Beginning of Summer!

School's out for summer! Woohoo! 

It feels like it has been summer for a long time for me because I have been done with school since the end of April. I have the best major in the world, Education, where we have lots of end of the semester projects instead of finals, so I was done wayyy before everyone else! It was great.

Since my semester ended, I feel like I have been engulfed in a whirlwind of activities. I am going to use this blog post to update you on what I have been up to lately!

After finals ended, I said goodbye to friends who are going all over the world this summer, and goodbye to Trey as he traveled to Hawaii for a family vacation for 10 days. 

I took my own vacation with my mom all the way to.....DALLAS! No, it may not be as exciting as Hawaii, but I might have been as excited to go there. My aunt, two first cousins and their husbands, and two 2nd cousins (ages 14 months and 5 months) all live in Dallas and ever since the second cousins were born, my mom and I have made several trips to go visit them. They are the cutest kids ever and I love them so much. 

Since both of their moms work, they go to daycare, and my mom and I love to go up there, take them out of daycare for a few days, spoil them to death, keep them up late, and play with them constantly. (Sorry to their daycare teachers and parents!) 

Davis and Luke

My mom and I make a great team. She gets all the bottles ready, cleans up, does the laundry, etc. While I play with them, change diapers, put them down for naps, etc. We love every single second we have with those boys and are hearts always ache every time we have to leave. 

 Luke, the oldest of the two, is at the age where he is just starting to develop a personality, and throws little fits, but then is very easily distracted. Davis, the younger, is just content to sit and stare all day, but we love to act like fools to make him smile and coo. 

We stayed there for 4 days and just had a blast. We were sad to leave, but we were both worn out by the end! After leaving Dallas, we returned to Houston, where I stayed for a little over a week. I did a lot of lounging on the couch, catching up on my favorite shows, went to various appointments, and enjoyed spending time with my family. 

While in Houston, one of my appointments was a hair appointment, as the hair dresser I have been going to literally since 1st grade, works in Houston. I made the decision to cut my hair and donate it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program where they make wigs for people who may have lost hair from cancer or other medical conditions. Hair is something that is so easy to give and something we all take for granted so much! I have always been told I have great hair, so why not share it with others!? I really hope my donation helps to make someone else's life a little better. Here is my before and after picture:

I didn't tell Trey I was donating my hair while he was in Hawaii, and boy was he surprised when he got back! He loves it though and is so proud of what I did!

By the end of my time in Houston, I was very excited to welcome Trey home from Hawaii! I missed him so much and was very happy to have him back! We enjoyed a couple of days of relaxation, then hit the road again, which will lead me to my next post! 

So that's what my summer has looked like so far! It has been very enjoyable.

 I am excited to see and share all the adventures summer 2013 holds.

Ring Day Weekend

Well, sorry I have taken so long to write this. I know it is long overdue, but somehow life has gotten in the way of my blog! 

As many of you may know, I am a student a Texas A&M university, which makes me a very proud Aggie. It is tradition, that when a student completes 90 credit hours, they may receive their class ring. The Aggie ring is a symbol of hard work, dedication, many long nights of studying, but also enjoying your college years, and the honor it is to be part of the Aggie family. 

After waiting almost three years, my day had finally come to order that fine piece of gold I have worked so hard for. It was worth the wait, because that day was wonderful! 

I am so blessed that my entire family was able to make it to my ring day, and make it all the more special to me! I was honored to have my older brother, who graduated from A&M in 2012, present me with my ring. It was an unforgettable memory I will never forget.  Ring day was such a joyful time being able to reflect on all the memories I have made over the past three years here, and realize there is still so much I want to do before I graduate, which I am realizing is approaching much more quickly than I really want it to! 

I was also blessed to be able to share this day with one of my very best friends, Brittany, who was such a trooper taking all my pictures for me, and just being a good sport about all the craziness that is Ring Day. I love you so much Brittany, and thanks again so much for coming to support and celebrate with me! 

After receiving the ring, a few AFC friends and I had a Ring Dunk party. This is also a crazy A&M tradition, that is when you receive your ring you are to dunk it in a glass pitcher filled with your beverage of choice. (I chose lemonade!) The pitchers are about 60 oz, which is way more than it sounds when you are the one dunking. Needless to say, I wore a poncho and may or may not have spilled some (most) of it. It was fun to laugh about and I'm glad I can say I did it. Would I do it again? Definitely not. 

Ring Day was everything I had hoped it would be and more. It was so much fun being able to celebrate with friends and family, and just enjoy ourselves before the end of semester hecticness set it. 

I am so blessed to be an Aggie. I thank God everyday that He has allowed me to be apart of this incredible university and meet so many wonderful people who have changed my life completely.

Receiving my Aggie ring is one of my most favorite memories at Texas A&M. Thanks to everyone who has helped me to achieve this goal. 

Next step, GRADUATION! 

The Perfect Spring Break

Last semester, Trey and I were out on a double date with our favorite College Station couple, Micah and Tori. Trey and Micah have the same major and have had many classes together. They are best friends, and so naturally the four of us have become best friends. We have been on many double dates and have even traveled to San Antonio this past summer together for Micah and I's birthday (yes, we have the same birthday, it's a great day!) Anyways, last semester we decided that we wanted to do something fun for spring break, as it is Micah and Tori's last spring break (they are seniors and graduating in May, booo!) and our last spring break all together. We threw out many ideas, but it was decided that we would go to Colorado and go skiing when my dad called and said that our church was going skiing and that he really wanted to go with them and take all of us! Duh! So we all signed up and were counting down the days. 

Little did we know 5 months later, we would all be SO ready for that life-saving week in a whirlwind of a semester. It was the perfect time to get away, and we were so glad we decided to go away and do something different. 

So we packed up, loaded the car to its' gills (and I mean literally loaded it down), and started the 20+ hour trek to the beautiful mountains of Colorado. 

We had some great times traveling, talking, watching movies, and laughing till we cried in the car. It's amazing how being enclosed in a small space for 10 hours can seem to make even the most outrageous

thing, the funniest thing you have ever heard. 

Anyways, we finally made it to Colorado after two days of traveling, thanks to Elaine and Louis for letting us stay at your house to break up the trip, and naturally it was freezing there. I mean, unpacking the car and can't even feel your hands, freezing. Coming from 85 degree Texas, this was quite a shock, but we somehow managed to layer up, and warm up. We met up with the rest of the group Sunday night to have a short devo, and I was reminded how blessed I am with such a wonderful, strong church family back home. It was so good to see everyone and be around the familiar faces again. I am one lucky girl. 

We lounged around the rest of the night and prepared our minds and bodies for the next day's adventures, Day 1 of skiing. Now this was none of our first times to ski, but I was a little worried I would get out there and forget the whole thing. I was a tad bit nervous you could say. 

Well we wake up the next morning, look at the temperature outside and it says 8 degrees. E-I-G-H-T. I am not joking. I am pretty sure we just all stared at the thermometer for a good ten minutes in shock. I mean how often do we get to see it that low? In Texas we pretty much freak out if it gets below 40, so 8 was just insane. And to top it off we were going to ski in that. Cue "What in the world was I thinking coming here?" look. But we layered to the max with all 8 layers topped with face masks, toboggans, and ear muffs. It was great. 

Next we head to the lifts in those pesky ski boots, and skied the day away. 

Repeat the above for three days.

And although it may not seem like it, I really did have a blast skiing with my dad for the 9th year, Trey,  Micah and Tori for the first time, and my youth minister and his wife. We made some great memories, had some great laughs, many hilarious falls, and lots of good skiing. 

In the evenings, my wonderful mom would cook for us. We were extremely spoiled all week long. We would just relax, watch TV, movies, chat, and sleep. Perfect spring break. 

The day we left the ski resort we decided to make a detour and go to the Royal Gorge, which is like a mini Grand Canyon. It has an old wooden bridge that goes over it (1300 ft-eek!) and we walked along, took pictures, and then convinced ourselves to overcome our fear and take the great plunge by riding the "Skycoaster" which is basically a big rope swing type thing that flings you out over the gorge. I was completely terrified, but I decided that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I should not let my fear define me (I'm such a big girl right??) So with Trey right by my side the whole time, I did the Skycoaster, and I could not be more glad I did! It was an absolute blast, and I am so proud of myself! 

  

On the way home, we stopped at my aunt Elaine's house again for two nights to break up the trip again, and had a wonderful time relaxing out in the country, watching Duck Dynasty, and catching up with family. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

All in all, I had a wonderful spring break spent with some of my favorite people. I will never forget it and am so thankful to my parents for making it all happen. Coming home was not easy, but it just makes me look forward to the next vacation, whatever that may be!

Scott and Abigail's Wedding!

Last weekend was such a wonderful weekend in so many ways. I was able to be apart of one of the best days of my brother's life, I gained a sister, and I was able to celebrate with the best friends and family a girl could ask for. 

The whole weekend started off with Trey and I driving from College Station to Dallas, which was pretty uneventful, just jamming to music and telling each other silly stories like every road trip we take together. I was getting anxious about the weekend and of course was waking up at ungodly hours, so naturally about 30 minutes into the drive I fell asleep! (Thanks Trey for being such a great driver!)

We finally made it to Dallas and went straight to pick up Trey's tuxedo, then Trey dropped me off at the  hotel the girls were staying at to shower and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. We drove to Edison's (the venue) and did the rehearsal, the wedding coordinators were wonderful and everything ran smoothly. 

We then drove over to Sambuca for the dinner part, which was wonderful! My cousin Meg had decorated the whole room so beautifully. It was really a special time. We all chatted, took pictures, and then sat down to finally eat the delicious dinner! It was so fun to catch up with family and friends. My parents gave a wonderful speech that was so heartfelt and meant so much for me to hear as they gave my brother and Abigail their blessing. 

The Happy Couple

Scott, Me, My Mom, Abigail

Trey and I

After the rehearsal dinner, the girls (Abigail and all the bridesmaids) went back to the hotel and got in comfy clothes and had a full blown sleepover. It was so much fun to get to know the girls closest to Abigail and how we all fit into her life in our own unique ways. We had a blast chatting, laughing, and eating junk food! DUH! 

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, then headed to the salon to get our hair and makeup done. Abigail, her mom, me, and my mom all went and it was so much fun to have that special time just us girls with our moms! And of couse we loved getting pampered all morning. 

After the hair and makeup was finished, we drove to Breadwinner's, an Elkin's favorite, and had Abigail's bridal luncheon. It was an amazing luncheon filled with wonderful women so close to Abigail. We all went around and told how we knew Abigail, and it was so fun to get to know everyone a little bit better. 

Next was time to get ready at the hotel! It was so fun being with all the girls and helping Abigail get her dress on! She looked so beautiful. It was a really special time for all of us.

We finally made it to Edison's and we were ready to get the party started! We took lots of fun pictures, and then it was showtime! The ceremony was wonderful, filled with happy tears, and lots of smiles. Standing at the front looking out at all the friends and family they have to support them in their marriage was really encouraging to me and I'm sure them as well! 

Now that the ceremony and pictures were over it was time to get the real party started! The reception was so much fun, filled with laughs, and lots of dancing. 

Beautiful moment 

Some of my favorites dancing the night away!

Had such a great night with this guy! 

Best Friends! 

 Last, it was time to say goodbye to the Happy Couple. They were off to their honeymoon in Puerto Rico! It was so much fun to see them off, but a little bit sad that we had to end the party. 

The send off!

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend that I will remember for a lifetime. I am so glad to have been apart of it and to support my brother and new sister in the happiest day of their lives. I love them so much and can't wait for many more memories! 

Blue Bell Factory

Last Monday, Texas A&M had a school holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day! It was great to have off and a bunch of friends had planned to go to the Blue Bell Factory in Brenham, Texas to celebrate the holiday! 

Background story:

             Trey and his roommate, Andy, started collecting half gallon containers of Blue Bell ice cream this summer. Every time they go to the store, they get a flavor they don't already have. They always have ice cream at their house! Anyways, so I thought it would be fun for us to go visit the Blue Bell Factory to see how it's made, and it's something I have always wanted to do. 

So Monday morning we loaded up and headed to Brenham! When we got there, we bought our tickets for the tour and got these amazing, but really silly, paper hats.

We took our tour, and unfortunately they don't let you take pictures in the factory...booo. But it was really neat to see it! They make so many different flavors and they make SO much of it every day! The boys were in heaven! 

At the end of the tour they give you "One Free Ice Cream" voucher and let you pick from an assortment of different flavors, some that they don't even sell in stores around us. Naturally, this was our favorite part of the tour! We all picked our ice cream, duh I got Homemade Vanilla, plain jane here, judge me, but the boys got weird flavors like Krazy Kookie Dough and Rum Raisin. We all had a bite of each others, and it was soooo yummy!

All in all, we had a really fun time on our day off, and we would recommend anyone to visit the

 Blue Bell Factory! 

New year, Fresh Start

So I tried the whole blogging thing when I traveled to Italy last spring, and it was great! I loved being able to write about all my experiences and share them with everyone back home. And what has been the the best part is that I have been able to go back and remember all the funny things that happened to me. It was really a blessing.

One of my best friends, Brittany, blogs about her life and has been for the past few years. It has been a great way for me to stay updated on her life from far away. She has been begging me to do it for ever, so I finally decided that this year is my year!

Really I am just getting sentimental about this being my last spring semester at Texas A&M, and I think writing about all the fun things I do, and all the memories I make this semester will help me embrace and enjoy it so much more! I am really excited, and although I probably won't post all the time, because I think my life is rather boring, I do hope to keep it updated fairly often.

I am mainly writing this blog for myself, but to anyone else that reads it, I do hope you enjoy it and that it does not bore you to death!

You only live in Italy once!

Me and Caroline

Wow, what an incredible weekend I had! Caroline and I (official travel buddies in case you haven’t already figured that out) decided to take a trip to Lake Como, which we had always heard was beautiful! Well we sure did hear right! The second we got off the train ride there, our breath was completely taken away. It was definitely in my top 3 most beautiful places I have ever seen! I can’t explain in words what it was like to be there and see it, but that in itself should tell you something about it (that it would take the words right out of my mouth!)

Lake Como is in northern Italy surrounded by the Swiss Alps, and has a few little towns bordering the lake.  When we arrived, it was beautiful weather, and we boarded a boat to take us to Bellagio, the town that we stayed in the whole weekend. Well the boat ride was incredible in itself, and we both kept looking at each other saying, “Is this real life??” We finally arrived at our hotel, which was simple, cheap, but still nice, we decided to soak up the beautiful weather and go ride around on the boats, and that is exactly what we did for the rest of the night, until it started to rain. We made our way back to Bellagio, and had a nice dinner then went to bed early, since I was going off of two and a half hours of sleep due to registering for classes at 2am Italy time…thanks a lot time change... But we decided to get some good sleep and did not wake up on Saturday until 9:30! It was amazing! We found an amazing gelato place that serves gelato cookie sandwiches (pictured below!) and we decided to have those for breakfast! No one judge us…we have taken the “You are only going to live in Italy once” phrase a little too close to heart! They were soooo good though!

After our healthy gelato for breakfast, we hopped on the next Mid-Lake Boat which takes you to 7 little lake towns, and we would just get off an on as we pleased. Most of the towns were very similar, but we would get off, go sit by the lake for an hour, have a couple photo shoots (duh), and then get back on the boat to the next place. It was really a great, relaxing day! I even took a nap on a bench, that’s how lazy it was! So wonderful to have a weekend like this because we are on such a tight, busy schedule during the week! It was so refreshing to just sit by the lake and bask in the Lord’s creation and beauty! We were both just so blown away that the same God created us and all the beautiful scenery too! It was so humbling and great!

The weather was outstanding and it was an all around fantastic day! I so wish each and every one of you could see Lake Como, and if you ever get the chance to go here one day—TAKE IT! You won’t be disappointed!

Caroline and I decided to splurge and have a nice meal by the lake for the last night there. It was really good, we both ordered pasta, but it was really fun getting treated with great service and just enjoying each other’s company!

Sunday morning—let the adventure begin. Well let me preface this with the fact that Italy is a fantastic country, they just do things a little different than America (not all bad) just different. Two words explain what I am talking about….Train Strike. We had been warned that Italy was on the verge of possibly going on a train strike while we are here, we just sort of ignored the fact that it would happen to us. Well we were very wrong. Friday on our way to Como we saw signs in the train station that there was possibly going to be a strike during the weekend, and while they are required to warn you ahead of time when they will be striking, it is all very vague and completely in Italian, so we have no idea what is happening. Well Sunday morning we wake up to a text from our professors who have also traveled to Como for the weekend, saying that no trains are running from Como to Milan, and that they are going to take a taxi from Como to Milan, and will wait for us to join them. Well this is really great, but it was 6:56 in the morning. WE ARE STILL IN BED! And hadn’t planned to wake up for another 2ish hours, oops! So we hop out of bed, panic, and pack our bags fast and rush out of the door! We are running to catch the boat and of course barely miss it. I mean like seconds away…the next train isn’t for another hour…annoying! We realized there was absolutely nothing we could do, so we went to go get gelato for breakfast again haha! And then waited for the boat, met our professor in the taxi and then headed to Milan. We were sharing the taxi with two other honeymooning couples. The one I sat next to happened to be from Houston, and both work at the Impact Church of Christ!!! Can you believe that?! They met there, and got married a few weeks ago. It was the funniest thing, and we were both in shock about how small the world is! I have probably met them before because she said they came to college station to ask for interns from AFCers. It was just a really funny situation and really cool that I met them all the way in Italy! We kept naming people we both knew and it was so funny! I hope to meet them again someday in Houston! We had to spend a few hours in Milan waiting for the train that was actually running to take us to Florence. We decided to go visit the Duomo, which was absolutely beautiful! It was cool walking around where I know famous people have walked! Haha I know I’m cheesy! 

We finally made it to Florence, where most all the regional trains were cancelled and decided to shop a little bit and wait our the strike! Obviously we weren’t that concerned! I bought a super cute new pair of European shoes! I can’t wait to start a new trend…maybe! :)

We eventually made it home on a random train and everything turned out great! I am starting to be such a world traveler!

This week, there is a school holiday on Wednesday so Caroline and I are taking a trip to Siena, which we have heard is really great, so we are excited to explore!

I hope you are all doing well, and that the end of the semester is not too stressful!