Texas Aggie

I spent the best 5 yrs of my life as a student at Texas A&M University and I made some of the best friends of my life here in Aggieland. I have some mighty fond memories, from my first Midnight Yell Practice to my last game as a student standing with the 12th Man. I remember my first time in the Dixie Chicken and I remember the last time Bonfire burned. I remember being an incoming freshman at Howdy Camp and years later being a Howdy Camp counselor.

I still remember my first trip to The Chicken was with a high school buddy and I closed it down more times that I can count in my college career. I've camped out for Aggie Football tickets and I've yelled until I was horse at Aggie football and baseball games. I have great memories of when I dunked my ring and I ones I'll never forget of sitting all night at stack on Nov 18th. Some of the best memories I have are from my time at A&M.

I'm not just an Aggie fan...I AM an Aggie. From the Aggie Ring that's always on my hand, to the Aggie pride that is always in my heart, It's part of who I am and always will be.

Thanks & Gig'em!

Location:College Station, TX (aka Aggieland)

Rangers Baseball

We're getting ready to leave our DFW hotel room. My wife is blow drying her hair. The boys are playing their DS games. I'm sitting on the bed reflecting on our great weekend.

We left Aggieland Friday morning on our Rangers Baseball weekend getaway. And it has been a wonderful weekend to say the least.

Friday we had a great drive and spent some time with Kristen's cousin. The boys got to visit a fire station in Irving and got a private tour of the trucks and station.

Saturday our baseball adventure began. The weather was perfect as we went on a tour of the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Every time I walk through the gates of the ballpark I am magically transformed into 10 year old Troy, and I love every minute of it! The wide eyed giddiness I feel is indescribable.

Joe, our tour guide, showed us parts of the ballpark I had never seen and told us some things I never knew. The boys loved the tour. This was Ethan's first time to The Ballpark, and he was in awe!

We would return a few hours after our tour for the game. This was the 2nd game of the Rangers opening weekend. The 2nd game of the season. A season that follows the most memorable season in Rangers history. Rangers vs Red Sox. You couldn't have found 4 more excited Rangers fans if you tried.

Everything about this game was memorable. From the AL Championship ring ceremony that preceded it, to the 12-5 Rangers victory and everything in between.

Ethan loved his first Rangers experience. Cobe loved being back at the ballpark. I loved sharing my love of the Rangers and baseball with my wonderful family.

You couldn't ask for a more perfect weekend. I almost hate to see it end.


- Posted from my iPad

Location:Regent Blvd,Irving,United States

Proud Husband

One of the many great things that I love about my life is being a husband. I have the most amazing wife. She's loving, caring, passionate, sincere, and talented.

I'm not sure if many of you know this, but my beautiful wife, Kristen, is in the business of making other women look beautiful. Yes, my wife is a professional makeup artist. I always thought of makeup stuff as silly girl stuff. I never really understood what she did, or had a real good appreciation for it until I got the opportunity to watch her in action.

Some time last year, she needed me to help her with a makeup job in Austin.(That's right, she travels to the bride, WHEREVER she may be.) So, I loaded all her gear in the car and we headed out early one Saturday morning. After we got to the hotel in Austin where the bridal party was getting ready, I helped Kristen set up. My responsibility for the day was to keep the airbrush gun and all the brushes clean after she used them on each of the girls. Seemed simple enough. I didn't realize how important it was to keep everything clean and sanitized for each girl.

Then I got to watch her do her magic. She was professional, casual, & attentive all at the same time. Watching her apply makeup was like watching a skilled painter apply oils to a canvas. She skillfully transformed each of those ladies into beautiful walking art pieces. Each girl's look was unique and to their wishes/wants, but yet collectively they looked like they belonged together. (I'm not sure if that makes sense.)

Since then, I've gone with her to several more jobs to help out & take pictures for her website. Each time, I'm amazed at what she does and the amount of talent she poses. Kristen is the definition of professional when it comes to her job. She always puts the client's needs, wants, and wishes first. Kristen is great at listening to what the women want, and even better at helping them achieve that perfect look for their special day. I have never seen a lady leave her chair unhappy with her look.

Now I can add website design to Kristen's skill set! Last night we published her newly redesigned website, and it looks fantastic!!! She spent a lot of time working on it to make it look wonderful. (Kind of like she does with each of her clients.)

BCSMAKEUPARTIST.COM is so well done, I would have sworn that a professional web designer had done it for her. Even after we published it last night, she was still working on it late into the evening, making changes to improve the content and to make it more informative and a better experience for her guests that visit the site.

It's an understatement to say that I am a very proud husband. I'm so proud of Kristen for everything that she is and does; professionally and privately. She is a wonderful wife, an awesome mother, a dedicated student (yes, she also takes classes online working towards a bachelor's and master's degree combo in Business), and an incredibly talented professional makeup artist.


If you haven't already checked out her new website, please do at www.bcsmakeupartist.com. And if you, or anyone you know, might be looking for the services of a talented makeup artist, please contact Kristen. You'll be glad you did!

Why do I love sports?

Recently my fiancé described me as being obsessed with sports. I took a little offense to that at first, simply because it had a bit of a negative connotation to me. I don't think of myself as being obsessed with sports, but I do wholeheartedly love my sports teams; The Texas Rangers, The Dallas Cowboys, The San Antonio Spurs, and my Fightin' Texas Aggies!

But WHY do I love sports so much? Sports is something that I grew up with and around. My dad was a great athlete. When I say he was a great athlete, I don't just mean that in the way that every little kid thinks that their dad is the greatest. I mean that my dad was great at whatever he did athletically. I remember older relatives and family friends always talking about how incredible my dad was at playing baseball and football. Unfortunately, none of that great athleticism rubbed off on me. But, the LOVE of sports did.

Growing up, my dad was always playing sports. However, I'll always think of my dad as a great baseball player. My dad came so close to playing professional baseball, if circumstances hadn't altered his life path. I remember years ago watching my dad play baseball. He was in his 50s, playing ball with kids (some even younger than I was at the time), and he was still great. I watched my dad play ball, and I was in awe at how effortlessly he made the game look. And this was a man that was in his 50s! I'll never forget watching my dad drag bunt, perfectly, and getting on base. At that very moment, I truly realized just HOW GREAT of a baseball player my dad was, and had been in his prime and I appreciated his ability even more.

Growing up and into early adulthood, my father and I didn't have the best of relationships. We didn't have a bad relationship, but it wasn't what I would call a close one either. But, we always had sports. THAT was our bond. I always felt bad for my father that I wasn't a great athlete, as though somehow I had let him down because of it. But, that didn't change the fact that I still loved sports. Some of my fondest memories that I have as a child, revolve around some sort of sporting event.

As a teen and young adult, even when my dad and I seemed to have little in common, we ALWAYS had sports to talk about. Baseball games, the latest Cowboys game, the Spurs game; these were the things that always kept us talking.

I’m not sure if my grandfather passed it on to him, but I do remember sitting down and listening to my grandfather tell me baseball stories every now and then. My father, by virtue of him being such a great athlete, passed on his love of sports to me. I hope to pass on my love of sports to my boys. My two oldest sons aren’t very big into sports. I’ve tried to pass on my love of sports to them, but with marginal success. They’ll watch the occasional Rangers or Cowboys game with me, but they aren’t die-hards like I am. I have two more shots with our 9 and 5 yr olds; both of which love to sit and watch Rangers games with me. So maybe there’s still hope there.

Why do I love sports so much? Because sports is the bond that I have with my father and my grandfather, and hopefully the bond that I will form with my sons and their sons and so on, so that we will always be connected, from past generations to generations to come.

Veterans Day

Today is November 11th; Veterans Day. Today, I hope and pray that every single American will sit back and take a moment to think about all those that have served our country; in times of war and peace. I hope that at some point, either today or any other day, that every American will take a few moments to thank a veteran for their service to our country.

America would not be the envy of the free world without the US Veteran. The whole world would not know liberty and freedom without the US Veteran. So many times in our country's relatively short history, our brave men and woman have gone to the aid of the world to ensure liberty and freedom. So many times OUR brave men and women in uniform have stared down evil and beat it back. World War II was all but lost, with the Axis powers looking to be unstoppable until WE entered the war. It was the tenacity, valor, courage, and commitment of the American military that stopped the spread of evil in that war. Even today, our brave men and woman stand in the face of the evils of terrorism and fight tirelessly on a daily basis to keep that evil at bay and away from our shores. Our ranks of US Veterans grows every day. All US Veterans have one thing in common; their sacrifice and service to the protection of our freedoms.

Our Constitution guarantees our freedoms and our military stands ready to fight to protect and defend that Constitution. With over 23 million living veterans in our country, everyone should have more than enough opportunities to show their appreciation for all that they have done for our country.

For all the great things that our country does for our veterans, we must do a much better job. 260,000 veterans are homeless in this country. Is this how we repay those who have given so much for us and our freedoms?

Our country owes so much to our veterans. Remember to do your part today to say THANK YOU.

Letter to God

Howdy God!

This is Troy, from College Station...AKA Aggieland; ya know, home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies. Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you could see fit to take away this headache that I have.

As you know I'm going on almost a month straight with this nagging pain. Now, I know there are MUCH more important things in the world that need your attention right now. And a bad, long lasting headache isn't really anything compared to a Marine who's fighting for his life in a hospital bed or on the operating table in Afghanistan or compared to the parents that are worried half to death as they wait in the cancer ward of a children's hospital with their precious baby is fighting for her life. I understand that my headache isn't nearly as bad as some things could be. But right now it's getting to be a little bit more than I can handle.

I know you know this, but every night I fall asleep hoping and praying that when I wake up in the morning my head wont hurt, and every morning for about a month now, I wake up disappointed and in pain. I know that you will never give me more than I can handle. I guess I'm just asking that maybe you not have so much faith in me this time. Because I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

I definitely want to thank you for allowing me to get up every morning and to function SOMEWHAT normally, even with the headache. I want to thank you for it not being something as serious as a tumor or aneurysm that is causing the pain. I also want to thank you for allowing me to live in a country with such great doctors and for my wonderful doctor in particular.

I guess I'm just asking once again, that if you have time and see fit, to please relieve me of my pain. I'd be really and truly appreciative of that. However, I'll understand if you decide that it's not time for that yet. I'm not going to presume that I know more than you or even that I know what's best for me.

Thanks for taking the time to hear me out.

Love always,
Troy

Remembering 8 years later

There are plenty of events throughout history where people ask "Do you remember where you were when...?" I will never forget when and where I was when I heard about the tragic events that were taking place on 9/11/01. I was living in Arlington, TX at the time. I had moved up there three months prior to start a new job. That morning I was in bed with a hurt back still groggy from the pain killers and muscle relaxers in my system. Barely able to get out of bed, I called into work to inform them that I probably was going to be late. I was told not to bother coming into work because "we were under attack." I jumped out of bed and ran to turn on the TV. I sat and watched the TV in horror for the rest of the day. Immediately my mind started racing. What could I do to help? I had to do something.

The next day I walked into a Navy recruiting office and spoke to a recruiter about getting back in. That afternoon I took the aviation battery test in the hopes of scoring high enough to become a Navy NFO. (I couldn't be a pilot because I don't have 20/20 vision) Unfortunately, I scored high enough to be a pilot but missed the cut off score for NFO by ONE point. I was told to come back in 2 weeks and take the exam again and was assured that I would be shipping out within weeks of passing the exam. One week later, on 9/18 I walked into my supervisor's office and told her of my overwhelming call to duty and my desires to re-enter the military. I offered my 2 week notice, because I didn't think it was fair to continue training for a position that I didn't believe I would be around to fill. I was thanked for my service and immediately shown the door. Needless to say that delay after delay and set back after set back prevented me from ever re-entering the military.

8 years later, I still wish (almost daily) that I had been able to do my part in this War Against Terrorism. I now have a son serving in the United States Marine Corps, who will undoubtedly find himself serving overseas (possibly/probably Afghanistan) in this continued fight against evil. And that is the way I see it; Good vs Evil. Plain and simple. It was pure evil that took the lives of so many innocent people 8 years ago. It is pure evil that still lurks with the sole desire to kill Americans and destroy America.

8 years later, I fear that too many people have forgotten. I fear too many people have forgotten what we lost. I fear too many people have forgotten that this fight was brought to us, to our door step. I fear too many people grow weary of this fight and are all too ready to throw in the towel.

I hope and pray that the strong, the brave, and the patriotic will be persistent. I hope and pray that strong men and women will stand fast and say "WE WILL NEVER FORGET; NOT ON MY WATCH!"

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!