funny stuff

Want to read some intelligent and hilarious writing? Check out Carley Rae's BLOG. Her most recent post (featuring a live interview with singer/songwriter Jay Z) is funny and entertaining. She talks about life, love, and some funny childhood memories. Speaking of her childhood, here is a lovely photograph from Carl's youth for you faithful followers to enjoy.

Did I mention one of my bffs Kaci was in town? Well she is, and we painted the town red yesterday. I look forward to getting out of this class, going back home, and watching Kaci make a photo album for her dad. This cloudy, boring weather is the perfect environment for things like photo album making and watching the OC. I hope Cohen will come over and make us laugh, he is always such a nice house guest.


my two buds, Kace Face and Sethela.

hope you will all have yourselves a hump-day treat!

byyyeeee, say bye.

Whit

blessed beyond compare

Why, you ask? I will tell you. I simply don't have enough room on any blog spot to list all of the reasons that I, Whitley Gillis, am blessed. Today I am feeling blessed to be a "date" person. No, I am not referring to dates with boys consisting of mexican food and movies,though I do remember those too. I am talking about dates on the calender. Until recently I had decided that being a date person was a curse. I always remember the silliest things that happened ( first boyfriends, break ups, when I got my ears pierced, when I was asked to homecoming)- like I said. Nothing important. The other side of being a dates person is constantly thinking upon and remembering when things happen. This can be annoying and even sad when it comes to certain times of the year that mark anniversaries of deaths or tragedy. Like I said, only recently have I decided that this obsession with dates is a positive thing, a constant reminder of how blessed I have been, even if it weighs heavily on my heart at times.

I know, I know. You do not care that Lawson Short and I started dating on January 8, 2001 in the 7th grade and that I remember it. Neither do I, really. So why the dates speech? Today is a special day, but not a very happy one. Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of Emily Stuller, one of my best friends since elementary school. If you are a regular reader of this here blog then you have read about Emily before and how special she was to me and everyone that knew her. I pity those of you who didn't have the pleasure of her company because she was awesome, beautiful, and hilarious. The Good Lord called her home on June 29, 2009- an act I still cannot see as "good", but what is "good" is clearly not for me to decide (even though I certainly wish it was!) My other posts about Emily are here and here , and I believe they offer a little bit more detail about her.

For now and for today- I will count it as a blessing. The sadness, the sorrow, the hating that she is gone. I do not like it, but it is a blessing. 16 years of friendship ain't half bad. Enjoy some modeling shots of Emily that I captured over our years of fun- which is the very best thing to have : )










P.S- Pray for the Stuller Family today as this date weighs heavily on their hearts, too.

bye, say bye!

wishful thinking

wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying...

For this cute bathing suit. I neeeeeeed it I promise!


For some sweet potato fries from my favorite burger place.. it is lunch time and I am starving.


To be wherever this is for the rest of the week. I don't know where but I don't care- I want out of this yucky, boring rain.


To become best friends with the whole cast of Glee. I just know they would like me, and I'd love to give them some pointers on numbers for next year's Sectionals.


Also wishing and hoping for a new blog design or background or something snazzy. This color palette change is just not doing it for me.

Nothing wrong with a little bit of wishin' :)

bye, say bye!!

WAG

wasap wasap??

If you have ever been to Naked Fish, then you can hear that title in your head. Those of you that have not had the pleasure, I will explain. When you enter my favorite sushi establishment in Texas, they greet you with a traditional Japanese greeting. Since I am not Japanese, all I hear is exactly what it sounds like "Wasap wasap!?!" So, whats up peeps?!

I hope everyone reading this is having a wonderful day. How is my day? It is wonderful. I opted out of my first class today (sorry, Jan), only because I felt the disgusting nature of my house was more important to attend to ( you are welcome, Jan). My mom is the one who taught me the difference between a "messy" house and a "dirty" house. If you don't know the difference, get your own mom. Don't ask Ryan because he doesn't know either :) Today my house was messy AND dirty. So I got down on my hands and knees and swept and scrubbed the floors, cleaned the bathroom, and even sprayed the mirrors. I know, I know. I am becoming such a domestic goddess over here. It's a hard knock life, to say the least.


Moving on to things that matter. I am a day or two late on my weekend update so HERE is what I did. Went to DALLAS and first and foremost celebrated Charlie's birthday. Who is Charlie? Well scroll down and you will see! I ate wayyyyy too much throughout the weekend but hit up all my favorite spots so it was definitely worth it. There was an outdoor concert with some new friends, a wedding in Ennis, Texas on Saturday afternoon going right into the evening, and FATHERS DAY!

He's the boss, he's the boss, he's the big hairy boss!

Scott is the boss of our house and he is also our Dad. He is not so big anymore because he lost a bunch of weight but we still refer to him in this way because he LOVES it. My dad is the funniest and smartest father in the universe. SO much smarter than yours must be. He is not only a car selling expert, but he is a doctor, historian, dentist, and college professor on the side. Beat that! Love you bunches, Scooter!


That is all- bye, say bye!

Whitley

happy birthday to you...

Uncle Graig and Grandad!

Did Craig break that chair shattered on the ground? Yes, he did. Did he look graceful in the act? Obviously.


Post-chair break, being extra mushy with his son Chilton.

Craig's birthday was yesterday. He is my Uncle and he is pretty great and I just love him. His proudest achievement is his lovely family, Lisa, Hogan, and Chilton. Yes... the same Chilton featured on the Chilton Campbell Show. Our family is famous. So sue me!


This is my Grandad Charlie. What is he talking about? He is probably just letting someone know that there is more to him than simply being a world renowned disc jockey at KCBI USA, but that he is a real person. A real person that can sing like a bird (a loud, operatic bird), and knows how to fix mysterious leaks in any swimming pool in the greater Plano area. Explaining all of this while keeping his voice down, remaining calm, and enjoying a fancy shmancy glass of red wine. Typical Grandad.


Grandad with his favorite grandchild. Period. Just don't fight it. Charlie is the best and I just love him alot. His birthday is today!

Wishing BOTH of you the very happiest of days. Bye, say bye!
Whit

summer showers

Did I forget to tell you guys about Cassie's shower this weekend? Heck no, I didn't. I simply felt I needed to touch on MB's Fundraiser first (if you are clueless about this, scroll down after reading this post). This past weekend I had some quality family and female time in Austin, Texas while celebrating the up and coming arrival of Easton Rice. We had Friday night Fajitas and entertainment by Jenny's children Whitley and Gracyn. Saturday morning we bombarded some strangers house and showered Cassie with presents that are not even for her. What a day! Cassie and Stacey give even more detailed accounts on their own blogs, so go ahead, click on their names and enjoy yourself. They are both talented bloggers in my expert opinion.

Gillis girls/women/pregnant ladies


Whitley is stylin... typs of our kind.




Stacey and Gracyn performing Karate.

Many, many thanks to Cassie and Scotty Rice for hosting us and putting up with us this weekend. Thanks to The Nana for housing Jan, Carl and I. To the rest of the cousins- I'm loving you lots and lots.

One more thing! To the El Campo ladies that read this blog- Cassie has informed me that her very bored friends somehow stumbled upon my blog as well as the blogs of my dorky sisters. Hope you ladies are doing well and that no matter where your life takes you, you will always bleed Red and White! R-I-C-E-B-I-R-D-S, RICEBIRDS!!

the heart of life is good

Attention! This post is extra special and EXTRA important, and because of this I will cut to the chase. My older sister, Maribeth, was born with a congenital heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Sound scary? Well it is, and it was for my parents when they had her. God used doctors, family members, and his Awesome and Supreme power over MB's life to heal her and guide my family down a path that has allowed a child with no life expectancy to live for over 25 years now. This is why my family calls her our "miracle" child...cheesy, I know. My dad can hardly speak about it without crying like a big baby, so I take their word for it that this defect is a BIG deal.

I am telling my faithful and new readers about this because she is attempting to raise money for the Chloe Duyck Memorial Fund. Chloe, who shared the same heart defect as Maribeth, did not survive the procedure attempting to fix her heart. Her memorial fund and the organizations it partners with are apart of a National Campaign for CHD (Congenital Heart Defect) awareness. This campaign is especially close to my heart and the hearts of everyone in my family because without such research and medical support in this area we would not have MB! I would never use my very fancy and very famous blog as a fundraiser if I did not feel that this was a worthy and important cause. Maribeth has been able to use her grown up story in the last few years to speak in CHD family support groups, partner with families going through this tragedy, and share her beliefs on how God's hand has worked so evidently in her life.

I would just love for you to click HERE and check out the website. Whether donating or not, MB's story is unique and I hope you find it to be encouraging!

Maribeth tells her own story and the purpose of this campaign much better than I ever could on the above webpage. On this site there are instructions on how to donate in order to help MB reach her goal, if you feel so compelled. No pressure- Just had to put it out there! Please pray for the hearts of those that come across this page and for the families battling for their babies and pass this along to anyone you know that may be interested in her story. Prayer can go a long long long way, so thats what this campaign needs!


Thanks for reading, peeps. Yall are the very very best!

Bye, Say bye!!

Whitley

tgif

Heading to...

today to Celebrate

Cassie and the almost new addition to our family, Easton!

Excited about seeing these ladies, too :)




happy weekend to you all,
bye say bye!

Whit

rainy days and mondays...

..."Always get meeeee doooowwwnnn."

Thats not necessarily true, but I do love that song and I do love the Carpenters. We had some rain last week and it was actually quite nice, and my Monday, though it just began, should not get me down toooo much. Either way, it is Monday. One of the most decidedly dreaded days of the week. How do I overcome the Monday blues? By simply reflecting on my weekend, then brainstorming on how to spend week 2 of SS( Summer School.. come on ).

Highlight of the Weekend: Saturday night Astros game with Ryan and Jennifer!

We had a big time. Ryan and I got to take a little vacation from College Station and see my sweet friend Jennifer, the Astros, AND the Cubs! Jennifer is from the lovely town of Lufkin, Texas and I am lucky to have become friends with her through many of our mutual friends and acquaintances. If you have met her, you probably really like her. Her kind-of boyfriend Andrew Cashner was moved up to the Cubs last week (which is so BIG time!) so Jennifer was in Houston to support him. Naturally, Ryan and I jumped on the band-wagon and joined her at Minute Maid Park. Many Congrats to Andrew and thanks Jen for hanging with us!




Now onto this week- besides being in school every single day, I have some fun stuff up my sleeve.

1. Getting some sun and swimming laps (Ryan is going to show me how!) Don't hate. I have never been on a swim team therefore I only know the backstroke.

2. I just HAVE to start a new TV series. It is the missing link to my otherwise lovely and lazy summer. Please offer your suggestions in the comment box. I cannot wait to rent/buy the 1st season of it! Okay well technically Ryan would have to rent it because I am currently banned from Blockbuster until the end of time but that is another blog for another day.

3. Lots of cooking-just last night I assisted Ryan in making a deeeeeelicious dinner of tilapia, sauteed bell peppers and white rice. I highly recommend it. I love to cook and summer proves to be a perfect time for critiquing my skills!

4. Deep cleaning my house, the HDCDS. Nuff said.

5. Boring papers for my boring classes. I guess that is not "fun stuff" that I was referring to before. I apologize.

It seems I need to work on that list a little bit. Some of that stuff is not too exciting. Dang it. Either way, week 2 is under way!!
Hope you all have a splendid week full of fun and blessings galore. Love you, mean it.

Bye, say bye!

WAG

historically speaking

I am a History major at Texas A&M University. Is this because I love history? Well.. yes and no. I do love History. I really do. I think America has an especially cool History. And believe me, I am an American through and through. The truth is Early Childhood Education was just not working out and became especially boring so I decided to just do a little switcheroo over to the History department towards to end of my Junior year. Why the heck am I talking about my major on this otherwise hip and cool blog? I am getting there.

For those of you that haven't been paying any attention, I began summer school 3 days ago. The idea of school in the summer time is just as horrific as it sounds, believe you me. I am currently enrolled in two upper level history classes that do not exactly strike my fancy. Don't get me wrong, this is no "pity party for Tar" blog post. If A&M and other fine establishments did not allow such slackers as my self to play a little catch up in the 2000 degree heat then I may never get out this place! Whoop! The real problems with going to school in the summer are as follows:

1. My school is in College Station, Texas.

2. I am not in Dallas with my sweet family. Miss you guys and I miss our snacks already (that is to YOU, Janpie).

3. People in your summer school classes always seem to smell SO strange. I desperately hope I do not smell and am taking all of the appropriate measures to make sure that is the case. For example, the seemingly kind fellow next to me now smells veryyyyy funny and is playing a VERY graphic game of what seems to be "Shoot Everyone until their brains explode!" Sick sick sick.

4. Now that I am in upper level classes with all of my fellow upper level intellectuals, the amount of input that my fellow AGS want to contribute to discussion has reached an all time high. This is a problem for me because not only does all of the random information cloud my notes, but I am not an "in-class talker" and quite frankly it makes me look like a dumb mute to be the only quiet one. Do I care what stinky boy has to say about British authority over the US? Not really, but I DO want to hear what my professor thinks because I am fairly certain he is grading my tests. Even if my professor thinks because its summer time and everyone is laid back and smelly he can say "damn" and "what the hell?" ALL the time. Come on sir, thats a little tacky, and I am a lady.

5. My shrooms, Starsy, and the majority of my girlfriends are not here. Woe is me for this part.. seriously. To all of you ladies that graduated and to Em and Carlsbad: You guys are missed and my home is open for you to come visit. We can go to the pool and go to Naked Fish! Enticing?? I'm sure you guys are all on your way right now!

Some grads this weekend for Memorial Day


you know these two- the Shrooms.

I believe that is enough of sounding like a whiney baby . Allow me to highlight some of the fun things about summer school (Yes, there are a few!)

1. Back to work at Pita Pit- It really is quite enjoyable to feed the hungry summer peeps a delicious Pita of their choice. Such a laid back environment and such fun fellow rollers behind the counter. I loooovvvve it!

2. Ryan is here and we have gotten to hang out quite a bit and do fun little things together. He has been so wonderful and is always a big help to me making summer school much more pleasant. Not to mention he is very easy on the eyes which does not hurt a thing.

yeehaw, Ry.

3. Pool time- Summer is a great time to work on your tan, as you all know. I especially love the pool and luckily so does Ry so I imagine when this cloudy rain stuff goes away we will be hanging out at the Rec center quite a bit. Who knows, we may even make it inside the Rec center and work out a little bit! HA!

4. Bodega Coast- Ryan and I dined there last night in College Station and I am looking forward to spending some of the summer time there. I know, typs me to talk about food in my blog. But I am veryyyyy hungry right now in class so gimme a break. For those of you that have been to Aggieland and have had the pleasure of eating La Bodega, this is a spin off and a dang good one. They even have a half price appetizer happy hour Mon-Fri from 4-7 pm. No, I am not getting paid to advertise them on my blog but I really wish I had thought of that... If you are from BC and reading this a free Lobster Queso will do the trick. Yum yum yum yum.

5. Summer friends- God always brings new or even old people into your lives in the Summertime, which I think is cool because otherwise I would have no one to talk to about my blog. Haha. Just teasing. Seriously, though. I am already looking forward to the unexpected but sweet times ahead with some of my not-so-regular peeps. Bring it on.

Summer rules and school drools. That is the bottom line. Seeing as I have no choice though, I am going to buck up and smile because hey, it could be alot worse. I even found 5 good things about it! Who knew? That being said, for those of you also in school and for those of you just lying around and eating bon-bons, ENJOY it. Get some sun, eat lots of cold things, drink lots of Ice Tea, splurge on some bright summer clothing, go to Hawaiian Falls. Come on, people! Live it up. I'll be praying that the YOU get the summer-bug that I have always had. We can't let the man bring us down.

Bye, say bye!

Whitley