The crazy life...

This past weekend was a blur of fun and work.  I'm still working on balancing my senior design work with my social life, band, and Ultimate Frisbee practices and track workouts.  I've found this semester challenging in that for two of my three aerospace classes, there are no set deadlines.  This makes it hard to know how I'm doing in the class.  I'm a girl who likes hard deadlines and rigid grading rubrics.  But I'm learning to set my own deadlines and allot time to each of my classes. 

Back to this past weekend... on Saturday, my roomie and I went to a Purdue Swimming and Diving meet. It was really entertaining to watch the divers (amazing!) and cheer for the races, but the highlight was meeting Gold Medalist David Boudia!  He was so friendly.  Boiler up!

Me with a legendary Boilermaker

Later that night, two of my roommates and I went to see Ender's Game at Flicks at Fowler (free movies for Purdue students).  It was intense, but not as good as the book... are movies ever as good as the books?

Tapout for KKY was on Sunday morning.  My 'family' welcomed a new member, Becca. She's a saxophonist and totally awesome.  She's actually my great-great-grand little.  Crazy!

The whole fam <3

After the ceremony, we went out for a family lunch.  So fun!  

Anyways, today is a snow day (COLLEGE SNOW DAY, WHAT?!?!), so I'm catching up on my to-do list... 

Stay warm!

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. 

Semester Goals

Back on campus, back in class, back to band.  So far I am LOVING it. On Thursdays, my only class is band... at 3:30 p.m.  So I have all day to kill.  My roommate told me to enjoy my 'lazy' day.  I was like, "Who said anything about being lazy?!?!"  I like to look at it as a get-homework-and-laundry-done-and-cook-and-maybe-catch-up-on-sleep-and-blogging day.  For real, I have hours and hours of time to be productive.  I finished my Russian homework (and I'm procrastinating on my Principles of Dynamics homework by blogging).  I crossed off a lot of things on my list, but I keep thinking of more to add.  It's good though: I'd rather stay busy.  I manage my time so much better and focus more when I have multiple things on my plate.  

This semester I have a few goals:

-Finish every homework assignment

    This isn't really anything new for me.  I think it's just a more specific goal than stay on top of my homework.

-Cook at least 4 times a week

    This actually does not seem like very much to me, but I have classes most days (so lunch with be packed).  I'm trying to avoid eating out all the time, and I really do need to learn how to cook.  Today I made these for lunch: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2012/01/pepperoni-cheese-stick-roll-ups.html.  Easy, delicious, and now I have leftovers for dinner.

-Run at least once a week.

    Again, this seems like not very much, but with marching band, Ultimate Frisbee practices, and rock-climbing (in addition to walking/biking around campus), I think I'll stay in shape. 

-Regularly wash my sheets and towels.

     I am terrible about doing this in Houston.  I need to change. 

-Keep things in perspective.  

    I know this is vague and intangible.  But I need to remember that it is just school.  I don't have to get straight A's. My Russian class is pass/fail... so I need to remember that Russian is not a priority over Rocket Propulsion.

-Get clarinet t-shirts

    Apparently this didn't happen last year.  How sad...

If I think of more, I'll post them here.  Time to enjoy my senior year and kick ass. 

Choosing Happiness

So lately things have been kind of sucky.  But I'm determined to turn it around, and these past two days have been GREAT.  Like feel-good-about-life kind of days. 

What I've been trying to do is do things that make me happy... like read that book that Lucas recommended ("The Name of the Wind") and paint my nails. I feel really happy when I'm either a.) working out, b.) spending time with my friends, and c.) investing in my relationships.  For c.) I mean things like what I'm about to do: go buy my dad a Father's Day card.  I like sending mail and texting friends who are far away.  I feel great when I make other people happy.  So I am trying to spend less time focusing on myself and spend more time lifting others up.  

This morning was spent with friends.  A Mud Maxx run followed by brunch at a classy restaurant in Houston with the buds. We went to Benjy's for brunch, and then we stopped by Crave Cupcakes.  I was too full to get a cupcake to eat there, but I enjoyed a third of this cupcake later in the afternoon.  See pictures. 

The group... showing off our muddy muscles :)

Shirt and dog tag!  I like the colors.  Also, shirts: the best part of races.

Even the box is cute!

Chocolate Coconut. Om nom. 

Long time, no see..

Sorry for the totally cliche blog title... I might be a little rusty at this Blogspot thing.  It's been too long.  School definitely consumes my life when I'm there for a semester.  But now I'm back in the great state of Texas (yee-haw) and loving it.

The first picture is what I wore on my first day of work.  I felt like a million dollars.  Seriously... that blazer. It has stars embroidered on it, and it is salmon-colored.  Could a jacket be any better?!?! I don't think so. The skirt cost less than $5 at Target, and it might be the most comfy skirt I've ever owned.  And then the heels elongate my frame and make my legs look kick-ass. At least I think so.  I was reading somewhere that we should play up our favorite body parts.  I like my legs, so I like to wear snazzy shoes and shorts/skirts.  

This weekend my friends and I traveled to San Antonio.  It was a fun trip, despite the fact that it rained most of the time we were there. Here is a group photo at the Japanese gardens.  Love these people.  Sometimes I love them so much it hurts.  But they constantly remind me how blessed I am!

Have a great Memorial Day all!  Take some time for yourself and chilllllll... you know you want to!