My Spurs

Everyone has 'their team.' That team that you live and die for. The one you never try to miss a game or at least check the scores. That team that no matter if they win or lose you will always stand behind them. That team for me?

The San Antonio Spurs.

Ginobili, Bowen, Parker, Duncan, Oberto

(the Spurs of my high school days)

I have been a Spurs fan for as long as I can remember. I have pictures of me blowing out birthday candles with my #50 David Robinson jersey on, hunting easter eggs in my #50. I loved that thing so much that I even wore it for halloween one year and called myself David Robinson.

I loved going to games growing up. They used to play in the Alamodome which was right next the Tower of the Americas. This tower had a revolving restaurant in the top of it that slowing turned while you ate your food. And one year as a reward for good grades my dad took me to dinner there and then to a Spurs game. I will never forget that. I was the coolest kid for one night.

I have watched that team go through many transitions and have seen many great players. Avery Johnson, Sean Elliot, David Robinson, Malik Rose, Will Purdue, Steve Kerr, Antonio Daniels, Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry, special guest Robert Horry, and Fabricio Oberto. Of course now I watch Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Gary Neal, Matt Bonner George Hill, and Richard Jefferson rule the court.

I know those names mean nothing to you but to me, they mean alot. The Spurs are the only professional team in San Antonio (if you don't count the Rampage hockey team). In my opinion they are what keep this city alive. Spurs games and fans are crazy. It is never quiet. There is always music playing, announcers shouting, and fans cheering. Through thick and thin attendance is always high. Around playoff time almost everybody has a spurs flag on their ca and Go Spurs Go! signs pop up everywhere around the city. They now play in the AT&T center which is where I have done a majority of my attending. I was really lucking growing up because my dad has the greatest connections in the world and was able to score us box seats most of my high school career. Box seats are the way to go. You eat, you talk, you play with the fancy TV and you watch the game from the best seat in the house. So wonderful.

They have come a long way as a team. Gregg Povovich has done an incredible job. He has coached them to 4 championships since 99. I respect him very much. Tony Parker, you still have some trust to gain back but I still love you. Their logos has also come a long way:

mmmm. the 90's. I actually miss this logo but they had to change it (2002) so that people would take them seriously. Here we are in 2010 and people still don't take them seriously.

ahhh. serious logo. It took me so long to get used to it

I know that nobody who isn't a spurs fan does not care about them. And that is ok. feel free to bash them all you want but anytime I ask people what there favorite thing they've done when they visit San Antonio they pretty much always say it was going to a Spurs game.

They will always be my team. Even when they lose and that will happen someday. They will always be my deep rooted connection to Texas no matter where life may take me.

I guess I like them for sentimental reasons too. My childhood is full of memories involving the spurs. Many games with the entire family and some with just my dad.

I will stop there so that I do not bore you too much with other details. That would just be cruel. But you should know the Mavs suck and so do the Lakers...

GO SPURS GO!!

Turquoise, Adobe, Mexican Food, and Walking

This Christmas my family packed up the family mini-van and drove to Santa Fe, NM. If you have never been there you should make it a travel destination at some point in your life. It is literally the strangest and neatest place all at the same time. The city has decided that all buildings must be of the adobe style within a certain milage of downtown so it is like the entire town is frozen in time. So much character there.

We stayed in a house that my lovely mother found. This couple has two houses in Santa Fe. One they rent out and one they live in. We ended up staying in the one they live in because they were on vacation. And a funny development as of today, the couple was actually in Boerne, TX today and called my mom to ask her some questions. How random is that?

It was a pretty legit house and is conveniently located within walking distance on downtown. Here is a virtual tour of part of it:

living room/kitchen

back patio. Fire place to the left of the pic

The greatest part about the house was on the outside it didn't look like anything special. Seriously, you had to drive down a dirt alley to get there and it is surrounded by other adobe houses that look very unkempt. You would never guess that you were about to enter a million dollar home. So fantastic. Here is a pic of part of downtown. Literally all of the buildings look like this:

We met up with some great family friends, The Foersters, for the entire trip. Every day consisted of sleeping, some form of shopping, walking alot, people watching in the square downtown, and then stuffing our faces with mexican food every evening. It was wonderful.

New Mexico is just that, a newer Mexico with some Native American traditions mixed in. I used to thank it was the strangest place ever. I still think that but I have also come to appreciate it. Turquoise, tourists, adobe, dirt streets, and mexican food are a wonderful combination.

Christmas Eve we made reservations at 3 different restaurants before finally deciding on a 9:30pm at an Italian restaurant I have already forgotten the name of. Before dinner we walked down a street with about 30,000 other people looking at christmas lights and other things. The restaurant ended up being unbelievably fantastic. We also had free entertainment because and elderly lady who was apparently a regular had enjoyed several glasses of wine and was telling lots of stories with elaborate hand gestures. When she left she apparently wrote a note for her waiter and a waitress read it out to the entire restaurant. It was awesome.

Christmas day consisted of the usual presents and brunch. Then lots of laying around the house. Right before sunset we all hiked up to the spot my parents were engaged at about 14 years ago. They hadn't been there since. A special family moment.

The happy couple

It was so nice to be in a place where we could all walk where ever we wanted. It was also fun to be there with The Foersters. They are some of the funnest/greatest people I know and always bring the good times.

Santa Fe is also the land of turquoise. I have never been a huge fan but I like to look at it and I even walked away with a nice ring. People come from miles around to set up shop on the sidewalk to sell their goods.

The people watching in Santa Fe was my absolute favorite. You could sit in the square for hours and watch children, homeless people, sweet old couples, engaged couples, rowdy teens, japanese tourists, lumberjacks, indian chiefs, and much much more. Some seriously good stuff. I wish I had had a camera to document it all.

Our last night in town we decided to build a fire in the outdoor fireplace and smoke cigars in honor of our last night in crazy New Mexico. We being my dad, my sister Mary, me, and Shelton Foerster. So we did. It was a special moment really. My dad gets a kick out of smoking an occasional cigar with me and I love it too. I'm a sucker for a good cigar. Definitely a great way to end the trip.

I am now back in Boerne, TX eating as much Tex Mex as I can get my hands on and enjoying the 70 degree weather. One thing about coming back is the more you are away the more you appreciate the things you knew you always loved but you didn't know how much you actually liked them.

Here's to family!

(not the best pic ever but you get it..)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Nativity Story

I know many of you have probably seen this video by now or heard about it or even posted it on your own blogs but I love it and have watched it far too many times.

It is the Nativity story told by children and was done by a church in New Zealand and it is amazing, adorable, and worth sharing with everybody.



Whether this season be joyful, sad, long, hard, frustrating, or great I hope that you would be able to appreciate it and find moments to just be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Detox

Christmas break finally came. After a semester of what felt like crawling and clawing myself to the finish line. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad but it certainly felt like it.

Classes ended last Tuesday and I was scheduled to fly out Wednesday. Didn't make it. Weather in Atlanta had me worried so I stayed in Asheville an extra day. Worth it. Finally made it to Texas and have been in a whirlwind of family activities. Today has been the first day I haven't had an agenda. Kind of. At least, the first day I've had a few hours to myself. And I want more of that. Hopefully it will come.

I usually post some pictures right about now. And I would love to but there is a small problem. My camera finally broke. I've had a little boxy Sony camera for like 5 years. It has traveled around the world, been dropped like crazy, slammed around, and moved cross country. It finally decided it was finished working about two weeks ago. This means no Windy Gap pictures, no Boerne, TX pics. No pics of my adorable cousins or of our Christmas trip to Santa Fe. sigh...how depressing.

I should just go out and buy one. But I decided I need a new pair of running shoes instead. So it looks like I will be cameraless for a little while. I kind of feel lost without it. I carried that thing everywhere and documented alot of life with it.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy being. Literally just being. Being still, being around family, being free from school, and being able to rest.

Well, we are off the see the Christmas lights at the River Walk in San Antonio accompanied by a trip to Taco Cabana, of course!

Christmas Shenanigans

THREE blog posts in one night?? I'm on a role. Or just procrastinating. I'll let you be the judge.

My friend Taylor Wood made this lovely holiday e-card using all of the girl leader's faces on our Asheville High Young Life team. I'm sure you have seen your far share of them but go ahead and take a little looksy

I hope that you are as blessed by this as I was:

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

You're Welcome

Windy Gap!!

I know I have written about this wonderful place many times but I wanted to put a special post about Windy Gap. This weekend I have the honor of taking 11 girls from Asheville High to Young Life camp for the weekend. A Young Life camp that is literally out my back door! What a treat! I am so excited and have been looking forward to this weekend all semester! Here is a picture of it taken from a hill that overlooks camp. I took this during the fall, obviously when all of the leaves were still on the trees. But no matter. In my opinion this place is amazing whatever the season.

I can not even begin to explain the awesomeness of living 15 minutes from a Young Life camp. I try to never take it for granted this blessing of a place. It truly is a special place no matter how you slice it.

I am so excited to take my high school friends to camp and to laugh with them and be silly with them and talk with them about Jesus. It is a big honor in, my opinion, that I get to be a part of the Bigger Picture. Especially at Asheville High. What a true gift.

Here is a picture from fall camp last year at Rockbridge:

love these girls!

So I would ask for your prayers this weekend for myself and for the other girls that will be leading with me. Prayers for energy, patience, wisdom, and selflessness. These girls are awesome and I can't wait to see them all tomorrow!!

The Days Are Just Packed

So it's that time of the semester. Finals. Bleh. More like FINALLY. I'm not even going to pretend I don't want this semester to be over. It has not been horrible by any means but I am starting to feel like it is staying past it's welcome and I would very much like for it to run along now.

You might be wondering what the heck the title of this blog post comes from. Good! I'll tell you. It is actually the title to a Calvin & Hobbes comic book. Here is the cover

I LOVED reading Calvin & Hobbes growing up. Don't know why? I really couldn't understand half the stuff they talked about. I think what I like most about it was that Calvin really was a kid. He did dumb things and knew how to take it easy. Right now I'm feeling a bit like Calvin. I can't seem to focus on school to save my life (don't worry Mom & Dad I'm letting it go too far). I just want to be free and sit and do nothing or be free to do everything. Free to think and free to not think. I want to look exactly like Calvin & Hobbes. Stupid comparison I know. But just go with it.

I will make it through finals and it will be fabulous. And then I will empty my head of all school related material and stuff my face with Tex-Mex until I cannot breath, hang out with friends and family, and stay up way too late doing mostly unproductive things. I cannot wait for my days to be packed with nonsense, hopefully some rest, and good time with family.

So here's to you Calvin!

Because Sometimes You Don't Have Time

Watch this and then tell me that you don't want to go and try and see if it actually works.
Who knows? Maybe I'm just a little behind on the curve but I have NEVER heard of this method.

If you need me, I'll be hard boiling an egg.

Thanksgiving on The Roof of America

So I should be studying...

But here are a few pics from Thanksgiving in Pagosa Springs, CO.
Don't worry, I won't load all 150 of the one's I have. No, you can go see those on facebook. It loaded all of them and I only wanted to load 40 or so...that's what you get I guess.

Enjoy!

Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino.

you're welcome.

Classic. All these years we have been going to CO

and this is the first time I remember stopping at a sign.

Yay Stacey Noll!

My Thanksgiving view. Not bad...

Hurt-your-face snow. so beautiful though.

Typical

Anne Noll and her "Sexy Woodcutter" pose

Thanksgiving Day craft time

Decorations courtesy of Anne Noll. Yes that is

one of Columbus' ships sailing to America.

We went sledding. It was epic. Mary was scared

Well isn't that adorable?

Skiing at Wolf Creek Ski. My fav place to ski

THE COUSINS!!!

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving. I ate too much and slept alot. We were all basically in bed by 10pm every night. It was fantastic! My aunt and uncle have a lovely second home and it is so efficiently heated that we had to keep a window or two open at all times in order to keep from sweating. It was hilarious.

On Thanksgiving day I decided to go for a run. And it was 5 degrees outside. But I bundled up anyways in just about everything I brought and headed out. There is seriously nothing like running with a backdrop of snow capped mountains. It gave me a chance to think about the things I am truly thankful for: like heat and sitting under warm blankets with a delicious cup of hot chocolate. Oh and family. But seriously. I realized that I am truly thankful for where I am, who I am with. Things are little out of whack right now but that's alright. They will turn out just the way they are supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. That, I am thankful for.

Back to studying...bleh. So close to being done.

Then it's back to Texas I go to stuff my face with Mexican food and Bear Moon Bakery. I can taste it already..