Blessings in Disguise

Well United, it looks like your disliked by many, not just me.

Click here to watch something about your company
that made me laugh

But I'll give you this,

My extra time at home allowed me to have 

one of the coolest moments in my life.

Although I was incredibly frustrated,
I was sort of excited because it gave me more time
at home.
With my family.
And with my boy.

(Don't hate me for this picture, it makes me smile)

But what I thought was only one blessing (more time)
Turned out to be way more than that.

You see, Keegan loves to fish.
And by that I mean, he looooovvvvvvess it.
And you know where there's extra letters in a word
it means business.

And I looooovvvvveee when he tries to teach me.

So today we went for a few hours.

I was getting really frustrated because I was having trouble

and he's so good at it.

And I'm, well, not.

Until this happened:

That's right.

You're seeing it correctly.

I caught, not one, but TWO on the same lure at the same time.

Look at that sucker.

I did it all by myself too.

Talk about accomplishments, people.

You better believe it was one of the coolest moments of my life.

Catching two at the same time is pretty much a once in a lifetime 

kind of opportunity.

And these happened to be the second and third fish I've ever caught by myself.

The first happened two days ago.

So basically my second time out without any help I did something

most people will never do in their lives. 

I couldn't have had this cool moment without being home today.

So even though it wasn't ideal, it worked out to be completely fine.

A little reminder that every thing happens just the way it's supposed to. 

Dear United,

Remember me?

I just wanted to let you know

I really enjoyed my trip to Denver yesterday.

That hour and a half I was there was unforgettable. 

Between the incompetent customer service man and the chocolate ice cream I ate, 

I was bursting at my seams with excitement.

What a vacation, right?

What could possibly be better than flying two hours to Colorado

only to fly two hours back to the city I just left?

I find no greater joy than spending my day 

making round trips to cities I have no need to be in.

But see, if we're being honest,

you made me really angry yesterday.

All I was trying to do was get back to Lubbock.

It's not hard.

In fact it's pretty much a diagonal line across Texas.

No big deal.

So why would you make me fly to Denver?

That's two states away.

Coincidentally, it's also nine hours from Lubbock, just like Houston.

So clearly, that would be the most efficient route.

Then on top of taking me two states away,

 you make my connecting flight less than 30 minutes

 from the time I land in Denver.

So even though I sprinted all the way across the Denver airport

(a real accomplishment considering I do not run)

I made it just in time to find the plane was "closed"

Despite the fact that I could still see the plane sitting at the gate,

you wouldn't let me on.

Making me miss my plane is one thing.

Making me miss my plane 

when there are no flights available to Lubbock for two days,

is inexcusable.

So here were my choices:

1. Stay in Denver, pray to get on a standby flight. 

2. Fly to Dallas, stay there pray to get on standby.

3. Fly to Memphis, stay there pray for a flight.

4. Fly back to Houston, stay at home, wait until Wednesday, get a definite flight.

So I chose to fly back home to Houston.

And miss two days of classes.

And all sorts of other things.

Hopefully, I'll be back in Lubbock on Wednesday afternoon.

But with all this, who the heck knows.

And for all my troubles I got 30 dollars in meal vouchers,

 a 150 dollar ticket voucher,

a two hour flight home on a tiny plane with a screaming baby 

and a ghetto fabulous flight attendant, named Yolanda.

A real consolation prize if you ask me.

Oh and, Yolanda, it's a good thing you wear a uniform because if you think 

neon blue eye shadow up to your brow bone is professional,

I'd hate to see what you'd wear to work if it was your choice. 

So thanks United for my mini vacation.

I did not enjoy it as much as you did.

Sincerely,

Natalie 

(the girl you screwed over yesterday)

Happy Easter

From the cutest people you'll ever meet.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.

God is good. 

Bunnies, Eggs, Baskets.. What about Jesus?

Today something made my heart hurt.

I was sitting in my Political Science class.

And two seats away was a boy and his friend.

They were talking about how excited they were for the 3 day weekend.

But then one said:

"What's the point of Easter, anyways?"

"I mean, there's the bunny, the eggs, the baskets?"

"Wait, Is that when Jesus did something?"

And the tears welled in my eyes.

I understand that some people don't believe in God.

Or they do, but they don't know their faith.

But that made my heart sink low in my chest.

It is when Jesus did something.

He did something big.

He died because He loves you.

And He wants to know you.

Stranger, you're in my prayers.

I hope you open your heart.

This weekend is more than a break from school and work.

It's bigger than me and it's bigger than you.

It's about love.

Undying, unfailing, unconditional love.

And forgiveness.

Unbelievable forgiveness.

I hope you know how loved you all are.

And I hope you appreciate the world full of beauty you've been blessed with. 

I love my faith.

But I do respect others.

I hope that no matter what you believe, you feel the same joy that I do.

All of you are always in my thoughts and prayers.

Have a wonderful Friday.

Just An Ordinary Day, Ya Know?

Hello friends.

Ok, so you know how sometimes you feel like you're the only one weird things happen to.

Well, I am here to assure you that you are not. 

You see, I have this problem.

No matter what I'm doing I always manage to get stuff in my eyes.

Always.

I wear sunglasses not for protection from the sun, but for protection from foreign objects.

If you think I am joking, you should to talk to the doctor in the ER

who had to pull a piece of glitter out of my eye.

Or my dad about when I came downstairs screaming because 

makeup remover temporarily blinded me in one eye. 

Or the people who laugh at me on a daily basis

 when I'm walking around campus with my eyes closed to avoid tiny pieces of dust. 

(I wouldn't recommend this, I've very nearly avoided major accidents on multiple occasions)

So anyways, I felt like this was not a normal thing to constantly get stuff in your eyes.

And then today, I realized the problem is more extreme than I initially realized. 

For lunch I had the standard sandwich and chips.

I'm sitting chomping on my chips (which were super delicious)

and then I bit into one and a tiny piece of it flew up from my mouth region

to my eye where it promptly settled underneath my eyelid.

Let me tell you, the nice Asian lady who spoke zero english,

suddenly thought I was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

Which may very well be.

Because instead of just calmly trying to get it out.

I stood up (with the chip still half way in my mouth) and started 

trying to get it out while jumping and squirming.

The jumping and squirming must've helped because it came out eventually.

Then my day continued on in completely normal fashion.

I got shot by a nerf gun walking to class.

And then spotted Waldo.

My life is so average I can't handle it sometimes. 

One Time.. I Almost Died

This time of year makes me so happy.
I like it, because I still have the structure of my everyday
school life, but the weather is gorgeous and I can wear all my summer clothes.
And I can imagine myself sitting outside.
Drinking a really big glass of sweet tea.
Soaking in the sunshine.

Preferably in chairs as cute as this.

It reminds me of banana Popsicles.
And swimming pools.
It makes me want to be by a lake or an ocean.

Preferably one that looks this good.

But it also reminds me that life isn't always this great.
Especially when the weather gets scary.
Like it is today in Dallas.
It's hard for me because I know so many people who have family in that area.
And they are scared out of their minds for them.
So I'm praying that it will all be ok.

However, in light of there being tornadoes and everything,
I'll tell you all about my tornado story.

You see my dad used to travel to California a lot.
(This was a long time ago, before my parents got divorced)
This left my mom home alone with me and my brother.
On one of these business trips, it got really stormy.
In school I'd been learning all about what to do in case of weather emergencies.
So we were looking outside at the clouds before going to bed,
and I saw one that looked like an upside down triangle.
So my first thought was
"A TORNADO!!!"

and naturally as a small child, I calmly looked at my mother and said,
"That one looks like a tornado".
She then said
"No, I don't think so,"
and we went on with our business.

Well, turns out, my natural instinct was correct.
It was a tornado.
That then slammed into the mall.
That is less than a mile from my house.
Not a big deal.

I think next time
we should listen to 7 year old me
 it's probably a tornado.

Welcoming Spring

Happy April 1st.

I'm not a huge April Fools person.

Because I don't like when people pull pranks on me.

So I don't do it to other people. 

But I am excited about April.

This month brings big things.

I'm going home next weekend for Easter.

I have a bunch of events this month.

Very exciting interior design projects.

And it means only a month left of school.

And who isn't excited about that?

This weekend was the perfect way to welcome in the new month.

Friday I spent doing a project.

Then my sorority had a date party.

Me and a sister went together.

It was a paint party.

(and that doesn't mean painting pottery people)

It means you throw paint all over each other.

Before

After

Let me just say, if you've never been to a party where you throw paint everywhere,

change that now.

It will make your day. 

Although, be prepared to take a good hour long shower when you're done.

Then Saturday was a dance performance for my dance company.

It was amazeballs.

You don't even know.

I missed being on stage like no other.

And it was a great opportunity since it raised money for Hospice of Lubbock.

They put the money to use for children's camps to help them grieve the loss

of their loved ones. 

And today, I was inducted into two honor societies.

Whoop.

It was super quick but still a big deal.

And now the rest of it will be spent doing homework.

Have an excellent Sunday and a great start to April.