365 Challenge - Week 12

March 20 - Sunday was the last day of spring break (a four day weekend is always nice!).  Around noon, Brooke, Hunter and I met up at Kellie's house were we enjoyed brunch and mimosas while the doggies wore each other out in the back yard. As Kellie pointed out, the largest dog is also the youngest! Needless to say, we had some exhausted puppies by the end of the day.

March 21 - On Monday, I showed up to work to discover I wasn't the only one with a bruise from the dentist! I got a filling on Wednesday and a bruise developed on my face. Carrie and I had matching battle scars from our bouts with the dentist.

March 22 - Monday night, Aubrey and I drove to The Woodlands to drop Tucker off with my parents. Afterwards, we drove to Kingwood and Catherine did my hair. By the time we got back to College Station, it was past 1 a.m. (technically Tuesday) and we were both exhausted, but my hair looked good! :)

March 23 - Wednesday night means student org meeting! These guys and girls make Wednesday evenings fun! :)

March 24 - Thursday, as I was walking into the grocery store, I looked to the left and saw these little guys. I chuckled to myself because I recognized them all as succulents. Not because I know anything about plants, but because Katie has given me a new respect for them during the process of her wedding planning. These brought a smile to my face. :)

March 25 - Good Friday! Aubrey and I headed to the hill country for the Easter weekend. Earlier in the week, Aubrey told me that he really liked my hair when Catherine had curled it. He briefly watched me struggle to curl my hair before we hit the road before he pitched in and helped me out. I've decided that he will curl my hair from now on, because let's be real, I could never get it to look this good on my own!

March 26 - Somehow Aubrey and I thought it was a good idea to climb Enchanted Rock on Saturday. After waiting for about 45 minutes to get into the park, we started our ascent. We climbed the Summit Trail, that went straight up! We made a few stops along the way to take in the view (and catch my breath!), but we made pretty good time. The view from the top was 110% worth the climb and it was really fun making the trek together.

365 Challenge - Week 11

March 13 - Sunday was a nice "sleep in" day before we headed to Chicago. It wasn't until later that we realized that we hadn't really slept until 10, but that we'd lost an hour and it was technically still 9 a.m. This day really was a great example of how great a friend Katie is. She knew I'd want to see Sears Tower and the Bean while I was in town and we trekked around in the cold and wet for about two hours to see both. The weather was crazy cloudy/foggy and the view from the 103 floor of Sears Tower (really Willis Tower these days), was minimal, or "zero visibility" as the employees continued to tell us to dissuade us from going. I definitely would not have had the guts to stand on the overhang if I'd been able to see farther than three feet below my feet. The clouds/fog definitely saved me in that regard. Afterwards, we walked from the Sears Tower to the Bean and grabbed some more pics. Thank you again, Katie, for humoring my first visit to Chicago and wanting to see all of the typical tourist sites.

Standing on the skydeck overhang on the 103rd floor of Sears Tower.

At the "bean" in Chicago. Even in the terrible weather, it was so shiny! You can see how cloudy/foggy it is in the reflection.

March 14 -  Monday was rough! Not only was it the first day back to work after a long, wonderful weekend, it was also the first work day after the time change. While I love daylight savings time (who could complain about more daylight hours after they get off of work?), the transition every spring is difficult. Thankfully, with students gone it was a quiet day at work. I had no meetings (yay!) and

March 15 - On Tuesday, Kellie managed to snag us tickets to the biggest Aggie baseball game of the year (so far!). The Ags played t.u. at home and it was going to be a good one- we could all feel it! Kellie and I had general admission tickets, so we were in the grass, but they were about the best seats we could have gotten! We were right next to the fence, which also meant that we were protected from foul balls - thank god! The Aggies lead the whole game. They were up 4-0 in the top of the 9th, when the t-sips scored four to tie it up. It was a little nerve racking to say the least! Thankfully, in the bottom of the 9th, the Aggies knocked a walk-off homerun over the left field wall to tie up the win. It was a great game and we had a blast! :) Here are a bunch of videos that Good Bull Hunting compiled of the walk-off homerun.

Kellie and I in the grass off of the third-base line.

BTHO tu!

March 16 - My mom picked me up from the airport on Sunday when I returned from Chicago. On the drive home, she mentioned to me that we needed to start planning our summer vacation if we wanted to go on one this year. So, on Wednesday I broke out the two guidebooks that I'd purchased on Hawaii and Oahu and started to do some research. While I was looking into Hawaii originally, I wasn't sure if there was enough to keep us busy for a week without spending just a ton of time at the beach. After reading these books though, I know that we'll have our whole week planned out with fun things to do if that's where we end up going.

My two newest additions to my travel guidebooks.
I have a whole shelf dedicated to them now. 

March 17 - One of the great things about working at a university is the holidays that go along with it. This was spring break at Texas A&M. While we didn't get the whole week off, we did get Thursday and Friday! On Thursday, Kellie and I met up at Tiffany Dog Park with our pups to get some sun and wear them out! Tucker and Laney both love socializing with other pups and people at the dog park and we love that when they get home it is always puppy nap time! Laney, Kellie's silver lab, is just over 9 months old and Tucker, my little rescue dog, is almost five years old! When did that happen?! The little guy that snuck into the photo's name was Bruce. He was adorable and so happy to be playing with other puppy friends!

Tucker, Laney, Bruce and I hanging out at the dog park.
Kellie always manages to snag the best photos of me, hah! 

Tucker dog and Laney lab at the end of play time. They were exhausted.
Also, don't let perspective confuse you, Tucker is definitely the smaller one of the bunch. 

March 18 - Friday was a nice relaxing day off of work. It was also the Aggie men's basketball team's first game in the NCAA tournament! Tucker cheered the Aggies on to victory as they handily defeated Green Bay 92-65!

Tucker geared out for the Aggie game.

March 19 - On Saturday, I attended the service for Rusty Thompson, Texas A&M's Director of Student Activities. I can't say it better than it's already been said by dozens of others, but the world definitely lost an amazing man this March. Campus isn't the same without him there.
The Battalion's article "Reflections of Rusty."

365 Challenge - Week 10

It was a busy week to say the least! I'm exhausted just thinking about it all again!

March 6 - On Sunday, Aubrey and I met Kristin and Kyle in Houston to go to the annual livestock show and rodeo! It was so much fun! After watching some mutton bustin' and pig racing, we made our way inside to check out the livestock show, followed by some rodeo activities! Shawn Mendes wrapped it all up with a concern in front of a screaming crowd (of mostly 12-year-old girls). It was pretty neat when they all turned their phone lights on and used them like lighters, swaying back and forth. It was a really fun night and it was great to spend some more time with these two. :)

View from our seats at the Sean Mendes concert.

Kyle, Kristin, me, and Aubrey. 

March 7 - On Monday, I received Katie's "will you be my bridesmaid" package and I was so thrilled for it to finally be "official," although I'd known for months. I am so honored to be standing by three of my best friends as they marry the loves of their lives in October (yes- all in October). Each of them will be a beautiful bride. I can't wait for an eventful and exciting fall!

Cards from Megan, Katie, and Kristin. <3 

March 8 - On Tuesday, the executive team of the Brazos County A&M Club snagged some tickets to the suite at the Aggie baseball game. The game was great and the Ags beat Northwestern State 6-7. It looks like it's going to be a good year for baseball (*crosses fingers*).

View from the suite at Olsen Field at Bluebell Park!

March 9 - On Wednesday, Megan was in town because she was helping a professor out the next day with some curriculum planning (how cool is that!?). Aubrey made dinner for us and then we took on Aubrey in two rounds of Jeopardy. We won the first one, but got destroyed in round two. At the end of the night, I took and posted this photo of Tucker in his new favorite color as an indicator of things to come! :)

The official camp mascot!

March 10 - On Thursday, I finally got to share a secret I'd been keeping for a while. I was nominated and selected to serve as a namesake for Fish Camp 2016. This is such a huge honor! Since I was heavily involved with Fish Camp as a student at Texas A&M, it meant even more to me to come "full circle" in the Fish Camp world. I met my two co-chairs weeks ago and we finally met our 24 counselors Thursday evening. I cannot wait to get to know them all more over these next few months before we head to Lakeview to welcome the Class of 2020!

Session F Purple Camp Smith co-chairs! 

Session F Purple Camp Smith! 

March 11 - I took Friday off of work and set out for Chicago to visit Katie. I hadn't seen her since late 2015, before she moved to her new home in Illinois. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with a great friend. We got to catch up on life and relive some stories from Italy. We spent Friday evening at a local dive bar called Suzy's, where we had some beer and pizza. It was delish!

Katie & I at Suzy's.

March 12 - We kicked off Saturday morning with brunch in Naperville followed by a wine tasting at a local winery. Afterwards, we dropped Mike off at the airport and set off for some site-seeing. The wrapped up the evening with dinner at Signature Room on the 96th floor of a skyscraper in downtown. Then, we enjoyed an improv/short skit show at The Second City. Talk about laughing so hard it hurts!

View from Signature Room before the sun set. 

Katie & I at The Second City before the show began.

365 Challange - Week 9

February 28 - For Sunday, I'm posting two photos. The photo of Aubrey and I was taken Saturday night (technically Sunday morning since it was after midnight). Aubrey stopped by The Woodlands on his way back from a work assignment. We enjoyed dinner with my parents and then went out to get drinks with Kristin, Kyle, Megan, and Nicole. That afternoon back in College Station, actually on Sunday, I took him to the women's basketball game vs Kentucky. The women lost and it wasn't that pretty of a game, but we had a lot of fun. After taking Aubrey to two games where the women have lost, I think this may be his fault. He's not allowed to go to any Aggie women basketball games anymore.

February 29 -  Kellie and I picked this individually packaged macaron up at the TAMU Housing Fair. Our immediate thought was, "we could do this!"

March 1 - This particular Tuesday was "Super Tuesday," when 11 states had their primary elections. Since one of these states was Texas, a few coworkers and I went to vote at the MSC at the end of the day. The line was long, but it was great to see lots of people out voting! Biggest disappointment was getting to the end of the line and hearing that the poling station had already run out of "I Voted" stickers. I've decided that voting is much more fun as a group!

March 2 - On Wednesday, we gave a tour at my office to students visiting from A&M's Qatar campus for a leadership retreat. One of the students, Ahmad, stopped me and asked me if I was in Doha in 2012 doing the new student orientation with HBKU. I was shocked, but so excited to be able to catch up with this student that remembered me and the orientation from FOUR years ago. He said he loved the orientation too, which absolutely made my day!

March 3 - On Thursday night, Kellie, Sarah, Adrea, and I enjoyed the evening at Messina Hof, a local winery and wine tasting room. Every Thursday is "Aggie Night," which means half-priced wine for anyone with an Aggie Ring or university ID. I'm about 7 wines into my 'Tour de Wines,' and can't wait to continue it (I started this before this Thursday)!

March 4 - On Friday, I helped with the Aggie Greek Awards banquet, put on by the Aggie Greek Former Student Network, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and The Association. We had a great night celebrating the wonderful greek student leaders we have on campus and catching up with friends and staff members.

March 5 - On Saturday, Aubrey and I went to the Aggie men's basketball game vs Vanderbilt- it was the last regular season game that the Aggies had to play and it determined whether or not we shared the SEC championship. Thankfully for the Aggies, they won in outstanding fashion and beat Vanderbilt! It was fun to tailgate with Aubrey and his friends before the game and celebrate afterwards! :)

365 Challenge - Week 8

February 21 - Our trip to Seattle was far too short! I'd love to go back to explore more, especially the outdoors in some beautiful weather. Although we went to Pike Place Market each day while we were there, I'd love to go back. I wish we had something similar in College Station. We just don't have the population to support it, or the tourism industry. This was one of the produce stands in the market. The muscat grapes (bottom right corner) were delicious!

February 22 & 23- I forgot to take pictures both of these days. Clearly I have not met this 365 challenge, but I'm still doing my best.

February 24 - On Wednesday, I broke into this book. After seeing the play on Broadway in October and listening to the soundtrack on repeat ever since, I finally broke down and bought the book that inspired the musical. I got hooked after reading just the introduction. The history nerd in me is itching to completely blow through this book and absorb the details of Hamilton's life, but I'm trying to pace myself. We'll see how long that lasts.

February 25 -  At our staff meeting... this happened. Because what staff meeting is complete without a wrestler belt being broken out.

February 26 - On Friday night, I headed down to The Woodlands to spend some time with my family and friends for the weekend. My mom regaled me with stories from her and Catherine's (my sister) week of cooking classes at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio. They had a wonderful time and I can't wait to try all of the recipes they perfected on their trip. While they were there, they purchased me this macaron cookbook. I'll be adding it to my growing collection of macaron recipes.

February 27 - On Saturday, I had a wonderful day dress shopping with Kristin, one of my best friends getting married in October. I'm lucky enough to have known her since the second grade. We've been best friends through thick and thin and she's undoubtedly my partner in crime. I can't wait to stand by her side as she marries Kyle in a few short months. We spent the day with Laura and Rachel, two of her bridesmaids, bridesmaid dress shopping. Afterwards we indulged in brunch and mimosas. If you've been reading these all, you may see a theme developing here...

365 Challenge - Week 7

There's a lot of my face in this weeks's pictures. Enjoy!

February 14 - I spent Valentine's Day with my family in The Woodlands. We grabbed a late brunch at the Black Walnut Cafe and afterwards my mom made her traditional Valentine's Day molten chocolate lava cake. Yum!!

February 15 - Last week, Texas A&M made national news, but it wasn't for something that the university was proud of. Some high school students visiting students encountered some less than welcoming students. You can read more by clicking here. After the incident, the student body came together to write thousands of letters to the visiting students effected to apologize. I snapped this picture in an area frequented by students. The box was filled with letters that would be taken to the high schoolers the next day.

February 16 - On Tuesday, I went to the A&M men's basketball game with Aubrey. The men played and beat Ole Miss, although it was touch and go for a while. We had great tickets to the game and I had a lot of fun!

February 17 - On Thursday, I spent most of my evening packing and getting ready for Kellie and my trip to Seattle. Thankfully Aubrey was there to distract Tucker while I did laundry and packed for the weekend.

February 18 - On Thursday, Kellie and I left before the crack of dawn to head to Austin to catch our flight to Seattle. We decided to take off Thursday and Friday and have a four-day weekend up in the northwest. One of the first things that we did when we got to Seattle was enjoy a tour of Theo's chocolate factory. We learned all about how chocolate is made and how Theo's makes theirs organic and fair trade. Best part? We got to taste a ton of chocolate and we got these awesome hair nets!

February 19 -  On Friday, Kellie and I woke up bright and early for brunch before our Woodinville wine tour. After enjoying a delicious breakfast, we were picked up by our tour guide at our hotel. That's when we learned that we were the only two on the tour! We visited Chateau Ste. Michelle and some other tasting rooms in the area. We had a lot of delicious wine!

February 20 - Saturday was an exciting day! We started out with a VIP tour of Pike's Place Market and tried a lot of different market food- so good! Afterwards, we got brunch at Agrodolce- also so good! It also involved bottomless mimosas (which we also did on our New York trip; two times is a tradition, right?). After watching the last few minutes of the men's basketball game when they beat Kentucky in overtime, we headed out on a scavenger  hunt in Seattle that Aubrey surprised us with. The end location- a speakeasy in downtown Seattle! It was a blast!

365 Challenge - Week 6

February 7 - Super Bowl Sunday! I watched the game at Kellie's house. While we snacked on queso we watched an exciting game. We were pretty excited to see the Broncos win! Kellie's pup, Laney, was a tired puppy. I think the game wore her out! ;)

February 8 - I'm breaking my rule. I'm posting way too many pictures of Tucker. But this has been quintessential Tucker recently. Every time I try to do work on my computer, he crawls into my lap and makes it impossible to be productive. I've been trying to do research on where to go on vacation with my mom this summer. Let's just say very little research was done that evening.

February 9 & 10- Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were rough for me. I was pretty sick with a nasty cold and honestly didn't do a thing. I didn't end up taking a picture either of these days because it probably just would have been the couch medicine I was taking and a box of tissues. Not necessarily great blog material.

February 11 - On Thursday, we had a wine-tasting event at work for graduate students. It's always a fun opportunity to see all of the graduate students that we've worked with over the years. And, there's wine, so who can complain?

February 12 - Since I didn't get a photo for every day this week, I'm doing two for Friday since they look so good! On Friday evening, Kellie and I baked for Valentine's Day. We made strawberry macarons and dipped some of them in chocolate to make "chocolate-dipped strawberry' macarons! They turned out phenomenal! There will definitely be more macaron dipping in the future. We also made two gigantic macarons that are the size of my palm! We had a big one on our trip to New York last year and have been wanting to make some ever since. Thankfully, they didn't turn out a total disaster!

February 13 -  Saturday evening was spent with friends. Spending time with these two makes me miss the year that we spent living together. I can always rely on these two for a good laugh and a great evening! Especially when sangria and margaritas are involved!