He just walked right on in.

I am sitting here on my couch with coffee and small puppy (though not quite that small anymore :) ) beside me, and I am an extremely happy camper.

You see, here's the thing, I love being right here.  Ok, I love drinking coffee with the puppy, but more than that, I love writing.  For the last two months or so we were in the barn I had the worst case of writer's block.  I would want to write, but simply had nothing that pulled me into writing.  (That was very strange and frankly awful for me.)

Now we are moved into our first home, and the transformation has been fairly amazing in my life.  I now drive a scant 11 mins and 30 seconds into work instead of 45 minutes on a good day.  HEB, Costco, Freebirds, Five Guys, and Lowe's are all within 5 minutes of the house.  I can see friends any night of the week that we want to without having to drive an hour.  It is so wonderful, such a blessing from the Lord, and my heart is happy here with my small wifey (Who is currently sleeping in the other room still.  She is a super cute sleeper.).  

So lately, I find myself with another sort of conundrum.  I drive to and from work or to run and errand for said small wife, and I keep getting flooded with things to write about.  Good?  Yes, absolutely.  Bad also.  Why?  Because I'm in the car with no "writing" option.  

Summary of this thought: I have got to find a way to record these ideas for future scribbling because Jesus put this writing bug in my heart.  Whether done poorly or well at this point, it is something that I love to do and something that God continues to draw up.

So, without further adue, I have a very firm recommendation for each and every one of you out there who likes good music.

Wes, Sheridan, Jess, and I all went to the Needtobreathe show at House of Blues (great venue btw) the other night expecting to see a great show from them.  Luke Friesen's little bro, Toby, is currently playing keys and a little guitar for them, and they went even harder than we had expected them to.  Expectations surpassed.  Well done, gents, and your heart matches.  Too fun.

What we did not expect:

The Daylights

Opened for NTB.  I was floored.  They were good.  Huge sound for a three piece gig.  

Then all of the sudden they play this song called Weapons (on myspace page).  

I have no explanation for what happened at that point, but all I know is that out of the clear blue I felt God's presence just walk into the room.  It was marked, and it was unmistakable.  (Also rather fantastic.  I mean, how cool is Jesus?  "Yea, sure, let me waltz into this House of Blues bar and show up at a concert that is not branded as 'Christian'.")  For the record, He stayed the rest of the show through NTB. It was so much fun to worship to Something Beautiful with my hands held high.

I know this:  When a band is good, and God's hand is on them like that, they are someone worth getting behind.

Summary of band/concert thoughts: If you trust me or Wesley Charles Whitney at all about bands, buy The Daylights CD on iTunes or Amazon, give it two spins, and you'll be hooked.  Great lyrics and a sound that is plum stuck in my head.

OK, I'm off to my favorite pastime - basketball.  Hope you laughed.

Mr. Hill

A Blog Mini-Series: Ankle FAIL Part III

*****WARNING*****

THE CANKLE IS TURNING BLUE NOW.  THIS IS BOTH EXCITING AND GROSS ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  If you are grossed out by swelling or bruising, then come back to the blog after I am done having fun showing off my war wound.  That is all.

*****END OF WARNING*****

Alright!  Time for the weekend update.  The bugger has finally started to show its true colors.  I spent most of yesterday watching movies and such.  Been pretty relaxing so far.

Our dear friend, Brad Wilcox, came over last night for dinner.  We (shall I say, Jess) did it up right.  We had back strap and polish sausage (thank you, Fred the Deer), an awesome salad, and both sweet potato and waffle fries.  It was exceptional.

The boys (Rusty, Evan, and Jeremy) were also without a mother, so they came over for dinner too.  It was way fun.  

Jess finished off the evening by making us cinnamon rolls from scratch.

Yea, I nearly had a conniption they were so good.

So who is up for a little ANKLE FAIL?  I know I am.  Let's bring on the bruises.

Now for the inside:

I have now hopefully succeeded in making you hungry and slightly nauseous in about 20 seconds.

Now I will show you pictures of the puppy taking a nap with me yesterday so that you will think she is cute and not want to hurt me.

Gosh, she is ridiculously cute if I may say so myself.

That's all for this edition of Ankle FAIL.    Take 30 seconds and write us a comment.  I can't decide if you all will like/hate this Mini Series.  I would love some feedback.

Mr. Cankle

Wind Swept Ears

photo credit to Randy and Ellen Olive 

The Excited List

The top ten things that make Mr. Hill exuberant at the behest of our friend, Travis Bearden...

This is so much harder than making "The Angry List".  A couple of differences are obvious to me as I begin to try and think through this list - These are in order of importance, there are many more things in life that make me excited in life than make me upset, and trying to describe the emotion that rises up at the thought of these things is beyond me.

1) My Jesus.  This is not here as cliche.  I am who I am because of Him.  He is my love.

2) My Wife.  Again, not cliche, simply true.  She is my partner in everything that I do.  My life would be completely awful without her.  Watching her be who she is enthralling.

3) The thought of being a father.  No, we have no kids on the way, nor any plans for them currently, but I have wanted to be a dad since I was little.  The honor and privilege it will be to be a daddy is beyond my words. 

4) Having the opportunity to be a blessing by the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Be it giving, encouraging someone, or teaching.  I am alive for these moments.

5) People.  I love people.  I love being around them, talking to them, watching them.  People.

6)My G Puppy.  Cutest and smartest ever.  No debate.

7)The Diamond H Ranch.  I proposed to my wife, learned how to bass fish, shot my first big deer, bled and sweat, grew in Jesus, learned to build fence, and generally became a man on that piece of land.  It is very dear to me.  

8)Sports.  I love playing sports.  I love watching sports.  I love sports - especially Aggie Sports and playing basketball.  My wife probably questions my sanity with how excited I get at the thought of playing basketball.

9)Nike and Ralph Lauren clothes.  They fit right.  They make me really excited.  Undoubtedly, Nike makes the coolest sport apparel.  Period.  It is the best, and it makes me happy.

10)Music.  I don't even want to be honest about how much memory on this Macbook is taken up by music.  I also do not want to be honest about how much money I have spent in  my life on music.  It is likely disgusting.

11) Ten just wasn't enough for this list...Cowboy Boots.  The way they smell when they come out of the box.  How dependable they are.  How good they look.  How versatile they are.  The world should wear boots.

I love my little wife, her pretty red shoes, and how well she fits in my arms.

Jess is back

Hi everyone,

I have finally returned from a long period of no blogging. A period of time where I did not have any good excuses for not blogging other than it was the holidays and for some reason my blogger took off from Thanksgiving to Christmas without telling me. Thankfully I have wrestled that blogger of mine back into commitment with reality and she is finally ready to share her life, heart, ramblings, and what-not with the world.

Really, what I think happened was that I had several really deep blogs in late October / early November that I really wanted to write, and then I chickened out and convinced myself that I should not share such things on the inter-webs. For some reason that one decision made my blogger go on vacation. I think it has something to do with the fact that God has called me to be vulnerable with the world, and when I refuse to be vulnerable He shuts off all my creativity.

Do you like how I started off explaining why I didn't really know why I stopped blogging and then ended up just really telling you? I think the part of me that wants to be real is starting to get stronger than the part of me that wants to be politically correct. Mmm...

Well regardless, here I am and today I want to talk about PIZZA.

The first meal Chris ever bought me, when he sternly sat me down and told me he just wanted to be friends until God forced us to date, was pizza. Brick oven made pizza at Blue Baker in College Station. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Mmmm....

That whole story of me and Chris shall be saved for a different time, because today I want to talk about how Pizza is one of the foundations of our relationship.

Neither of us can resist pizza. We have no checks and balances on pizza at all. I want Mexican all the time, but Chris doesn't. Chris wants fried chicken strips all the time, and I don't. I could go on, but you get the point. Pizza is the one thing that neither of us has any restraint on whatsoever. We love it. It emotionally bonds us together every time we eat it. We know we should feel guilty about it, but we absolutely do not.

We love gourmet pizza like organic Pizza Fusion. We love frozen pizza like Digiorno's. We love take out pizza like Papa John's. Finally, we love homemade pizza that I make :).

There is just something about that crispy and chewy crust, and the stringy cheese, and the sauce, and the toppings. MMM..... For us Hill's it just completely revitalizes us and strengthens our relationship. It is safe and comfortable. Pizza creates that atmosphere that you are both escaping from life for just a moment to enjoy something both you love.

For Christmas I got a pizza stone from Williams & Sonoma and last night I tried it out.

That's it right there in all it's new glory. I must tell you people that the pizza stone made the crust of our pizza SO crispy on bottom and SO soft and chewy in the middle. Chris was in heaven.

During the first football season of our marriage when the Cowboys played I would make homemade pizza, and Chris and I would sit on the couch and snuggle and I would inevitably fall asleep. It was awesome - except for the fact that my crust was always soggy. That problem has been solved with this awesome new pizza stone!!!

This is the sauce that I use for make pizzas with. Usually I get the "pizza sauce" but our HEB was out. It is awesome and totally makes a difference.

Here is the pizza pre baking. MMMM.....

And, finally here is the pizza after it is done. Chris likes his crispy on top. I have to say this was the best pizza I have made yet, and let me tell you I have made lots!

Here is our sweet Giada girl sleeping during the Pizza making process. She loves pizza because she sometimes gets to eat the crust!

Last night we were babysitting Jack the Great Dane, Luke and Mikala's dog, and I found these two sleeping on the same bed. They are super silly but they love each other and they love pizza, even though one is much bigger than the other - kind of like me and Chris.

Update: Puppy Tragedy 2009

Update: G GETS TO COME HOME!  WHOOP!  It is 3:45 and I am leaving in about 10 minutes to go get our little, baby puppy.  Pictures to follow courtesy of Randy Olive Photography.  THANKS, OLIVE FAMILY!

Mr. Hill

I mean, really.  How cute is that dog?  How does she so quickly become totally attached to my heart?  (Lord, help me when I have a kid!)

Sadly, very sadly actually, Little G did not come home with us last night!  :(

As I stood there last night with my little pink collar and Mossy Oak Breakup Camo leash to take the little girl home, I was totally distraught when I saw the SPCA guy come around the corner with the vet tech instead of my puppy.  I knew something was wrong.  She began to relay to me what had happened.

Apparently when they opened her up for her surgery, they found some bleeding in her abdomen (read: they probably nicked something).  They treated the bleeding, got it clotting, treated anything that could've caused the bleeding, and felt confident enough to go ahead and perform her surgery (No more babies, little puppy.  I would've greatly preferred to wait at least 6 months, but apparently in Houston it is a Class C Misdemeanor to take her out of the shelter without having her spayed.  Don't even get me started on how ridiculous that is.)

So, she had to stay at the SPCA, all bandaged up and sedated, over night for observation.  They are suppossed to call Jess's cell phone today (If they don't call by 10, they can expect a phone call from muah.) and let us know if we can pick her up today.

As I recovered (Yes, recovered.  For those of you who don't know me super well, I have a seriously soft teddy bear heart, just ask my wifey.) on my drive home and began to think through the situation, I felt kind of bad for the little vet tech.  It occurred to me that I was standing there with my hands on my hips, no smile, and the most stern look that a man my size can offer while listening to her; the whole while expecting to hear that G was gone.  I geniunely felt bad after that for likely scaring the crap out of the poor, little woman.

At any rate, I'll keep you up to date on how things go.  I think my wife and I are ready for something to go, "as planned" now, thanks.

Mr. Hill

"G"