Cheers to the (3 day) weekend!

Can I get a holla for three day weekends?  I'm not sure what it is about having one extra day that makes me want to seize the moment. For example: yesterday.  I got up at a decent time, did a lot of homework, and then went to Starbucks for a former-roommate-date.  Such good conversation... it made me really miss the girl I lived with for the first five semesters of college.  She is so supportive of me. Note to self: make more of an effort to keep her in my life. 

Then at dinner I got to keep one of my New Years Resolutions.  I baked a recipe I found on Pinterest, given here: http://www.marthastewart.com/317305/cornbread-and-beef-skillet-pie

I had to make some substitutions (seriously, who has tomato paste just sitting in her pantry?), but it turned out delicious.  And I just had some leftovers for lunch.  Still delicious. 

Then off to the Purdue basketball game with my roomie/fellow tenor saxophonists.  Sorry for the blurry picture of us... I just wanted to document the beautiful snow. 

 And check out this few of campus...

 As if a Purdue victory over Penn State wasn't enough to leave me in a good mood, I received the best piece of mail... my Starbucks Gold Card.  Heck yes.

And my Saturday nights wouldn't be complete without a movie night with the roommates. Hello, Captain America.

Soon I'll be off to visit a friend at her college (she's in grad school now... we're so old!).  Looking forward to furthering that relationship and doing something new.

Carpe diem, y'all!

10 Reasons I'm Excited for School to Start

So this is more for me than for anyone else, but in order to pump myself up for my last semester, I decided to think of 10 reasons I am excited for tomorrow.  Here it goes:

1. College Ultimate Frisbee.  I'm looking forward to a great semester with my teammates.  After giving that up last semester in order to focus on band, I'm stoked to be lacing up those cleats again. And to make it even more sweet, I bought a cool, recycled frisbee when I was in Boulder, CO.
2. I only have 3 aerospace engineering classes.  ONLY 3.  I don't think I'll have much free time still (I study pretty damn hard), but it's comforting to think that I only have to keep track of 3 real classes (my Exercise to Music class doesn't really count).
3. I'm principal clarinet in Wind Ensemble.  Time to keep getting better at clarinet, and I'm looking forward to challenging music.
4. I get to rock climb FO FREE.  That co-rec that I rarely visited last semester is somewhere I have to go 3 days a week for class.  So that bouldering wall will be calling my name.
5. I'm going to get my degree this semester... I will be able to check that off my bucket list.
6. My roommates.  I love being around them, period. They are awesome and make me feel awesome about myself.
7. I get to see a bunch of my aero boys that I haven't seen in a whole month! What am I going to do once we graduate?  I guess that's a thought for later blogs.
8. One of my textbooks is a book I was going to buy just to read anyways.  A book for class that I would have read on my own?!?!  I'm definitely in the right major.
9. I will be able to go to church almost every week this semester. Praise God! I learn so much at Campus House, and it is a great place to worship.
10. Tomorrow is simply a day to be happy, further my friendships, praise God, study hard, eat delicious food, hear music, breathe... it's a blessing!

Good luck, y'all!

Starting off 2014 right!

No, no.  This isn't a post about my New Years resolutions or a new fitness routine.  I haven't even been getting enough sleep or hydrating more than usual.  What I have done was go on an adventure with my sisters!  We made the long, boring drive across Nebraska (thank goodness for good company and good jams) to colorful Colorado to spend a few days with one of my NASA buddies who lives in Boulder.  Two other great friends joined us in CO from OK and TX.  Great trip, great people, great memories. Enjoy the pictures!

The whole gang in front of the Boulder courthouse.  From left to right: Sarah, Lucas, me, Kirstyn, Lisa, Laura and Chris.  

We spent a snowy afternoon at the Left Hand Brewery in Longmont, CO. 

Free samples of tea/herbal infusions from Celestial Seasonings. 

Lisa and Kirstyn playing ping pong at Ace Eat Serve, a newer restaurant/bar in downtown Denver. 

We went tubing at Copper Mountain, and then we hit Breckenridge for shopping and some food.  Lisa, Laura, and I hit up a fudge shop for Mom and Dad. Nothing like some Rocky Mountain fudge! We went back to Kirstyn's house for pizza with her mom. 

Touring CU Boulder. Check out those flat-irons. 

Seriously, these two girls are two of my favorites in the whole wide world.  I miss them when I'm at school, but we stay in touch pretty well. 

Taken on the morning we left CO.  This is a popular breakfast/brunch place that began in Denver.  Lisa and I split the most delicious pancakes ever.  IHOP will never be the same. 

I have been wanting to travel since my family went to see a great movie a few weeks ago. My mom summed up the movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, by saying, "Instead of daydreaming about things, go out and live it." Pretty good words!  This year, make your life what you want it to be.