This blog is for those who have served our country.
As most of you know today is Veteran's Day. I love this day, really I do. There are so many reasons why I love Veteran's Day, but the main reason is the reactions veterans have: they show such great love for our country. I cannot describe to you why, but every time I see a veteran in their uniform I get teary eyed. I cannot explain why, but there is something inside of me that automatically reverts to crying. I get chills every time I hear "God Bless America." I always have an urge to meet the veterans. I want to hear their stories, to learn from them.
One of the reasons why the military means so much to me is because of my Dad. My Dad never served in the military, but he is absolutely obsessed. He loves WWII especially. I think I get my love of history and my love for the military from my Dad. I remember this specific vacation we took when I was about 15 years old. We had stopped in Fredericksburg, TX so my Mom and sister could shop. Meanwhile my Dad and I took a tour of the Pearl Harbor museum they have. I remember many vacations that had to do with some civil war cemetery or taking a tour of some old naval ship. I loved this and it will forever be something my Dad and I share.
This past summer (Summer 2009) I got the opportunity to Study Abroad to Oxford, England (another thing I am absolutely obsessed with). One of our trips we took was to Normandy. I will cherish these memories forever. They mean so much to me. It was insane standing on the same beaches that our past soldiers had. Our tour guide said the weather was exactly as it had been 65 years ago. The awesome part was that we were in Normandy on D-Day plus 2 (2 days after June 6, 1944). It made the experience even more meaningful. It was raining and so cold. It put everything into perspective. I tried to understand, even tried to comprehend what it was like that same day, 65 years earlier.
A veteran we met in a museum in Normandy. He was awesome. (Notice the purple heart)
Remains from the floating harbor they built.
Allies
Kylah, Lacy, and I on Omaha Beach
The U.S. cemetery in Normandy. This took my breath away.
Unknown Soldier. Brought tears to my eyes.
Pointe Du Hoc
Famous statue in St. Mere Eglise. Paratrooper who caught on the spire and pretended to be dead until Germans took him captive.
Area around Pointe Du Hoc where Army Rangers scaled the cliffs. Those are wholes from bombs. It was bombed for 24 hours straight.
That day on those beaches changed my life. As cliche as that sounds it made our history so real. I have always loved and respected those who have served for our country, but from that day on it will have a whole new meaning to me.
This last weekend I headed west with Kylah to her hometown Dimmitt, Texas. Most of you probably won't even know where Dimmitt is, but it's west of Amarillo. It was a great weekend. On Friday I left work at about 2 so we could get to Amarillo before 7. Kylah's brother Kade was playing his last high school football game against Highland Park. It was absolutely freezing that night, but I had a blast watching Kylah's brother play. I had not been to a high school football game since I graduated HS. He played so well and had an awesome touch down. Dimmitt ended up winning 41-28.
Then Saturday we slept in, laid around the house, and then drove over to Clovis, New Mexico to visit with Kylah's grandparents and family. Later that night we relaxed and watched "Post Grad" a really funny movie that we can relate to at this time in our lives. Sunday we got up and went to church and then ate lunch. It was possibly the best lunch I have ever had. Kylah's dad cooked these amazing steaks and her mom made this amazing corn and green bean casserole. Followed up with banana pudding. Who wouldn't love that? We left Dimmitt about 3 and got back around 7.
It was a very relaxing and chill weekend. I absolutely love Kylah's family. They have become a "2nd" family to me.
So I start my new internship in less than 2 months (January 5th). Yes, I am extremely nervous. I will go from living in a college house, in a college town, and doing college things to living in Fort Worth at my grandma's (who is awesome), and working 55 - 60 hours a week. Woah. I will have to wake up at 6 every morning and do real work all day. I'm not so sure I am ready for this haha.
But I am pumped to live in a different scene and work in a city for a change. I will, however, miss all my friends! But I am making plans for them to come visit on the weekends and we can go shopping and do all the fun things Abilene doesn't offer.
Also, Jordana's wedding is a little over 4 months away. My bridesmaid dress is in and I just ordered a potential pair of shoes! This is crazy. We already know one of the dates of her bridal showers. It will be here so soon. My internship will end on March 11th and I will fly down to Austin so I can join all the pre-wedding festivities on Saturday and the wedding will be Sunday, March 13th.
(Also, Erin is getting married June 18th. 2 friends down, many more to go haha.)
After my internship and Jordana's wedding we hope to take a fun Spring Break trip with all our ACU friends. We are thinking somewhere in Florida. Then I will come back to school and work on March 21st. I will take 6 weeks of class where I go like I have been enrolled in the class all semester, but I have to teach/catch myself up on the first 7 weeks of material. Yes, definitely not excited about that part at all.
I know, I know two blogs in a row. Don't get used to it haha. But forewarning- This isn't a blog about the fun places I have been or the cool people I have seen. It is more of a blog about life and my future....
This summer I decided to not apply to any other graduate schools and stay here at ACU for the Macc Program. Here at ACU I do not have to take the GMAT and it is actually relatively cheap. Most graduate schools are around $50,000 a year and at ACU its about $30,000 max. Also, elsewhere I would be required to take anywhere from 32 - 40 hours and at ACU its only 30. My top graduate schools would be University of Texas at Austin, University of Chicago, and possibly Texas A&M. It would be my dream to go to the University of Chicago, but after applying this weekend I realized that it is abut $82,500 for one year and I would have to go for 21 months. So thats about $160,000 for an MBA program. Well that is definitely out of the question. That is insane. My heart basically stopped when i figured out how much it would cost. Oh well.... guess I will just have to visit Chi-town all the time!
Chicago Cubs!
My favorite City ever!
Amazing view
But a few weeks ago I was really struggling with my decision to stay here at ACU. I realized that I was settling for ACU by not even trying to apply to other grad programs. This weekend I spent a lot of time applying and I realized that there is not enough time for me to study, take the GMAT, and apply by all the deadlines. So needless to say I am more than likely staying here in Abilene for graduate school.
Also, I have an internship in Fort Worth this spring from January to March for 10 weeks with a regional firm called Whitley Penn. I am excited about my internship, but I had wanted an internship with one of the Big Four. My dream firm is PricewaterhouseCoopers and my second favorite firm is Ernst & Young. I know that if I work really hard I can get a job with the big four. It is easier if you intern for them, but I can't give up on that dream just yet. It just means I have to work a little harder for it. It has taken me awhile to accept that I did not get an internship with PwC or EY and I'll admit it I was a little bitter that some people did and I didn't. But this weekend and especially today I realized that if I really want something I can work hard and get it.
So I think I will just apply to ACU for grad school and enjoy my internship in the spring and go from there. Who knows what wild and crazy ride God has in-store for me.
For Fall Break I went down to College Station to visit my cousin, Lindsay Hahn. It was an absolute blast!! (Disclaimer) I am not an Aggie fan, but I love, love, love College Station. I drove down Thursday afternoon with my friend Trey Caldwell. Once I got there we went out dancing on North-gate with a ton of Lindsay's friends (shout out Kirby Lauger!) and stayed up late just hanging out and catching up.
Lindsay & I
Friday we slept in for a bit and then took care of some school stuff Lindsay and I had to do. We went to a tent sale, (Wish we had those at ACU: cheap college apparel is the best), ate dinner, and then chilled until we went to Midnight Yell. It was my first midnight yell experience and if you have never been it is basically a cult. Seriously, I had no idea what was going on except they "whoop" -ALOT and that their president was doing the dougie with the basketball team.
Kirby, Allison, me, & Lindsay at Midnight Yell
Doing the Dougie haha.
Saturday the game was vs. Mizzou who was undefeated at the time. It was an 11 o'clock game so we got up pretty early and headed down to Kyle Field. It was a blast: we sat in the 2nd level, student section on the north end, so we had a great view of the field. Even though A&M got killed the game was still so much fun. I saw one of my best friends from High School, Taylor Moore, and I ran into a friend from ACU, Bryce Geeslin. (There were a ton of ACU students in College Station that weekend). Since it was pretty hot at the game and Mizzou was winning 30 to 9 going into the 4th quarter, we decided to leave early. (Aggies call those fans 2 percenters)
Kyle Field
Kirby and I at the Game!
I took a 3 hour nap after the game and Saturday night we went to the NELO CONCERT!!! They are one of my favorite bands. If you don't know who they are you should definitely download some of their music. It was by far one of the best concerts I have been to. They are even better live.
Perfection!
Matt - he writes all of Nelo's songs!
Then Sunday we watched baseball (RANGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!! They beat the Yankees tonight in game 6!!!), football, and more football before Trey and I headed home back to Abilene. It was a busy and eventful fall break and I loved seeing my cousin!
I love spending time with both of you!
Check Nelo out!! Look them up! Do it! :)
My favorites:
On Top of Love
Black
Last Night
Do you Love Me
Okay, I love all their songs! So just download the stuff :)
So this past weekend I went to visit my cousin Lindsay at A&M. (Don't worry a blog is soon to come with all the crazy & fun details!) While I was there I couldn't help but compare ACU's college life to A&M's college life. Obviously the two are very different. We really do live in a bubble here at ACU and in Abilene.
I am having mixed emotions about it being my senior year in college. On one hand I want be done with class and on the other I want to stay in college and be around my friends forever. I absolutely love ACU and Abilene and have really enjoyed my 4 years here. How on earth did it go by so fast? I am so not ready to graduate from undergrad, but I know I have one year of graduate school and that makes me feel a little less sad.
It's already week 10 in the semester and its flying by. We just recently had homecoming and 5 of my good friends were on Homecoming Court. Three of them being some of my closest friends: Kylah Riddle, Jordana Chisholm, and Rachel Webb. It was super exciting and crazy busy. We had Queen's Teas friday afternoon, I had Sigma Theta Chi Homecoming breakfast Saturday morning bright and early at 6:30, followed by the parade, and then ACU football game where we beat Tarleton State. This semester Kylah is Ko Jo Kai president, Jordana is KJK Nunu Mom, and Rachel is KJK Keeper of the garter. Since they are officers and pledging is in full swing I hardly ever get to see them. But I have had a chance to hangout alot with my friend Kortney Reeves and it has been an absolute blast. Each and everyone of my friends has been a blessing to me! Just one more reason why I am not ready to graduate.
Kylah and I before the Bid Night Devo!
Kortney and I at the first ACU home game of the 2010 Season!
Ok so I know that I have not blogged in quite a while, but I promise it was because I did not have a computer! I just got a brand new MacBook Pro and I love it!!! So get excited for a few posts these next few days about what you have missed out on in the last few weeks. I will try to not go so long before I blog again.
On August 14 my cousin Katie married Alex Gonzalez. Their wedding was the one of the most fun weddings I have been to. We had a complete blast. It was at this place called Safari Ranch in Houston, Texas and it was a really neat and beautiful place.
At the ceremony! It was so sweet and perfect! Even though it was hot. :)
The flower girl got a little nervous and her grandpa had to assist her down the rest of the aisle. So precious!
Her wedding party! I love how the groom and groomsmen wore all black converse. Fit Katie and Alex's personality to a "T."
My sister, Abbie, and Katie. Abbie caught the bouquet. It had lotto tickets in it. Cute idea!
My Dad, My sister, and me at the reception.
One of the most fun weddings I have been to! Loved it!
Coming up:
A blog about starting my senior year
Another blog about how crazy my life is now that pledging has started.
