Day 243

August 31, 2011

the one where I went to Linguistics and heard the Lord’s Prayer in Old English (which is crazy! Can you believe our language has changed THAT much over the years?), laughed through another STAT class with Stephanie (which included a surprise quiz with a trick question that everyone missed, but he thankfully gave us a chance to correct it before we turned it in!), and had some roomie bonding time while we blessed Casa Agape with prayers and Holy Water! (And we also sprinkled a little on Flat Carolyn! Hope you're feeling the blessings all the way over in Italy!)

Day 242

August 30, 2011

the one where I put my application for OLLU’s graduate school in the mailbox, went to my first Nutrition 470 and A&P classes of the semester, and spent some time hanging out with my brothers, followed by Mass and choir dinner! The Kocmoud twins put on a seriously epic performance for the rest of us over dinner—they sang a song and kept the beat by doing this. WHOA. And I thought we were cool back in high school band when we would just do the cup game by itself! Talk about skills! Y’all are awesome!! I’m so thankful that my brothers have already made friends with twins—God is too cool!

Day 241

August 29, 2011

the one where we celebrated the first day of school! (And the first day of my senior year!? Where has the time gone?) I’ll be honest; my feelings toward being a senior are pretty ambivalent! On the one hand, it’s awesome getting football tickets for first deck, walking around campus sporting a shiny gold ring, and running into tons of people you’ve met throughout your first 3 years here...but on the other hand it’s kind of bittersweet because you know that this is your last year as a student at the place you’ve learned to call “home.” Nevertheless, I have to remember that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a hint of sadness. And I’m so thankful that I decided to start my 365 project this year, so I can cherish these memories long after my time here at A&M is over!

Starting the day off right at the Rec + going to my first-ever Linguistics class (which I’m ridiculously excited about!) and getting out of class 30 minutes early + catching up with lots of friends during my long middle-of-the-day break + reading that the word “fish” could technically be spelled “ghoti” according to English phonetics (think of the “gh” in “enough,” the “o” in “women,” and the “ti” in “nation.” Mind. Blown.) + reading this article about weird college classes (thanks, Rachel!) + laughing my head off when my statistics professor introduced himself as “Dr. von Torture,” and then proceeded to entertain us for the next 50 minutes of class + SMYRT Kick-Off after Mass (which included volleyball, a 3-legged race, and watching Troy and Laura get pied in the face!) = What a way to begin the year!

Day 240

August 28, 2011

the one where we tried to make the last day of summer as long as we possibly could. Getting to see these beautiful girls at our beginning-of-the-year Terry Scholar orientation + doing a 500-piece puzzle with my roomies + watching Brooke and Vanessa play Super Smash Bros all afternoon + getting to carry up the offertory gifts during Mass with Nia and Rachel + a mini Welcome Weekend family dinner at Cheddar’s + coming home to see my roomies watching Rango + eating Dunkaroos = it’s bittersweet to see the end…but this has seriously been the best summer of all time!

From spending a week in Paris, to forming new and amazing friendships with my Aggie Awakening leadership homies, to living in St. Clare’s Cottage for 2 months, to spending time nurturing friendships old and new, to road trippin’ across Texas looking into graduate schools, to watching friends celebrate birthdays, get engaged, & get married, to watching my brothers graduate from high school and join me in Aggieland—this summer has been ridiculously blessed, and I couldn’t be more thankful!

And I’ll share this song with you since I’ve been singing it all day!

Day 239

August 27, 2011

the one where we spent the evening celebrating Ryan’s birthday, playing Settlers of Catan (with an awesome Lego knight…which did not keep me from completely dominating that game!!), sippin’ on Dr. Pepper, singing oldies, frosting Ryan’s funfetti birthday cake and decorating it with M&Ms, using Pokemon napkins, and even listening to a jam sesh that included sounds from homemade didgeridoos! I can’t believe it’s the last Saturday of summer--but I’m glad I got to spend it hanging out with these awesome people!

Day 238

August 26, 2011

the one that included:

*shopping adventures with Brooke and April

*baking my famous chocolate cookies

*finding my debit card (note to self: next time you go through a drive-thru, make sure they return your card before you get home and have a miniature panic attack! SO thankful to have it back!)

*getting ready for the official Casa Agape housewarming party

*celebrating Adam’s birthday by singing and presenting him with a candlelit cookie

*watching Up, Tangled, and Mean Girls (in which I defined the moral of the story: be nice!) while hanging out and chatting with wonderful friends :)

*feeding cookies to Flat Carolyn (the chocolate ones are her all-time favorites!)

*finding a stray cat outside the house

*being surprised by Matt Koronczok, who found the lost sheep!

*stuffing more people in the house than I thought would fit—so many that we could hardly squeeze all the girls in for this picture!

Special thanks to all the wonderful people who warmed our house with the gift of their presence tonight! We love you all! :)

Day 237

August 25, 2011

the one where I essentially took the day off and spent some time relaxing and reflecting in my little sanctuary. It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to slow down and focus on nothing more than the gift of being—not trying to live in the past or plan for the future, but enjoying life in the present moment.

Oddly enough, it kind of reminds me of eating. If your mom is anything like mine, you’ve probably been told growing up that there is no need to scarf down your food! Eat slowly and give yourself the chance to really taste and enjoy whatever food you’ve been blessed with. There’s no need to rush. And think of the preparer of that food—if a meal took 2 hours to make, it’s almost sad to see it disappear in a matter of seconds. For me, eating slowly affects more than just our enjoyment of the food—it affects our entire attitude toward the gifts we’ve been given, and allows us to be truly grateful for their every detail.

So it is with the way we live out our daily lives. In a world driven by productivity, slowing down and savoring the flavors and aroma of life is a constant challenge. I’m thankful for days like this, where I can sit back, count my blessings, and give thanks to the Creator for every detail of His wondrous gifts.

Day 236

August 24, 2011

the one where Table #1 dominated in the Welcome Weekend Olympics! “We’re…the…best, we’re the best; we are better than the rest! + We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re #1!” + *Bum bum tssss* + family bonding + cracking up to this song
+ a surprise downpour after dinner + “lightning! REAL lightning!” + dancing in the rain (doing the Bernie, the Hoedown Throwdown, and singing “I’ll Make a Man Out of You!”) while getting ridiculously soaked = today was wonderful.

I’m so thankful to have met such wonderful freshmen, and I look forward to spending time with each of you this year! Know that I’m here for you if you ever need anything at all—a listening ear, a prayer, a Mass buddy, and a friend—I’m so there it’s insane! :) I’ll be praying for you!

Day 235

August 23, 2011

the one where we had our first day of Welcome Weekend 2011! Finally getting to meet the amazing freshmen of Table #1 (LOVE you all!) + listening to some awesome talks + spending the day singing, playing games, and discussing life + learning why Brad Pitt is better than George Clooney (and Chris Meyer’s reasoning behind it) + seeing some crazy stuff at the talent show + Carly's reflection song (posted below) = SO thankful for today!

It’s such a blessing to see so many students who want to get involved at St. Mary’s and grow in their faith. God has an amazing journey for each and every one of you!

Day 234

August 22, 2011

the one where we did so many awesome things, I had to resort to bullet points!
Today included the following:

*Taking Thomas & Lucas to pick up their A&M shirts and flip-flops (and watching them get $80 worth of Aggie gear fo' free!)

*Buying textbooks for the semester

*Using our Schlotzsky’s coupons

*Hanging out at the Casa watching Ghostbusters and Tommy Boy while working on nametags for Welcome Weekend with ‘Rikman

*Reuniting with friends after Mass

*Family night at Johnny Carino’s with tons of wonderful friends! (Bowtie Festival = yes ba!)

*Discovering that dunkeroo’s still exist! (Who knew?!)

*Picking up Katelynn from the airport at 10pm with Brooke

*Talking about how excited we are that April will be back tomorrow!! :)

Day 233

August 21, 2011

the one where Thomas and Lucas moved to Aggieland! Hiking up to the 4th floor of FHK with lots of boxes + finding a micro-fridge in the dorm (and the boys wondering if they could keep it) + hanging one thing on the wall: a painting from my grandma’s house + going to Welcome Weekend workshop + evening mass and hanging out with my brothers = what a day!

PS: Special thanks to the twins for finding this!

Day 232

August 20, 2011

the one where Brooke and I had adventures all day! Getting some great deals at the mall during tax-free weekend + Brooke texting Auntie Anne’s to get a free pretzel (never have I wanted texting so badly in my life!) + Brooke sharing her free pretzel with me (“that’s true love.”) + Momsie coming into town so we could make cake balls and have a sleepover party = life is good. :)

Day 231

August 19, 2011

the one where me and Brooke spent the day picking out things for Casa Agape, discovering the $6.99 lunch buffet at Chef Cao’s, hanging up our aprons in the kitchen, trying not to laugh at the video below, and watching the extended version of The Two Towers at the Lighthouse!

Day 230

August 18, 2011

the one where me and Erik laughed so hard we cried over videos like the ones posted below, road tripped it back to Aggieland singing the whole way (including belting out almost the entire A Walk to Remember soundtrack) and counting the number of billboards for Buc-ee’s we saw! When I got back, I gave Katelynn an apron for her birthday, which made all of us want to model our aprons for these cheesy pictures. :) What a day!

I also wanted to give a Happy Birthday shout-out to Ryan! Hope your day was full of blessings, my friend!





Enjoy! :) I laugh more and more each time I see them!

Day 229

August 17, 2011

the one where I went to Mass at St. Ann’s in Coppell, had lunch with Ali, Manny, Casey, Daniel, & Erik, and visited with the Speech Pathology department head at UT Dallas. It seems like a wonderful program—I was able to talk with several current graduate students who couldn’t say enough about how much they love it! I will certainly be applying there!
But unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of that, so please enjoy this picture of me and my roomie Katelynn, who’s celebrating her birthday today!! Hope you had a wonderful day, my love!

Day 228

August 16, 2011

the one where I spent the day relaxing, reading “One Thousand Gifts,” journaling, hanging out by the pool, and playing bananagrams with Elizabeth, Erik, and his parents.

Day 227

August 15, 2011

the one where me and Erik took a road trip to Dallas! Talking almost nonstop for 3 hours + sampling fudge at Buc-ees + getting to the chapel at University of Dallas exactly 5 minutes before Mass started + lunch at Panera with Elizabeth, Amanda, Hilary, and the rest of TOBET + getting a grand tour of Flower Mound + meatloaf (“I love it.”) + strawberry colada snow cones from Bahama Bucks + singing this song (below) in Joe’s truck as loud as we could + watching Inception and staying up talking about it until after midnight = today was baaa. (Yes, that was a sheep sound.) LOVED today!

Day 226

August 14, 2011

the one where we celebrated Carolyn's 21st birthday! I am so grateful for the gift of Carolyn in my life, and I’m so glad that we met during our first semester at A&M! Thank you so much for letting me take over your room this summer while you were in Argentina, and for being such a wonderful friend to me! Lots of friends gathered at the Cottage + Papa Murphy’s pizza + cookies and ice cream + lighting a sparkler + talking and laughing for hours on end = Happy Birthday, Carolyn! I love you tons!! :)

PS: Today was also my grandma’s birthday, Carolyn’s brother’s birthday, and other Carolyn's mom’s birthday—August 14, you are one popular day! Also…I accidentally forgot my memory card in my computer (365 fail), so thank goodness Brooke was there to take these for me! Thanks a million, roomie! :)

Day 225

August 13, 2011

the one where April and Brooke moved into Casa Agape! We now have furniture in the living room and dining area (so it looks like no more having picnics on the floor…unless we really want to!), decorations hanging on the walls, and more importantly: two ridiculously awesome roomies!!! Spending a day moving + putting flowers on the dining room table + showcasing April’s beautiful decoupage coffee table + getting sweet letters handwritten by 10-year-old Bethany (Dear Brooke, can we keep her? Please?) + being “totes spesh” with Brooke’s ridiculous “BroStache” app = this year is going to be an adventure. Fa sho. SO excited to live with these girls!

Day 224

August 12, 2011

the one where I had Blue Baker’s cinnamon bread for breakfast with Katelynn (d-to-the-licious), talked to Carolyn on the phone one last time before she boarded her plane for Germany (and a part of me went with her, in the form of Flat Jamie), finally began watching The Lord of the Rings with an evening of “The Fellowship of the Ring” at the Lighthouse with Erik, Ryan, Matt, and Raymond, followed by a drive out to Lake Bryan to stargaze and attempt to see the meteor shower! Talking with great friends + listening to Explosions in the Sky + “that is so BA!” + imagining how awesome it would be to live in The Shire + hanging out by the moonlit water until 3am = this is why I love summer nights.

Day 223

August 11, 2011

Day 223:
the one where Katelynn moved into Casa Agape! We both spent most of the day unpacking, organizing, and decorating—and I am astounded at the way my room came together! It really is my own little sanctuary. When I knew that I would be moving off-campus after spending 3 years in the dorms, I decided that it was time for a change: I was going to try my best to transition into a more grown-up version of myself (i.e. hanging picture frames instead of taping pictures all over the walls, getting rid of my dorky posters, and the biggest one of all: buying a bedspread that doesn’t look like it belongs in a little girl’s room.) I knew it was high time I got away from the flashy, bright colors I’ve always coated everything in, but I knew that it would be a challenge. (You can laugh, but this moving experience actually turned into a coming-of-age story!)

I ended up finding a pretty comforter that isn’t kid-ish, but isn’t bland either—and I LOVE it. Peacock feathers are some of those things that really make you stop and admire God’s handiwork; they are so intricately made! I decided to accent my room with these natural works of art instead of goofy posters and plastic trinkets, and I can honestly say that this room feels more like “me” than any of the ones I’ve had before. I figured out that I don’t have to have a little girl’s room to be a child at heart!

I’ll post more pictures as soon as I have the finished product! :)

Day 222

August 10, 2011

the one where Katelynn and I picked up the keys to Casa Agape! We were so excited to move in that we accidentally showed up at the wrong house first and couldn’t figure out why our keys wouldn’t work (oopsie!)…and then when we found the right house, we were surprised to see that it was still being cleaned and painted. (SO SUSPENSEFUL, I know!) While I waited to move in, I visited Dylan, John, Sean, Juan, and Will’s house, (which is a basically a gigantic man-cave), and by the time my dad and brothers came into town, the house was all clear! I’m so blessed to have such a great moving crew. We got everything into the house and up the stairs in mere minutes, and then went to Cheddar’s for dinner to celebrate! Then I spent the rest of the night setting up my room—and this is just a little sneak peak of what you can expect it to be decorated with. :)

Day 221

August 9, 2011

the one where I finally got an oil change and a new car battery (apparently my car still had the original battery from 2004—how my car has been running until now is beyond me!), packed up tons of stuff, and came back to C-Stat where I was surprised to find a Flat Carolyn waiting for me. :D (So a little part of her gets to have adventures in Aggieland this semester!) I also walked down the street to visit with Joanna in her new house (and came back home with some of her white chocolate macadamia nut cookies), and later that night had a sleepover party with Carolyn Leatherman (who surprised Elizabeth with her favorite flowers as a gift before she gets her wisdom teeth removed!) Couldn’t be more thankful for today!

Day 220

August 8, 2011

the one where Jacob took his driving test and got his license (congrats broski!), I emailed almost every SLP graduate program in Texas, painted some artwork for our living room wall, made chicken spaghetti with Momsie, and baked a chocolate mousse cake. :)

Day 219

August 7, 2011

the one where we celebrated Mass, visited Grandma, and picked up furniture for my new bedroom in Casa Agape—which I will be moving into in just a few days! I’m fortunate to have access to so many pieces of antique furniture; I have a mirror that belonged to my great-Aunt, a chair and dresser that belonged to my Grandma, and I’ll be sleeping on the bed that my Momsie used to sleep in when she was growing up. :) I love older, vintage-y furniture because you know every piece has a story behind it. (And I think the kittens liked everything too!) After an evening of moving, dusting, and polishing everything, we were completely exhausted, but thankful to have all the furniture I’ll need for quite a while! Happy Sunday, everyone!

Day 218

August 6, 2011

the one where I waved goodbye to San Antonio, thanked the Coalson’s for their hospitality (and for spoiling me the past few days!), came back home, took the dogs for a walk (where Sunny greeted me with this face!), ate Blue Bell ice cream and drank a glass of sweet Fredericksburg wine with my Momsie.

Day 217

August 5, 2011

the one where Rachel and I window-shopped at La Cantera until we dropped, ate a delicious pizza from a coal brick oven, spent waaay too much time admiring all the expensive things in Anthropologie (where I found 2 of my favorite books, and where the lighting was so nice that Rachel made me model for her in the fitting rooms…which I guess was a good thing because some of you want to see my fresh cut), and having some much-needed cousin bonding time! Then we celebrated Les and Patsy ’s 44th wedding anniversary by taking them out for Chinese, and ended the evening with popcorn, The Prince of Egypt (“look at your life through Heaven’s eyes!”), and watching as much of Secretariat as we could before we fell asleep. So thankful for today!

Day 216

August 4, 2011

the one where I went to San Antonio with Judy & Rachel to visit Our Lady of the Lake University! They have a Speech Pathology program there, so it’s one of my graduate school options, and I was excited to check it out! The campus was small and beautiful, with a gorgeous cathedral right beside the main building—and the craziest thing happened when I got there! Got a little story for you, Ags!

So pretty much as soon as we got to OLLU’s Sacred Heart Chapel, my Aunt Judy was surprised to see a lady she went to high school with, named Sister Anita. I couldn’t believe it—what a small world! But then it got more interesting. Sister Anita asked where I was from, and when I said “Cyclone,” she responded “me too!” (And for those of you who know how teeny-tiny Cyclone is, your jaw probably just hit the ground like mine did!) It also turns out that I graduated from high school with her nephew, which is just crazy! After all that, we got a tour of the chapel and I met with an advisor who answered all my questions about graduate school.

To make the day even better, the family we stayed with in Helotes leads Praise & Worship at an Adoration chapel once a month, and we just happened to show up on the right day! And after some good prayer and fellowship, we ended the night with chocolate cake, Rocky Road ice cream, and Messina Hof wine. Today seriously couldn’t have been better! Thank you Jesus—you never cease to amaze me!

Day 215

August 3, 2011

the one where Joanna found the Justin Bieber poster Erik and I taped over her closet, which led to some A) hilarious shrieks of delight, B) falling onto the ground, C) laughing our heads off, and D) all of the above. (Dear Erik: I wish you could have seen the reaction! We are awesome. Yesssba!)

After this, I got a haircut for the first time since January, and then traveled back home—and coincidentally enough, today was the same day Nicolas traveled across the world to visit his family back in France! (Hope your 10-hour flight was full of wonderful movies and limited headaches! Say bonjour to Paris for me!)

Day 214

August 2, 2011

the one where—for the first time since May—I got to hang out with BOTH of my precious Carolyn’s! Carolyn Leatherman is finally back from Argentina, and Carolyn Ledlow is about to leave for Italy, so we’re soaking up this brief time that we’re all in the same country! Today is the day I got to say “Welcome home!” to one Carolyn, and wish the other Carolyn “Bon voyage!” I couldn’t be more thankful to know these two ladies. They are two of my best friends in the whole world and I love them dearly! And basically, our day together was nothing short of EPIC.

A breakfast date with C-Low at The Village + trying on dresses at thrift stores and finding the PERFECT Maria von Trapp dress (“the hiiiills are aliiiive!”) + coming down the stairs to see C-Leather pulling into the driveway and running to the window just in time for her to see my “creeper face” perched behind the glass + an EPIC reunion hug + C-Low hiding in the pantry waiting to be found + C-Leather opening the pantry door and FREAKING OUT + cooking an INSANELY delicious dinner (a hodgepodge of orzo, chicken, squash, zucchini, eggplant, apples, avocado, and raspberry chipotle sauce) + baking more chocolate cookies + laughing our heads off at this hilarious music video C-Leather saw in Argentina + chatting and catching up with my girls = I LOVE reunion day. Thank you Jesus, for blessing me with such wonderful friends!

Day 213

August 1, 2011

the one where I spent the day painting, hanging out with Brittany and Katie, and eating tacos at Fuego with these awesome people! Which was great considering some random guy named Peter had a surprise birthday party there, so we got to yell “SURPRISE!” and sing to him even though we’d never met him before! I seriously considered doing it like this, but I refrained for Peter’s sake.

Day 212

July 31, 2011

the one where we celebrated Sunday by sharing a Papa Murphy’s pizza, finishing the homemade cake balls, playing Loaded Questions, and laughing our heads off all afternoon! Imagining having the ability to read a book by touching it + “bananas and friends” + crustaceans and seahorses + baking my special cookie recipe with Carolyn (which included the sharing of a special heart-shaped “friendship cookie”) and talking about life until midnight = this is why Sundays are my favorite. :)