Sep 28, 2009

The beginnings of the LSM, Tailgating, and Middle of the Night Intruders

The Hills were in College Station again this weekend to inaugurate the first Lone Star Marina tailgate in Spence park which was organized by Mr. Josh Meeh .

Now to all of our readers who have absolutely no idea what the Lone Star Marina is please let me explain.

I've gotta little story for you, Ags!

 Once upon an Aggie time there were two houses that each contained five boys where multiple adventures ensued continuously. Chris was a roommate in the Lone Star Verde. The name being inspired by the various shades of green throughout the entire house. The outside accent colors were green, the kitchen was green, the bathrooms were green, everything was green. So the house of boys took on the characteristics of the Verde - adventure happening, girl attracting, domino playing, poker gambling, ever living - ever loving queso making, Sunday afternoon "Cowgirl" watching, college boys' house. There was also another house of equal reputation and fun that was called The Marina. The Marina was named for the ridiculous number of boats that happened to hang around the house - between the boys who lived there and their crazy neighbors there were always several boats around. I also have to mention that the Marina boys could cook Giada De Laurentis and Bobby Flay right about their jobs if they had wanted. Two houses resulting in ten boys plus the several other members of this legendary group that are absolutely essential to the Lone Star Marian group [LSM] - of whom we cannot live without but did not live in either house (or lived in each house at some point. And of course what I call The Coalition of Significant Others [CSO] - the CSO consists of all the girlfriends, fiances, and wives of the Lone Star Marina boys and thus who [most obviously] complete the entire picture. So - add up all those groups of people and you get a post college group of friends who support each other, pray for each other, make fun of each other, and hang out as much as possible.

All that to say this previous weekend we had the "Inagural Aggie LSM Tailgation" as former students where the boys actually got the spot in Spence Park the night before, and we all had to find somewhere to sleep because no one lives in College Station anymore.  The next morning we piled everything we own into a truck and set up shop on campus. During college I always saw the tailgaters and did not necessarily think it was that big of a deal - ya know there are some people who have been tailgating at Aggie games for decades. I had NO IDEA that tailgating was an exact science that you almost need an apprenticeship for. No, seriously. Tailgating requires a lot of planning, group involvement, and lots of electrical creativity. Needless to say we somehow managed to set up shop, play dominoes, grill foods, and play some games - but MAN WAS IT HOT AND MUGGY. Heat and humidity is what really complicates a tailgate and where the real tailgaters are able to show their true expertise. To successfully tailgate in the heat and humidity of September College Station everything from the food to the drinks to the games to the power generation must be planned properly. I must say the LSM needs to improve in all of these areas. Thankfully we possess all the right people in order to accomplish such a task - yet until this weekend I had absolutely no idea that Tailgating is a professional sport in which the right amount of training is absolutely necessary. The old grandmothers of Aggieland definitely need to have a post college "discipleship" class for all the CSO women who have tailgating as a definite part of their future. Gracious it was HOT!

On to another story of this weekend ---- our blogger friends Evan and Julie who are also part of the LSM group shared a funny story on their blog this last week.  Julie shared what happens when the husbands leave the wives alone at night and the women are forced to combat all things scary by themselves with the proper training required for such moments. Last night an event happened in the Hill house hold which definitely related to the Prothros blog, as we had some pretty scary noises wake us up last night. Thankfully, Chris was home and in bed with me, or I would probably still be laying in bed or underneath it paralyzed with fear. After Chris and I had been asleep for several hours a really, really loud noise startled both of us so much that we both sat up straight in bed and went into defensive action before we even knew what had happened. The noise sounded like someone was breaking into the barn with a bulldozer. Chris immediately pulled out his gun and flash light and began the sweep of the upstairs first and then the downstairs. I immediately grabbed the cell phone and opened the door upstairs to see if I could hear or see any intruders outside while I texted my Dad so he could watch from the Big House. Please note that Chris and I have not stopped to even consider that we are awake in the middle of the night - we are adrenaline pumped and totally on the sleepy defensive. Chris is sweating profusely and in navy seal protection mode. We manage to conclude that no one is in the house or is trying to get in the house - relief. But we still have to look outside in the actual barn part of the barn to check on all the equipment and vehicles and make sure no one is hiding in all the thousand places they could hide out there. Chris goes out and makes me lock myself inside the house so that no one can get me while he is out there with some perpetrator by himself. We conclude again that no one is trying to kill us or steal anything - relief again. But we are still pretty riled up - when Dad comes to save the day in his Ralph Lauren pj's while carrying his massive gun and flashlight - no shirt of course. Dad does his sweep - robbers beware you will get shot and mutilated if you come on the property by a designer wearing Daddy - and we both feel much better that we are protected by Dad the navy seal. Chris and I go upstairs and get back in bed hearts still pumping. We have absolutely no idea what that sound was - I think it is some daddy deer trying to attack us - Chris rationally tells me that was not the case. As we lay there attempting to calm down Chris decides he has to take a shower before he can go back to sleep. As he gets into the shower he figure out what the noise was. His shaving mirror - which is made out of metal - had fallen down inside of the shower. The shower in the loudest thing on earth so that even when a bar of soap falls down in sounds like an atomic bomb is going off, so it was no surprise that it sounded like we were getting bulldozed from the outside in when the mirror fell.

So - I am not sure if our mirror intruder beats the Prothros gerbil intruders - but it definitely makes for a good story and an interesting night - not to mention two very tired Hills!

To the people of LSM please feel free to provide more descriptions of the LSM group and its beginnings!

Sep 24, 2009

Big Sibling Weekend, etc, etc...

Opening thought:

Man.  I really, really like who we are.  I really like who we Hills are.  I like our marriage, I like our relationships with Jesus, and I like where we are in life.  I'll tell you what though, I think most of all I like how much we want to change.  I like how hard we are working to make our marriage better, I like how we wake up everyday and ask Jesus to change us, and I like how we know that where we are in life today is not where we are called to.

So there's my opening thought.  It comes as I drink a Coke Zero and watch my wife cook.  Man she is hot. I don't care if you don't think I should say that.  She is, and I love the ever-living daylights out of her.  The way she talks trash to her onions as she sautés the crap out of them, the way she dances and sings out of key to the new Gavin Degraw cd thats playing in the background, and the way that she drinks her little Diet Dr. Pepper in her A&M koozie.

Yes, I hope you understand a little bit better the place of sheer marital bliss where my opening thought bubbled out of.


So now, onto our weekend last weekend.  We went to A&M and hung with our awesome sibs.  They are super cool.  We had lots of good laughs.  We went to the Aggie game and watched them Beat The Hell Outta utah state.  We ate at all of our favorite places in College Station (including Blue Baker and Wings & More - I swear they put a drug in that wing sauce.), and went to this AWESOME NEW CHURCH IN CS called Antioch - no really, you should go there...Hilton, 10am.


The weekend was a huge success.  We really love Luke and Tige.  They are two incredibly wonderful friends we happen to be related to.  Makes things fun.

Honestly, my favorite night was Friday.  Mikala (Luke's super sweet girl friend) and Luke made us a dinner that was easily 5 star Italian.  Parmesan and Pancetta stuffed chicken with Luke's roasted red pepper pasta, fried zucchini, homemade yeast rolls, red-velvet cupcakes and mini cheese cakes.

Needless to say, I didn't even know what to do with myself.  I ate so much I nearly died.  It was so good.  It was so fun to hang out with them!  The most fun part of the night came via the game Catch Phrase.

Most of you know how to play the game...if not check out the wiki link.  I have to say that between my little sister and I we were pretty awesome.  The Hill family bond is pretty tight to say the least, and sadly Jess and I were on opposite teams, so "The Unimind" was not in action.

Easily the funniest part of the night came at my expense, but I am willing to bring it up b/c it was so freaking hilarious.  We were playing Catch Phrase.  I must say, I was surprised to see how many totally random people, places, and things they manage to get into that game.  Ted Kennedy, buzz cut, "without a paddle", back hair...the list was totally random and a lot of fun.  That is about where the funny part kicks in.  I was sitting to Jess's right.  She gets handed the game and begins to laugh uncontrollably, all the while attempting get out some words and being pointing in between my shoulders but slightly down my shirt neck..."Chris (lots of laughing) has (lots more laughing) (I being to turn red and feel the awful truth creeping in as to what she is trying to say) this!!!"

Perplexed looks around the group while Jess continues laughing uncontrollably and pointing furiously at my back.  Most of them don't know me that well.  The timer is speeding up.  She's nearly crying at this point she's laughing so hard.  Luke, Tige, and Mikala begin to catch on.  Someone says it, and as the song says, "we just fell about the place."

Yes, you guessed it, she was pointing at my small, insignificant, awful, little patch of back hair.  "Back Hair" was the catch phrase.

I mean really.  What are you going to do if you are me but laugh?  It's freaking hilarious.  Totally embarrassing, but really, really funny.

I guess its laser for me someday...until then I'm just another prop in Catch Phrase; oh, and the timer just ran out.


Mr. Hill


"Take that, onions."
"A good onion never reveals it's appearance."
"I'm ruthless!"
"Food gives up in her presence and bows as the mention of her name."

Sep 16, 2009

Blogging Love

I love blogs.

Blogs provide a space for creativity, growing, community, ranting, skill developing, skill bragging, and the list goes on and on.

I love blogs because they never cease to amaze me. I believe sometimes the devil can trick you into believing that if you surround yourself by other peoples thoughts then you will have no thoughts of your own. In some cases that might be true if you are extremely unsure of yourself and other people's atmospheres affect yours therefore preventing you from being stable. Recently I have been so inspired to be more me because other people are being more them. I love reading about other peoples passions - even if I am totally not passionate about them. I love seeing how people are growing and creating because it inspires me to want to pursue excellence.

I totally believe that is how God wants creativity to be. The more creativity is shared the more original people can become. God is the Creator of creation and I truly believe He loves it when His kids are creative. I truly believe God wants to release more and more creativity into His church and I think finally people are starting to earnestly desire it.

John Bevere and Joyce Meyer always say that Christians should be the most excellent in whatever it is that they do. Whether it is teaching or engineering or cooking or designing - it is God's plan that Christians have the most excellent and cutting edge ideas. I love that. Unfortunately that is not always the case because legalistic religion tends to stifle the creative because creativity cannot flourish where there is no love. God wants to brag on his kids by giving us the best ideas, we just have to let Him pour himself into us and let Him change us to look more like Jesus. The great thing about all of us looking like Jesus is that every single one of us will look totally different and be the most excellent at what He has anointed us to do!

I love blogging. I love people. I love Jesus. I love becoming more like Jesus so I look more like me :)

Sep 15, 2009

Anger resulting in no blogging

I confess the whole Acorn thing made me really angry last week.

I even wrote a whole blog about it, but I decided not to post it because I do not want to be really angry on the blog. Although, I do enjoy Chris and I's occasional political blogs I do not want to rant and rave unnecessarily - even though that might be the point of some blogs?

I decided that instead of being really angry that America has let Acorn be what it is [ I am sure we can find similar levels of grossness all across different organizations in America ] to instead do some volunteering in inner city Houston. I will also confess that I have not always been the best volunteer in life, and that is probably why Acorn was able to manifest itself all over inner cities across the nation [not that I am solely responsible]. So - I am going to do my part to start helping the poor and needy. We shall see how it goes - I promise to keep ya'll updated!

So - in order to not end all grumpy and what not about the state of America I am going to give a shout out to my friend Julie Prothro and her blog - she posted some great videos this morning! Click here ---- Please take a good long look at all her postings as she has done some great photography!

Much love blogging world :)

Sep 10, 2009

Thursday

I love my husband.

He is perfect for me.

Thank you Jesus :)

Sep 9, 2009

Meat Eaters.

My wife found this little youtube video...I thought it was freaking hilarious.

My Favorite quotes from the two brits:

"It's an ethical thing, I don't think humans should be treated like that."

"You mean you keep an animal, in captivity, for no reason...that's barbaric.  At least pigs are for sausages."

"There might be a few more polar bears left if anyone wanted one for breakfast."



"I expected you to return the effort."

Mr. Hill

Sep 7, 2009

SHFP - "Christo-centric rap electric"

It's time for some more Shameless Hill Family Promotion.


All through college I heard about this guy, Lecrae, and his boys the 116 Clique.  They were those Christian rappers who some of my friends went crazy about.  I had heard a couple of their songs like "Represent, Get Krunk", and honestly I wasn't that impressed.  Admittedly, I hadn't listened to much of the lyrics, but the music and the main "Represent, Get Krunk" mantra had been kind of goofy to me.

Then Rebel by Lacrae came out.  Then it was Identity Crisis by Tedashi.  I was totally hooked.  These guys brought a crazy good beat and the word all at the same time.  It's like listening to a sermon with the subs in my truck.

Below are the lyrics to the latest song by the Flame and Lecrae (a couple of the 116 Clique boys).  This song is easily as good as any rap song playing on the radio right now, and the lyrics are like reading scripture. I freaking love it.


Mr. Hill - Go hard or go home.


Your boy's been a Christian, quite a few years
Victory and faith, but I failed in my fears
I heard a lot of words that have tickled many ears
That's why I praise God for the Word that we adhere
The Word became flesh, lived for thirty years
Died at 33, but after days reappeared
Jesus Christ anointed one ascended in the air
Or you can say the air where the Father made Him heir
Of all things the throne know it's more than a chair
But after our redemption yes He did take a chair
Greater than the angels name superior to theirs
This is Hebrews Chapter 1 if you cared
I'm leaning to the right
The light is where I'm running
I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted
But all I really wanted was the One who really won it
Fought death, beat it gave His life to the public
I love it!


Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place


Man I'm trying to lift Him high
Higher than the stars
I am not of this world like I'm from the planet mars
I love to preach Jesus you can read it in my bars
I'm pretty straight forward when I'm speaking bout my Lord
He paid the sin price being beat by Roman guards
But when He resurrected gave us life free of charge
Now me and my boys need to be in the phych ward
Cause we went crazy for God our lives was scarred
Now in the Book of Life, our names have been written down
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
We're casting our crowns before His feet on the ground
It's such a holy melody and a heavenly sound
Hearing holy holy holy coming out of the mouth
Of the four living creatures by His throne all around
Can you picture the scene this this is how it's going down
You just need a little faith and a new set of eyes and a telescopic lens to look in and see God
I love it!


Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place


One day we gon' be out man, like three strikes
And home son like a homerun CHRIST
IS – KING – LION – LAMB – GOD – MAN – SIN CONQUEROR – GRAVE CONQUEROR – SATAN CONQUERED
Can take a sinner, atheist sinner to God conscience
Can take nothing
Make creation and lives honor
The same God that came through a fetus as Jesus
Limited to breathing
Got believers singing


Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place


Sep 3, 2009

Panties a la floor - Funny Marriage Story #2

Chris and I had a fantastic honeymoon. Great food. Great service. Great spa. Great relaxation. Great margaritas. It was AWESOME. But this post is not about the honeymoon it is about a little incident in the airport going home from our honeymoon.

When we left for our honeymoon my suitcase was naturally nearly 100 lbs. Which costs us about $800 million of "overweight" fees, but I mean who really cares when you are leaving for your honeymoon? No one! Did I wear all of the clothes in my suitcase? No, probably about half. If I had to re-pack would I have made it lighter - mmm, probably not! I must say though a year into marriage and I can now pack lighter than 50 lbs!

So - Chris and I arrive at the airport in Puerto Vallarta with all our suitcases fully knowing that we were "overweight" and were going to have to pay another $800 million fee. Chris was not too concerned about it we just chaulked it up to the cost of going on a honeymoon. We walk into the airport - all suntanned and sundressed and glowing from our first week of marriage - we are holding hands and kissing as we approach the check in desk. There is this kid there to check us in.

I have to mention know that there are people EVERYWHERE. It was not some abandoned airport where literally no one can be found, it was the beginning of vacation season and the masses were out!

Chris lifts my suitcase up onto the little scale and the kid's mouth falls open and his eyes almost pop out of his head. He proceeds to tell Chris in Spanish that my suitcase is very "overweight" and it will cost us $800 million is fees. I start pinching Chris's arm. Chris says nothing. Then the kid says he has a solution. For only $20 you can buy this box and pack some of your stuff into it and bypass the $800 million fee. I say N0 - in Spanish. Chris says nothing. The kid repeats himself in English. Chris whips out a $100 bill and says yes we will buy the box. My heart sinks realizing they are going to open my suitcase.

Then it happens.

They whip my suitcase off about ten feet behind us where they have all these tables set up and all these people checking them. It is not like in the states where they have the nice little divider walls. Nope, everything is out in the open for everyone to see. The suitcases are front of the line where everyone is waiting to check in positioned perfectly so they are 2 feet from your open suitcase.

[ literally my heart is beating faster as I am telling this story ]

The lady opens my suitcase and literally ALL of my panties and honeymoon lingerie flies - like it was spring loaded - into the air and then lands on the floor. I do not even go to pick it up. There is this family with 8 children standing before me with eyes wide open as something black and lacy almost hits the youngest one in the head. Instead I start backing up and tell all the little workers - ESTOY MUY ENOJADA. ESTOY MUY ENJODA. I am very angry.

SO - you think that is bad? Chris still has his $100 bill in his hand and the kid still has his mouth wide open. THEN the kid tells Chris that $100 bills do not exist in Mexico and he must go get it verified at the bank in the airport. We literally only have $100 bills. No $5, $10, or $20 - just a bunch of $100's. I give Chris the death stare as I am telling everyone how angry I am in Spanish and the little ladies are kind of hiding behind my suitcase full of panties. Chris swoops down and grabs all my lingerie and panties and throws them back in the suitcase, and then he and the kid go off to get the $100 bill "authorized". I am left standing there infront of 200 people, all of whom have just seen the contents of my newlywed wardrobe fly all over the airport and nearly injure small chilren, and the little airport ladies DO NOT SHUT MY SUITCASE. It is just left open for the entire 20 minutes Chris and the kid are gone to get the $100 bill "authorized".

Needless to say I stood there for 20 mintues brooding and repeating in Spanish ESTOY MUY ENOJADA. At one point as I saw Chris running back and forth across the airport with his $100 bill in his hand and I considered just sprinting and form talckling him right there so maybe everyone would stop staring at my panties.

Poor Chris.

He comes back. Chris AND the kid pack some my panties and lingerie into the box. It is determined that we no longer have to pay a $800 million fee just $20. The kid looks at us proudly like he has just saved the day. I pinch Chris really hard and give him another death stare. We walk away and Chris starts pleading for his life and offers to buy me starbucks.

I decide in a moment I am sure was anointed by God that I would forgive him and it would be ok as long as he bought me Starbucks - I did give him one last pinch though. Thirty mintues later while on the plane we started to kind of laugh about it ... I mean Chris was trying to save us $799,999,980.

Sep 1, 2009

The Missing Pill Debacle a.k.a. Funny Marriage Story

So, lest you should think that we would ask you for your requests and not pull through, I would like to share with you all a funny marriage story. (Per one of our reader's requests...Please keep these coming, BTW.)

Well, as any couple who has been married for any amount of time will tell you, some of the things that at the time are the most frustrating and angry situations are the ones that you laugh about the most later...Here begins our story.

Here's how it all went down. Before the wedding, Jess was taking her Birth Control (here after referred to as BC) at 9 a.m. The only problem was that it was making her really sick to her stomach. So, beginning on our honeymoon we began moving it back by 1-2 hrs everyday so that we could take it at 9 p.m. when her tummy had more food in it. (Yes, taking the BC in our family is a group effort accompanied by the alarm on Jess's phone that goes off every night at 9.)

Now, when you 1st get married (at least for us anyway) you are mildly terrified at the thought of getting pregnant before you "decide" to. (Let's be honest, the decision belongs to Jesus. This family will have kids at any time He so desires. None the less, I'll continue describing our "Newlywed" train of thought.) You are terrified for a number of reasons. Sleepless nights. Feedings. Diapers. Expensive. OH, AND LET'S TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BE MARRIED TOO, RIGHT? Being married is a huge adjustment! It's not so much that you're afraid of having kids, it's that you realize that once you start there's no going back. It's a humongous sacrifice, the magnitude of which we don't really understand yet. 2 weeks into your marriage, let's be honest, you're a heck of a lot more interested in practicing making kids than actually making kids. :)

So, back to the BC taking time adjustment. So every night, Jess progressively sets her BC alarm back 1 hr. 5 a.m., 4 a.m., 3 a.m....By the time our little story occurs we are on the 2 a.m. wake up call. The BC alarm goes off like normal. I roll over and in 2 seconds am 80% asleep again. Jess pops open her little case (you marrieds know what I'm talking about.), locates the appropriate slot in the dark, pushes the pill out into her hand and proceeds to toss it into her mouth.

PAUSE

These freaking pills are tiny. Why? Why are they so small? 3/16ths of an inch? Really? They're kind of important you know. Couldn't you put filler in there and at least make them half the size of an Advil? And the color! What are these people thinking? They are tan. They blend in with everything. Our carpet in our first apartment was also tan...

UnPAUSE

The only problem is, the pill never made it into her mouth. Who knows if it even made it into her hand. Only the Lord. Fact of the matter is, she realizes it, pops on the light, and proceeds into mass hysteria. The dreaded "big light" comes on. (I try to stay in my sleepy place to no avail.) Crying ensues as the sneaky, little pill continues to elude my wife in its little hiding place on the carpet.

By this point, Jess is on her hands and knees on the floor next to the bed trying to find the pill through a wall of tears. "Don't you know that we can get pregnant from missing a pill?" She asks through tears and hysterics as I try to console her that everything will be ok (Admittedly from the bed). I finally get up and start meandering around trying to help. I'm totally out of it. All I seem to be capable of thinking or saying is, "It will all be ok."

More crawling. More crying.

[ This is Jess - After fifteen minutes of looking a not finding anything I finally go to the restroom and just asked God to help me find it. I calmed down and walked back into the bedroom and the pill is lying next to the bed in front of the nightstand in plain sight. Praise Jesus ].

2:20 rolls around. Pill has finally been located and inhaled. I'm now totally awake, as is Jess. She is finally at peace as we have now found the pill. 20 minutes of sheer terror for my poor wife, all because this stupid little pill decided to make a run for it. Needless to say, throughout the remainder of the process, the light always came on to take her pill.

We woke up the next morning and laughed hysterically, and we still laugh about the Missing Pill Debacle from time to time. Keep the requests coming. We like to tell about life - and the comedy and crying that ensues from living it.

-Mr. Hill