Blessings and Remembrances of 2008

Rather than recount all of the fun and adventure I have had this year, I just want to celebrate a year gone by. I am so thankful for the gifts I have been given in abundance. I am thankful for the growth I have experienced as a person, as a wife and as a Christian. I am thankful for the troubles we have seen each other through, all of us.
Thank you, friends, for sticking by me when I needed you, and thank you for calling on me when you needed someone.

There were sad stories and funerals.
There were rejoices and weddings.
Friends getting engaged or having babies (different friends).
Growing my appreciation for Grags through our mutual obsession with Harry Potter.
Planning for the future with Bradley.
Learning more about beer, and studying wine together.
Growing closer to our church family.
Auditioning for a play (and making it).
Surviving the first year of marriage! (They say it is the hardest, so we are in the clear!)

I welcome 2009 with open and well-rested arms. Hopefully, in a year's time, I will be blogging about our new home and the joy and frustration it brings!

!*!*!Merry Christmas!*!*!

Hello All!

Just a quick update on life as it was, is and ever shall be.

Alex is not coming home for Christmas; he is staying in New York with his girlfriend. Long story short, she couldnt go home to see her family, so he stayed with her. For some selfish reaosn, my first reaction was anger (really, I'm not sure), but I now see that it is perfectly precious of him. Smart, too, because travel is so expensive, but it will be nice for them to spend time alone, together for the holidays.

Brad and I will also get a small bit of private Christmas. The folks are traveling to Louisiana for a weekend, so we can snuggle and drink hot cocoa alone. And maybe try out some of our new presents. (Don't tell him, but I got Brad [whispers]... he will love that, right?)

We will celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary next Monday, the 29th. Wow. Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday, and other days it seems like years ago. We are having dinner at Pappas Steakhouse as our last splurge in a VERY long time. We have been doing so unofficially, but in January we are officially saving up for a house!! Please pray for those endevaors, as it will not be easy.

We are also going to go see "Spring Awakening" in January - SQUEE! We have already paid for them, so they wont count as a January splurge. I cannot wait! I fell in love with that show the moment I heard "Touch Me" on Broadway radio. I really hope Brad likes it.

Speaking of shows, I was recently cast in "Working: the Musical", with music by Stephen Schwartz. It is being produced at ACE Theatre, which is partially run by Rachel's folks. There is no one in the show that I really know (other than Wayne directing), but a few are familiar. Oh well, new friends. I haven't sung on stage in years. Come to think of it, I haven't acted on stage in years, unless you count that puppet show for the Texas Children's Hospital... and I don't... The show goes up in April, so if you are in Houston during April, feel free to come on out. I didn't get the super-fun song I wanted, but I get to sing two pretty songs.

I got the see Morgan for the first time in a year, and finally meet Andy, this past weekend! Can you believe it had been a year?!? I had not seen her since my wedding. And now we are planning hers! Andy is fun and funny, of course. Nice deep, baritone/bass voice. I am looking forward to hearing him sing, but I didn't really want to ask him while walking downtown. They are having an engagement party next week, but Brad most likely has to work. Bugger.

The only real downer right now (in my immediate future) is New Year's Eve. [sigh] Kelly and James will be in Dallas for that stupid party, and Morgan and Andy will be in Dallas at Andy's family ranch. Brad will be workign, and my dad has to work the next morning, so it will probably end up being me and my mom, watching chick flicks with a bottle of wine. Yes, that does sound delightful, but for NYE you want something a little loud or crazy, you know? NYE never seems to work that way for me, though. Fun, usually, but not the big party I picture. Maybe ever. [again, sigh]

I wrote out a "family newsletter" for us (stop rolling your eyes - rude!), but I still haven't mailed them... because I'm Allison... so oh well, they will arrive late.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Safe Holiday!

Michael Welch

Whoa. Seriously, whoa.

I used to love watching "Joan of Arcadia" when it was on, and I still watch the DVDs. The Girardi family is so fun and real. The script and plot were new and interesting to me. And I would never have thought about little, nerdy Luke Girardi as anything more than "cute".

However, I was puttering around on IMDB (as I am wont to do), and I followed an odd trail. There is a trailer out for X-Men Origins: Wolverine (squee), and I was looking up the cast. Hmm, I said to myself, who is Will.I.Am.? So I clicked on him. Apparently he is in Black Eyed Peas, but also played a 'God' in Joan of Arcadia once. Well I'll be darned, say I, and I hop on over to JoA. And I see a familiar face looking up at me.

This handsome young fellow, who was in a sufficiently creepy and amazing episode of SVU and in the new Twilight movie, was in fact also Luke Girardi!

Love is in the Air (HBP)

Welcome to the Romantic phase of Harry Potter. Prepare for...(drumroll)...TEEN ANGST AND HORMONES!

Grumbling

I had to deal with the most ridiculousness that si Comcast, and it is going to cost WAY too much to install the internet stuff at home.
I had trouble sleeping.
I felt sick when I woke up.
I have been grumbling all day.
And now I have to sit in this stupid hour-long meeting training me to do something I dont want to do.

Grrr... stupid day. Hopefully it will get better.

STAND Fast

Today is STAND Fast!
This is it: a day when people all over the world will be giving up luxury items and with the money they saved, giving it STAND Fast. Three dollars will protect one Darfuri woman from being raped for a month. Five dollars will protect a whole family in Eastern Burma. What better way to celebrate Beedle the Bard coming out tomorrow than by participating an event as part of a Dumbledore's Army for the real world?! For questions please email http://us.mc555.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=standfast@thehpalliance.org
Oftentimes, it feels like a huge barrier separates us and those who are most vulnerable. Let's treat such a barrier as if it were no more than the barrier at Platform Nine and Three Quarters when Wizards tread before it. Let's walk through that barrier and connect with people across the world who need our support. People who need to know that their plight is being witnessed. And that we won't stop fighting for them.
Let us send our love through this barrier today and fund the protection of these people's lives. Please give today at thehpalliance.org/civilianprotection
Also, if you buy a copy of the Wizard Rock comp Jingle Spells today all the proceeds are going to STAND Fast.
Click here if you want to listen to the podcasts on STAND Fast. Click here to watch a video on what others are giving up.
Thank you so deeply. Let's renew our spirits and the spirit of this world. Let's do what we can for STAND Fast. Thank you and may the Fawkes Be With You,
Andrew SlackHarry Potter Alliance

Holiday Wish List

I posted a blog last August with a random wish list. I was reading it, and it really made me smile. Mainly because one of the things on this list was tickets to Disney World, because I missed it. I posted that on August 10, 2007, and on August 10, 2008 Brad and I arrived in Orlando for the trip of our lives! How fun is that?!?

Now, onto more current matters. People, mostly family, have been passing around "wish lists" for Christmas, so I decided I would post a few things here for fun. Here goes:
*Mini Fridge
*Gift Cards (Disney, Express, Pappas, iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, World Market, Chipotle, Red Robin, etc)
*House DVDs - we owned Season 4, but it was stolen when my folks' house was robbed. So any season of House, really...
*Harry Potter movies - I only own "Order of the Phoenix" (5)
*Beedle the Bard
*"We Are Wizards" documentary DVD (find here)

Or things that make me laugh.

Random Acts of Kindness

WDW: The Highest Concentration of Joy in the World

I receive a weekly letter with tips for Disney World goers, and I love it. The hvae also been keeping up with reports of The Year of a Million Dreams. I read this one, and I literally almost got tears in my eyes, because this was not about a grand prize from the corporation that is Disney. This story is about a random act of kindness that kind of "paid it forward".

"I was staying at Wilderness Lodge during September and met a couple on their honeymoon. They had made no advanced dining reservations and since it was during the free dining plan promotion there were none to be found. I had some reservations for the Beach Club's Cape May Cafe and I asked the concierge to switch them to this couple's name. I explained that my family and I could get a Quick Service meal somewhere else. The concierge smiled, asked me and my daughter to wait, and got her a colorful wildlife conservation pin. When my daughter politely asked if she could please get one for her big brother because he liked animals, the concierge returned not only with a pin for him but an extra special Tinker Bell pin for my daughter for being so thoughtful. So not only was the honeymoon couple thrilled to have a beautiful dinner out, my kids were so excited with their special pins and wore them every day the rest of the trip. Truly magical!"