pictures, spit on oblivious pedestrians hundreds of feet below, and sang our favorite Disney songs at the top of our lungs.

We wandered around the Hyatt, waiting for his dad and playing lots of random games. [If you ever get the opportunity to play the States game with Grahm, don't. You will lose.]

Lots of Saints football players were there for the game against the Cowboys. Too bad I don't know any of them...

After a lovely Hyatt room [all to my elfinwhich] that night, we went to the ranch in Kaufman [aka middle-of-no-where Texas] to see the family. There were about about a hundred smiling faces in the big house, and I was a tinsy intimidated.

The long dessert table provided instant me with instant comfort.

An obstacle course, flag football game, tug-of-war struggle, flag football frenzy, softball, arm wrestling competition [I represented the Roach family well and made it to the semi-finals], pie-eating competition, and pepper-eating competition later... we were all pooped and full of yummy food.

Such a great group of people, even if they are Aggies. ;)

THEN... even more fun began.

Friday we all got up at 530 and headed to the Dallas Galleria, which [for those of you who haven't been] is an Oklahoma girl's dream mall. It seems to stretch on for miles, store after store. My pink debit card was burning a hole in my pocket.

Did I mention I have the greatest boyfriend ever, yet?

He tried on everything I picked out for him and even dared to enter the daunting Forever21, holding all of my clothes as I milled around the store.

Papa Roach, Mama Roach, and Auttie are all wonderful. Grahm is wonderful [but you knew that already]. All the food was wonderful. Shopping [duh] was wonderful. And the Sooners heading to the Big 12 Championship is DEFINITELY a wonderful thing.

Great, great weekend.

I'm now fat and happy, ready to finish up the semester with a smile on my face.

Thanksgiving

Pumpkin pie, extra whip cream.

Green bean casserole.

Sweet potato casserole, extra brown sugar.

Rolls, extra butter.

Honey ham.

Shopping, shopping, shopping.

It's a Wonderful Life.

Being with those I love the most.

... Did I mention pumpkin pie?

Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday.

No question.

Really, it's an excuse to live, almost to the extreme, the very life I want. Lovin' on people, eating ALL the time, and shopping til I absolutely drop. Now that's a recipe for happiness if I've ever seen one.

This year will be a little different.

It's the first time I won't be headed north to see my extended family, who I only get to see this time of year. And it will be the first time in years that I don't get up with my sister, mom, and aunt to hit the mall at 5:30 a.m.

Instead, Grahm and I are headed to Kaufman, Texas for his biannual family reunion. I'm excited to meet everyone and participate in the fun-filled schedule they have for all of us. Papa Roach [Grahm's dad] has even volunteered to take me shopping on Black Friday! Now I just have to convince him that Bass Pro and Ace Hardware aren't exactly at the top of everyone's Black Friday "musts."

It will be a fun few days. That is, if the Turkey Trot Grahm is making me run

doesn't kill me.

Being with the Roach family, however, does mean that I won't be able to shamelessly go get my traditional fourth or fifth plate of food. I probably should show some self control.

After all, most of these people aren't going to know me.

I don't exactly want to be remembered as "girl who had four pieces of pie."

... or do I? :)

Well readers, I will see you in a few days with an extra ten pounds

attached to my thighs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You can find "ear" in relate

Have you ever met someone going through the same thing you once experienced? The details may be a little hazy, but the emotions are identical and just as real. She's you, just two years later.

This happened to me yesterday.

It's all very surreal, almost like staring at yourself in the rearview mirror as
you're quickly driving in the opposite direction.

It was easy to relate to her, to listen. When I needed to speak, the words effortlessly poured out of me; I knew so much of what she was enduring.

You may not have had recent contact with your ex-boyfriend's current ex [try saying that five times fast] but we all have people we can relate to. On the wide spectrum of human emotion, I bet you're not the only one who has at one time or is currently feeling anxiety, jealously, loneliness, etc. In that sense, we are all bound together. We all can, in some small way, can understand one another.

Every once in a while, I think these people are purposefully brought into our lives. It reminds us of the times when we didn't have it all together, when doubt crept into our minds. We didn't understand.

Looking at the girl in my rearview, I am so incredibly grateful. I'm thankful that I serve a God who knows exactly what he's doing... all the time. Whether I get it [a rare occurrence] or not. He always, always, always has my good in mind. And he is one who experienced it all. He can always relate to what I'm feeling. When I cry, he cries. When I'm full of joy, so is he. He always has an ear for me.

I'm a little behind...

In case you've been living under a rock the past few days [I can relate], let me shed some light on your current "dark" situation.

Harry Potter came out this weekend.

Now before you go get your wizard panties all in a wad, let me just say right now that I just don't get it.

I haven't read any of the [apparently magical] books, and I believe I've only seen a grand total of five minutes from one of the movies.

Before your throw your stones, let me explain.
I'm not against magic. Nor am I an anti-bandwagon kind of gal. I wear my UGG (ahem... fake) boots and Nike shorts with pride. Not to mention, I've trudged my way through the Twilight series and all of its angst.

I just can't get into fantasy.
Is that sad?
My imagination is about as vast as my big toe.

So while the movie theaters flooded with anxious teenagers dressed with pointy magic sticks and oval-rimmed glasses, Grahm and I walked into Rachel McAdam's latest film: Morning Glory. I think there were fifteen people in the theater, and that's being generous.

So, I guess I should [probably] try reading this series sometime. After all, I wouldn't mind living large like JK Rowling now is. But I think it might be difficult to read about flying brooms, magic spells, and talking creatures.

Do you like Harry Potter? Does it live up to all the hype?

Keep your coins, I want change

Change is in the air.

I'm not talking about the loose coins that may or may not be jingling around in your linty pockets. Nor am I referring to the kind of change Obama preached for his slew of naive followers. I'm talking about a transformation of sorts.

It's funny how often we can, of course, recognize the metamorphosis of

other people. At the end of a break up, how often do people toss up the

familiar excuse, "You're different. It's just... it's not the same as it used to be."

I've never been slapped with that terrible line (they knew better), but I

wonder if we, the "dumpers," can see how much we've changed too?

I've been thinking a lot about change, lately. In some ways, I can see the

difference in myself from my first day of college and now nearing the end.

Physically and emotionally. We're different than before. Heck, we are

different every single day. Every breath brings something new, something

with which we have to adapt our lives to.

The point is:

You change.

People change.

We're not the same as we were yesterday or ten minutes ago. Our circumstances, our lives are forever fluctuating.

But...there is One who does not change.

He is the same today, forever, and yesterday. And it is because of Him that I can embrace the change around me. In fact, I can long for it. I can long to be free from this world and the dissatisfaction my heart feels.

So when I get heartbroken, disappointed, dumped, trampled on...

When I have to change things that I would rather not (like leaving Norman and college foreeeevvver) I can rest in the steadfastness of the unchanging One.

It makes all this change just a little more bearable.