Driving home tonight I realized how truly blessed I am to have a life that I enjoy so much. 

I am so happy with the place I have found myself in, college student, steady jobs and wonderful friends.

I could never dream of a better life for myself at a 20 year old. 

It makes me excited for the future, my summer in Italy. but really,  I am so satisfied just living my life day to day, going to yoga, going to school, driving through the hill country and enjoying the company of great friends, roommates and my lovely boy. 

I hope that I can always lay down at night and be so content with the direction the world is leading me in. 

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips. 

This Year.

After practically drooling over the Miss America competition last night, I got the feeling that I usually do after I watch a glitzy pageant. I WANT TO DO ANOTHER!!!  There so addicting and such a good experience in dealing with people and how to present yourself. I loved my time on the pageant circuits and often think about the days where all that mattered was working toward that one big goal, the crown! After coming back to reality, I usually revisit the reasons why I have decided that my career is over for now. maybe :).

School is pretty important to me right now. Being a good student and doing well in my classes is my very first priority. You only get the opportunity to be an undergraduate student once. I'm trying my best to make the most out of both living on my own and enjoying the luxury of not having to be completely financially independent.

Pageants, as fun as they may be are very expensive. Spending an insane amount of money on something that isn't school is pretty hard for me to justify at this point in my 20-year-old life. As sad as it is I do have to realize that money doesn't grow on trees!

I guess in the end my real justification is that I would rather spend my thousand dollars on a plane ticket to somewhere I've never been, then on a fancy designer dress that I will adore, and wear once and let it hang in my closet until I am okay to let the dress just become a fond memory.

but for old times sake, I'll post a picture and dream about a time where I have achieved my education goals and want to strive again for a crown.

Simply because I will spend all day cleaning William's apartment.

Christmas Catch-Up

He are a few from my family's Christmas celebration! We celebrated at home for the first time in seven years! It was nice to wake up in my own house on Christmas with my whole family there! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and loving family. 

Freefall, Chirstmas Day

Dad with two of his four legged kids

aftermath

Traditional Christmas Breakfast,
Bread Pudding Smothered in Butter Rum sauce

Dad carving the bird

Bucket List Post #1

I was so excited this past weekend when I got to cross something off my bucket list!! My extended family is full of hunters and fishermen and I am an avid fisher woman myself, but have never been hunting for real! I have always wanted to get a deer, but I wasn't sure I would have the guts to kill Bambi's mom! I chalked it up to that I was eating the meat and that it wasn't just for sport!

My dad owns a ranch just outside of Weesatche, TX and our neighbor has a deer camp! He had a few extra doe permits and asked if we would like to use one! I was so thrilled but nervous about the whole ordeal! My dad and I took some practice shots early in the day with his 30. The kick was less then I remembered so I was feeling pretty confident! We headed over to his camp about 3:30 and got the grand tour. We set out corn and climbed up into the deer stand! The feeder went off at 4:30 and 5:15 and we didn't see anything! About 10 minutes before sunset we were feeling pretty down and thought for sure we weren't going to see anything. Out of the blue a few little does showed up and ran away before we could get a clear shot. As they ran away we turned to the other side of the stand and saw 6 or 7 larger does! We decided that this was our chance and my dad handed me the gun and I got ready! I was shaking so much because I was so excited and nervous! I knew it was a one shot deal so I took a deep breath and went for it and I did it! I was so proud of myself! My dad said that The shot couldn't have been better and I think he was excited that I had the guts to do it and did it well! I can't wait for next year, maybe I will even get a big buck!

December 29, 2010