Sunny Days

Last night my phone rang. It was Tali. A quick glance at the clock told me she should have been en route to OK. Turns out she missed her flight. :) Why the smiling face? It meant that we got to talk all we wanted while she relaxed in her hotel room. (Not to worry, she got everything worked out and has now made it safely to OK.)

You know what else makes me :)?

I have the most incredible boyfriend in the world! He came over and just sat with me when I was feeling down and then encouraged me to chat as long as I wanted to Tali Rose!

A morning with Gabe & Sophie, a trip to Publix with Mommy, some understanding in genetics, a physics problem solving manuel delivery (woohoo!), and lots of sunshine have all made this a fantastic day!

God is good to me, even when I don't deserve it. I am o-so-thankful for grace.

Ever Have One of Those Days?

You know what kinds of days I'm talking about: the ones where you find yourself crying for all the problems in the world.

Today was sorta like that for me.

Morning was great. Kids were great.

Afternoon brought with it a new biology chapter on genetics. Printing out this week's many pages was like pulling a foundational Jenga block. I went tumbling down.

I cried.

I cried for my science-deficient brain. For my fruitless efforts in physics. For my lousy exam grade. For feeling inadequate.

I cried because homework was the last thing I wanted to spend my evening doing.

I cried because I cancelled all my week plans just to study, including a lunch date and piano lesson with Ms. Williams and TLC with Tabitha. I cried harder.

I went from there to crying because I miss my Tali Rose and for changes in the near future.

Tali Rose called me from Chicago but her phone was dying. We talked a grand 3 minutes, most of which I spent trying not to cry. When we hung up, I cried again.

I ate chocolate cake and cried because I know I'll have a headache tomorrow.

A very nice guy from church helped me with physics, for whom I am exceedingly thankful! A few smiles crept across my face, as I felt a little less helpless. Tali Rose called me back, but I couldn't talk. (Do you know how incredibly hard it was to tell Tali I'd call her back when we haven't spoken in 3 1/2 weeks!?)

I called her later, but she didn't answer. I think she'd already boarded her plane to OK. More tears.

Tyler's been sweet and put up with my moods several times on the phone today. I called him. He was at WalMart (I had to smile a little at that) and said he'd come visit me. More smiling.

(Although I must say I almost cried again when he said Angela wouldn't be at Fishing Wednesday tomorrow!)

My dad brought bagels home. Good comfort food. Oh, and mom hugs are wonderful, too.

Sigh. Sorry if you read all that, but a girl has got to use her blog to rant every now and then.

Of Cows and Slurpees

I decided to start with some old photos first.

This is last year. Can you believe how expensive gas was?? When I started school last fall, I alloted $4 to the gallon in my budget.

We missed Tali greatly this year, at both Cow and Slurpee days. We also missed Sia, who is an avid Slurpee hopper every year! Both of these girls couldn't come because they were in Africa. We missed you, too, Megan Marie!
Happy Haylee, Slurpee in hand.

This is our cow group in 2006.
2007
2008
2009. As you can see, our group was slightly smaller this year, mostly because people were out-of-town. I am pleased to announce that Tabitha joined us this year! :D Unfortunately, we didn't really have anyone to take fun pictures of us. :( Notice the FEAST of food at our table. It was all free! We couldn't even finish it all.

Slurpee hopping 2009. This year we enjoyed twice as many Haylee cousins, adding Melissa and Natalie to the crew. They were fun!
Haylee cousins in the backseat...
Haylee making faces at her cousins in the backseat?
Bombarding one of the many 7-Elevens.
Umm...
Aleah's reaction to Melissa stealing the front seat. :)
Kelly wasn't able to join our slurpee hopping this year, so we joined her at her house instead!
Jenna holding all our Slurpee cups.
She had so many that she got interviewed! We waited for it on the news, but she got beat out by two little boys filling up Slurpee cups. :(
This is the coolest thing ever: portable Slurpee!
This is at the grand opening of a 7-Eleven, and they had tons of games and prizes. Melissa and I were the only ones who couldn't succeed at this game to get a free t-shirt. At one point, the line was so short that we just took turns trying to throw a keychain into a Slurpee cup.
Don't be fooled. I didn't win that shirt. I'm just holding Aleah's extra. :-P Ha ha!

This was probably one of my favorite Slurpee hopping experiences! They should have grand openings every year! :)