Now that the holiday party season is officially winding down, I can offer my opinion on such festivities: No thank you.

I'm not a Grinch that doesn't enjoy celebrating Christmas. In fact, I love celebrating all holidays, especially Christmas. I'm that girl that decorates the house for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day. It doesn't take much to get me to celebrate a holiday. But holiday parties just aren't my thing. This Christmas season Travis and I were invited to a half dozen parties. Some were close friends, some were work friends, some were Bible study friends. We did not attend any of them.

The problem with holiday parties is, well, they take place during the holidays. I don't know about you, but this time of year I already have so much going on and so much to pay for, I don't have the time, energy or money for holiday parties. Every party I was invited to would have required either the purchase of a bottle of wine or the preparation of an appetizer. I have never been fortunate to work a job that offered Christmas bonuses, so I'm trying to squeeze out Christmas on the same salary I make throughout the year. I know last year I talked about how I don't give Christmas presents, and while that's true for me, Travis did not make that deal with himself. So we still shop for his family, which is perfectly fine with me. Because of this, I'd like to save what little "extra" money we have for these presents.

I'm also not a big fan of small talk. Uggh, small talk is the worst. "What do you do?" "Where/how did you two meet?" "How do you know [insert host/hostess name]?" "That's a cute coat/dress/bag/shoes, etc." "Are you staying here for the holidays?" Please stop talking, everyone. For the love of Pete, please. stop. talking.

I just think that our lives are already so busy and planned this time of year, we don't need another social activity to add to the calendar. I know you may be thinking "but I like inviting my friends over to enjoy the holidays before everyone leaves town." Okay, I will grant you that if, and only if, you keep it to close friends you regularly socialize with. Deal?

Until next time...

Star

After talking to the selection committee, they unanimously agreed that I should write on the following topic: changing your name after getting married.

Last month I read an article on msn.com about women who change their name after getting married. It basically called these women mindless idiots who've lost their former awesome single self, and all the accomplishments they achieved while single. WHAT THE FOY??

Okay, as you know I am no longer a Linton. I changed my name just twelve short days after we got married. In fact, I dropped Linton completely and I don't regret it for one minute. When I read the article, I immediately contacted one member of the selection committee to get their opinion. Here's their take:

"..all it does is make your husband wonder... what if it was the other way around and your husband didn't want to take your name? It's like (on a much smaller scale) if he wanted to keep his bachelor pad apartment after "moving in" with you. It's almost like a "just in case" to me...In a marriage you already have enough obstacles to deal with. That's an easy one to address and move past."

Excellent points. I don't understand how you could agree to spend THE REST OF YOUR LIFE with someone, but taking their name is too much for you. Really? You're cool with the sticking around through sickness, poverty, and any other "worse" that may come along (and trust me, it will come along), but having the last name is seems like an absurd request. It's like putting an asterisk on your marriage.

When you say your wedding vows, not only are you making a covenant with God, you agree to the two of you becoming one. It helps if one of you isn't too selfish to share a last name with the other one. Yes, I said it. Selfish. It's selfish because it's proclaiming to the world that your life without your husband was so awesome, and nothing you build together as husband and wife will ever live up to those glory days. I managed to live a pretty full life long before I knew Travis existed. I earn two degrees, managed to con Mark into hiring me full time, and created programs that are still in existence at Auburn, just to name a few. Taking Travis' name in no way strips me of these accomplishments. I still feel the same sense of pride when I look at my diplomas and think of all the students I worked with at Auburn. Amazingly, I didn't develop amnesia or hideaway the diplomas once I dropped the Linton.

Look, I get it. I'm independent and for most of my life I didn't think I'd get married. Even now, I love the fact that we have separate friends and don't hang out together every night. But you know what I love more? I love the look on Travis' face when he hears someone call me Mrs. Crawford. I love how happy Travis' parents were when they said "you're a Crawford now!" I'm honored to be Mrs. Crawford. Travis' spent his whole life making Crawford a respectable name, and I love that he gave his name to me. That's my opinion. What's yours?

 

Until next time…

Star

 

 

This blog stresses me out. It's so hard to think of something to write. Life right now is great, but it's so mundane, and I don't want to bore you with the details. I mean, there's not much to talk about. I work, come home, cook amazing meals, hang out with friends and Travis, go to sleep and start over. See, not interesting at all.

Sometimes I wonder why I have a blog. I'm not a design or decorating expert, I'm not growing or raising any children, I'm not in L.A. meeting famous people a being an extra, I'm not able to weave hilarious anecdotes from my everyday life. I'm just here, writing about my life, hoping someone cares. And this is why this blog stresses me out. I feel constant pressure to update, but there's really not much to update. I did go to driving school this weekend, and I can't even come up with an interesting blog post about that experience.

Uggh, I should stop complaining and think of something brilliant to write about. Okay, I'll be back on Wednesday, and I promise to have something interesting for you to read about. In fact, as I'm typing this a few ideas are popping in my head. I'll run them by my selection committee and you'll see their choice in just a few short days. Get excited!

Until next time…

Star

While watching the Auburn game I kept getting so frustrated with Chris Todd. I don't know what happened to him. He looked like he was scared to death to be out there. Then I remembered a classic moment from my past and decided to forgive Chris. Here's the story:

A long time ago, in a city far far away, I wasn't sick. There was no lupus, or hip replacements. Just a normal teenage girl on the school dance team. After freshman year, I was good enough to dance front row, center spot (a pretty big deal). I was so excited for the first game, where we would perform a new dance in front of the entire school. I practiced so much and everyone on the team kept telling me how well I was doing. Friday night could not get there fast enough. I wasn't nervous, just really prepared and ready to show everyone what I could do.

When Friday came, I was so excited! Finally it was halftime, and we all walked out onto the floor. The music started and I started dancing my heart out. I was great! I did every move 'full out' and with all of my passion. It was until the middle of the dance when I went down on one knee (part of the choreography), that I looked around and saw that no one else was kneeling. Horrified, I slowly realized that I'd been dancing too fast. I was a full 8 count ahead of the rest of the team. I had been dancing like a spastic maniac in front of the ENTIRE SCHOOL. I calmed down and finished the dance, but the damage was done. For weeks that's all anyone could talk about. It was awful.

So, I can understand how Chris Todd could play so poorly. I sure he was just as frustrated as the fans were. I understand Chris. I understand.

Until next time...

Star

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!



I love Fall. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Leaves turning. My birthday. Football. Great season, unlike spring and summer which bring bugs, heat, humidity and sweaty people. No thanks.

This year we're hosting Travis' family for Thanksgiving. I'm excited about not having to travel throughout Gastonia, NC visiting everyone Travis knows (approximately the entire city). I can relax with the in-laws and football. Travis and his mom will start talking about people from Gastonia and healthy foods, and his dad and I will watch football. Sounds like a great day to me.

I'm cooking most of the dinner by myself, which I'm actually looking forward to. Last night I got a jump start on desserts and made a praline pumpkin cake. The whole house smelled like pralines, cinnamon and deliciousness. All of the fun kitchen gadgets we got as wedding presents has inspired me to cook all of the time. Seriously. Jamesha has started calling me Betty Crawford. I think it's hilarious.

Okay, enough talk about marriage and cooking. Are you as nervous/anxious/excited about this Auburn/Alabama game as I am? It's times like this that I miss living in Auburn and being surrounded by the buzz and excitement of the game. I cannot wait. Luckily, I work with another Auburn fan and today she and I spent 20 minutes discussing the game. Everyone looked at us like we were insane because we kept saying things like "watching the game with them" "UAT" and other random phrases. For those twenty minutes it was a little like being back at Auburn. Sigh. Yesterday while at the grocery store I saw a little old lady decked out in Auburn gear. I stopped to talk and she was so upset because she her brother is coming for Thanksgiving "and he roots for the wrong team." She just couldn't believe she would have to "watch the game with the enemy." Of course, Travis thought we were insane, but that lady made my day.

Okay, enough rambling. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and War Eagle!

Until next time...

Star

In bible study we've been talking about what we think about all day. Because of this, I've realized how much I focus on what's going wrong in my life as opposed to how blessed I am. Well of course, whenever you're trying to change something in yourself, you get presented with several opportunities to resume your old, terrible behavior. With that being said, let's revisit my Monday morning.

I get up, get ready for work and decide to have a blueberry waffle for breakfast. We'd just purchased a new toaster so I was excited to test it out. I put my waffle in the toaster and ran upstairs to get my shoes, jewelry and cell phone. While upstairs I thought I smelled something burning, but I thought I was just imagining things. Well imagine my surprise when I walk downstairs and the entire first floor of our house is filled with smoke. FILLED. The toaster was still "cooking" the waffle so I stopped that, and that waffle burnt to a crisp. It looked like a piece of charcoal. At this point I start running around trying to open windows and the sliding glass door, anything to get the smoke and the smell out of the house. I couldn't get the waffle out of the toaster because it still had smoke rising from it. Finally I realized I was going to be extremely late for work so I left the house, knowing I would have to explain myself to Travis when he woke up.

I'm driving to work thinking about being late and trying to figure out where I went wrong with the waffle. As I'm driving I'm getting annoyed because there's a car in front of me going so slow, so I decide to go around them. As I'm flying by I realize that the annoying slow car is actually a police car. I start slowing down, but it's too late and the blue lights are on. When the officer comes to the window he told me I was doing 55 in a 35. I thought "yeah, that sounds right" but I just apologized and began getting my license and registration out. Here were the issues with me and my car:

• Doing 55 in a 35
  
• Expired registration
  
• Incorrect tags
  
• Expired inspection sticker
  

That all looks worse than it actually is. My registration is current I just didn't have the current card in my car. The tags are incorrect because I got Auburn North Carolina tags and I just haven't put them on the car yet (still not on the car). The inspection sticker is expired; I have no excuse for that infraction. As I'm explaining all of this to the police officer he just starts laughing, tells me that he lowered my speeding amount which means I can go to drivers school (four hours one afternoon) so it won't go on my license or insurance. He also tells me to just show up to my court date with the correct registration and proof of tags and everything would be fine. And of course he told me to slow down (which I did).

During all of this Travis called to find out why our house was filled with smoke. It turns out that the smoke was so thick it woke him up. He was coughing and smelling something burnt, and his throat and eyes were burning. He went downstairs expecting to find the kitchen on fire. Instead, he found the sliding glass door wide open, a blackened waffle, and no Star. So he calls to find out what happened and I say "I'm so sorry, I burnt my waffle but can't talk right now because I getting a speeding ticket so I probably shouldn't be on my phone." Poor Travis.

After all of that I still had a great Monday. I think I smiled all day long and loved telling the story of my crazy morning. So guess it really is a matter of choosing your attitude and being willing to focus on your blessings.

Until next time…

Star

Hello everyone!

Now that the wedding and honeymoon are over, I hope to get back blogging regularly. The main question everyone asks is "how's married life?" I have to be honest, married life isn't that different from non-married life. Of course, there are some differences, but overall, it's the same. I just don't have that "new bride" feeling, and I'm okay with that. I don't mean to imply that I'm unhappy, because that is not the case. I am so blessed and overwhelmed with joy, sometimes it's hard to believe that this is my life. I talked to Travis about this and he reminded me that between him taking care of me when I had my hip replacement, me taking care of him when he had his surgery, and both of us taking care of my mother, we kind of shifted into husband and wife mode about six months ago.

Another question we get is "how was the wedding?" The wedding was actually not that bad. In fact it was pretty great. It was funny to look around and realize that this was actually my wedding. I'd never really thought about what my wedding would be like, so it was interesting to see how it all turned out it. I love that I did so much of it myself. I was so happy with the caterer; people are still talking about the food. I love that I wore two dresses. I love that we walked out to James Brown's "I Feel Good." I love that Jamesha and Carmen were my unofficial maid and matron of honor. I love that Carolyn and Patrick came all the way from Columbus. I love that Lindsay sang. I love that I busted out laughing when I got to the end of the aisle and realized that mom was crying hysterically. I love that I was able to acknowledge Damone at the wedding reception. It may have been 40 degrees and raining, but it was a beautiful day. It was truly wonderful.

Since we've been back, I have changed my name to Staretta Alicia Crawford, gotten and new drivers license, and Travis finished moving in. We're slowly getting the house organized and we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner in case any of you want to stop by. Okay, that's enough niceness for one blog. I'll try to be less cheesy in the next blog.

Until next time…

Star