michael dean houser

Ok...so many of you probably don't know this, but I have a brother.
I had completely forgotten the meaning of this day (other than it being christmas eve)...today would have been Michael's birthday.
I never had the chance to meet him because he was born 2 years before I was even thought of.
His birthday is December 24. He was born 13 weeks premature. He passed away December 25.


I can only imagine what my life would have been like if he had lived. Would I have been as close to my daddy as I am? Would I love sports as much as I do? Would he be my best friend? Would we have anything in common? Would he protect me from boys and stick up for me if I needed him to?


I will never know the answers to this question, but I am grateful to know that because my parents were sealed in the temple, I will be able to see him and get to know him someday. I will ALWAYS wonder how life would have been, but until the day when I do finally get to meet my brother... i <3 you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Michael!!!

endings...and new beginnings

well, it's been a tough week. i am down one friend as of this past weekend and i can't tell you all how much it hurts...i can't go through my senior book, listen to music i like, watch tv shows i like or even really enjoy goin back to the high school to support the boys that helped me to truly love what i'm doing.

on a brighter note, i am now able to travel with the men's basketball team on our road trips :)

last week, we traveled to south bend to take on the fighting irish of notre dame. the game ended in a bad fashion, but i feel closer to the guys than i ever have and that was just the first of many, MANY overnight trips to come. this break is going to be insane travel-wise with the team, especially the week of christmas and the week of new years. we always leave the day before (at least) so, here goes my winter break schedule:

12/19/09: iupui vs duquesne

12/22/09: depart for indiana state

12/23/09: iupui @ ISU (depart for home right after game)

12/26/09: depart for memphis

12/28/09: iupui @ memphis (depart for home right after game)

12/30/09: depart for IPFW

12/31/09: iupui @ IPFW

01/01/09: depart for rochester, MI

01/02/09: iupui @ oakland (depart for home right after game...5 1/2 hrs)

01/06/09: iupui vs ohio @ conseco fieldhouse

01/09/09: iupui vs western illinois

insane much?? just maybe. but it is most definitely worth it!!!

bein with these guys is when i'm the happiest. i am truly blessed to know these guys. they are so loving and just some of the most AMAZING people i have ever had the chance to know.

here are some photos of my boys <3

Hey yall!

I know it's been awhile and a TON has happened since the last time...(i just can't remember it all lol)

Well, school has officially started and it is KILLING ME...slowly but surely :P

I only have 5 classes, which equals to the minimum of 12 credit hours. It's not too terrible, but a word of advice to all those young ones out there...be smart about how you schedule your classes...meaning, put MORE THAN 15 minutes between your classes!! lol

I do, however, have quite a few hours to kill before classes and after classes before basketball....so i have taken to hanging with a long lost friend, miss Charlene Trapp :)

this is what we do in our spare time:

As you all know, I have the privilege to work with the Men's Basketball team here at IUPUI and I am sooooooooo excited about it. Practices have started and I am getting to know the guys little by little. Our first game is an exhibition game against Anderson at (you guessed it!!) Conseco Fieldhouse on November 2nd. So, everyone make sure you come out and support the team!!! Here's a photo of my new boys! :D in this photo, they are in Costa Rica.

Summer oh-nine : )

been pretty lazy but really busy at the same time...
of course, most of my time has been spent with my second family, the greens (alex, charley, angie, mom and dad) :D

so, many things have happened and i don't quite know where to start...
alex and i decided upon the schools we will be attending this coming fall. alex will be attending the university of indianapolis and i will be attending IUPUI. Yay for only being approximately 10-15 minutes away from each other! <3

alex and i will both be manager's for the men's basketball teams this coming fall and i cannot wait for the season to come...even though that means i'll be missing quite a few institute courses :(

alex had the opportunity to go to efy this year...does anyone wanna guess what allison did that whole week?? thats right! i went absolutely INSANE with out my sis!

we've both been spending a lot of time goin to AAU games and to quite a few summer league baseball games...guess that we just can't get enough of those boys!!! lol

also, because IUPUI doesn't have a football team, i've been spending a lot of my time back at Pike during their practices and scrimmages. it feels soooo great being out on the field again!

young women's camp this year was UH-MAY-ZING!! (even though jennifer and i had to leave early for a family reunion...) i'm really glad i went my last year. it was a very spiritual experience.




after that, we got to go to nauvoo and i had the most fantastic time ever! my aunt kendra and her family came out all the way from utah! <3





while in illinois, we also had the opportunity to go to carthage again :]
here are a few pics from the beautiful jail.................................................

its (almost) the end...

well, the school year has (almost) come to a close...and i have gotten in to all 4 colleges tht i had applied to...only thing left to do is choose...ugh!!!!
i think tht i will probably end up at IUPUI bc i have a shoo-in to be a manager and tht is what i really really really want to do! :)

and this may not surprise anyone......but i am a manager for the baseball team...haha
it's been an interesting experience but as you all may know....i absolutely <3 <3 <3 it!!!! :) :)

just updating!

Just wanted everyone to know how AMAZING my friend Allison is!!! ahaha this is Meaghan and i loves her to death!!!

SPRING <3

once again.....long time! lol
the basketball season has come to an end. we became sectional champs and then we got beat by franklin central in the first round of regionals. :(

but now on to baseball season. :)
i've only been around them for one week and i think i love em already!!
we have our first scrimmage today against BD...hopefully it stops raining...

and good news bout college...i have been accepted into 3 of the 4 colleges that i've applied to so far.
i have heard back from Indiana University, Ball State, and Western Illinois. all i have left to hear from is IUPUI. if i get in to IUPUI i pretty much have an in to being a boys basketball manager because the coach's son plays at pike now and i have gotten to know their family pretty well. :)

i am sooooooooooooo ready for spring break! only one more half day to go.
we are goin to tennessee this year. yay :)

brrrr...it's cold!!

WOW! I know i say this every time...but man has it been a LONG time!!
That special time of year has come...yep. that's right. Allison's birthday! I'm the big 1-8 as of yesterday. :)

Everyone's making such a big deal about it...but i don't really see the excitement. I mean, it's just another day. lol

Basketball's going okay. The guys are 6-4, which is not where they want to be, but i feel that if they can't learn to play together...how are they supposed to win? Oh well. <3 em no matter how many games they win.....or in this case, lose.

Can anyone believe how friggin' cold it is? We got out of school today b/c it was at least -25 degrees this morning...It's about as cold as it was yesterday, just yesterday i had taken a shower right before i walked out. after standing in the cold for only a few minutes, my hair was completely stiff... It was FROZEN!! Yes, frozen! I had never experienced that before...it was the weirdest thing in my entire life! haha