We are the Aggies, The Aggies are we... Bonfire Memorial 11-18-99

I know this is the 2nd post in a day, but it is a very important one to me.  Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Bonfire collapse at Texas A&M.  This was a terrible tragedy that will never be forgotten.  12 Aggies lost their lives on this day, and their lives are remembered everyday at Texas A&M.  For those who don't know, the Aggie family is a very special family.  You don't understand it until you live it.  Scott and I are both a part of that Aggie Family, and even though we didn't know the 12 Aggies who died, they have impacted our lives.

I remember I was in the 9th grade when the bonfire collapsed.  My dad got a phone call from the TV Station to go fly the Ch. 11 helicopter up to College Station in the middle of the night.  It was awful.  That weekend, I went with my sister to to the site and it was one of the most emotional moments of my life.  The bonfire collapsed at  2:42 a.m. on November 18, 1999.  The Bonfire was 40 feet tall with about 5000 logs and was a long lasting tradition at Texas A&M University.  It was the symbol for the rivalry with the University of Texas and had been for 90 years.  This yearly event symbolized the Aggies "burning" desire to beat the hell outta TU.

^{My sophomore year at A&M, the Bonfire Memorial opened in November 2004.  It was amazing.   The story of the bonfire is told without words as you walk through the memorial.  Each of the 12 aggies have portals that face their home town.  Inside the portals is their picture with a written reflection and their signature.  The portals make up a circle, or Spirit Ring...  the circumference of the perimeter fence set up each year the bonfire was built.  If you walk to the center of the circle, you will see a black granite marker.  This marker is 18 inches in diameter and represent the center pole of the bonfire.  This marker is in the exact spot of the center pole and is engraved 11-18-99 2:24am.  Walking through this memorial is such an emotional experience.  Every time I have been, tears come to my eyes, and the emotions from that night 10 years ago come back as if it just happened.} 

^{Please say a prayer and remember these Aggies who lost their lives on that terrible night:}

• Miranda Denise Adams ‘02
• Christopher D. Breen ‘96
• Michael Stephen Ebanks ‘03
• Jeremy Richard Frampton ‘99
• Jamie Lynn Hand ‘03
• Christopher Lee Heard ‘03
• Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr ‘03
• Lucas John Kimmel ‘03
• Bryan A. McClain ‘02
• Chad A. Powell ‘03
• Jerry Don Self ‘01
• Nathan Scott West ‘02

Here are the 27 Aggies who were injured.   We celebrate their lives and are thankful that they are with us today:

• Braus, Dominic
• Calaway, Jennifer
• Comstock, John
• Davis, William " Bill"
• Frady, Clayton
• Graham, Leslie
• Hayes, Lanny Joe
• Harlan, Will
• Henley, Britt
• Hill, Caleb
• Hutchinson, Chad
• Jacobs, Jody
• Jones, Paul "Alex"
• Jozwiak, Brandon Allen
• Kramer, John
• Lyckman, William
• McLeod, Amy
• Nakai, Mandy
• Robbins, Matthew
• Roberts, Brandy
• Rotenberry, Holly
• Scanlan, Lauren
• Thiel, Milton "Chip"
• Unger, Bruce
• Washam, J.J.
• Worley, Jeremy
• Woodley, Derek
  

Please take a moment to watch this video:

Today, Bonfire is not taking place on A&M's Campus.  Every year, Aggies get together and build one off campus.  Bonfire needs to be on campus.  While changes need to be made, it can be a completely safe and fun tradition.  Let's bring Bonfire back!  Please support this and sign the petition to Bring Bonfire Back!!!  http://www.bringbonfireback.com/

As I close this post, I just want to say that being a part of the Aggie Family has truly been one of the most rewarding things in my life.  As a student I spent 4 years at an amazing school with amazing people.  I miss walking by a stranger and saying "Howdy."  I miss the Aggie Football Games, where no matter how bad the team is losing, we support them.  I miss Yell Practice, and going to Aggie Muster.  And I leave you with the Spirit of Aggieland (lyrics below it)...

The Spirit of Aggieland

Some may boast of prowess bold
Of the school they think so grand
But there's a spirit can ne'er be told
It's the Spirit of Aggieland.

(Chorus)
We are the Aggies - the Aggies are we
True to each other as Aggies can be
We've got to FIGHT boys
We've got to fight!
We've got to fight for Maroon and White
After they've boosted all the rest
They will come and join the best
For we are the Aggies - the Aggies are we
We're from Texas A.M.C.

Hump It Ags (Yell sequence that follows; traditionally deleted at Muster)
T-E-X-A-S A-G-G-I-E
Fight! Fight! Fight-fight-fight!
Fight! Maroon! White-White-White!
A-G-G-I-E
Texas! Texas! A-M-C!
Gig 'em, Aggies, 1-2-3
Farmers fight! Farmers fight!
Fight! Fight!
Farmers, farmers fight!
A! Whoop!

Thanks and Gig'em!

Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I was going to post on Monday, but I have been out of it.  In bed by 9... I am getting old!

This past weekend we went down to College Station.  Scott's mom's side celebrated Thanksgiving early.  It was fun!  We got to the farm around 7:45, ate dinner, and just relaxed until we went to bed.  Saturday morning we got up early, I made cinnamon rolls and coffee.  Scott started mowing the yard so we wouldn't have to worry about it later.  For those who don't know, in college, I lived in the house my mom grew up in.  After my grandparents passed away, it was left to mom along with several acres.  She owns it with my cousin who takes care of the cows, etc.  It was a great place for me to live and Lily loved being on the farm!  She loved chasing rooster, chickens, guineas, turkeys, the donkey and of course the cows.  It's nice to have a place to stay and gives us an excuse to go back to Aggieland frequently.  We both miss it!

After we got ready, we headed to town to have my engagement ring cleaned and looked over by the jeweler Scott got it from.  I've had a stone come out... luckily into my hand, but now I go there every time I am in town to have them check the prongs, etc.

From there it was on to Nana's.  She lives in Reagan, TX about 40 minutes north of Bryan.  We had a blast.  It was great to see family and eat great food!  We were going to bring Lily but thought it might be too hectic with everyone.  Once we were there, everyone asked about her, so we will definitely bring her when we go at Christmas.  We chatted for a while, ate lunch around 1 and then we decided to go target shooting.  Scott and I really want to get our CHL's and practicing pushed it one step forward.  I am not experienced at shooting at all.  I did awful at first.  I didn't even get on target!!!  Scott's stepdad, Keith, said I was anticipating the kickback of the gun and pushing my wrist down as I pulled the trigger which made it shoot below the target.  Once he told me how to correct it I did pretty good.  Even got one in the bullseye!  Pictures below!

Me getting the gun ready to shoot

I thought I was standing funny... but all of the girls were standing like that!

Great picture taken by Scott's Cousin Bret (he and his wife are photographers!)

Another shot, cool angle Bret:)

Scott and I shooting together... he's really good!!!!

Scott's Sister Robin and her husband Clint

Our nephew Michael shooting with his dad Lance helping him

Scott's mom, Maiya and brother in law, Lance

We took another picture:)

Nana watching everyone practice

I love the attractive ear protectors... I don't have a clue what they are really called lol

The cool artsy shot of my target... all my bullets!!!

Normal shot of it...  I was proud of myself!!!

Then I decided to try shooting a shotgun.  I was nervous because I know that a 12-gauge kicks back alot.  Here's me shooting and my reaction after. 

We had so much fun.  After we finished with that, the guys wanted to shoot one of Clint's guns... I don't know what it is, but here's pictures...

That night, Bret and his wife, Ann stayed with us in Bryan.  We went back to the house and got ready and went out to Hurricane Harry's for George Strait night:) 

Newlyweds Bret and Ann

Me and Scott... not a great picture of me, but that's ok

Me and Bret

Scott and Bret

Me and Ann :)

We had such a great time!  The next morning we let their new puppy Cash, and our dog Lily play outside.  Here's a picture after they played and went for a walk... they were pooped! They are the best of friends:)

I hope everyone has had a great week!  Scott and I don't have any plans this weekend which is nice.  We will be putting up our christmas tree and putting out decorations!  I can't wait for our first Christmas as a married couple.  I'll post pictures of the decorations this weekend.  Happy Humpday!!

An Awful Week With a Good Ending

Yay for Fridays... I definitely think they are the BEST days of the week!  I haven't had a chance to write this week... I've been a little preoccupied and very stressed.  Here's why...

Before I start with what happened this week, let me briefly explain the headaches that we have had to deal with since we have lived here.  We have to pay for covered parking.  The day we moved in, I was double assigned to a spot that belonged to someone else.  The other tenant probably would have had me towed had he not pulled up while I was still at my car.  That was headache #1.  We were also told that since our spots were a little ways from our apartment, we would be put on a waiting list to move closer... well that doesn't exist.

Next, we found out someone was moving who had a spot right out front.  Scott called a month before they were moving and was given the ok to park there starting October 1st.  Well, the girl never wrote that down, so when it came time to start parking there, there was another tenant who wanted the spot.  After much arguing, we got the spot.  That was headache #2.

Now there are also a bunch of small issues that we have had to deal with, but I'm not going to go into detail about it.  Now for the biggest headache of them all... headache #3.

Wednesday morning I woke up, got ready for work and was excited about my 1st day with my new hair cut!  So I was in a good mood.  Scott leaves before I do, so I locked up the apartment, went down to my car and got in.  I noticed a note on my windshield.  I looked around and didn't see anything like that on anyone else's car.  I had thought it was an advertisement.  Here's a picture of what was put on my car (click on it to make it bigger if the writing is too small):

Now, I read it about 3 times before it really hit me.  This guy is telling me that I need to start paying him $50 or else, he will take actions into his own hands.  Now what actions are they?  Typically if someone was in your spot, you have them towed.  But based off of this  note... is that ALL he would do?  I really kind of got scared.  Someone went through the trouble of typing up this note and putting it on my car.  Did they really think the spot was theirs?  Or is it a scam of someone trying to make money... and what if I didn't pay?

Since it was before the office opened, I had to suck it up and dwell on it.  I didn't know what to do.  I called Scott immediately and told him.  Of course he was mad.  To try to make a long story short, one of the idiots in the office had assigned the spot to this guy even though it was assigned to me already.  Well obviously we got to keep it, but now this guy was really mad and I didn't know what he was capable of... vandalizing my car, approaching me when I got home, having my car towed.  That evening when Scott and I got home, he saw the guy walk by my car and just look it up and down and he looked ANGRY.  We called the courtesy officer (we were told that we would have to wait until the office was closed to call -- which we later found out wasn't true... I wanted to call asap, but the girl in the leasing office told me she didn't have a way to contact him).  I left a message for him and within a minute or two, the cop car pulled up to my car.  He sat out there for a while before getting out of the car, and even then it was still several minutes before he came up to our apartment.  Apparently, the other guy had called at the same time to have my car towed!  When the officer came up, I explained the situation to him.  The office had not told him of any of it.  Luckily he believed me (I'm sure the note helped my case), called and left a message with the other guy and pretty much told him if he tried to contact me again, then he was going to consider it harrassment.  In a way I felt bad for the guy because he had a right to be angry.  However, you don't handle a situation like that.

To my knowledge at that point, the office had only left him a message as well as the officer.  No direct conversation had been made, so I was still very concerned that I would wake up the next morning to a bashed in window, slashed tires, keyed car... I didn't know.  While I felt better after talking to the officer, I was still very nervous and uneasy.  By now, I had a knot in my stomach and I just felt sick.

The next morning my car was ok, and I went to work.  Scott called the manager and told her that we wanted to come by and speak with her regarding this issue along with other issues we have had (listed above and then some).  I was preparing for a fight and ready to tell her we would be contacting the management company.  Unfortunately, I had to go the whole day with this on my mind and was mad the whole day.

At 4:30 yesterday, Scott and I walked in.  She was very nice and we went in her office and closed the door.  I had complaints about a specific leasing agent that I wanted to talk to her about also, so it was nice she closed the door.  We were in there for an hour.  She was soooo helpful.  She without question moved my car to a garage.  Garages are $75.  Scott's spot is $25, and our storage unit is $40.  Starting December 1st for the remainder of the time that we live here, we get all of that for free... Garage, covered space, and storage!  I was so happy with how she responded.  I wasn't expecting all of that.  We were going to at least ask for something with what we have gone through, but she offered all of that to us before we even asked.  I wasn't expecting to get a garage either!

While we were in the office, the guy finally called her back (she still had not made direct contact with him, only left voicemails).  She told him that she took it as a threat and that it scared me.  He thought it was a guy parking there and he told her that it was supposed to be taken with a little "sarcasm".  I'm sorry, there is nothing sarcastic about that letter.  Anyway, the manager talked with him, and he then realized that what he did was way wrong and he actually wanted to apologize to me.  She told him she would tell me he was sorry.

SO, today is a much better day.  This week has truly been stressful.  Scott was such a huge help with everything though.  He was prepared to get ugly with the manager if things weren't going the way they should have.  Luckily all is well now and my car is safe and sound in a garage.

My advice to anyone living in an apartment.  Get documentation of everything that you are paying for.  The parking is an extra thing that isn't included in the lease.  The manager had no problem putting all of it in writing.  She gave me a letter stating that we get all of that for free and included the garage number, storage number and parking number.  Now if something happens, we can go up there with our letter to prove otherwise.  Since my name had been erased from the log, it would have been hard to prove if she hadn't remembered that it was in fact supposed to be mine.

This weekend we are off to College Station.  Saturday we are doing Thanksgiving with Scott's Nana and then we are planning on going out with friends Saturday night:)  I miss my little house down there, so it will be so fun to go back and stay in the country(its on land right by the Brazos River) for the weekend.  Lily will love it.  I'll take pictures and post next week.  Sorry this post was so long.  A lot of people asked what happened and I thought this was the easiest way to respond.

 Have a wonderful day:) 

The Reveal! And A Big Thanks:)

OK, here it is!!!!  I picked the first and 3rd pictures and the hair stylist said I could easily fix it either way.  He fixed it more like the 3rd pictures just to show me how.  It is layered but you can't tell as much since it's curled under.  I can't wait to start experimenting!

Also a big THANK YOU to Jenn for the award!  I'm going to pass it on to a few deserving people as well:)

 

-Add logo to your blog,

-Link to the person who gave it to you,
-Nominate 7 or more blogs,
-Let them know you nominated them :)

I pass this award on to the following 7 ladies....

Danielle

Sandi

Kasie

Emilee

Casee

Megan

Allie

New Hair Cut??

Hi everyone,

I'm getting my hair done tomorrow!  I haven't had it cut/highlighted since right before the wedding, so it really needs it.  It's way too long.  It is driving me crazy.  Especially when I go to sleep.  Anyway, I have kept it long for about 2 years now, and I would really like to try a short style.  Scott's a little eh about it, but I would love to have y'alls input on what y'all think.  Look below, I have 3 styles... I really like the first one the best and kind of want to try a bob style. I've cut it short before and really liked it.  Let me know what y'all think:)

 

I love this one!!!  And I think the length would be good too:)

 

Of course, Eva Longoria is always beautiful, but I love this sleek look too...

 

 I like this style too, but maybe a little longer and add some layers??  

Let me know what everyone thinks!  I changed my comments so anyone can post, you don't have to have a blog.  I go tomorrow so I'll post pictures tomorrow once the damage is done:)

I hope everyone likes the new look of the blog!  Expect another changed after Thanksgiving!

Lazy Lake House Weekends

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween!  Scott and I did not do anything special as far as dressing up or giving out candy.  I would like to next year maybe, but this year we went to my parents' lake house:) We left on Friday after Scott and I got off work.  It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Mansfield, so we stopped and ate at Chili's in Huntsville on the way.


Saturday was a nice lazy day.  We drank coffee and just sat around the table talking.  Once it started warming up outside, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and go out on our last boat ride of the year.  Even though it was 70s, I bundled up and layered clothes.  Mom, dad and Scott made fun of me... but I was smart in doing that because the air was cool when we were going.


We decided to take Dixie and Lily with us.  They love boat rides.  We used to take them all of the time, but when we would swim they would want to get in with us which is kind of a pain so we usually don't take them.  They were so happy though... Here are some pictures of them on the boat along with a few others...

Lily saw another dog and perked up with interest

Scott enjoying the boat ride... he later wished he had put pants on too!

Headed out of the cove to the main part of the lake

Mom and Dixie enjoying the gorgeous weather

Scott used Lily to keep warm... she's a good blanket and enjoys being a lap dog

A ton of seagulls and pelicans were down near the dam.  We have never seen so many birds down there.  It was neat to watch them, but we were also ducking our heads to keep from getting pooped on :)

Another shot of the birds a little closer as they were flying away

Lily and Dixie enjoying a beer as we stopped to float for a while.  Notice Lily licking her chops... she was excited about the Miller Light :)

Me and the Hubby hanging out while we floated

Lily laying out of the sun for a while.  So photogenic

Lily sniffing the cool air with her ears flapping in the wind.  I thought this was a perfect picture of her

Lily perked up again as we got back to the cove... this time she saw ducks.  We have to watch her because she WILL jump in after them.  I love when her ears are up like that!

We hung out and watched some football after we got back.  It was starting to cool off outside even more since it was beginning to get dark.  After dinner we decided to have a camp fire.  We had some hay that we needed to burn.  Unfortunately once we got that burning, we couldn't get the wood to burn because it was so wet from all of the rain.  After a lot of hard work, Scott and my dad got a good fire going to keep us warm.

Dad working on the fire

Scott and I staying warm

Pretty good little fire:)  You can see Scott still keeping it going

Walking back up to the house after the fire started going out

The last part that I wanted to share was what we did after the campfire.  We showered and got the smokey smell out and mom had baked me an awesome birthday cake!  We didn't get to see them on my birthday so this was going to be my birthday weekend with them.  Check out the pictures!  Thanks mom for my presents and awesome cake:)

 The cake was in the shape of a pumpkin:)  So cute!  I almost didn't want to eat it... ALMOST

 

Mom got me this really funny card...  The top part said THEN:  You read my Diary??? and the bottom part said NOW:  Only 200,000 people have read my BLOG?? 

Perfect card for me:)

We had a great weekend and can't wait for the holidays!  Hope y'all like my updated Thanksgiving themed look of the blog:)  Happy Fall!