overdue.

i feel a little like i've been neglecting this blog since joining Jessica with the Texas Country Music blog--forgive me!

a lot has happened since my last post and as we speak, it is SNOWING in college station! it started around 11 am and has been going ever since. i braved the cold and went to class earlier--like the good student i am. here, have a look at the snow falling for yourself:

if you're not from Texas (or any Southern state for that matter) you may be asking why snow is such a big deal? well, when you're used to it happening maybe every other year it's just so MAGICAL! i want nothing more than to be in hillsboro right now, sledding down the HCC hills with my sisters on golf cart hoods--we like to keep it classy!

besides the snow, some more excitement was my FAB trip to san marcos this past weekend to stay with one of the most amazing people i've ever met in my life! i've learned since being in college that you'll meet those people who will be your friends for the next four years and then you'll meet those people who will, no matter what, be your friend for the rest of your life. i feel so lucky to have found those few people in my life who i know are true friends and that will always be there for me--basically listening to my long, drawn out, BS stories!

here are some pictures from our weekend/Friday night Josh Abbott concert @ Midnight Rodeo in Austin:

amanda & i with our new friend.

the three musketeers!

the Josh Abbott Band rockin' on stage!

school doesn't start up till 10 tomorrow, due to the wintry weather outside, so looks like i get to sleep in and miss my only class! God Bless this Texas weather--no matter how tricky it is!

freeze frame time.

what a week this has been! VERY exciting things have happened and it's only WEDNESDAY! i just love days/weeks/hours/minutes like this...they remind me why giving up is never an option when it comes to going for what i want in life.

a friend of mine asked me if i would like to start helping her manage a blog she has about Texas Country Music (aka my life) and of course i jumped on it! i am so thankful to have people in my life who trust in me and believe that i can (and will) do what it takes to lend a hand. my ultimate career goal (besides writing for Texas Monthly one day) is to write about music--Texas music--and this opportunity is helping me get my foot into that door and hopefully some guidance on how to keep doing what i love on a wider scale!

thank you jessica SO VERY much for this chance, and i promise to deliver my love for Texas Music to the pages of the Texas Country Music Scene blog to the best of my ability! If you have Facebook, become a fan of Texas Country Music Concerts (i'm helping out with that a little bit too)!!

another fabulous thing that has happened this week is this BIG TIME group project i have been busting my butt on for a good while now is finally finished! it was a lot of fun to work on and all of the people in my group meshed really well together! (we're pretty funny people if i do say so myself!) check out our finished product here: Team WOW!

also, my FINAL project as an intern for Texas Monthly just came out in the latest issue--March 2010!! it is the first interview i got to do this past summer when i was an intern; it's with Trevor Brazile, the current (and 7 time) world champion all-around cowboy in the PRCA! i hope to see him at the Houston Rodeo while i'm there interning too...that way i can properly introduce myself and cheer him on in the roping events there as well! the piece in TM is a mini version of our interview in the Horse's Mouth section: Being a Rodeo Cowboy...go have a look-see!

i have been very very blessed here lately and i cannot wait to see all the amazing things my future holds for me! just like Mr. Brandon Rhyder says..."these are the moments, i wish i could freeze frame time!"

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"you’ll be on your way up! you’ll be seeing great sights!
you’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
--oh! the places you'll go!
by dr. seuss

i used the poem as a guideline for a speech i gave my junior year of high school while running for an officer position in the FFA. i just love this poem, if you have never read it, excuse me but, what the hell is wrong with you!? do a google search NOW! it will brighten your day and motivate you beyond belief!

successful weekend.

made it home on friday and went straight to my sister Emily's for yet another Southern Belle Glamour jewelry party! i loaded up on some more SUPER cute stuff and we all had such a great time. it had just snowed a HUGE amount the night before and the yards and fields were still covered in the white powder--we only got nasty slush here in college station, so it was so good to enjoy the winter wonderland for a little while. and when you're from Texas, snow--even a few inches--is something to freak out about! here's some of what our backyard looked like saturday morning, everything was starting to melt but Izzy loved it!

saturday my parents and i headed up to the Fort Worth Stockyards to find a pair of new boots! the heavy heavy snow fall in DFW on thursday caused a tree to fall on a power line outside of Fincher's (as i mention previously, this is my cousin's store) so the electricity was out! Chuck still told us to come and let me just say, shopping by flashlight is a lot more exciting that i though it would be. after the sun set and we finally decided the flashlights weren't doing us any good anymore, i found the perfect pair and we headed out to have dinner! Chuck took us to M&M's Steak House, the smallest restaurant i'd ever been to in my life...but the size DID NOT matter, it was absolutely delicious! i love places like that, they are just so "homey" and comfortable and usually family-owned, which makes the service a lot better i've found. if you are in "F Dub" i totally recommend finding this little hole-in-the-wall and experiencing it for yourself...you wont be disappointed!

here is what my FAB new boots look like! they're Stetson "Bucket Boots"! i love them and cannot wait to wear them in houston...shoes really do make an outfit!

after we finished dinner we had to take Chuck and Judy back to Fincher's to get his truck and when we pulled onto Exchange (the main road of the Stockyards) this is what i saw across the street...i just had to get out and go take a picture. i even pet all three of them!! CRAZYYYY!!

yes, that is a MOUSE on top of a CAT on top of a DOG!!!

i will leave you with that! no words of inspiration today--i'd have to come up with something really good to top that MOUSECATDOG!

these boots are made for walkin'

i started out the week with a bang...missing class and work on monday due to the inability of keeping anything with substance down since 3:40am that morning. it was awful--food poisoning maybe? who knows. i'm just glad it was only a 24hr thing, i have way too much going on this week for all of that business.

now, of course it's already wednesday and i am just now updating since last week, but better late than never. quite a bit has gone on and i am happy to say that the Southern Belle Glamour party i hosted on friday night went AMAZINGLY well! afterwards, all of us a great time in our "peace, love & TROUBLE" shirts at the Wade Bowen concert too! he loved them so much we even got called up on stage to show them off--basically the highlight of my life! here are some photos to recap the evening:

(SBG's set up at my house!)


(southern belle's rockin' peace, love & TROUBLE!)
(my friends Liza & Caroline, SBG girls Rachel & Jessica, and me with my sister, Emily)

(the amazing Wade Bowen--such a good show!)

on another note i received some more good news about interning at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year: i got the communications writing internship as well so i will be staying in houston for 2 straight weeks this year! i am beyond THRILLED! so much great experience and new things to learn plus, i can't wait to see some familiar faces from last year. i will make sure to find time to update on here once i arrive and things start to get interesting. i love stock shows and rodeos...so happy to be a part of the largest and most exciting one in the nation!

this friday i will venture home to spend some time with my family and see my sweet little niece! i'm pretty pumped about this, seeing as saturday my parents and i are supposed to go up to the Fort Worth Stockyards to Fincher's and get me a NEW PAIR OF BOOTS and hopefully some much needed jeans that'll actually fit over my boots! I absolutely loveeee the Stockyards and have been going to see my cousin at Fincher's for just about as long as i can remember...always a good time! To get the full effect, read my write up on texasmonthly.com about the Stockyards, Talk Rodeo!

that's about it for now, i will post a picture of my new fabulous boots (keep your fingers crossed) when i get them on saturday! for now, i will leave you with this...

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"find the strength to rise above,
you will find just what you're made of
...one day you will."
--Lady Antebellum

love, love, love Lady A! they are my sister, Emily and I's go-to-band for just about every road trip or semi-long car ride we take together. they are going to be at the houston rodeo while i'm there, can't wait to finally (and hopefully) see them in concert. i love this song, One Day You Will; every time i hear it is just reminds me that everyone is going to have problems and hard times that make you feel like the smallest person in the world, or all alone in a crowded room, but you just have to keep looking forward to the bright side at the end of the bad.

life organized.

i finally went and got a planner!! i cannot even express how much better i feel now because oh man was i lost without one. it may not seem like it, but i do like to plan ahead and keep a schedule of my (ever) busy life...it's the OCD i guess! i was told it's "very betsy" whatever that means, check it out:

(my fabulous new planner!)

the week has been pretty slow, lots of school work and trying to get things ready for this weekend when my sister and the Southern Belle Glamour girls come to College Station! (i.e. cleaning my house, going to the grocery store, etc.) i love entertaining people so i am planning on making cocktails and snackies for the jewelry party friday night--i think i just went into blabbering about nothing mode; forgive me.

lets see, on the workout front...ok, so there has been no workout front these past two weeks. i know, i know but the weather has been so draining and my tentative class/work/projects due schedule has been boggling my mind. once i can get back into a routine i am going to try to start going to the REC. i really don't mind staying on an elliptical for a long time--and i can watch television while i do so! (a major plus for my sitcom addiction!) also, my mom sent me all of her old Weight Watchers information...so i am planning on trying this "non-diet" out for kicks--we'll see how well it works! i got some good ideas from a fellow college-going-weight-watcher on how to manage being a student and making a lifestyle change and here's my thought: if someone else can do it and succeed, then why not me?

so starting monday i am going to start keeping points and hitting the gym again--there really is no excuse except for pure laziness, and no one likes a lazy fool! for the few that read this, a good Web site that i was told to use during my WW-venture is Hungry Girl!!

for the rest of this week and this weekend i am going to enjoy myself, eating what i want, when i want because starting monday...it's on!

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"you shouldn't have to sacrifice who you are
just because somebody else has a problem with it."
--Carrie Bradshaw (Sex & the City)

loveeeee me some SATC and this quote especially! i have it on a sticky note on the desktop of my computer so that everyday i can read it! there is no problem with altering your life or yourself to please YOU--but the second someone else starts telling you to change who you are...i say if they don't like it, they don't have to look!

busy week. busy me.

today i have been recovering from the most outrageous weekend i've had in a really long time. i had so much fun just hanging out with friends and not having a care in the world!

i just got some really exciting news that i am going to be interning for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's Executive office during the last week of the show! i am PUMPED! i was able to intern last year as a writing intern (which i also hope to do again this year) and now being in the executive office is going to be AMAZING! i'm not completely sure what my duties will in entail but i know that whatever they are i am just going to love being at the Show and spending my spring break making some hard earned money! i have no life, which means no SB trip planned; ever actually. i have never taken a spring break trip, except my junior year of high school i went snow skiing during SB, but it doesn't really count because i got to miss a week of school. i had just moved high schools and my new one had SB the week after my trip was planned. one of the perks of being the principals kid! i love HLSR and i cannot wait to be apart of it again! plus, there is some great entertainment lined up this year. check it out:

(from HLSR facebook page)

school has been going just about the same lately, except for the 3 big assignments i have due this week! i can pull them off though...one is really neat and i've been having a lot of fun constructing it!

this weekend i am hosting a jewelry show/happy hour @ my house for Southern Belle Glamour. I am veryyy excited about it & afterwards we're (my sister, the SBG girls (rachel & jessica) and some of my friends) are going to see WADE BOWEN play at Hurricane Harry's! my favorite Texas country singer and my favorite bar, with my favorite people all in one night!

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"so i hope this postcard finds you lonely
i hope you’re as lost as i was when you left me.
by the way i guess i should probably thank you,
cause a broken heart is the only way to be set free."
--Wade Bowen



not really words of "inspiration" per say, just a really good line from one of my favorite Wade songs, Resurrection. he is by far my absolute favorite artist and i love his music. this song really speaks to me, especially the new me! can't wait to see him on FRIDAY!