hola san antonio

last night we got to do one of my favorite things at christmas time! My parents, my sister, her bff brooke and I went downtown to walk along the riverwalk and look at christmas lights. You know the river taxi's they have? Two of them totally ran into eachother. People on one of the boats just started laughing really hard...they had their share of margaritas for the night.

We went and ate at Mad Hatters.... delicious

This horse carriage passed us in King William- I kinda felt sorry for the horse, he's decked out in christmas lights- but maybe he has a great life and I'm ignorant.

Then we went to the river walk and went to the Landing and listened to Jazz music. At one point, my mom was talking realy loud and got shushed by the whole bar...it was pretty funny.

I just like this picture of sarah and I.

we stole santa on a stick

Sarah and I went to Whole Earth Provision Co. to get some christmas presents and walked out as shoplifters. When we were checking out, there were these paper santa masks on popsicle sticks. Sarah and I were making fun of it and we thought it was something that would make our grandpa laugh. Thinking they were free, I told Sarah to put one in her bag and when we got home, we pulled it out to show my mom. To our surprise, we saw a price tag on the back! They weren't free! But really..who charges $2.95 for Santa on a Stick? What's wierd though is we were talking about them with 2 sales girls and they didn't say anything to us about paying for them. Sarah called Whole Earth and told them we shoplifted it and offered to pay for it, but they just told her to bring it back in. Embarrassing! We still haven't worked up the nerve to take it back yet! Maybe we can just slip it back in without anyone noticing?

coming home

I just flew into San Antonio. For some reason the first few hours of being home always seems like a whirlwind. My sister came to pick me up at the airport and we were staring at each other through her windshield...but she didn't recognize me because she thought I was some hispanic girl and I didn't recognize her cause I thought she was some blonde girl who drove a jetta. Finally when she was like 20 feet away we realized that we were actually related. My sister drove me straight to our hairdressers, Linda, who had found out earlier that day that I had taken scissors to my own hair... I was in trouble. Well, not really, Linda is like 4' 9", was dressed like Sandy from Grease, and is really sweet so it was fun to see her. Then we come home and my parents had a huge A basket of chocolates that was literally the size our our table. I ran upstairs and gave my dad and mom a hug and then busted into chocolate goodness, pretzels, etc... I actually ate a piece of salami and now I want to throw up a little bit. Now we are going to academy to by my dad a present. Crazy day! It's only been 2 hours!

public relations and snowflakes

For those of you who don't know, I do public relations consulting for non-profits and I love my job! It's crazy how the Lord even provided the job and I'd love to tell you the story sometime. Bottom line...this is why I love it....

1. I don't work in a cubicle or under flourescent lighting

2. I can work from any where that I have internet and phone reception

3. I have lots of creative freedom

4. A large chunk of my time is spent listening to people share about what they are passionate about.

5. I get to use my communication, networking, and writing skills to help see communities redeemed.

6. I can have clients anywhere, Denver, Texas, Africa, South America,.... anywhere.

Today was fun! Laura and I just brainstormed our strategy going into 2008 of how we are going to help non-profits accomplish their goals and change the world.

7. I work with someone who has the same vision and passion I do and our giftings make it dynamic.

Today was a fun day, Laura and I brainstormed about our strategy to help non-profits in 2008 and how we are going to see the world changed, ate Christmas cookies, talked about how her dog smelled like horse manure...and I designed our new years postcard above.

Check out our website at http://www.amalipr.com/. It's a work in progress ;)

speaking my language

If you spend any time in my house you will quickly realize we have our own way of communicating and living so as its evolved over time.....here is the shortened cliff's notes version.

the verbage

• nugget- someone really cute



• papa nugget- someone old and really cute



• strip- someone tall and cute- stemming from the famous chicken strip



• lylas bmla...- love ya like a sis but more like a....you fill in the blank



• mis- miserable



• if someone goes out of town or leaves the house- you have to ask in a really whiny voice " Why do you always leave me?"



• presh- something sweet

• awkward transitions to the 4 laws are always funny



• the way people mispell tifah's name "Leticia Atef" always funny too.



• At night, our goal is to top what the sounds the best " You know what sounds real good? Chocolate milk..." " No, you know what sounds real good? Spaghetti with meatballs."



• cuss words are shortened to first initials



• most feelings or observations can be expressed through breaking into song at any moment



• We love TV shows that are redemptive in any way



• I think couples on TV are in love in real life and I will defend it to the end even though my roomates tell me I'm wrong



• We think we could really change lives if we were on MTV's The Hills

free music= happy people

My roomate's band is giving away free music to download www.theautumnfilm.com/share

If you've never heard them before, then definitely check them out and pass it on. They will be going on tour in the coming months so hopefully they will play live near you! Emily, Grant and I go to their shows all the time and they never get old. I still love it! Tonight we went to see them play at the Fox where they opened for another band called "The Kooks"- a bunch of 19 year olds from the UK. They were both really great! It was so cold outside I thought my lungs were going to freeze just walking from the car- but it was worth it. And no, I wasn't wearing socks, or a hat, or gloves :)

new skills

I'm learning how to play the piano. I don't know how to read music so I just sing out of tune and match notes until tifah get's annoyed and teaches me something. So far, I know how to play some chords from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, three notes from one of tifah's songs and a couple songs I learned when I was little. Look for me at your local music venue in 2009. I'm progressing really quickly!

elk don't have horns!

Kate, Emilly, Tifah and I went to Estes Park about a month ago. I was so excited to see huge elk with huge horns....moment of silence.... they lost their horns already! So here is what they looked like up close. I think the other girls were a little nervous about how close I was getting. We also did a lot of tacky souvenir t-shirt shopping and took pictures with elves and walked around the stanley hotel from the shining. It was a good day :)

sunday's snow

This is why I love where I live....These were taken down the street from my church.

on a walk

Today I went on a walk to this lake by my house and when I was on the trail, I looked over and about 20 yards from me was a coyote running next to me. I stopped and then it stopped. Ahh!! Then a guy with his dog came by and the dog chased the coyote into the bushes. Saved! But then I had to walk back through the same field so I kept taking out my earphones as if I would hear him and somehow be able to save myself. I know coyotes are safe when they are by themselves but I was still nervous. I started wondering what I would do if I actually got attacked by a coyote- I'd probably clap at it and yell for it to go away- and the coyote would dig it's teeth out of my arm, apologize and walk off. So polite! Maybe my calling is to be an animal attack survival guide.

my house looks like a preschool

Somehow we ended up with the entire bin of craft stuff and today we put it to good use. We are all going out of town for christmas and decided to not buy a tree this year- so we made one out of paper. I'm serious. It's over six feet tall....We put on "elf", ate gingerbread pancakes and made a tree. Tifah and emily taped it up with packing tape and then I made all the ornaments. It took us like 2 hours to finish and when we were done, we just kept saying, " I can't believe we made a tree out of paper?" Next year I think we should change venues to a children's hopsital. Something about a paper tree in a house with three girls in their twenties doesn't make sense right? pictures are coming.....

b and free

Brooke and Freeland were in Denver visiting this past week and Brooke totally inspired me to restart my blog that I've attempted to get going multiple times over the past year. So here is to new beginnings!

I think I'm insecure of snow boots

It's really weird but most days, in the middle of winter, walking through snow, you will find me in ballet flats without socks on. I don't know why but I think I'm insecure of my snow boots. Maybe it's cause I think they look like moon shoes. I've tried them with pants tucked in and tucked out...doesn't matter- I still don't like wearing them. I also don't like wearing jackets, hats or gloves. Maybe I had a bad experience with winter clothes once. You be the judge.