2 weeks & counting.

hello out there world! my, my it's been a while since i've enlightened you with the exciting details of my life. speaking of life...it has been EVER SO crazy here this past month and i have a strong sensation it is not going to slow down or get any better in the coming weeks.

first off, chilifest 2010 was a complete success! (minus the fact that a port-a-potty ate my camera. grrrr!) beer was slung, fist pumping was mastered and semi-forgetable memories were made! i tried to make it a good one, seeing as i think it was my last...the "real world" has no time for chilifest...or does it?!

secondly, i FINALLY dunked my aggie ring! 50 SECONDS & 4.5 beers were gone. let me just say, this fine tradition was one of the factors in my "where to go to college" decision making and though i had an AMAZING time with friends and family on the day of the dunk, that was the single most miserable experience of my life...for a good 5 mins and 50 seconds! then once it hit me i was feelin' too good to care about the pain my body had just endured. pictures of this glorious occasion do not even do the deed justice, so here is the video (via twitter).

a lot has happened since the passing of these two momentous occasions, and by "a lot" i mean a CRAP TON of school work! graduation is 2 weeks and 2 days away and apparently i was not prepared for this! projects, presentations, group meetings, tests, quizzes...i don't know what happened this semester but, i have never had so much outside of the classroom "busy work" than i do now. in fact, this blog is being used as a project for one of my classes--two birds with one stone :) !!!

so, like i said, graduation is approaching rather quickly and i have still yet to find an employer...which is also something i thought would come easy towards the end of the semester. WRONG! i do have an interview tomorrow in Houston which is VERY exciting! hopefully all goes well and i won't be living like a gypsy out of my car, crashing on couches come June.

welp, that's just about all i have time to update you peeps on today. time is precious these days! hopefully the next time you hear from me i will be care-free and easy livin'....feelin' just as cool as my nugget boo does here:

yes, i'm ALIVE!

oh. my. word. times have been BEYOND crazy & here i am again, weeks from my latest post. tisk, tisk!

where to start? well, i guess i can begin with an official countdown to graduation:

6 weeks and 2 days (i can't count mins/seconds) till i am POST grad!

now, that may seem like a good while but, considering every weekend from now on is consumed with exciting adventures, it will be here before i know it. i am so ready for college to end & to start my NEW and IMPROVED life elsewhere. college station has been a blast, don't get me wrong, but it's most definitely time for a change--and a big one at that!

my plan (as of now) is to move to austin come June. i've already started looking for apartments and found a GREAT deal, went by for a visit and have basically fallen in love with the 700sq ft box i could call home one day. the only thing holding me back from jumping to sign a lease is the fact that i have YET TO FIND A JOB!

ATTN: journalism industry/music magazines/anyone who will hire me to write for them -- i need your help and i need it now! times are tough and i cannot pay the bills without you. thanks!

it's not like i'm just sitting around all day and not trying or looking for something, i've applied for a TON of jobs...it's just that no one is bitin'. which is understandable. i keep hearing, "we generally hire people with more experience." can someone please tell me how i am going to ever gain experience in the real world if i am not given a chance? anyone?

one positive is, i had some very HOPEFUL meetings in austin last friday (which was also when i went looking at my new apt. i'm just going to call it mine because, in my head, it is!) and let me tell you i am VERY excited about the results. no, noone hired me on the spot...but i did get to meet with some amazing people at some amazing publications & let's just say i'm praying that one day, in the near future i hope, you will see my name in a byline. FREELANCE WORK HERE I COME! (freelancing is how i am going to gain that "experience" everyone keeps telling me i need. so, bring it on!)

now, a story here and there won't pay the bills completely; this i do know. i plan on finding a job to keep me goin' and so far my options are:

1. a teller at a bank. (not sure if i can deal with ignorant people on a daily basis, but i'll just suck it up!)
2. wait tables. (i'm almost positive i'd spill a tray or two.)
3. office work. (i know i can answer phones, type, file, etc. been doing it for years already.)
4. pimp myself out. (i think i need to start working out more if this option wins.)

any thoughts? suggestions? i'm open to them all!

after i returned how from my two-week stint at RodeoHouston, all i wanted to do was sleep for days...but class & work were calling my name. i have to admit, i am STILL (two weeks later) not back in school mode. and it is killing me! projects, papers, quizzes, presentations....they are all coming up and there is not enough Red Bull in the world to keep me up to get all of them ready. but, who needs sleep anyway...i guess?

this weekend is Easter. i think, with the exception of my birthday, Easter is my favorite holiday. there is just something i've always loved about the Easter Bunny (except the fact that he has eggs? not a reptile, but kids don't know the difference) and well, candy is my weakness. i'm pretty pumped about going back home on friday to spend the weekend with my family and do little E-egg hunting with my 14-month-old niece. my mom sent me some pics of her hunting eggs at our church. she is a little CHUNK & i really want Chelsea Lately to put her little nugget pictures on the show one night!

"forget the eggs...i'm what's for Easter!"


my little super model! it's a baby GAP Easter ad!


we can find candy pretty quickly in our family!

"gimme dat snickers!"

i knew this post would get pretty lengthy, based on my ability to ramble--hence, the name of the blog--and on how much time has passed since my last rant! bare with me people, there are some pretty exciting times ahead in the next few weeks:

• Chilifest! basically the highlight of my year & about as fun as christmas on crack--or at least what imagine that'd be like. the line up for saturday is a tad disappointing...but i am more than anything looking forward to FRIDAY night. good shows. good friends. and a good time sleeping in a tent with 10 other people. (ok, so it's not really that GOOD of a time, but it could be!)


• DUNK jam! my aggie ring dunk name. pretty cleaver, huh? caroline and i will be dunking our rings at 2:10pm on April 17th. day drinking is always a good thing! we're on a mission to find an amazing "something" to have screen printed on some aprons...so, if you have any incriminating photos of us, please send them our way! thanks.


• Duck Jam not to be confused with the latter--both are going to be equally as good of a time. friday night line up: randy rogers band, wade bowen, coolio (yes, the rapper) and jonathan tyler and the northern lights! saturday: willie nelson & family, kyle park & rich o'toole. the MAJOR plus is that the venue -- Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater -- is legit, right across the street from my house!

check back in for photo's capturing each of these days & see if you can guess who passed out first in all of them...fingers crossed, it won't be me!

i think that is enough for today! though, i must say, i've noticed how this blog has, in some ways, evolved into more than i thought it would when i began. at the start of it, i was FINALLY getting over all of the bad and coming back into who i am. now, i get on here to write about the happy and the good. not about trying to FEEL happy and good & i just love that!

greetings from the RODEO!

(view of the stadium from an 8th floor suite--very high up!)

ahhh, what an AMAZING time this internship has been! i have met some of the most amazing people and seen some of the best rodeo action. today is the first if 5 days i have left before reality hits and i return to college station for class...but let's not think about that now.

so far, i have met Rascal Flatts and Blake Shelton, watched Hootie (aka Darius Rucker), Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum in concert, and learned so many new and exciting things about how the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo works--overall, i give my time here an A++!

if i HAD to complain about one thing (which is hard to do) it would be the walking around in boots ALL day. don't get me wrong, i love my boots, i just have a hard time keeping up with socks, and thick socks at that. let me just say, thin, ankle socks do NOT go well with worn in boots...you end up with toe socks by the end of the day.

there are a lot more things to be done and people to meet over the next 5 days and i when i get back home, and can sit down and really write, i will fully document (with photos) my two weeks at the Show. for now just a small little update to let you know i am still alive and kickin'!

oh, i forgot to mention! a WONDERFUL contact i made at the Austin American-Statesman, Sue Whaley (an old Aggie journalism major), has done a wonderful thing to try to help me find a job, more contacts and what not. check out the blog post she did about me, my time at Texas Monthly this past summer and more: Aggie senior goes from Texas Monthly to rodeo writing

'til we meet again, i will leave you with this: i thought, since i am enjoying two weeks filled with death-defying rodeo events i'd try to find a little humor in one of them. i found this video:
BULL FOOTBALL

again with the neglecting!

once again i have been a bad blogger, blogee, blogette (whatever) and let more than a week pass since updating all of my eager readers on my ever fabulous life. a lot has happened and i will make this short and sweet!

first of all, i have found and fallen in love with another blog. being the highly self-proclaimed Texas Country fan that i am, it is always fun to read other peoples' thoughts on the "scene". Rita Ballou keeps it real & i must say has become my blogging hero! read her "Rawhide & Velvet" daily...you will guarantee yourself a laugh at least once.

Ritia, if by some chance you read this...we should be best friends, just sayin'!

secondly, things with TCM are going amazingly well! last friday i had the chance to sit down with one of my favorite texas artist for an interview. it was none other than Mr. Brandon Rhyder! his new CD "Head Above Water" came out a few weeks ago and he was in College Station promoting it with a show at Hurricane Harry's. the interview was a huge step for my music journalism career and it was incredibly wonderful meeting him. BR is quite honestly one of the nicest men i have ever met and very sincere and passionate about his music! check out my story on TCM and look for more profiles coming soon!

here are some exciting photos from the experience:

Brandon & I after the interview

BRhyder performing at Harry's

just enjoyin' the show! we loveee BRhyder!

thanks BR for an amazing show!

on another subject, this week as been absolute HELL as i prepare for leave for my two week internship at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. (which i am beyond excited about starting!) it just seems like everything i have due, basically all semester, was due this week or will be due next week. i've been stressed to the max trying to get everything done and in on time while also washing everything i own, stocking up on new goodies, and packing my entire life into a suitcase. i am happy to report that all is ready to go (minus the packing, i am still in the process of that) and i will be leaving in the morning, RodeoHouston bound!

tonight is my sororities formal, Monmouth. i am pretty pumped about it mainly because it's casino themed, and although we won't actually win money i will be able to feed my need to gamble...i hope.

to quote my favorite movie, the hangover:

"you guys ready to let the dogs out? you know, who let the dogs out...who, who..."

overdue.

i feel a little like i've been neglecting this blog since joining Jessica with the Texas Country Music blog--forgive me!

a lot has happened since my last post and as we speak, it is SNOWING in college station! it started around 11 am and has been going ever since. i braved the cold and went to class earlier--like the good student i am. here, have a look at the snow falling for yourself:

if you're not from Texas (or any Southern state for that matter) you may be asking why snow is such a big deal? well, when you're used to it happening maybe every other year it's just so MAGICAL! i want nothing more than to be in hillsboro right now, sledding down the HCC hills with my sisters on golf cart hoods--we like to keep it classy!

besides the snow, some more excitement was my FAB trip to san marcos this past weekend to stay with one of the most amazing people i've ever met in my life! i've learned since being in college that you'll meet those people who will be your friends for the next four years and then you'll meet those people who will, no matter what, be your friend for the rest of your life. i feel so lucky to have found those few people in my life who i know are true friends and that will always be there for me--basically listening to my long, drawn out, BS stories!

here are some pictures from our weekend/Friday night Josh Abbott concert @ Midnight Rodeo in Austin:

amanda & i with our new friend.

the three musketeers!

the Josh Abbott Band rockin' on stage!

school doesn't start up till 10 tomorrow, due to the wintry weather outside, so looks like i get to sleep in and miss my only class! God Bless this Texas weather--no matter how tricky it is!

freeze frame time.

what a week this has been! VERY exciting things have happened and it's only WEDNESDAY! i just love days/weeks/hours/minutes like this...they remind me why giving up is never an option when it comes to going for what i want in life.

a friend of mine asked me if i would like to start helping her manage a blog she has about Texas Country Music (aka my life) and of course i jumped on it! i am so thankful to have people in my life who trust in me and believe that i can (and will) do what it takes to lend a hand. my ultimate career goal (besides writing for Texas Monthly one day) is to write about music--Texas music--and this opportunity is helping me get my foot into that door and hopefully some guidance on how to keep doing what i love on a wider scale!

thank you jessica SO VERY much for this chance, and i promise to deliver my love for Texas Music to the pages of the Texas Country Music Scene blog to the best of my ability! If you have Facebook, become a fan of Texas Country Music Concerts (i'm helping out with that a little bit too)!!

another fabulous thing that has happened this week is this BIG TIME group project i have been busting my butt on for a good while now is finally finished! it was a lot of fun to work on and all of the people in my group meshed really well together! (we're pretty funny people if i do say so myself!) check out our finished product here: Team WOW!

also, my FINAL project as an intern for Texas Monthly just came out in the latest issue--March 2010!! it is the first interview i got to do this past summer when i was an intern; it's with Trevor Brazile, the current (and 7 time) world champion all-around cowboy in the PRCA! i hope to see him at the Houston Rodeo while i'm there interning too...that way i can properly introduce myself and cheer him on in the roping events there as well! the piece in TM is a mini version of our interview in the Horse's Mouth section: Being a Rodeo Cowboy...go have a look-see!

i have been very very blessed here lately and i cannot wait to see all the amazing things my future holds for me! just like Mr. Brandon Rhyder says..."these are the moments, i wish i could freeze frame time!"

______________________________

Words of Inspiration for the Day

"you’ll be on your way up! you’ll be seeing great sights!
you’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."
--oh! the places you'll go!
by dr. seuss

i used the poem as a guideline for a speech i gave my junior year of high school while running for an officer position in the FFA. i just love this poem, if you have never read it, excuse me but, what the hell is wrong with you!? do a google search NOW! it will brighten your day and motivate you beyond belief!

successful weekend.

made it home on friday and went straight to my sister Emily's for yet another Southern Belle Glamour jewelry party! i loaded up on some more SUPER cute stuff and we all had such a great time. it had just snowed a HUGE amount the night before and the yards and fields were still covered in the white powder--we only got nasty slush here in college station, so it was so good to enjoy the winter wonderland for a little while. and when you're from Texas, snow--even a few inches--is something to freak out about! here's some of what our backyard looked like saturday morning, everything was starting to melt but Izzy loved it!

saturday my parents and i headed up to the Fort Worth Stockyards to find a pair of new boots! the heavy heavy snow fall in DFW on thursday caused a tree to fall on a power line outside of Fincher's (as i mention previously, this is my cousin's store) so the electricity was out! Chuck still told us to come and let me just say, shopping by flashlight is a lot more exciting that i though it would be. after the sun set and we finally decided the flashlights weren't doing us any good anymore, i found the perfect pair and we headed out to have dinner! Chuck took us to M&M's Steak House, the smallest restaurant i'd ever been to in my life...but the size DID NOT matter, it was absolutely delicious! i love places like that, they are just so "homey" and comfortable and usually family-owned, which makes the service a lot better i've found. if you are in "F Dub" i totally recommend finding this little hole-in-the-wall and experiencing it for yourself...you wont be disappointed!

here is what my FAB new boots look like! they're Stetson "Bucket Boots"! i love them and cannot wait to wear them in houston...shoes really do make an outfit!

after we finished dinner we had to take Chuck and Judy back to Fincher's to get his truck and when we pulled onto Exchange (the main road of the Stockyards) this is what i saw across the street...i just had to get out and go take a picture. i even pet all three of them!! CRAZYYYY!!

yes, that is a MOUSE on top of a CAT on top of a DOG!!!

i will leave you with that! no words of inspiration today--i'd have to come up with something really good to top that MOUSECATDOG!