I've been described some as a pretty positive person. They say I tend to find the positive in life. Honestly though, I feel I don't do any "finding," but more that the positive is what I see because of what is important to me. Let me explain...
I once took a "test" that notes your top five strength areas in your life. One of my top five was appreciation/gratitude/thanks. I think you'll know what I thought of that result when I tell you I think that "test" was one of the most accurate tests I've ever taken!
So I was thinking a few minutes ago, and I truly think that that "strength" of mine leads to my seeing the positive in life.
The more I thought about it, I feel that those who take the time to be appreciative and thankful are more likely to be positive people.
Some of my favorite words to use are blessed, honored, thankful, etc. If you think about it and think of how someone has blessed your life, or how you are honored to have known someone, or how you are so thankful to have something, you are focusing on the positive in life!
Try it! I truly believe if you set a goal for yourself to more routinely focus on how honored, blessed, or grateful you are in your life, you'll become more positive. Before you know it, it will become habit and you'll find yourself in a more positive mindset when viewing everyday life situations!
And while internal appreciation is important, externally expressing your thanks is important too! Don't be afraid to tell someone thanks or that you feel blessed to have known them!
I challenge us all to go be more grateful, appreciative and aware of our blessings!
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
A New Blog Series...
Books. Reading. Reading books. I only wish I had the discipline to set aside time to read more.
Now be sure to note that that does not say, “I do not have the time to read,” because though I have been guilty of making that comment in the past, I have reevaluated the idea and reminded myself that that is not the case. I say this a lot in the same light as my response to those who say, “You sure have a lot of spare time on your hands to be writing blogs as often as you do and as LONG as you do.” That is not it, my friends. It comes down to the simple idea that we all have the same amount of time in our days, the only difference is how we choose to spend that time. That’s right, I choose to spend hours a week blogging because it is something I love. We all can make time for whatever we want to do, just whether we do it or not is another question. So, when I found myself asking for and receiving MANY books for gifts this Christmas, I made myself set aside time read.
Though I started several of the books I got for Christmas (I have a BAD habit of starting books and not finishing them), I find myself dedicating my reading schedule right now to one book in particular. This book is one I’ve had recommended to me by several of you who are reading right now. I find myself on the 15th chapter of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller right now.
As I read the first chapter of this book during the long hours of the trip back to Dallas from St. Louis for Christmas, I immediately thought to myself, “This guy makes some really good points that I would love to discuss in some blogs.” It did not take very many more pages for me to come to the decision that this was going to be my next Monday blog series!
Blue Like Jazz may never make it to Oprah’s book club, but Miller’s creative thoughts and points will be shared with the world though my own version of a book club—the Blue Like Monday Mornings blog series.
Over the next 20 weeks, since there are 20 chapters in the book, I plan to discuss one chapter a week. As I do with just about every book I read, I have noted points in the book that stood out to me with small pencil checkmarks in the margin. Each chapter has some marks, because Miller is just that good! Some thoughts I already have marked to discuss include:
Why would God want to call Himself Father when so many fathers abandon their children?
Some people skip through life; some people are dragged through it.
I couldn’t give myself to Christianity because it was a religion for the intellectually naïve.
I like to think I do things for the right reasons, but I don’t, I do things because I do or don’t love doing them.
I started thinking about how odd it was to be human, how we are stuck inside this skin, forced to be attracted to the opposite sex, forced to eat food and use the rest room and then stuck to the earth by gravity.
That is just a couple points quoted directly from the text by Donald Miller that will be mentioned and discussed at later points during this blog series.
So this is why I made a post not to long ago asking about who has read and who owns a copy of Blue Like Jazz. I’m curious who will be my reading audience for this series.
For those who have already read this book, I encourage you to reread it along with this series. I plan to reread each chapter the night I write the blog entries because I know how, like a movie, you pick up on new things the second time through. Not only that, but if you haven’t read the book in a while, you might have forgot what points Miller was making in each chapter, so rereading it can really help to jog the mind for better comments and thoughts on his writings during this blog series.
For those who have never read this book, I will tell you this: I really have a hard time describing what this book is about to people when they ask me. HA! It really is hard to describe it. It is non-fiction, so if you’re a non-fiction fan, this is right up your alley! If you are anything like I used to be growing up, and when you hear the word “non-fiction” you think of boring books about documentary style topics like penguins, planets, and plants (for some reason those were ALWAYS the kinds of books I thought about when I was told I had to read a non-fiction book in elementary school…I have NO idea why it was always things that started with the letter “p”…HA!), then look at it this way, give it a try, non-fiction books can be a GREAT way to get yourself thinking about life, since last time I checked life is pretty non-fiction! ;)
Beyond that, I will try to sum the book up like this: It is a book focusing on interesting situations that have happened in Miller’s life that have been beautifully related to bigger and better ideas about life. It is a book focused around Christian topics, but it is not a book to sell Christianity on you (that’s what’s really cool about it)! I truly think the best way to describe it comes from the description written on the front cover of it and it says, “Nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality.” That’s pretty much what it is, as it has twenty chapters that talk about situations involving everything from grace to belief to church to money to love. Each chapter is on a different subject like that and basically Miller draws you into the topic with his fun and humorous stories describing a time in his life and then lets you back out by the end of the chapter by tying that story into his interpretation of that topic in relation to Christian spirituality. It’s really pretty neat how he does it!
Here is what I would love to have happen: I would love to see those of you who are interested in this blog series to run out this week and get you a copy of this book. It is a small, paperback book that will most likely run you from $10-15. Not bad at all. Matter of fact, I bet you can get it really cheap used on amazon, half.com, or ebay even cheaper! All you have to do is read the first chapter before next Monday (the 15th). Then after that, all I ask is for you to read one chapter a week (however, once you get into it, I can see you having trouble limiting yourself to just one chapter a week).
One of my favorite things about this book is that it is so very easy to read and a quick read! The chapters are only about 12 or so pages long and the print is rather large, so a chapter takes you maybe 10 or 15 minutes to read (even if you find yourself rereading a paragraph here and there because they are so interesting and you want to mark things in the margins, like me)! Since this is the case, you really don’t even need to set aside time to read it because you can do as I do and that is get in bed at night to go to bed and just stay up another 10 or 15 minutes to read the chapter (only ONE night out of the week, since you only have to read one chapter a week) and then go to bed. Honestly, 10 or 15 minutes later of a bedtime will hurt NO ONE!
So, next Monday it will begin! The Monday Paint a Picture series has wound up for now, as I still am considering continuing it in the future with some of my own picks for people to honor (AKA some of my close friends who are not readers of my blog), but for now it is time for a new series!
So, become a “reader” with me and let’s discuss some nonreligious thoughts on spirituality together as we venture through Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz! Best wishes over the next few days as you will hopefully be reading the first chapter entitled “Beginnings: God on a Dirt Road Walking Toward Me” before I start next Monday with the first entry of the Blue Like Monday Mornings series!
Now be sure to note that that does not say, “I do not have the time to read,” because though I have been guilty of making that comment in the past, I have reevaluated the idea and reminded myself that that is not the case. I say this a lot in the same light as my response to those who say, “You sure have a lot of spare time on your hands to be writing blogs as often as you do and as LONG as you do.” That is not it, my friends. It comes down to the simple idea that we all have the same amount of time in our days, the only difference is how we choose to spend that time. That’s right, I choose to spend hours a week blogging because it is something I love. We all can make time for whatever we want to do, just whether we do it or not is another question. So, when I found myself asking for and receiving MANY books for gifts this Christmas, I made myself set aside time read.
Though I started several of the books I got for Christmas (I have a BAD habit of starting books and not finishing them), I find myself dedicating my reading schedule right now to one book in particular. This book is one I’ve had recommended to me by several of you who are reading right now. I find myself on the 15th chapter of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller right now.
As I read the first chapter of this book during the long hours of the trip back to Dallas from St. Louis for Christmas, I immediately thought to myself, “This guy makes some really good points that I would love to discuss in some blogs.” It did not take very many more pages for me to come to the decision that this was going to be my next Monday blog series!
Blue Like Jazz may never make it to Oprah’s book club, but Miller’s creative thoughts and points will be shared with the world though my own version of a book club—the Blue Like Monday Mornings blog series.
Over the next 20 weeks, since there are 20 chapters in the book, I plan to discuss one chapter a week. As I do with just about every book I read, I have noted points in the book that stood out to me with small pencil checkmarks in the margin. Each chapter has some marks, because Miller is just that good! Some thoughts I already have marked to discuss include:
Why would God want to call Himself Father when so many fathers abandon their children?
Some people skip through life; some people are dragged through it.
I couldn’t give myself to Christianity because it was a religion for the intellectually naïve.
I like to think I do things for the right reasons, but I don’t, I do things because I do or don’t love doing them.
I started thinking about how odd it was to be human, how we are stuck inside this skin, forced to be attracted to the opposite sex, forced to eat food and use the rest room and then stuck to the earth by gravity.
That is just a couple points quoted directly from the text by Donald Miller that will be mentioned and discussed at later points during this blog series.
So this is why I made a post not to long ago asking about who has read and who owns a copy of Blue Like Jazz. I’m curious who will be my reading audience for this series.
For those who have already read this book, I encourage you to reread it along with this series. I plan to reread each chapter the night I write the blog entries because I know how, like a movie, you pick up on new things the second time through. Not only that, but if you haven’t read the book in a while, you might have forgot what points Miller was making in each chapter, so rereading it can really help to jog the mind for better comments and thoughts on his writings during this blog series.
For those who have never read this book, I will tell you this: I really have a hard time describing what this book is about to people when they ask me. HA! It really is hard to describe it. It is non-fiction, so if you’re a non-fiction fan, this is right up your alley! If you are anything like I used to be growing up, and when you hear the word “non-fiction” you think of boring books about documentary style topics like penguins, planets, and plants (for some reason those were ALWAYS the kinds of books I thought about when I was told I had to read a non-fiction book in elementary school…I have NO idea why it was always things that started with the letter “p”…HA!), then look at it this way, give it a try, non-fiction books can be a GREAT way to get yourself thinking about life, since last time I checked life is pretty non-fiction! ;)
Beyond that, I will try to sum the book up like this: It is a book focusing on interesting situations that have happened in Miller’s life that have been beautifully related to bigger and better ideas about life. It is a book focused around Christian topics, but it is not a book to sell Christianity on you (that’s what’s really cool about it)! I truly think the best way to describe it comes from the description written on the front cover of it and it says, “Nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality.” That’s pretty much what it is, as it has twenty chapters that talk about situations involving everything from grace to belief to church to money to love. Each chapter is on a different subject like that and basically Miller draws you into the topic with his fun and humorous stories describing a time in his life and then lets you back out by the end of the chapter by tying that story into his interpretation of that topic in relation to Christian spirituality. It’s really pretty neat how he does it!
Here is what I would love to have happen: I would love to see those of you who are interested in this blog series to run out this week and get you a copy of this book. It is a small, paperback book that will most likely run you from $10-15. Not bad at all. Matter of fact, I bet you can get it really cheap used on amazon, half.com, or ebay even cheaper! All you have to do is read the first chapter before next Monday (the 15th). Then after that, all I ask is for you to read one chapter a week (however, once you get into it, I can see you having trouble limiting yourself to just one chapter a week).
One of my favorite things about this book is that it is so very easy to read and a quick read! The chapters are only about 12 or so pages long and the print is rather large, so a chapter takes you maybe 10 or 15 minutes to read (even if you find yourself rereading a paragraph here and there because they are so interesting and you want to mark things in the margins, like me)! Since this is the case, you really don’t even need to set aside time to read it because you can do as I do and that is get in bed at night to go to bed and just stay up another 10 or 15 minutes to read the chapter (only ONE night out of the week, since you only have to read one chapter a week) and then go to bed. Honestly, 10 or 15 minutes later of a bedtime will hurt NO ONE!
So, next Monday it will begin! The Monday Paint a Picture series has wound up for now, as I still am considering continuing it in the future with some of my own picks for people to honor (AKA some of my close friends who are not readers of my blog), but for now it is time for a new series!
So, become a “reader” with me and let’s discuss some nonreligious thoughts on spirituality together as we venture through Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz! Best wishes over the next few days as you will hopefully be reading the first chapter entitled “Beginnings: God on a Dirt Road Walking Toward Me” before I start next Monday with the first entry of the Blue Like Monday Mornings series!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Monday's Paint a Picture...
Becky Degge. I met Becky my sophomore year at ACU when we both pledged the same social club—GATA. As I look back on my time spent as a sister of Becky’s through our social club I sit in awe as I think to myself, “Wow, if only I could have known during that pledging season what kind of a member Becky was going to be for GATA!”
There is no doubt that Becky is one of the most proud and spirited GATA members I have ever seen! She is/was always fondly sporting her red and white! If there was going to be any sort of a GATA event that day, whether it was a rush or a social or an intramural game or whatever, you could always count on Becky to wear some GATA apparel to support her women’s club!
Not only was she very spirited in her pride for her social club, but Becky made sure to be at every GATA event as possible! Now that is one dedicated member! She was the kind of member that I could always count on when considering attendance possibilities as I worked as the club secretary. I knew I could count on Becky to be at events and for that I was very grateful!
In intramurals, if she was not playing on the team, like concerning every other GATA event, you could expect her to be in attendance cheering on her fellow sisters from the sideline! There is no doubt that Becky’s support in intramurals went further on the playing field then she will ever know! I can say from experience that having fan support when you’re playing intramurals is quite possibly one of the most motivating situations, so thank you Becky for that!
As a person who is normally pretty observant of people in situations, one thing I was always impressed with about Becky as I would watch her at GATA events, rushes in particular, was her ability to strike up conversation with just about anyone. She is not a shy individual and because of that, you could always count on Becky to talk with all the potential pledges. Becky is a social individual who makes the most of each opportunity she has to stand up for what she believes!
Not only is Becky a dedicated individual to her social club, but more importantly, to the relationships she has in her life. Though Becky and I are not the closest of friends, I have had the pleasure to hanging out with her on several occasions and though those times spent together as well as the stories I have had the pleasure of hearing from her friends, Becky is an individual who holds her friendships in high regard! Becky is there for her friends they need her and she is going to help them if she can.
I’m honored to call Becky a fellow GATA sister for life! She has definitely made her mark on our social club and she has her place in the GATA history book. I’ve enjoyed the times I’ve gotten to joke, laugh, and have fun with Becky! There’s no doubt in my mind that she loves to laugh and have a good time! She was always willing to dress up and/or act goofy with some of us other GATAs!
Becky is a fun girl always willing to talk to you and have a good time! But you don’t have to take my word for it…
Becky is someone whom I am highly proud to call my “friend”. There are so many things I love about her that I’ll probably leave some of them out on accident. One thing that makes Becky such a wonderful person is her sheer interest in people. She’s always “present” when I talk to her. Good friends are there when you need them – for advice, for comfort, for a good laugh. That’s how Becky is. She’s there when her friends ask her for advice. She’s comforting to talk to when the day has not been so comfortable. She’s got a great sense of humor, always up for a good laugh. For those who don’t know Becky personally, they are truly missing out on someone great. Becky is amazing!
Holly Herr
I am privileged to have Becky as one of my friends. Becky is a loyal friend who I know I can always count on. She knows how to have a good time even if not much is going on, and I really enjoy spending time with her.
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Becky is a great friend because she will sacrifice all that she can for her friends. She is always willing to stop taking a nap and go to the mall, lunch, dinner, a movie. She has priorities in her friends. I am so blessed to know her, and thankful for the time that we were able to hang out... even though it was less than I would have liked. :D
Lindsey Miller
One of my favorite memories is the time we “dressed up” to go hang out at Hardin Simons. Becky came up with a few crazy wigs and feather boas for us to use and we put our bathing suit tops on over our clothes. I must admit, we got a few strange looks that night, but we sure did have a lot of fun!
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
I have many fantastic memories of my time with Becky. For instance, anytime she, my roommate back then, and I, would get together in our apartment we would laugh hysterically, sing songs without caring how we sounded, play Mad Libs, take quizzes from magazines, take funny pictures, randomly practice sing song moves, and do just all kinds of fun stuff like that all night. She would seriously have me CRACKING UP! Also, on a more serious note, there were a few times when I was having a bad day and we’d both decide to hop in my car and just start driving somewhere. We’d chat and, when we’d come back, things always seemed so much better. That’s Becky – great to talk to! Great friend!
Holly Herr
I have so many memories of Becky. I think that one of the best would be when we were in Hot Topic looking for Halloween costumes...and I saw the hottest man alive (and he knows SHOWBREAD *dies*) anyways, a few weeks or so later we were getting church bulletins from churches for one of my class projects (see I told you she was giving)... and he was in the last church that we went to... She was more excited about it than I was haha :) The whole way back from the church we planned our wedding. What a great friend.
Lindsey Miller
Another great memory I have with Becky is dancing on the furniture in my old apartment. It’s great to have a friend that you can just cut lose with like that and not have to worry about what you look like doing it!
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Thursday, January 05, 2006
What Does This Mean...
This might sound like a weird question...almost like asking you to define the word "define," but I want as many interpretations of this phrase as possible. I'm curious what people believe it to mean...
"A person who doesn't feel other people's pain."
It this helps you to understand better what I'm asking for, not only tell me what you think that kind of a person is like, like describing them to me, but give me an example of a person not feeling someone else's pain. Like how might they behave.
Also, is it referencing sympathy? Empathy? Neither? Either? [these are some thoughts to consider answering also in your response]
Please respond under the impression that what it means to you, does not have to be what it means to someone else. Think about it....respond without reading other's responses first. I don't want any "I agree with _____'s comment. That's what it means." ;) Write what you think it means and if your comment is identical to someone else's more power to the two of y'all. ;)
"A person who doesn't feel other people's pain."
It this helps you to understand better what I'm asking for, not only tell me what you think that kind of a person is like, like describing them to me, but give me an example of a person not feeling someone else's pain. Like how might they behave.
Also, is it referencing sympathy? Empathy? Neither? Either? [these are some thoughts to consider answering also in your response]
Please respond under the impression that what it means to you, does not have to be what it means to someone else. Think about it....respond without reading other's responses first. I don't want any "I agree with _____'s comment. That's what it means." ;) Write what you think it means and if your comment is identical to someone else's more power to the two of y'all. ;)
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Blue Like Jazz
I need to know who has read the book, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, as well as who owns the book.
Thanks! ;)
Thanks! ;)
Being Twenty-Something...
I found this in some old emails I was going through in my email account. I LOVE it! It's interesting how true it is! I thought about bolding the sentences I could relate too, but I was going to have to bold way too much.
I bet you can probably relate...
Being Twenty-Something
They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.
You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job...and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.
One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused.
Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meetanyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One-night-stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.
You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.
I bet you can probably relate...
Being Twenty-Something
They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.
You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job...and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.
One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused.
Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meetanyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One-night-stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.
You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Monday's Paint a Picture...
Holly Herr. I met Holly my sophomore year at ACU. She had just transferred to ACU and had decided to pledge a social club, as was I. I remember meeting her at several of the GATA rushes. We also were both psychology majors, so we found ourselves in some of the same classes as well.
I think we really seemed to hit it off once we began the pledging process for GATA. I did not have a car during my four years at ACU, so Holly always volunteered to take me to pledging activities. We were pretty much always together during pledging. Whether it was someone to sit by in our classes so we wouldn’t be the only one sitting alone in the class wearing BRIGHT red lipstick or whether it was so we would not get lost trying to find GATA member’s houses for our visits with them.
Even after we finally got into GATA, our friendship only continued to grow. We always found ourselves hanging out together. We would eat in the school cafeteria together. We would do group projects for classes together. We would come up with great Halloween costumes together to wear to the GATA costume parties. We would play GATA intramurals together. We would ride together to GATA functions. We did just about everything together during my last 3 years at ACU!
The thing that sticks out the most to me about my times spent with Holly is our ability to come up with witty and clever ideas on just about anything. HA! It was these skills that lead to some of our most fun times! If you ask just about anyone from GATA what stands out about Holly and I it would be our pranks!
We pretty much started pranking within GATA the years we were there! We developed the GATA Pranksters, which caused quite the havoc, if I might say so myself, during our years at ACU! I think the thing that made our pranks different from most was the originality and the ability to make pranking fun, normally for all involved, rather than making people aggravated.
I can’t even begin to mention all the pranks we pulled off in this entry, but I will mention some of our best ones (that I can remember…HA! There were a LOT): The hog’s head that we purchased and brought to the GATA Superbowl Party, the “break-in” and videoing of one of our GATA officer’s house, the ebaum’s soundboard prank phone calls, the post-it noting of cars, the “GATA TV” video, the times we randomly hung out in sleeping bags in our friends front yards and videotaped it, the “break-in” in a friend’s car, and of course, the end-of-our-undergrad-career prank—the formal letters we wrote to our friends who had been skipping out on chapel and we made them think they were from ACU administrators and that they were not going to get to graduate because they were skipping chapel! Good times!
There was no doubt that Holly and I kept ourselves entertained during our undergraduate days! If it was not pranking, it was joking around! I guess it is because we spend so much time together that we know each other so well that we are able to play-off one another so well! We are gullible people’s worst enemy! HA! I love how Holly or I can start saying something (that is TOTALLY made up) and then the other of the two of us IMMEDIATELY can play along and we can fool people so easily! Whether we are convincing someone that we were NOT involved with a prank or if we are telling them a story about someone who eats breast-milk bread! We play off each other so well! And the only reasons why it works so well is because we can do it and seem so serious about what we are talking about (and not laugh) and the fact that we can totally pick up on when the other of the two of us starts to “tell a story.” It’s like we just KNOW our part! HA! No rehearsal needed…we just play it off so well! HA!
Some of my favorite times spent together was when we would go grocery shopping together in Abilene. We probably each did about 95% of our grocery shopping with one another during our 3 years at ACU together! These times were always classic! If we weren’t loading our cart with Depend diapers to push around the store so people would look at us, we were yelling to one another down the aisle, “AREN’T WE OUT OF POPPYCOCK?!?!” HA!
Then of course there was the time when we bought the hog head at the grocery store and it was the only thing we had in our cart, and low and behold, we ran into one of our professors and he was like, “What are y’all shopping for today?” and then he looked in our cart to see nothing but a hog’s head! HA! We just cracked up! HA!
But one of our FAVORITE things to do at the grocery store always came at the end of the trip. We would end our adventure at the cash register! This goes back to our being able to “tell a story” with such seriousness to see how people will react or what they will say! What we would do was we would be at the register and we would be checking out and the cashier would be ringing up our stuff and we would be standing right there and we would start talking to one another telling some TOTALLY made-up story to see how they would react. One typical one was where one of us would say to the other,
“Hey, didn’t your dad get out of prison today?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s about time. It was murder wasn’t it?”
“Well that was the charge, but he didn’t really do it. It’ll be so good to see him again!”
Blah…blah…blah…
That was one we used a lot, but it doesn’t even compare to my FAVORITE one! This one truly takes pros to be able to be pulled off in total seriousness,
“Man, I can’t believe your roommate had diarrhea in the bathtub again and is making YOU clean it up!”
“I know. The first time was gross enough! She’s lucky I clean it up!”
Blah…blah…blah…
HA! That one ALWAYS got looks, usually from the people in line behind us too! HA! And the best was when we would go to the store with some of our other friends and we would do this, especially the diarrhea one! The other friends normally couldn’t keep their composure and they would have to turn away because they would start laughing!
There’s no doubt that Holly is an entertaining friend, but that is not all that I enjoy from my friendship with Holly. She is a smart gal and we have had our fair share of intellectual conversations, especially about psychological topics. We can be quite the analyzers!
Even more than that, Holly is one of those people who is always there for her friends. She makes every effort to make sure everyone is happy. I have been blessed because of my friendship with Holly. She’s a good person, but you don’t have to take my word for it…
I am very glad that Holly is my friend. She is always coming up with something random and fun. Holly enjoys life and knows how to bring a smile and a laugh to those around her. She also has a serious side too though and is a very good listener.
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Holly has always been a great friend, and an awesome cousin. She is the reason that I am in college today; she talked me into it one afternoon during my senior year of high school. I remember that she said she had thought about it while she was in the shower that morning. As far as I'm concerned, if someone is thinking about you while they are in the shower...well that’s a real good friend right there!
Tricia Lathen
Holly always looks out for everyone else. She tries to make sure that everyone else is satisfied and happy. At times, her sense of humor can come out and everyone in the room will be laughing. Holly values her friends and the friendships she has with them.
Laura Singleton
Holly is a very close friend of mine and let me tell you why. She has a pure heart; she is the most caring person you will ever meet. She makes me laugh and talking to her for hours seems like minutes because we have so much fun together and it goes by so fast. Holly is a leader and she stands up for what she believes in. If I could sum it all up, I would say, this girl is hilarious
Shannon Matuni
I will always remember creative roommate notes from Holly. Whether it was a letter to let me know about the electric bill that just came in or just because she felt like writing something, Holly’s letters addressed to “Ms. Jones-Briscoe-Phillipousis” always cracked me up.
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
One of my favorite memories of Holly is the funniest memory I have of her. One time she put on an old prom dress and some tennis shoes. Our tennis team then all got in the car and drove around town doing silly things. For instance, we went through a Taco Bell drive through asking for a taco with no meat or vegetables. We went to the gas station right next to the college and asked them if they knew where the college was, meanwhile, holly had a WC sticker on the back of her car. Holly was/is our entertainment...she is so funny and we love her so much.
Shannon Matuni
It's hard to categorize Holly Herr, as I call her all the time by first and last name, because she is so many things to me. I have always admired Holly Herr not just cause she is so dang smart but because of spirit. I love the ball of energy she gets when she is excited and I love the conversations we have all the time. They maybe about something really dumb but we make it interesting. We always find time to talk to each other and she always makes sure that I am ok.
Donika Martinez
Holly is someone I know I can count on to cheer me up. When I’m having a bad day I know I can talk to her and she will have some funny story or something that will make me laugh and forget at least for a moment that I was having a bad day.
Becky Degge
There have been many times that Holly and I have shared some great times. I think the best and most random times are when we got together for the original GATA pranksters nights of fun. Holly always drove, and she and Kim would normally pick me up from my house so I rode in the back with whatever happened to be in the car at the time. Mainly I had to battle the many Diet DP cans for a seat in the back. Probably the most memorable of our prankster times was when Ellison was chasing us and Holly, Kim and I were riding in Slagle’s car and Slagle decided to turn into this dark "alley" that ended up being a really freaky dead end. Holly, Kim, and I hit the floor out of fear, but Slagle came through and got us out of there. Looking back, it's one of our funniest moments. But besides funny times some of my other favorite times were our balcony talks here in Dallas at her apartment.
Laura Singleton
Since I've known her my whole life I have thousands of memories...but I think the best one is when we buried the ham we were supposed to eat for lunch in our grandmother’s backyard. I was too young to remember a lot of the details, but I do remember we were served this ham at lunch, and since neither of us are major ham fans, we took matters into our own hands. (And I am pretty sure we dug the hole with a spoon, haha)
Tricia Lathen
Holly Herr has been there for me ever since our Weatherford days and is still there for me when I need her. The biggest thing that I really really really had a hard time telling her was about me being gay. I thought for sure I was going to loose her as a friend. She has been so great to me and never once told me that it was not ok with her. I have so many memories with her and hard to just boil down to one so I will just say Holly Herr, I love you and thank you for always being a great friend to me. Thank you for believing in me and helping me with life so far. I know that you will be there for me when I need you and thank you for still being there when I don't have anything to talk about. I love you so very much, thank you for your friendship and we have plenty more memories to make so be prepared for those....
Donika Martinez
Holly is a master at making prank calls with online soundboards. I will always remember the 1st prank call I got from Holly. I was horrified and went straight over to tell her what some “strange man” had just said to me on the phone. I felt sure that she would be just as shocked as I was. Boy was I wrong!
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Holly and I pledged GATA the fall of 2001 but I really didn’t get to know Holly until that next fall. That was when she became roommates with Whitney who was my best friend, so I was at her apartment almost every day. We started having game nights and taking turns at whose apartment we had them at. When I was packing a few weeks ago I found a song that we wrote for one of those game nights to invite people to come. I know it wasn’t just Holly and me that wrote that song but I do remember her putting a lot of input into it. We then called I think everyone in the GATA phone directory and sang it to them. I miss the time that I spent at Holly and Whitney’s apartment and I miss our game nights.
Becky Degge
I think we really seemed to hit it off once we began the pledging process for GATA. I did not have a car during my four years at ACU, so Holly always volunteered to take me to pledging activities. We were pretty much always together during pledging. Whether it was someone to sit by in our classes so we wouldn’t be the only one sitting alone in the class wearing BRIGHT red lipstick or whether it was so we would not get lost trying to find GATA member’s houses for our visits with them.
Even after we finally got into GATA, our friendship only continued to grow. We always found ourselves hanging out together. We would eat in the school cafeteria together. We would do group projects for classes together. We would come up with great Halloween costumes together to wear to the GATA costume parties. We would play GATA intramurals together. We would ride together to GATA functions. We did just about everything together during my last 3 years at ACU!
The thing that sticks out the most to me about my times spent with Holly is our ability to come up with witty and clever ideas on just about anything. HA! It was these skills that lead to some of our most fun times! If you ask just about anyone from GATA what stands out about Holly and I it would be our pranks!
We pretty much started pranking within GATA the years we were there! We developed the GATA Pranksters, which caused quite the havoc, if I might say so myself, during our years at ACU! I think the thing that made our pranks different from most was the originality and the ability to make pranking fun, normally for all involved, rather than making people aggravated.
I can’t even begin to mention all the pranks we pulled off in this entry, but I will mention some of our best ones (that I can remember…HA! There were a LOT): The hog’s head that we purchased and brought to the GATA Superbowl Party, the “break-in” and videoing of one of our GATA officer’s house, the ebaum’s soundboard prank phone calls, the post-it noting of cars, the “GATA TV” video, the times we randomly hung out in sleeping bags in our friends front yards and videotaped it, the “break-in” in a friend’s car, and of course, the end-of-our-undergrad-career prank—the formal letters we wrote to our friends who had been skipping out on chapel and we made them think they were from ACU administrators and that they were not going to get to graduate because they were skipping chapel! Good times!
There was no doubt that Holly and I kept ourselves entertained during our undergraduate days! If it was not pranking, it was joking around! I guess it is because we spend so much time together that we know each other so well that we are able to play-off one another so well! We are gullible people’s worst enemy! HA! I love how Holly or I can start saying something (that is TOTALLY made up) and then the other of the two of us IMMEDIATELY can play along and we can fool people so easily! Whether we are convincing someone that we were NOT involved with a prank or if we are telling them a story about someone who eats breast-milk bread! We play off each other so well! And the only reasons why it works so well is because we can do it and seem so serious about what we are talking about (and not laugh) and the fact that we can totally pick up on when the other of the two of us starts to “tell a story.” It’s like we just KNOW our part! HA! No rehearsal needed…we just play it off so well! HA!
Some of my favorite times spent together was when we would go grocery shopping together in Abilene. We probably each did about 95% of our grocery shopping with one another during our 3 years at ACU together! These times were always classic! If we weren’t loading our cart with Depend diapers to push around the store so people would look at us, we were yelling to one another down the aisle, “AREN’T WE OUT OF POPPYCOCK?!?!” HA!
Then of course there was the time when we bought the hog head at the grocery store and it was the only thing we had in our cart, and low and behold, we ran into one of our professors and he was like, “What are y’all shopping for today?” and then he looked in our cart to see nothing but a hog’s head! HA! We just cracked up! HA!
But one of our FAVORITE things to do at the grocery store always came at the end of the trip. We would end our adventure at the cash register! This goes back to our being able to “tell a story” with such seriousness to see how people will react or what they will say! What we would do was we would be at the register and we would be checking out and the cashier would be ringing up our stuff and we would be standing right there and we would start talking to one another telling some TOTALLY made-up story to see how they would react. One typical one was where one of us would say to the other,
“Hey, didn’t your dad get out of prison today?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s about time. It was murder wasn’t it?”
“Well that was the charge, but he didn’t really do it. It’ll be so good to see him again!”
Blah…blah…blah…
That was one we used a lot, but it doesn’t even compare to my FAVORITE one! This one truly takes pros to be able to be pulled off in total seriousness,
“Man, I can’t believe your roommate had diarrhea in the bathtub again and is making YOU clean it up!”
“I know. The first time was gross enough! She’s lucky I clean it up!”
Blah…blah…blah…
HA! That one ALWAYS got looks, usually from the people in line behind us too! HA! And the best was when we would go to the store with some of our other friends and we would do this, especially the diarrhea one! The other friends normally couldn’t keep their composure and they would have to turn away because they would start laughing!
There’s no doubt that Holly is an entertaining friend, but that is not all that I enjoy from my friendship with Holly. She is a smart gal and we have had our fair share of intellectual conversations, especially about psychological topics. We can be quite the analyzers!
Even more than that, Holly is one of those people who is always there for her friends. She makes every effort to make sure everyone is happy. I have been blessed because of my friendship with Holly. She’s a good person, but you don’t have to take my word for it…
I am very glad that Holly is my friend. She is always coming up with something random and fun. Holly enjoys life and knows how to bring a smile and a laugh to those around her. She also has a serious side too though and is a very good listener.
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Holly has always been a great friend, and an awesome cousin. She is the reason that I am in college today; she talked me into it one afternoon during my senior year of high school. I remember that she said she had thought about it while she was in the shower that morning. As far as I'm concerned, if someone is thinking about you while they are in the shower...well that’s a real good friend right there!
Tricia Lathen
Holly always looks out for everyone else. She tries to make sure that everyone else is satisfied and happy. At times, her sense of humor can come out and everyone in the room will be laughing. Holly values her friends and the friendships she has with them.
Laura Singleton
Holly is a very close friend of mine and let me tell you why. She has a pure heart; she is the most caring person you will ever meet. She makes me laugh and talking to her for hours seems like minutes because we have so much fun together and it goes by so fast. Holly is a leader and she stands up for what she believes in. If I could sum it all up, I would say, this girl is hilarious
Shannon Matuni
I will always remember creative roommate notes from Holly. Whether it was a letter to let me know about the electric bill that just came in or just because she felt like writing something, Holly’s letters addressed to “Ms. Jones-Briscoe-Phillipousis” always cracked me up.
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
One of my favorite memories of Holly is the funniest memory I have of her. One time she put on an old prom dress and some tennis shoes. Our tennis team then all got in the car and drove around town doing silly things. For instance, we went through a Taco Bell drive through asking for a taco with no meat or vegetables. We went to the gas station right next to the college and asked them if they knew where the college was, meanwhile, holly had a WC sticker on the back of her car. Holly was/is our entertainment...she is so funny and we love her so much.
Shannon Matuni
It's hard to categorize Holly Herr, as I call her all the time by first and last name, because she is so many things to me. I have always admired Holly Herr not just cause she is so dang smart but because of spirit. I love the ball of energy she gets when she is excited and I love the conversations we have all the time. They maybe about something really dumb but we make it interesting. We always find time to talk to each other and she always makes sure that I am ok.
Donika Martinez
Holly is someone I know I can count on to cheer me up. When I’m having a bad day I know I can talk to her and she will have some funny story or something that will make me laugh and forget at least for a moment that I was having a bad day.
Becky Degge
There have been many times that Holly and I have shared some great times. I think the best and most random times are when we got together for the original GATA pranksters nights of fun. Holly always drove, and she and Kim would normally pick me up from my house so I rode in the back with whatever happened to be in the car at the time. Mainly I had to battle the many Diet DP cans for a seat in the back. Probably the most memorable of our prankster times was when Ellison was chasing us and Holly, Kim and I were riding in Slagle’s car and Slagle decided to turn into this dark "alley" that ended up being a really freaky dead end. Holly, Kim, and I hit the floor out of fear, but Slagle came through and got us out of there. Looking back, it's one of our funniest moments. But besides funny times some of my other favorite times were our balcony talks here in Dallas at her apartment.
Laura Singleton
Since I've known her my whole life I have thousands of memories...but I think the best one is when we buried the ham we were supposed to eat for lunch in our grandmother’s backyard. I was too young to remember a lot of the details, but I do remember we were served this ham at lunch, and since neither of us are major ham fans, we took matters into our own hands. (And I am pretty sure we dug the hole with a spoon, haha)
Tricia Lathen
Holly Herr has been there for me ever since our Weatherford days and is still there for me when I need her. The biggest thing that I really really really had a hard time telling her was about me being gay. I thought for sure I was going to loose her as a friend. She has been so great to me and never once told me that it was not ok with her. I have so many memories with her and hard to just boil down to one so I will just say Holly Herr, I love you and thank you for always being a great friend to me. Thank you for believing in me and helping me with life so far. I know that you will be there for me when I need you and thank you for still being there when I don't have anything to talk about. I love you so very much, thank you for your friendship and we have plenty more memories to make so be prepared for those....
Donika Martinez
Holly is a master at making prank calls with online soundboards. I will always remember the 1st prank call I got from Holly. I was horrified and went straight over to tell her what some “strange man” had just said to me on the phone. I felt sure that she would be just as shocked as I was. Boy was I wrong!
Whitney Jones-Briscoe
Holly and I pledged GATA the fall of 2001 but I really didn’t get to know Holly until that next fall. That was when she became roommates with Whitney who was my best friend, so I was at her apartment almost every day. We started having game nights and taking turns at whose apartment we had them at. When I was packing a few weeks ago I found a song that we wrote for one of those game nights to invite people to come. I know it wasn’t just Holly and me that wrote that song but I do remember her putting a lot of input into it. We then called I think everyone in the GATA phone directory and sang it to them. I miss the time that I spent at Holly and Whitney’s apartment and I miss our game nights.
Becky Degge
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