Round DOS

Yesterday was the second year that I played in the Hansford Hospice Tournament with my grandad.  The first year we played was a little of a rough start, we got next to last, it was about 95 outside, and blowing that same amount.  I JUST WANTED TO BE DONE.

Well.....ROUND TWO. Was about the same.  I had been practicing the week before, so that maybe my Grandad and I wouldn't get next to last.  But, we got out there and the wind was once again blowing about 85, and it was hotter than hades.  And, for some reason the people in charge at the golf course decided it would be a good idea to pair us with a group that both partners were over 80, and the 3rd group of what you could call "somewhat beginners." Soooo basically this means we were the SLOWEST group out there by a LONGSHOT.   

By about whole 7, my patience were running thin...it is hard to explain exactly how my grandad has come to play golf, but the majority of it involves driving around looking for his ball, picking up stray balls, taking excess practice swings, or even picking up all the spare trash blowing around the course.  To say the least....it takes a while to get from the tee box, to the green.  

When I got home last night, after 7 1/2 hours of golf, I started thinking to myself that even though I had just played the longest game of golf both physically and mentally, I was lucky to get to do so.  Most kids my age don't have the kind of relationship with their grandparents like I do.  Most kids my age don't have an 83 year old grandad who can even still physically play 18 holes of golf.  And most kids my age don't understand how these moments that we are blessed with from these people do not last for forever.  So after all my frustrations, and trying my patience all day.  I realized....that none of that matters.  I am truly blessed that I even have a grandad who WANTS to play golf with his 19 year old grandaughter for 7 1/2 hours.  I am blessed to have a grandad that is still alive and active.  

And  I am blessed for the memories that I got to make with him yesterday! I have realized, that time and making memories  are two things you can never take for granted because you never know when they might not be there.  So to my Grandad (whom will never read this blog) ....I am looking forward to ROUND THREE :)) 

Firsts....lots and lots of them

I had a pretty eventful first year of college I would say, and I leanred so so much!

I had my first:
B
parking ticket
fender bender
wreck---with a lady with no insurance
encounter with the law (we won't mention this one)
experience of whataburger at 3 AM...only to have it again at 7AM
feeling of being homesick
all-nighter (only to fail the test)
feeling of being broke as a joke


BUT I also had MANY wonderful firsts:
I had my first experience of working hard for something and not getting what I wanted, which taught me that sometimes life doesn't go the way you want it to, but it still keeps going.

I had my first night out dancing with the girls I love until 2 AM

My first time to get out and meet new people (outside of the Panhandle)

My first chance to get involved with Texas A&M

My first Big Event experience

My first time to go barhopping

My first black friend (yes I know, pathetic....but true)

My first time to get to go home for Christmas and be so enthralled to just simply sit at home

and most importantly...my first chance to really figure out who I WAS as a person and who I WANT to be.

Softly Call The Muster.....

If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I'd ever be an Aggie, my automatic response would have been heck no. Ask me today, and my answer is heck yes! I thought an Aggie was a loud, pushy, weird person, that is all about goofy traditions, but the truth is that until you are one you can not understand what it really is to be a part of the Aggie family.

On Tuesday night I attended Muster, which is one of the most valued traditions here at A&M and after the ceremony I understand why. Muster is a ceremony held once a year all over the world and Aggies gather together to honor those who have passed in the past year. There is a list of names that is read off, and as each name is called someone says "here." It signifies that once you have passed, you are still an Aggie, and there will still be someone here to stand for you.

The list of names started with my class of 2012 and went all the way to the class of 1938. It was EVERY Aggie that had died in this last year, and EVERY name had someone that was there for them. It is a great feeling to know that even when I die, I will still be a part of something that is bigger than myself.

One of the things that probably really made my first Muster experience above the normal was the fact that George H.W. Bush was in my section sitting about 2 rows in front of me. He was there with all of his secret service, Mrs. Bush, and Mrs. Gates. He stood and sang the Star Spangled Banner, even though he had a tough time getting up and down from his chair. He stood for the 21 gun salute, and teared up as the list of names was being read. He did not attend Texas A&M, but he is proud Aggie. It was amazing to me that someone as important as him, would sit among the students, and put aside his fame to honor something that he considers to be bigger.

No matter how big or how small the person, at one point we all have to face the end....and I am happy to know that when that time comes for me there will still be thousands of Aggies left to stand for me.



---"We gather today, Aggies all, to recall our past, to strengthen our ties, to honor those who have passed before us....We come today to affirm our commitment, our love for this place and all that it represents."
Jack M. Rains, Muster Speaker 1984

A Mystery To Me....

It's that time of year again....school is winding down and summer is approaching! Yesterday I was digging around in my backpack looking for a pencil or pen, and after searching every pocket twice I finally found one!

Have you ever wondered where all of your lost stuff goes!?? I buy NUMEROUS new pens/pencils/markers at the beginning of every year and by the end of the year I am scraping by just to fine one single pencil! I DON'T throw them away, I DON'T drop them and never pick them up, I DON'T lend them out very often....but yet I DON'T HAVE ANY! What the heck is going on!? It is the same way with my socks....it is something I continue to buy more and more of, but I always run out of. I just don't get it. It's not as if people come in and take my socks, nobody wants to wear used socks, you don't see streets or trashcans full of these items, or people on the searching for these things.


SO WHERE IN THE HECK ARE THEY!??

The Giving Tree

When I was a little girl I LOVED the book The Giving Tree.  I remember my mom had it in her office downtown, and I would read it after school.  I have learned that life IS about giving.  And that in life, there were will always be the givers .....and the takers, but without the takers in life there would be no place to give.

I think that my family is a family tree of givers.  

My Nanny---giver of love and fulfillment in anyway she can

My Grandad--giver of advice, TRUTHFUL at that :))

My Dad--giver of anything that he has to give....truly would give you the shirt off of his back

My Mom--giver of creativity and a new way to see the upside of any situation

My Sister---the giver of truth and loyalty

My Brother--the giver of down to earth real life advice, and always being there to tell me it'll all be okay

I am blessed and I have a much larger family than this, that 99% consists of givers.   My mom would probably laugh when she reads this, but I believe that I am GIVER to the core.  I may take from these people that I have named, because they are always so quick to give to me.  But I believe that giving is something you learn, and I think that when it comes to my friends,  my past/future boyfriends,  I am usually the giver.  I LOVE to be able to do anything for people I care about, and I wouldn't TAKE anything else in the world in exchange for the joy you get when you give.  A giver is a person who gives until they have nothing left to give, and then takes what they get with joy.  

So, yes I do believe that the trait of being a giver is something that is given to you.  I am blessed to have a family of givers, and I will gladly take what they have given me and continue "The Giving Tree." 

BILLY MAYS HERE

I don't know about all of you, but I don't think I can take one MORE infomercial of BILLY MAYS screaming in my face. I don't care about you're non-working, over advertised products. SO PLEASE, for the sake of all of us....lower your voice next time you come up with the SUPERDUPERWONDERWORKINGCLEANINGSOLUTION! thanks :)

Fresh Air and Bare Feet

I can remember when I used to want nothing more than to be a city girl. I would stay up late at night watching shows like Sex and the City, longing to live in a place like that. I thought it was so glamorous, and that for once in my life I wouldn't be bored in a small town. Like many times before in life....I was wrong.

After being in College Station for nearly a year of college, I have learned ONE THING(well maybe more than one) BUT one main important thing. I am a small town girl at heart, and I always will be! Compared to my Houston and Austin friends College Station is a pretty small town, but it is still a city in my eyes.

I miss being able to have one stoplight, and pulling up to a 4-way stop sign where you know the other 3 people also stopped there. I miss reading the paper where the news is about all the people I know getting married and having kids, not about crime. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE COLLEGE STATION. I love the people, and the school, but I miss the fresh air and the stars of being in a small town. Time moves at a different pace in small towns, and that pace never speeds up....When I am here at school, I get a feeling inside that I just need to be free, I am the type of person who NEEDS to go barefoot. I think being from a small town shapes your soul, it forms you into the person you are....and once you are that person there is no going back.

Living in a city may be glamorous, and entertaining, and busy. But it is nothing like a small town where you ride bikes in your bare feet until the sun goes down....