Back to School

Today I finished my first week of grad school and man it was a long week. The regular semester starts on Monday and I was taking a short course this week which means cramming a whole semester into one week. We had class from 8-5 and usually stayed in the library after to do work. During the rest of the semester we also have some papers and assignments due, so the class isn't over yet!

The class was called Intro to Grad Studies and it was good because it helped orient us to the library and all of the tools needed in our program, which is a lot. There are so many books, commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, bibliographies and other things out there and I had no idea. I still kinda don't. We took in a lot of info in a short time so I will be happy to remember half of it.

I did make an interesting observation over the week. Grad school is still and quiet. Seriously! Every day in class we sat and listened and then worked on our assignments and were quiet and still. It wasn't that none of us had personality or anything to say but it just was not the place. I wanted to be my loud, fun self but felt like I needed to make a good impression on the students and the teacher. And library tools are not really a loud and wiggly topic so it made sense but it was driving me crazy. I wanted to go outside and play and laugh and yell but I had to sit calmly and quietly and keep to myself. I wanted to make funny comments but it felt inappropriate. Is this being an adult? BORING!!!

Anyways, this week was not awful but I am glad its over and will be glad to start my regular classes next week. Maybe they will involve a little more discussion. Crossing my fingers!!! But now it is the weekend and I plan to be productive and have some fun too. Saturday night is mission team hang out night and I am sure we will be wiggly and loud!!!

Long Time No Blog

Man it has been a while since I have blogged. Hope I still have a few readers left! I am sitting on my couch watching the BCS Championship Bowl and LSU is winning. Which couch you may ask? Colorado? Houston? Nope! Abilene!! I am back in good ole' A-town and am pretty settled in. All my stuff is in my room and I started grad school today. Can you believe I am a grad student? I cant!!!

My first day was a little overwhelming but I think that was how everyone felt so that made it better. This week is a short course of Intro to Grad Studies and then next week begins regular weekly classes. I am nervous but excited and looking forward to those. I think my biggest fear is writing research papers. Do you know how long it has been since I have written a research paper? At least since high school. That is a long time and I know that paper will not compare to anything I will write here. When I write it comes out like my conversations and those do not exactly sound intelligent or grammatically correct. I will have to work on that!

But what else am I working on besides this blog while I sit on my couch? My Missionary Biographical Information Form which is an 18 page, 3 essay, 1 personality test application our mission team has to fill out before beginning training. I have been working on it for a while and it was actually due yesterday but I am getting close. I need one more reference and one more essay and it will be done. My goal is to turn it in on Wednesday.

We begin training this month and I am super excited about that. I really don't know much about training or what we will do or what it will look like but I am excited to do anything besides talk about missions. This is the first step in the process. Also exciting news is that a new couple has decided to join our team. Welcome Chad and Sarah!!! I should call you! That brings our team total to 7 people. Hooray! I think that is a great number.

Well I am going to finish the game and get ready for bed. All day classes entail a lot of sitting and I do not think I have sat that still, quiet and concentrated since undergrad so it took a lot out of me. Whew!

Adios Colorado

To the few readers I have I am sorry that I have not written much lately. I just have not been in the mood and I have so much going on in my head and my heart it has been way too hard to write down. But I decided I should document what is going on in my life right now.

Tonight is my last night in Colorado. Tomorrow morning I hop in my very full car and begin the long drive back to Texas. That is, if the weather gets better. It has snowed all day but they keep saying it will clear up and be cold but dry tomorrow. Lets hope they are right. It will not be a big deal if I have to stay another day, but I dont want to unpack my car until I get to Abilene. I'm afraid it might not fit again.

It has been a long, emotional week with lots of sad goodbyes, doing things for the last time, hanging out with friends and being excited to be starting something new but nervous about the transition. Sunday was the hardest. I am not a big fan of being the center of attention and having everyone saying how great I am. I know that sounds weird because everyone likes compliments, but it is hard to take a lot of it at once. Thats what Sunday was. And Monday night at my going away dinner. It was a great night though to be with all my friends one more time. I am going to miss them so much.

So tomorrow my life changes. I am going to spend some time in Abilene with my team and then some time in Fort Worth with my BFF and then head home for a few weeks for Christmas. Once I get out of here I think I will be happy but it has been a little hard. Some days I look out and think to myself why am I leaving Colorado? Am I crazy? But I am not. Abilene may not be beautiful but it is full of beautiful people that I love and will eventually get me to where I really want to be. Chile!

One last thing. As a gift my friends gave me a journal and wrote some thoughts in it for me. They all mean a lot but I have to mention one written by Deven that made me laugh. He drew a picture of the different types of chilis and told me not to get them confused. Ha! See images below for an example.

chili

chilly

chile

Success!!

Job completed! Think this is just a picture of a silly bumper sticker? Think again because you are very wrong. This thing has been my nemesis for the past few weeks and I just conquered it. Go me!

Ok so that might be a little extreme but I really have been looking for this bumper sticker to a long time now. Let me explain. See the green mountains and white sky? That is very similar to the Colorado license plate. Lots of people around here have a bumper sticker with this same background but they say things like Native (and they say Texans are proud), runner, I Love Colorado etc. You get the idea. So the other day I was driving around town (in Golden, where I live) and I saw someone with this sticker on the car and I had to have it!

So began the search. I went to all the touristy stores in town and me and Jeremy looked online over and over again with as many combinations of words as possible. No luck! The only place we found it you had to buy 50 of them which was not going to happen. Then just when I thought all was lost, I was given a glimmer of hope from my friend Jenny. She said there was a Colorado store in the mall. So this morning I called and yup, they had them! I went and got three (one for Jeremy) today and feel very accomplished. Ha!

Now I have to decide where to put my sticker. I don't want to put it on my car so I have to find a good place for my new favorite sticker. Nalgene? Luggage? I will have to put a lot of thought into this very important, life changing decision.

Winter Wonderland

Yup! I was walkin' in a winter wonderland today. The snow started early this morning and did not stop till later this afternoon. I opened at work this morning and then just had to get out into the beautiful snow for a bit so I went for a walk along the creek. It was soooo beautiful I just had to take my camera along. I walked for over and hour and it was amazing outside. There were not many people out and I kinda went off the trail a bit and got to walk on fresh, no footprint snow. It's the best!

The whole time I walked the snow was falling and it was that beautiful soft sounds where everything is muffled and you just feel like you are in a fairy tale. And the smell of the air is so fresh and cool you take deep breaths hoping to taste it! The sky was still white from the storm and everything looked like a black and white picture. It was a perfect snowy walk.

Then like every good Texan, who still gets excited about snow and cannot resist playing like a child in it every time, I looked both ways to make sure no one saw me and I fell to the ground and made a snow angel. It is kinda hard to see in the picture but I did the best I could. Pretty soon after the snow angel I began the trek back home because one, I had to potty, Two, my face was cold, and three you should not make snow angels in non-waterproof pants. The snow soaks in pretty fast! Oops! The rest of the day I have spent inside being warm and making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

First Down

First downs are what we cheer for at Texans games, not touchdowns because those don't happen very often (but are occurring more and more frequently). Ha! It really is funny. At the games when the Texans get a first down the announcer yells "And its another Texans..." and the crowd does the first down sign with their hand and yells "FIRST DOWN!" And this game they gave us these fun foamy sticks so we used those to help out! So fun and so funny!

As said in the last post I went home for our annual Texans NFL game with our family. While I was home we had our family pictures made, ate a lot of yummy food, did a little shopping, took some walks, saw our new church building, and just hung out with each other. It was a blast as always. I was kinda sad to leave because my brother and sister-in-law were staying for the week for Thanksgiving but I had to come back. Luckily I will be back home soon.

The Texans game was awesome. Probably one of the best we have ever been to. We were playing the New Orleans Saints and there were a lot of Saints fans there because there are a lot of people from NO who live in Houston. So we had a rowdy bunch but we sure showed them! My favorite player, Andre Johnson, was back after being injured for a while and he scored an awesome touchdown from an awesome pass by Schaub. Also, finally our first round draft pick from last year made some plays (even taking out Reggie Bush who could have been our first pick).

Our family also had an amazing time because we had amazing seats. They were lower than our usual "nose bleed, by the air conditioner, so far in the corner you have to stretch your neck to see the in zone" seats. There were waitresses to bring your food (that we did not use), carpets and couches in the hallways and bathroom monitors that handed you paper towels and offered complimentary mints, gum, perfume, and other girly stuff. Who knew! I felt very well to do which is not a normal occurrence. Although, the best part of the game was cheering for our favorite team with my family!

Here I am at the game with the foam sticks they gave out. I'm a Texan!!!!

Fun Weekend Ahead

I'm going home tomorrow! Hooray! Think I'm going home for Thanksgiving? Nope! NFL GAME!! Our family has tickets to the Houston Texans vs. New Orleans Saints game on Sunday. We go to Texans games every year and they are so much fun. I am so excited! I have not been home or seen any of my family in about 4 months so I am ready.

Another fun highlight of the weekend is....family photos!!! Ha! Silly I know right but kinda fun too. We are going all out. Dressing similar and even bringing the dog. We did this once before in Texans clothing but that was before the addition of Shannon (my sister-in-law) which means it was a few years ago and it is time for an update. Other than these two activities I have no idea what we will do but I love visiting home and hanging out with the fam so I very excited. Sadly I have to come back on Monday so I can work Thanksgiving but I get time and a half and Turkey Day in the mts. with my friends!

PS-Check out Wes and Ellen's blog and see that I am GENIUS!