A look back on 2012

Well, my friends, this year taught me a lot about patience, about getting over myself, and mostly, about Murphy's Law:

Anything that can go wrong, will.

 

There was the first part of the year. After a barrage of family deaths, another one hit the closest to home: my sister's miscarriage. It's not something that we just talk about, but it is something that weighs on us still, I think (though I can't speak for everyone.)

 

Not to mention the one-month long food poisoning/driving-induced stress stomach problems. I could barely make it to class, much less eat. Every night I wondered if I'd get better.

 

Then there were the vehicle problems later on in the year. On a trip to back to my college-town, I had a tire bust on the interstate.

 

Not too far after that, my car was acting funny, so we (well, Caleb and the campus minister) replaced my water pump. A few weeks later, my car starting steaming and overheating, and I had to get my radiator replaced. Then just a few weeks ago, my battery died. So, new battery. I had half a mind to just forget it all and buy a new vehicle.

 

Those are just a small portion of the large picture, but guess what! This year wasn't completely bad. Actually, there was a lot of good.

 

Surprise! My sister is pregnant and due in March, not too long before my birthday! I'm going to have a lovely niece to hold.

 

My friend Jesse saved me from that busted tire on the interstate, since it happened in his hometown. When I say saved, I mean he called his police-officer dad, who was kind and came to help us change tires as my parents drove up.

 

A load of my friends got engaged this year (at an average rate of 1 a week). But two of them asked me to be in the wedding, and I couldn't be more happy for them and for getting to share in their special days.

 

I got a cute puppy, surely you've seen her by now. She knows how to dance and sit and ask Dad for biscuits.

 

I got a job at the school paper, and now I get to write about the sports I go to see! It's possible that I've made the important men in my life sorta proud.

 

The summer camps I worked out were nice and just what I needed. (They also gave me the tan-ish that I wanted.)

 

Caleb and I celebrated two years of dating in October. That was pretty neat.

 

Aaaand now, here are my favorite images of the year!

I got a surprise birthday party this year!

Here are my two roommates. They're pretty cool and pretty pretty.

Our 2-year date to the corn maze.

Oh look, our two most popular players.

 



They are cute.

Christmas Party game.

Me and my pop.

Dwight and Angela



Dottie!

Here is Amy, my first friend to get engaged (it's possible she started the trend last December!)

And here's Cori, who also proposed to me to be a bridesmaid.

If you wondered how I did on my goals for the new year...well...I did about 5.5 of them. Which is terrible, but also good. That's why they are goals, not resolutions!



Simple Christmastime

Not everything we wanted to happen worked out this Christmas. Unfortunately, our whole family didn't get to be together on Christmas because of the impending snow doom. And the power and cable and internet took turns not working.

But at least I got to be home with my parents and my doggie this break, and I got to visit Caleb the weekend right before Christmas.

Here's a small peek into what we did in our down time this Christmas. (Did I mention it finally snowed, for my first White Christmas ever?!)


My mom and I had a photoshoot.

 

 

Dottie wanted me to come back inside...or to go outside.

 

 

I just want to brag a little bit...

I used to say I'm not one for mushy stuff, but that was before I started dating Caleb. I'm still not a fan of gross amounts of PDA, or of people calling each other baby all the time, but my goodness, I don't mind telling people about Caleb.

Last week was pretty bad. Just a few days, a few problems here and there, and the whole week went pretty sour. I woke up late - as in 20 minutes before class started, and I live 10 minutes away from campus. Many thanks for the campus minister who kindly drove me to class in my desperate moments.

Then, the speech I was to do that day got postponed, etc., etc., and then it was Wednesday. This day was better in the fact that I did not have a class to go to. That night the paper I work for had a Christmas party, which was fun! I ended up with two amazing-smelling candles.

As I walked to meet Caleb in a nearby parking lot to go to church, I noticed my arms getting unusually tired. And then suddenly, my notebooks, folders, food, and candles all spilled out of my hands onto the concrete. A few yards away stood five guys, just standing and staring at me, not offering to help, just watching me as I tried to scoop up my belongings and the broken glass that once surrounded one of my candles.

About that time, Caleb's truck came swooping in and he ran out to help me pick up everything. Doesn't sound like much, but after the mortification I had just suffered, it was enough.

Saturday night, Caleb gave me a pedicure. And it was the most beautiful pedicure I've ever received. He washed and massaged my feet, took off my nail polish, had me file my own nails because he didn't know how, and then proceeded to apply base, main, and top coat to my toes. It was the cutest thing to watch him carefully paint about 6 layers of black glitter polish to my nails, and then apologize when my toes got stuck together due to the fact that my nails weren't dry.

It was actually a really good job!

That's all it took to give me a better week, and I just wanted to share it.

P.S. If you are one of Caleb's brothers and are reading this...it was the manliest pedicure ever. Blood, guts, and gore.

Here are some scenes from the RFC Christmas party we had the other day. Kelsy and I nearly won this game.

My Job

It interests me, so maybe it will interest you. I want to tell you about my job, and the amazing (to me) things I get to do.

First, you need to know what I do - I write and copy edit for the sports section of the school paper. I'm a journalism major, not focusing on print, but I got a job there anyway, because A) my favorite G.A. told me to, B) I love sports, and C) I love to write.

This has already been a really amazing year. I'll go ahead and lay out the "downsides": (although they really aren't too bad unless it's football against Alabama). You can't wear any Hog gear or cheer for the Hogs when covering a story.

One of my first stories involved me getting to interview a swimmer at the university who competed in - get this - the Olympic Trials. And she didn't do too bad either. I like to think that everyone I get to interview could potentially be in the Olympics now.

A highlight of the year, although a loss, was getting to cover the Alabama game. I got to go to the press box on our home field...and it was fantastic. I sat near the likes of Mark Edwards, a tv sports anchor that I have watched since I was a child.

The press box had a plethora of food. Pastas, salad, drinks, cookies and cakes. And I had a press pass. A legit press pass, with my name, spelled correctly, printed on it.

The press conference after the game was scary. Our coach was quiet and our quarterback was angry, and I got to witness it.

A majority of my stories this semester covered soccer, my sport from high school. I watched the No. 1 team in the country play us, and I watched as we started over with a brand new coach. After the games I had opportunities to talk to the coach and players.

I covered a volleyball game in the middle of the season and sat on the press bench, four seats away from three-time Olympic gold medal winner Kerri Walsh Jennings, a woman I had admired ever since I decided at the age of 12 that I wanted to grow up to be a spiker on an Olympic volleyball team.

(My dream of being 6 foot 4 also was crushed by genetics, as I haven't grown an inch over 5'2 since the same year I decided to become a spiker.)

Our kicker, who visited during a night of camping out

The quarterback, a super nice and patient guy

Press conference

There are many other wonderful things I get to do in my job, and these are just a few of them. A very tiny few of them.

Fall Break and Exciting News!

This past weekend was fall break for me, and I took that opportunity to go home. The 4-hour+ trip was long and tedious, but it was all worth it when I got home to a happy puppy who was way too excited to see me.

Saturday, on the trip down, Caleb and I went to Wendy's halfway through to see some of my church camp friends. The meeting was too short, but still very nice, especially since I only see these people once every year.
Sunday was a nice day of relaxation and seeing friends at church, one of which recently had an iron infusion, so keep her in your prayers! After church that night, I had dessert at classic Cracker Barrel with one of my best friends from high school. The conversation drifted to The Hobbit, and naturally, I also had to throw in my plug for Doctor Who (my favorite show).

Monday was mother-daughter shopping day. Ma and I found some good deals for some good clothes and crafting items (leather strips for $5-the possibilities!) When we got home, I made a guitar strap for dear Caleb, which turned out to fit him perfectly!

Tuesday was the sad day of departure.

I headed up to college and made a pitstop on the way to see my most recently engaged close friend. She surprised me with a box containing a ring pop asking me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding! It was very cute, and of course, I said yes.

The next day came the super exciting news...
I'm going to be an aunt to a sweet little girl! My siblings found out that come March, they are going to have a daughter. And I am going to spoil her rotten thanks to pinterest's plentiful ideas.

More pictures to come from the gender reveal photoshoot in its own blog. Here's a candid shot of me trying to fix the blocks.

Burning Out/Highlights

My first few weeks of my junior year of college have been anything but calming. I've stayed busy, barely have time to eat lunch most days, and unfortunately...I've been writing so much that blogging and journaling just haven't come very easy. I'll be lucky to blog once every semester.

I thought I'd share the cool highlights of the past three weeks.

1. Started my job with The Arkansas Traveler. I've been writing and copy editing for the sports section. This means I attend games, interview people, and the like. It definitely keeps me busy. But I love it. If you haven't checked the paper out, here's its website: uatrav.com.

 2. My puppy is adorable. We took her to be with my parents this weekend, since I can't keep a dog where I am living. Besides, I couldn't give her the attention she needs while I am in college. In a few years, though, hopefully I can have her with me again! The trip down to and back from home was fun, with four people and four dogs in tow. Lots of fur on my clothes. Oh, and doggy vomit.

3. I ran into Tyler Wilson, the quarterback for the Razorbacks, at Walmart the other day. My boyfriend knows how much I want pictures with all of my favorite athletes, so he was bold enough to ask for one. That was exciting.

4. I've grown quite fond of Doctor Who. Didn't think I would, even though I know I like sci-fi. (Not the channel, the genre.) I am fairly partial to the ninth doctor (Chris Eccleston) but the tenth doctor (David Tennant) is catching up. I've resolved to not give ninth doctor up.

5. Finally, and probably most importantly....one of my dearest friends, Cori, got engaged this past week. I've never met her fiance (crazy, right?) but I've only heard wonderful things about him. So I'm very excited for their future together, and interested to see their wedding! Lord willing, they will have a long and happy life together.

(I didn't take that picture, nor was I there...so I stole this from her facebook. Sorry! :) )

There is my month in a really small nutshell. Enjoy!

Barton Bible Camp

This is the place to go when you’ve been having a bad year, a bad week, or just a bad attitude.  Barton can help clear that up real quick.

I always get nervous when I go into Barton because there are always so many new faces that mix in with the old.  It’s hard to give 60+ kids all the attention they need and deserve at church camp, but the counselors sure do try.

There are a lot of stories I could tell you about this week, but I’ll try to keep it short(ish.)

First, there’s one camper who just made me smile every time I saw him.  He got baptized that week, and won second place in the Bible Bowl (it’s like quiz bowl, but with Bible questions.) The look on his face when he won second was even more excited than the first place winner.  He was one of the sweetest kids I’ve met.

There’s also always the Battle of the Barton, where kids take bottles of shaving cream and silly string and run around on a tarp covered in water and cooking oil.  Sound disgusting?  It is.  I had the chance to hold the water hose and hose off all the slimy kids when stuff got in their eyes.  It’s the most demanding job I’ve ever had.  Kids constantly yell your name and fling grossness on you.

Nasty.

There were quite a few baptisms that week, which was great!

Of course, the counselors were also fantastic (at least in my opinion.)  Friendships that started last year became stronger this year.  A few really helped me out without knowing it.

I wish I would have taken more pictures with more people, but…I didn’t.  I was glad to get to know these people better, and glad to spend time with old friends too.  Seriously though, at Barton, you can find the best friends you may ever have.  I sure have!