Memories

Something happened tonight. It is something so rare that I treasure it ever single time it happens.

My brain found a memory.

There are so many things you take for granted until you have a traumatic brain injury. Memories are one of those things.

It is strange what brought it back. I bought the shampoo I used when I was a teenager. The smell of it made something flash into my mind that I hadn’t been able to remember since before my brain damage. It was exhilarating to remember a moment I’d already lived and enjoyed. After having a crappy week sometimes it is the simplest thing that make us cry and say a prayer of thankfulness in the shower.

The memory was silly and nothing particularly special, but it was intoxicating!

As the smell of the shampoo filled my nostrils I had a flash back of the summer before my freshman year of college. I was freshly 17 and working at an oil company until school started. Working full days and getting a decent paycheck allowed me to sneak some of that money away for my favorite thing. Concerts!

There is nothing like sweating your butt off in the middle of a steamy summer night on the gulf coast, with 20,000 fellow music fans and one awesome band. The exact memory was smelling of marijuana (not mine) and sweat and taking a nice long shower before collapsing into bed, filled with happiness. The 30 seconds of exhaustion I felt before falling asleep was amazing. I’d wake up the following day and think of what concert was on my schedule next so I could do it all over again.

It is strange having a moment you can’t share with anyone in your life. Something so amazing that you want to shout it from the rooftops…but no one would understand. The nice thing is that I’m happy just treasuring it by myself.

Now to make some new memories!

Happy Anniversary to the blog!

Today marks my 7th anniversary as a blogger.

Property of the United States Government

Jake has joined the Air Force!  He is waiting to leave for basic.  Sad to see him go but happy that he got in because he worked so hard for it.  Well done, Jake!  I’ll miss you so much!  (And work on getting stationed at Ellington!)

A Bunch of Stuff…Nothing Important

The Beatles make me happy.  Don’t they make you happy?

I’ve been really awful about blogging lately.  I mean, I’ve blogged, but I haven’t really blogged about my life or what is going on.  Sorry!

Memorial Day weekend was fun for our family.  We were supposed to take a nice cruise down to Mexico but thanks to the ridiculous swine flu scare (oink,  oink) our cruise got canceled.  Being that is was Joe’s Bon Voyage Cruise before he left for life as a Marine, and we all had the time off from work and school already, we decided to make a vacation out of that weekend anyway by renting a $250,000 houseboat on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. 

The houseboat was swanky and Lake Ouachita is gorgeous.  Too bad it is in Arkansas.  Oh how I dislike that state.  How do I loathe thee?  Let me count the ways!  Even though we were in Arkansas, and not in God’s Country, we had a blasty blast.

We ran, skipped, drank,  hopped, swam, splashed, dunked, slid, cannonballed, batman dived, napped, ate, watched too much tv, played cards, and spent waaaay too many hours on the road.  It was a ton of fun and full of memories that will last forever. 

Now we are all back in Houston and on to every day life.  Joe continues to train up for his departure date.  (We still aren’t sure when they will take him from us.)  Everyone else is remains busy working.  I have a friend coming in from out of town and I think we are going to make a day trip to San Antonio just for fun!  I’m looking forward to it.

What else?

Have you ever noticed how the news is always depressing?   So how about something to make you smile?  This is a car commercial but I could seriously watch this all day.  Fun stuff! 

Oh…and Sunday you can go watch Singin’ In The Rain at the Caroline Weiss Law Building for free!  Be there at 2:00pm.

Memorial Day Post

To celebrate my brother becoming a United States Marine, we are taking a family vacation. Thus, I will be out of town for Memorial Day. But I wanted to make sure to mention all of the fallen soldiers that we are to remember on Memorial Day. They have secured our freedoms, and given us peace. We can sleep in our own beds at night without concern for our safety. Many of our soldiers have given the ultimate sacrifice and it is so important that we honor them.

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Maura, College Graduate!

Keep praying for Maura!  She needs your prayers more than ever right now.  Grab some Kleenex and watch her graduation.  It is amazing!  I’m so proud of her!

Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. Hays

How cute are they?!  Rob is one of my closest, dearest, best friends and I was so excited to be a part of such a special day.  He is so excited to be married to Michelle and as we speak they are flying off to their honeymoon.  (Which I want them to hurry up and get back from so we can hang out.)

It was awesome to see Rob’s parents and a bunch of friends I haven’t seen in ages.  My pictures haven’t been uploaded yet but Michelle Eggert’s have so I’m going to steal some from her.  (She is another one of my closest friends so I know she won’t be mad at me for stealing them.)  So here are a few pictures from the wedding…

Happy Birthday, Texas!

Happy Birthday, Texas!  I plan on celebrating it today with 24.3 million of my closest friends.  (Yay for Texans!)  I can’t believe you are 173 years old already.  I’m really looking forward to 175 in 2011! 

I’m in an incredibly good mood today so I figured I should blog before something happens and my mood changes.  Wow.  That sounded optimistic.  🙂  I guess I’m just in such a great mood that the only place to go from here is down.  Not that I have any intention of my mood changing.

I just renewed my U2.comsubscription.  Ticket information for the tour comes out on Monday and I couldn’t be more excited!  I’m totally pumped for the new album.  It comes out tomorrow and I’m ready to get the album and enjoy it.  (That is if I can actually wait and not buy it on iTunes tonight.)  Oh, iTunes, how I loathe you and the power you have over my checking account.

I think popcorn is an amazing food and totally under appreciated.  Then again, it can be butchered and that is never good.

So my parents have this neighbor who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.   Apparently his dogs have been getting into his flower beds and he isn’t happy about it.  They can’t be doing all that much damage because his flower beds only have dirt and bushes in them.  Plus, they are tiny, tiny dogs who are rarely outside.  Still, he isn’t happy they get in them.  So how is he solving this problem?  By throwing Black Cat firecrackers at his dogs when they get near the flower beds.  Don’t you think that is a bit abusive?  I totally do.  I’m sure that this guy thinks it is a clever idea that he came up with.  It makes me want to punch him in the balls.

I went to see my roommate’s band on Saturday night.  The Guns of Detroit were amazing.  They put on a great show.  Of all the bands that played they had this biggest crowd of the night.  It was really fun to see Randall command the stage.  He’s an amazing musician and I love having him as a roommate.  (He’s a good one!)  Joey went to the show with me and we had a ton of fun.  Making memories with friends is always an activity you should take part in.  I’m looking forward to the next Guns of Detroit show and enjoying it with my brother and some good friends.  Check out their music.

I’m tired of war and fighting.  Whatever happened to peace, love and understanding?  People suck.

Reading Erin’s latest blog about Maura made me thankful for perspective as well.  So often I get too caught up in my own selfish thoughts and forget that I have so much to be thankful for.  I have so many things in my life that I should be praising God for.  I wish I was better about that.  I wish I always kept things in perspective because if I did, I’d never have a single thing to complain about.  All my aches, pains and problems are of this world and won’t last forever.

I’m so overwhelmed with the idea of eternity.  My finite mind can’t process the idea of my soul living forever.  Granted, it overwhelms me because I think of living an eternal life with chronic mono and all my aches and pains.  Thankfully, because of Christ, I won’t have to.  He washed away my sin and made it able for me to live in eternity.  I love going to church because I feel that it is a small glimpse of how complete my soul will feel in heaven.  The natural high that comes from worshipping God can be breathtaking.  (Sorry.  I had an amazing time at worship yesterday so I’m kind of on a church kick right now.)

Well, I’ve got to get back to working and listening to U2.  I’m working my way through their entire catalogue and I’m just about done.  (Right in time for No Line On The Horizon!)  Ciao!

Happy 2009!

Merry Christmas!