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!

filler post.

well, it's been a whole 2 days since my last update and let me tell you...nothing important or exciting has happened. (except a complete blackout at the building i work in--no, wait. that happened monday.) i just live that kind of life, i guess. soon though, i will have fabulous stories to share with the world wide web (or maybe just the 4 people that i know read this).

the spring semester always seems to fly by --maybe it's due to the fact that i am constantly busy with something every weekend/some weeks are even full. events of the spring include:

1. dunking my ring in april. (yes, dunking it in a pitcher of beer. it's an aggie thing.)
2. interning at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in march! (one of my favorite parts.)
3. CHILIFEST! (if you don't know what this is...god bless your heart.)
4. the college of ag career fair (i am finally going to attend. i need a job.)
5. presentations/projects/homework (seems normal, right?)
6. WADE BOWEN & BRANDON RHYDER! (my two favorite texas country artists!)
7. visits to see friends & family/visits from friends & family
8. &&& finally, the best part of this semester--GRADUATION MAY 14th!!

that may not seem like a lot but when i look in my BlackBerry, every weekend is highlighted with something to do. i like staying busy...keeps my mind from wandering too far. i hope in the next few months all of these jobs i've been applying to (almost 30-something) start contacting me. i know it's still january, but i think i would feel much more at ease if i knew where my life was going to be after may. i have to remember that i cannot predict the future and that everything will just fall into place--things have been going that way for a while now for me, i hope it sticks around.

more later on. i'm sure after this weekend i'll have something more interesting to talk about!

men are from mars.

what a day! what a day! what a day! -- i had to say it three times because it has been that full!

tuesday's are my LONG days: On campus from 7:45 am till 5 pm then (starting next week, this week it was a meeting) a workout and my lab out at the astronomy observatory from 7:30 till about 10. throw in about 5 hours of work during my breaks and call it a tuesDAY.

tonight in my lab we learned how to use star charts to find constellations, main stars and whatnot. basically i can now tell you where ORION's belt is, the North Star (Polaris) and MARS! yes, mars! this may sound extra nerdy of me but, i cannot wait to look at these things through the telescopes! the universe fascinates me--learning about it in depth will be interesting.

wow, i feel extra nerdy for making this post all about astronomy...but i am really excited about this class. that is sort of what i saw--not as bright though. i'm guessing this is through a small telescope.

something not star-related: didn't get to workout today, which isn't an awful thing considering the pain i am still in from yesterday's lunges and butt kicking! tomorrow i plan on hitting it hard, i have to burn off the evil McDonald's i subjected myself to for dinner on-the-go. (i'm allowed to slip, just not everyday!) tomorrow is wednesday--i've expressed my feelings of this humpDAY--and i am hoping it goes by quickly; i am ready for the weekend! i need to have some college station fun with my friends, i feel like it's been far too long! hopefully something fabulous will happen in the next few days so i wont have to bore my MILLIONS of readers with crap-talk about my classes.

note: the title of this blog is not influenced by the male gender...it is only because we located mars & for some reason the book title has been stuck in my head. (wouldn't it explain a lot if they really were from mars though? maybe i should read it, might be insightful!!)

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"it's easier to prevent bad habits than to break them." -- benjamin franklin

i used to be the queen of drive-through-dinners-lunches-breakfast-snack. NOT healthy. NOT okay! i like this quote; i have learned that old habits never die...you have to work hard and aim for prevention! slips happen, it's human nature to mess up, just have to keep motivated!

step & kick.

go team kick BUTT! (that would be caroline & me today!)

for the last hour we worked out harder than i have in a longggg time! 2.5 mile walk with lunges, glute kicks, side lunges, side kicks (for those pesky love handles) and high-knee skipping. i haven't pushed myself that hard in a good while and even though it wasn't the most ridiculous workout, it was still at 2 in the afternoon on a sunny day--my head is like a wet mop. we definitely burned some calories and i am going to feel it--in my my butt, my thighs, my calves, everything--in the morning!

i'm so proud of myself (and my roommates) for keeping this healthy, walking kick we have going! there has always been talk of "i'm going to start working out on monday," or "i'm so sick looking, i have got to start doing something about it." well, now i am...we all are! it's always easier to change your lifestyle when people you are around the majority of your time are on the same page. i can't wait to see some results--i can feel it working now but seeing it is a completely different story.

meet Izzy (my family dog)--this is about how i feel right now...pooped!

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"unless you puke, faint or die, keep going"--Jillian Michaels

basically, she scares the dog-tar out of me on The Biggest Loser and if her words can help people in need of a LOT more exercise than i do...then i am going to cherish them along my new healthy road.

whirl wind weekend. (say that 3x fast!)

first off, check out my niece's 1st birthday cake! It's amazing! (and it was quite delicious i might add--strawberry!)

weekends at my parents house are ALWAYS a good time! like i mentioned before, i love being around my family, more than the average college student i'm sure, and to clear something up...my FATHER is also one of my favorite people in the world! (he got a little sour after seeing i had only mentioned my mother and sister's in my "family" post. sorry daddy!)

when i arrived in hillsboro on friday night the whole family loaded up and went out to eat (we used to do this quite often but it had drifted off the charts recently) at el conquistador--el con for short! this is my absolute favorite place to eat when i go home. one of my best friends growing up family owns the chain and i have been eating there for literally, my entire life! some will argue, but el con is by far the best TEX-MEX in my opinion...maybe i'm bias?! if you ever drive north on I-35 towards dallas/fort worth, exit off in hillsboro and try yourself some el con, you won't be disappointed! (it's just across from the booming outlet mall.)

this week should be pretty calm, the school work hasn't really set in quite yet. i do have to get started on a project due next tuesday...should be pretty fun to do, so i'm not dreading it!

not a whole lot to talk about today--more later on this week! going out for dollar margarita's tomorrow night with my friend Jamie! she's leaving to student teach for the semester...it's going to be weird not seeing her all the time. off to the real world (sort of). we're all growing up so fast...not just my 1-year-old niece!

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Words of Inspiration for the Day

"it ain't that i can't see, or find my way home, it's just that i like to breath, out on country roads." --ryan bingham

Ryan Bingham is one of the best Texas musicians to date. his songs and lyrics hit home; this line from "Country Roads" reminds me that no matter where life may take me, i'll always remember where i came from--and late nights on country roads!