Why?

For the past couple of days, the only question I can ask is "Why?" I don't know why everything is going the way it is.


My first why is why Erynn and Jon have to go through the pain of losing a child? Erynn, Jon, and the rest of the Mangum/O'Brien family are the greatest people I know but yet they have to go through the pain of losing a baby before they had a chance of meeting their grandchild, niece/nephew, son/daughter, or brother/sister. It is hard to be told twice that the baby is gone and is with God, but it is even harder to know why. Why did God do this to this family? Why did He take a life before anyone got a chance to me him/her? Just why?


Another why is why can't I find who I am? I hate to admit that this is the longest I have ever been single and even though I am very happy that I get to use this time as a blessing to get close to God, it is still hard to understand why I can't find my identity. I guess mine is a Christian college student going into medicine but I don't know what else. Oh well... I guess that is what this time of singleness is about. 


Why my best friend left for basic for the Army National Guard? I don't know why Bailey left. Don't get me wrong, I am SOOOO proud of her but I am also sad that she is gone. I wasn't expecting her to go but when I got the text that said "Be at the airport at noon" I knew she was going but I didn't know why. To be a hero? To help pay for school? To help buy a new truck? To please her family? Why? 


I could go on for awhile about what I am thinking about but all I really need to do is pray. Pray to the Father that I have to help guide me to answer why and lead me on the right path.


<3
Ali :)

Such a Hard Goodbye

Today I had to say goodbye to my dear friend, Bailey Coombs, as she heads off to basic training for the Army National Guard. It was so hard to see her cry as she gave me a hug near the ticket counter. 


Bailey, 
You will always be a great friend of mine no matter where you are. I am so proud of you for serving our country and I will always love you! Write to me. Keep in touch. I will see you in November when you get home. I will be at the airport with a hello hug waiting for you! :)


I love you, hun!
--Ali--

<3
Ali :)


PS... Thank you to all, including Bailey, who are serving our country!

Country Heart

A couple days ago my mom gave me the idea for a great blog post so here I am writing it. The idea was to tell how I became to love country music and the country life when my mom and my sister don't feel the same way. So this is how I fell in love!

I have always enjoyed the sounds of country music but my true love started in college when I had a roommate who always listened to the country radio station on Pandora. The sounds of Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Chris Young, and many more coming through the speakers always helped brighten my day no matter how it was going. From then on I started listening and truly enjoying country music and I found myself relating to a lot of the life stories that were told through the lyrics. For example, when I attended the Chris Young concert, I realized how much the music was helping me through the break up that I was experiencing at the time. Now, I still listen to and enjoy country music and would not have it any other way. 

Luke Bryan :)

From the country music came my country style. After watching many music videos and looking at pictures of my favorite artists, I fell in love with the cowboy boots, cowboy hats, big belt buckles, and the pattern button down shirts. For my birthday, I decided that the only thing I wanted was my own pair of cowboy boots and after that I was a proud owner of a new pair of Ariat boots. :) After getting the boots, I bought a cowboy hat and an awesome belt buckle. I am all set!    

From the decorations in my room to the CDs in my car, I am countrified! :) I don't know where I got this love exactly but the country life truly makes me happy and it will be part of my identity forever! I once lived in Texas and I hope to go back to live in one of the places where country music and the life are around me. 

<3
Ali :)

Texas...and Carlsbad...Again! :)

This weekend, my aunt and I went to Carlsbad and San Antonio and had a blast from the past. I used to live in Carlsbad so going back was interesting. The town changed, the people changed, and my life changed. It was so much fun seeing my cousins again and reuniting with an old friend of mine who I danced with for years when I was younger, Sara! :) I love them all and cannot wait to see them again! 

We also spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas. We had a great time on Friday going to different places along the Riverwalk and have tasty appetizers and desserts! We went to Paesanos, Joe's Crab Shack, and The Hard Rock Cafe :)

On Saturday, we met my family from Houston and went to the Alamo in the morning and spent the rest of the day walking along the Riverwalk and taking a tour in the riverboat :)

It's a 2D building!! (Not really haha)

This trip was so much fun and after a couple weeks at home and house-sitting, we will be heading to Chicago! :)

<3
Ali :)

Texas Forever :)

Well I am back in Albuquerque from a very short weekend trip to Houston, Texas. It was a blast and we did so many things in only two days!


We flew into Hobby Airport on Friday morning and went straight to the Houston Galleria, which was so fun! I am fashion illiterate and had no idea who most of the designers were so my mom was giving me the crash course for future reference, but I'm sorry to say I still have no idea who many of the designers were. :) We shopped for hours and even got in big trouble for taking pictures in Dylan's Candy Bar!! Haha. We still managed to get some though and they are a few of my favorites from the trip!

After shopping for hours and going to some great stores, my mom's favorite was Charming Charlies (a little jewelry store that is so cute!!), we met up with my friend from middle school and his girlfriend. It was so fun to see Tray and hear what they have been up to since I moved away.

After went spent time at the Galleria, we headed to Toyota Center for my cousin's graduation, which was the whole reason we went to Houston in the first place haha! It was a great graduation but it was really bizarre that you could buy popcorn and pretzels at the concession stands, what the heck. And, oh my goodness, some of the names were beyond funky. When you have more every vowel in your name, some of them repeating a lot, something is wrong! :)

After the graduation, we went to our old neighborhood, Sienna Plantation, and got closure on the reason we left (my dad left us and we moved to ABQ shortly after). It was so cool to be back and we even stayed with some old friends, the Parlantes, so it was a blast to tell stories and see what has changed over the last 6 years.

This was our old house :)

Then came my favorite part of the trip, THE ASTROS GAME AT MINUTE MAID PARK!!!! :D It was such an incredible game. It started off bad with a Cincinnati lead of 8 to 2 in the 2nd inning. But then the 4th inning was a turn around!! The Astros pulled ahead 9-8 and even though they ended up losing 12-9, it was an INCREDIBLE game! :) And it was so fun to see them back at Minute Maid.

It was such a great trip and I am exhausted from the early early flight we took to get back home! So goodnight, y'all and  I will give you an update on how the trip to San Antonio goes this weekend :)


TEXAS FOREVER! :) How I wish I could go back. 


<3
Ali :)