I Wonder How Many Lies Are In This Post

Last night I was watching that show on CBS called “I Get That A Lot.” It’s about celebrities taking “normal people” jobs and pretending they aren’t celebrities. It was pretty interesting. With the exception of Gene Simmons, all of the other celebrities were recognized almost instantly. A customer would walk into the store and immediately say, “Oh my gosh. Are you Rachael Ray/ Julie Chen/ Tony Hawk/ Snoop Dogg/ Paris Hilton??” Then RR/ JC/ TH/ SD/ PH would say, “Noo noo! But I get that a lot.” The customer would argue with them, “What? No. You are RR/ JC/ TH/ SD/ PH! You have to be! You look just like him/her.” And it would go on, “No really. If I were RR/ JC/ TH/ SD/ PH, do you think I’d be working here??”

It was fun to see how quickly people recognized them and how different people acted toward them. Living the life of a celebrity means that you get recognized everywhere you go.

I would know, it happens to me all the time. Just last week, Stephen and I went to a NYE party in Austin. The second I walked in and people saw me with my amazing boots on, they ran up to me and said, “Oh my gosh! You are totally that girl from Roots & Rings!” I denied it over and over but they just kept on. Begging me for my autograph, asking if we can be real life friends. It went ON AND ON. It was exhausting.

(If you’ll buy that, I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free.)

Friday night we went to a place a little more VIP, a place where my type would fit in. Darrell K Royal Stadium. Home of the University of Texas football team. Heard of them? They are playing in a pretty important game tonight. My cousin (also VIP) was having his rehearsal dinner there.

Talk about class, my friends.

I wish this photo was a bit closer. But this is me and my classy family. Check out how gorgeous the stadium is. And check out how gorgeous this baby is. This is Sophie, you’ve met.

So we had BBQ and listened to George. We felt like true, rich UT Alum.

Saturday night was the wedding. At the Four Seasons. I told you that we were a big deal. It was GORGEOUS. Absolutely one of the best weddings I’ve been to. The room was beautiful, the food was fantastic, there was a FULL BAR, the music was great, there were tons of people there, and I was surrounded by many of my favorite people.

This wedding was so party-for-the-rich-and-the-famous that there was a man in the lobby rolling cigars for party favors. Good times! The only thing missing was my brother, SIL, and Miss Avery. They stayed home because the paparazzi would have had a hey-dey with the little one!

And because I can’t pass up a good plug for something I love, let me share my Sunday with you. The family met up for brunch at a place in Austin called Zax (<– link). We’re VIP there too. (I know, you had no idea I was such a big deal!) Their food is fantastic. Their Migas, well, there are no words. I’m pretty sure when I’m pregnant, Stephen will be driving the 3+ hours to get their Migas for me. They are dream-worthy. The portion was huge but I ate the whole thing. I couldn’t stop. I even unbuttoned my skinny jeans on the way back to Houston. It was totally worth it.

So that’s it. That is a typical weekend in the life of Chelsea of Roots & Rings. Or maybe not. Whatever. Want to see Sophie again?

And life is good!

Get your horns up, y’all. If you don’t know how, my mom and her sisters will teach you.

 

\m/

People Do Stupid Things In College

Beware: The following content will alter your views of me. I am almost certain that you never knew I was this nerdy. Everything stated below is true, even when you start thinking, “Did she seriously do this?” Yes, I did. I don’t lie. Also, you may be a little jealous.

I knew I’d write about this topic at some point, just as I knew I’d write about my childhood bedroom walls. On Tuesday I asked if y’all have a toilet paper preference. I realized that this would be a good time to tell you all about this. I hope you enjoy…

The year was 2005. The month was August. The city was Austin, Texas. I am the main character. It was the beginning of my junior year of college and it was my second year in an apartment. One afternoon I went to HEB to get groceries and other necessities. All seemed to be going well until a dark cloud came and ruined an otherwise cheery grocery trip. I found myself in the toilet paper aisle surrounded by countless types of toilet paper. I realized that I was lost. One ply, two ply, three ply, ultra, super, extra, soft, plush, single roll, double roll, triple roll, with aloe, quilted, printed. It went on and on. I needed a map.

I read the packages and quickly became overwhelmed. I was stressed by the immense pressure to pick the perfect roll. It was just too much, I couldn’t handle it. I was two Charmin bears away from a complete breakdown. I was about to walk away paperless when I realized that the problem will not go away. I would face this dilemma often, until forever. Right there, standing in front of those Charmin bears, I came up with a brilliant idea. I would try them all! Yes! Yes, I would try them all! And then I would decide which one is the best and I’d never be confused again!

So that’s exactly what I did. I came home and told my roommate about my plan. She was on board! A few minutes later, we had this.

The Toilet Paper Log

And so it began. We made a sign and hung it in our bathroom. I didn’t keep it so I have no idea what it said. But it mentioned something about writing down your toilet paper review or else you were never allowed back in our apartment. We had a small table in the bathroom that we left it on. At the beginning of a new package, we’d write the type and tape in a sample. (It should be noted that any water spots you see in the photos are because the log sat on a table below the towel hook. It got dripped on a lot.)

It’s hard to see in that photo. You can click on it to make it bigger. Throughout the usage of the rolls, we were all to record our thoughts. Everything should be taken into account: number 1, number 2, nose blowing, makeup removal, texture, visual appeal, etc. All thoughts were welcome. When the final roll was hanging, we made a note in the journal so we’d know to make our final assessments.

The Final Flush

There were a few rules. Not many. First of all, the space is to be used for reviews and educational toilet paper related discussion. My friend Kelly never got that. It was like pulling teeth to get her to write her reviews. She often verbalized them to us but rarely recorded them in the log. See below.

Secondly, if you were new to the apartment you had to make an entry. If you didn’t, we would be mad at you and question the validity of your friendship and hesitate to invite you back. My friend Jim made this mistake. He was a new friend at the time, I didn’t know him well. But he already had one strike against him – he was a Sooner. I told him I’d be willing to let a Sooner into my apartment if he swore to contribute. He swore, but he didn’t contribute. The next day I received an email with an apology. I printed it and added it to our book. You can see it on the left.

You can see that there is also an ad taped in the right side. The original ad is for Clorox Toilet Wand and reads “Just be glad we don’t make toilet paper.” It appears that I used this ad as the “sample” for our next package of toilet paper. I crossed out “Clorox Toilet Wand” and renamed it. The note below it says, “This tp is awesome… if your goal is to sand down some ply wood.”  I tried to keep all brand names and true opinions out of the pictures incase one of the toilet paper companies out there wants to purchase this wonderful journal from me. It’s gold. But I guess I included the name of that one company. Oh well, my journal notes say that this receives a grade worse than an F-… it receives an Incomplete.

We didn’t just put ads, my roommate once included an article. I’m sure you can see the title in the photo, the article tells us that a man killed his roommate because there was no toilet paper. See, we aren’t the only ones that think toilet paper is really important!

My note on the side says, “It’s weird b/c he really looks like a nice fella…”

Seriously, I’m not lying when I say that this book is gold. It’s a toilet paper company’s dream. Unedited opinions, discussion, and analysis of the competitors. Stephen and I were reading through this last night. I laughed so hard. We were both impressed with our wit and our dedication to the topic of toilet paper. There were marketing ideas geared for kids and college students. There were poems and stories and page long entries. It’s brilliant.

I will leave you with the final post in the Toilet Paper Log. It’s an entry from Stephen.

I told you that you’d be jealous!

**Edited to add: Go over to Lauren from Texas’ blog. Today is her 6 month blogiversary and she’s got a GIVEAWAY going on!!

Seven Quick Takes (vol.11)

What a glorious Friday it is, my friends! Almost every minute of my weekend is planned, but I’m okay with that. Anyone else doing Seven Quick Takes? Make sure to add your name to Mr. Linky over at Conversion Diary.

1.
Bloggers, be prepared to be jealous. Last night I had dinner with Kathleen from Kapachino and Lauren from, well, Lauren from Texas. Long story short, they went to the same conference and made plans to have dinner afterwards. Luckily they asked if I wanted to meet up too. Of course I do! So we had a great dinner. We talked about our lives, our blogs, how the non-bloggers in our lives think we are weird, and we talked about y’all.

Let me just say that I was quite naive when I began blogging. I thought I’d just write and maybe my mom and husband would read. I had no idea that strangers read blogs. Or that you get to know other bloggers via their blogs. Or that sometimes you actually meet them in real life. I didn’t know this. But its a nice surprise!

2.
So… that balloon boy… yeah…

3.
Stephen and I are having dinner with Lauren and her husband on Saturday. Of course we are thrilled because we just love them to pieces…. not literally, you know, like Lennie. Just metaphorically… We like them a lot. Anyways, if you don’t follow Lauren (you should), she recently got her wisdom teeth taken out. She’s still in a lot of pain so we aren’t quite sure what she’ll be able to eat. I’m bringing dessert and a side. I’m bringing PW’s roasted garlic potatoes. This is the third time I’ll be making them in ONE WEEK. I can’t help it, they are just that good. And easy. But the question is this: Is it cheating if I take dump cake and vanilla ice cream?

4.

\m/

For those of you who don’t know what that is, I’m not talking to you. For the rest of you, what time is it?

5.
I’ve only had two pumpkin spice lattes this season… both were the first week they came out. This is a travesty, I tell you! I think I’ll get another one sometime this weekend. I think I’d feel better about myself if I got one. It’s really a disservice to Autumn if I don’t, right?

6.
When you have some spare minutes on a computer with speakers, visit this site: http://www.iamsecond.com/ You won’t regret it. I haven’t watched them all but I’ve watched the one with Colt, Colt and Sam, and Michelle Aguilar (from Biggest Loser) and I’ve been thoroughly impressed!

7.
Congratulations to the winners of the giveaways!! I wrote up all the entries, put them in a bowl, and Stephen drew two names. We took our jobs very seriously.

molly won the custom onesie! (Which is perfect since she’s pregnant!)
Southern Gal won the jewelry tote! (Which is perfect because she probably has some jewelry to tote!)

Email me to claim your prize!! chelsea.hurst (at) hotmail (dot) com

Visit these two Etsy sites when you’re looking for Christmas gifts. Apparently we had another issue with the text of the link being too close to the regular text. I’ll help you out: CLICK HERE to look at EdieCastle’s shop and CLICK HERE to look at Taryn’s shop. I hope you enjoyed the giveaway. That’s just a little preview of what’s to come in the next couple months! So stick around!!

Have a good weekend, y’all! It’s 9:18 and OU still sucks.

Seven Quick Takes (vol.10)

 Good morning and happy Friday! What a great weekend I have ahead of me! And I hear that we might get a weather change here in Houston so it’s not in the 90’s. Not that I care, I love the heat… but I think everyone else will be less grumpy.

Here you go- visit www.conversiondiary.com for more quick takes.

1.
Hey, let’s all do something fun. Open Google in another tab. Just do it, trust me on this. Type in “how to know if my waterbed is filled enough” and click on the first thing that comes up. Sometimes I think Google is drunk.

2.
Okay, back to my thoughts on Tracey. (Biggest Loser talk, skip this one if you aren’t interested.) Here is why I think Tracey could be planted by NBC. All of her circumstances are just too weird. She passes out and doesn’t come back the rest of the week. She finally makes it back but can’t work out but SHE STILL LOSES WEIGHT! She gets control of the game. She still can’t work out but still loses weight. It just doesn’t make sense. I’ve been watching this show long enough to know that something is sketchy. Now I have no idea what the benefit is to NBC to do this, maybe just to get us talking. All I know is that something just isn’t right with this chick.

3.
See that ad at the top right? Green Grass Meats? Yeah, you should click on that and go visit that site. (No, I don’t get paid if you click. Just click for the love of food.) I may or may not have gotten a cooler full of meat from them yesterday. I may or may not be able to focus at work today because all I can think about is the brisket in my freezer. I may or may not have taken a picture of my husband hugging the cooler full of red meat. God bless Texas, I love meat.

4.
Today is my grandpa’s birthday! Everyone, give him some love. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! I love you and hope you have a great day… I know it’ll be tough since you won’t get to see me. 🙂

 

5.
Does anyone know when Julie & Julia comes out on DVD? I’m ready to see it one or five more times. I miss Julia.

6.
I found this awesome website. Remember when I told you that I can’t stand Nickelback?? Seriously, all of their songs sound the same and they are just so annoying. Apparently I’m not the only one that thinks this. Check out this website:
http://www.isnickelbacktheworstbandever.com/ 
Incase you don’t excel at reading sentences with no spaces, it says “Is Nickelback the worst band ever?” Click it!

7.
A month or two ago, Pioneer Woman announced that she was going on a book tour to promote her new cookbook. Of course I wanted to be there. But when I looked at the schedule, Houston wasn’t there. Austin was on the list but it was on a weekday and since I doubt my boss will feel like this is a necessary trip, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go. However, after yesterday’s post, I learned that Houston is actually on the list. On a weekend! December 5, to be exact. So of course I’m going. And you should too. And then afterwards, we should get a latte or a mojito or a hamburger or something. Who’s game?

Have a great weekend and HOOK ‘EM HORNS!   \m/

Ask the Hubby – Round 2

Sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy round two of “Ask the Hubby.”

From Chelsea’s Mom: What kind of job would you want if salary wasn’t an issue?

Answer: Ok, ok… I’ll admit that this question is above all, the one that really got me thinking and anxious about answering. 

Frankly, Chelsea and I are at a point in our lives where we could technically change careers and it would be the best thing that ever happened to us.  Why?  Because we could then pursue a career of our choice and grow it from now rather than 2, 5, or 10 years from now.  To answer this question honestly, I would have to answer, I would do everything.  I would become an expert guitarist.  I would train for the olympics, I would get an engineering degree in every field imaginable so I could test, figure out, and invent new and exciting things that would help in unimagined and too great ways to realize now.  I would go to seminary and learn everything possible that people have thought about faith, living life, and acting upon instinct and reason.  I would learn how to examine the human psyche and train myself to be the best person I could be to everyone that I know; in the end knowing how to bring them all together.  I would work to help all those people who exist now and who will exist in the future, whether through innovation or through my simple act of going to see the same poor old lady once a week and talking with her family about what promise there is in an education and in Christ and in how wonderful life could be growing in relationships and truly showing others what it is to care.

I would essentially do everything there is, because the only limits to the possibilities that my heart and mind could go after are those that God has created physically for us. 

Right now, the only two certainties that exist within my life are this: money is essential for functioning within society and I have no idea what role I would provide to society if money were not an issue.  Because there is no job where I could do everything, and that is what keeps me up at night.

From John at Sojo Life: Stephen, do you frequently get belly button lint? I have a severe problem with this. It happens constantly. Every time I dig up in there out comes a big bunch of fuzz. How do you suggest I deal with this? Should I make a quilt out of all the fuzz and give it as a christmas present to my little sister?

Answer: There is an epidemic in this country!  Too many people are getting lint in their belly buttons and it’s just showing how much we don’t care for our clothes as they are deteriorating into little lint balls in our stomach hole! 

Answer to this problem!  Wear belly button piercings!  Chelsea swears she never gets belly lint because the lint doesn’t have a place to go since it’s blocked by the stud already there.  Since the hair on our bellies tend to rub the clothing we wear and hence causes the fibers to deteriorate, the natural place for it to go is in the crevasse in our abdomen. 

What a dilemma, John, what a dilemma!  I would say, since you are a guy and probably are adverse to wearing a belly button piercing of some sort (also the army wouldn’t allow it for you), that you should shave your belly of all it’s hair, buy clothing made from non-cotton products, and then put a flesh-colored plug in your belly button to prevent the hole from eating up everything that comes in its path!   …good luck, John, and God speed!

From Gabby at Sweetest P: What is the hardest part about being married for a man? How do you cope? What is the BEST part about being married to Chelsea?

Answer: Isn’t the answer always sex? To all three questions? Ha. I would honestly have to say the hardest part about being married is a combination of two things: respecting each others opinions when they differ and deciding which answer to ultimately stand by.  We cope by talking it out.  And the best thing about being married to Chelsea is that I get to talk and be with the person that is Chelsea and all the wonderful things she is and does!

From Lisa D. at Lisa’s Yarns: (Her questions are three-fold.) 
1. What do you really think about your wife blogging? Do you love it or hate or are you indifferent?
2. When did you know you wanted to marry Chelsea?
3. They always say that men marry women that remind them of their mom. Does Chelsea have mannerisms similar to your mom?

Answer 1: I’m indifferent, but only in that indifferent = the addition of negatives and positives that come from a wife blogger.  I DO enjoy being talked about in a great way!  I DON’T enjoy being talked about in a negative way! (Thanksgiving post!)

Answer 2:I knew I wanted to marry Chelsea when I was forced to think about it because our friend Anneke decided to ask me (the first time I hung out with her btw) “so are you and Chelsea going to get married?”  Honestly, I was too happy to be with Chelsea to even fathom this question at the time.  However, when presented with the question that makes you think about such things, it makes you actually think.  I found that it was an easy answer, in that I was able to say “yes” to almost immediately due to logic, choice, and heart-felt emotion right when Anneke asked it.  I didn’t say that to her though, I merely stuttered at the blatancy (I made this word up) of the question and decided it was time to go play some volleyball to avoid the awkwardness of the moment, since I hardly knew her 🙂

 Answer 3: I would have to plead the 5th on this one.  I refuse to compare and contrast the two.  Since knowing the answer to this question could either (1) disgust me in the similarities of my wife and mother or (2) question how much of my mother I am looking to get away from in my wife, I refuse to even think of them together in the same thought.  What a weird question for any man to answer, please refrain from doing so for any other men, since I’m sure it would put them in the same state of bewildered confusion and repentance of their sins for thinking against their mothers and wives!!!  j/k, but yeah that’s weird.

From Lindsay (Chelsea’s sister): What movie scarred you for life as a child and WHY??

Answer: Movies don’t scar me, my dreams do…

From Molly at Considering Campbells: What is your most embarrassing moment? OOOOOR if that’s not PG, I’ll do the easy question: there’s a fire and you have to get out of the house. What 3 things (not people/pets) would you take with you?

Answer: Since my MOST embarrassing moment includes public nudity, I’ll go with the second answer: painting of Chelsea and I by the China-man, the journal Chelsea made for me everyday in 2006 of the things she loved about me, and the jewelry box I made as a wedding gift for Chelsea.

From Jim at Life on Dayton: Has it been harder for you to find close friends since leaving Austin or harder for Chelsea?

Answer: It’s been equally hard for both of us to find friends since leaving Austin.  I however have grown into a great relationship with two men from our church here, while Chelsea has the misfortune to not have that many new friends close by.  This is both due to Chelsea’s maturity as a person and the lack of said maturity level of the people at the Church her age that she could connect to.

HOWEVER, because Lauren is such a hoss and can be a close friend even from far away; (semi-colons are my favorite punctuation by the way) she is duly counted as a good friend that Chelsea is able to connect with regularly.  Just as my friends and I were able to initially connect through our interest in the Church to grow a close relationship, Chelsea has been able to connect with Lauren (and all you ladies, and some guys) through the blogging world! :^)

Jim, also I miss you.  You are a good friend who I wish could live down the street and could come over for shish-kabobs, because we had those tonight and they would have been great with you and Sarah!

 

A few notes from the wife (also known as The Owner of This Blog):

-Just as I have a love affair with the comma, Stephen has a love affair with the run-on sentence.

-I’m not sure if “China-man” is an acceptable term. Stephen assured me that it was PC and if anyone has a problem with it, they can yell at him and NOT me.

-Lauren, I told Stephen he wasn’t allowed to call you a “hoss”… that it meant a big, tough man. He disagreed. After a debate we decided to let urbandictionary.com settle the argument. (You can click that link to go straight to the “hoss” page.) He’d like you to see definitions #1, #3, #5, and #6 – specifically #3. And you are to ignore #2 and #4. And also, we have much more in common than just blogging. But I was not allowed to contribute to his answers…

-Stephen may or may not have had a few glasses of wine before writing this. That’s all I’ll say on that subject.

-I see that I missed Wes’ question – something about are there any games left in the UT schedule that he is particularly worried about. I’ll answer for him. No. His reasons are two-fold. 1) Stephen doesn’t worry about football. 2) UT dominates, we have full confidence and do not worry about them. Heard of Colt McCoy?

-This was the last installment of Ask the Hubby. If there are more questions out there, ask away. We’ll save them for a rainy day. Feel free to add them on future posts as well.

Seven Quick Takes (vol.5)

Oh friends. It’s Friday! How glorious! And not only that, we have a three day weekend. That almost makes me want to do a happy dance. I totally would if I weren’t 8 feet tall and so very white and completely unable to pick up any rhythm, even made up rhythm in my head. Maybe I’ll just do a really cool fist pump.

Anyways, because it’s Friday that also means it’s time for some Quick Takes. Seven of them, to be exact. You can head over to www.conversiondiary.com to see a whole bunch of other Quick Takers or to add your own to the list. Enjoy!

1.
Last night, Stephen called humus “pita juice”… that’s gross. And not even accurate. I guess he could call it “chick pea juice” but even that sounds nasty.

2.
Last night I was asked to serve in another area at church. It’s something I believe in and would love to see thrive, so I agreed. Want to know the terrible, horrible news? I found out that we’ll be meeting the first Tuesday of each month. Do you know what I do on Tuesdays??? That’s MY night. My time to sit in front of the television for two hours and eat pizza and watch the best television show that ever existed. The Biggest Loser. Since the first Tuesday of September has already passed, our first meeting is September 15. Otherwise known as the season premiere of The Biggest Loser. Otherwise known as the day I start living my life again.

So I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this. For those of you who weren’t around during last season, you may not understand. This show is my life. I love it. And each Wednesday I devote a post entirely to Biggest Loser. So, you see, I can’t DVR it and watch it the next day. Not just because I don’t have a DVR, but because it’ll throw off my blogging routine. And you don’t want to throw that off. I think I’ll have a heart to heart with my parents and ask them to DVR it and let me come over after my monthly meeting and stay up late to watch it. Mom, Dad… consider this our heart to heart. Thanks, you’re the best!

3.
In other Biggest Loser news, I saw a preview for the new season last night. Remember Daniel from the orange team that went home pretty early on? He’s back! I think that’s fantastic. But I was sad to see that Mike’s brother wasn’t on. Unless that’s a surprise. I can only dream… 

4.
Stephen and I are going to paint our living room next weekend. I’m absolutely giddy with excitement! It’s currently covered in disgusting wood paneling. This weekend I may start on some of the prep work. Apparently you have to clean, sand, clean, prime, and then paint. There are even more steps if you plan to fill in the cracks between the panels. I think we’re choosing not to do that. It’ll look great without those filled in. It’s going to be a ton of work but SO worth it!

5.
I heard on the radio that there was a study about men. Apparently if they are around a hot woman and then take a test, their scores are much lower than normal. Researchers say that they think men use up a lot of energy and brain function trying to look good and impress the girl that there isn’t much left when they need it for the test. That’s also why they stumble on their words and do dumb things while they are around these women. My thoughts? I guess that explains why I’m constantly surrounded my so many idiots.

ha…ha

6.
I got my laptop case in the mail last night. I love it. I put my laptop in it immediately and it sat on my lap while I was on the couch watching tv. I made Stephen tell me over and over how happy he was that I love it and how much he loves it. I even made him pet it and tell me how wonderful it is. And he humored me, because he’s that awesome of a husband. Really yall, it was $20! I’m thinking that I’m going to be doing the majority of my Christmas shopping through Etsy. I’d so much rather give my money to “the little man” and the things you can buy there are so cute… and custom! If you know some good sellers, give me the link. If you are a seller, give me your link!

When I brought it in the room to show Stephen he said, “Is that what you bought from that girl, Etsy?” He’s cute.

7.
Three day weekend.

The Heaven’s are opening and the angels are singing … “Ahhhhhhhhh” (That’s not a yell, it’s a beautiful tune.)

Three days. A lot I want to do. I’m getting my hair cut tonight and then going on a dinner date with my hubby. Tomorrow I will be either writing or cleaning the living room wall, depending on my mood. We also have a Princess Party to attend for Stephen’s cousin’s daughter… who is just so stinking cute you could spread her on a cracker! All I’m saying is that it’s a good thing she is so cute and that UT is playing a crappy team, because her party is at the same time as the game. I’m also spending some time with a couple girl friends from high school, always a pleasure! Basically, what I’m telling you is that my weekend is going to be fabulous.

You? 

I will leave you with a beautifully written letter that my Blog Friend 4 Ever, Lauren wrote:

Dear 3 Day Weekend,
I love you. I would even make out with you, if you were make-out-able.
Love,
Lauren

I Feel Sorry For You

Not all of you. But some of you.

I feel sorry for all of you that don’t live in Texas. I just can’t imagine.

We have so much pride here. Being a Texan is an identity. It’s a calling. It’s a blessing on our lives. We don’t take it for granted that God has put us in this great state. Every Texan that has moved has always said, “But I’ll be back.”

The truth is that we love it here. We love the views and sunsets and beaches. We love the fact that you can drive all day and still be on Texas soil. We love that no matter where we go, if we run into another Texan, we’re instantly bonded. We love that we can claim people like Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Janis Joplin, Nolan Ryan, George Strait, Tommy Lee Jones, Luke and Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, Ron White, Beyonce, Roger Clemens (although we may not really want to claim him anymore), and I could go on and on.

We have the hill country, ranches, the Mexican border (and consequently, the most amazing Tex-Mex food you’ll ever bite into). We have rivers, lakes, and beaches. We have NASA, The University of Texas, the Houston Medical Center, and so many brilliant people in one concentrated area. We have our own brand of music. All of our colleges have hand signs. We have countless Texas songs that we learn as children.

I don’t ever want to leave this state. For all of you non-Texans that say “What’s the big deal?” that is exactly why I don’t want to leave. I don’t ever want to live in a state where 5 year olds don’t know the state song, bird, flower, capital, and tree. (Texas Our Texas, Mocking Bird, Bluebonnet, Austin, Pecan.) Did you know the state gem is Texas Blue Topaz? Did you know that my birthstone is Topaz? Coincidence? I think not.

I don’t ever want to live in a state where it’s not common to see people with button downs designed to look like their state flag.

I didn’t say it was recommended. I just said it was common.

Listen, I could go on and on. But I won’t. Ironically, my “I love Texas” post is going to be one of the shortest I’ve written. But I think I’ve made my point. We have so much to offer. We have cattle and city life. We have hot women and men in Wranglers. We have big trucks and big hair. We have deep rooted friendships and polite men.

But most importantly, we have this guy…

Rainy Day Thoughts

Back in the day I decided I would randomly do “Rainy Day” posts. I keep a post in my drafts where I put random thoughts. Once it gets to a certain point, I post it. It’s difficult to come up with the appropriate time to post it. I have to find a balance between entertainment and “seriously, what is she thinking?!” Here it is… hoping I didn’t cross that line!

-I am FINALLY done painting our bedroom. It looks fantastic. Well, mostly. I still have a ways to go before it looks the way I want it, but at least the walls are painted. Gold flecked wallpaper, may you rest in peace.

-I like Taylor Swift just as much as the next guy, but there is such thing as too much Taylor Swift. I think she’s cute and her songs are catchy, but when I can flip through the radio and hear “You Belong With Me” on four channels, that’s too much. TOO MUCH.

-Any Miley Cyrus is too much.

-I got this text from my mom yesterday: “An old man just walked by on the beach with rolled up jorts…..”

-Okay so my friend Matt posted on this today but it still needs to be addressed. Have yall heard that song “Rockin the Beer Gut”??? At first I heard it and was in shock and tried to change it. But my finger just rested on the button. I couldn’t push it. Oh my goodness that song is catchy.

-I love my blog designer. She is awesome. Well obviously, look how stinking cute my site is. She’s making me a button so that all of my blog friends can post it to their site. (Because you’ll do it, right? Right?) It’s going to say “My Source of R&R.” Too cute. She’s already made it but something is wrong with the code. She’s going to fix it and we’ll get it posted soon enough. So if any of you are wanting a new blog design, check her out. Her button is on the right.

-Did anyone watch “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” last night? If you missed it, you’ll have to wait until next season since it was the season finale. It was ridiculously entertaining.

-I’m quite embarrassed at how much frozen food we’ve eaten lately. I haven’t been to the grocery store in a while. Stephen had a meeting at work last night. He called me when he left and I said, “Okay, I’ll get dinner started.” I walked to the kitchen to preheat the oven for our DiGiorno.

-How is it that not a single one of you had any advice for me on netbooks?! Aren’t we bloggers? Aren’t netbooks made for us? You’ve severely let me down. That’s why you get this crappy post today.

-I remember freshman year of college, my friend Michael made a New Year’s Resolution to go to bed each night while there were still 4 digits on the clock. We laughed at how ridiculous that was. We knew there would be no way he’d keep it. (Partially because we wouldn’t ever leave his room.) The past two nights I’ve gone to bed at midnight. I literally feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. It’s makes me feel old. And sad.

-A couple weeks ago Stephen and I went to the Dollar Store to buy loads of tissue paper for my fancy wall coverings. We got to the check out and the cashier guy looked and me to ask if I’d found everything I needed. I almost passed out. He had the lightest, most green eyes I had ever seen. It was shocking and scary. I couldn’t look at him in the eye. It was like I was looking at someone evil. Someone with super powers. We walked out and I said “Oh my gosh! Did you see that guys eyes??” Stephen looked at me and said, “Yeah, they looked just like yours.” Oh dear.

-My friend Lyndsey is coming to visit this weekend. I’m so excited I could poop.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of why Lyndsey is one of my favorite people in the whole world.

This is Lyndsey at my rehearsal when she thought she was the bride.

And here she is with my sister. They are really normal and serious people. I don’t know what’s up with the lighting. They didn’t look like ghosts in real life.

And this is when she had a bit of a problem with self tanner on her feet. I love you Lyndsey. Don’t hate me for posting this. It’s just too funny to ignore.

Oh Dear

To the Artist Formerly Known as Hootie,

I can’t take you seriously. Why didn’t you just stick with the Blowfish? You were a great team. But now you are Darius Rucker… what?! The big problem here is that I like your new song. But every time I realize that it is you, I want to change the station. And what’s up with that song “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”?? You are not a country boy. Don’t sing about whiskey and pain. You don’t come off as a reliable source.

I feel like this is all a joke. Like one day you are going to come out and say that you are Hootie and you’ve always been Hootie and you wanted to see if you could fool America. Is this a joke? Please say this is a joke. Please.

The Girl Formerly Known as Your Fan,

Chelsea

———-

To the Man in the Car Next to Me,

I apologize for not letting you into my lane. You see, you drive a car. Your blinkers are on the front and back. If you drove an 18 wheeler, I would be able to see your indicator from the side. But you don’t… and that is not my fault. Please don’t angrily speed up and then cut me off. That doesn’t solve any problems. Next time, wait until you are in front of me. I will gladly slow down and let you in.

The Innocent Woman in the Merlot Murano,

Chelsea

———

To the Men at My Office,

Please don’t ask me to fill out your paperwork “because my handwriting is better.” You and I both know that that is a load of crap. Well, not entirely. My handwriting is better than yours. But you and I both know that the real reason you want me to fill out your paperwork is because you are lazy and I am a woman. I don’t mind doing it, it’s actually quite relaxing. But don’t lie. It makes you look like an idiot and it makes me feel inferior.

Also, why do you bring me a stack of papers and ask me to make 2 copies of them, staple them with this cover sheet, but make sure to staple them like this- not like that, and then put them in my office on the table next to those plans? You can’t put that stack on the copy machine, push “2” and “sort”? It took you longer to come explain your instructions to me than it would have for you to push those buttons. God gave you a brain, use it.

Oh, and the words “please” and “thank you” never hurt anyone.

The Girl in the Office by the Bathrooms with a Business Degree from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business,

Chelsea

Friend Dating

Have yall tried that search function at the top of the blog? It’s pretty sweet. I just had to use it because I could have sworn that I’ve blogged about this before. But it didn’t show up, so here we go!

Life is easy when you’re a little kid. Not just because you don’t have to worry about food or money or mortgages, but because you don’t have to worry about friends. They are all made for you. When you’re a toddler, your friends are made by your parents. You hang out with the kids of whoever your mom wants to hang out with. Which is fine. You’re 3, what do you know?! When you’re in elementary school, you have more freedom to choose. But you have a limited pool. You can be friends with people in your neighborhood and people in your class. That’s it.

My elementary school had a day in the summer to come up to school and find out what class you are in and buy your shrink wrapped pack of school supplies. It was a day of great anticipation. Who would your teacher be? Who would your classmates be? I remember the summer before 4th grade. It was awful. I looked at my class list and knew nobody*. Not a single one of my friends were in my class. And to make matters worse, my classroom was in the temporary section in the 5th grade hall! I wouldn’t even be close to my friends. I couldn’t wave to them during bathroom breaks or on the way to lunch. It wasn’t fair. I cried. And cried. Because in 4th grade, there is nothing more important than your BFFs. But of course I met new BFFs. That’s how it is in elementary school. It’s easy to make friends.

(*Let me clarify. It’s not that I didn’t know anybody… I had gone to this school since Kindergarten, I knew people. They just weren’t my friends and I didn’t care for them. The two Bens were in my class though. And at first I was annoyed because boys are annoying, specifically ones that you already know. One of the Bens kissed my friend on the back in 1st grade when the boys decided to play Kiss Tag during recess. So we hated him. But one of the Bens was Jewish. And his mom came in to class and gave us a rockin Hanukkah presentation, complete with dradles and chocolate coins. But I didn’t know about the coins when I saw my class list in the summer. So at the time, my tears were justified.)

Moving on… wow, this is getting long. I apologize. I’m sure you have much more important things to do on this fine Friday… reading my rambling probably wasn’t number 1 on your things to do. Oh look, there I go again…

So lets fast forward through junior high and high school because quite honestly, I’m not sure how I made it through there alive. It’s a dog eat dog world in those lockered walls but somehow I had friends. (Thank you for that… if any of you are reading.)

College friend-making is probably different for everyone. I went to a school that had approximately 5,636,208 students. So in my first class alone, I had about 2849 people to choose from to be my BFF. I’m not sure how it all happened, but I quickly had a core group of friends. It changed over the years as my classes, activities, and interests changed. But I was never lonely. I never wondered what I would do on a Friday night. I never even wondered what I would do on a Tuesday night.

Why were all of those friend-making times so easy? Because we were all in the same life stage. And there were so many people to choose from. You were bound to find someone who liked to watch Friends at 3 in the morning while eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food. But it’s not like that anymore. I’m a 24 year old, married, homeowning, poor, employed Christian. To add to the complexity, I’m sarcastic, boring, don’t like going to movies or spending money, enjoy reading, desire motherhood, don’t like loud bars, hate the phone, and don’t know how to shop with people who aren’t my mom. So making friends is difficult.

When you throw in the husbands, it gets even crazier. A few years ago, an out of town friend hooked us up witha couple he knows. He old us we live close and should give them a call. We did. We hung out a few times each month but eventually, it died out. Not because it was anyone’s fault, but because we didn’t click. You know what I mean? We didn’t have that spark! Last year a woman at church approached me and said, “Oh Chelsea. There is this couple who just moved here and I think you and Stephen would really like them. Can I send you their information?”

That’s when it dawned on me… making friends as an adult is a lot like dating. You meet people through mutual friends. You’re married? Oh, so is my friend. You should meet. You don’t have kids yet? Oh, neither does my friend. You should meet. You have a dog? Oh my gosh, so does my friend. You should meet!

And that’s how it goes. The couple dating routine. Getting four people together for dinner and making magic happen. It’s complicated and stressful. And at the end of the night you are left wondering, “Did they like us? Will they call? Did you hear when he mentioned that they travel a lot? Do you think that means they are rich? We can’t keep up with that. Oh well, let’s not assume… Maybe his parents are rich. Oh gosh, I’m so confused. Do you think it’ll work out?”

I have a friend date this weekend. There is a wonderful girl who I have never met and we are finally taking the plunge. We chose not to invite the husbands just yet. We need to establish a good base before we throw two more people into the relationship. So this post serves two purposes…

1. When you’re saying your prayers tonight, say one for my friend date. Pray that we both like each other and there are no mixed signals or deal breakers.

2. Single ladies? The awkward dating scene doesn’t end when you get married. It goes on. Forever. Good luck with that…