Baylor Football

I bleed green and gold.

The first game of of the season, versus TCU, I watched from the couch. I was fighting a sinus infection. I couldn't cheer my throat was too sore. I clapped and waved my arms in celebration or protest instead. Even though I was not feeling so well, I was happy to celebrate a Baylor victory on national tv. :)

Later this fall, I went to a Baylor football game in Waco with my dear friends, Claire and Blake. They had come across 3 tickets to the Baylor v SFA game and called me to see if I would like to go. Of course I did! Baylor was on the winning side of the shut-out 48-0 at the end of the 3 quarter game. The game was called after 3 quarters because of storms rolling into the Waco area. Before the game was called we had a 20 minute lightning delay, Claire and I went under the stands. Guess who we met? Okay I will tell you. Baylor President Ken Starr! He talked to us for a couple of minutes; he was very personable and of course glad to meet Baylor alum. I like his tradition that he has started of running out with the Baylor Line before the game. We also met up with our friend Allison and her husband James as we took shelter from the storm.

Claire, Allison, and Mb taking shelter from the storm!

In November, I was in Waco for one of my Baylor roommate's Steph's wedding. The Bears were playing in Kansas. Brad, the groom, asked that their wedding be on a weekend that the Bears played away so he wouldnt miss a home game. We were taking bridal party pictures during the 4th quarter. The groomsmen were listening to the game and following the game on their iPhones (what did we do before smartphones?). The Bear bridesmaids joined them as pictures were taken. At the beginning of the quarter we were all down for the Bears. We just are not known for being a come back team. Then we listened to a 21 point come back. OH MY GOSH! Baylor scored 21points in the 4 quarter to tie the game. Insert lots of high fives and "Sic'em Bears". So here comes overtime. We have the ball first. RGIII leads us quickly to a touchdown and the extra point was good. Kansas scored and went for a 2 point conversion. They missed! AND The Bears WIN!!! Lots of high fives and "Sic'em Bears!" One of the groomsmen patted Brad on the back and said, "Okay, Brad, you may now get married!" Don't have a picture of the bridal party listening to the game or celebrating. Below are the bride and groom with all the Baylor Alum that attended the wedding and Judge Baylor.

Judge Baylor, Bride, Groom, and Baylor Alum!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, was the Texas Shootout. The annual game played at Cowboy Stadium between Baylor and Texas Tech. This was my first time to go to Cowboy Stadium or Jerry World. Words don't describe the size of that place! We sat on the 3rd row from the very top. We definitely got our exercise climbing stairs and almost needed extra oxygen for being at such a high elevation. The first half of the game was great for offense. Baylor scored a field goal and after that we traded touchdowns back and forth with Tech. RGIII, Kendall Wright, Ganaway, and the rest of the offence were just outstanding. Towards the end of the 1st half, RGIII was running the ball in the red zone and in the midst of sliding out of bounds when a Tech player tackled him with an elbow to RGIII's head. RGIII laid flat on the ground for awhile. I just cant stand seeing someone hurt like that not to mention there were several signs around the stadium that said things like, "All We Want for Christmas is a Heisman". RGIII got up. Sat out a play. The next play he ran the ball in for a touchdown. He did not play the second half out of precaution. He did get a kiss on the cheek from Coach Briles at the end of the game. Second string quarterback, Nick Florence, did a great job at leading the Bears to a 66-42 victory.

It was sooo cold and WINDY! BRRRR

Interlocking BU. Sic'em.

Deep in the heart of TEXAS!

B-A-Y-L-O-R

Dad, brother-in-law Travis, sister Susan!

Mom and I

The Bears thanking the Lord for safety and victory post game

mb and S

The family

The original 4. We are probably laughing at mom trying to be taller. This is classic. 

Beating OU and Texas which brought the bears to a 9 win season was exciting, spirit building, and historic. The icing on the cake was RGIII winning the Heisman for the Baylor Nation. I love that he is an upstanding Christian guy. He has been a great asset for Baylor football, Baylor Nation, the state of Texas, the Big 12 and college football. Looking forward to the Alamo Bowl and a 10 win season!

RGIII! Sic'em!

Christmas Goodies

I love Christmas. Most importantly - its the celebration of my Savior's birth. Another reason it is baking season! This week since I have been home from school, my mom and I have been baking. We send goodie boxes to friends and family especially those that are elderly and/or widowed that probably are not going to bake for themselves. This week we have made our traditional Christmas goodies of chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, sugar cookies, poppy seed roll, and nut roll. Last week Mom made Bourbon balls too.

Sugar Cookies. We make small thin sugar cookies instead of the usual thick cakey cookies.

This year I made a new cookie, Chocolate Mint Cookies. I hope they stick as a regular Christmas cookie. I found them on Allrecipes.com earlier this year when I was looking for something new to make for a school function. They were a success so I knew we needed to try them this year for Christmas. They bring memories of Girl Scout Thin Mints - YUM! For our Christmas baking, I doubled the recipe and made about 200 small cookies.

 Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon mint extract

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints

Directions                   

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips and mint extract until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.               

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to over bake. When cookies come out of the oven, Press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer. For smaller cookies, break mints in half.

Chocolate Mint Cookies!

Whats your favorite Christmas cookies? Others that are Christmas classics in our family are peanut butter kiss cookies, pitzzelles, and buck eyes.

Final Finals Week

I have made it through four semesters of OT school! I have 2 three month rotations, a study course, graduation, and board exam between me and being gainfully employed! I have to say this past finals week was not nearly as grueling as past finals weeks. Don't get me wrong, I was still exhausted this past weekend. In the last 2 weeks since Thanksgiving, we completed 2 practicals, 3 finals, and 1 project.

What has made this past week most memorable is hanging out with the friends I have made here. I am so blessed.

Saturday: After watching my Baylor Bears beat UT, I babysat my neighbor's 3 kiddos for the last time. A is very meticulous and loves anything planes, trains, and automobiles. He is adjusting to school life as a kindergartner. S is the girliest girly girl I have ever known. Her regular attire is princess costumes and jewelery; she also has an obsession with lip stick. S is three....I would love to see her grow up. Precious M was just born in July! He is a sweet cuddle bug.

Sunday: After Sunday school and church, the couple I live with and another couple we usually eat lunch with on Sunday afternoons treated me to a wonderful lunch at a fancy steak house, Perrie's! The food was delicious, but most of all the company was wonderful. The couple we ate with are some of the most genuine people I have met, their love for Christ over flows, and have the sweetest love for each other.

Monday: One of the last study groups with my girls! 5 of us get together for most tests to review with each other. I owe a lot of my sanity to them! We will be spread across the state for fieldwork so we are trying to figure out how to Skype five ways to study together for our boards!

Tuesday: Dinner with Paul and Liz. Paul is in med school here and I have known him since 6th grade. Liz, Paul's wife, is a speech therapist at one of the local schools. I met her at a special needs camp that we both worked at 4 years ago, Paul and Liz were dating at the time. We have tried to get together as often as we can, but with our crazy schedules that turns out to be once every 4-6 weeks! Its been great to have them nearby and I am thankful for that!

Wednesday: Lunch with the study group at a cute mom and pop restaurant near UTMB. Sweet fellowship is much better than studying. Studying has been necessary but having the chance for fellowship is so refreshing!

Thursday: After our LAST final of the program, we had our last class pot-luck. I think we had trouble realizing that we would not be seeing each other in January. We have spent the last year and half together everyday. We had the privilege to see the good, bad, and ugly of each other each day. In January, we will  be out in the field by ourselves, relying on what we have learned in class not each other. Thursday night, the couple that I lived with took me out to Opus to celebrate my completion of class work and our time together. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights (I love Christmas lights).

I am grateful to the Lord for the last year and half. I am thankful for what I have learned about God, about myself, about others, and the profession of occupational therapy.

The Crew: Emilie, Sarah, Me, Allison, and Hillary.
Three Aggies, A Longhorn, and A Baylor Bear

I am looking forward to Christmas, time with family and friends, and what 2012 will bring my way!

Take me out to the ballpark!

Baseball. An American Past Time.

I grew up watching baseball with my dad. Our family shared season tickets with some family friends to the Florida Marlins for several years after the formation of the Marlins as an expansion team in 1993. Since we have lived in Texas, we have been to a handful of Texas Rangers games. I have always kept up with baseball, well as much as a girl can. I am no expert though. :)

This year we went to a Ranger's game for Father's Day/Mom's birthday weekend. They lost miserably 5-14 to the Mets. Ballpark snacks are always a must, for our family its peanuts! It was a fun hot game, but would have been much better with a win!

 S and T!

Dad and I

Dad put his name in the raffle for post season tickets and he had Mom and I put our names in the raffle too. We thought that maybe one of us would be picked once for a chance to buy tickets for a game of the postseason. Dad's name was picked for 2 games in the American League Division Series AND 2 games for the American League Championship Series. It ended up that only dad only went to the first game of each series he was offered tickets for because the Rangers won the series without the other games.

The first game was the very first game of this year's postseason against the Tampa Bay Devilrays. It was a Friday afternoon game, so I drove up from Galveston after my morning class. I think the Rangers thought this game was a practice game... they lost 0-9. Our seats were in the upper deck in left field + late afternoon = sun in our eyes and very hot = I got a hat.

My new hat!

The ALCS game that the rest of my family went to, I couldn't go because of class, was the record breaking game with Nelson Cruz hitting a walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning! I was jealous, but glad that they were there for such an exciting game.

Obviously the Rangers have won way more games this year than they lost because as I am writing this the Rangers are up in Game 6 of the World Series. Go Rangers!

Homemade ornaments - Cinnamon applesauce

My sister and I made these years ago in girl scouts (I think) and every year as we decorate the tree, we reminisce on how fun they are and how good they smell after so many years. I was invited to a bridal shower recently were every attendee was assigned a month to bring a gift that correlates with that month. I of course got DECEMBER! As I brainstormed on what I could do on a grad school budget, I decided that I would make ornaments and this is one of the ones I decided to make.

Ingredients for one batch
1 cup applesauce
1 cup cinnamon
1 Tbsp glue

Hint: I found the applesauce and cinnamon at Big Lots at a reasonable price. \

1. Mix ingredients together. If sticky-- add more cinnamon. If dry--add more applesauce.

2. Roll out on wax paper. Coat rolling pin with extra cinnamon (use the cinnamon like you use flour when you are rolling out bread dough). You don't want to roll the ornament dough out too thin or leave it too thick. You want it about a 1/8 - 1/4 inch.

3. Use your favorite Christmas shaped cookie cutters

4. Place the cut outs on cookie sheet. Use a toothpick or straw to make a hole on the top of the ornament.

5. Place tray in the oven on 200 degrees for 30 minutes

6. Flip the ornaments and bake for 30 more minutes

7. Allow to finish drying for several days and continue to flip the ornaments so they dry evenly.

8. Use sandpaper or your fingers to smooth the edges

9. Paint in what ever way you like. I used festive Christmas colored puff paint.

10. Tie ribbon or twine through the hole and hang on tree!

Ingredients

All mixed up

Ready to roll with a little extra cinnamon

Candy Canes, hearts, and Christmas trees!

Remember to poke holes BEFORE baking.

Hearts, trees & candy canes

I made A LOT. they smell so good! and will be a great part of Christmas presents!

Ready to be hung on the tree with care!

Lessons learned from Grandma

During my 3 week summer vacation in August, my sister and I met my parents in Philly and spent some time with my grandma. She is working on regaining her physical strength in a nursing home. She is cognitively together which is such a blessing. With old age she has become very blunt and to the point. She took her opprotunity to teach us some lessons she thought we needed.

1. Bobby pins are ancient. She was shocked to see them in my hair. She told us she use to make fun of people that wore them with her sister.

2. My legs are white and I need to get some sun.

3. Trust in God in all parts of life.

4. Cant take anything with you to heaven.

5. Learn from your spouse.

6. I should be faster at finding and marrying a husband. She told me, "You are taking to long to get married. I am sorry I wont make it to your wedding."

7. Think of others and remind your self and others why life is worth living. As she is rolled to breakfast and therapy she has a good morning song she sang.

She had many many little bits of wisdom for us through out our week there.

I also got to practice my transferring skills on her and had an opportunity to chat with her therapists. In the mornings we would accompany her to her therapy and then take her outside to visit with her in a beautiful garden. Every evening we played cards with her. She enjoyed getting to beat her granddaughters and daughter-in-law; I think getting to use her mind and laughing was good medicine! :)

Me, Grandma, and Susan

Hello again blogging world!

I am alive. Sorry for my absence. All I can say, is that life happens. I guess as life got cluttered blogging is one of the balls I dropped. I think I am back for awhile now! :) In the next few posts, I will try to catch you up on life!

Took this picture a couple of years ago. I thought it was appropriate because I feel like he is bowing in apology. Plus he/she is just a cool looking bird.