ENOing

I'm starting to realize how much work goes into blogging your life. Don't get me wrong I love doing this, but you definitely have to set aside time to write your life story out. And sometimes I feel like I should be writing my deep thoughts instead of day to day tasks. Thoughts I have through out my day. The thoughts that lead me to changing my opinion or trying new things. I sometimes wonder if I should be blogging those. But when I look back on my life I will remember the event that caused the change and not the actual thought itself.  I guess what I am saying is if I decide to go skydiving I will remember going skydiving and not the events leading up to me making that decision. Or maybe I will. However, in the case of this blog I think I am going to start adding more personal thoughts and less day to day events. By doing this I may appreciate writing more. Writing what is inside my head and not just around it.

Man, I sure hope you kept up with that train of thought. Good luck reading the rest of this post.

Anyways I didn't do much before taking Alaina, Tweetie, Shae and Melanie to work day. They were shoveling grass while I ran around the track to get my workout in. The girls made me excited for camp. I know they will have the best time and I'm blessed to be able to share the experience with them. No matter how much Young Life pisses me off, the true core and mission of the organization is in God's hands. Maybe that is why I haven't quit yet. God has given me a gift through Young Life and sometimes that is what outweighs any decision. I am thankful I have gotten to know these girls and am able to share Christ with them. The memories we will make together at camp will be ones that will last a lifetime. We will make memorable scenes, and I can't wait!

Theresa and I went ENOing after camp workday. It has been forever since I laid in my hammock. Leisure is much appreciated when you can hammock literally anywhere. We opted for the Tree of Life, which is the amazing tree at the Central Market Park off 38th street. It is one of my favorite places to ENO. Last summer I spent several nights in my hammock with friends talking the night away. That is one thing I am looking forward to doing more. Unfortunately for us this was a Friday afternoon. These young kids kept coming up to us and asking about our ENOs. After awhile they managed to get both Theresa and I out of our hammocks and next thing we know we were helping the kids into them. Classic. Come to the park to relax and end up babysitting. Life of a nanny.

After I enjoyed a restful afternoon in my ENO, I changed and headed to Hula Hut for drinks!  I didn't eat anything because I made a delicious dinner for one earlier. Pictured above. I was so dang proud of myself, not to mention this dinner is only 500 calories. Anyways, so a group of six girls ate dinner and drank margaritas on a deck overlooking Lake Austin. Perfection. Grace and I headed back to her house after Hula Hut to play extreme spoons with more friends. We ended up outside in the front yard drinking beers and talking until 1am. That happens almost every time.

My days are getting later and later. So is the time I wake up in the morning. As soon as I figure out what I will be doing this summer my schedule won't be as free. I got the Social Media and Marketing Internship at Ten Thousand Villages but haven't decided if I am going to accept it. My parents are on the fence about it and they are the ones I need to convince. Hopefully everything works out for the best. I know it will. God has my back.

Just finished the very last page of my book. I 100% enjoyed every second I spent reading it. Maybe I'll give you a full review later. As of now it is bedtime. Night!

Creating Memorable Scenes

Happy Thursday! Just to let you know, this blog post will be backwards. Meaning I will start telling you about the end of my day first. Enjoy.

It is very late at night and I just put down my book. The book "A Million Miles In A Thousand Years" by Don Miller. If you have been reading my blog then you  know how much I already love this book. I am a couple of chapters away from completing it. As I was reading tonight Don mentioned something I felt the need to share. He said great stories have memorable scenes. Scenes that are not average but extraordinary or incredibly different. And in the story of life we remember these types of scenes. Events where we go out of our way to make things new or different. Events we have never done before and may never do again. Looking back on our lives we remember the scenes that are memorable.

I started thinking about how I wanted to make this THE best summer ever. I knew as I was reading, my summer needed memorable scenes. If the story of my summer was going to be great, I needed to put forth effort to make it great. It takes effort to create memories that will last. Don says those memories are the ones that form the story of our lives. Because of that I fully intended to create memorable scenes this summer. Scenes which I will be sharing with you.

I encourage you to do the same. If we lived our lives each day like we were creating memorable scenes we might find extreme joy. The joy and freedom of living every moment to the fullest. In fact if we have freedom in Jesus what is holding us back. If we are truly free, we shouldn't be afraid.  Take a chance, take a risk and make your story memorable.

Before I came home and read my wonderful book I was on top of Austin again. I made a return to Luke's parents condo but this time for a swim. We swam in the pool on the roof overlooking the Austin skyline. What?! So Ausome RIGHT?

I had the pleasure of attending my friend Shaniqua's birthday dinner earlier. Shaniqua is a friend from high school who just turned 21. I have known her since I was in 6th grade. She is one of those people who I see staying in my life. She is warm and friendly and has one of the best hearts. I was excited to see her, even if it was only for an hour. I also ran into Emily Ogonosky and Haleigh Campbell at Shaniqua's dinner. Then earlier when I was at happy hour and saw Issac Graham. Then get this, I was walking town lake this afternoon and ran into Shaun O'Brien. Literally I ran into so many high school friends today. An unbelievable amount. I really enjoyed seeing them. It reminded me of myself several years ago. How young and different I was. Great looking back sometimes. It was by far one of my favorite summer moments.

Like I said I walked town lake before happy hour. Lauren, Grace and I hit up the trail. We realized this was the second Thursday in a row we had walked town lake. Personally this is one of my favorite things to do so I convinced them that we should make this a once a week thing. Walk and talk about our lives. I love the idea. Hopefully next Thursday we will make a return!

 Not much was going on before that. I counted my walk as my cardio for the day. I've been burning calories this week just not as much as I should be. Sometimes you just get caught up in the summer fun. You know, trying to make scenes memorable.

Blues on the Green

This morning started out like any other. I attempted to wake up early and get a workout in before having to babysit at 2:30. Unfortunately my body was not in the mood to hit up the gym or even get out of bed. Therefore I did some laundry and showered before getting my stuff together for the rest of the afternoon.

I showed up at the twins house like I do every Wednesday. They were not in a good mood today. Both Wyatt and Ian were whining and acting like the little children they are. It was starting to make me angry. Normally I can stay calm when I am dealing with misbehaving kids but these two were crossing a fine line. Eventually I made it through the three hours just in time to head to Blues on the Green!

Seriously was the most excited for Blues on the Green! I had been dreaming about this day for weeks. Wild Child opened, followed by Alpha Rev. I first experienced Alpha Rev at a Ben Rector concert in March. I immediately feel in love. Their songs are SO GOOD! Need less to say I was pumped. And not to mention the concert is absolutely free!

I read my book for about an hour before my friends met me at Zilker. The concert lasted about two hours. The whole city of Austin was there so traffic was a mess. Thankfully our friend Blake offered to give us a lift in the bed of his truck. He drove us to Austin High were our cars were parked.

Next thing I know I was back at my house. Chandler was sitting on the couch. She had been gone for a week and I was excited to see her! Then Blake and Rey walked in the front door followed by Tim and a couple of Tim's friends. Apparently we were all going to watch D'Jango Unchained at midnight. I think I was the only one that stayed awake the entire time. I looked around the room at one point and everyone had their eyes closed. I had never seen the movie and was not about to fall asleep, especially while watching a Tarantino movie.

I wanted to go to yoga right after Blues on the Green but it ran a little late. So I didn't end up working out. Got to get back on the grind.

That's it for now!

Busy

Today I was BUSY. I left the house at 11:30am and didn't stop doing activities until 10:30pm. Summer is not supposed to be busy. At least it was exciting things that kept me going all day.

I had an interview for a Social Media Marketing internship at Ten Thousand Villages on South Congress at noon. The interview went well, not the best though. This job is not exactly what I was looking for but it definitely will aid my resume. Hopefully I will get an email within the next week confirming I got the position. After the interview I went back to the house to grab a quick lunch before meeting Chris and Alaina at the office at 2.

Chris had to talk to us about camp and what was expected when we went. We officially leave the night of June 8th. That is less than two weeks. CRAZY RIGHT. I can't believe it is so soon. I am a little nervous because I am so unsure of what to expect. Honestly it will probably be one of the best and worst weeks all in one. I just pray God leads me through it.

I called my friend Arieal who lives in Riverside after my meeting and asked if she wanted to hang out and go to the gym with  me. I was so glad she agreed because I really didn't want to go to the gym by myself. We headed to the Planet Fitness right next to her apartment. It was nicer than the one I normally go to. I even did a different workout routine. Arieal and I caught up. We talked about school and summer and boys. You know the usual.

Next I immediately went home to take the fastest shower of my life. I needed to be at Grace's house as fast as I could so we could plan bible study. We decided our outside reading would be Proverbs and we would study Hebrews with everyone during our bible study time. I ate dinner while we were discussing.

We raced to Hat Creek in Westlake to meet up with some Young Life people who were having a profit share there. I donated and watched other people eat. Then I raced back to Grace's house so we could be there before everyone showed up for Bible Study.

Bible Study was different than we expected. It was still really good. Twelve people showed up and we discussed the purpose of our study. Which is just to grow, meet people and have fun. Then we began our study on Hebrews 1. It was reaffirming the new covenant over the old covenant, saying Jesus is over than angels and equal to God. The discussion was interesting. We didn't have questioned planned so people would just speak up when they wanted to. Different than our normal small groups. Different but good.

Grace drove Bobo, Jackie and I to Lick after bible study. Lick is an ice cream shop on South Lamar. The ice cream is what they call "Honest" ice cream. When they have a flavor like Strawberry Basil you can most definitely taste the basil. Lick really is not my favorite place but the atmosphere is pretty Ausome. (Did it again).

By the time I unlocked my door and got into bed it was almost midnight. I suddenly realized I hadn't really had time to relax all day. Not that it was a big deal but my normal summer days have been less rushed. Now I'm writing this blog but really wanting to read my book. So I think I will shut the computer off now and start reading. My book keeps getting better and better. I'll update you on it soon. Night.

Today's Workout
- 16 minute interval running
- 3 sets of my usual arm workouts
- 15 minute planet fitness workout (1 min step ups, 30 sec rest, 1 minute machine) then repeat

Pedernales River

Happy Memorial Day! Greatly blessed that I live in a country as amazing as The United States.

This Memorial Day was spent outdoors with great friends. Really that is how every Memorial Day should be spent. Mine definitely did not disappoint.

My alarm went off at 9:00 and then again at 9:15. To my surprise I was in the shower after the second alarm. The plan was to meet at the HEB house (the house is behind HEB) at 10:15 so we could all carpool to Pedernales Falls. We were late, obviously. But we weren't the lasts ones to arrive. After an hour and fifteen minute drive we parked at the Pedernales Falls State Park.

The Park has hiking, biking, swimming and maybe even camping. Pretty much your typical State Park. We focused on the swimming. Actually there was quite a bit of accidental hiking too. By the time I actually got into the water we had hiked up a hill and climbed a giant rock. That was my cardio for the day. Seriously though. I didn't do an additional workout today.

Our group was fourteen strong. Huey and 12 girls until Norm showed up and cut the ratio in half. The water was a little cold and very brown. I couldn't see what was in the water so it freaked me out at first. But then I remembered good'ole Lake Houston and suddenly I was fine. Lake Houston is the murky lake I grew up on when I lived with my parents. The rapids of the river were filled with these huge fish. They had sharp fins and a sword like front. For the longest time a couple of my friends tried to catch them with their bare hands, which was unsuccessful because none of my friends are Crocodile Dundee. After a couple hours and a bad sunburn we left Perdernales.

An hour later we ended up at Chuy's happy hour. A happy hour with FREE queso. That is right, FREE queso. Not half price. Not discounted. FREE. I am not sure how I didn't know this before. Genius. I went and ate only chips and queso. I was so full after. Many of my friends enjoyed the happy hour drink specials while I sat alone and sipped on my water. This is because I made the stupid decision to only drink once a week since I'm watching my calories.

I came home and napped for about ten minutes before going to work. I was stupid for agreeing to babysit on Memorial Day. I should have known I would be tired and sunburnt and miserable. So much for planning my own schedule. Sometimes I still hate going to work. I sincerely hope that changes when I figure out a logical career path. I stayed until 8:30 then thankfully went home.

Now it is 10:30 and I am in bed. My body is tired and I don't want to move. Hopefully I'll be able to turn off my computer and go right to sleep.

Memorial Day included friends, water, outdoors, hiking, free queso, sunburns, babysitting and more friends. I would like to think that out of all my 21 Memorial Days this one was one of the best.

God Bless America.

P.S. I added several things to my Summer of FUN list. I figured I still had three months left of summer so why not add a few extra adventures. In fact I will probably be adding to it more as I blog on.

South Congress

Sunday shall be known as the day of rest. Well let me tell you I definitely rested today. In fact I didn't leave my house until 8pm.

I woke up from my deep sleep at 1pm. Then spent the next seven hours eating, cleaning, reading and watching TV. Remember the Titans, Bug's Life, and Win a Date With Tad Hamilton each made an appearance. The perks of doing nothing is the simple truth that I did things I would like to do but normally don't have the time. So I read my book and watched too much TV and cleaned out my closet. Possibly one could say this was a productive day, instead of pointless. I'll believe that. 

Theresa had a couple of high school friends Liz and Lauren come by the house. They were going out to eat and asked if I wanted to join. I already ate but given the fact I hadn't left the house all day I thought it would be best to join. We ended up going to Hopdoddy's on South Congress. I was a little pissed about it at first because I LOVE HOPDODDY'S. I mean who doesn't. So I was bummed I wasn't going to order food. But as we were walking down SoCo at night with all the lights, I realized the experience of just being there was worth it. 

South Congress is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Austin. And rightfully deserved. The atmosphere alone is inciting. I truly had a great time. Hopdoddy's is such a famous and fun Austin place. If you are ever in town that is the place to eat. 

We left Lauren and Liz as soon as we got home to go pick up one of our Young Life girls. Ledaija is one of the very first girls I met at Reagan. She now is a mother and a high school graduate working part time at Applebee's. Anyways so we gave her a ride and she told us many stories about what was going on in her life. Her life is CRAZY, just FYI. As we were dropping her off her 6 month baby, James, woke up. Seriously the cures baby ever. I decided to take a picture of him just so I could post it on this blog. Check out his eyes. I used the flash and they swelled up. Hehe.

Somehow Theresa and I ended up at HEB after dropping Ledaija off. From midnight to 1am I went grocery shopping. Who does that? I do. You know why. Because it is SUMMER. 

There. That was my Sunday. Exciting, ehhh. Entertaining, ehhh, Lazy, you betcha. Didn't even make it to the gym.

Texas Country

What a great Saturday this was. Another Summer of FUN adventure checked off my list!

My day started out slowly. It took me hours to get out of bed and get ready for the day. When I finally made it out of the house the first place I went to was Ross. I told myself I was only going to buy things I needed and not the entire store. Thankfully I made it out of Ross with only a yoga mat and a phone case. Next Theresa and I hit up Home Depot. We needed to deal with the potential bedbug crisis and the weeds growing in the backyard. From there our plan was to go grocery shopping. However we bought bug bombs for the house and decided the perfect time to bomb would be while we were at the concert tonight. So instead we went to Old Navy. This is were I disappointed myself. I bought three dresses and a shirt, all of which are extremely cute. I couldn't resit. I spent too much money and didn't even buy shorts. And I need shorts. Gah. Girls you know. The only way I could go shopping and not spend money is if I don't go shopping. Typical.

So after the $115 spent, we headed back to the house. We needed to get ready for the JOSH ABBOT BAND CONCERT. We were going to a Texas Country Concert and we were darn excited about it. Before leaving we emptied the pantry and any food in the house. Then we let the bombs loose and ran like hell.

Theresa and I picked up Luke, then met Rachel, Grace and four of Grace's cousins at the concert. To my surprise we ended up paying $13 extra dollars for the ticket. It was still worth it. There is so much that can be said about our night at Whitewater Amphitheater. So here I go.

The People. Everyone was white and country. Boots, dresses and jeans. A beer was in everyone's hands, including mine. The guys were tall and the girls were a little trashy. It was everything I expected.

The music. The concert lasted forever. Literally. It started at 8pm and ended at midnight. That is four hours of Texas country. It was probably the longest concert I have been to. Kevin Fowler and Josh Abbott were true rednecks. They drank beer on stage and cussed at the crowd. They sang about women and Texas sunsets. Truly an experience.

I would for sure love to go to another country concert. Next time buy tickets ahead of time, bring your own koozie, bring a date, know more songs and dance as much as you can.

This is Josh Abbott playing She's Like Texas. It is my favorite Josh Abbott song and one of my favorite country songs. I love Texas and Texas Country. TEXAS FOREVER.
(took the day off, no workout)

Rain

Friday the 24th of May. It rained. A lot.

I didn't do much on this rainy Austin day. Theresa and I are the only ones in the house now. All the other roommates are somewhere else having fun without us. We woke up early and went to Whole Foods breakfast with Sammie before she left for Beaumont. I had oatmeal and a strawberry blonde smoothie. I don't know why but the oatmeal did it for me. It was SO GOOD. Like seriously. I haven't had oatmeal in a while and was skeptical when I first got it, but then my life changed and suddenly I love oatmeal again. 

After that I came home and took a two hour nap. Wait. You ate breakfast and then went back to sleep? Yup. That's right. Hey don't judge me, it's summer!

I realized after two hours of sleep that I was in desperate need of a workout. I asked Theresa if she wanted to join but she didn't seem interested. So I headed to the gym by myself. As soon as I made it to the gym the rain came pouring down. I swear I took 8 showers that day. From the frequent runs to the car and the actual sweat shower from the gym, I think I managed to get by entire body soaked like five times.

Well the rain didn't stop until the night. I came home from the gym and did not leave the house again. I caught up on my TV shows and cleaned a little. Finally around 10:30pm Theresa's friend Somer and her friend Lucy came over. We just talked and watched a little but of What Would Ryan Lochte Do? Then I hit the hay.

Not my much of an exciting Friday. Though with all the other fun stuff I've been doing lately this restful day was
much needed. 

Today's workout (550 calories)

- 10 minute interval run

- 4 sets of hip abduction and adduction

- 10 minute elliptical 

- 4 sets of leg curl and leg extension 

- 3 sets of mason twists 

Great Friends!

Today I was reminded just how wonderful my friends are! Seriously. Through the 21 years I've been alive I have managed to make some of the best friendships. Friendships I know that will last a lifetime. Let me tell you why I was reminded of this today.

My day really didn't get started until I met with Chris and Jared at the East Austin Young Life office to discuss camp. We met for two and half hours deciding on how we were going to choose only 8 out of the 19 kids who signed up to go to camp. Jared humbly bowed out and let Alaina and I take all girls. I believe this was the right decision but appreciated Jared for understanding.

After my long meeting I called Grace to see what she was up to. Lauren was back in town and we needed friend time. So all three of us went and walked around Town Lake. It was great. Beyond great. I could walk outdoors and talk to the two of them all day. Actually that is one of my favorite activities. Walking and talking about life. Genius.

During our walk we decided to throw a game night, which ended up not actually being a game night (most of the time this happens). Instead we talked and caught up with our friends. I actually loved it. I got to see some friends who I hadn't seen in a while. A lot of laughter. A lot of friends. And a summer night with nothing to do.

I enjoy spending time with my friends so much. They know me so well. I get excited when I think about the future of these friendships. I sit and imagine everyone's lives ten years from now and dream about future adventures. Pretty much we all end up married with kids. Typical I know.

But in all seriousness, God has given me great friends. Ones that I will forever cherish. And today has been a day I realized just how blessed I truly am.

Barton Springs

Is this not the greatest week in the history of summer? Exaggeration. It's probably not but it sure feels like that.

You would not believe how many things I am already checking off my Summer of FUN list. I should start adding more stuff to it if this keeps up.

Instead of going to the gym this morning I decided to start applying for jobs. I probably should of gone to workout but that's okay because as you will read later I made another appearance at yoga tonight. So I only applied for three jobs because I was pressed for time and had to write several cover letters. My perfect job would be a nonpaying internship where I only had to work three days a week. Honestly I could probably find that if I looked hard enough. Maybe I should send out more emails tomorrow. That would make my parents proud.

At 2:00 I had to leave the house to go to work. Not actual work just babysitting. Which I guess  technically is work since I make more money doing that than I would if I got a real job. Yeah so I watched two twin four year old boys (Ian and Wyatt) for about three hours while their parents were still at work. I usually only work Wednesdays for this family. I absolutely love these little boys but the can be a pain in my ***. They are still my favorite though. Definitely love them more than the four kids I watched from 6:30-8:30 tonight. One little girl whose name is Vivian, I swear she is the devil. Okay that maybe harsh but if you met her you just might agree. By the end of the night I ended up with $110 dollars. Let me explain because I know what you are thinking. $22 dollars an hour. (I only worked 5 hours today) But $40 of that was for picking up mail last week for Vivian's family. Which was seriously the easiest $40 I have ever made. By the way the picture to the left is Ian. Cute ain't he.

After work I headed home to meet three of my roommates. We had planned to go to Barton Springs from 9-10pm because it is FREE the last hour. I assume we will be making several appearances there before the summer is over. Especially at the 9-10 time-slot. We met up with a lot of friends, including Grace and her friend Bobo. And now that I have experienced Barton Springs let me give you some feedback. It was cold, tops optional, a lot of people, and extremely describes Austin in every way. Naturally I loved it. If Barton Springs was in a different city, no one would go. But its not, its in Austin. And that alone makes it Ausome. (used it again) Still clever.

Immediately following our free Barton Springs swim was hot yoga ROUND TWO. I told you guys I wanted to start getting back into yoga and I'm making it happen. Honestly it helps when you don't have school or a full-time job holding you back from all this fun, and now that I've got my roommates involved I will always have someone to go with. Therefore Theresa, Sammie, Chandler, Kaitlin and I all showed up to the 10:30pm sweaty yoga class. It was harder this time, but it was the exact same poses. Figure that one out. Maybe it was because I worked out pretty hard yesterday. Who knows. I even burned more calories. I managed to burn 579 calories. Which is actually a decent workout for anyone. So I wasn't too mad at myself for giving up the gym and swapping it for yoga.

Now as promised I am going to fill you in on the book I've been reading. It is "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. The book follows Don as his previous book "Blue Like Jazz" (which I haven't read) is being made into a film. However what the book is really about is much deeper. Don explains how he learned what a story was while making this film. Then he relates life to a story, explaining that in life a character must change and overcome something. The rest of the book is him finding out what he as a character must do to reach his goal, aka the something you overcome.

It truly is worth reading and I'm not even half way yet. Sometimes you open a book and you feel like it was written for you. That is how I feel about this book. And not in the sense of the overall message but in the way the book is written and the kind of jokes the author makes. I completely understand him. That is why this book was written for me. Thank you Don. I'll give you an overall review when I'm finished. I mean assuming I finish it. *cough* Rachel *cough*
 
Well that was my Wednesday! I am pretty pumped for this weekend. More things will be crossed off my list. This summer is too great already. And Chelesa Brown if you're reading this I am definitely planning on taking a road-trip to college station one weekend this summer!

I love you guys, whoever you may be. You people who view my blog. Thank you.

Taylor Swift Concert WHAT!?

So yesterday when I said I had high hopes for Tuesday, I never expected for this day to be COMPLETELY AWESOME. I literally could not have dreamed of a better Tuesday!

This day was another FREE DAY. I love free days. These are the days I have nothing planned. I do exactly what I want when I want. It is brilliant.

I woke up at 10am today. HURRAY! Still not as early as I hoped but better than noon. I made breakfast and sent out some emails. Then I called my dad because today is his 56th birthday! He said that there wasn't much planned because he had work all day. He will celebrate this weekend with the rest of my family. I still can't believe he retires in 4 weeks. CRAZY.

Sammie and I had planned to go to the gym around noon. So naturally we didn't even leave the house until 1pm. We spent 2 hours there and I seriously got some work done. I will be sore tomorrow. It was so nice having Sammie with me. My workout seemed to go by a lot faster. She told me she wanted to start coming with me everyday. I personally workout more when someone is committed to going the the gym with me, so naturally I was all for it.

Before Sammie came home I went with Chandler to Taco Bell. I didn't get anything, I was just along for the ride. Chandler was telling me about how she had the opportunity to take the kids she nannies to the Taylor Swift concert that night. I was so jealous. I'm not sure if you guys know this about me but I'm a pretty big Taylor fan. In fact Sydni, Theresa and I went to her concert in the Fall of 2011. Now that I am 21 I would never go to her concert with just my friends. I have some dignity to maintain. Anyways so I begin to ask a bunch of questions about the concert. I told Chandler that if there was anyway she could get an extra ticket that I would die. She agreed to ask if they had an extra ticket. I was getting my hopes up but never actually thought it would happen. BUT IT DID!

That is right I went to the TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT. But not only did I go to a Taylor Swift concert, I went for FREE. I paid nothing to sit in a SUITE with nonstop free food and drinks. Then we got chauffeured in a black explorer to and from the concert. WHAT are you kidding me? Is this real life. So Chandler and I and the seventh graders (Blake and Tucker) enjoyed a magical Taylor Swift night free of charge. Oh did I mention Ed Sheeran and Florida Georgia Line opened for her. I absolutely love the song Cruise by Florida Georgia Line and I didn't even know they were opening for her until I was screaming for them. This is like some kind of dream.

This is just a little taste of the concert! Taylor is singing Safe and Sound in front of 12,000 people. Bless her.

Taylor always puts on a good show. Her tour is more of a show than a concert. Complete with fireworks, flying dancers, and the occasional outfit changes. It also didn't hurt that I knew every single word to every song. I actually think I enjoyed the concert more than the kids did. Though I did draw the line at the T-shirts. No way was I going to pay $30 to wear a Taylor Swift T-shirt. Come on, I'm not 12. Don't worry I still got a RED tour bracelet to commemorate the night. Gosh I'm pathetic. And oh yeah, I didn't pay for that either.

You must be tired of hearing me brag. I know I am. BUT COME ON. When I said high hopes I never thought I would be going to a concert complete with suites, chauffeurs and nonstop food.

SERIOUSLY BEST SUMMER EVER!

Today's Workout.( 1100 calories)
- 20 minute interval running (1 min walk, 1 min run)
- 2 sets of dumbbell bench press, arms curls, military press, triceps extension, dumbbell lat pulls
- 3 sets of mason twits, bike, crunchy frog
- 10 minute interval running (30 sec walk, 1 min run)

Greenbelt and Black Swan Yoga

Happy Monday! I hope you started off your week the right way. I know I sure did.

I slept in until 11am. I keep trying to get up early but then I remember I don't really have a reason to. So I end up sleeping later than I want to. If that is my biggest problem of the summer then I think I need to gain some perspective.

I made breakfast which consisted of an egg, cheese and avocado sandwich. It was seriously DELICIOUS. I have decided that I am going to start cooking more. I have all this time on my hands so I might as well experiment. After breakfast Grace called and wanted to go explore the Greenbelt. As you know the Greenbelt is on my Summer of FUN list. So immediately I was in.

The Greenbelt is a running/walking/biking path along Barton Creek. It is shaded by tons of trees and usually leads to pools of water you can swim in. Grace and I drove to the entrance and hiked down to the where the water was. When we got there we were surprised to find NO WATER. Now I didn't know there was supposed to be water because I had never been. Grace said that there used to be water where we were but it must have dried up due to the lack of rain in Austin. We just sat and talked under the shade of some trees. I personally was happy just to be outdoors and hiking through the trees. As we were leaving a group of guys told us there was water further up the path. Grace and I looked at each other and knew we would have to come back. So Explore Greenbelt is not completely checked off my list until I go back for a second time and play in the water. Though with my luck by the time I go back there will be absolutely no water anywhere. Tough Life.

Then I had the privileged of taking three of my Lanier Young Life girls on a work day. We were supposed to meet up with a lady at Perry Park to do some reconstruction on a track. Well we ended up being late and the lady (Nadene) left before we got there. I didn't have her phone number to call. It was my fault I should of had that planned better. So I took the girls home and headed back to my house.

When I got back to the house I found my roommate Chandler. I love Chandler and was excited she was back at the house. She had been in Blanco the past couple days. I have been trying to get back into yoga. I used to go to yoga twice a week with my mother when I lived at home. I missed yoga. There is a place in Austin called Black Swan Yoga. My friends have been going to the sweaty yoga class and really enjoy it. They are a donation based yoga studio which is great becuase I don't have to pay for a membership. I hadn't worked out yet and knew Chandler would join me if I asked. So Chan and I went to Black Swan Yoga's sweaty yoga class at 8:45pm.

This class was HOT. I don't mean the people, though there were a couple of good looking men, but no I mean it was 100 degrees in that room HOT. That is why it is called sweaty yoga. You sweat so much you can barely open your eyes. Okay maybe not that bad. I was worried about Chandler because she kept telling me she was going to faint. Thankfully that didn't happen.

The yoga was good, not too hard considering I have been out of practice for a couple years. I didn't feel like I missed poses or couldn't keep up. Actually I was expecting it to be harder. I was thankful it wasn't harder but I expected it to be harder than it was, yah know? At the end I was drenched in sweat. Like from head to toe. I even had to sit on a towel in the car on the way home. I burned 365 calories for the one hour class. It was less than I was hoping for but better than no workout at all. Overall I will definitely be going back. I hope to make it a weekly thing. I just may have to do some extra cardio before hand. I'll let you know how it ends up fitting into my workout routine.

Now I'll probably catch up on some reading or watch a movie. I haven't been reading the book I started when I was at home so I haven't had a chance to tell you about it. I'll do that with in the next couple posts.

Monday you were good to me. Tuesday I have high hopes for you!

Summer Cleaning

Hope your Sunday was a well deserved day of rest! Mine was restful, I think.

I woke up before noon and decided that my Sunday would be spent cleaning. I started with my room. I rearranged my drawers and cleaned out my closet. Then I tackled the downstairs. The floors were screaming for a mop. Luckily Theresa stole one from our friend Rodrigo. Before I mopped, the floors needed to be swept and the counters needed to be cleaned. Then I did all the dishes and even cleaned the back door. Before ending my five hour cleaning spree, I sprayed the cracks and crevices with bug spray. (We currently have been seeing far too many cockroaches.)

So maybe the morning wasn't very restful, but the rest of my afternoon was. Grace and I went to the 7pm service at the Stone downtown. It has been a few months since I went to the downtown campus. Usually I am all about St. Johns because it is closer and I feel more comfortable there. However I didn't mind. I got to see a couple friends and the service was great!

After church I called my friend Luke to see if he wanted to hang. Grace, Sammie and I met Luke and his friend Ryan at Luke's parents condo. This condo is amazing by the way. It overlooks the Austin skyline and town lake. We went on the roof and talked for about an hour all while looking at this Ausome view. Get it Ausome as in Austin awesome. I'm clever.

That is about it. Sammie and I came home and I watched the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. Then Theresa showed up and we talked about life. Not a bad way to end the week!

Sitting Saturday

Life of a babysitter. This lovely Saturday I pulled what you would call a double shift. I had the unfortunate pleasure of watching kids from 10:30 - 4:30 and again from 8:00 - 3:00am.

Just kidding, it actually wasn't bad at all. I got paid $80 to play outside and watch the Flintstones. Then $110 to play the wii and watch The Replacements. So I made just short of $200 today. All of that money will go directly to my ACL ticket purchase. Totally worth it.

I did not do really anything else but work. I had about a three hour break between jobs. I came home and just hung out. I should've worked out but I was too tired.

My parents are expecting me to pay rent this summer. I don't want to pay my own rent and am trying every excuse to try and get out of it. Personally I would just like to volunteer with a company twice a week and nanny on the weekends for some extra cash. Hopefully the volunteering will convince them to pay half. Probably not, but a girl can dream.

That is really all I have for today. My Saturday was not eventful, but it certainly was prosperous.

Graduations

Today I attended TWO UT graduations. I  spent the entire day doing things that involved graduation. Let me tell you about it. I'm sure you're dying to hear.

This morning I woke up, showered, and ate breakfast all before attending Sarah's Nursing School Graduation at noon. The ceremony was around an hour and a half, thank goodness. After that Sarah's parents treated us to a nice lunch at the Hyatt hotel. It was awesome. I had every intention of maintaining my diet UNTIL free lunch was involved. So naturally I ate a sandwich and fries. GAH.

Next was Sammie. My beloved roommate graduated from the Communications School. The ceremony was in the Frank Erwin Center. (SIDEBAR) Arturo, one of Sam's young life kids from Reagan, told Sam that his graduation was going to be at the Frank Urine Center. Now every time I say Frank Erwin I automatically think Frank Urine. LOLZ. (END SIDEBAR) Theresa and I showed up late, which was perfect. We were still there for more than two hours even after arriving 30 minutes late. Sammie wore a orange simile face on her cap, literally you could see her from the nosebleeds. It was great though because we knew exactly where she was at all times. Then we took pictures for about ten minutes before spending 30 MINUTES stuck inside the Trinity garage. Most awful experience of the summer so far. Trapped in a car garage FOREVER.

We showed up back at the house years later. The first thing we see is a giant poster of Sammie on our front fence. Best thing ever. Sammie's parents threw her a graduation party complete with decorations, cake, pizza and even their own chairs. Needless to say, they came prepared. Her dad was making drinks and her mom was telling Sammie stories. The free food got me again. Goodbye diet. Sammie had a BUNCH of family members come to the party. I had no idea that many lived near by. Most of my extended family lives up north, in fact none of them live in Texas. It is such a blessing to be near your family. That is something I will change about my future family situation.

So anyways quite a bit of Sammie's close friends showed up too. It was so great! Sammie is so loved. Andie (her sister) was telling me about how she wants the song "Here Comes the Sun" to play at her wedding when she walks down the isle. I definitely cannot think of a better song that describes her. She is a bright ball of sunshine. The song is perfect. She is perfect.

So tomorrow I will workout. I have two babysitting jobs but that is all. I plan to get a workout in between them. Hopefully everything works out that way. Lately it hasn't always gone to plan. I need to start making my workouts a priority if I want to actually see results.

I think it is safe to say I am done with college graduations until I graduate myself. Scary really. Hope your Saturday was just as fun, and if not then you can always attend the UT graduations that will be happening again tomorrow.

Good bye for now!

Outside

Summer means being OUTSIDE, well to me it does. I find so much joy in being outdoors. Recently all I want to do is be outside in the sunshine. Maybe it is because the weather has been terrific or maybe it is the freedom of summer. My summer has so much freedom. Freedom to do exactly what I want when I want. Freedom to be exactly who I am.

Today my daily dose of sunshine was a walk around town lake. Theresa and Chandler graciously joined. I don't know why I don't go run/walk around town lake more often. We went from 6-7pm, which is the perfect time. It was beautiful. The sun reflecting off the lake is magical. Running just seems easier with a view like that.

I took a pretty artsy picture of Chandler. The picture explains Austin. The breathtaking view with the "Keep Austin Weird" phrase. It seems fitting. Before and after our adventures at town lake I was babysitting. I got paid $95 today. All I really did was watch some TV. Yup I know, rough life.

I counted my 50 minute walk as my workout. I put on my heart rate monitor to make it official. It was not a great walk as I only burned 260 calories. My food intake was on point today though. I need to find better food options so I don't always have to eat the same thing. Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow. After the two graduations I will be attending. Until tomorrow.

Back to Austin

It is 11:45pm and I am back at my house in Austin. I left Atascocita at 8pm and was here three hours later. My plan wasn't to come back until tomorrow morning, but sometimes you just get a feeling like you've been at your parents house to long. Once you get that feeling, you are always ready to jet.  So I did, right after dinner.

This morning I woke up to rain. I was pleasantly surprised because it does not rain that often here in Texas. However, my week filled with beautiful weather was over. I guess you win some, you lose some. Though I wasn't too disappointed by the rain because before my dad left for work this morning he left me a note that said "Cut the Grass." So yeah that didn't happen. Bless you rain. 

My sister came home yesterday afternoon. Her last final was on Monday, which is why she didn't come home with me on Sunday. Her freshman year of college just ended and now she has to stay with my parents for the whole summer. I told her I would pray for her.

Anyways, Rachel and I went to Wal-Mart so I could load up on free groceries (aka free for me, not my parents.) Then we cooked lunch and did a leg workout. My brother came home shortly after. Then the three of us left to meet my mom and dad at Salt Grass Steak House. My dad was picking up my mom from the airport and the five of us ate dinner as a family. It may be the only time this summer that we will get to do that. So naturally I left right after. Typical daughter, they must think.

Today's Workout (637 calories)
- 2 sets lunges, step ups, leg extension, calf raises, and reverse leg curls
- 2 sets leg climbers, mason twists and cross leg v ups
- 2 sets of above leg exercises

I weighed myself after my first full week of workouts. I hate to say this but I weighed exactly the same. I feel healthier and sorer, so I'm not sure what the problem is. That just means next week I will for sure be counting my calories extra close.

Summer of FUN List

This morning I woke up with nothing to do. What a great thing. Really though. So I opened my computer and started researching things for fun. Then I thought I should make a list of things I wanted to do this summer. The list turned out to be brilliant. 

Things I want to do this summer...

Blues on the Green

Go Camping (Enchanted Rock, Pace Bend, ect.)

Night on 6th Street

Explore the Greenbelt

Go to the BEACH!

Take an Austin Duck Tour

Night on Rainey Street

See the Bats at Congress Bridge

Movies in the Park

Round Rock Express Game

Cathedral of Junk

Play Sand Volleyball at Aussies

Go to a Texas Country Concert

Visit the Mountains

Barton Springs Swim 

Told you. Brilliant. I WILL do all of those things on that list. Hey I have 15 weeks until school starts again. That is plenty of time!

Like I said I had nothing to do today. So I didn't really do anything. Not even workout, which I should have done. I researched stuff about grad school, laid out by the pool, made a delicious dinner, watched a little TV and spent time with my family. It was a perfect day to do nothing. I took advantage of it.

Honoring Dad

I started my day bright and early. Literally 5:45am. I can't remember the last time I woke up before 8:00am. College Student Problems.

I woke up that early to accompany my dad to an awards ceremony at the Hyatt Hotel downtown. The Honors breakfast was for the Houston Police Department, as this week is national police week. My dad received the Lifetime Achievement Award along with a spanking new trophy. It is kind of a big deal. The major and chief of police presented it to him and Dave Ward, a local news celebrity, hosted.

Let me tell you something about my dad. Since before I was born he has been a Homicide Lieutenant for HPD. When I was younger I didn't truly appreciate the work my father did. As I got older my dad would start to tell me about his job. I even attended a class he taught on kidnapping. Now I realize how much my dad does for me and my community. He does awful, painful and sometimes lonely work. Many times he goes out on scenes and can not bear to share what he sees. I have so much respect for him. He devoted his life to keeping others safe and had to do it at a cost. I can't honestly think of a better man. In July he will retire from the department after serving over 30 years. Not sure what he will do then, hopefully something less stressful. Maybe he will join my mom and take up knitting, that's not stressful. Anyways, I hope that my husband lives up to the standards my dad has set. He will have to love me as much as my father does. Husband, you have large shoes to fill. Seriously though, my dad wears size 12.

I came back to house a little before lunch and proceeded to work out. Which, by the way, I did not get to yesterday. Worked out for about an hour and a half before dealing with the dryer fiasco. The dryer is broken. If you know my dad like I do you would run as soon as you heard that. I ended up on the internet for an hour searching for solutions to the dryer problem. My dad picked up the part on the way home from work and we installed it as soon as he changed clothes. Well we soon found out the part did not do anything to help. Therefore I wasted two hours of my life.

Then, I decided to cook dinner for the men. I just grilled some hamburgers on the George Foreman. Nothing too fancy. Though I did drive to the store just to get avocados because I LOVE THEM. Avocados just make everything better.

Now I'll probably read some chapters in my book before hitting the hay. I seriously think I will be asleep before 10pm tonight. That never happens either. Gosh.

Today's Workout (725 calories)
- 11 minute non-stop jog
- 2 sets of dumbbell lap pulls, side shoulder raises, front shoulder raises, lat pulls, dumbbell bench press
- 3 sets of scissor kicks, crunchy frog, mason twists
- 2 sets of the same arm exercises above

I guess I will have to tell you about my book tomorrow. I thought I would be further along by now. Stupid broken dryer, I blame you.

Home Sweet Home

Sunday, my favorite day. I didn't get to go to church today. That's alright because I did plenty of other things.

I woke up a little before 11am. I showered, ate lunch and packed all the stuff I needed for five days in Houston. Then I headed over to Rachel's dorm so I could take the contents of her freshman year home with me. After that I was on the highway.

I was extremely excited for this drive. Just the open road for three hours. I played my music loud and rolled down the windows. Myself and the sunshine. It was glorious. The song of my road trip was definitely "Next to Me" by Emily Sande. It is currently my jam.

Then I arrived home to the most beautiful weather. Sun shining over the lake in my back yard. I took out my ENO and started a book. Yes that is right, I read for fun. Yup I know, it never happens. The day was just to good not to. While reading, I saw these flowers in my mothers flower bed. I had to take a picture and it turned out to be awesome. The perfect representation of the peaceful, summer day I had.

My brother and father took me out to Fiesta Azteca for dinner. Which is this Mexican restaurant my parents are really into. I think every time I come home we go there. I LOVE Mexican food, in fact I could probably eat it everyday. However due to my new diet and workout routine, I was not feeling Fiesta Azteca. Though I still went and ate too much food. I shouldn't have. And the fact that it is 8:45 pm and I still haven't worked out is not a good sign either.

I am blessed by my family today. It happens to be Mother's Day. My mom is in Pennsylvania visiting her father who just turned 85.  Happy Birthday Grandpa! So she wasn't here, I did call her and send her a gift though. I love my mom, she is the single most humble person I know. I strive to be more like her in that way. She thinks of everyone before herself, a trait I so desperately desire. She will be home on Wednesday so I will get to see her before heading back to Austin for the majority of the summer.

I think I am going to like the book I started. I will tell you about it tomorrow. Also I'll let you know if I ended up working out. I probably won't but maybe I'll regain a sudden burst of energy as soon as I put my computer down. Who knows!?

Rachel turns 19!

Today, May 11, 2013 my baby sister turned 19! I am so lucky to have a sister who does so much for me and am so thankful for her! God truly gave me a best friend!

As lucky as I am, I got to spend the entire day with her. She is a freshman at UT and most of her friends already packed up and moved out. So I was the only one here to take care of  my precious sister! Becuase she is a freshman I decided she needed a genuine Austin tour away from the 40 acres. So I took her to a bunch of Austin landmarks and popular places. At each of these places I took a picture of her holding a sign that said "Happy Birthday Rachel!" It was awesome but I am pretty sure she got tired of me telling her to hold up the sign after the 100th picture.

My day actually started when my roommate Theresa invited a bunch of friends to use this groupon she purchased a while back. The groupon was for 8 people to go stand-up paddle boarding for one hour. So at 10am I woke up and went paddleing boarding on Town Lake with seven of my friends!

Then we picked my sister up on our way back from paddle boarding and went back to my house so I could get ready for the rest of the evenings events. First I took Rachel to the 360 Overlook. One of Austin's best sights. Then we headed to Austin Botanical Garden, which I had never been to before. It was so cool, not really cool, but definitely a must do for Austinites. We took a bunch of pictures there before heading to South Congress. I made her take a picture with the notorious "i love you so much" wall. Then we headed to the graffiti wall. The graffiti wall is probably the most Austin sight ever. It is just old pieces of concrete with graffiti art all over them. Non the less, awesome! Next was Snow Beach, my favorite Austin trailer food. Snow Beach seriously has the best snow cones in the world, seriously. Even if you think you don't like snow cones, this place will change your mind. After enjoying our blueberry and passion fruit cone cones we headed to Hey Cupcake. I wanted to buy her a cupcake from there especially on her birthday. Hey Cupcake is Austin's most famous cupcake eatery. After that we headed home to chill before indulging ourselves with food at Hide Park Bar & Grill.

Tonight I will be joining a couple of my friends for celebratory drinks! Celebrating summer and the end of junior year. OH MY GOSH, I AM A SENIOR. Only one more year in this incredible town attending an incredible school. Getting emotional already. 

Couldn't have pictured my summer starting any better way! 

 (no workout today)

DONE WITH SCHOOL FOR SUMMER

IT'S FRIDAY! I turned in my paper today which means no more school work until August 28th. Almost FOUR full months. This will be the longest break I have ever had from school. Ever.

The last two summers I took summer classes and high school summers are almost a month shorter than college summers. Therefore LONGEST SUMMER EVER.

Today I woke up and added the finishing touches to my paper before heading to Lanier lunch. Lunch was awesome by the way and I am pleased to announce that I will officially be going to Young Life camp the second week in June. I have 9 girls signed up with 3 camp forms on the way. That means our first year in existence Lanier Young Life will be taking 12 girls to camp!

So after lunch I headed to the gym, then went home and showered before going to campus and submitting the hard copy of my paper. Then I took a three hour nap and woke up to a severe thunderstorm only to find myself all alone in the house.

Now I am currently sitting on my couch with a couple of my roommates deciding how we should spend the first night of summer.  I doubt it will be anything adventurous. More like movies and gossip.

Tomorrow is my sisters birthday. I have a couple of surprises up my sleeve. I'll tell you all about it in my next post.

Today's Workout (around 700 calories)
- 10 interval running
- 4 sets of hip abduction and adduction
- 1 set of sisscor kicks, crunchy frog, and mason twist (abs were sore to do anymore)
- 10 minute stationary bike
- 4 sets of, leg extension, leg curls and leg press
- 10 minute elliptical

My heart rate monitor paused for around 15 minutes so my calorie count is estimated.

Good Mood = Good Paper

Since 11AM this morning I have been working on my paper. And SURPRISINGLY it has been great.

I really think I am doing a good job with my work and I am not dying while doing it. Actually I'm in a great mood. I am not sure why. Probably because I've been eating healthy and working out the last two days. Anyways whatever I am doing, it is looking good!

Now it is 7PM and I have finished a good portion of my paper without stepping foot outside of my house all day. Most of the time I have been snuggled up in bed writing. But at 9:15 I am leaving my cocoon to go see The Great Gatsby priemer with my awsome roommates.

Yup we also might be drinking a little before hand (don't worry I'm legal). Movie premier on a Thursday + alcohol + awesome friends. Now if that doesn't sound like summer than what does?

GOOD MOOD KATIE. Literally I have been in such a great mood, especially given the fact I've been in my room all day. I don't think you get it, I'm never in this good of mood. I have been listening to music and singing and staring out the window. WHAT? I love it! I sincerly hope this feeling stays for a while.

I have been listening to this ALL DAY

(It's so good, right?) and also White Dress by Ben Rector, which I've now determined is my favorite Ben Rector song.

Unfortunately due to this paper still not being completely finished, I did not workout. Though that is why I allowed for days off, but I'll literally be working out for the next five days with no break. You got to do what you got to do, you know.

I can not wait to submit this paper, then summer will definitely pick up.

My roommate Sammie asked me yesterday why I started a summer blog when I still had this paper to write. My response was because it felt like summer. The timing was right so I naturally declared summer. Probably not the best answer, but its my most logical answer.

Procrastination at it's Finest

Happy Wednesday! This has been another unplanned day. I was supposed to babysit this afternoon but the family cancelled. Therefore I was faced with a FREE DAY.

Now the paper I mentioned yesterday is due Friday before noon. This paper may be the worst thing I have ever had to do. Let me explain...

This paper was assigned at the very beginning of LAST semester. Yes that is right August 2012. That was when this paper entered my life. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Why has it taken you 9 months to write this paper. Well in my defense I have turned in several rough drafts. Many were returned to me with the phrase "Start Over" on them. By the end of last semester my professor decided to give me an incomplete. So I took the incomplete and resumed writing my paper this semester.

Now I have waited until the very last day to turn it in. I have a substainal 5 pages that will probably do nothing for my grade. My paper needs to be between 10-15 pages for him to consider it. So therefore the rest of the night and most of the day tomorrow will be spent writing this paper.

With that being said I may have jumped the gun with the whole "summer is here" thing. I mean it still feels like summer, but I may have not rationed my time well.

So this is how my "free day" was spent..... woke up at noon, breakfast, went to Lanier for lunch at 1:30, spent 40 minutes on the phone with my Young Life area director, gym from 3-5, dinner, IM fields with Chandler becuase it was too perfect weather not to, now blogging, then finally I will start working on my paper.

Procrastination or making the most of my day? You tell me.

Anyways, at then end of each blog I will add my workouts. Since I worked out after I wrote my blog yesterday, today's post will contain two.

Yesterday's Workout (1017 calories)
- 20 minutes interval running (1 min walking/ 1 min full run) came out to 2 miles
- Abs 3 sets of Leg Climbers, Mason Twists, and V-Ups (reps vary)
- 10 minute interval running - 1 mile
- 5 miles on the stationary bike

Today's Workout (992 calories)
- 10 minute interval running - 1 mile
- Arms 2 sets of curls, dumbbell bench, dumbbell pulls, overhead tri-extension, military press
- 5 miles on stationary bike - 5 miles
- 2 more sets of all 5 arm exercises above (all reps are between 10-15)
- Mason Twists 3 sets (25,20,15)
- 10 minute interval running - 1 mile

My weekly workout schedule is....
- Arms 2x a week
- Leg weights 2x a week
- Cardio 6x a week
- Abs 3x a week
- Mason twists everyday 

Summer Goals

Tuesday May, 7 2013

Today I am declaring SUMMER. I have no classes left and only one responsibility of completely a paper by Friday. Therefore I am FREED of school and declaring it summer!!!!!!

There are many things I want to accomplish this summer. Since this is my first blog posting, I will be setting some goals.

1.) I want this to be the BEST summer of my life! Seriously, I'm serious. This is the last summer I will not be in school or working full time, so I want to make it the best one EVERRR! I will be spending most my time with my friends and working part time. AND THAT'S IT. Just friends and fun!

2.) Get Healthy! Again. You know they say you come to college and gain the freshman 15, well it happened. Though it is more like the junior 20. Anyways I am going to be high school skinny by the end of the summer and I am going to do that by posting my workouts on here. That way I will have some sort of accountability. I also want to be able to do a REAL push-up by the end of the summer!

3.) Fill my life with JESUS! During the school year I have been slacking on my Jesus time. I want to spend time with him but then get caught up in the busyness of life. This summer it will be different. I will spend more time with Jesus in every way and I am completely EXCITED about it!

4.) Form lasting friendships! Like I said earlier this will be a summer filled with friends! I want to get to know my friends better and spend time with them. This is hard to do during the year. Summer gives me the time I need to grow in my friendships especially since I am entering my senior year (AHH) of college next semester.

I cannot wait to get started. I have the highest hopes for the Summer of 2013. I will be blogging along the way. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So get ready because this summer has begun. Now I'm off to eat a healthy snack and then I'm headed to the gym.....