CarlsBAD

I will dedicate today's post to Carley Rae Gillis. Also known as Carlos, Carl, Santana ( get it??), Carslbad, and Carley Girl. She has 2 tests today- she has been studying for them since Saturday. Today is Wednesday. Whoa. I am so proud!
This is one of the many many ways that Carl and I differ. She is... well.. kind of a worrier. About school. And sometimes about other things. I too, used to worry, until my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Rhode took me out into the hall to soothe my crying over not bringing my homework (accident, of course) and she said, "Whitley, stop crying! I am not going to hit you!" She is a smart lady. It was then and there I realized that teacher's could get very mad or disappointed, but they couldn't hit you. Not without going to jail! I digress..

CARL is the best thing that ever happened to the Gillis family. She is funnyyy. She always has been. When she was little she even had this hilarious little raspy voice to go along with her jokes. She has always been the little sister I try to take care of. Sometimes too much, and I have realized alot recently that I can even get in the way! Yes, me! Hard to believe, I know.. but it is true. Carley has a heart as big as TEXAS and she is always using it to help others. She has a large burden for others and she is a wonderful listener, no matter what the circumstance. Unless she is reading for school.. then just don't bother her, ok? Geeze. She is the youngest of 4 kids but carries her own weight around the house, readily treating me like the baby. I am sure I deserve it most times. She is SO smart, so independent, and so very responsible. I have loved watching her become a pretty, tall, grown-up lady that is constantly seeking the Lord for her guidance and purpose.

Yes, Carl is Tall. She has not always liked that she has grown so tall, which happened in high school. I really do love it. She stands so tall and beautifully above all of the petty things that go on around her. Carl is not a typs girl with a life full of typs drama. She is so mature. I mean, really! I believe... I really do, that God made her a baby bit taller than some ladies because she is such a leader and a strong example for people to follow. How is she an example? I shall tell you-
An example in

1. Loving people and treating them with respect

2. Looking for the good even when there seems to be none.

3. Seeking answers to questions

4. Using discernment in relationships

5. Going to God's word daily

6. Being a good friend, no matter what!


Easter Carl!

I could go on forever, baby! Obviously. Carl is my sister, my shroomie, and my very best friend. In school and in life. We just click. I am happy to have her and happy for her dumb-dumb tests to be over!
Love you CB-- today we get some sunshine!!!

bye, say bye!

TAR

9 months

I realize this is a strange title to have when you are someone like me, who is not having a little baby. I do LOVE little babies though. SO so so much. But the title does have a point- 9 months ago was june 29th. Alot of things can happen in 9 months. like......

1. It can go from summer, to school, to christmas, and back to school. Talk about a freaking whirl wind!

2. People can go from friends to being more than friends, and the other way around too.

3. You can become a Senior in college, when once you were a junior in college. That is an intense transition. Kinda.

4. You can work at the Mercury, then have no job at all (what a lifeeee), then go back to your former place of employment... let's use the Pita Pit for this particular example. And you can enjoy all 3 of those stages in different ways!

5. Icky times and relations with people that you love can be mended, because God is big and strong and smart and can mend anything. YES anything.

6. New relationships can form with people you may have just been sort of friends with, and now are very close friends with. This is always a fun and refreshing surprise. I am not too old to make new friends.

7. You can find a new restaurant.. let's say a sushi place, that changes your life for the better. I mean LOTS better.

8. People can go from being apart, to being back together, to being engaged. To be married... Just think, a new sister in a family that has 3 sisters already. Wouldn't that be zooooo fun :)

9. You can allow a big tragedy, something veryyyy sad, to mold and shape the way you live. Even if there is no good reason for it, and no real good has come of it. Maybe it will? Let us hope so.

9 months and there CAN be a baby. Duh. I left that one out of the list because everyone who is anyone already knows that.
The reason for THIS 9 months is that today, March 29th, marks the 9 months since my sweet friend Emily was killed in a car crash. I wrote about her in my post on March 1st, in case you are interested.
I am sad, because I am a date person and dates always always make me remember- in this case it is not such a fond memory. But hey, that is okay! God has done good things in the last 9 months, just like He always has and always will. But it does not make death any less sad, or make light of tragedies like this one.

If YOU are a praying person- I would be just delighted if you could pray for the Stuller family today. Just that God would offer them some great comfort in his arms. Their names are Sue, Dean, Jeremiah, Evan, and Lizzy. They are very fun people. I promise.

In other news- I had a great week, busy with school, food, sun, and reading. The weekend was full of twin friends, more sunshine, and walks around my block. I have no real complaints :)



thank you for reading-- can't wait for EASTER!!!!

bye, say bye!

whit gil

God Bless the USA

2nd post for today, but only because I am feeling very patriotic at this moment. I am writing a paper about cultural diversity, Mexican-American tensions... blah blah blah. I won't bore you. But what I will say is that we are L-U-C-K-Y! Whether you know it or think so, we are. We live in a great nation, with freedoms to speak what we want, write what we want, worship freely, and wear what we want :). Sure, this nation like any other has plenty of flaws. Flawed people= flawed countries. And let's face it, we are all flawed. But I hear a lot of complaining about how "America thinks they are the best", and even "Every other country hates the US."
That is dumb. Did you ever think it is maybe because we ARE the best? Well we are. Not that the others are bad. They just didn't get as lucky. God DID bless the U.S.A. and the good ol' boys that founded it. I hope he will continue to bless it even when we Americans continue to turn our back on his rules.

I will always be a big fan of the red, white, and blue. I can't help it :) If ya think about it today, thank God that YOU are here too. I'm sure He'd appreciate it.



This post is dedicated to Grandad Charlie- my favorite conservative, smart, red-blooded American. Love you :)

bye, say bye!

wag

forward motion

this week is just creeping on by. It is ONLY tuesday. And ONLY noon. Gosh. Two sentences in and I am already being a whiney baby. I apologize. I am in my first class of the day and I finally gave up on taking notes because it is so very boring to me. I have not touched on this before, but school is my very least favorite thing. I do not like going, I do not like being in class, and I do not like homework. Oh yes, and I don't like tests. I have never been a school-lover. I have always gotten by and was even veryyyy good at school for a large portion of my life. But not this portion. Much to my dismay.. and Jan and Scott's dismay. I will keep trying though. In December this schooling chapter of my life will close forever! That is until I get a teaching job.. ha!
For weeks like this I find it necessary to focus on the GOOD stuff- the stuff to look forward to. I know, I know. Live in the present. Well I am living! And blogging! But I don't see any harm in getting a little excited for the days to come...
looking forward to...
1. being finished with my papers

2. my friend's ring dunk

3. EASTER- I love Easter. I love Easter clothes. I love Easter eggs. Always have, always will. Duh. The church we go to with my family in Austin is a little bit out there.. but hey. What can you do?

these are eggstra beautiful.. I better start practicing.

4. Glee returning to television. I still have a little less than a month (21 days to be exact) until my favorite group of twenty-something year olds sing and dance their way back into my life!! Can't wait.

5. Spending some time in the sunshine. It is going to be warm this week and I am going to lay in the park. I just have to. I like being tan and I like feeling the sun on my pastey skin. Wanna join me? You guys probably should.

6. Tomorrow night- this probably should have been earlier on the list.. but this list has no particular order. The bible study gang is re-uniting and I can't wait. Shroom time with Megsy. Ah, how sweet it is. Speaking of Megsy, she wrote a great blog post about God and dogs. I love it so much. Here is sweet Megan.. she is so dang cute.

7. I look forward to finishing Carson Leslie's book, Carry Me.. He writes about his battle with cancer and gives such a real testament of a young person battling with big disease. If you have time, check out his story here.

8. Reading Laura Daniel's new BLOG! It's a blog-eat-blog world our there, Laura, and I am so happy to read what you have to say and for others to be able to read, too!

That is all I can think of for right now. I am now in another history class listening to another boring teacher. Ohhhh poor me :)

Bye, say bye!!

Whitley

handy hand

Glad to be back to the bloggy blog( that title is just for YOU, Carlsbad and Ry!) Let me just say that SB2010 was a huge success and so so much fun!! I will offer a fewww small updates on just what I did for the last 7 days- yes... i went 7 whole days without blogging. How rude!!

Monday= spent some quality time with my LOVELY and sweet grandparents Charlie and Dixie Rae. I don't know that I have given them adequate attention on this blog, but let me tell you something. Quality folks, those two. We enjoyed some shopping and then some Mi Cocina. Thanks again to Gmom and Gdad for a wonderful monday evening! I was also lucky enough to have a reunion with my bff Callie on Monday night. We love to catch up. And text :) Soooo good seeing you cal!
see Charlie and Dixie AND Callie below!

C & D- not on SB but one of my fave pics of this lovely couple.


me and cal... duh.

Tuesday- I had a bunch of fun with JanPie on Tuesday. We had a lovely lunch at the Mercury, did some shopping, and enjoyed one another's company like all good mom's and daughters do. That night she and Scott teamed up to cook a delicious dinner and to welcome Ryan to dallas for Sb2010! I always love Whit and Jan time... I only wish we had just a baby bit more time with one another. Oh well. Carpe Diem it is.

Wednesday & Thursday- these 2 days were kinda sorta "Ryany Days''. Get it? Like Rainy days? Ha! Anyyyhowwww we did lots of fun stuff... Well I babysat Hudson on Wednesday and Ryan was able to visit. Hudson, for those of you wayyy out of the loop, is Embily's nephew. He lives in dallas with his parents and I am his favorite babysitter. He would tell you guys that if he could talk. Moving on. That night we were treated to a lovely dinner at MiCocina by the sweet manager, Walter. Working in restaurants pays off!.. Sometimes. Not very much, actually.
The next day we enjoyed the Dallas Arboretum which was beautiful!! I love flowers. AND sunshine. I am sure Ryan enjoyed the flowers, too. He hasn't said so in those exact words, however. My mom cooked yet another wonderful dinner, and Calgal came over to fill us in on her always exciting life. A Dvd of my Senior Show and we called it a night!!

Friday AND Saturday- having to make these combos because this blog is getting a baby bit lengthy. Laura Dawn Daniel came to visit! We had so much fun at the Gillis house with this guest. Oh and Carlsbad came home safely :) Praise the Lord! Back to Laura... no offense, Carl. We played around Dallas and tried to keep this lady entertained because it was/is her birthday weekend! Happy 22nd to you, LD! Today is her real birthday. We celebrated last night when Bret got into Dallas. Dinner at Tillman's then out on the town for a bit with friends. And there was some snow. Yes on March 21st. Crazy crazy town. Some pics from the birthday are below!


laura and her boyfriend... he is famous.


spring snow at the Gillis house!!

To close up this blog I will tell you about Sunday- which is today. Laura's bday, end of SB10 as we know it, and the drive back to college station. The fam went to church, the fam went to eat, and then Ryan and I headed out. Church was EXTRA great today. We have started attending the Village Church in Dallas and today we saw a video feed of Matt Chandler, the head pastor. He has cancer in his brain and if you are not already, please pray for him. I happen to know God has/is using him to speak to many people that need the Lord. Hey..We all do! He said alot of neat things. I will touch on some of them tomorrow.

Thankful to get back to school safely... not so thankful for this cold weather. Ahhh well. Time for bed.
Bye, say bye!!

Whitley

p.s- thanks to EVERYONE who made SBX such a HUGE hit :)

spring breaking

OH how I have missed my bloggy blog over the last couple of days! I hope every one of my 5 or 6 faithful readers have been doing well. I arrived in Dallas on Friday afternoon and time is just flying by-it is SUNDAY already! Here is a quick update on whats been happening since I last posted here on the Tarnation-

1. Friday evening we had a family dinner (minus Embreasty) at Pappadeaux. Let me tell you something.. I have never been a huge fan of this restaurant.. not even a medium sized one. On friday the staff worked extra hard to prove me wrong. Dead wrong. We had the most wonderful meal and I will be coming back soon! Read more about our super-star treatment at Campbell and Sarah's blog - these 2 have nothing else to do but blog about seafood :).

2. Saturday- yesterday was such a lovely and fun filled girls + camby day. Mom, Carl, Zarah and I went on a walk/jog/run around White Rock lake. Campbell came too. He loved it. It was a baby bit chilly.. and windy. But hey, when you are dedicated to exercise like WE are then there is no excuse. No crying in baseball!
From there we went to the Dallas flea market ( Great suggestion Zarah!) I loved looking at all of the cute home-made or refurbished goods they had to offer. I will definitely be making a trip back to Dallas Flea.
From there we just haaaadddd to try the famous Fuel City tacos off of I35. Fuel City is a gas station. That sells tacos. Right out of this little window... its very crazy and very crowded and VERY delicious. Also very under-furnished so we sat outside on the curb. A real sight to see :)

The most important thing we did yesterday was get Carlsbaddy-bad ready for ChiCARgo! She is going to visit some friends from Pine Camp and well folks, I am gonna miss her. Little seester is all grown up and moving out east. Leaving me all alone with JP and Scoot here in the beautiful, sunny city of Dallas. Okay, okay... Just until Friday. Unless of course she decides to stay... that won't happen, right?? SB2010 is underway, folks


here is Carl- all grown up after she decides to stay in Chicago. Well.. it COULD be Carl. She is on the left... in that very inappropriate skirt, shortly after killing her husband. What the heck are me and Embily gonna do?? Maybe she shouldnt go.


This is Dallas, for ya. Those of us that are left behind by Carl to create a popular TV show. We look happy, but don't let our dazzling smiles fool you. We are not! Because we need Santana in our lives!!

Everyone pray for Carl's safe travel and for a safe return next weekend. Have fun Carl! And a special hey to Zemily and Court and Laren in California! You guys have fun, too!

I hope you all have a safe and happy Spring Break, wherever it is you may be! Off to brunch. I love brunch.

bye. say bye!!

Whit

nitch

Much to my dismay, our internet at HDCDS was not working yesterday. It was extra dismaying because one of my best friends NICCI BUDJENKSA( Nitch, nickalick, neechy) turned 22!!! This post is dedicated to her! She is doubly special and therefore is the friend of the day AND the BIRTHDAY girl!

there she is!! Pretty pretty Nitchy!! I met Nicci when we were going through Rush in the same group in the Fall of 2006. I knew I had to be friends with this honest and cute Mckinney girl. She is so much fun to be around and has always made me laugh.We both love to sing, and I have had the pleasure of singing with Nicci which I must say is a reaaallll treat because her voice is SO beautiful! She is the type of friend that draws people to her no matter where we are. She has a magnetic and relatable personality and has always been there for me when I have needed her. I am so lucky to have her to laugh with, laugh at, and to always keep me in line. I hope she knows just how much I love and appreciate her, and I also hope her birthday was a blast! Love you Nicole!!

back to taking notes.... gosh, school is for the birds!!!

bye, say bye!

whitley

sunday IS a fun-day

what a fun weekend- I like weekends alot. A whole lot, as you can probably tell throughout my blog posts. Let's just go ahead and list out some of the best things that happened since my last update!

-Carl and I had a lovely time at First Friday in downtown Bryan. Even though the girl sitting across from us found it appropriate to prop her dirty BARE feet up on the coffee table between the 2 couches we sat on in Village Cafe, we still managed to have a mah-ve-lous time :).

- Ryan is back!! He arrived back in College Station for goooooood yesterday afternoon. I must say, I am pretty happy to have him back and living in the same town as I am. His Welcome Back Taco Dinner was a huge success, everyone had a blast! Welcome back, Ry!

- Me, Carl and Ryan went to see the movie Cop Out today. I, for one, liked it. Thought it was funny though just a baby bit crude. I am not one to advocate such films, but I did laugh a bunch. Carl and Ry claim to dislike it.. but I heard their chuckles...

- I found out today I am ONE TEST away from finishing my first online spanish class! Praise the Lord!!

a few snapshots from the party last night...




cute little nitch


I hope that you all had a happy, safe, and blessed weekend. Now I will continue to watch the Oscar's!

bye, say bye!
whitley

TGIF

Friday is a gooood day :)
I got such a fun email this morning. My sister had been informed by one of her friends that my Grandad Charlie has started a blog for his radio station's website! It is a diet blog, and yes my grandfather is a famous DJ in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area and has been for over TWENTY FIVE years. Take a little peak here to see what he is eating every day. Haha. He is so funny and cute. Love you, Charlie and thanks for always bringing us the "Sunday Morning Sounds of SONshine!"

A few days ago, my bestie Callie tipped me off to yet another great blog that I had not been following. Its about a girl from Texas who has moved to New York and yeah, anyhow. She is funny funny!! Check IT out!!
Thanks Calgal!

One Day! and then ONE WEEK until Spring Break. I do not have anything incredible going on for Spring Break. Why, you may ask? I will tell you. I'm sure I seem like someone who would plan something SO cool and fun. I have always been a lover of the spring break plans. I have also been lucky enough to go to some lovely beach of my choice (yes, I chose the beaches of Alabama... twice) for the last 4 spring breaks. I have come to realize that after the travel ( which if it is on an airplane is a very trying experience for my emotional health) I do not feel as though I have had a break at all! Often times I feel more exhausted then when I left for this break. More tan, and looking good, but very sleepy. All this to say--this year it is off to Dallas. Rest time. I will be blogging, hanging out with my main lady JanPie, and seeing any friends that I can. I am looking forward to little day trips here and there, and the delicious cuisine that my home town so generously offers me. Here, in chronological order, are some pictures of the Spring Breaks of old.


St. John, Virgin Islands- prettiest place I have been to date. Snorkeling with my friend Laura. SB 06!! SR YEAR!! LH!


Puerta Aventuras, Mexico.- The Davison's House was more than we could have hoped for. Done with the beach? Time for the pool! Here I am, just being extra literate as I lay out with my favorite twins on the planet. Miss you, tom toms! SB 07!!!!


Gulf Shores 08- Posing with Brittany, my roommate at the time. She is wonderful, loves Spring Break, loves to plan them, and loves the LSU tigers. Geaux Britt! SB 08


Gulf Shores. or Gulf Shuureess?? I am not really sure. Yes, we loved it enough to return. A group of guys that we happen to be friends with were also in attendance on this trip. They made it more fun and more dramatic all at the same time. Imagine that!!
SB 09!!

There we have it- the Spring Break memories! Oh now I am just craving some sunshine! As you can see, the beach is my favorite place to spend any time off, if i am able to do so. Thank you thank you THANK YOU Jesus for making beaches. Isn't He just the smartest?? And no, I am not using my blog to post pictures of myself in bathing suits.. I just always wear a bathing suit when I am beaching. Call me crazy.
I hope that whatever it is YOU do on YOUR spring break, you do it well and that you Relax :). Get some extra sleep, some time with people that you l-o-v-e, and have fun.

Special thanks to Northgate Vintage last night for hosting First Thursday! In my opinion, a HUGE success!!

here's to a gooooood weekend!!
bye, say bye!

Whitdiddle

hump-day treat

happppyyy wednesday! half way point, hump day, middle of the week- whatever you wanna call it! I am glad its here! This week has kind of dragged on.. which is okay! I'm not in a hurry. Sometimes I get in a hurry to get weeks over with and then I stop and think, wait a second... whats the big hurry? There is not one. But I am excited for the end of the week (2 days!)
Wednesdays are FUN days because our bible study crew meets for dinner with the boys tonight... can't waitttt. I usually can't wait for dinner, even if it is lunch. I find myself thinking about food for the majority of the day...sigh.

I have to tell you guys- last night I was very convicted about forgiveness. Not just forgiveness of the obvious things, but forgiving others of things that I have held against them in my heart. Ya know how sometimes you can hold something against someone and they don't even know it??? Well, I do. Not something I am proud of. It just made me sort of sad, just thinking about little bitty baby things that I needed to forgive others for. If God is a God that constantly forgives me for the little bitty and not so little bitty crimes I commit against Him, then who am I to walk around with all of these petty things on my heart? I am no one to do that, thats who. I have found forgiveness is something I have to pray for daily, not only for myself, but that I can forgive others. Just something I felt like sharing.

Okay okayyyyy- time for Friend of the Day
Emily Elizabeth Deboard!! It is finally your turn. Emily is a friend that I have known for a long time, though we didn't become close until... well let me see. I guess it was our senior year in highschool? We grew up at the same church, going on the same choir tours and to the same camps. She is a verryyy funny person. With a very infectious humor. Her sarcasm is heads above most people I know, but she has a sweet heart behind all of it. Emily is a person I can call and talk to about life without feeling stupid or wondering if she understands. Somehow, she always does. She has been through alot, and she has allowed her struggles to make her stronger and has become one of my best and most treasured friends. I always enjoy her trips to college station and seeing her when I make my way to Waco. She doesn't realize it, but she is going to do GREAT things after graduation...at least I think so. Love youuuuuuu emily!




time to enjoy The Ellen Show with Laura- bye, say bye!!
love love love you

wag

Luby's

Just sitting here waiting for my 2nd class of the day to start and what little treat do I receive in my email? A chance to win an "Icelandic Adventure"! I knew all of years I was faithful to Luby's would certainly pay off. I am entered and I have high hopes that I will soon be on a very cold cruise for two. I actually have no desire to go on a cruise to anywhere icy, but it would be fun and exciting to win the trip. Now who will I invite to take with me.... You can all hold your breath on that one.
Luby's is so delicious and wonderful. I wish I could talk Carlsbad into going there for lunch today! Probably not gonna happen. I am craving some of their macaroni and cheeeezzzeee. Fine. It is settled. Luby's for dinner!!


yummmmyyyyyyyy. That's all I have for now- have a wonderful tuesday!

bye, say bye.

Whit

rain, rain. go away.

The truth is, the rain already has gone away. But it is still very gloomy and rainy-ish outside. Which I dislike. Anywayyyyyss folks, its MONDAY! Normally I would dismay over the fact that the week has started again, but I have decided today I will be happy that the week has begun! Here are some reasons why:

After this week and NEXT week, we all get a good little break. Spring Break, that is :) :)
This is the last week of Ryan's internship... Im prettyyy glad.
I work at Pita Pit tonight with Carl.. come visit us!
The Bachelor is over tonight, which I am happy about because I think its awful.
The video I saw on Kaci Lynn's Blog!-pretty cute, if you ask me.
I'm reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time and I am almost finished!
..... that is all I can think of for now.

I forgot to blog about this yesterday... but it was my dad's birthday was yesterday!! Happy belated- birthday Scott. When I called him yesterday he said the family was watching the USA vs. Canada hockey game without clothes on.. sounds like a real party! Scott is wonderful and newly very skinny and full of old man energy. Love you, Scoot Scoot Scoooooter !
Here is a recent photo ( last week recent) of my Dad and my friend Emily. Don't they look so happy??

Much love to you both.

Another reason this Monday is happy one is because I am very rested. I had an eventful, yet restful weekend. I had a wonderful time seeing my lovely friends at and in SING on Friday and let me be one of the many to say that the judges are big idiots, Pi Phi was a shoe in for Pigskin. I don't understand conspiracies, and I never will. Down right hateful, if you ask me. Either way, great job Julia Beth in being the Sing Queen once again this year. Made me VERY proud :)

To conclude my post, I am going to feature a "Friend of the Day". Today's friend is especially important and special to me.
Emily Ann Stuller was killed in a car accident on June 29, 2009. She has been one of my best and closest friends since we were in the 1st grade. Today, though it is March 1st, marks the 8 month anniversary of her death ( seeing as there is no February 29th this year). Emily would just not allow this to be over-looked :). For those of you reading that had the pleasure of knowing Emily, I hope that you consider yourself as blessed as I do. Emily is a funnnnnyyyy girl with an infectious laugh, one that I can still hear ringing in my ears to this day. She is spontaneous, lovable, a great listener, and someone who is always on your side. She had a passion for teaching, cooking, and making everyone around her have a wonderful time. I am so so so lucky and thankful to the good Lord to have known her. Check out her blog posts here if you have time. Funny stuff. Here are some of my favorite pics of my crazy friend-

always posing

cheer children


There she is! Pretty, pretty em :) The memories I have of her will be ones that I cherish forever. Another reason to be thankful this week. I am thankful for you, Emily, and I miss you always.

I hope everyyyyyybody has a great week. 5 day countdown begins!!

bye, say bye :)

Wag