Bubbles for Smiles

So, I'm pretty sure today is "score some swag day!" (Awesome - I love alliterations!). I went on campus earlier than normal this afternoon to go to the Panhellenic table because today they are tabling for Cancer Awareness. I wore yellow to show I was supporting it. Much to my surprise, wearing yellow meant I got a free tee-shirt and a free Livestrong bracelet. SCORE! Then, when I was walking to office hours I noticed something crazy going on over by the FAC (student center next to the Union). Who knew it's Wellness Week and today they are doing a big thing, which basically means lots of free stuff! HOORAY!! The best part you ask? FREE BUBBLES. Now, you may know me well or you may not know me at all. But, there is something important you must learn about me right now. I have 2 favorite things in the world (a third favorite is pending). Those 2 things are: cupcakes (so much better than actual cake!) and bubbles! (The third possible: dinos! I currently have dino sheets on my bed. And yes, I'm talking about din-o-saurs. I love them enough to call them dinos.) Anyways, I received free bubbles today. Hello day-maker! So, being the ridiculous person that I am. Instead of putting them in my book bag and saving them for later - I walked to office hours like a bit of an idiot. How did I do this, you wonder? I walked aimlessly, blowing my bubbles, hardly paying attention to where I was going! All I wanted was to make people smile! After the intense events that occurred yesterday, I figured everyone could use something as light hearted as a silly girl walking around blowing bubbles! Who knows, maybe it was just for my own good! One man said to me, "We all still have a bit of childhood left in us." I think that's beautiful! We all need to bring that out in a time of fear, hurt, or tragedy. Let's go back to our innocence when things as easy as bubbles could make our whole day wonderful! Anyways, if you see bubbles floating around campus, it's probably me! Now, all I need is a free cupcake and I'll be a million buck! (Throw in a dino and I'll be on cloud nine! Joke - dinos are extinct, so that wouldn't be possible. Although, my roommate has an awesome sandwich container with a dino, and my TA just went a tangent about dinos! This day is going pretty great! I see cupcakes on the horizon!) I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with your own "cupcakes and bubbles!"
Love you to the moon and back!

Shooting Update

ALL CLEAR IN AUSTIN! The situation is all clear! There is no second suspect and nobody, other than the shooter himself, has been killer or hurt! Everyone is safe, though maybe a bit shaken up! Thank you for all the prayers and concerns!
Love you to the moon and back!

Pray for Our Campus

Today the University of Texas was hit my tragedy. The epidemic of campus shootings came to Austin in the form of a shooter in the Perry-Castaneda Library (PCL). As of now, there are no reports of any deaths or injuries. The gunman shot himself on the top floor (6th floor). However, as far as we know there is a 2nd suspect "barricaded" in Calhoun (a building in the 6-pack). The last time our campus saw this was when a shooter with a sniper sat in the Tower in the 60s.
Right now, all I can think of is all my friends and sisters on campus. This morning I had Bible study and watched some of my sorority sisters leave early for their 8am class. Then, as I was studying for a French test I received texts from the University saying that there was an "armed suspect at the PCL." Silly me - I thought nothing of it because those texts are always just precautions. Then I start getting texts from people asking me where I am and if I'm safe!
Thank goodness everyone is safe! Austin PD and UTPD has campus on lockdown and SWAT is evacuating classrooms. Unfortunately, all the students in class have nooooo clue what's going on (one of my sorority sisters said her teacher wouldn't tell them what was happening! He said they could find out what's happening in 2 hours when class was over. He kept teaching when the campus-wide sirens went off! NOT SAFE!) But, from what I've heard from the people I've been talking to on campus, they have very little info of what's going on! Not that we know much more, the news we've been getting has been very vague. We hardly know anything! Was it a student? Is there a second suspect? If so, is he armed? What was the motive? So many questions, and along with that, so much hurt and fear!
It breaks my heart to know that there is so much hurt in this world that someone would do this! The stress on students today is so overwhelming. Students are so competitive today and we feel the need to get so much done and achieve so much. We feel like failures when we don't make certain grades or please certain people. Hopefully the mindset of campus can change from this! I hope we can be more encouraging to one another; look on each other as friends and loved ones as opposed to someone we have to compete with for a job or a grade! Let's make class a place where we can walk into not for competition or an A, but a place to find companionship!
I ask that you pray for our campus right now! Pray for everyone on campus right now. Pray that they remain safe and calm. Pray for the APD and UTPD that they continue to know how to handle the situation and remain safe. Pray for the gunman and his family. That his family has peace and comfort and that whatever his situation was - that it's in the Lord's hands. Pray for the campus as a whole. That we come together through this tragedy. That our attitude can change and we can be more united. Pray for President Powers - let him have strength in this hard time and let him know to lean on God through these difficulties. Just all around, send your prayers to Austin and UT! We could use it. Even those of us not directly involved are still involved. At every football game we here an advertisement with a voice-over by Walter Cronkite that ends with the words "We are Texas." To me that means, we are here for one another and things like this that happen involve all of us! We feel the heaviness of this situation whether or not we are on campus! Each and every one of us has someone on campus, in the library, at McCombs, etc to worry about! So please, pray for us and ask all your friends, family, and loved ones to pray for us!
It'll be interesting to see how this affects us as we go into the TX/OU game this weekend!
Sorry, I know this post was probably all over the place, but that's kind of how we feel today!
Love you to the moon and back!

The UT motto is: What happens here changes the world

Lost

Am I the only one who feels completely lost when it comes to classes? We are more than a month into school, past the first round of exams, and I still feel like I have NO CLUE how to do anything! Now, I'm not talking about "being a college student" - because I think I have that down. I've figured out time management, late nights at the library, going out on weeknights, lecture classes bigger than my graduating classes, ya know all that! I'm talking about the specific assignments of certain classes. What on earth does my professor want for a case study? I'm told day one that I'm required to turn in 2 case studies over the duration of the class, one group and one individual, but did I miss the lecture on how to do it? Everyone else in the class sure seems to have an idea. Maybe I just zoned out while I was playing sudoku or she just sent and email to everyone BUT me one how to do it, because I definitely have NO CLUE what I'm doing! Who knows, maybe blogging during lecture could be the problem...? How is it that everyone else seems to have it so together? The girls sitting in front of me basically have their entire history essays written. Do I you ask? How much have I written? Oh, what a question? Well, since you wondered... I have read the essay questions, pondered them immensely, and after pondering them I went back to my painting! I had noooooo idea how to begin answering them! I didn't know how to form a thesis much less find evidence. So, I decided I had too much painting to do to write those crazy essays! Am I the only who feels this way? Seriously, do all of you feel comfortable in your assignments and know what you're doing? Or are you as lost as me? Hmmm, this is beginning to be quite an issue for classes, ya know, when it comes to actually doing the assignments where I'm somewhat "confused."
Well, I guess I should actually listen to lecture so I have an idea what to do!
Love you to the moon and back!

Assumptions

I was just on Facebook and received a chat from someone who I really haven't talked to much since I graduated from high school (which was May 2009 - a while ago!). He didn't bother saying "hi" didn't waste time asking "how are you?" He went straight to business and started off the so called conversation by saying "you party a lot." Wow. That's quite a statement to make to someone who you barely know (considering we weren't super close in high school and I'm definitely a different person since he last saw me about two and a half years ago.) Now, I'm not one to go and get worked up over what people think about me, but I'm not a fan of people making assumptions about me, especially because I'm a sorority girl! I'm curious - what makes him so sure that I party a lot (which is actually false)? Has some hard core Facebook stalking been going on? Because if that's the case, I'm pretty sure my pictures wouldn't give off that impression. Yes, I do have pictures of my friends and I out having fun. But I try to make a point of not having alcohol in pictures! It was funny. I told him that I don't party a lot and I don't drink. His response: I'm surprised. Another assumption! Now, I don't want to sound all preachy or anything, but I don't appreciate that. And when I asked him what made him think those things he wouldn't respond. Don't I at least deserve that, so incase I'm giving off that impression I can change that? But, at least he could have said hi! Oh well...
I hope yall have a wonderful day!
Love you to the moon and back!

My First Post

Sooo, this is my very first blog post! Hopefully everyone enjoys it!
For the past few days all I've done is PAINT!! (Except for a short brake to take a pointless trip over to the football stadium. Dear Texas Longhorns, what happened to being a football powerhouse???) Anyways, this is some of the most fun I've ever had! My brother is the artist in the family, so for anything I paint to look good I have to spend about 4 times as much time on it as he would! However, I'm really proud of how everything is turning out!! It actually looks half decent!! The only problem - I've gotten nearly ZERO homework done this weekend! Oh well, who said college is all about doing homework, RIGHT?!? Lord knows my dad doesn't think that (which is crazy cuz he's the one letting me go out of state and always encouraging me to leave the library to go have fun!) I guess he just knows life is more important than grades. Which is something I need to start learning. I focused to much last year on studying and burnt myself out. This year I really want to focus on not making my grades an idol and learning that there are more important things in life. I feel that everything else, including grades, will fall into place if I do that!
Well, sorry about that tangent! I'm pretty good about going on tangents! Talk to yall soon!
Love you to the moon and back!