OU Football

I’m gonna let you in on a little Zoller secret:  we like OU football.  a lot.

We’re actually a house-divided but in a non-traditional way in that it’s parents versus kids.  My brother and I went to OU, while my parents went to the rival state school, OSU.  Don’t worry, we still love them and they haven’t disowned us.

Ironically, we all come together over OU football.  Mom is the only one roots for OSU in the bedlam game, which usually only results in her demise. 

Like most sports fans, we get into the games by analyzing the replays as much as or more than the announcers, showing great lament over a loss, critiquing the commentators, shaking our heads at the players, throwing our hands up at terrible calls, believing we are the best, or putting up high-fives for TDs.   And that’s just when we’re together.

As students, my brother and I would be in the stadium watching the game while my Dad would be watching on the TV at home.  I always got season tickets except for one season, which was a most ridiculous decision.  I went to every game I could, which was basically every single one.  I went to games with my brother until he graduated, and I, unfortunately, only attended one game with my Dad.  It was however one of the most epic games I’ve seen.  OU vs. Notre Dame.  It. Was. Awesome.

One of the great things about being a family who likes to cheer on the same team is that even if we’re not watching the game together, we still text about it.  We have a group text going as I type over the OU-Clemson game.  Don’t even get me started.  What a terrible game!  Still, I’m an OU girl.  Sticking with your team despite an outrageously horrendous game is another blog post, however. 

Anyway, texting my brother and especially my Dad during a game is tradition.  It would be so weird not to text them! We each have our own style of reporting what’s going on or what just went down and we celebrate TDs like nobody’s business. 

My Dad is the most reliable.  He’ll give great descriptions, basically play-by-play.  We use the player’s names and give updates on how we feel they’re doing as well as give statuses on the offense or defense as a whole. 

Our comments and texts look something like this:

“Unbelievable!  On fourth down, we block a pass, catch it, and run it back for TD but are called for off-sides”
“Boom goes the dynamite!  OU scores on a short run then the extra point is blocked.  40-6”
“Boomer”

“Sooner magic”
“TD!!!”

“Our offense is not lookin’ so hot...”

This is what I love and what I’m used to.  One time, when a guy I knew said he couldn’t make the game, I offered to give him updates.  Well, he didn’t know what he was getting into!  He told me later that he was at a wedding and almost jumped up and yelled in triumph during the ceremony after getting a TD text.  Haha!  Needless to say, he didn’t ask for updates ever again, so I guess the Zoller way isn’t for the faint of heart.

Boomer Sooner, baby.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas used to be my favorite holiday but then Thanksgiving took the title.  I thought the battle was won once and for all, but Christmas is still putting up a good fight.  I think it’s going to win this year.

Thanksgiving is so chill.  You get the awesome food and good family and/or friend time without the stress of presents, going all out on decorations (i.e. detangling, checking bulbs, and putting up lights), or the possible terrible weather (think icy and bitter cold).  Of course, what I like best is that it’s a time to reflect on what you’re thankful for, what is truly important in life.  My family passes around a leaf that says, “I’m thankful for…” and we each take a turn filling in the rest of the sentence.  It’s a nice tradition we’ve kept up. 

This year I started being grateful and expressing my thanks to God well before Thanksgiving rolled around due to a book I was reading.  It was so refreshing!  Being thankful takes the focus off of myself and puts it onto God.  It also brings me a lot of joy.  Some days it’s as simple as saying thanks for breathe, life, and a new day as I wake up, while other days I’ll be more specific by thanking Him for someone in my life and the characteristics they possess or what they said/taught me, for instance. 

I know that being thankful should always happen, not just on one day.  The same could be said for Christmas, however.  Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, yet we should always be mindful that if Christ had not been born as a baby being fully God and fully man, had not lived a perfect life, and had not died on the cross for our sins, we would not have a relationship with God.  I want to celebrate Christ’s life every day not just one day out of the year.

Why I like Christmas is, as the cliché goes, “the reason for the season.”  Although, I also like the lights and decorations (I admire other people’s hard work and am thankful I didn’t go through the hassle, quite honestly), and I very much like the Christmas carols that are sung.  It’s mind-boggling that such wonderful and powerful songs are only sung for maybe 2 months out of the year!  I guess the beauty is that many, many people sing carols at Christmas-time and, though they might not be a Christian, they are praising God.  I mean, have you really listened to the words?  I won’t list all the lyrics of the ones I like, such as Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child is This, and Ave Maria, because you can just listen more closely when you hear them.  Of course, I like others like Carol of the Bells and The Little Drummer Boy but the best non-traditional Christmas music that I’ve heard is by the artist Jason Gray.  It’s brilliant.  I love them all, though some tops are Christmas is Coming, Forgiveness is a Miracle, Gloria!, and Rest.  I’ve listened to the album who knows how many times, year-round.

So, this year Christmas has become the best holiday for several reasons:

1)  I heard one of the best sermons today that wasn’t your typical Christmas presentation taken from Luke 2.  It was about Christ having a dysfunctional family as we looked at His genealogy in Matthew 1.  In very short, Christ did not come from a line of perfect people but from those who were broken and sinful who, most importantly, had faith.  I also pulled from the sermon that no family is perfect and God can relate.  

2)  I have been able to appreciate and partake in the lovely music that is played and sung only at this time.  I went to Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb of God” concert, where he sang the story of Christ from the beginning of the Bible all the way to his birth.  It was spectacular.  I was also able to attend my brother’s church’s Christmas service, which mimicked the service done at Kings College in Cambridge and was equally amazing.

3)  Unlike a lot of other years, I am not stressed about presents because I finished all my shopping two days after Thanksgiving.  It was a miracle.  I plan on repeating this from here on out or at least trying.

4)  I now have co-workers to say Merry Christmas to, go to parties with, and do all sorts of shenanigans with.

5)  Decorating my own place without going over-board or feeling stressed about it is fun.

6)  Baking :)  Friendship Bread might become my next “thing” or the recipe to put me on the map if I ever open a bakery.  You never know.

7)  I’m looking forward to seeing my immediate and extended family as well as friends.

Whether you dread Christmas or it’s what you look forward to all year long, I hope that you have a merry one and that you praise God with thankfulness for His Son.


For the fun of it --- pictures!

What Do You Want More Of?

Over the past few days, I’ve found myself in the crosshairs of feeling very inadequate in the “smarts” department.  You know, when you talk to someone and you can only smile and nod while you’re simultaneously thinking in your head, “what the heck are they talking about?!” and “Please don’t ask me what I think.” and “How can I change the subject… like pronto tonto?” or when someone talks to you about what they’re doing or learning and you just feel utterly lame like, “Oh.  I don’t do any of that.” and “Goodness, they just have so many intelligent and impressive things coming out of their mouth!”

Quite honestly, this seems to happen to me a lot.  It’s humbling, to say the least. 

Well, this time around it got me thinking about the fact that there will always be striving and, as Ecclesiastes says, that is vanity. 

There will always be someone who is…

smarter

prettier

more fit

more knowledgeable

getting the promotion

more well-off

more at ease

funnier

better looking

more put together (or appears that way)

more traveled

more experienced

richer

more impressive

and the list goes on!

So, then I started thinking about not striving for the above list but instead focusing on more important and more eternal things.  How much better would my life and my days be if I quit looking at getting more earthly things, that will fade away, and instead began looking at gaining things and characteristics that will last forever?  What would that practically look like in and mean for my life? 

I want to be a person who is…

studying Scripture

giving to the poor and needy  (i.e. living life without pockets)

recklessly extravagant (like the father of the prodigal son)

using my time, talent, and treasure for the Kingdom

learning from God and others

growing in the fruit of the Spirit

abiding in Him

dependent on God and not myself

asking for forgiveness

hearing the gospel and applying it

healthy in order to do what God has called me to do

glorifying God [in all that I say and do]

active in church

prayerful

real

and the list goes on!

If you think about it, both lists will take hard work, practice, perseverance, and more.  Personally, I’d like to spend my time on the latter list.  

Men to Marry

Has there ever been someone who if they asked you to marry them, you’d say yes?  Someone whom you’ve never dated but are "just friends" and possibly not even “close” friends?

Surely I’m not the only person out there with this thought!  I know I’m not the only one who has thought, “Praise God, I didn’t marry THAT person!”.  Haha!  But even if I am the only one with the thought of, “I’d marry you if you asked me,” I’m not ashamed to say that, within my short life, it’s happened to me with 2 guys. 

It seems as though I’ve liked lots of guys in my life and have even been stupidly head-over-heels for some of them, yet, surprisingly, these 2 guys weren’t big-time crushes.  Honestly, they were hardly crushes.  More like, one day the thought popped into my head after talking with each of them that I would marry them if they asked.  No dates.  No questions.  Just a yes.  I think I could say yes to them because they grew on me as I saw them in different lights over the time I was around them and mainly because I was able to see their solid character. 

The one unquestioning “I would say yes” guy was back in high school.  He was a little older and in my brother’s grade, so was more like a friend of a friend.  I saw him at school, of course, and at different events and functions yet it wasn’t until we worked at together one summer that I thought he was a guy worth marrying.  He had so many outstanding qualities but what got me was his love for God being evident in all things in his life.

The second “I would say yes” guy was in grad school.  He was younger and is a sweet friend to this day.  We have a good mutual friend, who would invite us over to relax, have fun, and eat dinner and we’d see each other at campus events.  He also possesses incredible characteristics as well as other important qualities like being easy to talk to, putting his faith first, loving his family, and taking care of himself.  Another big thing was when he was basically my only friend that, when I was talking about going into the Army, asked me if I had prayed about it and if I thought God was leading me to do it.

The first guy I don’t see or talk to anymore, which is unfortunate, yet I know that he found the woman he wanted to ask to marry him and she said yes and for that I’m happy.  I still talk to and see the second guy on rare occasions, and even though he hasn’t found the women he wants to ask to marry him as far as I know, the thing I do know is that she’s going to be stellar.

I am grateful to know them or to have known them.  Because of them and because of some of the men my friends have married, I have seen and know that solid, Christian men are out there, which only makes me more apt to wait to say “yes” to one like them who asks me to marry him.

Run

Reasons I run and things I’ve learned while running/training

I will get up freakishly early for only four things: 1) a long run with my running buddy  2) race day  3) Army  4) to catch a flight

I love to run

I don’t like to stop running during a route but especially during a race

My phrases at stoplights are “Go!” and “We can make it!”

Cat-calls and car honks are juvenile.  Stop it.

Time to think and pray

Stress relief

Torch those calories

The wind is a friend bringing coolness or a pick-me-up from behind

Suck it up

New running shoes are spectacular

I need turns, none of this 40-mile straight-shot stuff

Easy 3

If the 20-miler goes well, I’m in for a hellava ride come race day

Crossing the finish line will never get old

Trust your training

Gu suddenly tastes amazing

Don’t skip the long run

A great running buddy is very rare; Thank God I found mine

If someone passes you looking like a gazelle, they are definitely on mile 2

Just finish

I need a sign above my head flashing how many miles I’ve already run

Eating fruit during a race is awesome

True friends run with you when you think you can’t go any farther

Hitting “the wall” is basically inevitable; I’ve only not hit it once

Long runs forge friendships

Hearing “I would run…” or “Run for me!” is funny yet sad

You can run a marathon; you have to decide if you want to put in the time and effort or you could pray to God that your athleticism doesn’t fail you

There are four types of fellow runners I pass by:  1) don’t bother me, I’m in the zone  2) don’t bother me, I hurtin’  3) don’t even bother, I’m not going to pay attention to you  4)  Oh, you said hello and I will say hello back

I run whenever -- sunshine, rain, snow, ice, storms, tornadoes

4-mile loops are great

Say “I ran ___ miles” not “I just ran ___ miles” because there’s a big difference to people

After 3 to 4 miles, I’m good to go

For the most part, run it out

Listen to your body

Smile, wave, and say hello to people when you pass by -- it sometimes confuses them

Rest is actually very important

Half marathons are more enjoyable

Casualties like losing a toenail, chafing, or blisters are things you’ve signing up for

Injuries are the bane of my existence

The wind, as resistance, kills

Engage your core

You can walk out your front door and go

Night runs

Sometimes it’s best to not look at your watch

Chocolate milk after a run is bliss

Idiots will throw things at you

You meet some cool people in races

You see some crazies on race day

You overhear funny stuff during races

Running with people comes and goes but my running buddy is a constant

It’s okay to stop

Do not do something out of the ordinary like Zumba on the week of the race

Hydrate

Thank the people who cheer on race days; you need them

Shanghai your friends into coming to cheer you on

My foam roller has become a new best friend

I spit a lot

I think it would be incredible to qualify for Boston

Smile and enjoy the scenery and good weather

I will laugh at you without guilt if you’re running outside at the hottest time of day

I seriously dislike treadmills

Cold/Cool weather is the best

Time to think

Me time

Being healthy

Breathe in with your nose and out with your mouth

My shirt becomes a giant snot rag; I am not ashamed

Do not touch me after a race or super long run; I am disgusting

Being active

Running before a storm is a fav

Good conversations

Memories

Running because others can’t; I am fortunate and grateful

Perseverance

Pooping before a race is a good sign

The finisher medals keep getting bigger

Not giving you a finishers shirt should be a crime

Diligence

Time-management

Being outside

Hearing people say, “Why are you running so fast?  No one is chasing you!” or the like is funny

The signs people make for races are quite humorous sometimes

Never do I ever want to hear “you’re almost done” or a phrase to that effect when I’m running a marathon of 26.2 miles and I’m on any mile but 26.1

You need support

Alimentos es muy importante

I need someone to talk with me to take my mind off what hurts

More people should cheer between miles 20 and 26

Each race and run is different

It is a passion to enjoy and cultivate and to share and encourage others in

I was told that you either love or hate marathons.  I love them.  I caught the bug a few years ago, and I don’t know when it will leave.  I built my way up to them, so I haven’t always run or run long distance and have completed 5 so far.  At the end of almost every one, I think that it’s possible the last.  They may become fewer and farther between until their non-existent, mainly due to the time it takes to train, but for now I’ll keep going.  Even if marathon running ends, I will not stop running for all the reasons and lessons learned listed above and more.