a collision

overtaken...yet again

2008-05-21T16:02:00.002-05:00

So, needless to say, our friend Valerie doesn't have the time to update this, so me, being a great bestfriend, decided the masses neede an update.

Valerie finished her 10th semester with flying colors! Top scores in her hardest classes and she even pulled an A in her Tuesday/Thursday 8am-her most boring and dull class this semester!
make sure you congratulate her on a job well done!

In the work arena, she's finishing up the Quad and what i've seen of it has been quite phenomenal-she really has a knack for this graphic design stuff! go order one-www.corpsofcadets.org

We now finally completed the move-in and have settled in our duplex, the last of our stuff was delivered last week and we're finally getting the last of the decor hung. come see our new place, and hey-we may even feed you, call to set up a time & give directions!

props go to my roomate for cooking an amazing dish last week for dinner-turkey meatballs with (my homemade) smashed potatoes. it was so yummy. she has become quite the chef these days-earlier this week she whipped out a from-scratch tiramasu...and it was Deelissh! We try to stay on a budget and eat healthy, so we're all about the meal plans & menus; my subscription to Everyday, Rachel Ray's mag & frequenting thepioneerwoman.com really help us in coming up with yummy meals for lunch and dinner, just email us for recipes, we'd gladly share!

i think our, or rather, Valerie's, next project is to overhual my mountain bike into a single-speed roadbike...in light of the increasing gas prices & the general desire for us to be more active, we're gonna try the Clifbar "2milechallenge"-which is riding your bike to places that are within a 2-mile radius of your home.

I think Valerie is also looking forward to "Summer Fun Extravaganza" which is what some families from church are putting together: once or twice a week we'll get togehter at the park or pool to hang out, play and fellowship together to meet new peeps and get to know others better!

so theres what's going on in Valerie's neck of the woods!

maybe sometime this year she'll actually post!

peace out friends,

alisha lombardi
best friend & roomie

hijacked!

2008-01-23T13:26:00.000-06:00

hehe..this is what happens when readers want updates and the author feels like there is nothing to write about.....

...your super cool (& sneaky!) best friend takes over to blog about life.

So alot has happened since September-some of our many adventures include Val throwing an awesome Guiter Hero 25th Bday party for me, rearranging our room 3 times!, a cross-country drive to Seattle from College Station in 3 days! you can check out pics from the trip here. treking over TX to san antonio, austin & houston!

Other events worth mentioning:

Valerie has changed jobs. She now works for the Corp of Cadets Association doing publications (& whatever else Bill & Mr. Crawford tell her to do!). And by publications, I mean producing & desigining The Guidon, a quarterly magazine about the Corp and designing the enitre Quadrangle, the corps yearbook-yeah that's right, shes so awesome while normal schools & orgs have teams to do a yearbook, and she's tackling it by herself. Valerie really likes her job & especially the people she works with. And, if I may say so myself, they really are fun!

Over Christmas break, Val stayed in good 'ol College Station and was able to spend Christmas with Nicole Holland, a friend we met through HOPE Group. She got some good hours in a work and we saw lots & lots of movies including Lars & the Real Girl, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Juno, The Great Debaters, I Am Legend, & Atonement.

So Val is nearing her last couple semesters of school! YEA!! This Spring she's got some pretty cool classes including Communication & Media Audiences, Political Geography, and Spatial Thinking. Her senior level History of Geography class unfortunately is at 8am! yuck--i mean come on, a 400 level class at 8 in the morning--sheesh, someone didn't plan that very well! Hopefully at the end of this semester she'll be able to order her ring!!!

Valerie is also workin' on her kid skills-every Sunday night we get to spend 2 hrs with some pretty cool k-2nd graders. She works with the 2nd graders helping them with their verses, playing with them at game time & making sure they follow the rules & know Jesus loves them! And lately, we've got to spend some quality time with the Hendrick boys-oh how we love playing at their house.

A couple of weekends ago, we ran/walked/COMPLETED the Houston 1/2 Marathon, and very soon after decided that would be our last. The Houston half was Val's 3rd half marathon and she was a trooper & great encourager to me, who basically was injured. She cheered me on and made me laugh when I was about ready to give up! Thanks Bestfriend!

I would also like to take the opportunity and let you know what an AWESOME best friend and roommate i have! For the past couple of months, Val's graciously is letting me share her car while I'm saving up to get my own (hopefully this spring!). She also makes us lunches during the week & is always on top of getting the coffee maker ready at night so we have a fresh cup o' joe in the morning! The list could go on about how Valerie is always a good friend and servant to me, our roommates & friends--but its just too long!

That's about it-while there's probably more I could've written, I think this adaquately highlights some of the happenings & on-goings in the life of Val. Now don't get your hopes up as this being the re-birth of her blog...i'm not making any promises, because well-this isn't my blog :o)

cheers!

alisha

christmas in sept.

2007-09-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

ok so you know your life is lame when you get excited about getting a new monitor at work. but alas. on tuesday i got a new 19" flat screen dell monitor. now i really was excited about having more space on my desk, because before my monitor took up my entire workspace (i can't call it a desk because it's too small to call a desk) and the color was bad and the display was really dark. but now i have space and i don't have to sit five inches from my monitor. awesome.

but i also recieve a fifty cent pay increase. so whoop for me. it felt like christmas.

so jingle some bells for me.

a challenge...

2007-08-03T09:44:00.000-05:00

so my friend jocelyn found a race and wants alisha and i to join her team. but we are looking for a few more good people to join in. if you are up to the challenge let me know. you can check out all of the details at

http://www.oysterracingseries.com/Austin-Home/home.aspx

new tripod...

2007-08-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

i have replaced my tripod...whoop. ten bucks on craigslist and way better than the one i bought in china.

thank you to the inventor of the internet, al gore.

ode to my tripod

2007-07-19T11:32:00.001-05:00

so my tripod has died. the head fell off the legs. i was real sad. mainly because i got it while i was in china...it was one of the only things that bought while i was there. it has travelled with me to mississippi and kentucky, while helping me create better videos. so i will have to replace it soon. i think an upgrade will be necessary since this one only lasted about a year and a half.

so here's to you, my tripod.

2007-06-29T19:40:00.001-05:00

the trials of the Bryan DMV

2007-06-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

So my license was to expire on my birthday, June 12 (check out alisha blog for a whole summary of the festivies). And since I am in Texas and hopefully will be here a bit longer, I decided to get a Texas drivers license (and because it was cheaper than renewing it online in Mississippi). So the thursday before my birthday I went down to the dmv with my current license and my passport. Upon arrival I find out that they only take cash and that I have to show my orignal social security card. (which by the way i think is ridiculous because i had to mail it and my birth certificate in to get a passport). I returned home only to figure out that my social security card had been left in mississippi when i was there last. So I got my mom to mail it to me, but did not recieve it until the thursday after my birthday. When I finally got back to the dmv, last thursday, I have my social security card and drivers license, which is not enough, so i go back home to get my birth certificate. I finally get the paperwork to fill out and wait. During my wait I see one of the women who works in my office, Dr. Flaherty, with her daughter. My number is called and i proceed to the teller. She tells me since my license is expired I have to retake both portions of the tests. So I take the written part of the test. I was pretty nervous, considering that I don't know about Texas violation laws. And there were many questions on the fines for driving. But alas, I pass the written test. The lady tells me to go and talk to the woman at the original counter about scheduling a driving test. That lady informs me that there are no tests available and I have to return at 8 am another day, because the appointments are given out on a first come first serve basis. I return on Friday at 8 and the line is out the door and eventually I find out that there are no tests slots left for that day. Well Friday afternoon I find out from Dr. Flaherty that she and her daughter arrived at the dmv at 7:05 to get their driver's test slot and there were 7 people in line front of them. So this morning, I get up and get gas and proceed to the dmv. I arrive at 7 exactly and there are four men already there. Once i get to the front of the line I get a test at 8:45. I wait and arrive at 8:45 ready to go (actually I was pretty nervous). The lady gets me to do all of these different things and then we finally pull out and I have to parallel park. Now I know how to parallel park. I have done it many a time trying to move out of the dorm. But I fail to do it to her liking. I pull out of the spot and then we are off. I basically make a big square and we return to the dmv. She proceeds to tell me that I didn't pass and actually I didn't even get to finish the test. At this point I am mad. And there are many reasons why but I don't really think anybody wants to read about all of my "mistakes". So I can return at any point, but I only have two more trys to pass or I have to start this whole process over again... I keep waiting for them to ask for a blood and urine sample.

we went and conquered

2007-05-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

ok, so i have been talking about this race since at least february if not before. and finally the weekend came for alisha and mine's adventurous race, the muddy buddy race. we left college station on sat and arrived in austin, at what we thought was the only rei in austin for registration, but we later found out was that there are two rei's in austin and we were at the wrong one. so we got directions and headed over to the other rei. we signed our lives away and got our horrendous technical shirts (i'll post a picture). then we headed over to andrea and jocelyn's place to hang out and get ready for the race on sun. upon arrival we finally got to explain the race and andrea looked at the race's website and of course found the costume contest. she proceeded to ask us what we were dressing up as. (at this point we didn't know, we figured we would just make some t shirts or something) but andrea and jocelyn were like wear that awesome teal 80s dress that andrea owns. so i tried on, but it didn't fit but we rigged it up to my shirt so that i could wear it. but then we were like what is alisha going to wear? and we decided that we would be beauty queens. so we had to go get alisha a dress. we headed on over to goodwill and found her a black and blue sparkly dress. it was so pretty that the women who checked her out said, 'well, didn't you get a deal? this dress is so nice' and alisha didn't have the heart to tell her that we were going to wear it through the mud. then we grabbed some dinner and picked up a few more supplies (some tiaras and white t shirts) and then rented little miss sunshine, because none of the girls besides alisha and i had seen the awesomeness. so we watched little miss sunshine, which was so much fun to watch andrea, jocelyn, and katie's reactions to the movie (i even think andrea shed a few tears). we made our miss muddy buddy 07 sashes and attached our crowns to our helmets, then we hit the sack. we set the alarm for 5 but i didn't even hear it, so we got up at 5:30, ate some cereal, got dressed, took some pictures, and took off for the race. once we arrived, we had to park about a mile away. we also felt a bit ridiculous because all the people around us weren't dressed up at all, but we put the bike together and headed toward the start point. when we finally got close to the start point, we heard the annoucement for all of the costumed racers to come to the stage for the contest. so we headed up to the stage, which was a bit hard to find because of all of the barriers and things in the way. we started to feel a bit better about our outfits once we saw everyone else around us. even though we looked awesome, the two guys that were dressed up as the ambigously gay duo beat us for the road atlas. there were other people dressed up as chicago bears football players, some master's graduates (they both had just gotten their masters at tu), some people in those fat bikini suits, molly shannon as superstar, dirty nurses, and some girls wearing lingere. well, the race started in waves and we were in the 9th wave which meant that even though the race started at 8, we didn't start until 8:50. the race course was a bit more difficult than we expected but we made it through. there was serious mountain biking and a mountain that alisha had to push the bike up (she's a hoss). there were balance beams, cargo nets, a small climbing wall, a ranger weave (it was a bit lame) as the obstacles at each checkpoint. but alas we arrived at the mud pit and crawled through the grossest mud i think i have ever encountered. it was thick liquid mud. and because we had those tiaras on our helmets, we had to stick our faces into the mud to get under the flags that made you crawl through the mud. but it was amazing. here's a picture after some of the mud had been sprayed off of us.

my dress was so heavy from the mud that it was falling off, but i did have on another shirt underneath. more pictures will be posted soon.

we are awesome

muddy buddy...

2007-05-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

so today i went with alisha to purchase her new bike helmet. she got this light blue louis garneau helmet with lots of ventilation. it looks pretty cool. i know you are wondering why this post is about alisha, well it's not. the reason why alisha needed a helmet is because in two weeks she and i will be participating in the most amazing experience in our lives (well at in our racing lives). we are doing what is referred to as the muddy buddy race. now there are several of these races across the country but instead of going somewhere like orlando, we will be heading to good ole' austin, texas to participate in this run/bike race, or what is more commonly referred to as a dualathon. but this isn't your average dualathon. this is a partner race. so alisha will start off running and i will start off biking. there are five to six legs of the race. so once we arrive upon the first checkpoint we will overcome some sort of obstacle and then switch, i will being running, she will begin biking. and we do this 5 times until we reach the final obstacle. this is the best part. we will have to crawl, not run or walk, maybe it will involve a bit of swimming through a huge mud pit. yes, a mud pit. it will be glorious. i can't wait. if you want a little bit more info, head on over to
http://www.muddybuddy.com/info.php - theres a video you can watch, but it's not great or anything, but it will give you more of an idea.

when we complete this feat, i promise to post my thoughts, feelings, excitement (maybe pictures) of the awesomeness that is known as the muddy buddy race.

identity theft

2007-05-02T22:18:00.000-05:00

so val is doing her stat homework and wants me to update her blog...but its kinda hard writing as someone..like being a ghostwriter...you know those people who actually write the book, but its credited to someone else

anyways, i tried and couldnt do it, so i've resorted to come clean...this is not Valerie, its her best friend.

at ECU, where I was at grad school this past year..we started school the 2nd week of jan, so i finished up with everything on the 27th of april...its nice. i'll have a small break, but then i have to finish up my portofolio.

Val landed a student worker job at the International Programs Office. she will be working 20 hrs week for the summer & its kinda ironic: i've been applying for jobs there and she actually sent me a rejection letter today...but hopefully she'll put in a good word for other apps i send in.

in other news, Disturbia is a avery freaky movie. Valerie thought it was good, me on the other couldve lived a fullfilling life never having seen it..but then again, i'm not a fan of scary/suspenseful movies.

thats all ive got for my debut appearance on val's blog.
now that i have access..who knows? maybe i'll sneak on again :o)
stay tuned. hopefully val will be getting back to regularly updating this thing!

alisha

getting ready to die...

2007-04-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

well, not literally. but within our world of the corps soon, i will be dead and forgotten. which i am coming to terms with. i think back to all of the time and sweat that i have had here in dorm 4 on the 4th floor. i hope that i will say that it was worth it, and the closer it comes the more i do feel that way, that it was worth it. i have met some awesome people that i would have never met before and we have had some fun together and some arguements as well, and thats okay with me.

class is winding down, and it has gone by so fast. i feel like the older i get the faster it goes by.

worldwind week...

2007-03-06T18:39:00.000-06:00

last monday i picked up my fish camp letter from the application i turned in forever ago and found out that i was a part of the fish camp 07 staff. whoop for that.

after studying and taking two tests on wed, i had my camp revelation, where i found out that i was a member of crew, which should be tons of fun. i am excited about getting to know the other 24ish people that are a part of my camp.

on thursday i headed to waco with angela to see RENT! which was also a lot of fun. the music in that production is just so good, it's hard to mess it up.

friday night consisted of hanging out with my hope group family, the glow 5k run, there had to be at least 1000 people there. which made the course really crowded, but all in all was a lot of fun running with my buddies, butts, and some fish. then went and hung out with my fish camp.

sat. was a time of rest and relaxation. living hope that night and good eating and fellowship with friends.

sun. i arose to run the first armadillo dash half marathon with chris r., chris f., steven, and sonia. i finished. whoop! then got dressed up as the tooth fairy for my first fish camp development program. then headed back to the dorm for some studying for a test i had today.

mon and tues were both big study days. i have one more test before spring break. i can't wait for friday to get here.

my first map

2007-02-25T23:02:00.000-06:00

so it's a consistant question from friends, family, and random strangers as to whether or not i make maps since i am a geography major. and my answer to that question is normally no, i don't make maps or color maps, because that is not all that geographers do (sometimes we geographify, courtesy of a friend of alisha's). but since i am in a cartography (map making) class, i actually have to make maps. so this is the first assignment where we had to take map elements and format the elements to make the map. and voila! here it is...

a weekend to remember...

2007-02-19T00:40:00.000-06:00

thursday around 2, chris felleisen, fish gabe, and i set off for baton rouge, la. after a long lunch/dinner at bennigens (where chris and gabe somehow only left the waitress less than a dollar tip), a trip to walmart for underwear for chris, and some great music classics, we arrived in baton rouge at doug and kathryn's house and then met up with a high school friend of chris's and finally headed to a good night's rest.

friday morning we woke up ate some cinnamon rolls and then headed to the big easy to watch the fish compete at tulane. they did an awesome job and continued the tradition of winning the national championship. good job fish. after the awards ceremony we went back to doug and kat's for the evening. we got to hang out with the fam (doug, kat, kylie, karis, and caleb) along with jenny anne and chris and their daughter addison and eat some good poppy seed chicken and all the fixins, including some d.taylor sweet tea, abooyah. we tried to get to bed at a decent hour, in order for our long party day ahead.

sat. we arose quite early, but still later than most days in cs, and traveled back to the big easy. after we found a free parking spot, we made our way to the french quarter and introduced gabe to cafe du' monde and some beignets. then we walked most of the parade route, until my feet couldn't take it any more, along with a stop at the d-day museum. we watched the krewe of iris parade and caught a ton of beads and saw the fish again. then we started to walk back to the french quarter to meet up with the fish. after grabbing a bite to eat at johnny's poboys, we saw the fish, then started to head back to the car to drop off all the beads we collected earlier so we could get some more. once that mission was accomplished, we headed down bourbon street to get to canal for the endymion parade that night. we met up with the fish and headed to the parade. we somehow got stuck in the middle of the road for the parade, along with some lsu students, one of whom went to high school with one of chris's roommates from the summer. so we hung out with them for the parade and then talked about being facebook friends and taking pictures. we watched the parade and saw some of the saints players, taylor hicks (last season's american idol), journey and styx. we didn't get as many beads at this parade, but that was ok, because we got a lot earlier in the day. by the time the parade was over, we were really hurting from walking around all day, so we headed back down bourbon and back to the car.

sun. we slept all morning and headed back to cs. after a stop in orange, to eat with lauren (a friend of chris's from mock trial), we made it back here. all for an extremely fun and unforgettable trip.

here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

my feet...

2007-02-14T23:54:00.000-06:00

so there you go. feel bad for me. no don't. just hope and pray that it will be gone soon.
so since october, my feet have been rotting away by this fungal/rash/skin disorder thing that doctors can't diagnose. it's getting worse, and i know that i have complained to many of you. so i felt like those who haven't had the opprotunity to see my disgusting feet in all their glory should have the chance to. so here you go.

no life?...

2007-02-03T15:38:00.000-06:00

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life. There are 239 movies on this list.

() Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Airplane
Total:5

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
() American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:15

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
() The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 21

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far: 28

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
() KING KONG
Total so far: 33

() A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
(x) The Ring
() The Ring 2
(x) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 39

() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 42

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 49

() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
() Ocean's Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
()The Fog
(x) Ice Age
()Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 51

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x)ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
()Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far:53

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
()Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(x)Ever After
(x)Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 57

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x )Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
(x)The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
() Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far: 64

() Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
(x) The Glass House
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 70

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
() Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x)Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x)Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x)Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 75

(x) Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
(x)Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
() Three
Total so Far: 77

(X) Mean Girls
() Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x)Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far: 81
() Sleepy Hollow
() Club Dread
() Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x)Hook
(x)Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
() Orgazmo
(x) Drumline
(x)Hocus Pocus
Total so far: 86

() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
(x) Uptown Girls
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 87

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x)Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x)Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x)Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 93

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
() Snakes on A Plane
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Grand total:97

so the worst part about it, is that I only counted the movies that I remember finishing. some I remember starting, but am pretty sure that I didn't finish them. and there are some on there that I want to see but haven't (like snakes on a plane) and really if you think about this list, there are a whole lot of movies that aren't even on the list that I know I have seen. this list just seems like a lot of movies that are on tv or one day will be. so try it out for yourself. copy the list and fill it out to see if you have a life

new post...finally

2007-01-15T14:40:00.000-06:00

so my apologies to all of my readers for my sabatical from blogging last semester. i was so focused on my classes last semester that i forgot/avoided posting on my blog. it was a good semester all in all. the grades came out decently (better than the past semester, but not as good as i hope they could be), i ran in the dallas white rock half marathon and another ten mile race, and corps stuff was corps stuff. it was good though to finally walk in my boots, i made it and it's sometimes a bit unbelievable.

oh and i have been tagged. it's this game that some of the living hope bloggers started. basically i have to post 5 secrets or facts that not alot of people know and then "tag" 5 other people who do the same thing...so here goes

1. my first day of school during the second grade i got really sick and ended up having the chicken pox, so i missed the beginning of school.

2. when i was around 5 or 6, i was in love with the little mermaid and i had little mermaid everything, comforter, calculator, tshirts, and many other things...it was a bit ridiculous

3. during my junior and senior years of high school i was the mascot (the cougar) but the summer between i went to cheerleading camp and won the spirit stick and it's at my house.

4. i always wanted to go on the show "american gladiators" but i don't think exists anymore

5. when i was in eigth grade i competed in a creative problem solving team competition called Odessey of the Mind and my team won 1st place in the state and went to the world competition in knoxville, tennessee.

so i tag.... chris ragan, vanessa brooks, and finally david crowder that's it i don't want to tag 5 people so i am only tagging 3

till next time...

a tribute

2006-08-03T22:40:00.000-05:00

I dedicate this post to one of my best friends, Alisha Lombardi.

She has now officially moved out of College Station and is headed towards Greenville, North Carolina on her way to graduate school.

Although we have only known each other for about four months, we have had a ton of fun and great laughs and converstations. I and College Station will miss Alisha and all of her wonderful qualities. I have learned many great things from her, like where to get a great sno-cone in CS, and back routes to many places. But she has been a good friend and will continue to be. I can't wait to hear about all of her awesome experiences and about what the Lord will teach her and show her in the coming months.

Here's to you Alisha Marie Lombardi!

trivia and fun facts #2

2006-07-17T16:14:00.000-05:00

1. In what state is waffle house known as waffle steak?
2. What state is Muhammad Ali from?
3. Where is the Grand Ole Opry located?

aggie count: 14 (whoop!)

no more xcelerator hand dryers.

nashvegas

2006-07-17T16:03:00.000-05:00

we stopped off in elizabethtown on our way to Nashville, it was pretty cool.

then we passed the infamous dinosaur world (shout out to vanessa brooks)

ok, so i was supposed to have to work tommorrow, but the dates got all messed up and i am not working until wed. so we decided to stay the rest of the day in nashvegas! and now we are waiting around for the dudes to get off of work, then who knows what we will be up to.

then hopefully tommorrow we will make it back to the metroplex

Grove City and Louisville

2006-07-17T06:20:00.000-05:00

So we didn't head over to NYC, but we did get to stop in Grove City to hang out with the Lewis family. And Alisha got in touch with her toddler side.

Then we stopped at the infamous Sheetz gas station.

After that we headed over to the Ville. To hang out with my friend Katie K. and we went and finally got to see Superman the IMAX experience 3D. It was awesome! and we got these free superman cameras.

Then we got up at 7 am to meet with Oren and Cindy Martin at Panera bread.

Next we are off to Nashville and then back to Jackson Metroplex. Our trip is coming to an end.

reading info

2006-07-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

ok so i posted in backwards order so that you can read down and get the story in order. cool...i hope you enjoy

trivia and fun facts

2006-07-15T10:13:00.000-05:00

here it is the huge trivia contest. email your answers to me, so that no one can steal your answers (vblakey@gmail.com)

1. In what state is the city Eutaw located?
2. Where is the CocaCola headquarters located?
3. Which state was the "first at flight"?
4. Where is the olympian Michael Phelps from?
5. In what state can you not take left hand turns, only right hand turns?

Ok, so email me your responses, there are some awesome prizes in store.

Aggie count - 8
Xclerator hand dryers -2

Day 3

2006-07-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

Dear faithful readers,

We apologize first and foremost that we have not updated in the past four days due to the fact that we have not been able to connect to the internet. A lot has happened and we have many stories to tell.

back to the action...

Alisha met with her new roommate, Brandi, and found her new crib.

We also found out that people in North Carolina only name their daughters Brand(i,y) , because all of the girls we met were named that, Alisha’s new roommate, our waitress, and one of the graduate people Alisha met with.

Then we headed up to our nation’s capital. Once we made it through all the traffic, we got on the metro to head downtown. When we got off of the metro, it started to rain and we weren’t exactly sure as to where we were but then we found this….

As we were taking this picture, one of the secret service officers on patrol walked up to us and asked us we went to A&M because he was the class of ’02. We were glad he wasn’t going to arrest us.

Then we headed over to the Old Ebbett Grill, where FDR used to frequent, to grab something to eat, but the wait was an hour and a half.

So we started walking some more and finally stopped about 35 minutes later at this hole in the wall grill that had linoleum screwed into the wall. The food was ok. Then we headed back to the metro to go to Baltimore to stay the night.

this picture is a shout out to my new friend Karol, who is stuck in the cornfields of Illinois instead of being home in College Park. (Have fun this week with the new set of Leadershapers)

Once we got to B-town and figured out how to get to my friend Thao’s house. We laid down to go to sleep with all of the traffic noises coming through the window.

Day 4

2006-07-14T18:02:00.000-05:00

We got up around 10 and Thao made some crepes and then we headed out to what she refers to as the “tacky” part of town. Where they have flamingos on the buildings and other cool shops, like comic book stores and antique/junk stores (Tracy Smith’s heaven).

Then we decided we wanted to become Mexican wrestlers aka libras.

After that we headed to MICA, the Maryland Institute College of Art (where Thao goes to school) and walked around the neighborhood.

Back to DC, to check out the Air and Space Museum, American History Museum, and the Smithsonian Castle.

a shout to all my fellow Mac users!

This is Lance Armstrong's bike, can you believe it's already in the Smithsonian?

Then we met up with Chris Felliesen and ate some good Thai food. We parted ways with Chris and started driving to Philadelphia, but got stuck in traffic at midnight and decided to stay the night on the border of Maryland and Delaware.

Day 5

2006-07-14T17:36:00.000-05:00

We arrived in the city of brotherly love around 11:30. After going through ridiculous amounts of security (like taking off our watches and belts, but not shoes) we saw the liberty bell.

Then headed to the Visitor’s Center to get tickets to see the birthplace of our nation, Independence Hall. The park ranger that gave us our tickets asked us why there were so many Aggies in town (because I was wearing my tv crew shirt)? And we were so astonished, because we hadn’t seen any in Philly yet. He said he had seen “20” in the line. So there you go. We actually did see 2 Aggies, one was a former student and the other is about to be a freshman.

Tomorrow we are headed to NYC. So check back on Sunday hopefully for an update and more of our antics.

life is a highway...(Day 1...2)

2006-07-11T10:56:00.000-05:00

Day 1 (the abridged version)
10 am - we head to the mechanic to pick up my car from getting the alignment fixed again, only to find out that they haven't worked on anything because they only thought that I needed new tires and then quit looking at it. So they are going to look and try and fix it after a bunch of discussion between me and the manager.

10:30 am - We head to the airport to get my luggage, successfully.

1 pm - I call the mechanic, they are looking at the alignment, they should be done "soon".

3 pm - We head back to the mechanic, only to find out that the alignment is perfect, "so it has to be the tire", after more discussion they finally agree to go and drive the car

5:30 pm - After driving the car and looking at more things, they tell me that it's not the alignment or the tires, so it's something they can't fix. I get a refund for the original alignment.

6:20 pm - We finally are on the road to Greenville, NC in my mom's explorer.

6:30 pm - 9:59 am sunset, music, cokes, pit stops, sunrise, and some good converstation

Day 2 10 am - We arrive in Greenville!!!!

some funny stories:

After driving through the night, it's around 7:30 in the morning, which means what - that the rest of the world is now awake as well, including Starbucks, so we decide that we want to grab some java. We are looking at every exit to see if there is a Starbucks, because in Texas there are billboards and signs pointing to them everywhere, but we look and can't find one. But we think that maybe there would be one further "in" town. So we get off at the next city and start driving around looking for one. We get to a traffic light and a man in a pickup truck pulls up next to us, we roll our window down and get him to roll his down and ask him where the nearest Starbucks is, he tells us there isn't one. Later we find out that it doesn't seem that there are any Starbucks on I95 between Lumberton, SC and Greenville, NC. We found one as we were pulling into Greenville.

A shout out to some Allerton peeps, I haven't been able to use a hand dryer without thinking about you, but this morning at random gas station in Fayetteville, NC I found one of these -

Aggies spotted so far - 1

no real pictures yet...

____________ tour 06

2006-07-10T09:55:00.000-05:00

So I am offering a contest. Alisha and I are headed on worldwind east coast tour headed to Greenville, NC then to Washington DC/Baltimore, then to Philadelphia, PA then down to Louisville, KY then to Nashville, TN and back to Jackson, MS. So I want to name this trip (like rock bands have tour names, like the reunion tour or the Magical Mystery Tour), but I am having a writers' block and can't come up with anything cool, so if you can come up with something cool to call the "tour" post a comment and whoever we deem to have submitted an worthy name will be named the winner and will receive some sort of prize, to be determined.

Other than that you will be able to follow our journey on the blog, so check back daily to watch our antics.

And I finally made it back to Jackson, it only took me 11 hour without my luggage, which should get here sometime this morning. Delta is going to get some form of letter to me.

summer so far....

2006-07-03T19:51:00.000-05:00

So I finally have a computer that is connected to high speed internet. Whoop! for that. I have spent two weeks teaching a video workshop for Jackson Public Schools. It wasn't that bad, there were definate issues I had with some of the other staff but it was a good learning experience in any sense. After that I got on a plane and headed up to Illinois to spend some time with my dad and to attend a leadership institute called LeaderShape. It has been hard for me to process my time there and to be able to put the experience into words. I was surrounded by 57 individuals who for the most part want to make a difference in the world and found out that it is possible for us to change the world. I was a part of a community that respected and encouraged one another and pushed each other towards change. I did a lot of inner reflection and had some meaningful converstations. I had a lot of time to think about the past three years and the experience I have had in the Corps. Anyways now it's time for some pictures...

we lived in a huge mansion with secret passageways and everything.

awesome peeps from the week.

my family cluster making fun of different things during the week.

we were extremely lucky to have such an amazing staff.

a new post

2006-06-01T10:53:00.000-05:00

I apologize to all of my faithful few readers, I am sorry that it has been almost a month since my last post. I have survived the blisters from march to the brazos, finals, marched final review (pictures will come eventually), visited Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinatti, Ohio, seen my brother graduate, changed my major (woo woo for Technology Management, and read approximately 4 to 5 books in the last 2 and half weeks. So I have been too busy to post, actually I get tired of our dial up internet connection, so I usually don't bother. In about an hour I am headed to my home church's high school camp to be the green rec team leader. It's going to be a ton of fun, hopefully.

So if you have some time this summer, pick up a copy of the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne and read it. It's amazing. It will either shake up your faith or remind you that you are not alone in your thinking. If I had a million dollars I would buy as many copies as possible and give them away. Pick one up or order it on amazon.com

I will post some pictures from final review and kentucky soon.

what was i thinking....

2006-04-30T10:02:00.000-05:00

So my feet logged around 23 miles this weekend. No I don't own one of those step counters. I know because Friday night I ran the GLOW 5k with Alisha, Chris, and Julie. I was kind of nervous about not being able to do it, but really it was a good time. My first ever time to pay to run, who would have thought?! Then Sat. at around 7:30 the corps stepped off for a way too long march to the brazos. This year it was about 2 miles longer each direction, because we couldn't take the shortest route. I made it, again. So if I make it to next year's march to the brazos and make the trip there I will be the first female since the class of '04 to have done it all four years. Whoa, who really cares, I don't, but that's what my buddies keep telling me. But now I have some really huge blisters on the heels and balls of my feet, which makes it hurt to walk, so I have been walking on my toes, which makes my calfs hurt, so it's the inveitable cycle of pain. so now for some pictures.

cool music website

2006-04-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

So my brother always tells me or acts like I am a loser because of my taste in music, which is usually more of what's popular or has been popular. I am not really into listening to music or trying to find music by lesser known artists. That probably due to the fact that it is a lot of hard work trying to find the music to listen to and then if you do find some cool lesser known artist, you usually have to purchase the album to be able to listen to more of the artist. And that can get expensive. But today one of my buddies introduced me to Pandora. It's a website where you can put in an artist that you like and it will play that artist and other artists that sound like that artist. So it's like you create your own radio station playlist based on different artist that you like. And they play a lot of lesser known artists, too. Anyways it's well worth your time to check out the site and listen to some music. The wesite is pandora.com

boot run...

2006-04-19T14:24:00.000-05:00

so we finally did our boot run, which consists of six laps on the quad that equals approximately 3.3 miles. my feet were killing me, due to the fact that my boots are too big so my left foot kept coming out of the boot and going back in every time I took a step. but I did it. here are some pictures for proof.

on another note, I went home this past weekend. It was a good time. Maybe I will do a post about it soon.

boots...

2006-04-11T22:23:00.000-05:00

so I haven't posted in a few weeks. Last week was the longest, hardest, and busiest week all semester. Two tests, a paper, and parents' weekend activities (including me being in charge of the outfit banquet and slideshow). But this week has definately slowed down. Tonight our team from "East Asia" had a reunion, but before Emory showed up, after he forgot about it all together, Vanessa had a chance to try on my boots.

if you want to try them on too, let me know, I will see what I can do for you.

getting fitted for my boots...

2006-03-22T13:11:00.000-06:00

finally, I was able to get fitted for my boots. I thought it would be weird to put on my boots, and it was a little but not as much as I expected. They still really didn't feel like my boots because they didn't really fit as well as I thought they would, but that should change once they make the adjustments.

where should I live?

2006-03-19T21:49:00.000-06:00

so I found this quiz online that would tell you where you should live based on a series of questions about things that you like and dislike. This is where they thought I should live...

1. Greenville, South Carolina
2. Knoxville, Tennessee
3. Tulsa, Oklahoma I really don't want to live in Oklahoma
4. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
5. Charleston, South Carolina
6. Clarksville, Tennessee
7. Chattanooga, Tennessee
8. Louisville, Kentucky
9. Nashville, Tennessee
10. Jackson, Mississippi I mean really it's not like I haven't spent enough time in this town
11. Athens, Georgia
12. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
....19. Bryan-College Station, Texas whoop!

I guess I have picked some of the right places to live or my preferences are due to the fact of where I have lived.

expectations...

2006-03-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes there are times when I know that I have been spoiled, especially within the church and body of Christ.

One of these times was this week. I spent a week in Grove City, PA with a church plant. I realized how my high expectations are for things, in general, but especially when they are related to God and his work. I went into the trip with an attitude of going and doing things. I really didn't know what those things were going to be, but I wanted to do something, get my hands dirty. But really the trip was about encouraging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I had the privelege of getting to know the Lewis' (the family that planted the church in Grove City) and the members within the church. I got to go a local college's Christian student organizational meeting, a time of worship and teaching. I was able to sit in the church's youth group stuff. And during the entrire week, all I did was think of ways I would have done things differently, wanting them to be better. And the reason, I think, that I continued to think this way is because I have been blessed to be apart of churches and ministries that have the resources (people, wisdom, monetary, whatever) to do many different things to allow me to know God better. Which I took and caused my mind to have really high expectations. I am not saying that having resources and wanting to do things to cause people to know the Lord better is wrong, I am so thankful for those things. But those are the things that I want for the people that I came in contact with, for them to know the true God and all aspects of His character. But at the same time, I have to get over my way of thinking and see that the Lord works through different people and ways of doing things.

It was such a blessing to be with the Lewis' and the Church at the Crossroads, to learn from them in many different ways and hopefully to encourage them to persevere.

the adventures of Captain Crabby and Sergeant Sensitive

2006-03-16T20:36:00.000-06:00

Our journey first began when we boarded this amazing crop plane, that felt as though we would plummet down to the ground and vomit on our pilots.

Once we landed safely in Pittsburgh, we headed on to the metroplex of Grove City, Harrisville, and Slippery Rock. After our long trip of driving and flying to our humble abode, we decided on who was sleeping where. Little did I know, I would be sharing a room with the coolest, most amazing cook, most fun, and glorious person I have ever met in my entire life, Alisha "Sergeant Sensitive" Lombardi.

As we continued in our travels, we stumbled upon the campus of Grove City College. During our time there, I had the amazing privilege of meeting a bronzed replica J. Howard Pew.

Later in our trip we took a tour of the largest privately owned waterfall east of the Mississippi River. During our time at there, a mountain man named Jack Stone came out of the woods for an all natural photo shoot in the elements of the forest. He laid down all of his manly mountain tools, such as his axe, and posed for this spectacular picture.

more adventures in the coming episodes....

signed off, Capt. Crabby

North Country

2006-03-06T06:31:00.000-06:00

This weekend I rented this movie, really because blockbuster was all out of Walk the Line and Pride & Prejudice, which I guess was a good thing because I had seen both of those movies in the theater and hadn't seen this one. There were a bundch of theings theat were really interesting in the movie. (ok, so if you want to watch the movie don't read the rest, it will have spoilers)

The whole movie is about this woman who works at a mine and all of the women that work there are being harassed by the men. On the surface it would seem like the movie was all about the "liberation" of these women to be able to work in a man's enviroment. But that is not what the movie is really about.

Really it's about the story of this woman, who has this reputation of being a whore, but never in the movie do you see her engage in any activity that would be worthy of that description. The reason for that label is because she had two children from different fathers, and she left her husband because he was beating her. Her oldest child, she says that she doesn't know who the father is. And because of that her father is angry with her and alienates her. But in the harassment trial, the prosecution brings up her sexual history. Through that, she finally comes out with the truth that she was raped by her teacher when she was sixteen. And because of that she was pregnant, but instead of telling anyone about the rape, she tells people that she doesn't know who the father is.

So, all I can think about is that if she had told people that she had been raped, her son would have never been born because society would "approve" of an abortion. But she didn't do that, she gave up her reputation and dealt with all of the public criticism to have her son.

I don't know how much of the story was true, but if that part of the story was true, man, I have some kind of respect for that woman.

Radical Reformisson

2006-03-03T17:53:00.000-06:00

So I ordered this book, along with 2 other books, on amazon.com a couple of weeks ago, and they came in the mail on Tuesday. I finished this one last night, it was pretty interesting and a guick read. My youth minister recommended it to me when I went to see him at the beginning of Feb. and none of the bookstore in town had it, so it took some time for me to get my hands on it.

The basic drift of the book is that we as Christians should not reject the culture around us, but understand the culture we have been placed in, so that we can communicate the gospel in a way that is relevant to the people around us. The book is specific in not embracing the culture so that we look like everyone around us, but by understanding it and still being in it. The whole "in the world but not of the world" idea.

The book had lots of questions throughout, that helped the reader to see what the culutre around them was like. It had practical ideas and suggestions as to what "reformission" looks like.

feel good Christianity

2006-02-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

so my dad sent me an email with a link to a website called "An Interview with God". so I clicked on it and watched this slideshow presentation with pictures of pristine nature and wilderness, while there were titles of the "interview with God". The first question to God was, what surprises you most about creation? To myself I am thinking nothing, because God is all-knowing and has omniprescence. I mean He created everything the way it is, so nothing would be surprising to Him right. Well the answer comes up and is this answer like...that children want to grow up fast and then when they are grown up they want to be children again, and they lose their health to gain money and then lose their money to gain their health back. And there was a lot more of those types of answers, that feel good Americanized "Christianity". It's like they took the little bit they knew of God and added all of these "life lessons" and put some amazing pictures of God's creation, then marketed it to Christians. You know what a lot of people are watching it and forwarding it to others. I am really tired of this false view of Christianity and the gospel that we can get if we just take everything that is given to us at face value. I guess that's why we are to test everything and be as wise as serpents.

something cool

2006-02-19T20:26:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I went to Living Hope tonight, just because I wanted to see more of what the church does. And I gather that they are walking through Mark, because they had studied the first chapter and they were on the second chapter tonight. Ok, so Mark 2:1-12, is the story of the paralyzed man that gets dropped at Jesus' feet through the roof and Jesus heals them. And there are lots of cool things about the story that I never really thought about before, but I always remember not really understanding one part of it. So verses 5-10 basically were usually really confusing.

"When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit taht this was what they were thinking in their hears, and he said to them, 'Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins."

So I am thinking to myself I don't know which is easier to say, I mean I can't do either on my own. I can't forgive someone's sins, and without God's power I can't heal a paralyzed man either. But I think I always thought that forgiving his sins was easier, because that's the one he did right. Nope, while everyone else was talking about something else, I realized that Jesus could have just healed him and let the man go, but he wanted the teachers and everyone to question why he "forgave his sins". The teachers knew that God was the only one able to forgive sins, and if Jesus was able to forgive sins wouldn't that make Him God. He wanted them to see that he was the Son of Man. It wasn't never meant to be confusing, it was he basically telling them and them reasoning it that he was the Son of Man.

mind is chewing on this thought....25 times before it can be swallowed

some fun

2006-02-08T23:09:00.000-06:00

so I thought this was a funny picture and that you might get a laugh out of it.

why study theology?

2006-02-08T15:55:00.002-06:00

So I have started to read/study a book called Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem. It's basically systematic theology for every believer, not just people who want to go to seminary...so I guess that would be me, right. If you don't know systematic theology is the study of what the entire Bible say about a certain topic. I am really excited about learning what scripture says about different topics so that I will know why I believe what I believe and even maybe find out what I believe about topics I don't have an opinion on right now. Before this "season" in my life, I never really understood why someone would want to study/learn about theology. I didn't really think it was that important or that I needed to learn about it. But that is what the first chapter of the book was about...what is theology and why study it and how to study it. So I have answered basically what it is already, but why study theology? First, because the Lord has called us to it. In Matt 28:19-20 it states,

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Not only were we called to go and evangelize and baptize people but we were also called to teach them everything Christ commanded us. Now how will I be able to accomplish this part of the Great Commission if I don't know things for myself? I won't.

On top of the fact that it is a call on my life as a disciple to study theology, it will also give me a more accurate picture of who the Lord is and so won't I be able to relate with him better if I know Him more intimately. I think so.

Me studying theology isn't about me knowing lots of big words and concepts, but about knowing God, so that He can be glorified and praised through my life and by me knowing Him.

I am really excited about this.

no idea

2006-01-24T23:39:00.000-06:00

So I started this thing at the end of last March and haven't even thought about it until today. That seems kind of strange. Whatever. I thought it might be good for me to have a record of things going on in my brain, so that I could look back at them someday.

I feel like the Lord is changing my heart and where He is calling me to be. I don't really know how all of it is going to play out but I do know that it is for the best and that the Lord will bring glory to Himself and that is all I really care about. I am excited about this semester and what it entails. I think this is the first semester I actually feel like I can do well in all of my classes. So that's definately different. I guess I will see what that looks like. I am going to start studying the Bible and why I believe what I believe and I am really excited about that too. I don't know what I really want to talk about on this blog but hopefully there will be a reoccuring theme soon, so that I am not just rambling on about a bunch of crap going on in my neck of the woods.

that all will know the One...