Singing with Wolves

According to Entertainment Tonight...

Besides acting, Kevin Costner has a whole field of dreams he wants to fulfill -- and he will realize one of them this November with the release of his first country music album, says People magazine.

While his musical aspirations may come as a bit of a surprise to some, Costner has been playing music with some of his Modern West band mates for nearly 20 years, he tells People.

"I remember looking into the crowd, thinking, 'This just feels right,'" he previously said about performing with his band.

The 53-year-old has co-written six songs from the 12-track album, some of which will be available to country music radio this week, People reports.

The album is set for release Nov. 11, and the band plans tour dates later this year through 2009, says the mag.

The Missy Project

This past week I read The Shack. What a fantastic read!

This is a book people of all ages should take time to enjoy. It made the Trinity come alive; it explained forgiveness in such a profound and yet simple way. It painted an incredible picture of dealing with offense towards God. Which almost all of us experience in our lives at one level or another.

This is probably different than many books you've read because it's considered "theological fiction". While there are no verses referenced, and we don't know the spiritual beliefs of the author, it manages to take some of the more complex topics in the Bible (things like sacrificial love, forgiveness, and eternity which are sometimes so hard for us to comprehend) and mold them into a wonderful modern-day story that we can all relate to. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but am so glad I finished this!

Visit this website for more details on the book, author's personal story, and ways to spread the Word of God and His love to others!

Happy Reading!

Lights, A/C, TV - Wahoo!

Wednesday night we got power, lost it yesterday, and then got it again last night.

Hopefully it's here to stay!

I NEED POWER

According to Centerpoint's latest update, our blessed little abode SHOULD have power by SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th.

Please note that "THE" day was originally Monday, the 22nd. Then Thursday, the 25th.

NOW SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I should feel thankful and blessed and all that since we are safe, alive, fed, rested, etc, but cut a girl a break!

Lots o' Snapshots

Three cheers for the Erbeles' who are housing us poor power-less souls until necessary! I have my computer up and running tonight and wanted to share some pictures of the last week's events.

Here are some pictures I took around our neighborhood the day after Ike hit.

Luckily the poor bush was the only thing to take a hit at our house

The Woodlands finally got some power on Wednesday - and we got to go out to eat! PB&J can get old after a few days. Here's sweet Macie opening the door for guests at Guadalajara.

Thanks to Miss Chloe for letting me steal her internet and power one day also!

Finally, on Saturday we headed to College Station to cheer on the Ags as they took on Miami. Let the record show that neither of us had high hopes for a win...but ya know, what can you do? We tried to have fun anyway and enjoy the beautiful (hot) weather, friends, & family.
Seth & Chase playing washers at the tailgate

The pride of Aggieland!

The A&M Prairie View band jammed out at halftime also

Paula and I found better entertainment at the MSC during the last quarter :)

FINALLY. All caught up. See what a week without blogging can do to a girl??

Who Needs Power?

Oh my.

I will start by saying "experiencing natural disaster" was actually on my list of things to do before I die. Why? Not sure. At least I can successfully cross that off now.

I know you've all seen pictures and heard stories. Unfortunately we are STILL without power, so I have not been able to upload the pictures I took of our neighborhood and the surrounding areas. Some mighty big trees breathed their last.

Seth & I decided to stay instead of evacuating and experienced some pretty scary winds during Ike. Enough that we moved to the hall and blocked it off. Never thought in a million years we'd have to do that. Luckily, my boss is fantastic enough that she let me leave work on the Thursday before to get some supplies and begin our "hunkering down" preparations. We are so thankful and blessed that there was no damage to our home.

Unless you count the rug that Tucker chewed up as the hurricane passed on through.

But other than that, we were safe. Had to do all the usual things like empty out the fridge, scrounge for ice, and remember what life is like without TV. We had such beautiful cool weather last week so we were able to sleep with the windows open and it was really nice! I had the entire week off work so I either got caught up on my reading, stole power from friends, or dreamed about having power.

In all seriousness though, the damage seen from Hurricane Ike, especially on the coast, was just devastating. Even here in The Woodlands we saw several huge trees that had fallen into homes, houses that had water damage, roofs blown away, etc. And yeah, our week would've been better with some power, but I cannot even begin to imagine what the people are dealing with that have completely lost their homes. So please keep all of them in your prayers.

Since I don't have my own pictures, I found some others online that will give you an idea of what went on down here...

Just incredible. Cannot even fathom.

Waters rushing into Galveston

This is the JP Morgan Chase building downtown. Not too far from where I used to work. I drove near downtown last week and could not believe the damage. All the broken windows were boarded up.

A cemetary near Galveston...

It's nice to finally (sorta) be back in a routine again. Business as usual today! We are supposed to have power BY Thursday so keep your fingers crossed. THANK YOU a thousand times to everyone who let us borrow your washing machines, fridges, tv's, lights, a/c, computers, and more this past week!! We are so very blessed.

Survivors

The Anderles are A-OK here in Houston but without power. Please keep all victims of the hurricane in your prayers!

Hurricane Ike - Yikes

Ok. I am conflicted.

On one hand, I am scared to death of natural disasters. On the other hand, I am also pretty complacent because...hello, I've never been through one. Unless you count the Big Chill '98 or whatever happened many years ago in San Antonio. Hey, school was cancelled - who really cares?

But as I stopped for my weekly starbucks at Kroger this morning, I started to get slightly worried, many thoughts running through my head. Should I have a cart full of 80 cases of water also?? Why are there no more batteries? Shoot, my dogs have to eat. Why are there so many people here??? If we lose electricity will there be enough light to read my books??? And most importantly...if they cancel work on my day off...can I stay home on Monday?????

And let's not forget that Maggie stared up at the sky for a good 10-15 minutes this morning while I was getting ready for work.

Animals. They know things.

I guess I will be going to HEB at lunch.

Stay safe...be smart...and weather the hurricane!

Music, Food, Friends & More

Talk about a jam-packed weekend! We started off on Friday night going to the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 concert at the Pavillion. They were awesome! Counting Crows may have had their day but they still sing Mr. Jones as good as always. :) Maroon 5 wasn't bad either...I must admit, this is probably the first non-country concert we've been to in a loooong time. But I figure, we're almost 25...we should probably branch out, right?

LJ, Jennifer, Mike, Me, Georgia, Kim
Thank you guy in the background for bending down in the back of our picture
Kim & Garrett
Matt & Georgia
We totally fit in with all the teeny boppers there!

On Saturday night we had an "end of summer celebration" of sorts and pigged out at Taste of Texas! I'm still full. It was soooooooooooooo good...from the popcorn while we were waiting for our table...to the unlimited salad bar....to the cheese wedges...awesome bread...fantastic steaks...dessert...cinammon coffee and more!

Kinda sickening, isn't it?

Sickening enough that I couldn't eat more than a bagel and some yogurt on Sunday. We were MISERABLE. But for TOT...it was definitely worth it!

Then on Sunday, the dogs had a little fun. Fun for them, at least. They were making all sorts of banging and crashing noises outside Sunday morning while we were delaying waking up. Seth finally walked out to see what the ruckus was and came across this:

Oh, our sweet precious little dogs has busted a board in the fence and Tucker was...wait for it...playing in our neighbor's backyard with the lab puppy they had over there. FANTASTIC. I mean, I know it was all in the name of fun (and possibly love) but what a pain. Luckily Seth was able to nail the flapping board back in after church.
Maggie was trying to place the blame ALL on her brother. She was probably mad that he was back at the house. Tucker got "neutralized" (as Dabney would call it) on Friday morning and got to stay the night at the vet for his recovery. Maggie MILKED it. She loved the one-on-one attention and probably thought her brother had been shipped off to boarding school. Wrong. Oh well. It was weird having only one dog again! Maybe slightly more sane in the house, but that's besides the point.

I am NEARLY finished with the Twilight Saga and am so sad to finish the series this week! I'm telling ya - these are books you NEED to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stephenie Meyer is just fabulous and by the end of it, she'll have you wishing you were a vampire too! I fell asleep reading on the couch Sunday afternoon and woke up to find Maggie thoroughly enjoying her Sunday nap...

Ode to Seth

Shame on me...I completely forgot about Friday's Ode! The person I've chosen is MOST deserving this week (ok, and probably every week if we're honest with each other) and is probably the luckiest guy I know!

Ode to Seth

Seth my love, my heart, my friend,

You stick with me through thick and thin.

You laugh at my jokes, funny or not,

You like to get to church on time, on the DOT.

I might drive you crazy a time or two,

Good thing I'm not needy (from me to you).

You sometimes watch my TV shows, even if girly

And make me get to football games really early.

You can cook, clean, and mow the lawn,

You try to keep me awake when I yawn (which is a lot).

You are my best friend and I trust you with my life,

I am so blessed and lucky to be your wife!!!

Love you!

Make me Babies!!!

I am seriously about to have a heart attack from laughing. Paula found a fantastic website this morning and all day me, her, and Dabney have been "making babies"!

(Uh...I mean working)

Unfortunately, they are all absolutely hideous.

I'm considering this website a complete sham.

I mean really. We all know that Seth & I would make WAY cuter babies than this!!!

Regardless, meet the three newest additions to the Anderle clan...

A pirate?! Are you KIDDING me?!

Yikes. We'll just all hold our breath until 2010.

Sidenote

Does anyone else think John McCain sounds an awful lot like Dennis Franchione...or Dr. Evil???

Palin for President!!!

"Far from looking like an insult to women, Palin emerged as confident, self-possessed, smart, witty, capable, knowledgeable, aggressive — the kind of ball-breaker men don’t mind dealing with and find attractive." (National Post)


Shoot. Forget McCain! Say Goodbye to Obama. Put THIS woman in the White House! I really hope you watched her speak last night at the RNC. Actually, I hope you've been watching the entire convention (along with the DNC that already happened) and absorbing the words of all the great speakers they've had. Fred Thompson. Rudy Giuliani. Mike Huckabee. Meg Whitman. All absolutely fantastic!

This is the first time I've actually been a little excited about this presidential race. Of course it was bittersweet to see Huckabee & Romney showing McCain their support, instead of the other way around, but whatever. There's always next time.

Who else was yelling "Drill Baby Drill!" at the TV? So maybe I work for an oil & gas company...and maybe part of my retirement is dependent on their stock price...but I was chanting right along with them! I'll admit, I was skeptical at first, but I think Palin is just what the GOP needs right now. I could go on and on but I won't...you can all read the papers (i.e. internet) and watch the news.

I don't want to be a political preacher but this is a time when we need to all be paying attention to the issues out there and the things that are important to our nation. How much control do you want our government to have? What are your beliefs on abortion? Stem cell research? Distribution of wealth? The war in Iraq? Our economy? Universal health care? Foreign policy?

Ok enough of the serious stuff. How about one of my favorite quotes of the night:


"But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country."

BAM! Take that! And how about her comparison of a mayor to a community organizer...but with responsibilities? Ah! Love it!

And here's a video of our all-time favorite moment of the evening...



Find your voter's registration, pay attention to the issues, and enlighten yourself with what's going on in our American government.

If anything...prepare yourself for the excitement of when Sarah Palin and Hillary might one day go head to head. How entertaining would that be?

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Ok, time to listen to McCain :)

What's to Know??

Yeah, so there's not anything too great to share about last Saturday. The Aggies played. The Aggies lost. Surprise, surprise. Some of you might wonder why we still dish out several Benjamins to acquire these season tickets. Well that's because we bleed maroon. Otherwise, I'd be watching on my couch, in the A/C, with a bowl of popcorn. And hopefully, that time won't be too far off in my future anyway...

We went up early on Saturday to see Rachel & Michael's new apt/house, and plus we got to see Mom for awhile and just visit with everyone! It's so weird going back to College Station...I mean, gosh it's been more than TWO years now since I've graduated...and still the place is a changin'. If only there had been a Kohl's, Ben & Jerry's, and brand new Layne's when WE'D been there!

Rachel & Me at the LG Tailgate
Me & Seth
Rachel & Michael...class of...2011???

Me & My Co-Cheerleader

It's funny how Aggie football is just a fact of life for us now. Our poor children. I almost measure our life in "seasons".

i.e. Seth and I have been together for six football seasons!

For real though - there is only ONE time of the year when my husband skips. Bounds around, if you will. Last Thursday night he is on PINS & needles, waiting for the arrival of college football. He's stripped down to his boxers, with dinner on his lap, staring at the TV in all it's HD college football glory. We proceed to have the following conversation:

Seth: Hey, was there anything you wanted to talk about tonight?
Mary: Um...eh, not really. I mean this thing did happ...
Seth (cutting Mary off): Ok GREAT! Because tonight is the start of NCAA college football and I need to FOCUS!

Gotta love him. You've never seen so much emotion during a sports event. Elation, anger, frustration, joy, and laughter are just a few of them :)

I get the TV back in December. Until then, kids.

Prayer for Marriage

We were given a copy of this prayer a couple months back in church. It stays on our fridge (you know, where all important reminders go!) to remind us of our ultimate goal in marriage - to bring glory to God! I encourage all of you to share with your spouse and rejoice in the love God has for all of us!


Dear God,

You designed marriage, You created it, You sustain it,
You make it new.
You make it the best of adventures.
Makes us what You will;
With You there is safety and rest.
Make it this way with us always.
Help us flee the temptation to judge, criticize, or control,
Help us to forgive continually and constantly,
that grace will be fluent between us.
Guide us in the ways that bring You Glory,
So we don't become self-absorbed.
Save us from ourselves, save us from the darkness.
Build in us the greatest hope shared eternally.
May your transcendent Word be upon our hearts, minds,
and in our actions.
Thank you for Marriage, Thank you for You,
Thank you for my husband,
Thank you for Christ.

In His Name,
Amen

Story of My Life