What are you doing? Jazzercize!

Last night at Supper Club, we were short a few chairs and I ended up in the living room with Aaron and Scott. Somehow we started talking about ways we got in trouble in school. It was really a pretty pathetic conversation, seeing as how we've all got goody-two-shoes tendencies. Aaron talked about talking a whole class into hiding from the teacher because she made them re-learn cursive in eleventh grade. Scott talked about sneaking out of school to eat lunch off campus and running into the principal at Taco John's. Me? I had nothin. Aaron's cursive story prompted me to talk about my woes as a third-grader learning cursive, when my left-handed self wouldn't cooporate with slanted letters and I got bad grades. Scandalous. Twice in my school career, I was sent to the principal's office. The first time was in kindergarten, when the teacher told us not to mess with the overhead projector. Paul Walden walked over to it, messed with the knob and pronounced it "cool". Well, anything Paul Walden could do, I could do better. So I started messing with it, too, and the teacher caught me. I still maintain that a trip to the principal was a little harsh for a five-year-old, but such is life. The second time was in sixth grade. We were playing Around the World in math class. For the unfamiliar, Around the World is a game involving flash cards. The first kid in the first row stands next to the kid behind him. The teacher holds up a flash card, and the first one to call out the correct answer moves on to the next kid and keeps the card. If you lose, you take the desk of the kid that beat you. At the end of the game, the kid with the most cards wins. My dear friend Randa took Around the World (and all other competitions) VERY seriously. She had this stance she would assume to get ready for the card, as if bending your knees and pointing your finger could make your brain calculate multiplication faster. I was sitting in the back of the room with Callie. Cool kids that we were, we weren't too concerned with the game going on. What we were concerned with was making fun of Randa. We started imitating her poses as she made her way around the room. Before too long, we were doing some kind of strange Around the World dance, and laughing our heads off. Our teacher, Mr. Houser, did not appreciate the commotion we were causing in the back of the room. He made his way back (sloooooooowly, agility was not his strong suit) and asked Callie what in the world she thought she was doing. She looked him straight in the eye and said, "Jazzercize." At this time in my life, my sense of humor was clearly not fully developed, because I found that answer to be the funniest thing I had ever heard. I laughed obnoxiously loud, and we were both sent to the principal's office. We had to sit on the green vinyl couch in the waiting room while the rest of the class went outside for PE. We never had to actually go inside the office... I guess just sitting in there was punishment enough. It must have worked, as I never really got into trouble at school again.

No tears in my beers.

Every weekday, from noon to one, I sit at the reception desk in the lobby to cover Brad's lunch hour. I like that time, because I don't have access to my computer or files and can waste time online. Lately, I've been using this time for blogging, which explains the daily posting I've doing of late. The only downfall my lobby time? The giant TV. It is probably nine feet square, and it plays CMT. All. day. long. Now I may work in country music, but I do not listen to it. I know what my artist is doing, and nothing about anyone else. And I am okay with that. However, for that hour a day, I get a taste of what is going on in the industry. Let me tell you about the videos I have seen while down here. (It's a good thing they put titles and artists in the beginnings of these things, or I would have no clue.) Don't - Shania Twain I don't think anyone really thinks Shania is country music. But this song and video are especially bad. It is boobalicious, with a lot of horseback riding and writhing around on a bathroom floor (gross). Drive - Alan Jackson Okay, you got me. I like Alan Jackson. He is country, and he is good. So there. If Heaven - Andy Griggs This one is especially annoying to me. "If heaven was a pie, it would be cherry?" Please. Goodbye Time - Blake Shelton This one is not so bad, but the sap level is pretty high. It's a painful video to watch, mostly due to the fact that Blake Shelton is a terrible actor with one expression: constipated. And he has bad hair. She Can't Burn Me Now - Del McCoury Band I don't know anything about these guys, but it looks like a bunch of older pickers, which I love. The song is fast-paced and high-pitched. The colors in the video are highly saturated and it seems to be filmed almost stop-motion, so it looks really cool. Pickin' Wildflowers - Keith Anderson This is one that I particulary hate, along with Phil Vassar's "I'll Take That As A Yes" which I'll probably see before my hour is up. This guy has a skeevy look, first of all, complete with unbuttoned shirt and chest hair. It's supposed to look like a jazz club, which I like, except they would never play this song or let this guy sing in a jazz club. I hate videos that revolve around a hot girl and seductive glances, it's so boring. And this guy is not hot, so that girl would not be looking at him in the first place. I have about 15 minutes to go, but I'm going to stop there. I never pay this much attention to these things, and my brain is starting to hurt.

Miles the Wonder Dog.

For as long as I can remember, Aaron has wanted us to get a dog. He grew up with them and was convinced that life was not complete sans pets. I, on the other hand, have never had a pet in my life. My sister is violently allergic to anything with fur, and I am grossed out by lizzards and birds, so no pets for us. I suppose we could have had some fish, but given our history, that was probably not the best idea. I felt that, despite my lack of furry friends, my life had been quite nice and the addition of a dog was not neccessary. Over the past few months, however, he started wearing me down. Sending me pictures from PetFinder. Talking about how fun it would be. Coming up with names (my favorite part). And something I never thought would happen, has happened. We have a dog. Miles the Wonder Dog. And Aaron was right. He is wonderful and perfect and I really, really love him. He is so funny. He loves to snuggle, and gets mad if you don't pet him. And not just any petting, it has to be in this specific spot on his stomach. If you try to pet him somewhere else, he'll push your hand down with his paws. He is a face-licker, which I do not love. But my favorite thing he does is this hopping dance on his back legs. He gets really excited when we come home, and if you don't sit down right away so he can flop on his back and get some stomach petting, he stands up on his back legs and starts jumping up and down. It is absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I am now something I never thought I would be. An animal person. Look out.

Marriage by the numbers.

Years married: 3 Times Brandi has looked at our wedding pictures: 40 billion Times Aaron has looked at our wedding pictures: 1, and he was forced Places lived: 2 Times bedroom has been redecorated: 3, not including the banana paint incident Pets: 1, Miles the Wonder Dog Times Aaron has called Miles his BFF: 25, and he's only been around three weeks Meals Brandi has cooked: 5 Meals Aaron has cooked: 3 years worth, minus 5 Times Aaron has called himself the king of grilling: 73 Plants Brandi has kept alive: 1 Churches regularly attended: 1 Youth camps attended as a married couple: 2 Vehicles owned: 2 Vehicles Brandi has hit: 2 Poles Brandi has hit: 1 Times Aaron has driven 8 miles in 5 hours to rescue Brandi because she got stuck in the snow and was sitting in a church parking lot refusing to drive: 1 Times Brandi has called Aaron because she successfully parallel parked: 1 Household members who are afraid of snakes: 1 Household members who are afraid of big scary dogs: the other 1 Times Aaron has won at Trivial Pursuit: hundreds Times Brandi has won at all other games: also hundreds Times Brandi has insisted she is not competive and doesn't get mad when she loses: thousands Times Aaron has laughed at that statement: also thousands Robert Randolph concerts seen together: 4 Robert Randolph concerts seen alone by Aaron: a million Raccoon infestations in the walls of our home: 1 Post-it notes stuck to the walls of said home to show the landlord where the raccoons were: 6,401 Reality shows we follow: 2 Times we've said, "We could totally do that" while watching Amazing Race: hundreds Times we have laughed so hard at a TV show that we had to stop the DVD: 1 Times we overslept for church or work because we were up late watching West Wing reruns: 549 Times one of us has said, "This is the best show on TV" while watching said reruns: 549 Times one of us has said, "The Nashville news is SO SO SO BAD": five days a week x 52 weeks a year x 3 years = 780 Letters to the editor published: 1 Nasty emails in response to said letter: 4 Times we've seriously talked about moving back to Texas: 1 Times we've decided we couldn't leave the life we've built here: 1 Real friends we've made as a couple: 8 (4 couples) Annual girl's nights hosted: 3 Amount of chips and salsa consumed: 10,000 pounds Late night Sonic Blasts consumed: 427 Books read, inside jokes, hours laughing, kisses, walks, dinners out, road trips, excessively fun evenings spent at home, Saturday mornings spent sleeping waaaaaaaaay in: countless Regrets: 0 I stole this idea from a blog I really enjoy.

Concerts are fun.

I love concerts so much. We go to more than our fair share... we'll see just about anyone once. (Aaron has seen Limp Bizkit. Yikes.) But there's something about seeing one of your bands... the songs you've listened to over and over again, the lyrics that really mean something to you. I love the feeling of anticipation when a song ends and you're waiting to hear what's next. The moment when the song starts and the crowd recognizes it and cheers. When the band stops singing and lets the crowd carry the song. When they play your favorite song and it just surrounds you and you don't want it to end. When the lights go down and the crowd goes nuts. Sitting near someone who is their biggest. fan. ever. and knows every single word. The stories behind the songs. Giant hot dogs and overpriced soda. We saw Weezer and Ben Folds on Thursday night. Weezer was great... there's not much that can top jumping and yelling "Buddy Holly" at the top of your lungs. But Ben Folds, y'all. BEN FOLDS. Unreal. He had an arena full of people singing in three-part harmony. He had people jumping up and down to a piano ballad. (Granted, it was one he "wrote" with Dr. Dre.) It was one of the best shows I've seen. I would definitely travel to see him again. In a heartbeat.

This blog is bananas.

I am embarrassed by how much I like that Gwen Stefani "Hollaback Girl" song. So last night we had the talk with our youth pastor and his wife to tell them we're leaving the church. It has been a long, hard decision, and it broke my heart to make it official. They of course took it really well, because they are awesome. They also said they'd had similar issues at a church they used to go to, so they were completely understanding. If we could take them and the kids with us somewhere, we would do it in a heartbeat. But the truth is, we've had trouble with Christ Church for a while now. We just have a completely different idea of what church should be about, and it's time for us to find a place that we agree with. Where that is, we don't know. We love it at Grace Point, and they seem to have the same ideas we do about church - that it should be serving the lost and lonely, the widows and orphans. Not itself. We shouldn't be looking to recruit members from other churches but reaching out to those who know nothing about Jesus. We're still torn about Steve and Jessi and the Rock... we really believe in what they are doing, but does that mean we should join up with them? I want to be careful that we don't choose that just because they are our friends. Although I can't imagine that's a bad reason to choose a church. I am torn. (Just like Natalie Imbruglia.) But stepping away from Christ Church will certainly make it easier for us to commit to making a decision. Tonight? We Weez.

Rockin' the suburbs.

Yesterday, something amazing happened. Something unprecedented. Something in the Sonic parking lot. I was listening to the radio, when Lightning 100 did the Monkey Minute. The monkey in question was named "Whiplash", which I found to be a cute name for a monkey. Then, a couple of songs later, Mary Brace says that Weezer is coming to town on Thursday, and the first person to call in with the correct name of the monkey will win tickets. I knew that monkey's name. I called. I got through! You are now reading the blog of the owner of two third-row seats to see Weezer and Ben Folds. BEN FOLDS! Oh how I love him. I, the girl who never wins anything (except Basketball Dodgeball), won concert tickets. To a show I actually want to go to. I might even take Aaron with me.

The last couple of weeks.

WOW, I am bad at blogging. So the last two weeks have been pretty eventful at the Manes house. The week of July 4 we went to youth camp with the junior high kids at church. It was much fun... I love those kids so much. It was a long week, the first half of which was drenched with rain. Rain days at camp can be horrible or wonderful, and lucky for us we had the greatest camp director of all time, so they were wonderful. It doesn't get much better than diving into a pool of milk to dig out gummy worms with your mouth while the rain pours down. The five funn(i)est things at camp: 1. BLUE-YA! The blue team, on which I played the role of deep and wise sage (scary), took top honors and won the overall competition. They are a fabulously fun and creative group of kids, and it could not have been more fun. Our team is bandito, B-A-N-D-I-T-O! 2. The O-pressed cannot stay O-pressed forever! Kristin and her hilarious monologue about DFJ (Dancin' for Jesus) and thier struggle as the minority in the beatbox community was priceless. We. Will. Rise. Again! 3. The continuing reign of Miss Brandi as the champion of female counselor Basketball Dodgeball. It was close this year - newcomer Shelley was tough competition - but once again I triumphed. Two years running. Bring it. And don't even try to challenge me in Around the Horn, fools. 4. Matt's Barbarian Day. How he talked us into participating, I will never know. But I will tell you that will be the one and only time I eat baked ziti with my hands. 5. The daily counselor trip to QuikMart for lemon ices. Heaven.