the perfect quote for life right now

"What if success is getting the wash into the dryer before the mildew sets in?"

We are Virginia Tech

I always love for Virginia Tech to be in the limelight, but not in this manner. My beloved school is now associated with massacre, a shooting of giant porportions, a place of grief and sorrow.


But it has also been associated with strength, hope, courage, and commmitment to others in its community. I have never been so proud to be a Hokie.


My email has been flooded with notes from other Hokies and non-Hokies expressing their condolences on the Virginia Tech tragedy, as well as links to videos, songs, and pictures. I thought I would share a few that really impacted me.







I loved this article, It is a very touching perspective. I was there when we had our first game day experience-It was amazing.



By Chris Fowler
ESPN.com
Archive


They are clashing colors, maroon and orange. As they say, it's a combination only a Hokie could love.



But Tuesday, maroon and orange came together in a moving display of sympathy, support and pride. Watching Virginia Tech students in school colors grieve together at the convocation in Cassell Coliseum got me choked up. I couldn't speak. When they concluded the afternoon by together yelling "We Are Virginia Tech!" and "Let's Go Hokies!" I lost it. Surprising feelings rushed forth. Here were students in a basketball arena doing a sports chant. It was such a familiar expression of unity, but this time summoned for an infinitely more profound occasion. The Virginia Tech community has come together to mourn the lives that were lost.


It's a campus I know well, from many visits through the years. You don't arrive at Virginia Tech accidentally. You have to work to get there, journeying into the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's lovely … picturesque … and seems very far away from the dangers of the outside world.


There is a collective strength of spirit there that feels quite different from other campuses we visit. It's a big school, of about 26,000. But it feels like a tight community.


The official name is Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It's not a curriculum or a setting for everyone. But most students who are there want to be nowhere else. That spirit seems to endure long after leaving Blacksburg. Once a Hokie, always a Hokie.


All of this made watching the images and hearing the horrific accounts Monday even more chilling. All the networks showed maps marking the buildings the shootings took place. I n between them is the spot "College GameDay" was staged in September, on the mall near the library and the parade ground.


Those of us who work on "GameDay" (and on the entire ESPN college football project) have a strong affection for Virginia Tech that goes back many years. The pain there is unimaginable and will not soon fade. We hope that the sense of unity and togetherness that makes it a special campus will remain.

During the Hokies' run to the championship game in the '99 football season, it was the amazing spirit of Virginia Tech that helped us take "GameDay's" road shows to a level we'd never imagined. At the urging of Frank Beamer, an orange and maroon horde of about 13,000 wedged in to a corner of Lane Stadium one Saturday morning.



For us, it was a mind-boggling display. Sure, we knew they hadn't necessarily shown up to hear three guys on a set many yards away talk football. They came to show the natio n how strongly they felt about their team and their school. And I can't tell you how much it meant to us to share the day with them.



When "GameDay" revisited Blacksburg later that season, we figured that the novelty had worn off and expected a much smaller crowd. Instead, an even bigger, more spirited throng roared for 90 minutes. After that, our little traveling circus was never the same. The ante had been upped for every other school. Virginia Tech set the standard. We really have savored each visit since. “ The pain there is unimaginable and will not soon fade. We hope that the sense of unity and togetherness that makes it a special campus will remain. ”


This week, that powerful sense of community at Tech is being shown to the world. It is heartening.



Unfortunately, much of the world always will associate this campus in the mountains only with this massacre. Many will conclude from this senseless, ps ychotic act that the current college generation in America is warped by violence … and hopeless.



To me, news events of recent weeks have revealed something quite different. It strikes me: The many Tech students I have seen interviewed were so thoughtful and reasonable, even in moments fresh with confused fear. A strong sense of humanity shines through.


In a way, I saw the same sense of dignity and wisdom-beyond-years displayed by the Rutgers women's basketball team and the three former lacrosse players from Duke. Under intense scrutiny, it was the college kids who were level-headed, displaying tolerant, thoughtful restraint and a sense of perspective, while so many adults embarrassed themselves, grandstanding for the voracious 24-hour media machine, foaming at the mouth on cue. Not the students.


It made me feel pretty good about the generation that will inherit this place.



To the community of Virginia Tech and to the families of the victims, our thoughts will remain with you during the long, difficult healing process. Your sense of unity has never been more needed. It was touching that under the weight of so many other emotions, Tech students seemed saddened that the school they love forever could be branded as the site of an historic massacre.



To those of us who have spent time there, Tech always will be recognized for much more than the hours of tragedy April 16, 2007. We look forward to our next chance to experience Virginia Tech pride first hand.



Chris Fowler is the host of ESPN's "College GameDay."

This prayer was shared at the Austin Chapter of VT Alumni vigil last week. I was amazed at the words as though it was written specifially for the occasion. It reminded me of how our need for God is unchanging and how God himself, is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.



From the book"A Community at Prayer", a collection of prayers from the Blacksburg community. This one was the invocation at a memorial service for the class of 1918, given on Homecoming Day 1968 at VT's Memorial Chapel:



O Thou in Whom we have always lived,
And in Whom we hope to live forever;
Who has given us purpose in life As well as life itself;
And who has provided meaning in moments of joy
as well as in moments of sadness:


We first wish to express our gratitude for life itself,
But also for clarity of purpose
And for the experience of love in human relationships.

We are grateful, too, for Virginia Polytechnic Institute;
For its loyal sons and daughters;
For its role in providing leaders for this state and nation;
And for its contribution to the world in times of war and peace.


We are particularly grateful this afternoon
For those who have come and gone,
For those who have entereed their deserved reward to closer fellowship with Thee.
We pray, at this time, that their influence will continue,


That their lives, now immortal,
will continue to make a positive contribution to this institution,
To its significant purpose, And to its own future life.


These prayers we ask in the name of Him who came
that we all might have life and have it more abundantly.
Amen.



From a current VT mom, from here in Austin:
I've only posted a couple of times here, and I believe I mentioned that I am the parent of a sophomore currently at VT. I can't begin to tell you all what a wreck I've been this week. The tidal waves of emotions range from relief that my daughter is OK, to guilt for being upset at all because we are so lucky, to outright gut wrenching despair when I allow myself to go to that awful "what if" place [she lived in West AJ 4th floor last year], and finally I am working up to anger for the shooter. Of course all of that is combined with the overwhelming sadness I feel for the families of the 'fallen' victims. I say 'fallen' because I believe everyone involved with VT was victimized on Monday, but for those families that lost their loved ones--I can't even go there or I'll never finish this.
My daughter, an RA, knew two of the victims who were also RAs. The two meetings that have been held this week to provide the RAs information and support so they could better serve their residents were especially difficult for them all. The weeks ahead and upcoming school year will prove to be a challenge for these kids as they will be asked to venture into places and take on responsibilities most adults don't have to tackle. With that said, I want to say how proud I am of her and the other RAs. I also want to acknowledge the work done by the student EMT's. A resident of my daughter's floor is an EMT and she was called to the first scene. She gave mouth to mouth to the one of the `fallen' victims that morning. My heart goes out to that little girl and her family.

I would like to say that when we've had time to digest some of this and can think without emotion taking over, I believe it will be important that we work together to help the Administration make changes that while I don't believe could ever prevent something like this, could make a difference in the safety of the VT campus. I know that I would like to see video surveillance added to dorm hallways and entrances. I also want to say that if God forbid something like this ever happened again I'd like to see the Administration not allow the media to set up shop on the campus. Many of the kids I've heard from feel victimized all over again every time they find themselves being chased for a comment or have a camera thrown into their faces. I believe a ban of media on campus grounds should go into effect before Monday's return to class, this year's graduation ceremony and the beginning of fall term as well. Finally I want to tell you all that as of today my daughter wouldn't consider attending any other school and we completely support her decision. We also--with facts known to us today--have nothing but support for the school and the handling of this matter. There is no way anyone could have predicted this would have happened and nothing would have stopped him from carrying out his plan. Lockdown? They tried that in August and after an hour of it many kids were outside playing Frisbee on the drill field while the police looked on. Email notification? The kids that did know early on believed that it was just a girlfriend/boyfrien d fight gone bad and the email would have only confirmed that. Kicking the shooter out? Maybe, but nothing would have stopped him from returning. Committing him? He would have gotten out eventually and I believe he would have been just as determined to carry out his plan.
Sorry for the length of this post. As you can see this has stirred up a lot of thoughts and emotions. We will be there Monday night.Thanks for listening & I wish you all well.
Sincerely,
Stacey Harrell
neVer forgeT 4.16.07



Here is a very cool video of the candlelight vigil held on the Drillfield
http://www.hamptonroads.tv/index.cfm?locvid=123520&ch=New!

The outpouring from other schools has been amazing. UT darkened the tower for several nights and held a vigil this past Monday. We have gotten numerous condolences from other Austin Chapter Alumni from various schools. And even UVA painted a prominant bridge with "Hoos for the Hokies" Apparently there was also a picture of a Hoo/Cavelier hugging a Hokie, but I could find it. (For you Texas, it's an A&M/UT relationship.


































I am thankful for the Austin area Hokies for putting together a vigil last week. It was great to be there, to be among others who love the school as I do. It was a great time of laughter and fun memories, as well as a time of prayer for the families of those who have been killed. Even though they are on one hand strangers, on the other they are family.



Please continue to pray. My heart is especially heavy for Campus Crusade, a ministry on campus, who lost four students. Please pray with me for their leaders as they encourage students to turn to the Lord to find peace and comfort. Thanks for taking the time to read all this.

Love, Susan


If you'd like to hear a cool VT tribute song written by a student as you read, click here.

And to leave on a Happy note, here are some future Hokies dressed up for HOKIE HOPE day last Friday. These are my former roomates kiddos (& Joshua).

Please Pray for the Hokies

My heart is hurting with the news of the tragedy at Virginia Tech this morning. Sadly, we hear of shootings and tragedy often happening both here in the US and even more abroad. But how it's processed is so different when it's in your world. It's so much closer to home and to your heart knowing it's happened somewhere where you have lived, studied, and walked so many times. And of course your mind starts running though all the people you know that are currently around campus and hope they are not one of the 20+ people that have died today.

If you've never had the privilege of visiting campus, it's a beautiful place, with beautiful buildings, and of course beautiful orange and maroon attire everywhere. Nestled in a small, caring community, and surrounded by the outdoors it is a place that will forever hold awesome memories. Sadly, for many it will now have memories of pain and fear. Please pray with me for the Virginia Tech family; for those that are wounded; and for the families of those that have lost loved ones.

Peep Peep

I love finding evidence in the world that I"m not the only one that gets themselves into silly things that take a lot of time. If only I'd known about this contest. (Thanks for the link Heather)

Getting the blowoff

I knew that someday Joshua would blow me off and pretend not to know me; I just thought it would happen in Middle School, not as a toddler! I am participating in MOPS at a different church than we attend, so the nursery is somewhat new to us. Last week was the third time Joshua was in their nursery. Arriving to pick him up, another child came running and smiling towards me. I explained to the worker that he wasn't actually mine and pointed out the darling little boy in the yellow shirt as my child. The nursery worker called to him, as did I, and then she walked him out of the toy house he was in. The little rascal looked right at me and without so much as a smile turned right back around to keep playing! The nursery worker then asked me if I was sure that was the right one!

Although this age is trying at times, he is still lots of fun. Meal times have been very difficult as he is very demanding with what he will eat and when he'll eat it. He will decide midway through his 10th bite of something he doesn't like it anymore. One day he'll eat Kiwi, the next day- not a chance. We are trying to figure out boundaries and how to encourage his independace while maintaining discipline (and our sanity) too.

Most of the time is mischief is pretty funny. He's fasinated with the toliet and given the opportunity, loves to test what happens when things are put into it. Hopefully his curiosity about the world and his impact in it will continue, until then...

Here he is eating dirt at the neighbor's birthday party. They did have birthday cake, but Joshua apparently didn't want to wait for it. Those are my legs behind him oblivious that he's eating dirt (and I'd like to point out the fact my friend was taking a picture instead of stopping him-hmm, sounds like something I would do.)

Time to move the slide outside???

Here he is with one of his neighborhood girlfriends. He likes to pick the older girls that can drive.

If he can find a way to climb on something, he will. Check out the video for more on this picture.

So at the end of the day, there is sometimes frustration, sometimes even tears, but always lots of giggles, hugs, and kisses.

Horses, and Cowboys, and Bulls, OH MY!

This is my attempt to blog while on hold... Last Sunday we went to The Star of Texas Rodeo and Fair with our international friends. It was lots of fun. Joshua can't wait until he's old enough for mutton racing-only 3 1/2 more years! I was really impressed with a whole Kidztown they had set up. He got to see Elsie, the Borden cow, and Elsie jr. the calf. (and get cheap milk!) The had a great petting zoo, with some baby goats, deer, and even a kangaroo with a baby in her pouch! The kangaroo was in her own pen though. Here's a video, that's our friend Kevin in the red.

We had a well-balanced dinner of Corndogs, Frito Pie, and Funnel Cake. Yummy, they are reason enough to go to the fair and rodeo! We have been to some small town rodeos, but the caliber of riders was a lot more impressive. However, the small town charm is fun too. I got home a realized I didn't take pictures of anyone but Joshua. Oops. So I stole some from other folks that posted them for all to see.

Rocky Mountain High

Last week we returned from a week and a half adventure to Colorado. We skiied five days at Snowmass and then visited Kurt's brother and family in Fort Collins for a long weekend. Having a week of real winter and playing in the snow was lots of fun, but we are glad to be back to warm and sunny Texas...

X-Treme Skiing: Yes, that's actually me in that picture...Stay at Home Mommy meets Terrain Park. Do you notice anything interesting about the picture?

Going into the trip, I was curious if being responsible for another human being would cause me to be more timid on the mountain. Not to mention it had been four years since my legs had carved their way down a snowy hillside. Fortunately, it didn't take long to ease my way back into feeling comfortable. Kurt was looking good on the skis too. He is a good skier and lessons from good ole' Roge always whip him into shape.

Joshua got to hang out with his Mimi while we skiied. Thanks Mimi for all your lovin' care!

The second day of sking we went over to Buttermilk. The sweet thing about skiing Snowmass is that not only do you have Snowmass Mountain, but your lift ticket is good for Aspen, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk. Really, you couldn't be bored here if you tried. In the afternoon, the sun broke through for a little while and we took a mini-photo shoot. Good thing we did; it snowed the whole rest of the time we were there. It flurried off and on the first two days, but the afternoon of our third day it really started, and we got over 12 inches that night!

By mid-afternoon, on the third day, my confidence was running high. Too high. We were on our way to the condo for lunch when I spotted the Makaha terrain park. Kurt was sent down to catch a photo of me going off the first jump. Dad didn't hear the plan and, therefore, missed the big launch. (It seemed like a good idea at the time.) Once I got the wave from Kurt, I took off towards the jump. About three-quarters of the way up the 10 foot jump, I began to rethink the thought pattern that had led me too that moment. Unfortunately, it was too late for backing out...If you take another look at that picture, you'll notice I'm way too far behind my skis. I went in the air and fell flat on my back, from what Kurt estimates was about 6 feet (the ramp was sloped down instead of a drop off, probably designed for idiots like me). Just in case you were wondering, it hurt. What little breathe was left was spent trying to convice Kurt I was okay and chastizing him for letting me go off the jump in the first place (and asking him if he got a good picture). Then the pain really started and a sound much like a walrus in labor could be heard across the slope as I worked through the pain. Eventually I was able to crawl out from the jump and moan from the side. After a long recovery time, we were able to ski down to the condo. At that point I started to really worry that I had broken some ribs since it hurt to breathe. We headed to the condo and then on to get some Xrays. At the skiier's clinic there was a ski patrol guy there to fill out an incident form with me. It was a little embarrassing when he asked my profession; I wonder how many stay-at-home mommies hurt themselves at the terrain park each year? Nothing was broken (Thanks to my Mom and Dad who made me drink all that milk!) but I had "chest contusions." Basically the muscles around my ribs are bruised because of the compression of everything. It still hurts off and on, but I am truely greatful to God that something more serious didn't come of my serious lack of judgement.

I took the next day off from skiing, the big fresh powder day. Dad and Kurt mostly hit groomed runs as skiing in powder takes a lot out of you. Mimi, Joshua, and I decided to go shopping in Aspen. That didn't go as smoothly as expected, but at least I got a good picture of Aspen. There was so much snow everywhere it was difficult to get an appreciation for the town. Guess we'll have to go back...

The "Silver Bullet" may look good on the slopes, but he still needs his wife to help him get his boots on. Thursday I got back out on the skis. It was enjoyable but very cold. The boys took it easy on me and we went slowly, skipping the terrain park.

Phase two of the Colorado Expedition found us in Fort Collins. Joshua got to hang out with cousin Wyatt. They played well together and seemed to have lots of fun. While there, we went to a little farm, walked around the downtown area, ate good food, and did lots of playing. Kurt and I also snuck out for a hike in which we got a talkin' to by the local park ranger for hiking off trail.

Driving the tractor...

Baa Baa...

"Com'on cuz, can't this thing go any faster?"

Poo-Wee!

The Z boyz.

Wyatt introduced Joshua to the fun of forts.

Thank you to Mimi, Papa, and the Colorado Z family! We had a great vacation with you.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope Cupid gets you this year!

Smarty pants

I see your lips moving, but I can't hear you...

Wise Words from Joshua

Joshua has finally said his first official word. Now that I’m a parent, I realize it’s a little difficult to determine what constitutes as a word versus simple babbling. And if he simple repeats a word, does that count? So, I came up with criteria as to what would constitute as the first official word: He would need to say it on his own initiative and use it in an appropriate setting. For example, looking at a tree and saying, “Daddy” wasn’t going to cut it.

After what seems like months of babbling “Da-Da” and “Ma Ma” with a number of other sounds, I was ready. When asked what a lion (or honestly, what any animal sounds like) and he will roar. He can repeat “uh-oh” and shakes his head “no” when you tell him “no, no.” He constantly chatters in his own little language and will even raise his hand in the air to get your attention when he’s talking to you. (This makes me think he will be a preacher or a rapper some day, or maybe a rapping preacher?)

Several weeks ago, Kurt and I headed out to shop for some accessories to decorate our living room. We went to our local Bassett furniture store because we have a gift card. Now Bassett isn’t the fanciest store in town, but it certainly isn’t Wal-mart. They have an area set out with complimentary coffee, lemonade and cookies. Being the cheap people we are, we always take advantage of their hospitality. After hanging out in the stroller for a while, Joshua was ready to do some walking around on his own. Kurt decided to hang out with him for a little while in the kid’s area while I went to get a cup of coffee. We then ventured around the store a little more and talked about our options. After making some decisions, Kurt stated he was going to put Joshua back in the stroller so we could head back to one of the rooms.

I’m not really sure what happened next. Either I stepped forward while bringing my hand down or Kurt stepped back while reaching down for Joshua. All I know is that my left hand, the one with the diamond ring, made contact with Kurt’s forehead. Hard. Kurt lifted Joshua up while moaning in agony. I tried to suppress my laughter, but I didn’t do a very good job. Kurt, in a very frustrated tone, asked what I was doing, as if he thought I did in intentionally. At that moment I was using all my energy trying not to laugh, knowing it would only make my dear hubby angrier. That’s when Joshua decided it was a good moment to try and steal my coffee. He pulled the cup over, spilling the full cup down the front of my cream sweater and all over the floor of Bassett. By this point I was really laughing and Kurt was not happy. Joshua surveyed the scene; coffee on mommy and the floor, and a mad daddy and proclaimed, “uh oh!” Uh-oh was right little buddy.

Ice storm hits Austin, Terrorizes Texans

Falling behind on blogging has become a trend...I'm sure most of you know by now that Austin got hit by an ice storm recently. But did you know that cold weather animals also attacked? Here, Joshua and I are trying to outrun a vicious polar bear.

Austin in winter weather is pretty humorous. Everything shuts down and they warn people to stay off the roads. News reporters gets worked up and have you thinking a natural disaster to the scale of Katrina is about to hit. Sunday night they were predicting terrible road conditions, loss of power, and stranded people for the next day. The tricky part of the storm was that it was going to be off and on all day, making it difficult to pinpoint safe times to drive. I, believing my trusted news anchors, begged Kurt not to go to work. I wondered what I would do if he got stranded at the office and we lost power and Joshua and I had to fend for ourselves. So, like a good husband, Kurt stayed home. He was the only one in his office that wasn't there. oops. By the end of Monday afternoon we began to realize the apocalypse was not coming and the media folks were overdoing it a bit for the ratings. They predicated even worse weather for Tuesday, leading into Wednesday. Kurt went on into work Tuesday. The schools were closed, business were closing, and his office closed too. Would you East Coasters believe this-even Walmart closed. Walmart never closes! While the bridges were a little icy, Kurt didn't have any problems driving in with the Xterra.
Tuesday Joshua and I ventured outside. It had started snowing, but by the time I wrestled him into his snowsuit it wasn't snowing anymore. He enjoyed walking around and crunching the grass, but definitely needed a hand to keep his balance. But of course I needed to take a picture of the cute boy in his snowsuit, which would leave him on his own. I tried to convince him to stand on his own, but he would cooperate. So of course, he fell down. That didn't bother him so much, but in order to push himself back up he had to put his hands in the cold, icy stuff (he won't keep his mittens on). This made him very upset and he started crying, so I brought him inside and here he is.

What can I say? He's a Texan.


By Wednesday night, I was getting stir crazy. Since Kurt was driving the Xterra I was stuck indoors (the Mazda is a manual and I didn't think this was the time to learn how to drive it). That night, Kurt scraped the Mazda's windshield. Given the fact it had been gathering all the precipitation over three days, it took a while... I stayed inside sipping hot cocoa, thanking the Lord that I didn't have to scrap a thing.

By Thursday at noon, things began to get back into order. As for the Polar Bears, they didn't really attack. Last Tuesday Kurt had a meeting in Tyler, Texas so Joshua and I went along for the ride. We thought it might be a good time to test Joshua's road trip adaptability. All in all he did great. He had two basic dispositions for the ride:

Joshua and I checked out Tyler's Rose Garden and Rose Festival Museum. (I'll save that for another entry though.) By the time we got lunch, Kurt was finished with his meeting. We then all headed to the Brookshire Wildlife Museum for some wild fun. It was actually pretty impressive for a free museum. I guess the Brookshire's have a lot of money? They owned the local grocery chain there in Tyler. We made lots of new friends (see pics below) and had fun together. Besides lots of stuffed animals, the museum has an old time general store. It is set up just like back in the day. While I feel like I have seen examples of these before, this was by far the most well done.

This was the wildest animal we saw that day...