Downtown at Christmas!

I took myself (and therefore you all) on a photo tour of the tunnel and a few of the buildings downtown lit up for the most wonderful time of the year!

This is the Houston Center 5, you know, the one that hates the rest of the Houston Center.

Their tree.

And table decorations.

And this is Houston 2. They have the best decorated trees of all the centers.

See!


Told Ya!




And this is Reliant's massive tree in the tunnel. I was in love the first time I saw this one!



This is at the juncture between JP Chase bank and Chase Tower. Not the fanciest, but I got be feeling Christmasy.



Here's the tree in the tunnel at Chase Tower. Looks like they were having somekind of toy drive?










This is the juncture of Penzoil and Bank of America. Very Nice!


The tree in Bank of America's lobby.

Close up of BOA and Penzoil juncture tree.







MY FOVORITE colors of any decorations downtown! This is in the tunnel of the Shell Building.

Here is what the pathway between Shell and Wells Fargo looks like. Very pretty!















Now this is hilarious, do you see how Wells Fargo treats it's poor Nutcrackers? Poor little guys.





Well, I guess the ones inside have it a little better. Must be considered less of a flight risk...


This is the skywalk in between Center Point and the Hyatt.


And here is the lobby at the Hyatt.


The poor people at Allen Center may have misjudged how much space this tree needed.

David the knome kickin it Christmas style.




This is the tree at some bank, I don't remember it's name, but I really enjoyed it's tree!


At the Embassy hotel.

This beautiful display is at Total Plaza. I'd never been in this building before, but thought I'd check it out for this project.







And here is Houston 4. I really like their decorations as well.






Phew, and that's the lot!

What I got goin on

We went to a lovely dinner party last night with Jonathan and Tara at Nathan and Jen's house. I feel like an old married woman...
I had a few cocktails and as usual felt slightly awkward and that I may have said too much.
Woke up HANGOVER FREE! Which is a Christmas miracle. Made it to work on time despite moving slow as molassas on a sub zero day.
I am currently in a biddng war for the last of Damon's presents on overstock. I've got 30 min left, but if this guy outbids me again he can have it.
I need to go to Forever 21 and get niece #1 some headbands. She saw the ones I had and asked to borrow them, I figure I'll give her a set.
I'm going to take a ton of pictures today that I will post to show the beauty that is downtown at Christmas. It's truely inspiring how all the buildings really get in the spirit!
Need to make a grocery list for tomorrow, but I think I'll wait until then..no rush.
And that's pretty much it. I was reading on Liz Jordan's blog that she got engaged. I love married people, it's so nice to know that there is so much love out there, and when another couple takes the plunge, it's kind of like a new life being born.
Oh, and one last thing. I've got 6 water bottles and 3 cans at my desk I need to go drop 3 ft away in the recycling bins. I'll do that when the mood strikes me.

Epiphany

God's been all up in my face lately...and I LOVE it! He spoke to me yesterday and told me something that knocked my socks off. Now before I get into it, remember, revelations are different for each person, just like there are some people that can sit down and understand trig at first glance, there are people whom God can get through to quite easily. Then there are people like me who don't understand what tangent has to do with anything, and who have thick almost cement-like skulls that God has to crack through to get his message in.

My epiphany was about work. I was walking on my lunch break, like I do everyday, and speaking with God. Really it was all about how nice the trees looked, how beautiful the weather was, you know, heavy spritual stuff. Then my mind roamed to the thought of work, and pride in work. While it's perfectly suitable to take pride in you work, in fact everyone should, it's not okay to be prideful about it. On my "Operational Definitions of Character Qualities" sheet, it has the following traits:
HUMILIY vs. Pride
Recognizing that God and others are actually responsible for the achievements in my life.
DILIGENCE vs. Slothfulness
Visualizing each task as a special assignment from the Lord and using all my energies to accomplish it.

Here was the conclusion I reached, if I am to give all glory to God for my achievements, than my work is a reflection of Him, which means I should do my best at it, becuase if we share in triumph, we share in tragedy.
WHOA
So what You're saying is (me talking to God), if I represent You in the good things I do, I also represent You in the bad things I do, which means I should always try take each task I get and fulfill it in a way that would give You glory. And not only that, but because You give me each task that is set before me, I should be eager and willing to work my hardest at it beacuse it's for You.

All I can say is YIKES. He is so good!

Crazy bird, crazy lady

This afternoon I saw this bird in the bayou. I didn't find it terribly interesting... until I saw its freakishly colored feet.















Also, when I got to my car to get my tripod at lunch, this is what awaited me















She was sitting in her car smoking when I came down to go home. Real nice, lady.

Viola James Fairfax

What a weekend. My precious grandmother went home on Thursday last week, I cried, a little. It hadn't sunk in, it still hasn't, how can it? Knowing you wont see someone again until you die, (which hopefully for me means not for a long LONG time), probably takes some getting used to. I don’t think this is an immediate transition that can be grappled with and put to rest in a few easy days. I'm dejected. I came from her, I am her, she is me, and therefore part of me is gone. Where I got these eyebrows, this nose, this inexplicable need to laugh at what appears to be nothing, this deep faith in a Heavenly Father, and this thirst for life’s little nuances that I always feel elude me. All back to the universe. *deep sigh*. I loved her, I slept in the same bed with her, waking her up all hours with uncontrolled legs and elbows protruding in to her space, I spent countless hours communing with her.
It's such a blessing to know that I will see her again, such a heroes welcome I know she had and will want to share with me when I get there. Grief is this choking sensation, a feeling that something just settled into your throat so you can’t breathe, and something just gripped your chest so you're heart wont beat properly. I think this is what being attacked by an octopus from the inside would feel like... less inky, but same general feeling. I feel the guilt of not spending enough time, throwing away and not appreciating my past, MY past. In the end, her past caught up with her, so many loved ones, so much heartfelt warmness surrounded her, and it glowed from within her. We all radiated on each other. If the end of my life could be anything akin to this, I will know that I have not only made it, but done it right.
She spent her childhood in Louisiana picking cotton. LOTS OF COTTON. That's what everybody on my dad’s side of the family did up until my dad, the oldest of three, was born. He was the first of the new generation, and the first born here in Houston. There were better opportunities for my grandparents, and therefore my dad. She would tell me about how they would do nothing all day but pick. It was hard work, and it built a sturdy woman. As she lay in her bed, I looked down at her, and my gaze stopped at her belly. I pondered how the life that came from that belly, after many years, and with no consideration on her part, led to my life. It's so weird to watch friends now getting pregnant and having babies, when I think about how it's all so circular. Each generation discovers it, and takes it as their own, not thinking on all those before them that did the exact same thing.
My grandmother ran away with my grandfather. She said he was leaving, her dad forbade her to, but she packed up and left anyway. GUTSY, I know! lol. My grandpa eventually sent a letter of apology and explanation to my greatgrandad, but I don't think it ever smoothed things over for them. How hilarious it is to ponder on how that young woman in love hopped on a train to Houston, leaving behind literally the entire family and life she knew, just to be with my grandpa! I laugh so hard about this, and realize there is truly nothing new under the sun, expect for the lives people bring into it. It's like an old play that just keeps replacing its cast members, new people, same shenanigans.lol.
She said over and over again how thankful she was, her foot went gangrenous, she was thankful; her leg got amputated; she was thankful; she got diagnosed with stage 4 intestinal cancer; she still praised; she lost her colon and was on a feeding tube for nearly a year; she lifted her hands for every new breath she drew, all the way until she didn't have breath anymore. What a remarkable woman!
Life goes on, people go on, the world goes on, somewhere in the universe a star is dying and we won’t know until hundreds of years from now, nothing has or will change... Except for on this small little isolated island that I occupy, my small insignificant corner of this universe. Here, it will never be the same.

Forget about that

I'm over the whole life is moving to fast junk. I have had a major epiphany. MAJOR. I think too much in terms of the future, and not enough in the present. It's like I'm waiting on some point in my life, where I can be happy and comfortable and feel accomplished, but that point never seems to come. God spoke to me at church last Sunday about this. I had this epiphany about day to day life on Wed, and had been mulling over the in's and out's of it all week. On Sunday the pastor was like "And when will you reach what you want? When you were a child it was all about high school, in high school it was about waiting until you were in college. College had you thinking about grad school, or your first job. Then marraige, then children, when will you have what you want?"
It really makes sense to me. I spend so much time looking to the future, I'm missing my life. It is literally like running a race I'm bound to lose becuase by the time I catch up, it'll be over. It sounds cliché, but you really aren't promised another day. Damon told me about this guy that took his daughter out to teach her to ride a scooter, fell off of it, hit his head, and died. Game over bro. You don't have to be a police officer, firefighter, or soldier to understand the reality of leaving home for work, and not knowing if you'll come back home. I have a supreme sense of this idea, that at any second there could be a car accident, explostion, tornado, flood, elephant on the lose, or any other varied act of God that will call me home. It sucks for most people because it takes a near death experience, or someone close to them dying, for them to figure it out.
So, I decided that I will not live my life in a future that is not guaranteed to me. Am I going to stop planning, hoping, and dreaming? Heck NO! But,I can't let the faceless stranger of tomorrow have more power than the familiar loving countenance of today. If I spend each day really present, really plugged in, and laser focused on what's happening NOW, how different can life be? No more putting off things till tomorrow if I can do them today, and conversly, no more worring about what needs to be done tomorrow, because I have bettter things to focus on immediatly. No more feeling pressure about inadquicies that I hope to change over a broad length of time (weight), if all I need to worry about losing is a pound or a half a pound, how much less overwhelming is that compared to the 20 total? Talk about making an elephant bite sized.
I have really tried hard to mull on this for awhile, and remind myself daily the importance of this epiphany. I love my husband, my job, my dog, my friends, my empty womb...and while these relationships and interactions may change, I'm not intereseted in the when anymore, just okay with riding the ebb and flow that is day to day life here on earth.

Stop this train/ New year, new me!

I've had it stuck in my head now for days! More on that later. SO I've undertaken two new endeavors. I've decided to stop processing my hair and I've decided to join the 365 project. I think the first is pretty self explanatory; I will no longer straighten my hair with chemicals. I've decided to see what my real hair looks like. Very scary stuff considering I haven't seen it since I was 8yrs old and I have definitely never had to STYLE it before! My coworker that sits across from me said it was a terrible idea to grow it "ethnic", (to which I retorted "NATURAL", not ethnic"), because I work in corporate America, and looking too "natural" can prevent me from fitting in the way I'm supposed to. Scary. I don’t think that having to adhere completely to what they think I should be should rule my entire life! Face it, putting lye in my hair (see Fight Club to understand the dangers of such a chemical) once a month to have a straight hair style just because I'm told to, is ridiculous. Also, these people aren't paying me the extra $120 a month to get this done, maybe if I got a stipend.... So, that's what's going on with my hair. Imagine being a 26yr old woman with no idea how to comb her hair, and that's me right now. Sad, I know, but exciting none the less. It might be a quarter life crisis, but I reeeeeealy think it's about time I started figuring out who I am in my eyes, and not just in the eyes of others. I tried looking less in the mirror and more in my eyelids, but that yielded surprisingly few answers ....

So, about 365 project, basically, I have to take a picture of myself everyday for a year. It's surprisingly easy! I'm a narcissist so...lol. I think this will be a lot of fun. My first day was my birthday; I would like to see what 26 had to offer when I look back on it at 27. Also, it's a great way to gain photography skills. Nothing like being forced to take pictures EVERYDAY to really refine your talent! I've looked at other peoples projects on flickr, and have been very inspired. So yeah, really pumped!

I guess I'll discuss stopping this train in the next update, I'm way too long winded for this not to turn into a novel.

Shananaaaa

I've got growing pains. At least I hope it's growth. It seems so overwhelming sometimes, trying to be a better person. I dont mean to society, I meant to me! How do I maintain the lifestyle that I am oh so very envious of. I know God don't like envy, but sometimes, it can be hard to look at someone who seems to have it all together, and not want that for yourself. I think that personal growth is something super important, but how do you know yourself enough to know how to grow? How do I make sure my life isn't just one of imitation. How do I ensure that I am being me, and not just a whole bunch of other people crumily pieced together. You can't try to be like other people, God made us all unique for a reason. Try to be something you're not and you will fail everytime. But I don't want to feel like this is who I am sometimes. Sometimes I want to feel like I am capable of the amazing feats I see my friends perform, and with a little practice, I will be able to obtain that little bit of "growth" that I want.

I don't know, I'm just very meloncholy today after an aweful day at work yesterday. I will need to find my own peace, like I always do, but I wish the growth would come as fast as my acceptance of it not.

Swine Flu,Floods, Work, and other reasons never to leave the house

So I found out that WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE. Well, I knew we were all going to die, just not so soon. Here's a part of the memo Discover released:

"Following is a list of common sense reminders to help keep you, your family and your colleagues healthy:
Keep your hands clean by washing them thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Use a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Try not to touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus.
Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage.
Avoid sharing personal items.
Always follow your doctor's orders."

Hmmm, I think I might just follow some of this advice, especially not touching any surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. First on my no touchy list would have to be the fax, followed by the copier, and then the door I use to get into the office. Anyhow, I hope that the WHO doesn't uprade this outbreak from a 3 to a five. Five being a PANDEMIC!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH If you need me, I will be looting cause I dont want to spend my own money building a stock pile. However, I guess since no one has panicked just yet, it would still be stealing since I'd be the only one looting, which makes it not looting..right? You need a mob for that I think.

Then there was this aweful flooding yesterday and today. My poor neighborhood has had the water come and go twice in one day! Damon brought me to work today, which is good as I dont know about the capabilities of the 1998 Plymouth Breeze to withstand flood waters. Also the son of a beesting would cut on this morning. I need a new battery. I make a habit of not watching the news as all it really reports is the obituaries. I dont need to see how crappy someone else's life is to make me feel better about my own. Don't get me wrong, no matter how bad life is, my husband didn't get gunned down, or my house didn't catch on fire with my baby in it, but I don't need to hear about how that happened to someone else to remind me of that. All that to say, that I haven't been abreast of the flu situation, and I cut on the news for about 5 minutes this morning to make sure the flooding wasn't local so I could call in late. I think I might try to find out somemore about my impending doom today, wish me luck!

I've made a huge mistake

All Arrested Development fans know that one. You ever decide something is one way just to discover that you were completly wrong. Like very, very, very wrong?. My problem is I discovered that, but don't know what to do about it now. It's like that "oh crap" moment you have after you jump off something that was a little higher than you thought. You're already in the air, you didn't realize the severity of the situation till you got there, but there's no way out now. It's too late. And that's how I feel, I've made the realization, but what the crap can I do about it now?
I think the same senario continues to apply. All I can do now is hit the ground, yeah, it'll hurt, but only temporarily. I can get up, dust off, and try again, well, not try again, try not to again... Why does personal growth have to be so awefully painful. Why cant it happen naturally like learning to walk. No one tells a baby that their walking wrong, they know how to do it when the time is right. Oh, to be that lucky. To just magically know not only when the time is right, but what needs to be done at that moment. *sigh*

God save the baby seal!

So today is Earth Day, or whatever. Nobody gives out cards or anything so I don't know if it's a real celebration or not. At any rate, it got me thinking on my newest cause: Healthy eating! I've never been an unhealthy eater really. We didn't eat out much when I was growing up, meals were cooked at home, and we didnt really snack. Well, I didnt really snack, my little brother at the age of 9 could eat an ENTIRE package of Oreos in 2 hours. HA. Anyhow, it's not so much about what we're eating, but where what we're eating came from. Now all of a sudden I need organic, GMO free, unrefined, unprocessed, as close to the earth food as possible. I'm friggin looking for farmers markets to get local produce, and trying to figure out how to make a dollar out of 15 cents to stay within my budget. PHEW. I am pretty much sold out to the idea, I like the thought of chemical free, natural food going into my body, don't get me wrong, I enjoy an unnatrually large 24oz steak, but maybe not so much the genetically modified vegatables that come with it. I mean come on, what can a little bovine growth hormone really do?



Anyway, so I watched this documentary called the Future of Food, where I had my little world rocked, and has led me to really need to do some research on the topic (one day) to satisfy my new found curiosity. So according to these tree hugging hippies that made the doc, one major arguement for genetically modified grains and other plants was that we could increase their yeild, and use it to help feed starving nations. The hole they blew in that theory was that there is plenty of food produced here, that's why there are STILL government subsidies on various crops. With the price of the final product not being high enough to cover the farmers "cost", any econmics person could tell you that means there has to be a surplus. The high supply coupled with low demand means a low price, which the government then compensates for with the subsidy. WHAT!? So while they are overproducing and still getting paid for plants that are rotting in the fields, people get to go to bed hungry around the world. NICE.
It really makes you think what this whole genetic engineering crap is really about. I think from now on, I'll try to stay away from it. For now however, I'm off to go contribute to global warming by any means necessary. Happy Earth Day!!! (if you dont celebrate, I promise the earth wont know).

Babies, Babies everywhere and not a drop to drink

Everyone is pregnant. I bet if you're a girl and you're reading this, you're pregnant, your friend's pregnant, or you have a picture of an ultrasound somewhere amongst your friends profile pics on Facebook or Myspace. I know that this Friday, there will be two babies born from two friends of mine that don't know each other. Then there's the 5 to 8 that are all due between June and August. Not to mention my sister in law that is due in October, and another friend that is expecting in December.
Did I miss something? My coworker upon hearing this news replied "Did you all make a pact or something?". Well not me. Maybe everyone else? I'm not sure what to think about this whole baby deal,except that I dont want one. Not now. I think sometimes I'm shallow, I like drunken debauchery, I like parties, I like shopping, I LOVE sleeping, all these things I care about more than that unfertilized egg waiting on me to make a move. I like getting up and going, and while my husband doesnt have a spontaneous bone in his body, I do get to sometimes just take off to wherever. The one gray cloud that hangs over these type of get up and go trips: My dog. Who do I get to watch the dog? Oh wait, I can just give someone the key and have them stop by, and my neighbors are awesome and would look after her too. But my baby? That thing has to go somewhere right? Like I can't keep it at home by itself and have someone drop in I dont think...
I think this sounds pretty shallow. Why do I want to go out on Fridays and get wasted, go out on Saturdays and eat at expensive (or at least a) resteraunts followed by cocktails and possibly beer pong (get wasted?), and go to family night on Sunday as a form of recovery? I'm old enough to want more substancial things I figure. But I dont. I'm far more interested in purchasing things I want than thing I have to get. Most baby stuff is a true neccessity, but I'd rather get myself some shoes, or a necklace, maybe a handbag, or ooh, those cute jeans I saw..anyway, that's how I want to spend my money.
And don't get me started on the $64,000 and growing (thank you capitalized interest) that I owe in student loans that got me to this little desk job I have now. Already had one promotion, that was more lateral than anything right now, and am looking foward to at least one more before I leave here. Maternity leave right now seems like I can kiss any advancement good bye. Am I wrong for wanting more time to further my career?
So do I look like the 35 year old that can't get pregnant because she didn't make it a priority and now spends tons on fertility treatments and has had 5 miscarriages and is beginning to give up hope and looks at her closet full of fabulous clothes,nice car in the driveway of her expensive home and thinks to herself "I'd throw away all this for just the chance of having a baby"? I certainly hope not! I think there's a balance. I think that while now might not be the time, I don't plan on waiting till kingdom come. I dont find shoes, alcohol or dinner more important than my eggs, just more urgent? lol. I'm not sure when I plan on having a little one, I know that I'll never be financially ready, but luckily babies don't care how rich you are. I know that I might not be emotionally ready when it happens, but luckily babies heal all apprehensions due to their forgiving nature. I know for a fact I wont know all the answers, but luckily babies don't either so their easy to lie to. I sit here contemplating a little one, and it puts a smile on my face. Such beauty, such peace, and warmth. That's the way I feel when I think about it, like that something that I needed and was missing is finally here. Now if only I could be ready for it to be here.

Pieces of Me

Feeling Temporary. That sums up my morning today. I feel like I'm passing, like everything is moving around me, and I need to keep up. Have you ever had the overwhelming urge to improve yourself? To change something that you have always been hard on yourself about, and just want to get rid of or fix? Well, that's how I happen to feel about a LOT of stuff in my life. My messy apartment, my work out schedule, my eating habits. And I guess these are things that everyone seems to fret over, but I intend to do something about it, because I know people who have all this together. There's that super person out there that washes dishes EVERYDAY, and vacuums and sweeps on a schedule. They have time to work out, buy fresh produce, and save puppies and orphans.
It feels like you're trying to walk in mud., and the further you trudge in, the harder it gets, the more fatigued and worn down you are, and it's too late to turn around, yet there is so much more ahead of you. Pretty dire circumstances huh? LOL. Life isn't meant to be hard I think. I mean, thanks to the Fall, yeah, we will have to work and toil all the days of our life (thanks Eve), but there is more to life.
I had an epiphany as I was jogging about a month ago. I realized very all of a sudden, that there are enough hours in the day, you just have to know what to do with them. Sounded simple enough to me, I needed to find a plan to ration my hours in a way that all that need be done, get done. Like most plans, it makes a lot more sense on paper, than practice, but I think if I really work at this, I can have a break through!
Setting small goals was the first step, doing just a little everyday, and it's working so far, I already feel like less of a failure! I've also decided what is super important to me over what can wait till later, prioritization prevents me from being overloaded and overwhelmed. I try to do a bit everyday, sweep something, or pick up stuff, and little by little I think it's working.
I wish I knew the secret of the "each day brings my next opportunity to better myself" mentality, but I already spend so much time holding together the me that exists NOW to stop from it falling apart. Women have it so hard I think, and while I feel like some stuff is my duty, it still seems really unfair sometimes! I don't know what I'll do when babies show up, I am already juggling a bowling ball, flaming torch, and bunny, then someone is going to toss in a chainsaw, and I think things are going to get REAL very quickly...

The Girl You Love to Hate

THAT'S ME! I just read back on the three stellar enteries that I have and, boy am I not only evil and angry, but apparently very good at alientating myself from everyone I know! All I can do is say how I feel at the time, and if I come across as some kind of monster, maybe that's not so bad? Lol..
SO the main event is pretty nigh, there are only 8 weeks until the REAL fun begins! Two little babies will be here and I will lose my mind...WITH JOY! Ha, little different from the earlier blogs, huh?

I'm really having fun with not knowing what the sex of Patrice's baby is. I think that there are so few surprises left for us as adults, and seeing how much fun it has been to wait for her, I think I may do the same? As for baby Boston, he's going to be one lucky boy! He's got his nursury all set up and a mom that is defintatly nesting right now, never saw someone who wanted to clean so much!

I am currently preparing for the Baby Shower of the CENTURY, complete with ferris wheel and trained turkies...well, not so much.. BUT, I am uber interested in making this the classiest affair seen this side of the Mason Dixon. I am in awe of this whole process and wish to inspire awe in those attending the shindig. It's amazing how quickly your opinion can change over the course of a few months. I went from "what the crap?" to totally in love. I really do love the crap out of these babies (sweet huh?) and am caught a little off gaurd by the transformation. Patrice can't even breath around me without my urges to take a picture of that over ridding my sensibilites. I am under the impression that it can only get better and funner from here, and I cant wait to meet the little sources of said fun!

At the same time I have really enjoyed this time of watching the little one grow. It's stunning how that little zygot suddenly is a real live human being, kicking and wiggling, doing flips. Hilarious to me, sometimes painful for mom :(, but none the less a mircle in the making!