One the first day of Christmas...

Straight No Chaser.
The 12 Days of Christmas.
Watch it. Appreciate it.
:D

Then share it with all your friends and buy their CD. haha.



Also... look them up on youtube. Watch their 'Carol of the Bells,' and other videos. They are AWESOME.

Please Pray!!

Okay. Here's the sparknotes version of what has happened in the last few days:

Dr. Bullock came out to look at Dakota. Did an exam, blocked the right side nerves in this front left pastern. Still 10% lame after the block, so he went on to x-rays. Got 2 shots. The calcium deposit that Dr. White in Sallisaw said was completely harmless... wasn't harmless. It damaged a co-lateral ligament on one of the joints. Dakota needs surgery so that Bullock can go in, remove the calcium deposit, and clean up the area. Six months of recovery time. [He's already been out six months with this lameness.] After the six months... we slowly bring him back to see if the surgery has worked.

There's no guarantee. If the "easy" surgery doesn't work [$500-600], then we would have to spend around $4,000 [closer to 5,000-6,000 probably] to have a specialist fuse the joint together. Please pray! I don't know exactly what to do. I've already talked this out at length with my parents [and gave them a headache - hah, they should live in my head for a day!] about our choices and my thoughts about our choices. First of all - we won't sell him for anything if we don't at least try the first surgery. He'd have to be put down because he isn't worth anything. [My trainer blames PETA for devaluing horses. I'll have to get back to you on my own personal opinion of this later], or be sent to the auction, where more than likely he'd be bought for dogfood or to be made into a European delicacy because again... he isn't worth anything to anyone else.

I wish time wasn't an issue for me. But I'm going to start college in about a year and a half. College is darned expensive. Horses are darned expensive. Yes, I would have the time to ride. No, if wouldn't have the money to ride. On the other hand, if I had the money I wouldn't have the time because I'd be working for that money. Am I making sense? I mean, I knew that I would probably have to sell Dakota before going off to college. But I thought that wouldn't be until my senior year in high school. Right now we should be routinely jumping novice jumps. We should be dominating beginner novice schooling shows. He should be worth more than the $3,500 that we paid for him. But he isn't. And it breaks my heart. I mean, if he wasn't just EIGHT years old, it might be easier. If I knew he had lived a full, happy life, it would be easier to make this decision. He hates stall rest. He hates turn out for too long. He hates not having a job. He's too smart to sit around doing nothing. But he'd have six whole months of that. Of less than what he is doing now, which is next to nothing, so he could recover.

But... on the other hand, the decision could be worse. I have a FREE horse waiting in the wings for me if I need it. Dr. Randall has a bay, eight year old gelding that has been out to pasture for several years. I'm itching to get my hands on it to work with it! I mean... I've been riding for 5 1/2 years... heck, I could have a master's degree in riding with how long I've been doing it. I want to be able to take a horse that was out to pasture and bring it up, make it worth something, and be able to say... heck yes, I did that. And I sold him to a good home because he was worth something. But then I think about Dakota, and all we've been through together. He's been my BABY for 3 years now! Three years. Well... three years in January. But that's less than a month away.

I want to ship Dakota off to Jamie's place after his surgery for his recovery period, and try to convince my dad to let me take on the free horse while Dakota is being a horse for six months. But I don't know if it would work. I mean... it takes more than six months to get a horse ready to sell. Especially if that horse hasn't been ridden for 3-5 years.

Please pray that I'll get some guidance on this!!!

Isaiah 30:21 - Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

Tina

Top 10 Christmas Songs.

I got bored yesterday [when I should have been doing homework... but that's okay. I got a TON done yesterday. And I'll get a good amount done today too. I must admit, even though I get my stuff done, procrastination is one of my biggest struggles and flaws. At least I can admit it's a problem. After all... I DID join the facebook group that says, "Procrastinators Unite! ...Tomorrow." And one of my favorite Chuck Norris jokes is the one that says, "Chuck Norris can make procrastinators unite.... today." haha. Sorry. Again, I digress.

Top 10 Christmas Songs.
[I AGONIZED over this list. Because Christmas songs are the best songs in the world. Choosing only my favorite 10 was difficult. And that is an understatement!]

10. We Are Santa's Elves - Burl Ives [from Rudolph!]
9. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. - Anyone. Has always been a favorite. Though I do like Shawn's version. haha.
8. We Three Kings - the Haygoods. [LOVE it!]
7. Mary Did You Know - Dom & the rest of the gang. Chills!
6. This Christmas - Straight No Chaser
5. Run Run Rudolph - Chuck Berry
4. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Fats Domino
3. Baby Jesus is Born - Garth Brooks
2. Carol of the Bells - Anyone. Partial to boys choirs, awesome instrumentals, and Straight No Chaser's version.
1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Straight No Chaser

Ahh. I had to force myself not to change and/or rearrange about seven times. If I had more time I would have made a "Top 20" list. Or maybe 30? 40. 50 is just over the top.... or is it? I didn't list many of my favorite country Christmas songs [like George Strait's 'Christmas Cookies' or Brooks' 'Winter Wonderland.' And there's always more Haygood Christmas songs, and more Burl Ives, Mannheim Steamroller, Straight No Chaser, Reba, and so many other good songs. Oh, and the 'Redneck 12 Days of Christmas' by Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy. And the '12 Days of Christmas' by Straight No Chaser. You MUST go to youtube, and look up '12 Days of Christmas by Straight No Chaser.' Must.

At the risk of rambling further... God Bless! Until next post,
Tina

P.S. If you have ANY money to spare and would like to listen to the BEST Christmas CD you have ever heard.... buy Straight No Chaser's "Holiday Spirits."

Arisona [Recap of the last 3 days]

Days 5, 6, & 7. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The 8th through the 10th.

Monday, mom & I walked to the shopping place across the street from our hotel. We hit jackpot with a two-story Barnes & Noble. It had escalators! I decided to use my $20 giftcard that I had gotten from my cousins for Christmas. Then I paid another $20 of my own money. I bought a hardback compilation of four of C.S. Lewis's works [$9.95!!], a hardback B&N Classics compilation of great American short stories [$7.95!!], a SparkNotes book on Huck Finn [ughh. One of the few books I just CANNOT read. Okay... if I read C.S. Lewis, great american short story classics, Emile Bronte, and Jane Austen for fun... you cannot blame me for having a few books that I must use SparkNotes for.] Then I also bought three SparkCharts to help me with history. [APUSH and American Government. They've helped already! Concise, to the point, simple lists of information. I wish my history books were written like that.] The first time I ever used SparkNotes was for Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar. I got an A on the paper and test! And after I read the SparkNotes version, I always read the real version. Since I know what's going on, I can understand it better. Why am I justifying myself to you? I do not know. I guess it makes me feel better justified after I got a lecture from my father about cheating. I maintain that SparkNotes is not cheating, if it helps me grasp the concept. And besides, if I retain the necessary info [I can still remember what Julius Ceasar was about!], who cares how I learned it?

Anyways. Tuesday I did homework for 2 hours straight while mom wrote letters to her brother and a few friends. Then we went to the shopping center again, had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory [shared the Navajo sandwich. Best sandwich ever! Looove the avocado. ^_^] and went to Crate & Barrel. They had some cool stuff. We talked with dad outside by a chiminea [sp?] when he was done with his conference stuff for the day. He told us some of the stuff that one of the speakers was talking aobut [dealing with "problem people."]. Somehow mom ended up attempting to lecture me on not talking enough [my inner perfectionist doesn't let me speak because I may be wrong. One of the 'problem people' traits. Whatever.] because people think I'm not that smart. Okay, I'm shy and I don't want to say anything that makes me look stupid. What's wrong with that? This is why I like talking to people over the internet. I can say what I'm really thinking because when I type it out I feel more confident about it. She says that on the occaison I do actually talk when her friends are around, they are "amazed" at how smart I am. I told her that smart people [especially smart perfectionists... don't think I'm tooting my own horn here, I'm just repeating the convo between my parents & me] don't say much because we go by the, "It's better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it," mentality. Because my dad is a borderline genius [even if he expects WAY too much out of me] and he is definitely NOT the talkative type. He's more of the... intimidate by silence type. haha. Then my dad basically told me I need to speak up more when I'm around people so they don't think I'm stuck up. I said that's their loss if they think I'm stuck up. I'm not. I'm just shy. And I don't mind what other people think. I also more of the sit back and watch type. I love watching people. It's just so fascinating! I don't see how people can get the stuck up impression from that, but apparently they do. I told my dad at least I don't intimidate them. Half of my friends are scared of my dad because.... he's just generally intimidating, I guess. Heck, I'm one of the only people I know that can last at least a good ten minutes in an argument with him while holding my own. When his brother last longer in an argument with him... my dad is just trying not to offend him. Dad doesn't care if he offends me. But I digress. Actually, I've been digressing for a good while now. I'll move on.

After my dad's last meeting Tuesday night we went to a movie. Four Christmases. It was hilarious, but the Mary and Joseph [actually the whole church thing] thing was definitely over the top. Outright making fun of Christians and church. They sort of crossed a line there. But other than that [and the fact that they weren't married] I loved it! And Reese Witherspoon is SO cute. I love her. :D

Once more, we went back to the pizza place. The pizza place also had THE BEST cheese bread ever.

The trip home was uneventful. Except for the fact that we were running late, then dad's calendar on his phone went whack so dad thought he'd accidentally gotten tickets for the NEXT day and we thought we'd be on standby. Then he realized that the time zone change had messed with his phone so we were in a hurry again because our tickets WERE actually for Wednesday. We were in another crappy terminal of Dallas FTW again [B this time. Why we never got to go to D when we always do, I don't know.] and I got my Auntie Anne's as always. I made plans to go to church because Courtney was going to be there, and then I got french fries from McDonald's because mom insisted I eat something. We made it home uneventfully, I got to read a good 6-7 chapters in "Blue Like Jazz," and we finally made it home.

To the cold.
But oh well.
Tina.

Arizona! [Days 3&4]

Days 3 & 4. Saturday & Sunday. The 6th & 7th of December.

On Saturday we traveled about an hour & a half [or two hours... can't remember] to Sonoma, Arizona. I took lots of gorgeous pictures. As usual, I was in the passenger seat as navigator. And I controlled the satellite radio so we listened to the blues. :) When we got to Sonoma we went to a guest center and the park lady told us about the different cool places we could go. So we went and saw a pretty mountain by a river. I know it sounds vague, but for the life of me I cannot remember what the name of the mountain was right now. You'll see pictures as soon as I upload them from my camera and my dad's camera.

Then we went to Bell mountain. GORGEOUS! I discover I rather like roundabouts instead of 4-way stops. They make u-turns especially easy. [We did NOT u-turn because of my navigation skills. We u-turned because my father IGNORED my navigation skills.] Then we climbed halfway up Bell mountain to see the "Chapel." Mom was disappointed it wasn't a real chapel. In reality, it was a huge cross constructed on the mountain with stone, and you could see it from Bell mountain. From as far away as we were, it looked like wood. Mom and I pased navajo women several time, and the third time we passed the same two women, we had to get a $20 from dad and we bought two neclaces from them. I like mine. It has a star on it. Mom got a purple cross.

The next day, Sunday, we switched hotels. We went to the hotel where my dad's conference was going to be. As soon as we checked in, we went to Old Town in Scottsdale, where we were staying. Basically a shopping center. For all my Branson-savvy readers... think Grand Village [the Christmas stores right by the Colonnade & the Spirit of the Dance place on the strip] only with an old western theme. And lots of jewelry stores. There was lots of navajo indian stuff, too. We bought a Mexican indian blanket from a Muslim woman. [Who thought my star neclace was the Star of David. We didn't know why she kept referring to Hanukkah until my dad pointed out to her that my neclace just had 5 points to the star, where as the Star of David has 6 points. I also bought the rest of my Christmas presents for my barn girls & just a few church girls, so I won't say what I got because Katie-poo reads this. ;) We found a Smoothie King [which I hadn't had in FOREVER!!!] so I got an Angel Food with a shot of energy... which the girl didn't make us pay for. [the shot of energy, not the whole drink.] Shopping makes me tired.

So then we went back to the hotel and watched the third & last installment in The Librarian trilogy. [With Noah Wiley.. love him! He's so cutely awkward as the Librarian. The first movie was the best, though. However, I LOVED the little side story about Judson.. hilarious! I love Judson. haha. The vampires were a little out there though...] Then I complained and agonized about not having ABC family - that meant I couldn't watch the rest of the HP weekend.

The next post will be much shorter... because while I was watching the Librarian movie, dad was in his first meeting of the week and mom slept. The rest of the week was just that exciting. haha.
Tina

Arizona! [Recap of Days 1 & 2]

[I started writing this in AZ, so if the tenses change at some point, or I'm referring to not being home yet, that is why.] So... we're going to be back home tomorrow [yeahh! *cough*]. Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel room. A nice hotel room. If I were to walk outside in jeans and a t-shirt, I would be just fine. Just. fine. Back home... my grandma said it was sleeting & hailing. Yeah. Jeans and a t-shirt wouldn't work back home. But oh well. Enough of my complaining.

The first day was the travel day. But it was a good day. For once, I wasn't completely deaf when we landed after our second flight. We took off from Tulsa and had a connecting flight out of Dallas. We were in terminal... A I think it was. However, I'm quite partial to terminal... D, I think it is? D has the cool artwork sculpture thing that is huge and all the fun restaurants. A's only two redeeming factors are the Auntie Anne's and the Border's. So, I got my pretzel and went to Border's. By now you must know of my desire to become a wedding planner. So you know it is perfectly natural for me to pick up a Bridal magazine. [Ooh... before I picked up BRIDES, I saw this movie magazine... and the issue I bought was TWILIGHT! :D haha. Sorry. Moving on.] Anyway... when I went to buy my magazines, there was a man behind me on his phone. My BRIDES magazine was on top of the Twilight one. I had my back to this man the whole time. I almost burst out laughing when I hear him tell whoever he was talking to, "Yeah, and this gal in front of me is buying a wedding magazine too! Everyone is getting married lately!" haha. The major thing for me was... usually I get mistaken for a fifteen year old, not someone who is about to get married.

When we landed in Phoenix, we got to pick the rental car we wanted. Mom said, "How about the PT Cruiser?" I don't like PT Cruisers. Also, a creep that used to be stalking my best friend drove one, so that might have something to do with it. Then I saw the car next to it. It was a Charger. I thought it was purty, so we got that one. :) Then I sat in the passenger seat so I got to fiddle with the satellite radio, which was exciting, and read the directions off of mapquest so we could make the 30 minute drive to our hotel without any major issues. I think my parents are absolutely SICK of blues music now, which is what I automatically turn the satellite to when we get in the car. :) haha. Its just, they don't have any good country stations - its all pop country, prime country, or outlaw country. I'm picky about the music I drive to. And then their jazz stations are all elevator music... Anyway. Every chance I got, I turned it to blues. [When we got back home I went to the library and checked out some Blues CD's. ^_^ Know of any good blues artists? Recommend them!]

That night we ate at this AWESOME gourmet pizza place named Picazza's. We ended up going back three times while we were in AZ. Each time mom & I ate the Applewood Smoked Bacon & Chicken pizza. It was gooooood. And instead of tomato sauce, they had this awesome ranch stuff.

And then the next day we went to the ghost town on Superstition Mountain. haha. The mountain [which was GORGEOUS, by the way] was actually named Superstition Mountain. But before the ghost town we stopped at this ranch place where apparently they filmed several westerns. And the western that Elvis Presley was in. Mom had to get a picture with his cardboard cutout in the chapel. haha. And when we went to the barn/stable/livery thing [whatever they were calling it] they had some FANTASTIC stuff! Such as a buggy that was used by the doc in Gunsmoke, and a real calvary saddle that was used in one of the early American wars [1812, maybe? I'll have to upload the pictures.], and other old-west things that my dad and I were really interested in. Mom got her picture with the Elvis cutout, so she wanted to go. :P haha.
THEN we went on ahead to the ghost town. It was incredibly populated to be a ghost town. I don't think I've ever seen a ghost town with a packed saloon and tourist shops. They also had a livery. I wanted to take a horseback ride, but I had gotten sick earlier at the other place [ehh. Being a girl sucks sometimes, if you get my drift.] so my parents didn't think I could handle it. [Pffft. Whenever I get sick, riding usually helps. The rocking motion soothes instead of irritating..] Plus, they are under the general impression that trail rides are a waste of money. Pfft. I still think they're fun.

The sunset was gorgeous.
We went back to the pizza place.
I watched HP weekend on ABC in our hotel room. ^_^
And I got the pull-out bed, as always. I swear, one of these days I will break my back on one of those. I can feel the springs and the metal frame. My parents get the bed with the down mat on the mattress. What's new?

Next post will be days 3&4. :)
Tina

Planning Weddings. [Don't laugh... though I know you will!]

Okay.
Sooo...
About fifteen minutes ago I texted [yes, I know it isn't a real word. I use it anyway.] Kate. I asked her if she preferred men in bow ties or regular ties for formal events. She said skinny ties or bow ties. Since I didn't have any skinny ties to work with... I went with the bow ties.
You have no idea where this is going, do you?
Perfect. =]

Well. To make a long story short... since I decided I'm going to be a wedding planner when I "grow up," I have subscribed to BRIDES Magazine, Elegant Bride, and Modern Bride. I also created an account on the David's Bridal website, because they have the COOLEST thing ever. It's called "Dress Your Wedding." So... I "dressed" my wedding. The way I've partially planned it. They didn't have the right bouquet for me, so I made due with what I had. Anyways.

Then. I decided to do my friends' weddings!
I bet you saw that coming.
So. I promised Kate she'd see what I was doing. I told her she'd laugh. But I don't mind. :)

For all the link-clicking you are going to do... I advise you to hit CONTROL ['ctrl'] on your keyboard before clicking the links with the mouse. It will bring it up in a new tab/window. :D


http://www.davidsbridal.com/dyw/details_public.jsp?w=AODNCLBAAG&v=ELCMDMDAAH
That, my friend, is how I see Kate's wedding. From left to right: Her parents, Jamie, Me, Kate. The groom, a groomsman, the flower girl and ring bearer, and Kimberly. I see her as having a more traditional-like wedding, with long flowing bridesmaids dresses and such. And of course, I made green a big part of the color scheme. I'm thinking... winter wedding, so things would be a deep hunter-type green. And the other color would have to be silver or brown. But the website didn't have silver and brown stuff. So. Maybe a bouquet like THIS. Hmm. I'll have to think about it. Anyways, Kate dear. This is your wedding how I see it. Well, if I spent more time on it my idea would be better. But I threw this together in 20 minutes. =]

http://www.davidsbridal.com/dyw/details_public.jsp?w=DODNCLBAAG&v=DGILDMDAAD
This is how I see Jamie's wedding. Not too traditional, not too modern. I mixed it up with the bridesmaids dresses! You like? I do. =] They're a mixture of traditional-ish and modern. They're fun, like Jamie. Kind of laid-back, but still elegant and gorgeous. Like Jamie. :D I imagine a summer wedding. Of course I had to use Jamie's baby blue and navy color scheme. However, I pictured a bouquet more like THIS one.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/dyw/details_public.jsp?w=HODNCLBAAG&v=IOJKDMDAAG
This is how I see Kimberly's wedding. Very modern. She can pull off a dress that isn't a-line. I see something slim and satiny, like the dress in the picture. I didn't give her a veil, but a tiara. Also, the bridesmaids dresses are simple and modern. I see a spring wedding here. With the lilac color scheme. Dark lilac for the groom/groomsmen. A lighter lilac for the bridesmaids. Deep purple for the flowers. And I actually do like the bouquets in the picture this time. Yaaaaay! :D haha.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/dyw/details_public.jsp?w=FODNCLBAAG&v=JBILDMDAAI
MY WEDDING! Okay... you ready for this? Haha. The bridesmaids dresses, in real life, are actually exactly like THIS. Exactly. My dream bridesmaid dress. That style, that color, that shiny. So girls... hope you like it! ;) haha. Hope it isn't one of those monster dresses that all the bridesmaids hate. And the bouquets look like THIS. My own personal bouquet is going to look SOMETHING like THIS. Cool, huh? Haha. Don't worry, some things will probably change. I haven't picked out the exact wedding dress because that would be too difficult. Dresses change. [As I know bridesmaids dresses do, but oh well.] However, I do know what TYPE of dress. Strapless with a plain, long bodice. An A-line skirt that is slightly ruffled but not lacy or puffy. :D I luff it so far. Oh, and it's going to be a fall wedding.

Okay. Wow, this was a long-winded day. I'm done blogging for the day, though. :D Promise.
Tina

What I'm Thankful For

I know Kate is going to love me for the picture. But, she is one of the things I am thankful for, and so is Twilight. [See "Team Edward" pin on Kate's jacket. ^_^]

Anyways... I'm going to copy what Kate did last year and make a list of everything I can think of that I am thankful for. Yes, I am a bit late. No, I do not care.
The List.

• 
  
• My family. [Mom, dad, extended family.]
• Our house that keeps us warm/cool/dry. =] In Oklahoma weather, you never know what you'll need! Haha.
• My horse, Dakota.
• Kate, Jamie, Kimberly, Nikky, Abby. My barn girls. =]
• Haley, Courtney, Tavia, Kayla. My church girls. =]
• All the Kims, Tomiah, Megan, Natasha, Annette, Joanne, Rose, Brittany, Liza, Jason. All the Haygood fans. [Sorry if I missed you!]
• The Haygoods. Tim, Pat, Dom, Shawn, Mike, Matt, Cat, Aaron. The fact that they bring so much joy and inspiration to everyone who loves them.
• My health.
• My job. [Feeding. Without it... dad wouldn't be too happy paying Dakota's board for too much longer and bye-bye Koda!]
• My horseback riding skills. And Kim, for all the instructing, showing, yelling, frustration, knowledge, pain, excitement, and explanations that it took to mold said horseback riding skills.
• My old, scary Russian figure skating power class instructor. He thickened my skin. Now Kim [and Jim Graham, whenever another miracle happens that lets me take Dakota to another of his clinics] can yell at me to her heart's content and I can improve myself instead of being hurt.
• Music. I would die without music. Country, Jazz, Classical, Rock, 80's, Pop.
• Jesus. The fact that he DIED for me. No one else has ever done that. [& I hope no one ever has to.] And for my relationship with him.
• All my Keystone [homeschool] friends. That I talk to over AIM.
• Technology. How did we ever get along without it?
• The fact that the sun rises each day. The fact that the earth is in a perfect orbit space so we don't get burned up by the sun or frozen from the fact that we're too far away from it.
• The stars. The universe. The fact that they practically shout with evidence for a creator.
• Books. I would die without books.
• Langston Huges. I love his poetry.
• The History Channel. Yes, I'm a nerd.
• I have a car. A nice one. A mazda tribute. Not many 17 year olds can say that.
• Pokey. My Pokey little puppy. =] She's still alive after 13 years.
• That I live where I do, in such a privledged part of the world.
• For all the book series' that I have loved over the years. The Boxcar Children, The Princess Diaries, The Saddle Club, High Hurdles, Harry Potter, Twilight, The McKaslin Clan, The Gallagher Girls. For Jane Austen books.
• For Clinton Anderson. The man is a natural horsemanship genius.
• For the movie adaptations to my favorite books/book series'. For the screenwriters, actors, and directors who care enough to keep even a little bit of the books integrity.
• For weddings. I love weddings. I'm going to be a wedding planner one day.
• For my future husband. I've been praying for him. For a few years now. I actually haven't told that to many people. I wanna know who he is! :) ASAP, if possible. Thanks, God. =]
• For all the amazingly fun times I've ever had with my friends. For all the laughs. The inside jokes. Even the tears. They've made me who I am today. Even though I'm still figuring out who I am, I know that my friends past and present have played a big role in that.
• For large, fun, and/or old fashioned vocabulary words. Like ones that Jane Austen or Emily Bronte would use. Words like pertinent, discombobulate, whatsoever, and bibliobibuli. [Bibliobibuli refers to those who read too much.... that's probably me. :D haha.]
• For fun grammar. Yes, I'm a HUGE nerd.
• For fun accents. British [especially Liverpool!], Irish, Aussie, and the slow twang of real cowboys... not just idiot rednecks. :D
• For real cowboys. The ropin', ridin', courteous, sweet, and chivalrous sort. Like Doug [Kim's husband, my farrier] or George Strait.
• For dancers. I wish I could dance. I love to watch those who can dance, dance. Such as Shawn Haygood. :D
• For glasses. I like to see, thank you very much. [Okay, it isn't that bad... everything is just a tad blurry.]
• For being a blue-eyed brunette. I love blue eyes. Love them. Dad has them, I'm pretty sure both grandma's have them, Hugh Laurie has them. Blue eyes are awesome. I also like being a brunette. =] Its fun.
• That I can walk in tall high heels and not kill myself. [Okay.. now the list is getting a little bit rediculous. But I'm having fun so who cares?]
• That I can roll down Tibby's windows [my car. Its a Tribute, I named it Tibby.], blast my music, sing at the top of my lungs, and no one can laugh at my horrible singing abilities because they either can't hear me over the music, or no one is around. =]
• For House, M.D. Now I know that it's never lupus. And to steer clear from Vicodin addicts if at all possible. Unless I need a mystery disease diagnosed.
• For Kate & Grace expanding my music listening range. Now I'm constantly listening to Imogen Heap, Panic at the Disco, or Paramore. Possibly Muse. And for the fact that we can drive through Jenks in the middle of the night, singing along with D.H.T.'s Listen to Your Heart at the top of our lungs.
• For girly, estrogen-filled songs such as D.H.T.'s Listen to Your Heart.
• For insanely fun midnight release parties/movie showings.
• For the fact that I inherited certain things from my dad's side of the family, certain things from my mom's, and the fact that I'm pretty sure I inherited the gene that makes you look about 5-10 years younger than you really are from my mom's side of the family. Even though it is annoying at the moment because people still think I'm 14 instead of 17.
• For blogger. For the fact that I can ramble on blogger to my heart's content without annoying anyone because no one is FORCING you to read my blog. If anyone is still reading this list, by the way.... I love you.
• For previously mentioned people that read my long-winded ramblings all the way through.
• And then comment on them.
• And for the fact that I think I've finally run out of things to say. For the moment. But I'll stop before I can think of anything else. Because I will.

hahaha.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Tina

Haygoods Thanksgiving! [11.27.08]

The Thanksgiving show was pretty much my reason for going to see my relatives for Thanksgiving. haha. Sorry guys. :) But when you live 30 minutes away from Branson and I seem to like to come visit you on a regular basis [especially when I live 4 hours away], you must ask your self.... Does she love me for me, or Branson? hahaha.

Kidding. I love my family. The show was just a much-needed reprieve from all the family love. And sick family.

Anyway. The second I stepped foot into MCC, I set about looking for the message boarders. I knew Kim, Rose, Jason, and their families would be there, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find them. [Especially since Jason is so tall, and I figured a loud conversation would be going on - and it was. ;) haha] I was dragging my poor cousins Shaina & Brianna behind me, but I was not to be deterred. I love them, I do, but I'd been with them all day. haha. I was ready for some non-family interaction. [Especially since the rest of my cousins haven't learned any table manners yet, and I'm STILL stuck at the kids' table... mainly because the adults' table is full and not one more chair can be squeezed in. I can only handle so much open-mouthed chewing, and getting food everywhere... Such as faces, clothing, hair, etc. anyways. I digress.]

I met Kim face to face for the first time! And I think it was the third time I'd seen Rose. I just saw our group picture on the MB, and I love it. :) Very cute. Haha. I had to ditch the MBers for awhile to talk with my family, then I ditched the family to go back to the MBers. When they went on up to find their seats, I started dragging my family in... it took about 10 minutes, and we walked in right when Dom was introducing Cassandre'. At least I didn't miss her. :D Gorgeous. Beautiful voice. [Almost like an angel... hah!]

The show was fantastic! I love, love, loveloveloveLOVED all the pinstripes. First time I'd seen them instead of the suits. [Not a big fan of the red suits, and since my favorite brother usually sports a red suit in the beginning of the show, I was a huge fan of the pinstripes.] I embarassed my cousins, haha. ;)

I don't know how well you know me, but... I'm normally quiet. At least out in public. When you talk to me in person... I have to get out of my shell and out of my comfort zone... Which is speak when you're spoken to. And even then... sometimes I'd rather not say anything. But now, the front row at the show is my comfort zone, so I let loose. :D haha. I was screaming, cheering, hollering at the top of my lungs, and flashing pictures to my heart's content. Since no one was sitting by my mother and I, during the second half we had my Aunt Gina [Tina, Gina, I can never tell who anyone is yelling at. haha. Especially my dad. Is he yelling at his daughter or sister? When the first letter is mumbled... ahh. Frustrating. Sorry. I'll continue.], Shaina, & Brianna come sit next to us. Brianna sat in an empty seat in the second row, though... because we embarassed her. :P I love it. Shaina said, "Geeze, Tina. Calm down!" But where's the fun in that? Like Kim said... it isn't any fun unless you act like a three year old. So that is what I did. haha.

I yelled "DANG!HOT!" at Shawn... Mom yelled at Mikey... and at one point I even got in a, "SEXY SAX PLAYER!!" Although no one heard that one because of the screaming girls on the left side. And, one of the funniest things... Right after Aaron said he didn't have anyone to share the holidays with, my mom started yelling, "You can come down here with me!!!" hahaha. Then he and Dom started laughing. It was great. I love my mom. And my cousins were further embarassed, although things like that are expected out of my mom. :P

When the show was over, my mom was the first in the autograph line. I preferred to actually stay in my seat until the last note was sung and the Haygoods left the stage... so I was the second. haha. I pulled out my big envelope of 8x10's, and handed mom her 8x10 of Mike [I printed out two], and the 5x7 of her and Mike. I had my other eight photos to get signed. hahaha.

Patrick was extremely surprised that I had all these 8x10s. [I scanned them and put them in my 3rd Haygoods Thanksgiving album "Merry Christmas, Baby."] When I showed Mike his, he said, "Nice." Then I had to dump out all of the pics on the counter, right in front of Catherine, because mom had messed up the order [is it sad that I had them in autograph-line order? I'll go ahead and say no... I was just planning ahead. haha] when she had looked through them five minutes earlier. Cat looked very surprised to see me rifling through all these huge pictures of her and her brothers. Haha. But I do think she liked her picture. I thought it was pretty, at least. Mom was very proud of the picture I took of Dominic, and I had to restrain her from showing it to everyone in the autograph line. haha. It wasn't THAT good. I also had him sign a 5x7 of him and my Grandma Low up on stage when she was the My Girl. It's going to be part of her Christmas present! And I was very distressed for awhile that Shawn was nowhere to be seen. But once the crowd thinned out I noticed he was back behind Patrick, so I trooped over to get in line again. I was several people behind Kim.

Hahaha. At one point Kim turned around and said, "Hey Tina! Did you hear that?!?! Shawn said he was singing just for me!" The look on Shawn's face was priceless right when she turned around. :P I loved it. So I decided to react in a total non-Tina way and yelled right back. Haha. I said, "Hey! What's up with that, Shawn?!" hahaha. I don't think he knew quite what to do. Whenever it was finally my turn in line with him he informed me that he was also singing right to me. I just grinned and said, "Thank you!"

Then he put his arms around me after I handed him the 8x10 of him to sign. :) He signed it with his arms around me! Eeahhh! I had to refrain from fangirling right there. That was the one time I refused to act like a three year old... After all... I didn't want to make it too difficult for him to sign and hug me at the same time. :D haha. Then he asked me my name, and wrote, "To: Tina Love you. Shawn Paul." I loved it. Then he leaned down and put his head on mine for my mom to snap the picture! [See above picture.] Best picture of Shawn & me EVER! Evereverever.

Then I waited for the autograph line to die down, and went to hunt down Catherine and Matt. I wanted to have pictures of me and them without the autograph counter thing in the way. :) I persuaded Shaina to take a picture with Matt as well. Oh... and Brianna finally got into it at the very end. The first time we went through the autograph line, she realized she didn't have anything for them to sign. Shaina got out a bank deposit slip [to which one of the brothers said, "Nice." haha.] and Brianna had them sign her ARM! Hahaha. When Dom signed, he said, "So, now you can never wash it again right?" haha. NOW who is the embarassing one, huh? hahaha. At least I had individually picked and printed 8x10 color photos that I had taken myself. Wow, that sounds sooo stalkerish. But that's okay. Mom was boasting about it to the brothers that we were their own personal stalkers [along with all the other fans]. hahaha.

So... all in all. It was pretty awesome. Oh, and I saw Tim... and I had just KNOWN when I was printing up my 8x10s that I should have printed one of Tim, too. But I didn't. Should have gone with my first instinct. *snaps* Rats. Oh well. I'll print one up next time!

God bless!

Tina