T-E-X-A-S...

It's been a few (eight) years since Evan and I had season tickets to UT football games.

This year we returned and going to games together is just as fun as I remembered.

then: we lived in Austin so travel time was much shorter

now: we get road trip time and a game date

then: cousin Carlee wasn't even in high school

now: we get to watch her as a senior and her final season cheering at UT

then: we liked cheering with others we love too

now: we like cheering with others we love too

then: I loved every time they played "March Grandioso," the sea of burnt orange,

 the end zone backflips for total points, interceptions, and Evan

now: I love every time they play "March Grandioso," the sea of burnt orange, 

the end zone backflips for total points, interceptions, and Evan

"IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GROW AN OLD FRIEND." -John Leonard

old friends...

know what you will order off a menu.

know what clothes to pick out for you.

can hand you your size in the dressing room.

old friends...

laugh the loudest with you (and at you).

understand your silence and loudness alike.

are a safe house of memories and love.

old friends...

call each other out in truth.

know how to fight fairly and compromise.

know forgiveness and how to fall forward. 

old friends...

enjoy getting ready and going out together (in borrowed clothes).

enjoy sitting on the couch together doing nothing.

enjoy being together wherever and however.

old friends...

give the best hugs.

understand you are a bottomless pit of emotion and sappiness.

are so hard to say goodbyes to (which is why i can only get out see you laters).

old friends...
get on airplanes.
drive long roads.
are an unmeasurable gift.

i am thankful for multiple decades of friendship with these old (and forever faithful) friends.

I SAY ORANGE, YOU SAY WHITE...

half a decade ago, we lived in the land of burnt orange and white for a few fun years.

we had student season tickets to each and every home game of the season

(thanks to the law student i married) and STOOD in the stadium together many hot saturdays.

last saturday we were so excited to go to another game together.

we got to use some great seats in the alumni section which meant we happily SAT in the stadium,

on a most perfectly cool september night of a shutout football game.

saturday morning we arrived at our hotel and were welcomed by every employee wearing UT shirt.

we checked in and rode the elevator up with the biggest, strongest armed man i've ever seen in real life.

evan looked up from his biceps and recognized him as UT's strength coach.

we quickly discovered the whole team was staying at the hotel with us before the game.

i had already made big plans to spend the afternoon reading next to the indoor/outdoor pool.

EMRACE THE CAMERA WHILE ENJOYING A POOLSIDE AFTERNOON.

meanwhile ev loved his perfect afternoon too.
he got to hang out watching afternoon football games in the lobby with his favorite college players,

who were waiting to be bused over to darrell k royal stadium for their own game that evening.

before and after the game we met up with some of our favorite austin friends.

EMBRACE THE CAMERA WHILE WAITING IN THE BATHROOM LINE AT Z'TEJAS.

my dad and sister met us in austin for the fun too.

we have an inability to pass up cotton candy in any situation.

EMBRACE THE CAMERA WHILE CONSUMING PERFECTLY FLUFFY SUGAR.

after the game we made our way across campus to see our favorite UT cousin/freshman/cheerleader.
when we entered her dorm room i saw her pompoms and cheer backpack and i couldn't resist-

EMBRACE THE CAMERA CHEERLEADER STYLE.

we loved this weekend getaway and the joy of getting to

EMBRACE THE CAMERA IN THE STADIUM WITH YOUR FAVORITE LONGHORN FAN.

and of course no trip to austin would be complete without stopping to

EMBRACE THE CAMERA WITH THE TOWER LIT UP AFTER A WIN.

thanks for hosting the embrace fest each week andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com!

25 x 50 = ...

i taught kindergarten for three years at steiner ranch elementary in austin, tx.

the families i met there were warm, welcoming, loving, and encouraging.

evan and i moved to austin during our newlywed days and eventually started our family there.

even though our apartment wasn't in the neighborhood, we truly felt their neighborly love.

they welcomed us into the "steiner family" with open arms.

they trusted me to look after their kids seven hours a day at school,

and teach them what they needed to know.

we babysat their kids while they went on dates and on vacations.

they had our family over for dinner, they brought us meals,

they showered us with baby essentials and seasoned advice when the time came.

 in the three years i spent my days in steiner ranch, i witnessed countless acts of service.

the community volunteered in our classroom, provided supplies,

reached out to student's who were sick and rallied around those who lost family members.

so when i heard the families in steiner ranch had been evacuated it hit close to home.

the fires may be over a hundred miles from where we live now,

but they have been in the front of my mind all week.

this community lost approximately 25 homes.

that's 25 families who lost everything and at least another 25 with severe damage.

and nearby in bastrop entire communities are wiped out.

they are estimating more than 1400 homes have been burned in these fires.

i didn't teach multiplication on a daily basis,

but i did teach math and I can assure you 25 times 50 is a lot.

and the number of families affected by these fires equals more than that.

to any of you reading this, our hearts are heavy for you.

our family is praying for you and reaching out as you taught us to do by your beautiful example.

 

these are the DAYS...

wondering what we have been up to these

past few DAYS?

wonder no more!

40th birthDAY

uncle michael turned 4-0 on thanksgiving day.

we started his celebration a few days earlier,

with a wonderful saturday party in warrenton.

football games were played,

yummy food was served,
and there was great live music too!

 

picture

DAY

sunday afternoon we drove from warrenton to austin.

we met up with our favorite photographer-

lisa,

 at a farm outside of town.

you really should 

click here to see a sneak peek 

of her handiwork!

now comes the hard part, narrowing down which ones to frame.

31st birthDAY

after our photo shoot, we went to hug rubey at her birthday chili cookoff!

thanks to her roommate jess for this great pic.

i love it so much i'm thinking maybe we should include rubes in our christmas card this year?!

holiDAY

monday and tuesday were spent in houston getting ready for the next events.

tuesday night we drove to abilene for the holiday break.

while there we went for a ride on a buffalo,

played dress up,

watched the little cousins perform shows (complete with VIP seating),

and used our creativity to construct shirts for the next holiday.

turkeyDAY

traditionally the fourth thursday in november is thanksgiving,

but we successfully crammed two holidays into one day.

all 31 members of my mom's side of the family was together,

so in order to make the most of it we created our version on thanksmas.

of course it was filled with plenty of good eats.

there were two turkeys.

the guys were very proud of lemon butter infused deep fried version).

meanwhile sara kate and i whipped up two different pioneer woman recipes

(macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes).

we didn't go hungry the rest of the weekend either,

especially on backyard campfire night which was made complete with s'mores.

 

gameDAY

throughout the week we played  carcassone, settlers of catan, croquet, and nerf wars.

and of course everybody knows thanksgiving and the game of football go hand in hand.

my high school and college were both in the playoffs that saturday.

we loved getting to bundle up and watch the acu game live.

these are
 the DAYS
to  remember!