Renewed Faith

"Beloved, rest in His side" was the theme for Aggie Awakening #86 which I attended this past weekend. It was super-awesome, amazingly beautiful, fun and something I really needed! I not only reclaimed my love for our Savior but made friends and "family" in the process. You see, the table you sit at is called your family. You have a mom, dad, and siblings! We, the Brady Bunch, even had a grandpa and a great-aunt! No confusion necessary...haha! It was soft of like an ACTS retreat, the ones I attended and teamed on in high school but given on the next level of understanding for college students trying to deal with their struggles and faith. The people there were truly amazing and I learned so much and added to the knowledge I learned through RCIA when I converted to Catholicism.

St. Mary's Catholic Parish has a huge student attendance and many clubs to choose from. Aggie Awakening is probably the biggest recruiting event that gets students involved. I plan on helping with Aggie Awakening, if time allows, and joining a club called SMYRT, St. Mary's Youth Retreat Team. This club puts on retreats for middle and high schoolers all throughout the state of Texas. I feel I can better serve God with sharing my talents and knowledge to those of a younger age than my age. Hopefully, this is true. So I've already started praying that I am able to do what I can this upcoming school year. So I went to adoration tonight. I thought it was going to be peaceful but there was a precious little girl in there with her mom and so instead of praying the entire time, I read the bible and watched her. : )

As for this week's agenda, I have school (blah) and cleaning my room (double blah). I have been diligently walking/jogging everyday and I feel great. I don't do the same distance every evening but I try to do between 1.5 - 4 miles. I will be working on increasing my distance and decreasing my time as soon as I get over this sinus infection (triple blah)! Shelby & I went shopping today. Sisterly love! And I thought she was going to buy out the shoe sale! It was a good day until I started feeling worse & my fever came back. Oh well! I think we are making a trip to CS this weekend with a group of friends to go dancing and hang out. Aaron Watson is playing at the Hall! I love him but I'm sure my dance partner, Trey, will not be able to go. Oh well! I'll make more friends! Hasta luego amigos!

Taking My Time...

Why am I taking my time? I want summer to slow down! I'm tired of the days flying by and I haven't been able to do everything I want to do or everything my mother wants me to clean! Although I have remembered why I am a morning person so my days are longer for me. I started my math class at "Harvard on the Colorado" Monday. It's going to be a piece of cake as long as I can keep my routine of waking up around 6 a.m. to make it to class at 8. I can certainly get up early for school but that's not always the case when I want to run in the mornings. I've started back up with lifting weights, now 3x a week, and I plan on doing some sort of cardio during the week. But I enjoy having the rest of the day after my 2-hour class to nap, workout, clean, and just do different things that randomly come up.

Sometimes I'll count water skiing as exercise too! I remember when I learned to ski with the bar at Lake McQueeny a very long time ago. I did okay, I guess, but was too scared of the dark water, turtles, and snakes to get behind the boat. Lately, my "brother," Cade Radley, just jumped in and went all the way down the river, jumping the wakes and little tricks so I decided to try it out. I don't trust a lot of people to pull me behind the jetskiis but Steve-O is more than happy when I ask him. It took me 2 tries to get up but it was awesome! It was soo much fun! I learned how to kneeboard last summer. If we invest in a better kneeboard, maybe I'll get someone to how me how to spin and do tricks on that too. This past weekend, some friends were on their boat on the river so I hopped on for the ride & they pulled me on my skiis too. One of them wakeboards and he just started this summer. I'm sure if he can do it and Taylor Martin can, I can do it too. So that is my next thing I want to accomplish on the water.

Finally, I have to report that I will be dove and quail hunting this fall with my dad and Scott and the guys. It's something that I've requested for my birthday a couple of times but my mom never wanted me to shoot a gun while I was still playing softball. At some point in my 4-H career, I shot competitive skeet. I was pretty darn good! Well that was then and yesterday, Taylor & Scott Neimeier invited me to join them in a few rounds. My adrenaline was pumping and I was sort of nervous since I haven't shot a gun since the 8th grade. Well I didn't hit all the clays but I'm adding this and a hunting trip to my list of things to accomplish and become successful at.

Here's me a year ago at the river for a family graduation party. Boy, was I skinny & tan!

Is this close to heaven?

Today, I thought I was close to heaven. I flew out from Houston with Steve-O to Denver, Colorado to take part on a short business trip. And I'm very thankful to be here because it has been 7 years since I have been to this beautiful state and been able to participate in the family business. When we were close to landing, I peered out of my window at the acres of farmland and small towns. Denver has a very well kept airport and it was nice to just be in a non-hectic zone after all of my travels this spring semester. As we waited for Gail patiently by the curb, it put me at ease to know that I had to worries here. Of course, Dad and Gail are asking if I would like to go look around or shopping or to the movies but I'm just here mainly to be put to work. Haha - Just kidding! I'm here to just be with two of my favorite people and to journey around the countryside. But what really took my attention was the weather and the sights that took me back to my childhood. I can't believe we almost lived here at one point. It was a cool day, with late showers and strong breezes and a beautiful sunset. I can't explain the sights and sounds that took my breath away as I tried to soak in everything, from the present and past. I kept thinking to myself I could live here one day and would be so happy. Although it's not the great state of Texas, the land around Brighton is a place that I could call home. Plus, there is plenty of land being developed that is called "horse property," which is totally down my lane! If I had my adapter, I would've posted some pictures I took this evening after Dad and I walked 3 miles around the farm. Sorry to say that Emily has kept that for the past week...oh well, hope it's not too hot and humid because if it is, I just may NOT come home! We'll see...toot-a-loo!

Summer To-Do List

In the near future, I will be quiet busy for this hot month of July. I could give y'all more in-depth descriptions of my summer schedule until my phone died yesterday. Kimberley, Shelby and I are in CS for sister's New Student Conference at Texas A&M...Whoop!...and I brought the wrong charger so I'm using my mom's phone while I'm not with the group. The Skow's stayed with us in our house and we've just been relaxing and watching movies and of course, eating! Right now, I'm about to get dressed to go turn in Shelby's tuition card on Agronomy Rd then probably meeting up with them for lunch before the Fish register for classes at 1 pm. So here's what my schedule looks like for July...
Tonight: MY last appearance at the El Maton Dance Hall
4th: Meet up with Laura to go to Bay City for a party
6-9th: Join Dad in trip to Denver for his new project
10th: Meet up with Jarrett (ex-student trainer for TAMU softball) in Houston
13th: Session 2 of Summer School begins at WCJC - I'm taking Math with Carolan!
17-19th: Aggie Awakening in CS (retreat at St. Mary's)

That's my plans so far but in between everything I plan on having all of my closest friend's at A&M, which we call our "family," at the river for a nice afternoon and evening of camaraderie and having a few friends at the river another time. I also am planning on printing my pictures from our trip and probably toting them around everywhere, for everyone to see!