happy birthday, anna banana!

it's the baby princess's birthday. 24. time to stop counting and start lying!

birthday girl

isn't she pretty? she looks like reese witherspoon a la june carter cash.

right now she's stuck in dallas in a cold weather-sponsored state shut-down. apparently texas responds to snow much like mississippi does.

so, in honor of her day...a birthday post.

she was the biggest baby of the bunch, and had toooooons of fat rolls, but no hair. til she was 2.

her name was supposed to be marshall stephen if she was a boy, and elizabeth anne ("annie") if she was a girl. however, my grandmother insisted on calling her "elizabeth," so our mom changed her name. after she was born. true story.

she's prissy, and sassy, and loves to laugh. where rebecca and i are like midnight and high noon, anna and i are more early afternoon and late afternoon.

she's determined and smart, and sets a high personal standard for herself, her friends and her precious students.

and, her closet.

she's a fashion maven/addict, and loves all things expensive and stylish. i did not get this gene. she really must be with me whenever i make more than one clothing purchase. where i'll hem and haw, she's decisive and confident. and she's always put together to the nines. nines, i tell you!

two of anna's favorite things: couture purses and henry man

obviously, a post about anna would be incomplete without mention of henry, anna's other other half. he really is the cutest little thing, and, as you can see, always well-dressed.
when anna is at school, he likes to play dress-up. also, he refuses to potty outside when it's cold. kind of like anna. diva much?

anna's other favorite

conner is pretty much the only person who can tell anna "no," mean it, and she listens (how do you do it?!). he's really tall, so she can wear her highest heels no matter what. he also may or may not be the instigator of her bulldog betrayal. but she's been forgiven, since he actually did play football at ole miss, and how can you not cheer for your boyfriend?

so, happy birthday baby sister. you're worth every penny. i wish i lived in dallas so i could play with you all the time. i know you wanted to be an aunt for your birthday, but how about a visit from your oldest sister instead? love you so much!

i promise

to be better at blogging, once a) january is over and all w2s are out and b) my father-in-law gets to come home from the hospital.

yeah, so, my father-in-law fell off a roof new year's day (we were in jacksonville cheering for our bulldawgs!) and it's been a whirlwind ever since. he is doing great and expected to make a full recovery! it will just take some time.

also, per slate today, i have been typing everything incorrectly - that is, with two spaces between sentences. i was shocked when i read the article. i checked with my fellow grammar-aficionado bestie, and she concurred. i may not recover from this.

days 15 - 18

day 15 - bible verse

"see, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
- isaiah 49:16

day 16 - dream house

don't even get me started.
i love bungalow, cottage & craftsman-style homes. must have a huge porch.
dream house is in the mountains, quiet, comfortable and liveable and impeccably decorated, completely paid for, and full of love.

day 17 - something you're looking forward to

christmas, of course! seeing the family and hopefully some friends,
and 24 hours of a christmas story, coming to a tbs near you.
also: mississippi state's bowl game over new year's with the law student.

day 18 - something you regret

hmm...usually it's something i say. also found here: my senior year of high school's haircut, not spending enough time with my grandfather, not studying abroad in college, and a few select college-era fashion choices and/or alcohol-induced antics.

blog vomit

i feel like i've been holding back all the things i really would like to blog about, but can't because of the effort i'm putting into this blog challenge. have you seen the pictures i've put up on here?? time. consuming.

i've got to get this stuff off my chest.
so, in no particular order, general musings/rants about life incidents.


i've joined a gym, in addition to the pilates studio. here's to getting my skinny on.

the law student is still cleaning like cinderella as we wait on job leads to ripen. i'm not complaining, but i still feel kind of usurped.

i made 160 dream cookies last night. i'm going to have to frost those suckers tonight. find the recipe on my blog by clicking on the label "dream cookies."

i'm already getting excited/anxious about the upcoming travel schedule and workload for the next week, with our last home football game and thanksgiving, then back home for one more football game. we are road warriors!

i'm a little pissed at small town and its recent dog leash law incidents. just because someone fell over and broke their wrist doesn't mean my little roxyface is in any way capable of malicious, unprovoked bloodlust or general rowdiness. and who are all these people that think the park is a dangerous place because of dogs? where did y'all come from? i've been going to this park daily for over 3 years - you must be talking about some other place. they're dogs, not hellhounds from the seventh circle. they like to run. i'm pretty sure i can manage my own dog, without a police officer in a golf cart riding around to see if roxy's off her leash or not, thankyouverymuch.

i've always been sort of a closet sci-fi fan, but chose instead to tease the law student about his extensive fantasy book collections. until i started reading one series. consider me out.

whew, i feel better.

heart strings

my heart is heavy this week.

first and foremost, the bulldog nation mourns the passing of one of our own, nick bell. this kid went from playing football on september 24, 2010, to gone on november 2, 2010. he was bright, humble, and just beginning to shine, but cancer doesn't fight fair. #36 will always be remembered.


http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msu/2010/11/02/bell-after-short-battle-with-cancer/

video of memorial in the junction

secondly, my friend's uncle is also losing his battle with cancer. cancer. sucks. see above. their families are really really close, and cancer has struck them so many times over and over - her father, her uncle, her aunt, her cousin's wife, the wife's sister - it's almost creepy. and so now, they prepare for the inevitable. and it is hard and it is painful. why God chooses to heal one and not another is a mystery. i hurt for my friend and her family.

katie from uganda (amazima) lost one of her daughters. i can't imagine the sense of loss, of injustice, the physical pain of her heart.

it's so hard to understand God sometimes, to fathom why He allows such pain and sorrow for any of us, why He heals one and not another, why He sometimes seems so far away and unmoved. and it is hard to cling to the fact that God is good, all of the time, and can't be anything else. it's just hard. and it hurts. but it's also hard for me to understand His love for me, His unfathomable and unending love, that drenches us in mercy, grace, compassion and kindess, even in the midst of our pain and our doubt. He is here. He is with katie and her daughter. He is with my friend's uncle. He is with the bell family. and His heart hurts with theirs. so i will trust my God, who goes with us when He takes us to hard places.

speaking of hard places, i read this verse today: james 2:20 - 24

"you foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? was not our ancestor abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son issac on the altar? you see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. and the scripture was fulfilled that says, “abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

that is hard. and yet God was there with him. and He provided a ram, not only to abraham, but to us as well, hanging on a cross. i'm so scared of only giving lip service to God, when the bible commands us to follow Him, to go where He goes, taking His good news to the sick, the poor, the hungry, the orphans - to do, not just hear, to have my faith live out in my actions. that is uncomfortable for me. it is so much easier to just go to church, read our bible study together, sing along to christian radio, and tell people i am a christian and all the good things about God and Jesus and stay in my little bubble. but i believe God, and i believe He is good, and His heart is for everyone, not just me. i want faith like abraham. and while i don't think God is trying to create a new hebrew nation out of me, i still want to say "yes" with no hesitation or doubt, or even anger, when He tells me to go to the hard places with Him.

monday night heartbreak

dear dolphins,

your special teams - woof.

you were the first to score. the golden mullet didn't score a touchdown. you held the patriots to 2 field goals in the first half. you walked back onto the field leading 7-6.

and then you let them score in the first 14 seconds of the second half. your quarterback threw 2 interceptions that resulted in 14 points, and a pick-6 to round out the game. not to mention i had to hear the name benjarvus green-ellis over and over again, which is not only a mouthful but also a player of my alma mater's rival. salt in the wound.

but nothing compares to the special teams. wow. y'all really showed out. after last game's blocked punt, surely you practiced this. you must have, because you are a professional football team and you get paid to do a job. how many blocked punts did you have last night? three? i lost count. i'm pretty sure your total lack of ability to simply execute a play that for any regular team is a given directly contributed to that bigger number on the scoreboard. your number one fan, my husband, stopped watching. he even stopped screaming. he probably won't even whistle all day today. if you don't know, it's a bad sign. in fact, my home life is directly related to your win-loss record.

i married into this loyalty, but i now support you as a true fan (even though jason taylor left). so, in the name of happy households and husbands everywhere,

get. it. together.

sincerely,

kissey, dolphin fan

monday morning confession

i can't remember the last time i shopped for groceries. or vacuumed. or washed a sink full of dirty dishes after preparing a nutritious, locally-grown homemade meal. or even wanted to. i'm regressing as a housewife. something about this summer and this fall schedule and new football season have conspired against my good intentions and sapped my energy. i've let all this bar exam stuff go to my head. all my years of housewifery, all my standards, are slowly spiraling down.

and let me just tell you, the newly-sworn-in-and-able-to-argue-in-mississippi-courts-but-currently-still-open-to-employment-opportunities esquire does not make it any easier for me. how in the world am i supposed to polish my skills and stay on task when he so willingly washes last night's dishes for me every morning? or dusts and vacuums on sunday afternoons so i don't come home to a dirty house? i left him saturday morning painting bleach on a stain on his shirt, and when i returned home i found he had folded the clean towels and put them in their proper place in our bathroom. this means he pulled them out of the dryer. he doesn't even fuss when i send him a grocery list, at least not so i can hear him. and as a result, i never really remember what we have in the pantry, even though i made the list and the menu, which i can no longer find.

i think back to our first days together. i was often more than annoyed to see cereal bowls with spoons stuck to them on the side table, or half full glasses from the night before in random spots around the house, and i hated stepping on forgotten underwear in the bathroom. but he caught on and began to share in the work of wifely domain. it was such a welcomed help! but i fear i've created a monster. i've made myself totally expendable. i now know just how efficient my little househusband is. he's running circles around me with the vacuum, while i just lay on the couch with a glazed look on my face. i have got to get it together, pull myself up by my apron strings. because i know he's going to get a job soon, and then where will we be? looking at each other over a sink full of dirty dishes while i try to remember how to fold a shirt.

i'm not complaining. really. i know how good i've got it. and i know he enjoys making and keeping me happy more than he actually likes cleaning. and by no means do i want him to stop. i loooooooove basking in the faint glow of a really clean home, and doubly so when i didn't do the cleaning. i could really get used to this. stay away, ladies. this one's mine.

untitled monday post

first and foremost, i would like to publicly thank my new followers, katie and jessica. new followers always make me happy. seriously, if you're secretly stalking me, be brave and publicly follow me. i love to know who finds me mildly entertaining. come out, come out, whoever you are!

me and jess, some years ago--reuniting soon!

so, goings-on with the langs: msu football, miami dolphin football, mother-in-law's birthday (and getting to see sweet niece olivia-bonus!), new small group, the swearing off of hard liquor (or at least whiskey), baby showers, visiting old friends and of course, waiting out the bar exam results. we get them thursday! thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. i'm more than certain the law graduate passed, but it's nice to know for sure. i'll keep you updated.

i think back about him studying for the LSAT. he was so disciplined! then, he graduated and we got married the next weekend. i quit my job, because who wants to work the week of their wedding, and then after their honeymoon? and then, we just had to get up here to small town, so we packed up our horse trailer (yes, horse trailer) and moved completely in 24 hours. that was when we discovered this town does not sell cold beer. rebels, and hot beer? oy vey.

it was exciting and a bit scary here at first, trying to find jobs and our little niche. if you were my friend then, you heard all about it. but life puttered along here and picked up speed. we found jobs, friends and a church, and all the little secret things i love about this town. and life just sort of happened. the last three years have been great and i think we've both learned a lot--wow, just thinking about it is kind of cool! and now, at the beginning of our 4th football season here (can you tell i'm a happily converted sports fan?), we are waiting. waiting for bar exam results. waiting for a job offer. hell, even an interview would be nice. waiting for...what? i hesitate to say waiting for our life to start, because it already has. three years of school, growing, new friends, life routines, work. all these things happened, and were good, and are valuable and memorable. so while we wait, and i feel like the big door of life is almost open and i too often get caught up in the whirlwind of our future, i struggle to remember that today counts, too. we are not in limbo, we are in motion, and we have two hands and two feet to do the work of the gospel. "waiting for a job offer and subsequent new life direction" is no excuse to be idle. i'm trying to think of this as a time to sow, and to be still, and to learn and prepare.

i've mentioned we are reading the bible all the way through, haven't i? i love it. we get up early, which i hate, and pray together, and then read the chapters for the day, and then pray again. and as much as it physically pains me to get up earlier than i would like, i really crave that time with the law graduate to pray together and be in the Word together. granted, we are a week behind because of football weekends and a certain sleepyhead, but i'm glad we are doing this together. it's hard to stay mad at someone when you have to hold hands and pray with them every day.

hope this monday finds you all well. i'll be back later!

thoughts

the law graduate and i have read radical: taking back your faith from the american dream by david platt, and are now reading the bible together in 1 year. we get up every morning, pray, then read, then pray. it's good. and as much as it physically pains me to get up that early and read, i miss it if i don't do it. p.s. i already know this, but genesis is loooooong. and a bit strange.

current facebook status: Football. Bulldogs. Starkville. Friends. Maroon. Can't. Wait.

i think if you ask your man to go buy you tampons, he should be ecstatic, not embarassed. because when he buys said tampons, it not only shows that he does, in fact, have a relationship with a woman, but also that the woman is not pregnant. i think this is a good thing.

getting old sucks. i have these crazy "blond" hairs and a rather persistent 5 pounds that threatens my wardrobe. and then there's that thing called responsibility. i'm pretty sure i should have it all together by now. i don't.

this time of year

september, you are finally here. i'm so glad. there's something nostalgic about the advent of fall--the smell, the colors, the feeling, and of course, football. y'all may know i'm a sucker for nostalgia anyway, but fall really reminds me of college, and all the memories come flooding back. it seems like such a golden time and now it's slipping away faster and faster. meanwhile, while technically i'm an adult, i don't always feel like one. i definitely don't look like one. i kind of feel like i'm in a weird sort of limbo as far as adulthood, like it won't really set in until i have children or something. but anyway, here is the quintessential football/fall song, from one of my favorite bands, better than ezra, who i always managed to miss when they came to town. i miss college.

"This Time Of Year"

Well, there's a feeling in the air
Just like a Friday afternoon.
Yeah, you can go there if you want
Though it fades too soon.

So go on, let it be.
If there's a feeling coming over me,
Seems like it's always understood this time of year.

Well, I know there's a reason to change.
Well, I know there's a time for us.
You think about the good times
And you live with all the bad.
You can feel it in the air,
Feeling right this time of year.

Well, there's a football in the air,
Across a leaf blown field.
Yeah, and there's your first car on the road,
And the girl you'd steal.

So go on with yourself
If there's a feeling that there's something else.
Seems like it's always understood
This time of year.

Well, I know there's a reason to change.
Well, I know there's a time for us.
You think about the good times
And you live with all the bad.
You can feel it in the air,
Feeling right this time of year.

Well, there's a feeling in the air
Just like a Friday afternoon.
Yeah, you can go there if you want
Though it fades too soon.

So go on, let it be.
If there's a feeling coming over me,
Seems like it's always understood this time of year.

Well, I know there's a reason to change.
Well, I know there's a time for us.
You think about the good times
And you live with all the bad.
You can feel it in the air,
Feeling right this time of year.

winding down and gearing up

well, summer is almost over. not that i get summer break or anything, and not as if mississippi weather recognizes the passing of months as incentive to adjust temperatures and humidity levels accordingly. it is so hot, and so humid you could drown outside if you break a sweat. hello, august.

the law graduate's social life has come to pretty much a screeching halt. at least while he was studying for the bar he got out of the house a little bit. okay, he only went to the library, but there were other people there. but now his routine is pretty low-key: running the trails with the roxy, job searching, reading sports chat forums, finding new low-budget historical drama series in the on demand, and completing lists of emailed househusband tasks from yours truly. that's. about. it. the couch is involved a good bit in this routine.

we are about to take our last vacation together before the new school year starts. oh wait, no one is in school this year. weird. anyway, we are headed to the hills of carolina to visit the brother-in-law and his family. our niece olivia is, in just the past few weeks, already crawling, teething and pulling up. she'll be in high school by the time we get there this weekend.

olivia

i've enjoyed the general laziness that comes with summer. it's actually too hot to do much anyway. but as it winds down, other things gear up. namely, SEC football (and in-town traffic.)

i'm so very excited. i'm throwing a shower for my friend kayla and her unnamed unborn son, and my very bestest friends, jules and mandi, are both coming to the first game the same weekend.

mandi and jules - party animals

i'm already on the hunt for the perfect game day attire, but there is a serious lack of cute maroon out there. i can't wait to see old friends, endlessly tailgate, cheer on the bulldogs and ring my cowbell illegally. and if you have anything to say opposing that, kindly skedaddle. go dawgs!!!


i've also managed to agree to teaching more pilates and/or cardio classes at the studio. why?? i taught my first cardio class last week. one girl left early, and another almost passed out at the end. fail.

speaking of gearing up, i sure hope the job market does soon. the law graduate would prefer to stay in mississippi (i'm a bit less than ambivalent), but is applying all across the lower portion of the country. right now we are waiting bar exam results (september 16), and will reevaluate after that. stay tuned for more updates.

and last but not least, today is my daddy's birthday! the big 5-5. happy birthday daddy, even though you don't read this blog. i'd love to be able to go to bristol with him this weekend to celebrate, but the niece is just too cute.

um, scratch that

1. new eating-and-exercise plan= FAIL. please disregard post below. i know i did. thanks.

2. i need a personal shopper. (anna, i know you have good intentions but you don't always stay focused.) i hate shopping. i invariably get a headache about 2 hours in and become completely disinterested and unmanageable, incapable of any decision-making and usually adverse to even trying on clothes. at this point, i either end up not buying something i love or coming home with crap that i just have to return, like the polo turtleneck, yoga pants and kate spade heels from t. j. maxx sitting in my bedroom. or, like today, i see something i love, like this j. crew donegal shawl collar sweater in rosewood heather, only to discover it is unavailable. it's a lose-lose situation.


3. i'm sick. it's the law student's fault, and i hate him. sore throat, headache, fever, blah. i'm on the couch for the 3rd afternoon in a row. but it's not all bad--watching golden girls, the rox is snuggled up with me and snoring, pizza is in the oven and the dolphins are set to play today.

4. happy hallow-WIN! dawgs vs. kats, 31-24. thank you, anthony dixon. it's amazing how a bulldog win can temporarily alleviate flu symptoms.


5. here is #5, courtney!


6. can you believe it is november already? the temperatures have dropped to football weather, thanksgiving is in 3 weeks, and my christmas lists have begun. yay! also, november is national adoption awareness month! i am a big advocate of adoption, even though i have no personal experience in the area. but check out these sites: amazima, emily's blog, katie's blog, the oatsvall blog, and joining the journey.



7. i cannot get enough of baby names. i really do have a huge list of names and meanings for boys and girls. disclaimer: the law student and i are in no way ready to have kids. (sorry, sisters) i mean, not ready right now. we are getting more comfortable talking about the idea of kids and having kids in a year or so, but we really want to wait until after the law student passes the law bar and finds a law job. so many of my friends have babies and our new niece is precious (the law student and i have ceased to exist), so i think it's a bit natural i have this twinge of baby fever. it's really annoying.

pizza is almost done. hopefully this flu is too. happy november!

here we go, again

let me start with a disclaimer.

this post is in no way to be interpreted as saying i am fat or unattractive. i am not one of those outrageously skinny girls who picks at her food, eats sunshine instead of food and constantly comments/obsesses over her weight. i realize in several years i will remember my figure with fondness and jealousy. i do not diet or view food as the enemy. i'm just short.


i am now going to live at the gym and eat vegetables. since tailgating football season began, i have put on about 3 pounds. well, maybe just 1 from tailgating, and 2 from elsewheres unknown. i hear you all groaning in disgust, but let's remember: i am 5 feet, 1 inch tall (thank you, terri), and 120 lbs. does not look good on me. it's got nowhere to hide! if i were 5 feet, 6 inches tall, we wouldn't be having this conversation. but on me, it just all kind of hangs out (literally) around my hips. which, might i add, is a new hangout and apparently a sign of aging. i guess the old ones (thighs) are no longer cool. i'm also very muscular, much like an out-of-shape gymnast, and i put on fat and muscle fairly quickly. and since pilates doesn't do that much for cardio, and neither does sitting under a tent at a football game eating yummy tailgate food and drinking beer, all those yummy little calories end up partying on my tummy.

you think i jest. you think wrong. jeans are tight on the hips. i was wearing my corduroy pants the other day (the cute ones from abercrombie kids before they changed the leg cut and that only cost $30) and when i got home, i just left them unbuttoned because they were tight. the law student actually noticed that they were unfastened. i find myself wanting to wear tshirts because they are loose where most of my clothes are fitted because i'm small and don't want my shape to get lost in big clothes. and i'm terrified to try to put on my french connection size 2 cute black pants that baby sis got for me on the cheap, because they're tight enough when i'm feeling skinny. as a result, i am wearing one of several planned dresses this week. high-waisted (you know, at the natural waist) dresses and skirts do make one look slim.

i'm debating a pregnancy test, soley to make myself feel better, because pregnancy would not be good news right now, and for motivation to stop munching all afternoon.

and so it begins. i will now walk the rox more and attend cardio classes in addition to the regular pilates classes, try to paint instead of eat aimlessly, and try to do my version of "vegan until dinner." simply, it is not a diet, but a rearranging of food groups on the plate. the theory is if you can eat vegan until dinner, you eat more nutrient-dense, more-filling, less-fat veggies and fruit instead of filling up on meat all day (because really, no one needs meat 3 times a day), and you eat whatever you want for dinner. the law student and i tried this once. i hated it because it's "vegan," which means no dairy. i have to have heavy cream in my coffee in the morning. non-dairy creamer is nasty and not a real food. so i incorporate a little dairy in my version so i can make it through the day. this does not affect ben, as he drinks his black.

so you see, i am taking a healthy approach by increasing my exercise and eating healthier food in smaller portions. i know i will never again see 105 lbs. on the scale, and my thighs will always touch (they're very close), but maybe after a few weeks they won't be a fire hazard any more.