Day 86 and Thanksgiving Eve

Even when we're miles apart, we somehow manage to get a shot in for the day... even if it's a surprise to Bailey (and Jeff!)
Jackson makes me laugh, and he was glad to make in the project!

Day 85 and The Elephant Walk

November 24, 2009

I know little about A&M Traditions; the result of being raised by a Longhorn mother. But apparently the Senior Elephant Walk is a big deal. The juniors have a E-walk Tradition of their own, which is what we attempted to attend today.

It took a lot for me to muster up the ability to post this picture. The whole ordeal was a bit frustrating. We waited in line for about twenty minutes to get a picture with the elephants. I'd been on campus all morning, Bailey was ready to drive home for Thanksgiving, and the super crowded line had seriously only moved three feet. So we gave up on trying to get an official picture with them, I practically ran to get my tripod in the parking lot half a mile away (which in retrospect was a dumb idea anyway considering someone offered to take a picture for us) and we took our 365 shot that way.

When I got home and saw the five pics I had to choose from, I was so disappointed. In the ones with a great view of the elephants, at least one of us was blinking or it was super blurry or it was just awkward overall. In the ones that we all looked good in, a girl's backside was blocking much of the elephant.

Alas, sometimes, it's not about getting an amazing shot - this post merely serves to show our commitment to this project. Sometimes, you just gotta swallow your pride and not care so much about the picture quality. As Bailey says, this is life, and our purpose is to be as real as possible. Thanks and Gig'em :)

Day 84 and Antsy-ness.

While I was doing laundry, and Bailey was packing, we both realized we had little to do and were ready for the Thanksgiving holiday to start. "I'm so antsy!" she sighed. And then randomly, as we were just sitting there, I asked her if she ever did gymnastics - without waiting for a reply, I went into a back bend just like I did when I was six. Oh it was a bit painful, but pretty funny; the result of idle time.

Day 83 and The Fellowship Dinner

After church on Sunday evenings, everyone stays a for fellowship potluck dinner - it's like Thanksgiving every week! Really, it's a chance to meet new people and develop deeper relationships within our Body. Apart from the challenging messages each week, the amazing time of worship, the loving members, and our wonderful LIFE Group Bible Study, this is my favorite thing about New Life Baptist Church. haha

Day 82 and The Thankful Tree

Several of the families at our church started making thankful trees for Thanksgiving (click here for the Bacaks', here for the Hendricks', and here for the Dutys'.) My prayer as of late has been to have a consistent heart of praise and thankfulness, and as the Thanksgiving holiday nears, I thought it would be a great idea for Bailey and me to sponge off of their ideas and create one of our own. My sister, Jill, and dear friend, Jaclyn, came to visit today and helped put this together. I bought an old book and used the pages with Mod Podge to construct the tree and grass on this big piece of cardboard. This will be more of a season tree... (Jaclyn's brilliant idea;) we made fall-colored leaves and wrote a few of the many things we're thankful for; including, redemption, provision, morning time, sonic happy hours, family, community, etc... As the seasons change so will our tree!

Day 81 and The Austin Road Trip

"We're like those fun people who go to Austin on the weekends!" Bailey exclaimed as we got in the car yesterday at 4pm. Emily, Katie, Bailey and I all loaded up in Katie'sJeep and drove to Austin in celebration of Bailey's 21st birthday and the conclusion of a great fall semester as roommates. First we ate dinner at the original Chuy's Tex Mex restaurant, which was so fun and delicious. Since Bailey loves history, we decided to make a trip to the state capitol. We took this picture right as we arrived on the capitol grounds and lots more once we were inside. For more pics, check out my blog ... or facebook if you're my friend :)

Even with the rain we still had an amazing (and safe) mini-road trip!

Day 80 and Light Up Bryan

We drove to Downtown Bryan for the holiday tree and street lighting. There were families and kids everywhere, the ladies of "The Women's Club" were passing out hot apple cider and cookies while The Palace Theater had live Christmas music. We had so much fun quoting our favorite Christmas movies; "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" (Elf) What a great way to get in the holiday spirit with friends!

(I also like this photo because of the mom in the left corner taking pictures of her kids by the tree, so precious!)