Friday, September 30, 2011

A (not -so) Wise Choice: They Let me Fly a Plane Edition

My dad has been wanting to get his pilot's license for a while now and decided to get me on board with the quest for myself.  So yesterday while he was in town, we went for a "discovery flight" out at Hooks airport.  Its meant to be a mini intro into the pilot training program. 

First we started in a classroom where our Pilot, Robert, talked to us about flight maps (or whatever the real name is) and all the other crazy acronyms and french words the aviation industry deems necessary.  It hurt my head.  You have to be really smart to be a pilot.  I don't know if my people are made for this.

We'll see.

So after the classroom - map - times, we ventured to the flight simulator.  It was awesome.  It looks just like a cockpit- but with a computer screen instead of... er... the earth.  My dad went first. It starts you on the runway for take off.... he was in the grass before he even left the ground.  Ha. Then you fly around and practice turns and leveling out.  It was amazing.  I was up next, I did slightly better than my dad, but only because I had watched him and paid extra attention to not do what he did. It worked, kind of.  After the simulator times we were off to the real thing ! 

We did a pre-flight inspection of the plane...checking everything.  It was all there. Whew.

I was in the hot seat first and dad observed.  We took off and I was slightly freaking out.  There is so much to pay attention to.  My tiny little blonde brain was blown.  Once we were up in the air, I took the controls. 

HA.

They'll let just anyone fly one of those things.  Suckers.

So I had to level the plane, then go up...then down....then once we were over Lake Conroe he decided I should do some turns.  Naturally.  Turns in a plane are....freaky.  You lose lift when you turn so unless you correct it you naturally start going down slightly, so as I was turning us right it actually looked like we were heading straight for the lake... or what's left of it at the moment (anger fist to the drought) .  So as I'm freaking out and saying my final prayers in me head the pilot man tells me its a beautiful turn.  Irony. 

After 30 minutes we landed and I switched places with dad.  We were both a little air sick, but shook it off so dad could have his moment to shine. 

and shine he did!

Ok, so i might have slept a little in the back....BUT we didn't crash so I take that as shining! GO DAD !

He did the same thing as me and then we returned.

mission accomplished.

Roger.

And that was that. Typical day .



Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Clean-a-thon : front yard edition

So what did I do this afternoon ? ? ? 

Well, when I rolled back into town Sunday afternoon, there was a little surprise awaiting my arrival.  Toilet paper was strewn about our yard.  So today I cleaned the soggy, semi-paper-mache-esque toilet paper that draped the azalea bushes in our front yard. 

I guess this counts as my yearly throwback to middle school.

It wasn't even that much.  We have no idea who did it, because I know no one who would do it... because everyone I know is a responsible "adult."  I think it was meant for the neighbor boy two houses down who is in middle school.  We also think it was girls because they kind of did a terrible job, not that I'm complaining.  The worst part was that it rained the night they attacked so there weren't nice, fluid strips of toilet paper that I could grab.  Rather, there were clumps that had glued themselves to the foliage. Excellent. 

I found an entire roll lodged in the middle of one of the azalea bushes.  It was completely soaking wet.  Delicious.

All in all, I didn't really mind cleaning it up that much.  It was probably the most time I've spent outside in a while and the weather was nice. Plus, I had Justin Bieber stuck in my head.

That's all.

xo

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Random Thought: Jesus Loves Me Edition

On Friday Kristen was kind enough to pick me up on her way through Houston so we could ride together to College Station- I was going for the weekend and she was just popping through for a few minutes on her way back to Plano. duh.
God has such cool timing and such a bigger vision than we do... of course Kristen would have an interview in Galveston (WHOOP!) and be driving through CS on a weekend I was going... I'm sure it was all so we could have time together.  Thanks God.

 As we pulled back onto University we were talking about how weird it was to be back and how different things are.  Nothing major has necessarily changed about A&M or BCS, but its crazy how different it feels to be there sometimes.  Time is a weird thing.  When I think about my freshman and sophomore year vs. junior and senior vs. now- I have completely different life perspectives in each stage.  There is a different air about each little time chunk.  I hope you get it because that's about as articulate as I can be on the topic. 

Moving on...

So we pulled up to the back on St. Mary's around 4, Kristen was dropping me off and was going to go do her thing and I was going to go to mass and do my thing.  Sitting in the car in the back lot I started having a slight freak out ... What was I going to do for an hour and a half before mass? Where was I going to put my duffel bag I was toting around? Where were all the people I know?  Why do I feel like I'm 75 years old? ... Kristen validated the awkwardity...but alas I had to forge the unknown.  So, waddling with my bag I strayed from the safe confines of the car and walked the long, dark path of the breezeway. 

Once inside- things went well.  I put my bag down and then went in the church to pray and possibly nap.  I was sitting downstairs right under the front of the balcony, per the usual. 

It felt so good to be back in St. Mary's.  It was almost like going back to your grandparents house.  Its so comforting and familiar.  I would have cuddled with it if I could have...

While I was sitting there praying, Crazy Girl by Eli Young Band kept popping in my head.  I love it.  Its my favorite song right now.  I listen to it too much.  It makes me happy and sad at the same time.  It might be unhealthy. 

What was cool about it though is that as the chorus was repeating in my head, I was hearing Jesus singing it:


Crazy girl, don't you know that I love you?
I wouldn't dream of going nowhere
Silly woman come here let me hold you
Have I told you lately I love you like crazy, girl?

It was a really cool moment.  I don't usually have a "feelings" reaction during prayer, I don't usually receive consolation.  It was really calming and comforting to hear a song that is meant to be in a romantic context as a love song from Christ.  The rest of the song doesn't follow suit, I know.  But that need not affect the Jesus love chorus.  It was a rare moment when I really felt like He was speaking to me, letting me know I'm in His care.

After, I tried to nap in the balcony ( so I did try to cuddle with St. Mary's) but I couldn't.

Then it was time for mass.  The church was waaaay packed and I was noticing how I knew circa de.... no one.  That's a cool feeling. Thank goodness for Ms. Evelyn Fontana who came and sat with me and made me feel loved ! Father Michael Sullivan rocked the house, Jesus made an appearance, all was well.

The rest of the weekend continued to show how much blessing God has to rain down on us. 

Snaps:
-tailgating
-42
-watching the game at the alumni center (WHOOP!)
-new friend, Frank, class of 1946
-The Village girls
-Gumby's pizza rolls
-Cousin Carley
-free parking
-rain
-dancing
-fuego
-Katie K and company (BABY BOY!)
-Mass with Morgan and Ragan
-Yogurtland for 2 hours


oh! and then getting back home in houston and finding that my house was wrapped... ?!?!  Who wraps a strangers house?  I'm pretty sure they had the wrong house on accident. Awesome.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

A Wise Choice: the wisdom teeth removal edition

I decided that it was time to add some spice to my life, oral surgery style.

So I had my wisdom teeth sliced from the confines of my mouth.

The lovely Katie C accompanied me as my "over 18, responsible adult" since my dad was still in Alaska on his moose-less moose hunting trip (boooooo!) 

When the doctor was about to put the I.V. in, I told him I don't do I.V.s well and that I usually get close to passing out.  He told me that it was ok because he doesn't do them well either, so he is really good at giving them. 

Now, now.

Apparently they don't teach you in Med School that its not a matter of pain when it comes to people with needle/IV freak outs. I barely felt it go in. He was right, he can give them very well... but then comes the racing heart. Apparently I held my breath while he was putting in the I.V. and turns out that isn't so good. So then come the sweats and the fidgeting, heart hurting, room spinning.  

The last thing I remember is hearing him say "Now, I'm going to give you something to make you feel better..."

And apparently before they woke me up, Katie had the opportunity to take this lovely shot... 

Consider me posting this pic, my random act of kindness for the day.

  The next thing I know, I can hear the doc telling Katie that I fainted before they put me under! I had no idea (duh)!  That's the first time I've ever passed out.  Gotta check that off the bucket list!  Katie and the Doc walked me out to the car and we came back home.  I then slept...for a while.  :o) Post- Surgery Katie is one of the easiest versions of me to get on board with... it involves a lot of sleeping, acceptable whining, couch lying, movie watching, and mushy food eating. Check. 

Katie proved to be an excellent caretaker.  She even partook in some of the optional nap times! Talk about sympathy pain!  She was so sweet to pick-up my drugs at target, and even some frozen peas to ice down my cheeks!  :o) After nap number 2...or 7... Katie was kind enough to snap these photos of me and my fluffy face. 

Random act of kindness #2

Random act of kindness #3

Yes there are peas on my face.

Yes I'm cuddling with a stuffed animal.

Enjoy.

So Katie and I spent mostly all the day in the dark fortress that is the gameroom of my house.  Apparently it didn't occur to us to open the blinds during the day, reinforcing the 17 naps.

After "dinner" (an 8 oz. bottle of vanilla Ensure) we rented "Hanna" on Video on Demand.  We were reeled in by the 10 minute "freeview"... it started out strong, and got weirder and weirder.  I liked it.  It was just weird. But good.  Good and weird. Weird and good. 

By then it was around mid-night-ish, so we got me drugged up and into bed.  It took me a while to fall asleep since I was a bit nauseated from the druggin' on a not so full stomach.  But eventually I was out, I woke up circa de 7:20 this morning, just in time to hear my dad walk in the door from the airport!  Then I passed out again for 3 more hours!  #noshame

When I emerged from my fortress I took a long walk down the stairs, through the kitchen and plopped on to the couch! Aah yes, to relax after a long nights rest.  I earned it. 

Starting today I have to rinse my mouth every three hours with salt water, and can start carefully brushing my teeth.  Somewhere around movie # 3 today, I found myself napping through "The Prince and Me."  I was in that semi-sleep state when I was half dreaming.  So in my dream I was hearing what was actually on T.V. (mostly) but with my own images.  I was hearing the end of the movie, when he comes back to get the girl, but in my brain's own setting.  Oh, and I was the girl.  So I remember be kept kissing me and I would get grossed out because he had really bad breath.  This happened like 5 times before I woke and realized that it was my own terribly disgusting breath that had been infiltrating my dream. Classic.  And classy.  I laughed out loud at myself.

Post- breath dreaming, my dad arrived with some soft foods from Boston Market. He brought me mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, mac and cheese and sweet potatoes.  Word to the wise- the spinach and sweet potatoes go down the easiest! ( And are the tastiest)  So I snack timed.  mmm...

Dad went back to the store and roommate Katie was shopping, so I took this opportunity to shower.  I figured I could only pull off the post-surgery grease ball look for so long, and I didn't want to push it.  Shower's make everything a little better.

To sum up the rest of the night:
Lounging
Pinteresting
Movie-ing
Alaska State Troopering
Michigan Vs. Notre Dame-ing (included some nappage)
SNL-ing
Face peas-ing
Snacking
Anti-bioticing
And the 20 teeth brushing and saline solutioning.

All in all, I call that a pretty productive day.  I plan to reenact most of it tomorrow, with the addition of Mass-ing.

So, that's my wisdom teeth update.  Super thrilling and only semi- painful.  I am milking this for all its worth. 


Sidenote:  On thursday I ran a bunch of pre-wisdom teeth removal errands.  One of them include getting new passport photos taken for my visa for china in october. I had the option of taking them thursday, with my hair up and two day old makeup OR getting them taken after my wisdom teeth were sawed from my face and possibly facing puffy face photos.

So I went to Walgreens and after the lady set up the screen, I stood in front of it and smiled for my close up.  She looked at me, cocked her head sideways and as sweetly as she could, asked if I wanted to look in the mirror first. 

Confidence boosted. Ha. 

I told her no and explained that it wasn't actually for my passport, so it would only be on my visa for one trip and I didn't really care blah blah blah.

"are you sure? sometimes people get upset afterwards..."

Confidence rising. 

So she took the picture. 

Sidenote^2:  You aren't allowed to smile anymore in passport photos, apparently they want everyone to look how they will after an 8 hour flight. 

So wait no longer and behold : KTJ- the swedish runnaway version:



xo

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Clean-a-thon : amusing photo edition

So.  My house is a wreck.  Not like "oh... no...my house is so dirty, please don't mind the mess..." and then you walk in and everything is sparkling and shiny. No, no little one. Not the case here.  It would take a lot of work on my part to exaggerate the crap, clutter, chaos and confusion that is... my house.

Alas- I am slowly working my way through the terror and making progress.  There has been a lot trashed and donated already- ill post about that later.


For now, let us take a way down Memory Lane of My Childhood...  these are just a select few of the flattering shots of me through the years ...


In the beginning...

I was awesome.

I really wish I still had those rockin shades.  And the visor.  I'll pass on the mullet.

Camp Cullen - circa de kindergarten
 I grew up camping with my dad through Indian Princesses via the YMCA, so I have lots of funny pictures of me trying to be outdoorsy...
I like this one because I think my little legs are cute!

Pretty sure I thought that I was a BOSS sitting up there on that rock.

Then we move indoors... To Valentine's Day

Take note of the GIANT turquoise earrings, I begged my mom to let me wear them

mmm... heart candies...
So, I know there's nothing wonderfully exciting about that last picture, but I added it so I could tell you about that boy.  His name is Ryan.  He grew up down the street from me.  We were b-f-f. Well, at least b-f-until we got-older-and-it-wasn't-cool-to-be-friends-with-the-opposite-sex-and-he-moved.  And by b-f-f  I, of course, mean I was madly in love with him and he, not so much in love with me. (This trend continues throughout my life)  Take a moment to grieve for little Katie so we can move on. 


...

great.

The story I wanted to tell about him is how one time his mom was driving us home from swim practice and I made him marry me in the back seat of the car.  I made him say vows and after we "I-Did" I made him kiss me on the hand.  Because that is apparently how its done.  Now... to enhance the no-shame-in-my-game factor I can distinctly remember his mom watching me in the rear view mirror.

Oh- not to mention that my brother and his best friend were sitting in the seats behind us.

Totally. Legitimate. Marriage.



Moving on to the always Happy Camper version of myself...



And church play Katie... 
We'll assume I'm wearing shorts... !
Then there's me and Saturn...
Don't know why I'm dressed like a hippy... but the old car in the background makes a nice addition to the vintage theme...

Eat. Your. Heart. Out.

Lady in Red...

In my defense, the dress was a choir uniform...


Oh and then there was this hair-do...

I probably thought I was awesome.  Pigtails and white hose.

that time I apparently thought I was a model
I think this one is the most honest picture to come out of 7th grade cotillion...
Hope you're satisfied with your photo tour of my life.  It enjoyed it.


To end our segment I will leave you with these...

These are my Barbies I found in my doll bag.  Both decapitated. Ken's body is in the ball gown.  Stripper barbie has on a bathing suit and one boot.  And there's a random leg. 


Apparently I was this kid
cool.

OH, and here's the My Littly Pony I stole from pre-school.

I told my mom I got it for good behavior or something.


Ironic.