February 29th!!!

I do not have anything particularly great or interesting to explain about the world today, but considering the fact that this will probably be the only February 29th that will exist during my blogging years (doubt I will still be doing this 4 years from now), I figured I would write a post.

I've always lived life on the safe side, when it comes to partying, boys, and especially fashion. I am not the girl who will be the first to buy the newest and latest trendy thing. I usually wait about a year to a) see if it is still in fashion and it is worth spending my hard earned money on, b) for me to get acclimated to the new style (it took me about 4 years to start to appreciate capris, about a year for me to find gouchos cute, and I'm currently struggling with the tights/big lose shirt combo), or c) for me to build up the courage to wear it in public. This is one quality that my mother hates about me. She always wants to buy me the new fashions, right off the runway. But I am pretty content with my casual look, although I've been told I look like I am 15, so maybe I should spruce up my look a wee bit.

Well today I decided it was time to get my hair cut. It had been 7 months, so it was more a matter of necessity than pure desire. As Simon so politely told Garrett Haley in his American Idol* performance, "It looks like you've been shut up in your bedroom for about a month. You're pale. You need some fresh air." Hopefully I didn't look quite as bad as him, but a change was direly needed. So I waltzed into the hair salon, wearing my designer jeans, high heels, and new super cute shirt. One thing I've learned, you have to look good for hair stylists so that they take you seriously, so I brought my A game today. I got 3 inches off the bottom, tons of layers, and, hold your breath, bangs! Ah! Now, they aren't "serious" bangs, so don't get your hopes up. They are the sweeping kind...covering up one eye, giving me the mysterious look. I think I like them, but I'm already annoyed at having hair in my face constantly. Right now, they are bobby-pinned back. :)

About the pale thing...yeah, I'm still pasty, actually more like transparent. I have always won the "whitest girl award" amongst all my friends. When you are whiter than a red-head, then you know you have talent. My roommate went to the tanning bed yesterday, trying to get ready for the second part of our spring break in the Bahamas. Although I would enjoy being tan, it's just not in my blood, so I have learned to embrace my alabaster skin . I also have strong convictions with going to a tanning bed. It's like smoking. Or sleeping with a million guys. You're bound to get cancer or an STD (from the sex, not the tanning bed, although I have heard there's sketchy tanning beds out there). Cancer ovens are not the answer. Spray-on tans? Yes please.

Tonight is GLOW - Giving to Light Others Way - put on by Maggies and AMC. It's a 5K run through campus, where all the proceeds go to various charities throughout the community. We get a rockin' t-shirt, it's for a good cause, and tons of people go out and enjoy Aggieland together....pretty cool. But don't you guys worry, I am not actually running the 5K, I will be walking. It's against my religion to run for the "fun" of it.

Paid my speeding ticket today - $280 for going 41 mph on Holleman (30mph limit). For the record, I don't like policemen. But I especially don't like police women.

This time next week I will be in Seattle with Alex, Ann Carolyn, and Patton. I'm slightly excited. Booyah.

Happy Leap Year! :)

*speaking of American Idol, everyone needs to be voting for Jason Castro. He's an Aggie. And he's cute. And talented. WHOOP!

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ~ Michelangelo

Fact: I have never been accused of being creative. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I like structure. I thrive off of following the rules. Call me dull, boring, insipid - it's ok, I won't take offense, because when it comes to my artistic juices, let's just say they're lacking.

Hence, I must admit that my Horticulture 203 (Floral Design) class has been more difficult than I had preconceived. Not in the sense that I won't get an A (because I think that may be impossible, but I will have to look into the statistics to confirm that statement), but with me being my harshest critic, I expect perfection. The class is very entertaining. I am learning a lot of different flower names and types, and rules to designing, which is always a good thing to have in my back pocket for planning that wedding in my far future. But most of all, I have gained an immense appreciation for the arts. I always figured it took no skill at all to throw some flowers in a vase and charge $50 for it. Now I appreciate the amount of detail, time, and artistic creativity it takes to come up with these designs. (pictured above: week 1 design: Small Round - using Daisy Pom Pon Chrysanthemums and Standard Carnations).

At the beginning of the semester, the teacher told us exactly what flowers to use and took us step by step on how to make the design, but now we are given more freedom and are allowed to pick and choose which foliage/filler/colors we want, as long as we are effective in making the overall design. One of my favorites we did was the Triangle design (pictured left). Besides Spider Chrysanthemums being one of my favorite flowers, the arrangement was more modern, which is always fun. :) Today we had to make a hand-held bouquet, like for a wedding. It took me forever to make this little pip-squeak of a thing, and I personally was not too pleased with the end result. I would have liked to use more roses, but they limited us to 3. That sucker was not my friend - with flower heads falling off as I was squeezing the design to tie it together, or being unable to get the twisting effect of the stems - it just wasn't my cup of tea. I got a good grade on it, but I think the teacher was too kind (praise Jehovah for her mercy).

So back to the point of the blog. Now that my days as an athlete are over, I have been searching for another hobby, or avocation, if you will. My father has always been into photography, being the #1 fan at all my soccer/basketball/gymnastics/track events, probably taking close to 10,000 pictures of me over the years (Pops, what would your guesstimate be?). Well in the past year, he has been so gracious as to give me two of his old cameras, as he significantly upgraded to a Nikon D2. He handed over his old film camera (a Nikon N7o) which I used on my vacation to Greece and at Rachel's wedding (both of which I got fairly good reviews); then for my birthday, he passed down his digital Nikon D7o to me. I've had it for the past 3 months, but never used it much due to the intimidation factor. All those buttons, dials, modes. Words such as aperture, ISO, shutter speed. It's overwhelming. But recently, under the tutelage of a world-renown photographer (not yet, but probably some day), I have been studying my camera, learning the tricks of the trade, and trying to figure out how to fully use this incredible camera. Check out his work here: Spencer Selvidge and be sure to take note of his pictures of Venice.

I am not remotely close to understanding the capabilities of my camera, or yet have I developed the artistic eye, but I am a work in process. It's something I'm passionate about, much more so than flowers. Trying to capture something in a photograph that I see with my naked eye is impossible, but the challenge is thrilling and exciting to me.

So here are some of my personal favorites up to date. Nothing is frame worthy yet, but hopefully in the next year or so I will start producing some high quality photos.


Above: Academic Plaza on the campus of Texas A&M University. Muster Statue in focus, Academic Building in the background.








Pansies at the Academic Building.
























"Softly call the Muster..."

















Administration Building at Texas A&M University.









Streets of Mykonos, Greece. This entire island was picture perfect.













Dusk in Delphi, Greece.








Beautiful bride-to-be, Rachel Russell.






















Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Sok!

Never Have I Ever

This past summer I made a list of a few things I've never done before and made it my "About Me" section on Facebook. Some of you may recall this list, but as for my other readers who: a) do not have facebook, b) do not stalk me on facebook, or c) just don't really care, I am here to remind you of these things and give you an update on them. I made a goal to accomplish all of these things in the next year. I was not 100% successful, but hey, life is about the journey.

1. I have never had a kolache. -> To my readers outside the state of Texas, this probably means nothing to you, but if you admit to this down in this here part of the country, it's like a sin. As soon as I put this on facebook, I had two friends in the next week randomly surprise me with kolaches. They were good, but I haven't had them again since this summer. A wee bit over-rated if you ask me. But if you want to buy some for me, I'll eat them! (Never was the type to turn down food.)
   
2. I have never had a date to Yell Practice. -> Yell Practice, for my non-Aggie friends, is one of the many treasured traditions at Texas A&M. About 25,000 students show up at Kyle Field at midnight the night before a football game to practice our yells for the game the next day. The reason you take a date is because near the end of the evening, all the lights are shut off at Kyle Field and you are supposed to "mug down" with your date (practice kissing them so that when our boys score a touchdown the next day, we will look good kissing our dates in front of the cameras). Well unfortunately, I still never attended a Yell Practice with a date. Tis true...bad bull, I know. BUT, I was asked to go with a friend of mine who's in the band, but was unable to accompany him due to prior plans that weekend. Hopefully I can come back some day with a significant other so that I can experience the true essence of a Fightin' Texas Aggie mug down.
3. I have never read a book longer than 500 pages. -> I am proud to say that this is no longer true. I just finished the best book I've ever read, Lonesome Dove. I laughed, I cried, I felt like I was part of the story (I would definitely be Clara if I got to choose). Anyway, I am currently depressed that I finished the book because I wanted the story to never end.
   
4. I have never scored a goal off of a header in my 18 years of playing soccer. -> All I have to say about that is...I am PATHETIC. (Heading does hurt, don't believe those who say it doesn't...plus my mama always told me it wasn't worth losing all those brain cells just to hit the stupid ball with my head. "Just jump and then duck, so it looks like you're trying but you won't damage your IQ!" So I listened to my mama; I'm such a good baby girl!)
   
5. I have never read any of the books or seen any of the Harry Potter movies. -> The closest I've gotten to anything Harry Potter is this. And it's definitely not making me want to invest any time in that series. (please follow that link, it's well worth your time).
   
6. I have never been in love. -> Nope, nothing has changed in the love department in almost a year. *sigh*
   

I still got it, baby

Today in my biochemistry class, I went up during the 5 minute break to ask my professor when I could meet up with him to ask him some questions for our upcoming exam. We had conversed over email about meeting that morning, but it just hadn't worked out. So I stood in line at the front of the class to have my chance to ask him when I could come to his office, and when it was my turn, the following conversation occurred:

Prof. Tsai: "Woh, you're on the soccer team?" (I was wearing my A&M soccer jacket)

Me: "Yes sir."

Prof. Tsai: "Like the real one...the varsity team? What's your name?"

Me: "Yep! My name is Elisabeth. Anyway, I emailed you this morning..." (cuts me off)

Prof Tsai: "You play forward, don't you?!?"

Me: (chuckling) "Yes, I played forward."

Prof Tsai: "You're like REALLY good!"

Me: "Well thank you, but not really, my friend Melissa up there is better than I am." (I point up to Mel sitting in our seats)

Prof. Tsai: "Cool! I have TWO soccer players in my class! Y'all are like celebrities! So which one is Melissa?"

Melissa: "Me...why?"

Prof. Tsai: "You're on the soccer team too?! You play goalie?"

Melissa: "NO! Do I look like a goalie?!" (side note: never tell a girl she looks like a goalie, that is not a compliment)

Prof. Tsai: "I don't know how to get myself out of this predicament, so I am just going to stop talking now."

Me: "That's a good idea. OK, back to the point, can I come to your office tomorrow morning around 11:30?"

Prof. Tsai: "Yeah, that's cool, sorry about the mix up this morning. Will Melissa be coming too?!"

Me: "Yes, the two of us. So we'll see you then."

Prof. Tsai: "Awesome! So would it be possible to get you two to sign something for me?"

Me: "Only for extra credit."

Prof. Tsai: "That's against the rules."

Melissa: "Well that's too bad then."

So he's now made a scene in front of the whole class (approx. 200 people), but that was not the end of it. He lectures for another 30 minutes, then at the end of period he asks the class if we want the test changed from this Thursday to next Tuesday. I voice my opinion loudly that I think it should remain on Thursday because I am slammed with other tests next week. The rest of the class is begging for the extra days to study and wants it changed.

He then says, "Elisabeth wants it on Thursday. And she's on the soccer team. She's famous. Didn't you score a hat trick this season?"

Me, now trying to hide, quietly respond "Yes". He then screams over everyone again and says, "SHE SCORED A HAT TRICK THIS SEASON!...Well I hate to break it to you Elisabeth, we are changing the test to next week, but that just means you get to spend more time with me in my office! And Melissa can come too!"


Even though I didn't get what I wanted, I left with new-found confidence of my "has-been" athlete status. AND, I was randomly on the cover of the Battalion today, for being born in the Year of the Rat (booyah). They had pictures of Acie Law (former A&M point guard now in the NBA), President George H. W. Bush (his Presidential Library is at A&M), Edwin J. Kyle (Kyle Field's namesake), Reveille V (our beloved mascot), Marquis Carpenter (former cornerback for the football team), Jorge Quiroga Ramirez (former Aggie and President of Bolivia from 2001-2002), and then there was me. hehe :) As one of my friends so eloquently put it in a text message, "Why the hell are you included in that group?" Who knows, Ags, who knows.


* I must put it out there that I have never gotten any sort of special treatment from a professor just for being a soccer player in any of the 5 long years of my undergraduate career. This is not the norm for us. Usually professors look down on me as a "dumb jock" and I am forced to break this stereotype. So Melissa and I plan on taking this and running with it. It's our last chance. Does that make me a bad person?

Funkdified

I need to leave College Station. And I don't mean leave as in a weekend getaway (which I am doing tomorrow...going to KY for a med school interview at UofL), but leave as in go away for good. I feel like my time here is done. I am too old to be here. A majority of my friends have graduated, and I am now realizing that I shouldn't be here any more either. I have spent 2 out of the 3 weekends this semester away, and already have 3 more traveling weekends planned in the next month. Soccer was what was keeping me here, my identity, my stronghold, but now that that is over, my niche in Aggie society has vanished.

What I don't understand is why the unexpected change of mood for me? It's not senioritis...heck, I have 4 more years of medical school ahead of me. A month ago I would have told you how I am not ready to leave here, how jealous I am of every other Aggie who gets to spend a full college career here, unlike me who transferred in after my sophomore year. Now, I'm itching to graduate. I think it boils down to me being 23 and missing hanging out with people my own age.

A&M has been good to me. No, great to me. But it's time to move on.