geez

i just realized that our blog's addy is LIFEGIGGLES.blogspot.com and my first post was about the financial crisis?!?!

please excuse that and allow me to redeem myself.

let me start by saying i love ellen. i watch this clip just about every other day... i wish i could move on from it, but just can't. if i were to ever in my life have a talk show, this is absolutely what i would do...

good evening. welcome to world news tonight...

i'm a little bit of a news junkie. basically... i just need to know what's going on. i think this started when i was about ten... desert storm was going on and my class adopted a soldier. i remember standing in front of the tv, being mesmerized while i watched peter jennings (RIP) report from the battle lines every night. maybe it was because i wanted to see if i could spot my soulja boy or maybe i just wanted to be a smarty pants about it the next day at school... who knows. but to this day, i tune into the nightly news regularly and check drudge report or nytimes.com every couple of hours... juuuuust to make sure the earth is still on it's axis and spinning as usual.

about 20 minutes ago i was checking drudge... it's no secret that the headlines lately have been IN RED and constantly talking about the FINANCIAL CRISIS that is crumpling down around us and quickly spreading like wildfire around the world. seeing all these headlines got me thinking... why is it that we FREAK about money more than anything else?? i can recall having two panic attacks in my life- both about money. it is something that every person i know- whether well off or maybe not so much- deals with on a daily basis. it's like without enough of it (and everyone's 'enough' is different), it is so hard to be settled or secure or at peace. this is true ESPECIALLY now... people who have staked their lives and futures and whole beings on these little green rectangles of paper have just recently lost it all... and all our perspective is going down the drain with it.

if i could live in any time in our history, it would be the 1950's. #1 reason: american bandstand. #2 reason: everyone seemed as though they were on the same page (financially speaking). for instance, there were no car leases. if you had the cash to put down on a car, you got one. if not, you did without until you could afford it. you clearly still had your very wealthy and your very poor, but there was this huge middle class where everyone lived in the same boat. it seems like the majority of middle america had the same sized houses on the same little street, drove similar cars, ate at home as a family, drove to the nearest "watering hole" for little vacations... cokes were a nickel, maybe you earned an extra 25 cents mowing lawns so you could splurge on some baseball trading cards and you were set. no one really needed anything else. further, there weren't a whole lot of other options. NOW it's a completely different deal. NOW basically anyone can have anything they want- a la credit cards- and there are about a millllllllllllllllllllion choices and people keep hiking the prices up because they can... because if the dress has a certain person's name on the tag or the shoes have a red bottom, people will pay ANYTHING for it. does that seem odd? or remember when you waited alllllllllllllll year to ask santa for that ONE THING that you wanted because THIS was the time to ask for it and you would be sooooooo good so that you could be on the nice list and receive it christmas morning? well now it seems like kids get whatever they want whenever they want it and christmas doesn't even have that same impact as it used to.

and so in light of all these generalizations i've just made :), i'm choosing to see this MONETARY MELTDOWN as a good thing. instead of melting down myself, i'm going to see it as a necessary means to get ourselves back to neutral. example: last week i bought a pair of awesome (faux) snake-skin heels for five dollars. five. dollars. they were regularly $80. and you know what? i liked them so much that if they had been $80, i probably would have paid it. but they clearly weren't even kind of worth that! we are just so used to seeing these jacked up pricetags that it's no longer a big deal! so i feel like all this cost cutting, price dropping, streamlining, efficiency scramble seems like maybe the right idea. it's time for us to start living our lives realizing that stuff is stuff and just because you can pay $80 to $800 for it, doesn't mean you have to.

and going back to perspective... the verse in matthew chapter nine, verse 24, has recently taken on a whole new meaning. Jesus was addressing the issue of financial stability versus following Him and He said, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." that makes so much sense to me right now. when you're set on the money front, you tend (i definitely tend) to not need Him so much... because YOU pretty much have it covered and YOU can do this whole life thing on your own. whereas, if you are wondering where your next meal is coming from, or how that electricity bill is going to get paid, relying on Him and the promises He has made to us start becoming your one and only Truth to stand on.

so bring on those bright red, underlined, scary news headlines... i think i'm starting to like them. but not as much as those $5 shoe sales...

Holy Mole-y

I had another one of life’s character building experiences yesterday. This particular character builder was on vanity. Let me preface yesterday’s experience by saying I love the sun! Not just the glow it gives your skin, but the freckles/memories it leaves behind, the rising and setting, the colors it paints in the sky, the way is cascades on lakes and oceans, oh I could go on. I also need to say that I’ve been gifted with a highly obsessive disposition and when I don’t get enough Vitamin D, I feel blue and usually suffer with vanity issues.

So, 2009 rolls in and I begin making my list of New Year’s resolutions. On this year’s list:

#8. Dermatologist!!! Go!!! Overcome fear- you’re supposed to be an “adult”. You have that multi-colored mole on your right gi-normous nostril that appears to be incubating- GET IT CHECKED OUT!

Of course I was in no hurry to make my appointment because I didn’t really want to know what was going on in that wonderful beauty mark on my FACE. I mean could it really be skin cancer? I also didn’t want to be told no more sun- ever again! I didn’t want to face the reality that I might lose my God-given nose because the mole had taken over, etc. But, three different people made comments on it over the last several weeks and I assumed this was God telling me, “Time to call the Dermie- if not I’m going to keep sending people your way to spook you or really hurt you because you are not treating your body as I’ve instructed!” Done. Say no more- I made my appointment. I put my ‘beauty mark’ in God’s hands and began researching plastic surgeons.

Yesterday, 8:40 a.m. was my appointment. Great news- my dermatologist doesn’t think it’s skin cancer. To celebrate, she asked if I had any big social engagements coming up- I said, “No”. Next thing I knew she was sticking a needle right in the center of the mole , which stung and pinched like getting your ears pierced. She then removed the mole, stitched me up with 2 stitches, stuck a band-aid on my wound, gave me a sample of sunscreen as a party favor, and sent me on my way!

OMG! I’m one of those people with a band-aid on my face that I used to always giggle at…begin character building.

As I left the Dermie clinic, I began giving myself a pep talk as I drove into work in downtown Austin. Have I mentioned that I’m banker in one of the busiest lobbies and pretty much have constant interaction with people for 8 hours straight? I contemplated calling out sick, but then my conscious got the best of me. Let’s just say I channeled Grandma Mary and decided to keep my sense of humor intact. When I caught people staring, I would just say, “What?! Is something on my nose?” Then we would crack up laughing!

I wish I could always remember to keep my sense of humor when I struggle with vanity stuff. I mean for goodness sake, we all struggle with it from time to time- guys too…. And I’m pretty sure at the end of the day it’s the moles, polka dots on the feet, swollen ankles, gray hairs, chin hairs, heights, weights, relationship status’, wrinkles, etc. that keep me coming back to the Holy one in my life to get reminded that “I’m fearfully and wonderfully made and beautiful in His eye!”.

Free Counter

sem's picca-whaaaa

1. i'm not sure what a piccadello is and don't want to ask lauren b/c i feel like maybe i should know...
2. there's no way i'm going to get 100 of these down...
3. i'm nervous about blogging, but feel a whole lot better about it now that our formatting issiues are resolved.
4. the day i was born, my name, weight, and height were posted on the burger king marquee in brownwood, texas.
5. i used to order and eat a quarter-pounder cheeseburger, waffle fries, dr. pepper, and a cookie at hardee's when i was in the fourth grade.
6. one of my first memories is when i would stand on my grandparent's bed, in front of their mirror, put my arms out to my sides and yell, "Presenting... Sarah... Elizabeth... Myers!!"
7. i played molly in the vive les arts community theater production of "annie" when i was about seven. i had to audition on a stage in front of a packed theater and i SWEAR i remember that after i sang and read lines, everyone clapped and gave me a standing ovation. my dad said that did not happen.
8. i have different toothpastes for morning and night.
9. the house i grew up in was across the street from where i went to church and school. and was blue.
10. i have been friends with both of my best friends since i was 14 years old.
11. i took baton twirling class when i was in elementary school.
12.my first kiss was whilst watching mrs. doubtfire.
13. i love any and all nut butters.
14. 14?! i feel like i have written over 1,000 things...
15. my favorite number is 42 because that was ryan dorsett's high school football number. if anyone reading this can remember that guy, you get a special prize and my admiration forever.
16. i also love the number eleventy billion.
17. my parents made me play volleyball when i was a junior in high school and the one time my coach (who is now one of the dearest people in my life) wanted to put me in, i begged her not to.
18. i have lived in texas my whole life.
19. since 16, i have never not had a job.
20. i spent 3/4 of my high school career grounded.
21. my favorite place in the world is port royal in port aransas, texas.
22. the #1 most incredible thing in my life that i absolutely do not deserve is the grace of my Savior.
23. #2 would be the four people that i'm blessed to call my family.
24. when i was a sophomore in high school, i got the "rachel" haircut and have wanted to be jennifer aniston ever since.
25. my friend g and i regularly write into oprah.
26. i wish my eyelashes were longer.
27. business marketing was my college major.
28. my first email address was your42mom@aol.com.
29. for one week, i worked in the middle of a south american jungle, sleeping under a thatched-roofed hut, in a hammock, covered in mosquito netting, on the banks of the amazon river.
30. downloading fonts is one of my all time favorite things to do.
31. for probably the first year of my life as a licensed driver, i didn't know you had to have a green arrow to turn left at a stop light.
32. i went to nyc for the first time in my life last christmas with one of my besties and probably think about that city at least once a day.
33. tetris is the best video game ever invented.
34. i've done a sprint triathlon and a half marathon. with not one athletic bone in my body, i'm not sure how either of these events took place.
35. the year after college was the toughest time of my life.
36. i love keeping up with people.
37. kids crack me up and i relate to nanny mcphee in more ways than one.
38. i love luby's waaaaay more than i would ever be able to explain over a blog.
39. give me a book and the lake, beach or pool and you've got yourslf a happy camper.
40. justin timberlake is the most talented musician of our generation and i will stand by that until the day i get put into the ground.
41. my weekdays are not complete without waking up to matt, meredith, and al. could do without ann.
42. i literally cannot deal with things that aren't fair.
43. nine hours of sleep is optimal.
44. about a year ago, a wellness doctor told me i was gluten intolerant. not great.
45. vampires are my downfall.

45. i mean that's QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION, right?? let's just leave it at that. and, good news, it's time for the bachelor women tell all. peace.

LCT's Peccadilloes

1. I like white sheets.
2. I buy my ice.
3. I have been known to buy two ice teas if the cups are too small.
4. I tri-fold my laundry (and am very particular about the laundry process as a whole).
5. I heart rice crackers and will search to the end of the earth until I find them.
6. I sleep with a yellow blanket that I have had since I was a baby.
7. When I buy gas- I fill all the way up.
8. I'm a human scale- somehow when I travel I manage to always have exactly 50.1/50.2 lb bags, which allows me to not have to pay the 'overflow' fee.
9. I have been getting the same sandwich from Thundercloud since I was in 6th grade: small ham on wheat with provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, thundersauce and pepper, please.
10. Nothing fires me up more at church than singing in a choir.
11. I HATE body noises- belches, gas, etc.
12. My alarm goes off on '2's' (I.e. 6:02, 6:32, 6:12, etc.).
13. I sneeze in 2's.
14. I wear two sportsbras.
15. I prefer even numbers- birthdays, years, tipping amounts, number of kids, etc.
16. I sleep with lots of pillows, blankets, etc.
17. A perfect day for me would be at the lake or beach, preferably Hilton Head with all my lovies.
18. I always pick up change on the ground- if it's heads up (only).
19. Nothing makes me laugh harder than a good prank call.
20. I've been asked if I'm 'Mulado' because of my hair, bootay, ashy skin and dance skillz- particularly the butterfly.
21. I love the Boston Red Sox, especially watching them at Fenway when they play the Yanks.
22. I always remove my eye make-up before I go to sleep- Grandma George Ann told me my eyelashes would fall off I didn't do this…and I believed her.
23. I'm a pack rat.
24. I enjoy going to see movies by myself.
25. I won't see movies at the theater when it's light outside.
26. I once biked from Houston, TX to Austin, TX.
27. Downsyndrome kids have always been attracted to me.
28. I'm the oldest grandchild on both my mom and dad's side of the family.
29. I have to take a bath before I go to sleep… or at least wash my feet.
30. I have never been snow skiing.
31. I LOVE beaches, especially laying out on the sand and wiggling my toes on the sand… and afternoon walks on the beach… and the smell of the beach.
32. My favorite apps are my magic 8 ball and my whoopee cushion!
33. One of my favorite quotes: "Laugh so hard that you come dangerously close to falling out of your chair but you don't".
34. I love watching movies on Sunday nights, especially the Break Up, Good Will Hunting, and Wedding Crashers.
35. My feet have polka dots on them…really!
36. I lived in Atlanta, GA for 3 years of my life- they were the best and worst years of my life.
37. I procrastinate.
38. I make new year's resolutions- and usually stick to them!
39. I have a keen sense of smell, like my olfactory senses are hyperactive.
40. I've never broken a bone in my body.
41. I had my first kiss at church camp…on a bus!
42. I have a natural talent for prank calling people.
43. I've had my heart broken.
44. I love my church.
45. Sometimes I sing so much and loud in my car that I lose my voice.
46. If I didn't live in Austin, TX, I would want to live in a Brownstone in Boston, MA.
47. My chronic illness: I join and rejoin Weight Watchers- it's genetic.
48. My doctor once told me I only get 2 feet from God, so take care of the ones He gave me (hence the reason I get pedicures regularly).
49. I love Peonies.
50. I don't cry very much, but when I do…
51. I love SEC boys, think John Parker Wilson- Roll Tide!
52. My grandma Mary taught me to always keep a sense of humor, never chew gum in church, and always write thank you notes.
53. I heart UT baseball.
54. I recently read a book called Crazy Love that changed my life- thank you Mr. Giggles.
55. I once tried to ride my bike across a frozen pool, got half way and fell in (bike and all).
56. As a little girl I would constantly be in trouble and get sent to my room, which was fine by me because I would just rearrange all my furniture.
57. I once won Bingo at the Eanes school carnival- my prize a goldfish, named Pumpkin.
58. My favorite Pro-Athlete nickname: Big Daddy Vladdy.
59. Famous people I've met: Patrick Swayze, Kevin Costner, Roger Clemons, Huston Street, Pudge Rodriquez, Patty Griffin, Catie Copely, and Jason Mozersky.
60. I sprinkle Tryst powder each night before I go to sleep.
61. I got really lucky in the sister-in-law department.
62. I have a hand twin.
63. I have a dimple in my chin… and in my cheek…. And multiple on my thighs- why does this happen?!
64. I often wonder what heaven is really like.
65. I wish I would have learned to play the piano when I was younger.
66. My uncle Craig taught me to never let any adversity keep you from living your life to the fullest.
67. My favorite time of day is dusk.
68. I love seeing shooting stars!
69. I love having work crushes, can I admit that?
70. I loved the seasons in Atlanta- fall leaves, dogwoods, tulips, Macy's X-mas tree, etc.
71. I think the funniest grocery store name is Publix and I used to shop there!
72. Growing up, my family had breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights.
73. My brother became a friend of mine in high school, my best friend in college, and my life coach after college.
74. It's always weird watching your parents get married.
75. I always watch Working Girl the night before I start a new job with a new company or promotion within.
76. My jam of choice: Apple Butter.
77. I was truly blessed in high school with an amazing set of friends at church that kept me grounded and helped me establish my moral foundation. I hate that I've lost touch with some of them, but at least 2 are still my best friends today!
78. My first friend at Baylor was a boy named Brad Schuetze. He used Downey fabric softner, always got allergies the first day of September, and dated all my friends.
79. I have a hard time trusting people and constantly have to work on it.
80. I have a client named Mrs. Weiner!
81. I'm a Pisces through and through- I HEART water and sun!
82. At 25 I was told I had Lupus and needed to change my lifestyle. I still struggle with ‘changing my lifestyle.’
83. They call him Mistadobalina, Mr. Bob Dobbalina.
84. I love a good humidifier.
85. I giggle like a school girl when I watch the Office. Oh and I love 24.
86. One of the best concerts I've been to was at the Cactus Café when I saw Slaid Cleaves.
87. Every Wednesday in college, my besties and I would go to Dr. Pepper hour in the SUB.
88. I disagree with 'Virginia is for Lovers', maybe someday I will be proven wrong.
89. Favorite holiday: 4th of July!
90. I'm a candle F-R-E-A-K!
91. I have a financial advisor/planner and I work in a bank.
92. I once took an overnight trip to Savannah, GA and Tybee Island by myself.
93. I've never smoked pot- thought I was 'green-housed' once in Costa Rica, but it was a false alarm.
94. The deadly sins I struggle with constantly are Pride and Envy.
95. My favorite book: Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss.
96. If I could adopt any animal, I would adopt Catie Copley.
97. I HATE secrets! (which probably explains why I've never been good at keeping them).
98. I bought into the theory that Greek cotton is fratastic and rocked it pretty much every day of college- wam bam!
99. My parents almost named me Ashley Elizabeth, but changed at the last minute. Oh and if I was a boy I think I my name would have been Zachary.
100. My Karaoke song of choice: Proud Mary (and not to brag, but I can Rock it!).

A little introduction is in order.

So before we pack the monogrammed luggage and begin the pedventures, we would like to take a minute to introduce ourselves as your tour guides. Instead of boring you with a box of words educating you on who we are, we decided to give you a list of our top 100 peccadillos... some might veiw them as personality imperfections, but we believe them to be those quirky traits that make us... us.

This road trip will be full of laughs, brutal honesty, blinks of vulnerability, and some fantastic car games! We look forward to sharing the road with you…

Namaste!
sem & lct

Our Feet

Among other things, we have feet problems.

I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, that's gross." Which yes, feet can be gross and yes, feet problems are even more disgusting... believe us we know (and will eventually tell you allll the details).

But think about it- THE FOOT. What an unbelievable body part God created that can take you on unbelievable journeys, develop your character, and well, treated with a relaxing pedi, can relieve all of life's worries!

Join us as we take you on our pedventures…