I wonder...

What would happen if I cooked my way through the Pioneer Woman cookbook?

First of all, let me not get too ahead of myself. Thanksgiving home with my family was full of fun, gallbladder drama, long chats with wonderful friends, beautiful days at the lake, quality time with my family, and some of the best food I have ever eaten. Seriously, the time with my family was great, but the mashed potatoes my mom made are what I am dreaming about. Second source of inspiration is my beautiful roommate, Lindley, the talented artistic and gorgeous filmmaker who happens to be turning 23 on Wednesday and desperately needs a birthday cake!

The girls at the lake

My serious table decorating skills

The spread (ignore the brussel sprouts, my mom was the only one who ate them...you might also want to take note that everyone could have had their own pie. RIDICULOUS!)

I got inspired to begin this challenge when I was sitting on our couch telling Lindley about how I spent most of my Thanksgiving break eating the pioneer woman's recipe for mashed potatoes as if they were the only food on planet earth. Then I busted out my cookbook, read the ingredients, and drooled. Then I giggled to myself because Ree had just tweeted that Jillian Michael's was kicking her butt. (Jillian kicks my butt all the time) Then I decided to bake Lindley her chocolate sheet cake for her birthday. Then I decided to watch her Thanksgiving throwdown with Bobby Flay for the 500000th time. I am a stalker. That is just the way it is. Yes, I realize I just started 15 sentences with the word then and as a 4th grade teacher that is entirely inappropriate, but I just wanted you to understand to fluidity of my obsession with all things Ree Drummond.

With this said, I will begin my quest to becoming a wonderful cook by baking, chopping, frying, sauteing, grilling, but most especially eating everything in The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. I am a planner type, but also a busy woman so the rules are as follows:
1. I must cook everything in the book (its small, it all tastes good, this is a no brainer)
2. I must take pictures and blog about it
3. I must be a good friend/neighbor/teacher/or girlfriend and share these goodies with others

Those are the only rules...no time limit!!!! I wonder what will be my favorite...

I wonder....

When I will stop making excuses?

Excuse #1 for not blogging: It was summer, I was student teaching, I had no idea what I was doing/where I was living/ where I was teaching, basically didn't want to write the most depressing blog known to mankind

Excuse #2: I got a job teaching 4th grade and OMG it was so overwhelming. Oh boo hoo you are fine.

Excuse #3: Things settled, but I had nothing to say. Where in the world was this blog going? This is where the time crunch began. I don't know how many times I made excuses and said that I would start blogging on "Monday" while I simply refused to accept any blog I followed that didn't update every other day. Simply ridiculous.

So with that said, I may not have anything interesting to say, but I refuse to be a quitter! Like my mother has always taught me, "sometimes you just need to put your big girl panties on."

I'm sure this blog will be filled with stories of 4th grade boys fighting in reading class, excerpts from the lovely writing my students do (I'm not lame, come on, just the funny stuff), cooking disasters and triumphs, romantic weekends with Brian, and of course the many adventures of my fun Nashville crew. I hope you stay tuned...

Make new friends, but keep the old...

...One is silver and the others gold!

This is the theme of my life right now. I love making new friends. Just love it. I will admit I have had many moments in the month of June where this was going on in my head. Hopefully not out loud. That would just be crazy.

"Is my outfit cute?"
"You're outfit doesn't matter. You're not a kappa."
"Did I really just say that?"
"Not out loud dumbo. Get it together."
"Is he cute?"
"Whitney, you think they are all cute."
"Am I breathing too loud?"
"Oh remember that time when your boyfriend called you Darth. Oh the humiliation!"
"Why are you thinking about this spaz?"
"Is there something in my teeth?"
"Just chew like a human. You weren't raised in a cave for crying out loud."
"What are we talking about again?"
"Crap. What's her name?"

Now that you are aware of my lunatic status. I will tell you that I have never been more thankful for new friends in my life. Growing up in East Texas, I had the same friends until I went to college. Then I lived with Beth Ann Wommack, who knew every incoming Baylor freshman. What a relief. All this said, when I decided to move to Nashville, TN where I thought I would have about 2 friends (only if they didn't desert me) I was a little nervous.

If anyone besides people who already know me read this blog, now would be the time when I explain that I am actually quite social and am being a tad dramatic by acting like I have the social capabilities of a stump, but lucky for me the 3 people who read this blog know that is not true.

It has been hard starting fresh because I am obsessed with my friends from college. Yes, I have only not been in college for 2 months, but who is counting. God is good. I have made, grown, and discovered such sweet friendships here that I know this was part of the plan all along. The overwhelming feeling that I can be myself is something that I have been praying for for a long time. What a sweet feeling to feel at home here, and with so many new friends.

This all to say, I am thankful. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Until Miercoles...

Its about time...

10 things I have learned about myself this week:

1. I pride myself on being a highly organized individual. I'm not THAT organized and my lack of blogging is an excellent example of that.

2. I love teaching! I may not be good at it yet, as evidenced by the epic Thursday I experienced last week. Lets just say the peak was hearing one of my 6 year olds sing "Rude Boy" with some serious accurateness and it went way downhill from there. Good thing they couldn't be cuter. But on a positive note, I am learning something new everyday that I think will help me be a better teacher.

3. Next to being organized, I pride myself on my balls to the wall/no excuses/ I ain't scared of nothing attitude. This attitude has failed me every day this week as I imagined a bad guy jumping out of every crevice in our (I say that as if I am more than a mere house guest) house. Bad idea to go see "The Killers" right before bed huh? (For those of you who don't think that's scary. Try it. Dare you.)

4. 6 am is not really that early. I have been fooling myself thinking I cannot wake up before 9 without a huge cup of coffee. I am actually much more pleasant (in my own opinion of course) than I ever could have imagined myself being. Look at that, maybe I will brighten the lives of young children after all. I secretly kind of like this new early bird lifestyle of mine.

5. New friends are fun to make. I had so much fun hanging out in downtown Franklin last weekend with a new group of girls. How faithful God is to provide the right kind of people to encourage me in this journey.

6. I miss my friends. I know this is a contradictory statement to the previous one, but I LOVE my friends from college and I am big girl enough to admit that I cried saying goodbye to every last one of them after the wedding extravaganza! (more next time)

7. I am a grown up. I have responsibilities. I have to go to work EVERYDAY. They make me. Its weird.

8. I love the Bachelorette. Yes, I already knew this, but I think I love it even more now that I have seen how ridiculous human beings can be over a reality tv show and a rose. Kasey and point. hahaha. I knew you guys missed those one liners. Who am I kidding?

9. I don't know why it has taken me so long, but I am finally beginning to understand the leap of faith I am taking and how much things are going to change. Good change, but change none the less. I am excited to see what God has in store for this season of my life, because it is evident that it is going to be big.

10. Last but not least, I have learned that I spend to much time on the computer. On that note,

Adios amigos.

Welcome to Tennessee!

Three days ago, I packed up my car and got on the open road ready for my big adventure. 10 hours, 2 diet cokes, a pack of starbursts, half a book on tape, and 4 sister-made cds later...I got to Nashville! I love it here! I start my teaching program in the morning and I could not be more excited about getting to really dive into teaching. I love the family I am living with and they have already been such a blessing. More on that later.

I really do plan to become a great photographer (meaning I take at least one picture a month) in the next year, it has just taken longer than I expected. So more pictures soon. This weekend has been so fun! Friday, I spent the day getting things together for Monday (fingerprinting, turning in paper work, boring stuff) but got to have lunch with one of my favorite people, and only male friend at the point, Greiner. Friday night, the Smiths with some friends and I loved getting to be with the Cates family, another family from camp, and meeting a new friend Jordan who has been so sweet to help me figure things out here. I can already tell I am going to love it here.

Anna and Elizabeth

Saturday, I got to babysit the two youngest Smith girls, Anna and Elizabeth who are as cute as they are funny! Elizabeth is me 19 years ago. She loves boys, dress up, princesses, and model walking. Anna is so sweet and loves all things princesses too. I can already tell that I am going to love spending so much time with these fun sisters. Last night I babysat again with Mary Grace, their soon to be 8th grade daughter, who is so fun and sweet! I love hearing about middle school all over again and thanking God that I don't have to go back. haha. After that I met some friends to watch a movie. Little did I know that it would keep me from falling asleep last night.

Smith Family in Disney World

I am so thankful for the Smith family. I know that they will be just the encouragement and support that I need throughout this summer. I admire their families compassion for others and commitment to Jesus Christ and I am looking forward to spending more time with them.

Tomorrow I start orientation for Nashville Teaching Fellows and to top it off I have an interview right after. Wish me luck! It has just hit me recently that I have moved somewhere I have never really been, with very few people I know, to do a job that terrifies me. Should be a fun journey with lots to share. Stay tuned.

22 things for my 22nd year!

Yes its true. The days of anticipated birthdays have come and gone. Now that I am an adult or at least officially out of college and "in my 20's", I thought it was about time I started making some goals for myself. Here goes nothing. The 22 things I am going to try to do this year:

1. Meet someone famous (you knew that was coming)

2. Talk to Hailey Ann Laguarta every Monday

3. Blog faithfully (3 times a week)

4. Travel to a state I have never been to (I'm really hoping New York and South Carolina)

5. Cook/Bake for friends often

6. Date someone I never would expect myself to (even if its just once)

7. Find a community

8. Run without exaggerating (as in actually running more than 5 minutes)

9. Learn yoga

10. Read 22 books and find new favorites

11. Don't drink any Diet Coke!!!! (hardest one by far, oh and I start tomorrow)

12. Save and plan for a trip to Europe

13. Learn things about myself that I never knew before

14. Spend time alone

15. Keep up with my best friends from college (list serve babay!)

16. Send people packages

17. Love on elementary school kids everyday!

18. Get involved in a church

19. Be "responsible" fun

20. Talk to my sister all the time and plan a fun trip together

21. Visit all of the places that everyone says you "have to" in Nashville

22. Make perfect grades at Belmont

Some of these may sound nerdy to you, and if thats the case....you must not know me! For real though, I hope my 22nd year is as fun for you as its going to be for me! Nashville countdown....8 days!

See ya college!

This Friday I graduate from college. Yep I'm done. At the request of my friends, who just don't understand if I don't post on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday...here goes nothing. The past few weeks have been full of many lasts as my friend Carol commented on her blog this week, which is strange and exciting.

If you know me at all I have a flair for the dramatic/ tend to over-exaggerate a bit. The change that I am about to make is finally setting in and I find myself thinking that the world is quite possibly coming to an end. I will miss my roommates, my friends, George's, spontaneous everything, late night talks with my best friends, getting away with doing ridiculous things, being close to my family, and many other things that I have most definitely taken for granted over the past four years. This week is one of many lasts, but let me assure you that I am PUMPED for what comes next.

Word on the street is that after college is still fun. Who knew? In all honesty, through all of my whining about leaving and moving on, I feel like I am so ready and in exactly the place God has for me in this stage of my life. Instead of spending my time brainstorming what might possibly the best sing act of all time, or scheduling my life based on who I was walking the bear trail with that day, I will be reading silly books to cuties and brainstorming bulletin board ideas.

So, even though I am sad (might even cry sad) to leave my friends and family, I am beginning to understand how God reveals his plans to us. If you had asked me 4 years ago if I would be doing what I am doing, I would have thought that you were really funny and must not know me, but I love seeing how a passion can ignite that I didn't know I had and drive me to something totally new and out of my comfort zone.

With that said, I look forward to many new firsts. First day of school, first apartment, first new friend, first country music star citing... the list goes on. I plan to take advantage of the next few weeks and I can't wait until my lasts turn into firsts.

Over and out.

P.S. Tonight is Bachelorette party #3. I will fill you in tomorrow on all of its greatness.

Mr. and Mrs. Hurt

In honor of Cace and Mel's honeymoon return today, I thought I would recap this past weekend.

Friday:
10:30 a.m.: Maddie, Jillian, and I left Waco. Maddie had to stop for Common Grounds. typical.

12:30 p.m.: Lunch at Newk's with my mother. God bless the veggie pizza.

5:00 p.m.: Showed up late to the rehearsal. Goofed around. You know the drill.

6:30 p.m.: Rehearsal dinner at the Cherokee Club, a roomie fav. Gave probably the best speech EVER!


10:30 p.m.: Cried like a baby because my precious roommate Mel is going to live with a boy! Also said "this is the end of an era" 500000 times.

Saturday:

10:00 a.m.: Bridesmaids Brunch. More crying, good food, and apparently one leg (refer to picture below)
1:00 p.m.: Jaci (Cace's 8th grade sister) hung out with us at the lake and we scarred her for life.

3:00 p.m.: Got ready at Mel's church. Tried to remind myself that wedding day jitters are for those actually getting married. Mel looked so FINE!

5:30 p.m.: They got hitched. Beautiful ceremony, lots of love, and the longest aisle in the history of the world.

7:00 p.m.: Walked up to this cover of The Knot Texas!


7:10 p.m.: Chowed down.

8:00 p.m.: Mel danced with Jimmy Man...



9:00 p.m.: Danced the night away with Steve (my DAD) while this guy told everyone I picked up a random gray haired 50 year old man, who has some wicked moved by the way.


9:30 p.m.: Danced with my favorite Tyler boy of all time, the one and only, Michael Mason (sorry ladies, he is off the market)

10:00 p.m.: This happened.


10:30 p.m.: This happened. (Jealous freshman girls, thought so.)



Past my bedtime a.m: Hung out at Blake Smith's wondering when I get to go to bed.



Sunday:

9:00 a.m.: Cursed my alarm clock as I joyfully packed up and went to brunch at the Cherokee Club. Mel's family is one of my favorites and we had fun recounting the evening with them. So much fun! Oh and Jeremiah and I gave an epic performance.

12:00 p.m.: Drove back to Waco with Maddie and listened to every c.d. I ever burned in high school. Haha. What a way to end a weekend.

Now I do not promise to have this much fun for a while, but I do promise to continue stealing pictures from people who actually take them on facebook. (Rachel Meek and Meredith Smith, thanks)

Have a great weekend friends!

Reason #7

The countdown is for real folks...9 days and I will be a graduate. I'm far too young for this.

This weekend was incredible in case you were wondering, and I am sure I will find time to disrupt my finals studying to give you the full recap. Lets just say that Mel and Cace could not be more happy and their wedding was documented by every girl I know for "future reference". It was beautiful, fun, meaningful, and the beginning of the end as I like to say. More on that later.

I think it is important not to move away from the top 10 countdown that has been going on for about a month now. You are probably going to think this reason is dumb, but in my mind it is totally legitimate, so there. I love to read. I mean if I have a new book and some free time, there is nothing I would rather do.

Reason #7 that I love college is that I love reading. I promise this will make sense.

You know those dorky kids in school who get like way too many Accelerated Reader points? Don't worry, not me, but only because I was too cool and somewhat of a rebel.

This love of reading has always been associated with fun for me, which is why it has been one of the most relaxing things to do in college. A little background, Deanna (my mother), who by the way is a great mother, told me and Mallory (my bratty little sister) that for every chapter book that we read during the summer, we could have one friend spend the night. Being the most competitive person in the world (only about dumb things) I was driven to read as much as I could from the public library to ensure 100% summer fun.

Now, I look back and think "Wow, Deanna was smart! She knew how to make a rebellious 10 year old spend her summer reading!" This didn't quite work with Mallory, but she doesn't know the real value of learning like I do (as I procrastinate from my finals). Anyways, to bring this full circle I love to read and I especially love to read books that are cheesy. Example, I read two Nicholas Sparks books in like 2 days over my last college spring break. Nerd, yep.

I am going to miss having a Christmas break where there is no responsibility and I can be anti-social and read 500000 books. But I have a feeling this job of mine will lead to a new love of children's books. Can't wait.

Here are a few of my favorite reads to inspire you to read more than my blog. What are some of your favorite books?

Wait, not a book. I really read, I promise.

Cheesy, told ya. I love this book and I don't care who knows it.


One of my favorites.


All-time favorite. If you haven't read this book, do something about it.

Have a great Cinco de Mayo my friends. I will be busting out my Mexican dress, probably driving through Taco Cabana, and hopefully watching Selena. Love you mean it.

Melissa and Cace

Today, my blog is dedicated to two of my best friends, Melissa and Cace! I am writing this as I pack for their wedding in Longview, TX. As some of my favorite East Texans of all time, roommates, members of team funk, and great friends....I can't wait!

Let me tell you why I love these people:

• They are incredible people together and apart
• They have listened to countless stories of every crush I have ever had in college (thats a lot of listening folks)
• They eat Totino's pizza and don't care who knows it
• They love each other all the time no matter what
• They are great friends

I am very sad to not live near this great couple next year, but I have a feeling there will be some road trips in our future! I love you guys and I can't wait to see what God does with you in your life together. We are blessed by your friendship! CONGRATULATIONS!

Look forward to a full recap of this wonderful weekend on Monday!

Sidenote

Things I would love right now:

1. a large diet coke from Sonic
2. an afternoon of laying out without painters
3. a housekeeper to deep clean my room
4. no more homework assignments
5. exemptions from all of my finals
6. chocolate covered strawberries (a girl can dream)
7. someone to workout for me
8. to be done reading my books for Nashville
9. Pei Wei for dinner
10. for this weekend to be here already

Just thought I would share all of the things that I wish I had instead of an hour and a half of Resource Management! 3 more days! 3 more days! 3 more days!

Have a great day friends!

Last Monday

I love the last day of school! I love the first too, but that is for another time and another day. Ever since I could remember the last day of school happened to be right around my birthday. I even had a rockin' 13th birthday party with two of my guy friends on the last day of 7th grade. This will explain my love clearly:

1. I got out of school for the summer, wonderful obviously
2. My mother let me purchase a rather scandalous swimsuit
3. We had a d.j. at our pool party...so cool
4. I got to have all the boys I wanted come without having to invite them
5. We also had pizza and cookie cake just like every "cool" 13th bday

Probably looked a little something like this.


I think it was this very party that lead to my excitement over the end of the year. This year, I will celebrate graduation, moving away, and my birthday in a different way. Most likely it will include:

1. Getting out of school, but crying because I am moving away and leaving all of my friends
2. Wearing the least scandalous swimsuit I can find around our family pool (its all camps fault)
3. Fighting with my sister over whose ipod is cooler and should be blasted throughout the backyard
4. Not speaking to any boys except my father
5. Eating dad's burgers and loving life

Looks more like this.


I say all this as a reminder that today is indeed the beginning of my last week of college EVER! Yep I'm pumped and celebrating by procrastinating on all homework that could possibly be due this week in true college student fashion.

Hope you all experience a large realm of emotions just like I surely will in the upcoming month of May!

Dia del Oso

I wonder...
when I became such a grandmother!

Yesterday, was one of Baylor's greatest holidays, Dia del Oso! While this was a great day for good breakfast, bright colored clothing, KOT basketball, 10th street, and NO SCHOOL, I was not prepared to live it up like my younger counterparts. Yes, I went to the annual washers tournament and had a glorious time, but this body can't stay up past midnight without a big nap the next day. See part of my old ladyness is tied to me waking up at 7 a.m. EVERYDAY. This will be great when I have to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for a group of first, second, third, or fourth graders in a few months, but right now its seriously cramping my style.

So after waking up at 7, enjoying some neighborly brunch, donning my best mexican dress, and heading down to 10th street, my allergies started to act up. Normally, I would pop a claritin, drink a cup of coffee, and get back to the party. Not for this grandma, I walked home, popped a benadryl, and napped the rest of the day! WHOO HOOO CRAZY!

Now, I promise all of my loyal blog stalkers that I will not be this boring for the rest of my college experience (which by the way is growing shorter every second)! Wild tales to come.... starting today with laundry, hw, and some mac-n-cheese! Hold me back!

Yours truly,
Whit

Reason #6

As the countdown continues, let me just tell you that the end of college rocks! Yep rocks! Tomorrow is Dia del Oso, a holiday which is near and dear to my heart. I mean what is better than a random day off at the end of the school year, dedicated to having a good time with all of your friends. I plan to take full advantage this year, look forward to a post on Friday detailing the week's events.

In honor of this love for school holidays, I thought you should know about how much I love Spring Break! I love it even more now because I know it will stay with me forever, as long as I am a teacher! Therefore, as I drink my diet coke and think about the beach a few things come to mind.

• Lots of attempts at getting a tan
• Sunburns as a result
• Seafood by the actual ocean
• Cute boys
• Fun friends who leave notes on said cute boys cars
• Breaking out the spring clothes even if its 50 degrees
• Reading a book (multiple in my case)
• Not having to go to school

When I was growing up, my family used to go to this thing called the Family Get Away. It was a great opportunity with our church to get away for a few days, spend time in nature, and more importantly with each other. I went through many get away phases. A. elementary--ride my bike as much as I possibly could B. middle school-- wondering what cute boys were coming, then obsessing over them the entire trip (shocker huh?) C. high school-- referring to this trip as the Family "Gay" Away because I finally realized I was in a cabin in Oklahoma while my friends were in the Bahamas. College has, however, brought many more beach trips and is why Spring Break is Reason #6 on my countdown!

Senior Year: Destin, FL
(Wish I had some FGA pics but I don't think you are ready for that incredible style)

The past few weekends have been a blast! Here is just a little bit of the fun we have had!

Bachelorette #1 Melissa: on the way to Gruene for the weekend
River floating, junk food eating, and dirty game playing....good time had by all

(Hunter and I at the Ranch party being goofy)
Wedding Showers in Longview: lake time, dancing the night away, and fun friends

Happy Dia to all of my loyal readers!

TGIF

Bachelorette Round 2: Hope you're ready!

Courtney and Jeremy

Today's featured couple

I could easily say that the theme of my life right now is weddings! I have been awaiting this god-forsaken (I mean glorious) time in my life with a mixture of anticipation and dread. First of all, I love weddings and I ain't scared to say it. My grandmother made Mallory and I bridesmaids dresses and bouquets to play in when we were kids. Mallory, my sweet loving younger sister, was usually the flower girl, usher, groom, officiant or pretty much any other lame role while I switched from bride to bridesmaid depending on my mood. I'm so glad I got all of that practice inbecause I am on a quest to beat Katherine Heigl out of her bridesmaid title! Secondly, I am happy to be the bridesmaid (not the bride) for a long time, hence the dread. (don't take me serious, I'm full of jokes today)

I have told you a little about my roommates Megan and Melissa who are both engaged and getting married in like a half second, but today is about Courtney. Court is probably my oldest friend at Baylor, seeing that she was the girl everyone knew when we got here due to her commitment to facebook messaging. Love that about you Court! Courtney and Jeremy are getting married on June 12th and tonight is a night of serious celebration. We are having her Bachelorette and Lingerie Shower in Ft. Worth/ Flower Mound tonight and I can't wait to get dressed up, eat lots of mexican food, giggle over panties, eat junk, and spend lots of time in the hottub with my best friends. Life is good I tell ya!

I am also going to Longview for a fun weekend of wedding showers for Melissa and hopefully some lake time! I will fill you all in with the weekend's happenings, pics, and my next reason on Monday!

Peace and Sic Em!

Reason #5

Yep. I'm rebelling. Let me just catalog this past weeks events that kept me from being the super blogger I was made to be.

Thursay--drove to Salado with roomies to visit Carla and Byron Weathersbee. Carla discipled us last year and we are all her biggest fans. Great dinner, lots of laughs, and such sweet encouragement.

Friday- Bachelorette party #1 begins. We went to the Los Lonely Boys Concert, made Mel wear a ridiculous headband, and laughed with new friends until late into the night.

Saturday- We floated the Guadalupe. Yes, it was cold...really really cold, but we had so much fun! That night we hung out at the wonderful cabins we stayed in and played some of the funniest games I have ever played.

Sunday- We drove back for Mel's lingerie shower, celebrated Macy's birthday, and avoided thinking about going to school on Monday.

Monday- I have no good reason for not posting other than spending my evening with Jordan Givens, Blake, and Twad which is clearly more fun than anything else. And of course, I updated myself on GG at midnight. Little J is making me very angry.

Tuesday- Lots of fun distractions. I made dinner at Abbie's with Jenny and hung out with some of my favorite people, walked with Hailey, walked the hood with Madi, helped pick out fashions for this weekend, and downed a Blizzard with Mads.

Now you already know Reason #5: I love college because no matter how big of a planner I am, there are always fun and unexpected moments around the corner.

I love a good spontaneous walk around the BT, random trips to Sonic Happy Hour, laying out on the back slab, cooking dinner, watching 16 and pregnant (well any show for that matter) with my roomies, and all of the other things that make being in college so great!

I am sad that these spontaneous joys will soon not be so available, but I have been encouraged this week that the real world is full of "responsible" fun. I can do responsible I guess.

Hear is a little hint of Reason # 6 I love Baylor

Pics from Bachelorette #1 coming soon

XOXO,
yours truly

Reason #4

Driving back to Waco was such a weird feeling. The next time I come home I will have a COLLEGE DEGREE! How did this happen? This point is exactly what I have been trying to avoid for the past 4 years! Although, I am more than ready for the next adventure in my life, it is such a bittersweet feeling to be moving on.

This morning in the moving on mindset, I spent a few hours deleting all the junk on my computer that I don’t need anymore. This included a long awaited organizing of my picture folders. Yep, I’m a folder freak. Get over it. Anyways, this made me really sentimental to look back on all of the wonderful memories of college and of course some outfits where I am unsure what in the world I was thinking. This may be a little deviant from my previous countdown blog plan, but I am overwhelmed with thankfulness today for the avenues God has used to shape me throughout my college experience. I will only mention the big life changers so that you won’t leave this session hating me.

Sidenote: Please take note that I am not in any way trying to brag on myself or make the rest of you aware of how spiritual I am. Trust me, all of my friends and family would testify that I am a big work in progress!

Reason #4: Summers where God has grown me in so many ways that I will forever be changed.

Pine Cove (Summer #1 & #2)

After my freshman and sophomore years I worked as a counselor at the Bluffs Family Camp which is a part of Pine Cove Christian Camps. I absolutely loved it because of the great staff and leadership I got to spend time with, the wide range of campers I was responsible for (infants one week high school seniors the next), and the fact that I responded to the name Fake-A-Date ONLY for 2 whole summers (a story for another day). At camp I learned that sometimes God calls us to be burnt out and tired so that we will seek his face. More Jesus more sweat right? I learned that investing in the framework for a godly family makes all the difference. I also learned that God has called me to serve-- whether it was cleaning my cabin, carrying 10 bibles all day, or cleaning up after every meal, I fully grasped the concept that it is not about me! Pine Cove taught me so much and I would do a million dishes, make a trillion beds, and sing all the silly songs I could think of to do it again!

Second Half Staff 2008

Favorite Family Ever: The Hornoks

Williams Trace Baptist Church (Summer #3)

This past summer I worked at Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugar Land, TX as a student ministry intern. Talk about a learning experience! I absolutely loved the students I worked with and for the most part my co-workers (just kidding me and Cole are friends again). This time was so much more about me learning to be myself apart from any of the things that made me comfortable. I lived with the most loving family, the Turners, and got to love on sweet baby Blake while getting away from it all with Griff and Abby. God taught me that I'm not that great. I needed to be humbled in my walk and face trials head on. I also learned that there is something so sweet in loneliness. I became so comfortable in my own skin. Most importantly God gave me great direction in what ministry will look like in my life. This summer was hard, hot, ridiculously fun, challenging, and exactly what I needed.

One of my besties for the summer: Natalie

Brenna, Kristin, and me at Camp


The sweet Turner Family

Precious Baby Blake

Hope you survived this post! See ya Friday!

Reason #3

I am so sorry to have kept you in such suspense over the weekend! I know Caroline Hughes, who this blog is dedicated to (more on that later) will appreciate this.

This past weekend was truly one of the best. I love love love going home! Who would have ever thought that this independent spirit would crave home so badly. I love the home cooked meals, shopping trips, late nights talking with mom, learning about high school from Mallory, watching Baylor sports with my dad, reminding ourselves that it wouldn't be us if it wasn't a little bit ghetto, and most importantly soaking it all in.

Reason #3: I love Baylor because I love my family!

When you were growing up did you learn to do the sic em before you learned to say it? Did your mother break out in "that good ole Baylor line"? What about attending every Homecoming for the past 21 years? Was your Homecoming parade dress often a bigger deal to your mother than what you wore to church?

Welcome to the Sims family! My parents have loved Baylor since they fell in love here and taught us that it is the best place to grow, learn, make friends, and have the best times of our lives! Can't wait for Mallory to join us in our obsession!

They taught me school spirit


They brought me to Homecoming through all hairstyle phases of life


They supported me in everything I have loved here

Mom, Dad, Mal...Thanks and SIC EM!

Sidenote: My best friend from home, Caroline, started a blog(www.sweetcarolinebumbumbum.blogspot.com) this weekend which you should all read. She is quite the DIY girl! I will be posting tid-bits of our life together this week. Not just because I lost a bet, but also because I love seeing her every time I come home.


Until next time...

Reason #2

Before I begin today's countdown, I thought I would share my obsessive compulsive nature with you, my faithful readers. I am very organized but also a little bit of a freak. For example, I can't go to school without my bed made, can't go into our kitchen if it looks like a tornado (most of the time...my roommates are somewhat "free-spirited" and yes I know its my fault sometimes too), or can't start the day or homework without a list. This being said, I have created a blog schedule (feel free to stop reading now if you think I'm nuts) which means I post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday which are conveniently the days I spend four hours at work doing things like blog stalking. Well, this week I have not fulfilled all of my blogging goals, therefore I am writing this before I go to bed on a Wednesday in order to pretend that I am not late. Makes me tired just thinking about this.

On to Reason #2 (in no particular order, in case you were wondering)


Hint: it includes these weirdos!

I love, love, love the best friends I have made in Chi Omega. Yes, I am feeling particularly inspired by the national consultants visit to Waco this week, but this is not for the cheesy reasons you are thinking. I love these girls because almost every memory in college could be linked to them. College has been different for me than for most of my friends, because I live with girls who are all in a different sorority. Of course there have been big disadvantages on both sides, but I wouldn't change it for a minute. This is because I know I am friends with these people because I 100% want to be. It has been such a blessing to have to be proactive in pursuing friendships with these girls.

Let me just share a little bit about them. They are funny (Larkin Branstetter especially), loyal, creative, an excellent time, fashionable, loving, goofy, popular (haha jk), and most importantly women of character that I look up to. I could not describe them without telling you about my favorite memories.

1. Senior Tacky Prom

(Yep, that's a limo)

2. Spring Breaks we will never tell our children about

South Padre Island: 2007

3. Spring Break theme days

Mumu Miercoles clearly

3. Spain, Spain, Spain

Sevilla

Barcelona: one of the best weekends ever!

Madrid

4. Functions

Casual: 2009

5. E team every sport

Thanks (to some of you) for actually being good at sports

6. Pigskin/ SING

Pigskin: 2009

7. 21st Birthdays

Hailey's 21st

8. Bashing boys/George's

Professional Eugoogalizers

9. Loving Chi O

Bid Day 2008

Pledge Dance: 2009

10. Senior Trip: Ft. Worth

Joe T Garcia's

Hailey, Larkin, Kim, Cassie, Courtney, Heather, Christine (I mean Judy), Abbey, Molly, Amber, Jordan, Smith...I love you! I will miss the fun we have together more than anything, but I look forward to many trips, weddings, Homecomings, and long weekends with all of you! Stay cool girl scouts!

Love always,
Whi Whi the cookie theif
Shark Farts
Whit