Recap

Well I've been on a sort of blogging hiatus for some time now. I have thought several times about deleting the account altogether. My wonderful cousin from Bella Pop Photography asked me to join her online photography class. In this class I'll be expected to post my progress. I'm so excited to be a part of this project and to learn new tricks on my dslr camera. Stay tuned!!

Meanwhile, I'll catch you up on some important highlights of my life.

-I now have 3 nieces and they are all beautiful!!

-I have joined a roller derby team. Check us out @ www.browncoderbydebutaunts.com

-I have recorded my very first song. You can listen to it HERE

-I had a baby! Okay, just kidding :)

Be love, Tipsy Gypsy

Thanksgiving

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever"-Ps 107:1

This has been another exorbitant year. I spent the majority of my time in San Antonio and I am thankful for the time I had there. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share a home with my best friend and thankful for all of the new faces I met and new friendships that were made. I am thankful for my family's health and for my own and for surviving the H1N1 flu virus. For a while I thought I wasn't going to make it. I am thankful for my family and for the favorable circumstances that allowed me to have lived close to my brother, his wife, and my beautiful niece for the majority of this year. I am thankful for healing and for another year of moving forward; pressing on toward the goal. I am thankful for friends and loved ones that have encouraged me, prayed for me, spent time with me, laughed with me, thought of me, and loved me. I am thankful for my dog Kona, my car that is finally back up and running (thanks to my big brother!), having a roof over my head, and a job that provides; a God that provides. I am thankful for all of those that our paths have crossed and made my life the richer, like Misti for her ceaseless friendship and advice, the Metcalf's for their sincere love and friendship, Shaye Miller who was my first role model, all of my hookers, the Hot Bod Pod,old co-workers, new friends, old friends, my brothers and their wives, my amazing and very large family, and most of all for the unfailing love of our Heavenly Father.
May you be blessed today and always!-L

Happy Birthday Zinnia Pearl!

Zinnia Pearl is not so little anymore. She's a big one year old! We had her birthday party this weekend and she was so adorable opening presents and smiling with her sweet little three toothed grin. She's walking all over the place and even saying a few words too. She did such a great job opening presents and loved her pretty pink birthday cake.





Her very first Build-a-bear from Aunt Linzie



New ride from Grandma Bunny







Cake time!!



Yum Yum!


Clean up time

Zinnia Pearl is almost 1

Turning 1 next month...



Where did the time go?

McGuyver to the Rescue!

My job has its busy moments. It has its junctures of impulse and adrenaline, but most days are calm and quiet with only the simple action of assisting someone who has locked their selves out of the room. I am very grateful for those days. The days I don't have to respond to a fire alarm or a student who is unconscious. Today I responded to a very unusual call. The complainant advised that there were baby ducks in the fountain and unable to get out. Sure enough, when I got to the fountain there were 12 baby ducks all swimming around in the fountain. The cement step leading out of the fountain was about 6 inches from the top water and the poor little ducklings were unable to get out. Now, I am no animal buff, but growing up we had several animals that abandoned their young after having had human contact. I decided the best thing to do was to make some sort of ramp for the ducks to walk up. I searched around campus and finally found a 2x4 that was long enough to reach the water and the first step of cement and it worked! The ducks got the hang of it instantly and helped one another waddle up the ramp and onto dry land! Who knew ducks could be so smart? Unfortunately three little ducklings didn't pay attention to their brothers and sisters and didn't use the ramp to escape. Instead they swam around the fountain darting under water and swimming until they had no breath left. I found a shovel and took off my shoes and socks and climbed in the "recycled water" fountain to scoop the ducks out and place them on dry land. I like to think that they're all safe and sound now and that all of the little ducklings found their Mom and are nestled safely under her wing tonight. They sure were cute little things. As for me, I'll add duck rescuing to my resume tonight.

1/2 Marathon

I took the plunge! A few weeks ago two of my good friends and I were discussing training for a 1/2 marathon. They completed their registration earlier this week and today I did the deed too. It's official. I am running in the 2009 San Antonio Rock'n Roll 1/2 Marathon.
The race is in November and the vigorous training starts now! I spent the day gearing up with some new running shorts and tennis shoes for extra motivation. Say an extra prayer for me this week. I'm sure training this week will have me pretty sore!

My Mimi

Today marks one year of the death of my grandmother Clawson. Some called her Betty, Mom, and Betty Blue, I called her Mimi. She battled many illnesses in her life time and fought a vicious battle of cancer in her later years.
Today I'll share one of my most treasured memories with my Mimi.
I must have been in the 4th or 5th grade. It was the first year my family made what has since become a yearly trip down the Rio Grande River. I was much to young at the time to make the 83 mile paddle, so during spring break I stayed with my Mimi and Grandy in Austin, Texas. At the time Mimi worked for the Texas School for the Deaf and during my week long stay I would tag along with her and "help" her in her office. I spent the days playing on the playground outside, tagging along with the custodian Joyce, who was deaf, or helped Mimi do "important" stuff in her office. She would give me a few quarters to get a snack out of the vending machine across her office and she'd also pack fun lunches for the two of us too. They spoiled me good by taking me to eat Chinese food (which at the time was my favorite!) and also my very first trip to Taco Cabana. Yum! I remember the two of them telling me how the food used to come down in a little shoot in the drive through. Is that true or am I making stuff up now? During the week we stayed at their house in town where I remember climbing into bed every morning between my Mimi and Grandy to watch cartoons. This was SUPER special as I did not have cable tv growing up, not to mention climbing in between the two of them. On Saturday morning we woke up early and went garage sale shopping. One of my Mimi (and Grandy's) favorite Saturday morning activities. Mimi loved going to garage sales and in true Mimi fashion would pick up most everything to inspect. Some days we would be going to garage sales well into the afternoon. She loved jewelry and anything with butterflies on it.
After the garage sale festivities we headed out to their weekend house in La Grange, Texas. They had a farm house on a few acres with a fabulous pond and lots of land to run and play on. After dinner one night Mimi got her mandolin and Grandy his guitar and entertained me with a few songs. My favorite was Skip to my Lu, which was very special to me as my Mimi always called me LuLu or Lu. In fact, for a few years growing up I thought that they had written that song just for me. I later found out while singing the song in school that unfortunately it was a very popular song that most of the world knew. On Sunday we went fishing in the pond. While Grandy was off searching for a big fat yellow grasshopper to put on my lure I was impatiently walking along the bridge over the pond dragging my bare hook in the water. I remember walking back and forth singing to myself (which I did often) and all of the sudden felt a little tug on my line. I quickly stopped singing and tugged back to reel in a small little perch. Who needs grasshoppers?
Unfortunately the week came to a close and my family picked me up after their week long excursion down the Rio Grande River, but my memories of that week will forever be printed on my heart. A weekend well spent with Mimi and Grandy.




"Till we meet, till we meet
Till we meet at Jesus' feet
Till we meet, till we meet
God be with you till we meet again"