We had a great time over Christmas with our family. We got together first with my mom's side of the family in Abilene. I love it when we are all together. My mom is the oldest of five kids, and there are 11 grandkids, 3 grandkids-in-law, and 2 great-grandkids. It's a full house when we all get together, and I LOVE it! This year everyone came to Abilene. Here are some pictures from our time together...

Summer and her cute kids

Jason, Ava, and Bradyn doing their mean faces. Don't get on their bad side!

The girl cousins: Summer, Kasey, me, Jenny, and Carly

This year Seth broke his dad's record for the number of egg rolls eaten at one time. It was very entertaining for the onlookers cheering him on. Seth, you make our family proud!

3 generations: Summer, Grandma, Mom, and me

This is a picture of all the cousins. My uncle Don had shirts made of our my grandmother's family symbol. We were all proudly displaying our Japanese family heritage.

And here we are with my parents and sister's family. We had a Pierson family gift opening before our extended family came to town. We are so blessed by our families!


After Christmas we went on a ski trip with the Stovers and Wombles.
More pictures of that to come...

Favorite Christmas Music Memories

I'm not someone who enjoys Christmas music all year long. In fact, it really bothers me to hear Christmas music playing in stores before Thanksgiving. It's like when you eat too much of your favorite dessert until you don't really like it anymore. I love Christmas music so much that I don't want to spoil it by over-indulging. But when this time of year rolls around, and I pull out my old favorite Christmas CDs I love how each one takes me back to a different memory I have of listening to that music and who I was with and what I was doing at the time. So with each CD, I will share my favorite Christmas memory. (This is not in chronological order, but in order of my favorite CDs.)

1. A Very Special Christmas 3

This is my favorite Christmas CD ever. I love the collection of artists on this CD--Sting, Smashing Pumpkins, Natalie Merchant, Snoop Doggy Dogg with Salt N' Pepa, No Doubt, Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler, Enya, Hootie & the Blowfish, Chris Cornell, Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds (my all time favorite Christmas song!), and Tracy Chapman. I was introduced to it my sophomore year of college. This was a unique Christmas for me. My parents were living in Japan, my sister had gotten married the summer before and was having her first Christmas with her new in-laws, so I tagged along with her and spent Christmas with my brother-in-law's family. His mom decorated a special little tree for me with pictures of my family. I thought that was so sweet of her. Since we were out of school for a month, I also spent some time with college friends and their families. It was a Christmas that made me really appreciate my family and being able to all be together! And it made me thankful for those who go out of their way to make others feel at home.

2. Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas

This was the CD we listened to at home when I was growing up. Aaron Neville can really belt out those Christmas songs, and that high-pitched vibrato puts me in the Christmas spirit every time. I have great memories of decorating the tree with my mom and sister, and dancing around the living room with my dad. Since my sister is four years older, she always talked me into dressing up when we were younger. We would be elves in Santa's workshop, and then when she got too old to dress up, she would create a costume for me to wear and stage me for the picture as Santa with his reindeer. This Christmas music also reminds me of the smell of baking cookies and fresh coffee.

3. Point of Grace - A Christmas Story

This was my roommate Jenna's CD before I got my own copy later. It brings back memories of living in the dorm with her, listening to this CD while trying to finish writing my papers that were due at the end of the semester. It also reminds me of one of my funniest Christmas-decorating experiences. We were living in Sikes Dorm and decided to hang some Christmas lights around our window. Since we didn't have a ladder, I had Jenna sit in the armchair in the corner to hold it down while I stood on the back of it to hang the lights on the top of the window. While I was up there, our phone rang, and instinctively, Jenna jumped up to answer it. As soon as she did, the chair fell backwards and I ended up folded in half in the corner between the chair and the walls with my hands and feet straight up and Christmas lights dangling around me. It might've hurt if we hadn't been laughing so hard. She moved the chair and helped me up, apologizing profusely. It's one of the many funny memories I have of living with Jenna.

4. Josh Groban - Noel

I got this CD this year from my mother-in-law and am really enjoying it. So far, while listening to it I've been writing a paper and finishing a very special quilt for some good friends. I'm sure I'll add more to it, but that memory will always stand out to me when I listen to it.

I spent most of Thanksgiving day sick in a hotel room, but despite that, we had a nice holiday. I am sad that I missed out on one of the days of the year when you're allowed to eat hoards of delicious food without thinking twice about it. I almost convinced Brandon to take me to Luby's for lunch today just so I could get a little turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie. But soon Christmas will be here and I'll be able to partake of my favorite holiday cuisine...Grandma's egg rolls and sushi!! We came back to a snow-covered Abilene Thursday night, and then were excited to get more snow today! My dad and I even braved the cold weather yesterday in Lubbock to watch the Abilene High football game. Now I'm trying to get motivated to get ready for school this week, but really I'm just soaking up my last few hours of vacation! I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday!

I'm very glad God has allowed me to work with high schoolers. They are so much fun and keep me entertained. Tonight our junior huddle girls had dinner at our house (the boys went to another house to eat), and we played a competitive game of 4 on a couch--blondes vs. brunettes. These are such sweet girls. I can't believe they're already juniors! I'm glad we get the opportunity to be with them all 4 years in high school.

Last weekend I enjoyed being a part of the West Texas Girls Conference. My friends Kayci, Sarah, and Kara (among others) did an amazing job of putting it on again this year. I love the sound of a roomful of girls singing. It was encouraging to see so many girls gathered to worship and share.

It's an odd and interesting thing teaching at my own high school. It's another nice thing about Abilene--the interconnectedness of everything and everyone. Many of my former teachers (I dare not say "old" because that could be me someday soon) are still working there, as are some of my classmates. Of course, there are days when I'm exhausted and just ready for the next holiday, but I also appreciate being in a job that gives me interaction with high school kids every day. They are surprising, sarcastic, witty, maturing, energetic, eager, and incredibly blunt...God bless them!

Did someone order a Route 44?

We had a great time dressing up for Halloween again this year. I always love a good costume party. This year I went as Kara when she worked at Sonic in high school, and Brandon was the Corvette she unfortunately collided with while on skates. You can read more about the story on her blog. It is quite funny. And it really is tricky to carry a tray of anything while skating. My inline skating skills were a little rusty. That's probably why I always wore wrist guards when I roller bladed around ACU back in the day. Remember those days, FMS girls??

Ava telling Brynn a secret. It must be a good one!


Will and Levi looked so sweet as Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Here's a cute one of Brandon holding Levi, or Snoopy taking a ride in the Vet.

Kara and me as Kara

The Walters were a family of monkeys, and little Pierson was a banana. They looked so cute!


I had a successful garage sale Saturday morning and got rid of some furniture to make room for some other furniture I got at an antique store recently. So now I get to do a little redecorating which is always fun. I can't believe it's almost November already! I love fall weather. This semester is shorter than usual since we started school later this year, and it is going by so quickly.

Brandon and I had a nice time 2 weekends ago at ACU Homecoming. It was his 5-year reunion, so we got to visit with some of his former roommates and friends from college. We also enjoyed spending time with some of my family during the weekend. We dominated Chris and Jenny in bowling on the Nintendo Wii. Not really. But seriously, it was intense. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of that, so Team Thompson, we challenge you to a rematch over Christmas--this time with cameras.


Here we are with Allyson Ocheskey and her daughter Camden (Jay is a football coach so he was working that weekend); Ty and Charis Dishman; and Heidi, Phillip, and Harper Houston at the reunion dinner.

Everybody's working for the weekend

Being back to school makes me appreciate the weekends so much more! Last weekend I went to the Abilene High and ACU football games and to my friend Amy Stroup's concert at Redbud Park. Dad sang "Blowin' in the Wind" with her. The weather was perfect!

I think Pierson really enjoyed his first concert.

Saturday morning I went to garage sales, and found a variety of things to add to my collection: vintage kitchen chairs, a never-been-used tent, a dog house (the dog I already had from a previous garage sale), red trays, a quilt rack, and a plant stand. I also spent some time cuddling with my nephew and working on a quilt. All in all, a nice, relaxing weekend.

Introducing my sweet nephew

Yesterday was a great day. Summer called at about 7:00 Monday morning to report that she was going to have Pierson today and they were on their way to the hospital. I promptly got up and called in a sub for the day. After stopping by school, I got to the hospital at about 8:30. We had a fun time visiting in the waiting room with friends and family that stopped by, and at 11:04 Pierson Reed made his debut. He is 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 18.5 inches long. He is beautiful (of course)! Here are some pictures from the day (in no particular order).

He looks a lot like Ava did, but with much more hair.

Chad and Summer getting ready for Pierson's arrival.

Ava documents the day in pictures. (Some from quite interesting perspectives)

Brandon and I are excited as we wait to meet our nephew.

He helps Ava pass the time by parading her through the waiting room.
Big Sister Ava keeps the visitors entertained.
Sarah, Kara, and Zach are among the visitors ready to greet Pierson.
Brandon and Ava check out the newborns in the nursery.

And I enjoy holding my sweet nephew for the first time!

Ever feel like this?

This is how I felt a week ago. Fully into the swing of teaching full-time and starting a graduate class with 5 students last week left me feeling and thinking, 'What have I gotten myself into?' Fortunately, this week I have a much better perspective. I'm getting to know my freshmen at Abilene High and enjoying having them in class, and I'm learning to balance my time a little bit better so I can be a better student. The first days of school are always tiring as I have to adjust to being "on" all day and adapt from my stay-up-late/sleep-in schedule of summer days, but once I get the hang of it, I remember why I like teaching so much. It's a good job that allows you to be around young people and have an opportunity to encourage, challenge, and inspire them. Of course, I don't really get into that until later. The first week I just try to learn a few names and remember to take roll. But I'm very thankful for this job, and I've enjoyed getting to see students I've taught over the past few years come back to say 'hi.' It makes me look forward to knowing this new group of students well and having that kind of a relationship with them.

Back to School

My most exciting news of the past few weeks is that Brandon is back!! My last week of class coincided with the World Series tournament, so my sweet Dad made the drive to and from Kansas with me twice in one week. The first time we were there I had to write two papers in between games, then we drove back to Abilene after the night game. We got here at 5:00 a.m. and I took my final at 10:00. Then I went to work for 2 days of meetings, and we went back to Wichita arriving just in time for the 11:00 p.m. game. Overall, the Twins finished 1st in the Jayhawk league and tied for 4th place in the tournament. Brandon had a great experience and the biggest compliment was that at the farewell party, several players tried to convince me to let him go back to coach them again next year.

Now we're back in Abilene enjoying spending time with friends and family and getting ready to start school again. I went back to work last week and the students start Monday. This year I'm going to have the privilege of working with my dad. For years my sister and I helped him decorate his classroom at the beginning of school, then the past few years he helped me, and now we're teaching at the same school for the first time. He's teaching junior and senior English at Abilene High, and I have freshmen again. With construction going on at school, we're all displaced right now--I'm in a portable on the lawn and he's in the library--but we should eventually be on the same hall.

The first two pictures are of the NBC World Series.




And this is Summer and Pierson's baby shower. He should be here in about a month!!

Derby Twins in 1st

The team Brandon's coaching clenched 1st place in the Jayhawk league with their wins tonight! They will be playing in the National Baseball Congress World Series starting next week. In some ways this summer has gone too quickly, and in others it's been really difficult to be apart. I'm proud of the coach he is...not just that he has a winning team, but that he has integrity and respects the players and works hard. And I appreciate all the little things that we'll get to do together when he comes back like jogging, cooking, watching movies, eating out, hanging out with friends, game nights, playing with Ava and holding baby Pierson (Summer and Chad's boy due in September), having our parents over for dinner, going to church...all the little things I take for granted will be so much more enjoyable with Brandon. I'm thankful for him and for our friends and family who love and support us and have kept me company this summer.

ACU Athletics article

After the World Series championship game last August.

I remember as a child having moments of near panic and sadness thinking life was going by too quickly. I mean, I would sometimes cry thinking how I missed those carefree days of riding my bicycle around ACU with my friend Lacy Kaughfold from down the street or dressing up in costumes to go trick or treating when I was just a kid and here I was about to start middle school, and what happened to those fleeting days of my childhood? Then of course it was remembering those days of middle school going roller blading with friends or having slumber parties, then it was starting to drive and having dinner parties and scavenger hunts with friends in high school, then in college always surrounded by people who were willing to go to Oplin or Dallas or Tennessee at a moment's notice just as long as we were together, and traveling to Japan and England with family and friends. Every now and then nostalgia creeps up on me when I don't expect it or see it coming. It always brings happy memories but with it too a kind of sadness that those things can never be experienced again. It reminds me how short life is, that I should appreciate and cherish each moment without looking with regret at the past or with anxiety at the future. And that this world is not my home, just a temporary place where I can try to live my life in a way that builds others up and enjoy the relationships here while I have them, while looking forward to eternity. But sometimes I just wish I could go back. And tonight I want to have back this week last summer when I was on wilderness trek. And I want to hug those friends again and tell them I love them.

50 random things you may not know about me...

1. I used to change my name as a child. For a while I only answered to the name "Montgomery."
2. Brandon says I have two tanks in my stomach. No matter how full I get of regular food, I always have room in my chocolate tank.
3. My fantasy job would be to be a drummer for the Dave Matthews Band.
4. When I was a kid I wanted to be a nurse or a body builder.
5. Unfortunately, I discovered that I faint at the sight of blood and I don't like my skin being all greasy.
6. If I could live anywhere besides here, I would live in Colorado.
7. I wish I could transport all my family and friends from Abilene to Colorado and have the best of both worlds.
8. If I could choose 3 language to speak (without having to put in all the time learning them), they would be Spanish, Japanese, and French.
9. If I could choose between a vacation lying on the beach or climbing a mountain, I would climb a mountain.
10. My mom is convinced I'm going to have twins (no, I'm not pregnant).
11. I would love it if that comes true.
12. If we have a house with an extra room just for me, I would line two of the walls with floor to ceiling bookshelves, have a bay window with a window seat for reading, get a drum set so I can put on the headphones and pretend #3 is true, and have an area for my sewing machine and fabric to make quilts or bags or decorative stuff.
13. I love teaching high school. The students keep me on my toes.
14. Favorite comment from a student (in middle school): "Mrs. Stover, did you mean to cut your hair like that?"
15. I met Matt Damon when he was filming "All the Pretty Horses" by Camp Blue Haven. My sister's still jealous because I went to town on an errand for her.
16. I love to dance, usually when I'm at home by myself, to hip hop music.
17. I was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, but have lived in Abilene since I was about a month old.
18. I wish adults could still go to summer camp. I miss Blue Haven.
19. My favorite summer was 2001. I stayed with my parents in Japan and studied abroad in Oxford.
20. After Brandon and I were engaged, I found a newspaper I'd kept since high school about Princess Diana's and Mother Teresa's deaths. The sports section had a big picture of Brandon playing football on the front page.
21. My dad taught me to keep a score book for baseball games when I was dating Brandon. Now I have my own notebook and score along at every game.
22. My least favorite noise is screeching: fingernails on a chalkboard or when your fork scratches your plate and makes that "eeeeeee" sound. I hate that.
23. My favorite snack food is tortilla chips with salsa and coke.
24. I love milk! I drink it a lot, even with things that make a weird combination, like pizza.
25. 3 of my college friends in my wedding have been my friends since elementary and middle school (Jenna, Jennifer, Jocelyn).
26. I've fainted several times. Once in high school I got a concussion from fainting in psychology, falling out of my desk, and hitting my head on the teacher's desk. That same teacher is now the assistant principal I work under at Abilene High.
27. My sister has been my best friend all my life. When most siblings were fighting, she was decorating doll houses for my Barbies to live in.
28. She now lives a block away from me.
29. Brandon and I grew up in the same town our whole lives and didn't meet until my junior, his senior year at ACU.
30. Our first year of marriage we lived in a garage apartment that was one small room. It was great. Really.
31. I hate scary movies that get in your head. When I was in middle school I saw "Hellraiser" at a birthday party. It freaked me out. Jennifer (#25) and I looked for a Bible in the house, and when we couldn't find one, we went in the other room and prayed. I had nightmares for a few weeks. I just told my parents about it a couple years ago.
32. Jenna (also #25) and I were always too scared to go to the Paramount showing of "Changeling" on Halloween, so throughout high school we rented "Wait Until Dark," a mildly suspenseful thriller starring Audrey Hepburn.
33. I have been jogging the same basic route since I was 12. I used to jog with my dad from our house around ACU, and back. Throughout college and once I got married, I would step out my front door and jog around ACU. Now I drive to ACU to go jogging.
34. I have a weakness for shoes and bags and camping equipment. I got a new mummy bag for Christmas and I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
35. My favorite thing in the spring is to go to baseball games in warm weather wearing flip flops and get a hot dog and coke.
36. I'm excited about having kids someday that will run on the field after the games to ride the Gator with their dad.
37. I love to go to garage sales. 75% of the things in my house are from garage sales.
38. I love it when people laugh so hard it makes them cry.
39. I still have and wear a pair of pants I got my junior year in high school. They're probably not in style anymore, but I love them.
40. I'm starting grad. school in English literature this summer. 3 hours a semester...it'll probably take me at least 3 years to finish.
41. My sister and I talk about opening a consignment shop called My Sister's Closet that only has cool, trendy clothes.
42. My favorite movies are "When Harry Met Sally," "Field of Dreams," and "The Parent Trap" (the one with Hayley Mills; I used to watch it with my Nana all the time).
43. I always measure time according to school holidays. (3 weeks until Christmas vacation, 9 days until Spring Break, etc.)
44. I've never broken a bone, but I've had stitches on my face 3 times (once from fainting in the parking lot at Abilene High).
45. My favorite childhood TV shows were "Wonder Years," "The Cosby Show," and "Little House on the Prairie." I still love those reruns! Had a big crush on Fred Savage. Named my fish Theo and Lana when I was 7.
46. I love it when my niece, Ava, plays dress-up in my closet. Last week she pointed to a shirt she wanted me to get down. When I got one, she said, "Not that one. That's not cute."
47. When I was 6 I used to pray that I would be in a music video. Then I was asked, along with about 25 other kids, to be in "Gerbert," (orange puppet, songs about the community, 3 weeks off of school, and $25 in my college fund...I was so excited).
48. I'm extremely affected by the weather. The sun or rain can greatly alter my mood, and sometimes the same type of weather can have a completely different effect on me.
49. Some of my nicknames are Katelyn, Hawkeye, Angel Kate, Katy Ann, Emiko, and Montgomery (from #1...it stuck).
50. I love to sing along to songs even if I don't know the lyrics. I usually just make something up or mumble through the part I'm not sure about.

Pictures from the lake

I had a nice weekend at the lake with my family. Jenny and I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. talking the first night. Chris joined us after a short nap, and we laughed a lot. We got much funnier as the night wore on. On Saturday we enjoyed tubing and riding the SeaDoo, and Seth, Justin, and Don did some wakeboarding. We had a birthday cake for my mom and me, and that night we rode the boat out to the dam to watch the fireworks. I love being at the lake with my cousins in the summer!

I'm really missing Brandon, and wish he could've been there! This article about how he loves coaching was in the Derby paper. I'm thankful that he has a passion for his job and that he's getting this experience this summer. But I'll be very ready for him to come back to Abilene in August!