Skippy Dog

So I'm currently in Austin for work.  Thankfully I'm hanging out with a sweet friend and she's feeding me quesadillas while I crash on her couch and watch the Rangers in the World Series.  We're debating how old the San Francisco pitcher is--he's very young looking.  It feels pretty homey around here.  Not sure what my problem is, but it's amazing to me that I studied abroad for an entire semester.  Kinda missing a whole lot of this...

Skippy Dog.

More of Skippy Dog.

 

Curled up Skippy Dog.  Love it.  (Clearly I'm missing him a lot.)

  
And come on Rangers.  Right now they're losing.  Get it together.

Ok, that's all I have for now.

Adios.

Homecoming 2010

The feeling of anticipation of seeing friends on stage during Pigskin.

The smell of the bonfire smoke.

The sight of familiar faces.

The feeling of Baylor Pride.

The embrace of college friends.

The sound of laughter and squeals of delight at the Parade.

The view of clouds rolling in before the game.

The feeling of a downpour on your back & a two-hour rain delay at the football game

The celebration of finally going to a Bowl game.

This is Baylor Homecoming.

Sweet BSB Friend, Liz, in town from UT--she couldn't stay away!

Delta Love.  Bonfire Style.

BSB friends: Drew and my cousin Austin at the Parade

Smoo came in town!

Football game

{We sang "Texas, Our Texas."  I don't remember ever doing this before...}

Sic'em

We're going to a Bowl Game!  

We might've been a tad excited...

This is the Day

While I love looking back at Baylor, I couldn't help but be reminded that I'm not there anymore.  I'm here.  And here is really great, too.  So this is what I'm doing right here, right now.  And I'm grateful.

This is my friend Taylor.  We get together every so often and chat about life.  She's an incredible dancer and is looking to go to college to do what she loves.  It's pretty awesome.  I saw her Sunday, when I got to go back to the church I grew up in and sing.  It's so nice to come back every once in a while and see people I've known forever.  And I always love singing.  Always.  

Apparently booties are in style this season!!

Sunday night, Adam and I carved a watermelon and a pumpkin, respectively.  Adam decided that a watermelon would be much better smelling.  I must agree, it wasn't nearly as goopy as my pumpkin!  I haven't carved a pumpkin in so long.  And I've certainly never carved a watermelon!  It was so fun.

And tonight I came in from a day-trip to San Antonio, and Claire was making dinner.  It was SO worth documenting!  She made stir fry, and it was really yummy.  What a treat to walk in the door to a fabulous dinner!  We ate in front of the TV and watched Gilmore Girls, and now we've switched to the Ranger game.  {Pretty awesome that we're in the playoffs!}  Life is good.

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

Coming Home {Day 2: Getting There & Settling In}

I applied to Baylor the first day humanly possible.  Soon after, I received a call from my admissions counselor, Melissa.  That's one of the things I love about Baylor--it's so personal.  She let me know that I'd been accepted, and that I'd receive my official letter in the mail soon.  It was an exciting day at the Dixon house!  My mom happened to grab my camera while I was on the phone and was able to capture the moment.  I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere.

We had a family friend who had a niece my age also going to Baylor.  Julia and I met over Christmas break our senior year of high school and hit it off.  Although we were different in a lot of ways, we figured we had enough similarities that we could live together.  It sure beat going pot luck!

This was move in day in our tiny room of Collins 257.  {And also the day of my most embarrassing moment.  Ask me about it sometime.}  Imagine us, plus both sets of parents, and then people dropping by to say hi.  It was insanely packed.  But in a good way.  We rearranged our room not long after we moved in to create a little more space.  I still marvel at the fact that I walked down the hall to the bathroom for an entire year...amazing how college will stretch you!

One of the reasons I think I felt so comfortable at Baylor was that I still had "family" there.  Our Baylor Summer Bunch had lots of kids at Baylor.  I loved running into them on campus, sitting with them in Chapel, calling them for advice, or just hanging out.  It was so nice to see a familiar face.  This was dinner one night at Rudy's when we all ate together.  (That didn't happen too often, but it was always fun!)

{BRH Choir Christmas Party}

Another thing I knew I needed to do very quickly was to get involved.  That's always my first piece of advice to college freshman.  One of the reasons I didn't love high school was because I struggled to find a place where I could fit in.  I wanted that to change at Baylor, and I made a conscious effort to be different.  When someone asked me to go and do something,  I went.  Every time.  (Unless of course they asked me to smoke pot or something.  Ha.)  

One of the ways I got involved was trying out for BRH Choir.  Two of my BSB friends were already in the choir, Laura and Allison.  I auditioned and got to start singing with them twice a week.  They graduated that year, and I will always think of BRH in '05-'06 as my favorite year.  We met on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 and sang in Miller Chapel on campus.  Singing that often made my heart happy, and getting to see two girls I looked up to so much was also a treat.  I got to know the rest of the choir as well, and they, too, became an extended family.  

About once a month, we'd travel to another city to sing at a few churches.  This was our way of fundraising for our end-of-year mission trip.  Although I was in BRH for three years, I only went on one trip.  I lucked out and got to go to Australia after my freshman year.  Way cool.  

The other thing I did my Fall semester was get involved with FCC (Freshman Class Council).  Honestly, we didn't do much, but it was a great way to meet people.  We got to be in the parade and walk with our float.  It was a fun thing to do, and I enjoyed it.  

And of course, the Fall semester wouldn't be complete without Homecoming.  It was so fun to share this with my family.  Pretty sure this was our Christmas card that year.  Although Troy didn't end up coming to Baylor, we don't give him a hard time about it.  :-)  He still asks to come home for the Homecoming weekend, and he loves it as much as the rest of us.  I guess when it's in your blood, it's just hard to ignore.

Coming Home {Day 1: A History}

This coming weekend is Baylor Homecoming.  I have not missed one since I was three.  That makes 21 Homecomings, and that is a lot.  Needless to say, it's a big part of what I look forward to in the Fall, and one reason I am so loyal to Baylor: lots of memories were made there.  So this week, I'm looking back at Homecoming, and also my time at Baylor.  It'll be a little walk down memory lane...

A Baylor Baby, from Day One!

I remember being in elementary school and watching the clock, because I knew I could leave that Friday at 2 p.m.  The day always dragged on and on.  But finally it would come, and we'd make our way down to Waco.  I couldn't wait to see my cousins, visit the Bears, and watch the parade.  

When we were really young, our parents dropped us off at an older lady's home while they went to the football game.  I always hated that part, because she made us take naps, and I'm pretty sure she smoked.  But we did always get to make homemade play dough, which was kind of cool.   Isn't it funny the things we remember??  (And my mom will be quick to point out that she was a nice reputable lady, and we had a connection to her from a church in Waco.  She was not random.  I was not mistreated.  Just sayin'.)  :-)

As I got older, I was "allowed" to do more.  I always liked this best (of course!).  Friday night was always Pigskin and then the huge Bonfire.  Saturday was the parade, football came, lunch at Fuddruckers, and then hanging out at the First Baptist Church gym with our Baylor Summer Bunch friends.  Sunday morning we'd eat breakfast at Penland, one of the dorms on campus.  (Making waffles in the waffle iron was a definite highlight.)  As you can see, there's a lot of tradition.  

Now that I'm an alum and have college friends of my own to see, it's a bit of a challenge for me to change my plans from what I'm "used to."  But this is the time for making new traditions with my new(er) friends, and still keeping in touch with the old ones.  That's the beauty of coming home:  it's familiar, but never quite the same.  

{Homecoming 2010 with old roomies at the Bonfire}

My parents met at Baylor, so that's why we originally started going to Homecoming in the first place.  When it came time for me to start looking at schools, my Dad made me strongly encouraged me to look at other schools.  So I did:  Samford, Belmont and Vanderbilt.  All conveniently 12+ hours away, in Nashville and Birmingham, respectively.  You'd better believe I wasn't actually serious when I looked at these schools.  I couldn't even go to summer camp before my senior year in high school, much less go that far away to college!  But I went and looked anyways, and it was a fun weekend away with my Dad.  This was February of my junior year in high school.  (Read: a very cold and rainy weekend = not conducive to touring campuses, and therefore, it made my decision even easier.  Ha!)

The following weekend, I went down to Waco with my best friend from High School, Sarah.  She'd never been before, and they had a Preview weekend for potential students.  At the time, I didn't know that extending this invitation to her would change the course of her life, but she loved Baylor as much as I did, and later told me it was that weekend that we went that helped make her decision.  (I think it was a good one!)

{Baylor, February 2004 with Sarah in front of the Business School.  

Ironically, neither of us majored in business!}

I've always loved this picture we took that weekend.  I felt so much older than my 17-year-old self.  I remember getting to campus, and for the first time, I was there without my parents.  It was the beginning of "my turn" at Baylor.  I could feel it.  When I look at this picture and think of this weekend, I remember feeling a sense of confidence, of feeling that I belonged, of feeling beautiful--on the inside.  It was a new and exciting time for me, and I enjoyed my senior year of high school knowing that I was going to a place that was familiar but also held so many unknown adventures.  I couldn't wait.

{Baylor Homecoming 2010--our first as alums!}

And here we are, six years later.  I'll fill in the gaps of what happened between the two photos later this week.  Sic'em Bears!

Friday Fun

Lunch at Chili's.  The taste of Dr. Pepper and a bacon cheese burger.  (Can't beat it.)  Two games at Top Golf.  A beautiful day for a little competition.  You would never know I took three semesters of golf at Baylor.  (I'm horrible.)  A trip to Target for some socks, which turned into a hunt for jeans.  Unsuccessful with the jeans, but a fun trip, nonetheless.  I typically don't end up in the guys clothing section.  It was fun to spice things up a bit.    Watching "Cake Boss," just for the heck of it.    Crunches and push ups (It's a new addition to my workouts.  Mostly only fun to do when Adam's around.  Shocking, I know.)  A Night Run.  The smell of firewood, the cool air, the smooth water on the lake, the view of Downtown all lit up.  Definitely my favorite run I've ever done.  I'm a fan of this cool weather running.  Mac and Cheese for dinner.  Watching the Rangers playoff game.  (Too bad they lost.)  It's amazing what all you can do when you have a half day off from work.  I loved every minute.  

(This was actually taken another half day I was able to take in May.  We went to Six Flags.  Have I mentioned that I love half days?  Fun things always seem to happen.)

Happy Birthday, Lyndsy!

Today is my sweet friend Lyndsy's birthday!  We celebrated at Yogurtville last week, and had a great time catching up.  

I met Lyndsy in Maastricht when I studied abroad there.  We lived across the hall from each other, and became friends really quickly.  I knew I liked her when she got us through the underground tunnels of Maastricht on a scavenger hunt.  For this directionally challenged girl, she was speaking my love language!

Here we are after finishing the tunnels.  Whew.  I didn't know I was claustrophobic until then.

Lyndsy is a great caretaker.  :-)  I can't believe I'm posting this picture of me, but whatever.  I fainted on Easter Sunday in Rome, and Katie and Megan and Lyndsy were all there with me, and we went to the clinic at the Vatican.  (I'll have to tell that story another time!)  They gave me a shot and some chocolate, and Lyndsy tried to relay whatever the Italian doctors were trying to say.  She stayed very calm as I was freaking out.  

This was last year on my 23rd Birthday.  

She came over with Claire and Smoo to help me celebrate with my family!

New Years Eve 2010.  

We spent it at Billy Bob's in Ft. Worth.  

It was a rather hilarious evening.  

Apparently we like to celebrate birthdays together!  

Here we are at Claire's "Pink" Party last February.

Lyndsy's family also has a lake house on the same lake as mine, 

and we get to hang out there sometimes.  We were having quite the fun times on the float.  

This was after some animal came up and bit me.  We were laughing pretty hard.

Lyndsy is a great friend.  She's in grad school for Physical Therapy right now, and works really, really hard.  I have to get on her calendar a couple weeks in advance, usually, but I always love it when we get to catch up!  Happy 25th Birthday, Lyndsy!  Hope you have a happy day!

A Cooking Kick

Every once in a while, I get on a cooking kick.  Today was it.  And in other exciting news, I've never chopped up an onion, until today.  Guess there's a first for everything.

Sunday dinner, I had Smoo over, and we ate this:

 Corn Chowder Recipe

I made it without the chilies.  I'm not one for a lot of spiciness, and it was really good.  So good, in fact, I'm having it for lunch at work, too.

Then we got really excited to make these cupcakes and frosting.  Oh my heavens.  The frosting is. to. die.  for.  We would've been eating them a whole lot quicker, too, if I'd remembered to actually turn the oven on before putting them in.  Sometimes I wonder if my head is attached to the rest of my body.

Cupcake and Frosting Recipe

And for dinner tonight, Beef Short Ribs.  I've been wanting to make this recipe for a couple of weeks.  Tonight is the night.  Claire has parent/teacher conferences all day long, and I thought the last thing she'd want to do is think about where and what to eat when she was finished.  Last year, she said she didn't have any words left when she got home.  I guess I'll find out!

Beef Short Ribs Recipe

The Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite blogs.  She has recipes that'll make your mouth water.  (All these recipes and photos are from her.)  So far, everything's been quite tasty.  I'll keep you posted on the ribs!

The Wedding Singer

Friday night I ended up going to my high school homecoming football game.  Chef Sarah invited me to come along, and although never in a million years did I think I would willingly return to campus (ha!), it was quite nice to catch up with old friends.  One of the things that I most enjoyed about high school was when Emily pulled three of us together to meet each week.  I stayed in touch with them in college, and we got to reconnect again Friday night.  

{Lee Ann, Chrisey and me at the football game}

There were about twelve of us from the class of 2005 at the game, and we all gravitated toward the Alumni tent.  Strange to think we've been gone five years!  It was great to see where everyone was and what they were doing.  Facebook has made it easy to "stalk" people, so I knew generally what they were up to, but it was really nice to see them in person.  

Saturday night I sang in a wedding for a friend-of-a-friend.  I'm glad I got to be a part of the wedding, and I also got to bring Adam along as my date.  Quite a treat, since not every invitation invites me and a date!

{Self Portrait!}

Instead of going and knowing practically everyone in the room at a wedding, I went knowing only about ten friends.  It was kind of nice to feel "anonymous!"  They opened up the dance floor after all the toasts, and there were about three couples, including us, on the dance floor.  I should've known this since we met two-stepping, but Adam is a dancing machine!  I haven't had that much fun in a long time.  We danced all night.  (Hence why my hair looks a little flat in all these pics.  But I know that's a sign of a good time!)

  I sang at Natalie's wedding in Austin earlier this summer.  We've been friends our whole lives, and it was great to see this Austin-ite.  

{Natalie, me and Gentry}

I sang at Gentry's wedding two years ago.  (Seems I just keep making the rounds!)  They just moved back to Dallas, and I'm so glad!  I knew Gentry from Natalie's birthday parties growing up, but we really became friends when we pledged Tri Delta at Baylor.  So much fun! 

And here I am with my most fabulous dance partner and date, who makes me laugh all.the.time.  Perhaps a new favorite photo.  (I seem to have a lot of those!) 

PS.  Happy 10.10.10! 

On Being a Duck

 

 source

Last week I booked a ticket to go visit Troy.  I'm really excited to go visit my brother in Boston next month.  I'm thrilled to see him...on his turf, with his friends, and in his own space.  It's been over a year since I've visited him, and two years since we got to hang out with our cousins there.

I've never actually seen these ducks in person, but apparently they live in Boston Common, and they're characters from a childrens' story book. I was researching things to do in Boston, and this image popped up on several sites.

So, they were on my mind yesterday when a dear friend reminded me to "be more like a duck." 

Huh?

You know the phrase, "Like water off a duck's back?"  I don't always let things slide right off.  I'll admit (and my family & roommates can attest), I can get rather "prickly" sometimes.  But thankfully, I think I'm getting better about it. 

I wish I could tell you that I'm a go-with-the-flow, laid-back person all the time.  That's one trait I wish I had more of in my life.  But I'm not, and I let certain things get under my skin that aren't that big of a deal in the long run.

So these days, I'm working on being a duck.  It's not always easy, but it's good.
 

A Full Fall Weekend

Dear 5k, thanks for letting me kick your booty this weekend.  It felt good.  Dear Adam, thanks for circling back after finishing your race to run with me.  Running next to you never gets old...except for when I'm really tired.  :-)  And I really like this picture of us.  I think we'd make a pretty good three-legged race team.  Just sayin'. PS--I'm proud of you for winning in your age group.  You're a stud.

I'm pretty sure Adam was saying, 

"Shay, go kick his butt. Don't let an old man beat you again."  

This time, I didn't.  Thanks for the nudge.

(I found these photos here...just for the record.)

Dear AMP, after the race you made pancakes and added special ingredients.  They were so yummy.  And when I asked for a Mickey Mouse pancake that turned into a Baylor Bear, I'm pretty sure it was the reason they beat Kansas that day.  Sic' em.

Dear Chef Sarah, thanks for planning a girls' night out.  Without your party planning expertise, we would've missed watching the DART train at Twisted Root Burger Co...

and Sara Bareilles in concert.  And that would've been a shame, for sure.  

{Claire, Stephanie, Smoo, Me and Sarah}

Oh, Sara B.  You were a great entertainer and a wonderful musician.  

Thank you for acknowledging that getting to do what you love for a living is a wonderful thing. 

Dear Pumpkins, you make our apartment look more like Fall.  

I loved getting goosebumps from the breeze as I picked you out at Whole Foods on Sunday.  

How was your weekend?  Did it feel like Fall to you??

Show Us Your Life Friday

"No matter where I serve my guests,  

it seems they like my kitchen best!"

This saying is cross-stitched on some decorative towels of my grandmother's that now hang off the oven handle at the lake.  And I believe it's such a true statement!  We've had a few parties here at the apartment and lots of friends over this past year, and it seems that we always congregate in the kitchen.  And I love it.  

Today at Kelly's Korner is Show Us Your Life Friday, specifically the Dining Room.  We don't have a "formal" Dining Room, but we do have a breakfast room/kitchen area.  Last year, from May to September, I looked at 17 apartments.  (I shouldn't admit that, probably.  Mind you, I was bored and job hunting until mid-September.  And it was a way of coping with my "in between" life stage, ha!)  

All that to say, when Claire and I walked into this apartment, we turned the corner around the fireplace and gasped.  Or squealed.  Or maybe both...I don't really remember.  But I know that we fell in love with the kitchen.

See the pot rack?  That's one of my favorite things.  

And here it is with furniture.  I've always wanted a red kitchen since I was little.  I remember antique shopping with my mom and running across a kitchen with all these red accents and thinking that it was so cool.  So here I am, a grown up, and I actually have a red kitchen.  Love it.

The table was my grandmother's, who we called Nanny.  The chairs used to be white with a blue and white check.  When I moved into my favorite college apartment junior year, I repainted and stained them (with a lot of help from my mom and aunt!) and got the chairs recovered.  Pretty much everything in that room was given to me.  It pays to have a mom as a decorator!

This October, there are eight bloggers that are doing "31 Days of..."  I like this because it means that I'll have lots of blogs to read this month!  Today on My First Kitchen, Kendra began her month of "31 Days to An Inspired Table."  

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.  I thought it would be more on how to decorate a table, but I was pleasantly surprised today when she charged her readers to do this:

"Make a list of what you want your friends and family to expect when it's time for dinner. Call it your Family Food Culture. How do you want everyone to feel around the table? What kinds of memories do you want to create? What expectations to do you have of yourself as a cook and an entertainer? Are all of them authentic to you and your family?"

While I don't really feel the need to make a "Family Food Culture" for where I am in life, it does seem like a really cool idea.  My schedule and Claire's is so different right now, that we've gone at least five days without seeing each other more than once last month!  Crazy that you can live in the same place and not see each other.  But we do always get to catch up, and I love it!  Hence why we don't have regular meals at our table.

(And I have to brag a bit...)  Last night, I did eat dinner at the kitchen table, because Adam made the most delicious pork chops.  He's a great cook, and I think we've made lots of memories in our kitchens--it's definitely a place of a lot of laughter! 

So welcome to our little apartment's dining area.  Come and stay awhile...we guarantee you'll smile.