New Year 2009

I know, I know... it has been since June 2008 since I last even thought about blogging. It is amazing how you start out to be dedicated to the millions of readers out there, and find out, that you just can't handle the pressure. Well I have decided to at least try and blog once a week or at the very least bi-monthly.

So what has taken place in the last seven months?!

June - To start off, Andi and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a trip to St. Louis and a surprise train trip to Chicago! We arrived in St. Louis four days early and I had told Andi that we were going to take in all the sites. For my loyal readers that may not know, I lived in St. Louis for two years. Our plane arrived five hours before our SURPRISE train ride. We rented our car for the week and I took Andi out to west county where I used to live and work. We had lunch at the St. Louis Bread Co. and it was AMAZING!! We would eat there a few other times as well. I showed her the sights of Missouri Baptist University, my first place of employment and it was so nice to see many of the things I had began and implemented eight years ago were still being utilized. It made me feel like I had actually left my mark. We then drove by my old apartment in Chesterfield, followed by a drive by of the house I lived in for a few months located in "the Hill" district - the Italian area of St. Louis. By this time, we had been up since 5:00 AM. Andi was getting tired and I told her we were on our way to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Well I exited and took the amtrak exit. Having never been to St. Louis, Andi had no clue. Little did I know the train station was under remodeling and we were being redirected to a make shift station under the freeway and on dirt roads. Andi was confused at this point and even said, "do you know where you are going?". We pulled up and I said, "yes... we are taking the train to Chicago for the weekend!" She was so excited. "Does Simone know?" "Yes". So my anniversary present to Andi was a weekend trip to our favorite city Chicago, where one of her best friends lives. It was great times and we really enjoy seeing the Halpins in Chicago. What a great city. The train ride, well it was good, but not what we had expected. It was supposed to have been a five hour ride that turned into eight, and then the return trip was on a chartered bus due to track work. Needless to say, we may not be taking a train for quite a while.

St. Louis was memorable. We celebrated our second anniversary with dinner at the top of the Milenium Hotel - it was a 360 degree restraunt that allowed us to take in the beautiful skyline and Gateway Arch. After dinner I summoned horse drawn carriage and we made our way back to our hotel through the city streets. It was so wonderful having Andi with me in St. Louis.

July had us back and forth to San Antonio to work on the lake house some more. Andi continued work on her masters degree and we made our annual pilgrimage to White Deer for the annual Rodeo and Kick-Back day. I designed a new t-shirt to sell this year, but didn't sell out like the year before. In fact - WE STILL HAVE SHIRTS FOR SALE!!

August was hot and rainy. We started back in with football and we practiced everywhere in Abilene except at HSU due to the rain. August seemed like a blur.

September was all football.

October was all football...wait...mix in some basketball now and then. Did something I never thought I would do!

November was football...now basketball... oh and my birthday! My birthday will always be bittersweet. It will mark the anniversary of Andi's mom's passing. Andi is such a loving wife and planned a great party for me this year. We went to Double Dave's Pizza with our closet A-Town friends and we had a blast. Had a horrible experience doing something I never thought I would do. Thanksgiving was great with my Mom, Dad, and Granddad all coming to A-Town for the week. We even took in the NW Missouri State Quarter-Final Game against ACU. The BEARCATS WON!!!

December was basketball. The Bearcats lost a FOURTH straight National Championship in the last few minutes of the game. And I did something I had never done before...I GOT ACCEPTED TO TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY!!!! WHOOP! That's right, I am an official Fightn' Texas Aggie!

This past summer I visited with a good friend of mine at HSU who is also an Aggie. He told me to keep my eyes posted on the TAMU website as they were about to start a new degree program. In July he sends me a copy of an informational e-mail he received from the Department Chair of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, in the e-mail it was revealed that A&M would be starting a 100% online Executive Ed.D. program in Curriculum and Instruction. I replied to the academic advisor and asked to be placed on the prospective student list. I have wanted to obtain a degree from Texas A&M every since I was in the third grade. As a Senior in High School, when I wasn't given the opportunity to be an athletic training student at A&M, I didn't pursue admission. Graduate school didn't offer any athletic training opportunities either. So know here I am pursuing a professional goal of obtaining a terminal degree and it is at Texas A&M!!! I am really excited about this degree and the opportunities it will provide me. I believe this will give me the knowledge and expertise to become a better university level instructor as well as the opportunities to research and develop curriculum and instructional strategies as they apply to athletic training education.

Needless to say, Andi and I are very excited about this opportunity! It will be very difficult and I know challenging but I am very excited to get started. It will take four years and our cohort will meet once a year in July on campus in College Station. All of this culminating with graduation in December 2012.

Now 2009.... Like I said, I am going to try and blog once a week, or at least bi-monthly. Will keep you up on all the ins and outs of our crazy wonderful life as we togehter "Merely Meander" through life, serving our God and living for His will in our lives. Happy New Year - and Gig'Em!