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Feliz Navidad

i am grateful that i can look into this beautiful face everyday. i wish everyone joy during this season.

love, the reids

have some spare time?

I just got my faced rocked off...by pure vocal power on prime time. all you A Cappella loving fools must tune in to nbc's The Sing Off. it is only on this week BUT i had goose bumps a few times. i love love love A Cappella music and the judges are pretty legit. anyone remember this guy?

from a little known group called Boyz II Men... or this guy?

everyone knows Ben Folds right? please say yes...

so you may not know Nicole Scherzinger but i happen to love the pussycat dolls. very important for any work out playlist.

so for the next three nights i will be tuned in to have my sense of hearing blown into pieces. i think maybe you should too.

validation

i recently discovered that my irrational fear of scary movies and the negative effect they have on me also translates to haunted houses. i thought it would be oh so very Halloween-ish of us to go to one of the many haunted houses in Austin. we spent the night watching the football game and i was ready to try something new. after many protest from husband that it was a bad idea, our friends Jeff, Lindsay and i finally broke him and he agreed to go.

i was scared in the parking lot. apparently they think it is a good idea to have people already in costume before you even get into the house. so all it took was one dead man zombie looking thing and one really creepy clown and my wheels were turning. maybe this was not such a good idea. my stomach was in knots. inside while we waited in line i was gathering up all the courage i had in my mind. i was going to be fine, this was supposed to be fun, what is the worst that could happen?

i insisted and yelled at Hayden to not let me go. we proceeded in a single file line with Jeff in front, then his fiance Lindsay, then me and Hayden behind me holding on to my arms. instantly my eyes shut. i grabbed Lindsay so tight by the arm i may have cut off her circulation. i dug my head into her back and proceeded to scream in her ear. things jumped out at every corner. i began to sweat. profusely. eyes still shut. more things jumping out. i started running. except Hayden was holding my arms so i was just running in place. they would get really close to my ears and breathe and made creepy clicking sounds with their mouths.

at this point i thought one of the three following things was bound to happen.
1. i was going to pass out.
2. i was going to throw up.
3. i was going to start screaming and crying for someone to get me the hell out of there.

by the grace of God, the darn thing was over before any could actually happen. when we walked out, my shirt was soaked in sweat. you could have rung out my hands like a wet towel. i must have lost any color in my face. no one but Hayden could believe how scared i was. he had predicted the whole thing in his protest to the idea.

i am 26 years old. i have no switch in my brain that separates real from fake. and the whole reaction was caused from walking around in the dark. with friends. and my 6'6 beautiful man beast of a husband. remember i said my eyes automatically shut? i didn't actually see one single set or person in the haunted house.

when we were laughing and joking outside Hayden told me the zombies inside would get a great scream or reaction out of me and then run through their little sets to get me again. i guess i made myself a target with my gut wrenching screams and running in place.

the only thing that i can walk away from this embarrassing display of irrational fear is i may have single handedly validated the seasonal careers of all the zombies in the haunted house that night.

i feel ok about that.

the many interpretations of my eyes

people see things differently. my eyes are no exception. i have received much attention in my life because of one, well two, overly pronounced facial features. for better and for worse.

 the honesty of childhood...and some bold adults. here are some conversation starters and then my thoughts and internal reactions below as i remember them.

 

 “can you like, see, really really far?”

-no, they do not give me super powers.

 

 “do you have two black eyes?”

-yes, i am third grader, who got into a fight, with someone who knew how to deliver two equally forceful punches to my face to cause a little discoloration under both eyes. no.

 

“are your eyes going to pop out of your head?”

-well i can't argue with that. that lady on oprah really hurt me.

 

 “i could take a bite our of your eye.”

-that is entirely possible.

 

“let's check your peripheral vision to see if you can see more than other people.”

-your on. (that turned out to be false. in fact, i think i see less than average eyed people. one point you).

 

“hey there bright eyes.”

-finally, an ally. at luby's of all places. one point me.

 

“you look tired.”

-i hate you.

 

done and done

i am finished with school. for good. i am no longer an intern, i no longer will be turning in papers, working in groups, preparing presentations, researching, longing to finish. i am simply done. and it makes me want to do this.

the sky, it might really be falling.

i have felt kinda beat down this semester. there has been big major changes and events taking place. not just in my life, but in the people around me. a lot of unknown, a lot of darkness and a lot of sad. my sweet to the bitter is knowing that god had placed my own personal jack pot with me so we can go through all of this together.

my sweet old car who had gotten me around since high school finally had some major internal issues. so we said our goodbyes and hayden and i embarked on a whole new journey, took advantage of a slumping economy and bought me a new car. a pretty, shiny, dependable, responsible new car. a first for me. after too many trips to the shop, juggling cars with my parents, and driving a slightly scary older car for too long, i drove her happily and so thankfully for ten wonderful days. 

this evening as i was heading home I was running way too low on gas and pushing her limits as it was. so it would only make sense to hit major traffic right? traffic like i hadn't seen on my commute home before. pushing it. after about 40 minutes into the drive and being way past empty on the scale i pulled off the road and filled up. relief. as i got back on the high way for the last 5 miles home the sky looked too creepy. it has already been getting dark, but now the storm clouds were rotating, rain drops were starting to fall. i was relieved to see signs for my exit. i should beat it just in time.

just then the emergency broadcast system came over the radio and mentioned the road that hayden and i live off of. the road that i was about to exit. hayden called at that moment and asked, "are you in the hail yet?" as these words processed in my brain leaves started circling around me. and then it hit. real. big. hail. my car was getting pounded. i tried to find trees, anything to park her under, seeking any kind of shelter for my new friend. other cars had already beat me to it. it was loud. it was so loud that my heart was pounding in my throat. at this point the glass was shattering underneath the blows of the hail and i was praying that it wouldn't come through. all i could think to do was sit on the middle consul, plug my ears and say, oh shit, repeatedly. it was what i felt at the time.

in the aftermath it looked like it had snowed. i have never in my life seen hail cover so much ground. it looked like not a square inch was missed from where i pulled over until i reached my apartment complex. 

i have been looking at the situations of the last few months as lessons. what is god trying to teach me? i believe in his timing, and i do believe that it is perfect. even if it has played out so very ironically in the past few months. and we have been trying to seek out good from the uncertainty of this time.

my car took one for the team tonight. she kept me safe, and has some definite battle scars to show for it. hayden's car was also significantly damaged. thank you for insurance. they say the value of new cars drops majorly when you drive it off the lot. i wonder what that means for a car with texas size hail damage. so much for our bargain.

it was all too personified for me today. literally being beat down. 

so today's lesson that i would like to share is......................................

a car is just a car.