Hightlights from Waco

I really didn't take too many pictures from Line Camp, because I was so busy running around all the time. The camera was even in my backpack the whole time! Oops.

Even though they don't live near Waco, I did get to meet up with my grand parents.

 Longhorns near Waco's suspension bridge

 

 

Daddy walking down the bridge.

 

The funniest thing about Health Camp? They don't serve "healthy" food. I hear the milkshakes are amazing, though.

Chillin' with some new friends at the local coffee shop.

From left: Hannah, Me, Austin, Kevin

 

Pat Neff Hall was lit up for the incoming Baylor Bears. Traditionally, the tower is green when there is a victory. (Usually in sports.)

 

Me and my awesome leader Isabel. "Eh...What?"

 

What's on the menu? Oh, only Dallas.

Sic 'Em!

 



Postscript: I made the color guard! Ahhh! So excited! I even had my fittings at orientation. If I could judge on first impressions only, band people are hilarious.

The Past Two Weeks Were a Whirlwind

There's my sorry excuse for not blogging. I've been in two different states attending a college orientation at Baylor (that's where I'm going this fall!), Line Camp (also at Baylor), and EPIC (church camp). I'm pretty tired, and unfortunately, I've been sick with a nasty cold this past week. Good times, good times.

A lot's been shoved into my head at Baylor and EPIC, some good things, some bad. I'm still in the processing stage and my brain has to sort through all that info that I picked up. I also haven't unpacked yet. Let's bring that train into the procrastination station!

Anyways, here are some highlights of the last two weeks:

Baylor:
*Meeting new people- This has been very hard for me, but at Baylor, you're pretty much forced to talk to lots of random people you don't know. Even harder because I was the only person from my high school going here. I had no one when I first arrived there for orientation and line camp

*Winning Line Camp Sing- At Baylor, there's a tradition called All University Sing ("Sing" for short), where different organizations put on a broadway style show. The organizations are usually Greek, but some non-Greeks often join in the show. One such example is the Sing Alliance. If I were to do Sing, I would join them. Sing happens in the spring. The top eight acts go on to Pigskin Revue, which is during Homecoming week. These shows are very elaborate, and they're on YouTube. Line Camp Sing is slightly different. Our music is taken from past winning shows, and while in Sing, the participants sing with the music, in LCS the words are already on the track. We have to use the props that the officials give us and make up a routine. Our theme was "war/military". Two of our props were rifles. I'm in color guard. I got to spin one. It was awesome.

*Milk and Cookies- After a ceremony where we received our slime caps (you'll probably see a post on that later), the soon-to-be-freshmen were herded into the nearest dining hall where we found our counselors dancing on the tables, singing about...milk and cookies. It took me forever to realize why they were singing about milk and cookies. We were actually getting milk and cookies.

EPIC:
*The Blob- A water inflatable where one person jumps on one end, sending the person on the other end flying into the air.

*Ropes Course/Challenge Vertical Climb-Besides the waiting, both of these were pretty awesome. The ropes course, while high off the ground, wasn't really scary for me. It was fun though. The other one, however, was hard. Luckily, my audience on the ground was only too happy to give me advice about where to put my foot next.

*Sermons- Our speaker was really, really good. His lessons had a huge impact in my life, and were very relatable.

*Apocalypse-No, not the real one. It was a game where our groups had to work together to escape zombies, with almost every person having a disability. I couldn't use my legs. I could write another post on this (And I very well might), but I'll give you a short story about what happened. My team left me at a safe zone so they could get to the finish (they were coming back for me). Another team came along and carried me to the finish, with other people coming in to help carry and protect me. None of these rescuers were on my team. I felt loved. Also.....beware of the zombie charms (a.k.a. Lucky Charms). They turn people into zombies.

This post was a little long, but there plenty more to come, as this was just an overview. Thanks for putting up with me, everyone!

Have ALL the Finleys!

Tonight my family went to go see Disney's Oz The Great and Powerful. Not bad. Not bad at all! If you enjoy fantasy, adventure, a dash of romance, and naturally, Oz, I recommend it.

My favorite character, by far, was Finley, the little flying monkey, who is voiced by Zach Braff. Since you all might not be familiar with this little guy, and even if you've seen the movie, I've decided that you need some Finley in your life.

Right now.

Awwww. Sad Finley.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these. I found them on Google.



Hug A Cat Day...Who Knew?

I was not aware that June 4th was Hug A Cat Day, until our vet put an article in the local paper that if people posted pictures of them hugging their precious felines on the vet's Facebook page, they would donate $1 to a nearby cat sanctuary! Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Here's my contribution to help the kitties. I took a picture with a fellow blogger, my cat Tibbs!

Happy Hug a Cat Day!

I also found a bell today.

Random, I know. But it gets better.

Notice Tibbs in the background? When he discovered the ribbon...chaos ensued!

Whoops! He missed!

Gotcha!

OM NOM NOM





 Have you gotten your Tibbs fix yet?

I love this crazy cat. However, while he's not my only pet (and not the only cat in the household), he has a special place in my heart. We brought him over from Japan when we moved to the U.S.A. almost six years ago. His...unique...personality has really brought him a notorious status. Overseas, he bit almost half of my female classmates, and over here, he's stuck his head into every shoe of just about every visitor, girl or guy. One of my friends even said that he's the perfect weight for doing squats with!

The moral of the story? Tibbs is not the kind of cat you easily forget.



Color Guard Auditions...Check!

Well, what I had to do was send in a video, since I couldn't make any of the audition dates (Oh, the joys of going to college out of state!). There were quite a few snafus today, but all were ironed out. It was  pretty stressful process.

First of all, I'm not a choreographer. In fact, I'm awful at it. Especially choreography in the wind. Ack. Then the tech. Things went crazy with the camera, and then it looked like I wasn't able to send off the videos!

Then...FLASH DRIVE AND FEDEX TO THE RESCUE!

It should arrive in the hands of the university on Thursday, a day before my deadline (I have to have it in by Friday to qualify for a scholarship). I believe that I'll find out if I make the team in June. Maybe.

Another daily miracle! I've been humbled today. Seriously.

Shoutout to the local university for letting me use their intermural gym for my own nefarious purposes filming my audition!

And now, a picture.

Who needs a mirror when you have a doorknob!

Some Reflections on Friendship and Storytelling

...at two in the morning. I decided to type my ramblings up for you.

I've been thinking a lot about friendship lately, as I'll be moving ten hours away for college and beginning again from scratch (the only exception being my cousin, who's attending college with me). Making friends is one of the biggest challenges I have. Interacting with people in general is difficult. (And yet I'm going to journalism school. Ah, Introvert Maggie logic at its finest.) How will be albe to start a reasonable conversation without running away screaming, harboring thoughts like theyhatemetheyhatemetheyhateme.

Which probably isn't true. Most people are able to tolerate me (hopefully you as well, dear reader).

But on friendships. How do you make one of these friend thingies? It's something that I've been thinking about for a bit.

As a joke, I mentioned in a speech for class that to make a new friend, you bait your target (preferably with pizza), then kidnap them. Of course, in real life, things don't work quite like that. Actually, a way I've made friends is through storytelling.

Here in the exotic land of Missouri, it's quite common to huddle up, pop a squat, ans swap stories. It certainly helps long rides in the school bus pass faster. And if you've ever had the privelege of taking a spin in an all-American public school bus, believe me. You want that ride to go as fast as possible.

Stories build friendships even after they're made. It's like swapping pretty rocks found in a riverbed.

"Your rock for mine?"

"Sure! I love yours! It has lovey pink speckles on it."

"Done. It's all yours."

"Thanks! Now we'll be friends forever!"

 

Sharing experiences brings different kinds of people closer together; it makes relating to each other so much easier. It's fun to hear something about a friend, sor something that's happened to them. Swapping memories, swapping ideas, thoughts, dreams....swapping stones.

 

Often, friends are made through mutual friends, a friend of a friend. In fact, that's how I met lots of the people I know. Sometimes friends are introduced like this, "This is Mr. Blah Blah, and we did This & That. AND. IT. WAS. AWESOME."

 

See right there? BAM. Instant storytime. And if you find in common with this new person? Bring on the new friendship! Stories sort of hold things together (read: duct tape). Memories, friendships, frail (or sometimes crazy) emotions...

 

The story is more powerful than many realize. Stories among friends can create happy memories, full of laughter and smiles, but on the flip side, stories lead to nasty rumors, which have the power to shatter those smiles and destroy friendships, and even lives.

 

Friendship and camaderie are based on story. In fact history is ultimately a story. History. His Story. God's story. And the Bible holds it all. While a relationship with Christ isn't quite like the average friendship here on Planet Earth, it is the most important one we can choose to have. And that, is a great story indeed.

 



Today's the Day.

There is no way to describe all the feels coursing through my head and my heart right now. So much of my life has led up to this.

My Facebook post for today sums up what I want to say:

"My mind? A neverending stream of TODAYTODAYTODAY. I've reached a peak today, and I'm about to jump off headfirst. Sure, it may hurt. Sure, I don't know where I'll land, or go from there. Something's for sure though. I know that God's going to catch me, because only He knows what's next. If you're reading this~ Thank you. Thank you for helping me get this far, and many more adventures to come!
~Today is not the end. It's only the beginning.~"


They never said that senior year would hurt this much. I'm having way too many "lasts". But soon I will have some "firsts". I'm going to miss a lot, I'll admit.


My life right now is like a trilogy. The first book is about to come to a close. But when the second book opens this summer/fall, it doesn't forget the first book. It builds upon it. It revisits characters and settings. It acknowledges events that led up to later events. There's no turning back, but the past isn't forgotten either.