On Our Way To Crazy

Jan 1 - The movie Juno added the word “shenanigans” to my vocabulary.
Jan 2 - I beat several kids in Wii tennis.
Jan 3 - My boss told me I am a leader and have the ability to inspire people.
Jan 4 - I got to go to Chuck E. Cheese.
Jan 5 - I dyed my hair dark brown and got some flippin’ sweet bangs.
Jan 6 - We implemented our plan of taking a bunch of kids to lunch every week.
Jan 7 - I got our Christmas thank you notes out, even coming up with something to say about the horse.
Jan 8 - I made a meal full of things Aaron thinks he doesn’t like and he loved it.
Jan 9 - I made a midget joke in staff meeting and people laughed.
Jan 10 - I possibly found a new junior high boys sunday school teacher.
Jan 11 - Aaron and I watched Once and ate a ton of Mike & Ike’s.
Jan 12 - I got to meet Ian Miller.
Jan 13 - Our pastor said nice things about me from the pulpit.
Jan 14 - I had a fun night shopping and eating with Erin, something I think we both needed.
Jan 15 - We had dinner and played video games with both of Aaron’s bands.
Jan 16 - Aaron and I had a good talk about life and contentment and where we are vs. where we’ve been.
Jan 17 - I found my favorite blue sweater in black on sale for $15.
Jan 18 - I figured out the format for the Zone 45 lessons.
Jan 19 - We slept way in and did nothing until about 4pm.
Jan 20 - We had a really good ‘real’ care group meeting.
Jan 21 - Fun day of shopping with Becka.
Jan 22 - I bought some sweet red flats with bows on the toes.
Jan 23 - We had our first high school discussion group and it went way better than expected.
Jan 24 - I wore my pajamas all day and got a ton of work done.
Jan 25 - I bought an awesome shirt that was marked down from $89 to $24.
Jan 26 - We had a fun night with the Millers, Stonebergers and Blackburns. And tiny brownies.
Jan 27 - We had some good conversations about some drama in the youth group with the kids.
Jan 28 - Blue cords for $15.
Jan 29 - Delicious new thai beef salad recipe for dinner.
Jan 30 - We spent time with Aaron’s old coworkers, which reaffirmed how much better things are now that he doesn’t work there anymore.
Jan 31 - I had a great lunch with my friend Trisha who I hadn’t seen in a million years. It involved multiple glasses of wine and some excellent tomato soup.

Feb 1 - My ‘book club’ finally met again after a six month break.
Feb 2 - The kids packed 840 food boxes for kids all around the country.
Feb 3 - I finally started feeling better after a long night with a stomach bug. (It was kind of hard to come up with a good one for today, I felt pretty terrible and spent all day on the sofa.)
Feb 4 - I cleaned out my closet and possibly figured out how to make that tiny little thing work for me.
Feb 5 - Nice dinner with Aaron and one of the band guys.
Feb 6 - One of the kids who’s been avoiding us came to group and actually participated.
Feb 7 - I read Atonement in it’s entirety.
Feb 8 - We had a big cookout with the band and I almost won $8.
Feb 9 - Really really good lunch with a kid.
Feb 10 - We had a Grammy party for two and it was the most fun I’d had in a long time.
Feb 11 - I read Genesis in it’s entirety.
Feb 12 - Spamalot! And Aaron scrambled an egg just for Miles.
Feb 13 - Fun staff lunch at Guido’s.
Feb 14 - We spent Valentine’s Day eating Mike & Ike’s and drawing dream house plans.
Feb 15 - Aaron and I had a great night of enchiladas and margaritas and bad cover singers.
Feb 16 - Aaron got a fabulous new haircut.
Feb 17 - We went on a late night drive and talked through a lot of work stuff.
Feb 18 - I stepped into the 20th century and figured out how to turn songs on my computer into ringtones and replaced the awful standard issue ring I’ve had for years with Hangin’ Around by Counting Crows.
Feb 19 - The band went home.
Feb 20 - I made a joke involving the line “Onward Christian Soulja Boy” and our pastor told me I’m going to hell.
Feb 21 - Ben Folds tickets!
Feb 22 - I went to a high school production of The Wiz that some of the kids were in and they did a fantastic job.
Feb 23 - Aaron came home and we had a lovely lazy evening.
Feb 24 - I taught the 4th and 5th graders and I didn’t die.
Feb 25 - I went to Opry Mills and I didn’t buy anything. (Because I forgot my wallet.)
Feb 26 - Dinner and drinks with Erin and Deana!
Feb 27 - Had a good long talk with a couple of kids.
Feb 28 - We found Aaron a suit for the wedding.

Mar 1 - Junior high girls sleepover! You can’t beat a night of twister and making your own lip gloss out of vaseline and kool aid.
Mar 2 - Nap time. See March 1.
Mar 3 - We got Aaron a sweet shirt and tie for the wedding. He is going to look so great.
Mar 4 - My friend Kelley had a baby boy.
Mar 5 - Got some good hang out time with a few girls who aren’t as close as they want to be.
Mar 6 - We got a row to ourselves on the flight to Kansas City.
Mar 7 - We had an excellent food day and got to see the KHRUSTY BROTHERS.
Mar 8 - Wine and dancing and crab cakes and more dancing and a pretty pretty dress.
Mar 9 - I went to a high school production of Bye Bye Birdie where one of my kids who I never ever thought I would see dance and sing danced and sang.
Mar 10 - I had a great, three-hour talk with a girl who wants to be baptized.
Mar 11 - Found some great new curriculum for the junior high classes.
Mar 12 - We successfully convinced a junior high boy that there is only one plane for every state.
Mar 13 - Made plans to go visit my million pregnant friends in Dallas.
Mar 14 - Got to spend some time with the band wives and get to know them a little better.
Mar 15 - Fun dinner out and too many margaritas with friends.
Mar 16 - Had a great junior high girls class about prayer.
Mar 17 - I got to see Remedy Drive play for the first time and hang out with adorable kids and go to Universal Studios for free and spend some good hang out time with the band.
Mar 18 - We made it home after a really long and bad travel day.
Mar 19 - I got to see the final plans for the house we’re renovating for the youth. So awesome.
Mar 20 - We knocked down a million walls in the youth house with sledgehammers.
Mar 21 - Saw U2-3D in a giant theater with four other people and no one got mad when I sang along.
Mar 22 - I had a lazy afternoon reading lots and lots of magazines.
Mar 23 - We got to go to big church, and it turns out I don’t miss it. I heart youth service.
Mar 24 - Great day hanging out with the band at the house.
Mar 25 - I think I found the purse I’ve been shopping for for ages.
Mar 26 - Excellent day hanging out at the park with the high school kids.
Mar 27 - I hung out with an old friend I haven’t seen in a year AND we went to Anthropologie AND we ate samples at Whole Foods AND we had a fabulous dinner at Bistro 215.
Mar 28 - Yummy sushi lunch with my friend Becka.
Mar 29 - We accidentally on purpose slept until 11.
Mar 30 - I saw RENT for the first time and it was amazing.
Mar 31 - Cinnamon Toast Crunch was on sale! (Also, I was sick so not much happened.)

Apr 1 - I was tired and spent too much time watching RENT and Avenue Q clips on Youtube.
Apr 2 - Really great high school discussion night, lots of forward motion within the group.
Apr 3 - I kind of learned what a Hawkeye is. FYI - it is not a hot guy.
Apr 4 - Some new friends came over to hang out and we ended up talking until 2 am.
Apr 5 - My amazing husband got up early and made me pancakes from scratch.
Apr 6 - We spent a beautiful afternoon buying plants and working on the yard.
Apr 7 - Fun road trip with Aaron and Becka to see Ben Folds and Eef Barzelay.
Apr 8 - I laid down ’squad’ in scrabulous for EIGHTY TWO points.
Apr 9 - Spontaneous ultimate frisbee game with the kids in the REI parking lot.
Apr 10 - Spontaneous lunch get together with friends.
Apr 11 - Nice night out for steak and a movie.
Apr 12 - I read a book in it’s entirety laying on a blanket outside.
Apr 13 - We met a lot of new people from church and got to spend some quality time with our pastor.
Apr 14 - Some new friends had us over for dinner and then out to see Sleeping At Last.
Apr 15 - I discovered honey cinnamon almonds at Target. On my word.
Apr 16 - My plans for a flamingo fundraiser were set into motion.
Apr 17 - I ate a BLT from Jimmy John’s.
Apr 18 - Fun birthday party for Becka.
Apr 19 - Nice lazy day of shopping and reading.
Apr 20 - Great service and four kids got baptized and a long afternoon reading in the sun and the first ever Early Morning Music showcase that was a humongous success and late night pb&j at Cafe Coco with the band. AMAZING day.
Apr 21 - Fun dinner with the band and a great Jars/Switchfoot show.
Apr 22 - We ran into some friends we haven’t seen in ages at Pei Wei and had a fun dinner with them.
Apr 23 - I bought five Mysterio Presents shirts for my friends.
Apr 24 - Spent the day in Mockingbird Station with my family.
Apr 25 - Had a BLAST with seven of my friends from high school.
Apr 26 - Had a BLAST at my friend Trisha’s 30th birthday party.
Apr 27 - Had a BLAST at care group with some new friends.
Apr 28 - Good ‘life stuff’ talk with Aaron over yummy steaks.
Apr 29 - Really fun afternoon with an incoming youth who has Down’s.
Apr 30 - Had a good high school group night with a couple of kids we hadn’t seen in ages.

May 1 - We made an awesome flamingo video.
May 2 - I learned the game telephone pictionary, and it was fantastic.
May 3 - Some unexpected kids signed up for camp.
May 4 - I talked in front of the whole church and didn’t pass out.
May 5 - The flamingoing kicked off successfully!
May 6 - I went to a divorce party. Sounds weird, but was so fun and was really a celebration of the end of a pretty hellish year for my friend.
May 7 - We flew to Austin and met our niece Olivia.
May 8 - Great dinner out in New Braunfels with the whole family plus Chad’s girlfriend and her parents. AND I cleaned up at the J Crew outlet.
May 9 - Chad’s graduation and party and some of the best barbecue I have ever had.
May 10 - We came home. I like home.
May 11 - Several people gave us scholarships for camp!
May 12 - We saw a sweet Swell Season show in Louisville.
May 13 - We flamingoed half of Little Big Town.
May 14 - A lot of new high school kids came to group and are starting to make friends.
May 15 - Lots of good meetings with people.
May 16 - Girls night with Katie involving sushi, Ashton Kutcher, fruit pizza, Christ of the Lord and Mexican Republic, scary scary roads, a weird guy walking down the road, 20 plastic flamingos and a house that doesn’t exist.
May 17 - We grilled lots and lots of meat.
May 18 - Napping on a blanket in the yard.
May 19 - I had my first counseling session.
May 20 - Good air-clearing coffee date with a friend.
May 21 - Had some really good and much-needed conversations with a few kids.
May 22 - So! Much! Flamingoing!
May 23 - One of our kids, who we weren’t sure was going to graduate, graduated! And we ate fajitas.
May 24 - So! Many! Graduations!
May 25 - More graduating. And then some napping.
May 26 - We decided that Ignacio is an excellent name for our future son.
May 27 - We had our summer youth staff meeting and I got to lay down some rules that might actually get followed this time.
May 28 - We had a speaker come in for high school group and she was amazing. The kids won’t stop talking about her.
May 29 - Got a much needed haircut and visited a bunch of kids at work.
May 30 - Fun lunch with some kids and then an excellent shopping day.
May 31 - Mmm… tomato and mozzarella salad at Panera.

June 1 - Lots of new people came to care group and we had excellent food.
June 2 - Fancy sushi and a movie with the girls where I spent way to much on drinks because I thought it was happy hour.
June 3 - We got some new kids involved in the flamingos and artfully decorated the yard of what is honestly the biggest house I have ever seen.
June 4 - Huge turnout for dinner and trivia, which was a good thing even though our team bit the dust on the last question after leading the entire game.
June 5 - GREAT meeting about renovating the youth house. It is going to be amazing.
June 6 - I had a delicious dinner and excellent wine.
June 7 - We took a four hour nap in the middle of the day for no real reason at all.
June 8 - A couple of events drew some new kids who are starting to get connected.
June 9 - I learned a LOT at counseling.
June 10 - Brisket and blueberry beer.
June 11 - Great work day: interesting class, good staff meeting, fun lunch, productive team meeting, movie in the park with the kids.
June 12 - We went to the worst writer’s night in the history of Nashville, but we laughed a lot so that was good.
June 13 - We went to what we thought was dinner with a private chef but turned out to be a sales pitch for pots and pans, but we laughed a lot so that was good. Then we drove to Kentucky and got there at 4am. That part wasn’t so funny.
June 14 - We hung out with the band all day at Icthus and got to watch Leeland and Family Force Five from the sidestage.
June 15 - We walked miles and miles but got to have excellent Thai food with the guys and my fun friend Susan.
June 16 - Hung out at a video shoot and took a spooky tour of some old mines.
June 17 - Fun cookout with the guys.
June 18 - Lots of good band hangout time… I think the more social time we spend with them the better their working relationship with Aaron gets.
June 19 - I got caught up on all the work I didn’t do while the band was here.
June 20 - We took some kids to the Sounds game and had a seriously great time.
June 21 - Slept until noon. And I don’t even fell bad about it.
June 22 - Excessively fun care group meeting at which I, once again, smoked everyone in bocce.
June 23 - We filled our last camp spots.
June 24 - Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Gameshow came on, and they were AWESOME.
June 25 - Great high school group discussion about values and behavior.
June 26 - Looooooong, but fun, night of flamingoing.
June 27 - We laughed and laughed and laughed at Get Smart.
June 28 - Spent the afternoon at the farmer’s market and shared an amazing sandwich.
June 29 - Lot of flamingos and a really good conversation with a kid.
June 30 - Track and field Olympic trials! I love the Olympics. And track. So fun.

July 1 - Good news day… my friend Julie came to visit and my sister got a new apartment.
July 2 - We took the kids rock climbing and it was SO FUN.
July 3 - Fun night out with some new friends and some delicious flatlander enchiladas.
July 4 - Sounds game! Fireworks and beer!
July 5 - I bought a little wooden carved figure of a mexican wrestler named TORTURA.
July 6 - I heard Lisa Loeb on the radio. It was kind of a rough day.
July 7 - I had a great talk with a new parent.
July 8 - I finally figured out the camp rooming conundrum I had been in for two weeks.
July 9 - We had a t-shirt making party at the church where two kids made me what is possibly the ugliest shirt of all time.
July 10 - Took a few girls out to lunch along with a brand new girl to try and help her get more comfortable in the group.
July 11 - The loser boyfriend of one of my girls’ mom got arrested and is potentially out of their lives. This is very good.
July 12 -
July 13 - Fun lunch with our care group people.
July 14 - We took 32 people to camp at 5am and no one died!
July 15 - A girl who has probably said three words in two years finally opened up and poured her heart out to me.
July 16 - I played Angelina Jolie in a youth pastor skit and I think people were laughing with me, not at me.
July 17 - In our church group time the high schoolers got all emotional about how thankful they are for our group and how we provide a safe place for them to be.
July 18 - We all wore our ugly green puff painted shirts to service and no one laughed at us.
July 19 - We brought 32 people home from camp and no one died!
July 20 - We took some of our kids to see an excellent Jackson Waters show.
July 21 - I finally got all the camp pictures uploaded and organized.
July 22 - Two of my favorite girls gave me a super early and super awesome birthday present.
July 23 - Pool party! With duplex cookies! And lots of Dr. Pepper! And noodle guns!
July 24 - A new friend had a baby and I got to hang out with them at the hospital.
July 25 - After spending several weeks trying, we finally got a kid registered for college. Now we just have to get her to go. Also,
July 26 - We made it to six years of marriage and we’re still alive! And we ate amazing italian food from the most random hole in the wall place.
July 27 - Five. Hour. Nap.
July 28 - We stayed in a fancy hotel and played in a fancy pool and hung out on a fancy balcony and ate decidedly non-fancy ribs.
July 29 - I spent the evening talking books with one of my very non-bookish kids.
July 30 - I visited a kid in the hospital with lots of needles and medicine and sickness and not only is he going to be okay but I didn’t pass out! Big day.
July 31 - I had blood drawn! And didn’t die!

August 1 - I made and edited a video! And it doesn’t suck!
August 2 - We went to see Footloose on stage with a bunch of kids because one of our other kids was in the show. It was fantastic.
August 3 - Our care group meeting turned into a 90s rap singalong.
August 4 - We made all new things for dinner and they were all delicious.
August 5 - Had a good talk with a kid about college and growing up.
August 6 - A bunch of new kids came to dinner and it was really fun.
August 7 - I found two excellent new swimsuits for a quarter of what they originally cost.
August 8 - I spent the whole day in a water park and it brought me so much joy.
August 9 - Aaron made me delicious eggs and bacon and tomato slices and toast.
August 10 - I turned 28 and had an awesome surprise lunch party with the church folk.
August 11 - I got my birthday box from my family! I am now the proud owner of a potato peeler that’s shaped like a monkey.
August 12 - Delicious lasagna for dinner.
August 13 - We had a HUGE turnout for our back-to-school cookout.
August 14 - Some of our most awesome kids helped us with a huge mailing for Remedy Drive.
August 15 - We FINALLY got one of the kids registered for college classes.
August 16 - I bought awesome purple loafers.
August 17 - Today sucked. Nanny passed away.
August 18 - Lots of family time.
August 19 - I spent the whole day going through old family photos.
August 20 - I got to spend some real hang out time with my cousins.
August 21 - We had a really beautiful service for Nanny.
August 22 - I got to eat Le Madeline and shop at NorthPark.
August 23 - Aaron and I had a good dinner and catch up time over the best burritos ever.
August 24 - I smoked our whole care group in 31.
August 25 - Wine. And cookies. For dinner.
August 26 - Lunch and shopping with one of my favorite kids.
August 27 - Really interesting ordination class about Proverbs.
August 28 - Sushi lunch date with grown ups!
August 29 - I found some shoes I have been looking at online for weeks, in my size, for half price. It was totally meant to be.
August 30 - Katie and Brandi’s Birthday Cookout Extravaganza was a huge success!
August 31 - Our last Sunday in the cafeteria was sad, but really good.

Sept 1 - Mmmm… raspberry lime paleta.
Sept 2 - The meeting I wasn’t prepared for got canceled, again.
Sept 3 - Really great class on Ecclesiastes.
Sept 4 - Excellent brisket tacos for lunch. In Dallas. With my family.
Sept 5 - Shop shop shop shop shop.
Sept 6 - I survived my high school reunion.
Sept 7 - I smoked my mom at the make up a sentence using randomly drawn magnetic poetry words game.
Sept 8 - Spent the afternoon with my parents at a used bookstore.
Sept 9 - Very productive youth planning day.
Sept 10 - Our first Wednesday night youth service wasn’t a total disaster.
Sept 11 - Lunch and shopping with an excellent friend.
Sept 12 - Kari and Alisa came to visit!
Sept 13 - Pancakes, notecards, babies, celebrity stalking, sangrita, non-dirty TTYD, good talks.
Sept 14 - I spent the entire afternoon watching Pride and Prejudice with one of the kids. Also, milano cookies.
Sept 15 - Cowboys! Monday Night Football!
Sept 16 - I got a second job that I can do in front of the TV for good pay. Excellent.
Sept 17 - We stripped Wednesday nights WAY down and it ran a lot smoother.
Sept 18 - Fun day hanging out with the band at the house.
Sept 19 - When Harry Met Sally came on TV and I laid on the sofa and watched the whole thing.
Sept 20 - I went to a middle school football game and had a blast.
Sept 21 - I had lunch with a ton of junior high boys and didn’t die.
Sept 22 - I made delicious banana chocolate chip mini muffins.
Sept 23 - I finally found a mass text service that is free that I can use for youth updates.
Sept 24 - Great discussion with the junior high girls.
Sept 25 - Good and much-needed coffee with a parent.
Sept 26 - We decided to bail on the laser tag birthday party for Aaron and instead are going on vacation.
Sept 27 - Susan came and hung out!
Sept 28 - I discovered that flying to Puerto Rico is excessively cheaper than flying to Mexico.
Sept 29 - The Condado Plaza came into my life.
Sept 30 - Things are starting to happen on the youth house. Finally.

Oct 1 - Friday Night Lights is back! I love that show so much.
Oct 2 - We spent a lovely afternoon outside at a junior high football game.
Oct 3 - Super fun junior high girls sleepover.
Oct 4 - I got a couple of hours to myself to shop and shop and shop. And buy… nothing.
Oct 5 - Mmmm… nap.
Oct 6 - We went to a really nice birthday dinner with people we don’t get to see often.
Oct 7 - We got the budget approved for the youth house! We might actually get it done on time!
Oct 8 - I bought the most awesome cable knit ballet flat slippers. I want to marry them.
Oct 9 - Two of our kids were part of their school play and it was great!
Oct 10 - One of our kids made about a thousand excellent plays in his football game.
Oct 11 - I made a pretty sweet vision board for the youth house.
Oct 12 - We had a huge all-church event on the property and it was a big success.
Oct 13 - We started down the path of finding some answers for some issues.
Oct 14 - A meeting I was super stressed out about turned out to be no big deal.
Oct 15 - We had a blast of a game night with the kids for fall break.
Oct 16 - I registered for a youth conference that I am very excited about.
Oct 17 - Pizza and movie night.
Oct 18 - Ten books for eleven dollars at the book sale!
Oct 19 - We tore out three bathrooms, a kitchen and a ton of drywall at the youth house.
Oct 20 - I had a lovely girls night out with some friends.
Oct 21 - My new, free ipod made driving around town so much more pleasant.
Oct 22 - Our lesson went over really well.
Oct 23 - A kid I’ve been working with forever finally started taking steps in the right direction.
Oct 24 - A series us mishaps led a couple of friends and I to a great new restaurant.
Oct 25 - My high school girls pumpkin carving adventure was a success.
Oct 26 - I was up til 4:30 having a great talk with a kid.
Oct 27 - Good, air-clearing coffee meeting with a kid and a mom.
Oct 28 - Pumpkins, wine, pizza, candy, movies and new friends.
Oct 29 - Had a delicious cheap lunch with a friend making sneaky plans.
Oct 30 - Avenue Q!
Oct 31 - The awesome people at Kalamata’s loaded us down with free food.