Top Ten Moments of 2009- A Realllly Long One

Top 10 moments of 2009

Quitting my job in Houston- it was the scariest thing I have ever done in my whole 23 years. It actually took me about 6 months to work up the courage/get miserable enough. I hate to disappoint people and even more, I hate confrontation. I think it’s good for people to have to quit a job at least once in their lives. Being that it was my first job, little scary. Being that we are battling record unemployment levels, little scary. Being that my boss is a 6 foot tall blonde woman of steel, little scary. I wrote the speech, I practiced the speech, I typed the speech, I dreamed about the speech and then finally….I went in there….and I cried. I was such a mess that the conversation ended in a (two armed) embrace and an “I love you sweet pea” from the unbreakable lady.

Finding the Indian outside my door- don’t know if this really deserves a top ten spot…but…well. Yes it does. You see, my social life in Houston was a little on the pathetic side. I didn’t get out too terribly much. But on one of the glorious occasions that I did muster up enough energy to get dressed and go out I came home to a little surprise. I come down my apartment hallway to find a little Indian man curled up on my welcome mat. Dressed very nicely in a button down, designer jeans and snazzy black shoes, I was not too terribly afraid. This fellow was accompanied by a bag of Fritos and an unopened can of bean dip. I can imagine that those lids are more than tricky under certain circumstances and alcohol levels. Poor guy must have been tuckered out; he was snoring loud enough to call the razorbacks in Arkansas. I gave him a little nudge with my red stiletto and then stepped over him into my apartment. I decided I needed to capture this on film for security purposes so I opened my door for a little paparazzi sesh. It’s pretty much guaranteed that the angles were less than flattering. I gave him one more nudge and closed the door. Then I hear some sort of knocking/scratching. Semi-alarming. After approximately 10 seconds of effort I hear him sliding back down my door to the ground. I thought it best to leave this harmless creature to rest. I awoke the next morning to find the Fritos and (still unopened) bean dip…but no sharp dressed little Indian man.

Meeting Dustin- Dustin is reason#1 I survived Houston, TX. He was like a coworker, best friend and dad all rolled into one. We started working for Comsys at the same time but at very different times in our lives. Dustin has 2 (precious) boys and a gorgeous wife. He is from Houston and was an Aggie (all the good ones are). Poor Dustin was the only boy back in our little office cave but he hung in there pretty well. His days consisted mostly of making fun of the clingy callers I seemed to attract and talking me off the ledge. He philosophized til he was blue in the face though I never told him, he really was the only person I listened to. You know those people in your life where all you have to do is look at them and they know exactly what you are thinking? That was us. We worked on jobs together that would have made each of us clinically insane had we worked on them independently (SAGE). When he cooperated, we would walk through the tunnels for lunch and figure out the world. Dustin marks one of the three saddest goodbyes I have ever had to say. He moved to North Carolina with Comsys and I moved on to Austin so it wasn’t really a see you later…I think that’s what was so sad. I cant describe our friendship but I couldnt have done it without him.

Meeting Shoe Shine- Don’t get it twisted, there is zero disrespect meant by calling him “shoe shine man”. This man loves his job. He is one of the most blessed people I have ever come in contact with. Shoe shine man (SSM for time’s sake) was one of my tunnel people. The tunnel people made me so happy. They had a lot more figured out than the people high up in the building with their lights still on during dinner time. They took time to get to know people, especially SSM. He spoke to everyone, he checked on your morning and your momma and everything else he knew about you. He was always the first to ask where you were if you missed a day of work…probably because he was the only person that never missed one. SSM worked in the barber shop right under my building. He had a little nook in the back with his chair that he kept spotless. His girlfriend’s daughter worked next door at the sandwich shop; he got her that job and he brought her to work every day. His girlfriend is a stuartist for Continental; he was so proud of her. SSM was dressed in a button up and khakis every day and his little bald held was borderline glowing it was so shined up. He didn’t have all of his teeth but that never stopped him from smiling…he was always smiling. We got to know each other because I was the other smiler in the building. He always knew when I was sad and he would just hug on me and tell me how much Jesus loved me. One day in particular I was really struggling with the whole job/Houston thing. I had just walked into the building and he said: “hey baby! Whats wrong?” I told him nothing was wrong (I knew better than to start talking, my eyes were puddled up from him even asking). He said well “you know what?” I hesitated to ask. He said (without knowing ANYTHING about my job or really anything about me): “you don’t need to worry about anything. God’s going to take care of you and you have so many people that love you- your momma and your daddy and the Lord are all going to support you no matter what decisions you make and you know, none of this is permanent, it’ll get better, you just keep smiling and being sweet.” Cue waterworks. I couldn’t quit crying. Its funny the outlets God chooses to speak through sometimes. I saw people every day that blew him off and didn’t pay him much attention but that never stopped him from loving them. Its funny how, had they stopped for two seconds, they could have gotten answers to problems they didn’t even know they had. My last day of work I knew I had to go tell him I was leaving and I was just miserable about it. I was talking to my coworkers about it and someone mentioned him being sick. My heart stopped. Turns out, SSM has cancer. He was going in for chemo after work and was fighting a silent battle. He never wanted anyone to know because he didn’t want sympathy or pity. I don’t think I will ever see SSM again. I wrote him a letter and tried to explain how he had impacted my life but I don’t feel like I could even touch the tip of the iceberg. He is my angel…who would have thought I would have found my angel in a tunnel at work in Houston, TX.

Meeting Cody- Cody came into my life kind of late in the Houston game. He is Kent’s med school classmate’s roommate. In the event that I did get to socialize, it was often with Kent’s med school peeps who are great people, but tied together by a common thread that I did not possess. Cody is a working person too so we had an instant connection. Cody is from Kansas. He went to Oklahoma State. Then he moved to Texas. Thank goodness he kept traveling south because Cody was one of the few bright spots in Houston for me. Cody likes to booze (gin is his choice), Cody dressed fun (colorful pants, though he doesn’t really like socks), and Cody made perfect homemade vanilla ice cream. He introduced me to Cedar Creek in the Heights http://cedarcreek.squarespace.com/ which was the perfect slice of Austin for those unbearably tough homesick days. A lot of times I regret that I was such a donna downer in Houston but Cody never complained too much (ok, at all). I’m thankful to have gained him from the whole deal; he is a super friend and sometimes he even visits me in Austin. We drink out of mason jars.

Rex proposes- You have to know me for approximately 30 seconds to know how great I think my brother is. He is great, but he is also my only brother. These days (aka the past 4 years) the best part about my brother is Hillary. Hillary is the shit. There is just no better way to describe it. She was made for Rex. We’ve all loved her from the beginning but in typical Cody fashion, we knew it would take Rex a while to get down on that knee. Us Codys are a little skiddish. We don’t particularly like being tied down and commitment is a really scary word. I knew he had been shopping around because by gawd it was about freaking time but I didn’t know when exactly the thing was going to go down. One day I saw via Hill’s facebook that they were going to get away to Port A. I know that’s her favorite spot so I had one of those feelings (that motherly intuition has hit me wayyyy early in the game). I called him and he spilled the beans. The boy was a nervous wreck hiding under a rather obvious giggle thing he kept doing. Skipping the story, because I could never tell it as cute as the two of them do, I will state the obvious: she said yes. I was the first person they called and they were both just ecstatic. She was just beaming (I’m sure) and saying over and over again, “I’m going to be Mrs. Cody.” So stinkin’ sweet. Their wedding is June 12, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. I am going to have to be sedated Im so excited.

My week long birthday- so if you know me you know that I genuinely do not enjoy making a big fuss over my birthday. I really don’t like the whole “what do YOU want to do? Its YOUR birthday” thing. You see, most of the time I like to do what people with a strong opinion want to do. I’m a pleaser. It’s really hard for me to feel good about swaying a large group of people to do all the things I like…because…what if they don’t like it? Then I feel guilty. Anywho. Crissy, one of my dearest friends wasn’t having it. She came in strong with the ‘what do you wants’ early. After the great debate of getting a barge in the pond a la Lake Travis, we backed off of that and moved on to something else. One of the special things about Crissy is that she not only understands me but she doesn’t push me. She did the very thing that meant the most to me: gave me her attention. She came and picked me up and took me to Einsteins (my favorite). We saw Andy Roddick and stared obnoxiously and then she took me to my hair appointment. At my hair appointment her honey, Johnny, delivered a perfect bouquet of neon daisies and money to get a manicure/pedicure. SO SWEET, right?! (Please add to future husband requirements: spoils my friends). Crissy came and picked me up and then I went to get my nails did. I was really overwhelmed with the two of them… I mean that is SO thoughtful and just so….just great of them. I went to Crissys and she popped open champagne and we started getting ready for dinner. Crissy planned the sweetest dinner for me at 219 West with a surprise guest list and everything. She even bought me an outfit to wear that night.

We went over to the Ranch where tons of my friends were afterwards. It was so great.

THEN! The next day my brother, Hill, Sperry, Sandy, Jillian all came in and we (along with Crissy, Johnny, Cathi/Fendi) went out to my favorite, The Oasis http://www.oasis-austin.com/ . It was a gorgeous sunset and we got the table at the top center overlooking the (shallow) beautiful lake. The sunset was amazing and I had *almost* all of my favorite people there. The Eggmen were there http://www.eggmen.com/ and everything. I was so happy.
THEN we went downtown to The Belmont, another favorite of mine http://www.thebelmontaustin.com/ and had the rooftop all to ourselves. They had the misters on so we had such a sultry backdrop for photos and we even had our own bartender.

I wish I was joking when I say it’s not over. The next weekend we went to Wimberley, possibly my favorite spot ever and everyone who didn’t make it to birthday weekend #1 (and most who did) came out. Caity, Chase, Kent, Laura, Sperry, Crissy, Johnny, Rance, Andi, Megan, Jonathan, Hillary, Caroline, David, Jean, Clint, Chance and Mitchell were all there. It was great weather and I had 3 cakes. Sure, two of them could have been for Kent and Chase….but THREE! Sperry made me a freaking amazing cookie cake, Andi bought a cake and decorated it oh so nicely and Crissy made custom cupcakes!






I know this is getting lengthy but can you imagine how loved you would feel if people did all of that for you?! I could cry just thinking about it. It was an amazing birthday that I will never be able to repeat.

Moving to Austin with Chase- Chase and I have dreamed of living in a little old house together forever. See, Chase and I are really really close, closer than anyone really realizes. We never have gotten much one on one time because we play similar roles in our friends circle. Anyway, Chase graduated from Aggieland and I quit my job in Houston and the two of us found Eloise. In September, we brought in the moving crews (aka Deb, Don, Rex and Vikki) and settled right into our 1920’s mostly blue home. We thought it was dreamy; arched entryway, precious breakfast nook with a built in collectors shelf, a huge bedroom for my diva tendencies, a door in each of our rooms leading out to a little private patio, our very own pencil sharpener in the kitchen (wtf), and so much character. Everything we always pictured.



It was the new millenniums version of Laverne and Shirley. Most of this is still within sight, and we don’t regret a second of it but Eloise….Eloise was deceptive. That’s all I’ll say about her ass. Chase and I though, we have laughed so much. We are so good at that. We have laid on our couches and just laughed until we cried. We have our very own cooking show, we drink a lot of wine, we fix each other’s hair and oh so honestly dress one another for nights on the town. Speaking of nights on the town, we have put a coat of paint on this city. We have really done it right. I hate the thought of this journey ending…but I know all too soon it will. More on that later.

Rachaels surprise wedding- Rachael and Patrick are like the most perfect couple ever. No, for real. They are high school sweethearts and just the healthiest most fun couple ever. When they got engaged I was ecstatic. We were planning on an April wedding in Austin and life was good! Approximately 3 or so weeks before Thanksgiving, Rach calls me up. Oh hey, what are you doing the Saturday of T-give? CUZ IM GETTING MARRIED. I screamed profanities of excitement and silently wondered if there was a bun in the oven. She quickly confirmed there was not just that she was tired of all the “extra” that comes with weddings. She is so practical. She said (and I think this is just so wise) “things that don’t matter were starting to matter and I’m just not going to do that”. Don’t you just love her?! After my minor freak out I started trying to figure out how to smash 5 months into 3 weeks. Wasn’t happening. Regardless, this wedding was the most intimate, precious things I have ever witnessed. It was only family and wedding party at the ceremony. I stood beside her and Patrick had his best man up there and that was it. It was so personal and so real and just so warm and fuzzy. We had so much fun getting ready and taking pictures and just taking it easy. Afterwards we had dinner at the Roaring Fork downtown and then there was a party (not a reception) on the second floor of the Stephen F. Austin. All her high school friends were in town for the holiday and were able to make it. They had bevo-ritas and the most fun photo booth ever. It was just so laid back and chill and SO Rachael. It had her touch all over it. By her touch, I mean that she didn’t pick out anything except the food and the booze. The balcony looked out onto sixth street and the capital and everyone was just so genuinely happy to be there. Nothing about it was forced or high maintenance; I just can’t say enough good things about it. I think I said this in my speech (though I don’t know, I haven’t been that nervous in a while) but that wedding, and really their relationship as a whole shows you the kind of love that people look their whole lives for. It just makes you smile all over. Oh. And they had M&M’s with their faces on them. Perfection.

National Championship- Collyn is synonomous with Texas Football. I know and love everything about it. If you think that’s cute, let me quickly inform you that it’s gone way past cute. I’m emotionally invested beyond most of the romantic relationships I have formed up to this point in my life. I care too much. Yeah, you can say it: “chill out, Collyn”. I cant. And I wont. For a long time. If ever. Point is: when it started looking like we were headed for the ‘ship this year I started wishing and hoping and praying and dreaming I would be able to go. With my salary there was no hope. I really think I just wished myself right into the whole thing. I think they call that the law of attraction or something? Listen to how it unfolded. Number one: we inched by Nebraska with a last second field goal that literally was inches from not working out. Ndamakuh Suh was a beast. (Note to self: If I’m reading this when Im 50, go look him up and see how successful his NFL career was). He was insane. Now prior to this game I had been looking at flights and trying to make it work in my head but hadn’t done anything about it except sulk. Then my mom calls. Her and John are booking my flight. Daddy, Mom and Rex all pitched in and bought my plane ticket to LA as my Christmas present. My family really does know me. So now I have my flight but I still needed a ticket. Do you know how much those things cost?! Insane. Then comes Philip to save the day. He GAVE me one of his tickets that he gets for being a player. Just like the season, everything was falling into place. Then Jillian calls with hotel reservations, cheap ones. I get the hibbee jibbees just thinking about it. I took off my three days of work no problem and I was set. Mind you, this was basically a solo venture…if that gives you any idea how invested I am. Chase helped me book a shuttle from LAX to Newport Beach where we stayed and on my way I went. Flew solo from AUS to SLC to LAX and 8 hours later I had arrived in all of my burnt orange glory (suitcase and all). I was so proud. Shuttle got in a fender bender with another shuttle, neat. 1 hour later I arrived at the hotel. Woke up, got to the game, went and picked up my ticket (soooo VIP style) and was inside the Rose Bowl. Went into the game and where am I sitting? Oh, 50 yard line row 5. No big deal. Uh. BIG FREAKING DEAL. I was about 5 rows in front of Colt’s parents and Sally Brown…I mean, who am I? Really? The game begins. Not that I will ever forget this but I will write it out just to make sure I can relive one of the most nauseating experiences of my adult life. We win the coin toss, defense comes out. First drive: interception, Blake Gideon. Colts in. Third snap of the game, practically seconds from scoring, Colt runs and is hit…didn’t look anything out of the ordinary. He is down. So am I. I am close enough to see Garrett (TRUE freshman back up) literally running around in a panic looking for his helmet. LOOKING FOR HIS HELMET. The last full game he played was in high school last year. Little did he know he would play his first game as The University of Texas’ quarterback in the National Championship game of 2009. Everyone knows we lost. Everyone knows we would have won. We would have annihilated them. We were so ready. I could go on about it all day. Yes, it hurt to lose, but it was so sad to see that happen to Colt. He worked so hard and was so prepared and deserved this game. The underlying message that Colt so openly and vocally pointed out is that we are on God’s time. We don’t get to pick the outcomes. The testament he gave did more than winning the game could have ever done. I realize this post is excessively long but I want to be able to look back on this article and I know years down the road this link will expire so here it is:

Coach McCoy on Colt....

I have to share with you all our experience last night and bear with me, this email could get pretty long. Tom and I had the amazing privilege of hearing Coach Brad McCoy (Colt's dad) speak at the Regents' fall sports banquet. He had been the scheduled speaker for months - who knew that he would come to us after the three hardest weeks of his life.

He has coached for 26 years, won 4 state championships and has or is raising his three sons to be Godly leaders, with humble servant hearts. He confessed to us that he speaks all the time on growing leaders and on the importance of sports, football in particular, to learning life's lessons. He also said that he had to change his talk for the night in light of what happened to Colt Thursday night. He apologized for what could sound like rambling and for having to talk about his son more than he might, usually, but he said he had to share with us how he saw God in all of this.

Coach McCoy began his talk telling us of God's hand in the story of how Colt and Jordan Shipley came to live in the back house of one of our Regents' families and that was very funny and entertaining. He wanted to thank the Andersons, who were there, for providing his son with a safe home and he wanted to honor for them for who they have been in Colt's life (they hate to be publicly thanked like this but he thought it appropriate since they were part of the Regents' family). I'll share this story with you later because it's what else he talked about that was so amazing.

He told us that three weeks ago his highschool football team, his youngest son is a senior on it, lost the state championship by 1 point because their kicker flaked out, they had to go for two with no time left on the clock and lost 13-12. Then he and his wife join Colt in New York for the Heisman ceremony which did not go as well as they could have hoped. Then they get to Pasadena for the biggest game in Colt's life, one he has been preparing for all of his life - and he plays for three plays. He told us that as soon as Colt went down he began to pray that God would enable him to continue playing, he prayed for healing and for Colt's heart and attitude.

He finally made his way down under the stadium, praying the whole way, hoping to see Colt sitting up and putting his pads back on and heading back out the tunnel. Instead, he saw him laying prone on a trainer's table, no pads, and a tear on his face. Colt looked up at him and said "Dad, I had them - I knew everything they were going to do before they did it - I could have completed every pass I threw - I could see everything and I know we could have won this game." Brad told God that Colt could have his arm!

Later, Colt got up and wanted to try and throw a little, just in case he had been miraculously healed and Coach McCoy said all he could think of was when Colt was 3 or 4 and they would throw in the front yard - he could see that little boy in this big ol' quarterback and it broke his heart to watch him throw as if he was using the wrong hand, like he had to think of every step and where should his hand even be. When everyone finally decided he was not playing, Colt refused to let them put his arm in a sling, he put his pads back on and asked for a headset so he could help with the plays and help the new quarterback.

All through this, Coach McCoy was dealing with lots of emotions and he told us he was pretty angry with God and God finally told him "Colt is fine, it is you that need some help." He said that God shared that with him over and over all through the night - like when the game finally turned around and the crowd was chanting "Gilbert...Gilbert" and he was so struck by the fact that this should have been Colt's stage. He just shared with us the hurts of a father who could do absolutely nothing to help his son and how God helped him to realize that Colt would make it, that it was Coach McCoy who needed God's strength at the moment. He told us his phone blew up from all the texts and messages after Colt spoke at the end of the game and that he didn't hear what Colt said until Saturday morning. He did ask Colt later that night, around 3:00 am, what he said because he was getting all these calls about it and Colt said, "Dad, I don't remember, I have no idea."

Coach McCoy believes God spoke through Colt Thursday night. He also told us that Colt set out to impact the world through football at UT and he firmly believes he did that by what he said after the game in a way that Colt could never have done, even by winning the championship. He asked us to pray for Colt, not for his shoulder, because that is already getting better, but for his broken heart. He also shared with us that a non-believer who had heard Colt speak after the game recognized Coach McCoy and asked him about what he said. Coach said he had an amazing opportunity to explain "the Rock" to this person and to witness to him.

Then - he said he likes to sing some and apoligized because he might not make it through the song, but he sang for us the song about "...on solid rock, I stand - all other ground is sinking sand..." Anyway, it was an amazing night and I have to think we are probably the only community Coach McCoy has shared any of this with - what a story and what a privilege. He also shared with us his and his wife's philosophy on raising kids and it's that you prepare the child for the path, not try to prepare the path for the child - and this was something in Colt's path and his faith would see him through.

I have never been to a sports banquet where I cried and laughed so much - he is a great speaker and was so honest and transparent - his hurt for his son and his joy and pride in his son were so evident. He also told us that he got a call from a NFL general manager yesterday who told him that what Colt said after the game just raised his stock with the NFL immensely, because if you want someone to be the face of your franchise, that is what you want their face to look like. Anyway, sounds like Colt is the real deal, which is what I have thought all along. I still can't claim to be a UT fan, but I will always be a Colt McCoy fan!! Sorry this was so long and I'm sure I didn't give his talk justice - it was just an amazing eveing.

Colts quote after the game: I love this game, I have a passion for this game, I’ve done everything I can to contribute to my team and we made it this far and it’s unfortunate that I didn’t get to play. I would have given everything I had to be out there with my team. Congratulations to Alabama, I love the way our team fought…Garrett Gilbert played as well as he could play, he did a tremendous job. I always give God the glory, I’d never question why things happen the way they do. God is in control of my life and if nothing else I know I’m standing on The Rock.

…You know I really have no pain in my arm, I just can’t feel my arm. It wasn’t a painful hit, I’ve taken that hit over and over again in my life…playing this game I know I’m going to get hit…like I said, I’m not in pain, my arm’s dead. It feels like I slept on my arm, woke up and my arm’s dead.

Also: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1262de55cc9b99e5&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/%3Fui%3D2%26ik%3D410a3a81e0%26view%3Datt%26th%3D1262de55cc9b99e5%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26realattid%3D0.1%26zw&sig=AHIEtbSXaUMP_zfoKyfJNm31RCjdI_iFdA&pli=1

Bottom line: it was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world. It was heartbreaking and I probably wont ever get over it as ridiculous as that sounds. Regardless, it was so cool to see the Lord work that way. He used Colt and the awful situation to talk to us all...well, more like screaming at me.