Have I stopped breathing?

Life is beyond trying to catch my breath. Now it's more like, holding my breath and hoping everything doesn't come tumbling down around me.

How am I supposed to do it? How did I do it before? For some reason being gone one semester and taking two extremely blow-off Spanish classes this summer have combined to throw me out of the swing of combining school and life.

Yesterday there was a lady bug on my car. All I could think was, oh I hope she's bring me good luck! I was in a good mood. Well, I must have shut the car door on her or she must have been thrown off when I took off down the highway.. whatever it was she's brought me bad luck instead of good. Well, there is one good thing that has happened in the last 24-hours. I got tickets to Austin City Limits, I'm just hoping it is as awesome as I'm foreseeing it to be. But this morning.. has been rough.

For one of my classes I have to work an internship, not for internship credit, but it's just a requirement, like a major project. Well, last week I found an amazing internship and so far I've been enjoying it, then I was told I won't be paid for the hours worked. I know, I know, a lot of internships are unpaid. But I dont have the resources to spend 6-10-or more hours a week working somewhere without pay. My one job on campus barely pays enough for groceries. And the thing is, my supervisor wants to pay me, but the internship is on campus too and federal work study doesnt not allow for students to be paid while working at an internship. Has the government lost their ever lovin mind?? I wanted to scream at the financial aid lady, but instead I came close to tears, and to top it all off my professor is not answering my emails. So where do I turn? Nowhere. So far, no one is proving able to help. So I work for free and pray to God that I somehow have money to pay bills in a month.

That's my main dilemma today. Either I find a new internship, which has not proved to be easy, or I work without pay. Another issue of the day is photography. I love photography. I get joy from taking pictures and seeing the end result. But, I know nothing about film photography. Really, nothing. I ruined three rolls of film in the last week, just trying to figure out how to use my stinkin camera. Three rolls. And they are not your cheap kodak film rolls, nope. But I'm learning and the experience is good. Learn from your mistakes, right? I definitely am.

So that's that.
Labor day was nice, though instead of getting caught up on homework, I stayed behind. But we had a cookout at our apartment and had lots of random friends unite for food and fun. Now I have another cookout to go to tonight, a guerilla comedy troupe show, and film to be developed. Yes my dears, every hour of my day is booked (and already it's a challenge to sit still in class with so much to do).

For those of you back home, I'll probably see you tomorrow night at Jess' graduation party... it's going to be fun! :)

Hello, hello.
It's been awhile.

School started back in full swing on Monday and I am officially a Baylor senior. Scary. I'm taking 17 hours, I'm working one job at the moment, I'll be starting an internship in a week or two, and besides that I'm in one campus group, trying out for another organization, going to church, visiting home, catching up with old friends.. and trying to catch my breath..

Let's backtrack a month or so. I finished out Spanish II and now I'm waiting for my grades to transfer over. The class was difficult but somehow I managed an A; maybe because one of the other students brought our professor a bottle of tequila and said it was a present from all of us - he is a huge fan of tequila. Or maybe my hardwork payed off.

I didnt get a job for the end of the summer, but for a little bit I helped out my parents with church stuff, then we were busy the last few weeks. My parents bought an aparment for my sister and I in Waco, just two weeks before school started. Which means we spent a week and a half remodeling the whole place, as well as a day moving everything down here. The apartment is great and almost perfect (we still have a few things to hang on the walls and such). Bri got here Saturday so we've been trying to catch up and get settled, as well as go to class. It's been good and hectic.

So that's a very quick update. Summer ended with a lot of work at the apartment, though up until then it was rather lazy.

Sign of a Promise and Hope

I saw a rainbow today.
I started summer II on Monday and as I was walking out of class tonight, it was pouring. I had my umbrella, but my jeans are still soaked to me knees. So I was a lil chilled, but as I drove away from the campus I saw a gorgeous rainbow sitting over the main building. After all of this rain, it was good to see a rainbow. As I drove away though, the rainbow was behind me, the sun was peeking out of clouds in front of me, there was lightening to my left and the flood gates had been released upon my car. But for once, I just enjoyed the craziness of weather as I drove to the church.
Thank you Lord for the rainbow :)

So.. my life.. I finished summer I, summer II is already starting to worry me. I quite my job (my manager liked me.. a lil too much), and now I'm more or less thinking about getting a job for the month I have left before going back to Baylor. I really have a negative attitude about it, but I really am going to try.. :) Anyway, having some time off to finish my class and visit family and celebrate the 4th without working has all been a blessing.

Living with the parents has been ok, but I really miss my friends and Baylor. I have made a few friends here though. Of course there is everyone at church, but I also met a girl in my summer I class who goes to Baylor, so she has helped keep me from going insane. Also, I'm still close to a few co-workers from TD. Mainly Gustavo, who is just a fabulous guy, and Eder. Eder is... just crazy. After working with him for a while, he decided to pretend that I was more Mexican than the rest of them, and in doing so I was in need of a Spanish name. First, I was Maria, soon after it was Guadalupe - Lupe for short, then Pancha. Even now, he uses a mix of all three when he sees me :) My GM, however, decided that Megamillion was a better nickname for me. So if you call me by any of those names, I will probably respond with a smile :)

Well, that's the quickest update on my life as of late. I go to school, church and spend time with my parents. Someday, when I have more internet access, I will definitely blog more.
I hope you are all marvelous!!

Tomorrow is my last day as a waitress..
I'm wondering how long I was expected to last at the Mexican restaurant... My mom thinks my co-workers had bets going. Haha that's possible, but when I decided to quit today, everyone was surprised. I think they were expecting it within the first two weeks, but after two months they were sure I would be there till August. And I thought I would be... but I got tired of my boss hitting on me, not getting enough sleep, not having more than a day off a week, not having enough time for homework, and such.
So once again, I'm jobless. Hopefully I'll be able to find something that I can transfer to Waco. This really has been an interesting experience.
Before working there I was so against illegal immigration, and I suppose that I still am, but I have a different view.

Finally... a weekend off.
I asked off for the Collide Festival, but with all the rains - it was cancelled. I was shocked that I even got the days off and then bummed that the festival was cancelled.. no Relient K this weekend.. how sad is that?! So I made up my mind to get out of town.
Yesterday I drove down to Austin to hang with my "cousin" and ended bumping into one of my real cousins when we were walking to dinner.. random. Anyway, now I'm sitting in her lovely apartment, waiting to go meet a friend for brunch. After that I'm thinking of doing some shopping in San Marcos, they have a killer outlet mall and I need a new swimsuit ;) Then it's on to the wonderful town of San Antonio. I think it's starting to become tradition to visit San An every year in the spring/summertime. I'm excited though, I get to see two of my best friends, enjoy the river walk, some floatin' on the river, and then I'll head back to Austin for another fun night before heading home.
Yes that is my weekend in a nutshell. I officially love having friends all over Texas that I can go visit on a whim.
So next time I blog.. I'll fill in any and all random adventures I had along the way.
Take advantage of the summer!! It only comes once a year! :)

Finally... I can blog.

I've been with limited internet access since being back home, so everytime I'm online I have a million things to do... and blogging just hasnt fit in. And then the few occasions I have had to blog, I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of information and the things that are happening in my life right now.

So it's summer. It's starting to feel like summer, though it is raining - a lot. My older sister is in New York this weekend, and I must say I am very jealous. I wish I had the money to fly back once a month and see a play, drink in the business of the city and eat at some of my favorite restaurants or have coffee at the Tea Lounge. Instead, I'm working. That has been the sole purpose of my life lately--work. I'm a server at the Mexico City Taqueria. While it's not actually in Mexico, I feel like I live there; I'm the only blonde hair, blue-eyed, English speaking person in the place. Everyone else is, you guessed it, from Mexico. It wouldn't bother me, except for the major language barrier. I understand some Spanish, but not enough to hold a decent conversation, and most of what I have learned has been written. Meaning, I know the words, but not how to pronounce them or it takes me a minute to understand what someone is saying. Ugh.. and I'm scared to death to try to speak Spanish.. I dont know why.. but I'll get over it very soon. I started Spanish 3 on Thursday. Haha I think I must be destined to live in Latin America or Spain. Aside from trying to understand Spanish 24/7 and half the time looking like an idiot as I have no idea what everyone is talking about, I have made some good friends and I do love working with them. Waitressing as a whole though, it's not for me... thank the Lord, this is temporary.

So my summer so far, I'm a server and I'm taking summer classes. I'm exhausted, but blessed. I'm hoping to visit friends soon. I'm missing the City. This is my life. I'm happy to be with my family, though one sister will be gone as a camp counselor all summer, and the other lives close to an hour away.

I'm sure a million other things are happening.. but thats all for now..
Once again.. I'm back in the blogosphere.

Grampa Dan's Rockets

My awesome Grampa - he's the one in the tan jacket and khakis that is helping the guy on the scooter. He's always loved gadgets and rockets! Apparently, he brought the scooter to Thanksgiving dinner (one that I missed) and showed off his new toy. Later he added the rocket. Take a look, you'll be among the millions!

Another rocket: