25 by 25: Let the FUN begin!

Since today is my birthday, I am starting a fun, year long adventure. I am sure y'all have heard of these types of lists before, but my inspiration came from some fellow blog friends. Miss Football, Almost Gypsy Soul, and A Desert Girl each did one of these lists last year before thier 30th birthday and like all good blog ideas, I am borrowing it. So here it is, the 25 things I want to complete from now until my 25th birthday.

1. Graduate with my PharmD and become a practicing pharmacist.  This one is pretty self explainatory, but definitely my number one goal for this year.
2. Complete a craft project once a month. I have a constant list on my phone of craft projects I want to complete, so this one won't be too hard and a lot of fun!
3. 25 Random Acts of Kindness. This one will be completed the 25 days preceding my birthday. Besides that, it is pretty self explanatory.
4. Send a surprise in the mail to a loved one once a month. I probably have a million things I have pinned on Pinterest that I want to make, plus I love sending people things in the mail. It always warms my heart when I receive a letter or something unexpectedly in the mail so I want to reciprocate the felling to my friends.
5. Travel to 2 different states. I have been to 23 states, so I want to add 2 more to get me to an even 25 before my 25.
6. Anonymously pay off somebody's electric bill during the winter.  I think I heard about this one on the news my first year of pharmacy school and I just remember thinking what a great idea that was. Since I will finally have a job that I can afford to help somebody out like that, I am very excited for the opportunity.
7. Volunteer my time where it is needed. This one is pretty open to variability. I just want to spend some time volunteering and giving back. I am not quite sure how or where I plan on volunteering my time. So if y'all have any suggestions of good opportunities, I am all ears.
8. Knock off 5 bucket list items. This one is going to be fun! There are so many options to choose from, where should I start?
9. Try 12 new restaurants. Sometimes I get stuck in my rut and don't explore with anything. I go to the same restuarants I always go to, eat the same things I always like, and don't venture out. So here we go with 12 new restuarants.
10. Make blessing bags to keep in my car. This one is all over the internet and Pinterest. We also made some of these for CPFI (Christian Pharmacist Fellowship International) and they were a huge hit. Here is a link that explains the general idea of them.
11. Run a race. Last July I made a goal for myself to learn to love to run within the year. I have gotten to where I enjoy it now, but I have yet to run in an actual race. I did do a virtual race last Thanksgiving, so I guess that kind of counts.
12. Pray a voiceless prayer. This one was on Miss Football's list & I fell in love with the idea. I mainly just want to work on strengthening my relationship with God so this is really a two-part task I am looking forward to doing.
13. Call a loved one once a week. This was actually my G-Ma's idea and I love it. Now when G-Ma suggested it, Papa informed me that it couldn't be 5 calls a day to my Mom while I learn how to cook. Of course the first thing I had to do was inform him that I knew how to cook, then I added it to the list.
14. Try 24 new recipes. This one obviously came from the challenge listed above. Evidently somebody is vastly underestimating my cooking skills. Perhaps he did not remember my skills I picked up during 4-H favorite foods contests. 
15. Watch a new movie each week. If y'all know anything about me, you know that I am a huge movie fan! I am always interested in checking out the latest movie, but 52 new movies will certainly be a challenge and a little piece of sanity for me to look f0rward to.
16. Redesign my blog. It is in a desperate need of renovation. Enough said.
17. Buy a new nail polish once a month. Everybody has that one thing that they do as an instant mood booster; mine happens to painting my nails. I have been slowly trying to improve my nail art skills and I think this will be a fun way to work on that.
18. Paint a piece of art (probably a skyline). During my rotations I had in T or C last year, I met a patient that was absolutely adorable. He used to be a musical composer that organized an international concerts for over 15 years. Well after he hit his 90s, his hearing gave out on him. One day he came home and his wife had an easel set up with a picture and told him to paint it. After he stopped admitting his lack of confidence in his painting skills, he finished the painting; since then he has had a sweet past time hobby. So since I have an insane obsession with skylines, the inspiration was born.
19. Adopt a new soldier. I adopted a soldier for the first time last year and absolutely loved it. It was definitely one of my favorite things I have done. It was a great way to give back to those who risk their lives to protect our freedom and ended up being the highlight of my week each time.
20. Plan a trip to Europe. I have planned on visiting Europe since I was a little girl, so here it is. Now for those of you *cough*Miss Football*cough* that have been to Europe, I will take suggestions on all the hot spots to visit. I may not be able to go to Europe this next year, depending on a job and what not, but I want to get the trip in the books for sure.
21. Apply for the Amazing Race. O-Chem Friend has wanted to apply for the Amazing Race as long as I have known him. Well obviously over the years and having our relationship develop, I have also became interested. With that being said, we are going to apply for the Amazing Race! The application process is a little different than I was expecting, so I will certainly have to do more research, but I am very excited about it all!
22. Jamie Eason Live Fit Program. This year I have been working on getting my happy butt back into shape and this program I have heard lots of good results about. This one I am planning on completing after I get settled in to a town & job.
23. Find a financial planner. As y'all know, I am about to become a big girl with a big girl job and along with that comes responsibility to start paying off stuff like student loans and what not (but whose keeping track) :) Since I am going to be going from a student financial status to a pharmacist status, I figured I should get some hep with 401K and stuff.
24. Explore a city I have never been to. The name pretty much gives it away, but I haven't decided yet which city to visit. I am kind of leaning towards Washington D.C. right now, but I am still up for suggestions.
25. Donate money to a St. Luke's Children's Hospital. I think since I decided I wanted to practice in the health care industry, I have had a connection with St. Luke's. Now that I have (or will have) a job, I am excited to start donating to an awesome cause.

Alright now that I have it all listed, let the fun begin. Each month I will post a blog catching y'all up on everything I have completed that month.

This little gem I stole from Almost Gypsy Soul:

I reserve the right to add, delete and amend this list however I see fit throughout the year.

My First Ever Link-Up PARTY Y'all

For awhile now I have wanted to host a link-up party so I finally did it. Here goes nothin' ... 

Sometimes I get so caught up with everything going on with life that I forget to take a step back and remember how truly blessed I am. This is especially easy to do as we are rushing around trying to get everything settled for the holidays before we get off work or out of school. We are over consumed with finding the perfect gift for our loved ones and making sure we all have the best that we sometimes miss out on the true reason for the season. So in the spirit of the holiday season I am going to host a link up for others to help spread a little Christmas cheer. It is super easy and a GREAT opportunity to give back as we remember the reason we celebrate this season. Whether it is to the less fortunate or a random stranger, it is all about the thought that counts.

Here is all the details . . . Sometime between now and Christmas do some kind of selfless act, that's it! It can be as simple as paying for the person behind you at Starbucks, sending an extra Christmas card to a neighbor, drop off a batch of cookies to a friend, visit a nursing home, buy an extra toy for a child, donate an old coat, etc. There are endless possibilities to be explored and I am sure y'all are a lot more creative than I am, so start a thinkin'. Then, after Christmas I will host the party and everybody can link-up with their stories. Now don't you miss out on the fun just because you don't have a blog. If you do have a blog, you can send your description/story to me and I will gladly write it up and post it for you. Oh and I am having a few minor technical difficulties working the link up so I will post that as soon as I get it working :)

Have a great week lovelies!

Give More

Fall at It's Finest

I am only going to be up here for a month and y'all will stop seeing my tree pictures then. But until I have to go home, y'all just keep enjoying nature's beauty!

Have a wonderful week loves!

A Entirely New Hairdo

As promised, an update on the new hairdo! Just a disclaimer to start with, these picture were taken each time Laker Lover asked how my hair was coming, so ignore the faces. :)

I have been wanting to redo my hair and had planned on adding in some turquoise. After I got the ok from High School BFF that it would be ok to have crazy hair in her wedding, I got a recommendation from Bob for the stylist I went to and he was fabulous! When I made my appointmnt, I informed them my plans and asked them to make sure they had turquoise in stock, he assured me they would.  Well the process got going and when he started putting on the color, I realized it was more teal than turquoise. So that means more green than blue, the one thing I did not want! Lovely. It ended up working out ok and I am happy with it, just not what I was expecting. I guess Laker Lover will have to touch up with turquoise whenever it fades. Lets just hope that it does not fade to a nasty green/yellow color! We cerntainly do not want that.



Part 1: Mixing up the colors.

Part 2: Color done, mixing up the teal.

Part 3: Setting the teal.

Part 4: Final Product!

Part 5: Mrs. Texas saw the above picture and said it was subtle,
so  I had to send her another side of it.

How do y'all like the new hair?

Another One Bites The Dust

As many of you know, today is my birthday. Yep, that's right I am turning the big 2-3! Now I am not one of those people that really freaks out about age (well at least not yet), but I do have a little unease about today. I am turning 23 and as I reflect back on 22, nothing significant that I did is sticking out in my head. What did I do this past year? Who did I make an impact on? How did I change someone else's life for the better?

Since Lovely Country Mess was with me this weekend, she got to hear the slight freaking out that I did. Thank goodness for good friends in our moments of weakness, right?!? She was sweet enough to point out to me that I may not feel like I have accomplished anything this past year, but I have. I have traveled the world and the United States promoting the profession I love. I have witnessed true love and shared many laughs with the best people in the world. I have seen wonders of the world and international events. I have dressed up in disguise and supported and prayed for a complete stranger.

I have had one of my best years of my life so far and simply over looked it, why? It is so easy for us to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our everyday life and simply overlook the finer things. Now I certainly can't go back a year and take notice to all the wonderful opportunities I was able to experience, but I can change my future. I can take a better notice to all blessings I experience in this upcoming year. I can take the time out of each day to truly appreciate life's smaller things. I can make a difference, and I will! I challenge each of you to take the same initiative in the upcoming year!

God bless you all and here's to another great year!

Happy Monday Y'all

I am still soaking up the rays in California, but I found a video for all you country kids out there to reminisce on the good 'ol days of showing. Oh and city folk, this is a little insight into our great world of showing that you are missing out on.

Happy Monday y'all!

A Year for the Books

With the year coming to an end, I can't help but reflect back on 2012 and say man am I blessed! I can only hope that 2013 will be half as exciting and 2012 was. I just have to say a big THANK YOU to the big man up stairs, because without him I would not be here and able to do all that I do. Thank you Lord for another beautiful, fun, exciting year! Without further adieu here we go . . .

January
New Year's Eve
I started the year off right in Lubbock with Mrs. Texas and her hubby! We went out to get sushi and stayed at her house playing games all night. It was a blast! Most certainly the right way to start off what ended up being a terrifically, beautiful year!

February
I didn't have too many events that I can remember from February worth discussing, but I did make a drastic temporary change. . . I died the bottom half of my hair purple! That's right you heard me right, it was purple and I absolutely LOVED IT! I am currently contemplating on how I would be able to do it again and still have it professional for rotations. Any ideas y'all?

March
Last Province IX Meeting
Kappa Psi Gamma Rho hosted the last Province meeting before we were all redistributed into our new provinces. Our old province included more of the east coast and now we are joined with Texas and Oklahoma. Well that is no problem for me and my country girl side, but I am sure going to miss my PIX brothers. It was a lot of fun with you guys and I look forward to many new great memories with my new Southwest Province brothers.

Heat v. Thunder basketball game
For those of you who know Laker Lover, know that she pretty much does whatever the heck she wants. Well we found out that the Miami Heat (my team) were playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma on an off weekend from school. Well my birthday is also in March and she told me that was going to be my birthday present. After a couple weeks of arguing, a very threatening request, and a night of ignoring her, she bought me a ticket. I must say as hard headed as I am, she is worse, and thank goodness for that this time. We had an absolute blast and now I am officially hooked on another team. Lovely, just what I need!

Laker Lover, Prince Ali, and I at the game.

April
This month was filled with lots of school events. From an annual Parkinson's awareness walk to kickball and volleyball tournaments. If you know me, if there is a sporting event I am there! So it worked out nice when I found out about the kickball and volleyball tournaments. Not too much else to say other than it was great times with great people.

2nd Annual Parkinson's Walk.
It is always a lot of fun to volunteer at.

My dear friend Hand always gets the worst pictures of me, but
this was the only one I had of our Neon Yellow COP shirts I made.
They were a lot of fun, even if we did get last in the tournament.

Well I was a little bit more ready for this picture from the
Sand Volleyball Tournament. We ended up making it to the Semi's.
Not the best, but hey its improvement from the last tournament.

May
Rotation in Silver City
As I have mentioned before after our 1st and 2nd year of pharmacy school we have to do rotations. Last summer's community rotation was in Clovis and this years was in Silver City at the hospital. I was blessed to be able to spend a month down there with my Dad's parents. It was an absolute joy to spend that precious time with them. I wouldn't change it for the world.

June
My rotation continued on into June then I headed back to Albuquerque for some fun starting with . . .

Toby Keith/Brantley Gilbert Concert
In January, one of my good friends told me about this Georgia boy named Brantley Gilbert. I hadn't heard about him before then and let me tell you, I think I have fallen in love, with his music of course :) Haha just kidding, but seriously give me a guy with a guitar that can sing to me and I will be all ears for as long as he will sing. Since I was introduced to him in January, I have went to 2 concerts, currently listen to his pandora station every morning, and was thrilled to get his 2 CDs for Christmas! If you haven't heard of him google him, facebook him, whatever it takes and look him up! Here is one of my favorites, My Kind of Crazy.

The rest of June was spent hanging out and lounging around the pool. I know rough life huh?

July
Float Trip
The end of July started my 4 week vacation, first stop was New Braunfels, Texas. Laker Lover invited me back to join their annual Float Trip. It is a group of several families that have all been friends for many years and I can not tell you how much of a blast it is. It was the perfect way to start out my vacation time this summer.

Let the fun begin!

Making our way down the river.

The gang after the first trip down the river!

August
Egypt
Yep that's right, this past year I went to EGYPT! Miss Artesia, one of our pharmacy friends and I were able to spend about 20 days all across Egypt. Oh my goodness, words can not explain the how great of an opportunity it was. Being able to experience all the history half way across the world was certainly a once in a lifetime experience. I was able to write a few blogs on some of the experiences and y'all can check them out here and here and here. I am sure y'all are wondering what the heck we were doing half way across the world, well the first 10 days were for an international pharmacy conference and the last 10 days touring and site seeing. The conference was in Hurghada and our tour included site seeing in Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, and Alexandria along with a cruise down the Nile. It was so much fun to be spending time with pharmacy students from across the world. We met some of the sweetest people and most interesting people over there. If you guys ever have the opportunity to visit Egypt, GO FOR IT! It is absolutely beautiful as you can see below.

Beautiful Egyptian sunset on the Nile!

Karnak Temple

Queen Hatshepsut's Temple

Our tour guide group!

The Unfinished Obelisk.

Hear No Evil. Speak No Evil. See No Evil.

Standing on the one of the Pyramids of Giza.

The Pyramids of Giza.

Miss Artesia and I with the Pyramids.

The Sphinx and one of the Pyramids.

Kissing the Sphinx.

A little horse play in one of the Mosques in Cairo.

September
State Fair
As you have heard me say before, State Fair is my favorite time of the year. I have so many good memories throughout my life spent at those fair grounds. Well now I am done with showing I am officially a spectator. This year sure was a great year to be a spectator. My cousins are still showing and man what a good year they had! Between three kids and five steers they had 3 class winners, 2 second place calves, 2 breed champions, and 1 reserve breed champion! Talk about being blessed! It was a great year for our family.

October
Brantley Gilbert Concert
For the second time this wonderful year, I was able to watch Brantley Gilbert in concert again. Except this time it was HIS own tour. That's right, from June until October he had went from being an opening act to the act. It was a blast. Miss Artesia and I were in Las Cruces for the UNM College of Pharmacy Community Outreach Day and low and behold so was BG. It was by far the best concert I have ever been too.

Balloon Fiesta
If y'all are from New Mexico you know what I am talking about. If you don't every year Albuquerque hosts the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. It was so much fun! I have lived here for 3 years and this was my first year to go and I could just kick myself for not going sooner. If you guys are able to come next October, COME! You won't regret it. I am pretty sure they have the most hot air balloons lifting off than anywhere else in the world. It is absolutely beautiful. If you don't believe me check out the pictures below or look at the original blog, here.

We got to meet Steve Stucker! A big time morning news guy!

And so it begins. The first balloon lifting off before dawn.

My two rocks!

Prince Ali and I doing our hand shake.

Beautiful morning!

Prince Ali and I doing our part to help the balloon fiesta help.
Oh and Laker Lover photo-bombing us.

Hip hip hooray!!

Jump!

My pharmacy crew!

I got the whole world in my hands!

Halloween
This was probably the funnest Halloween I have had yet. If you missed the blog, check it out here. This year I was a chola gangsta named "Lil' Dulce" and it was a blast! I am thinking from now on I might have to go incognito every year for Halloween. Ideas for next year?

November
This was  a busy month for me! The school semester was winding down but I was also able to do some fun stuff along the way. Starting first with:

OU v. K-State
As you have read about before, Laker Lover has converted me into an Oklahoma Sooner fan! Last year I went up to Kansas and met up with my brother for the OU v. K-State game, so it was only fair to keep the tradition going this year and invite him to the game in Norman. So Brother Dearest drove down and Laker Lover, Fratty Frat, and I all drove over and we had our 2nd Annual OU v. K-State game, and it was one for the books! We all had an absolute blast! Definitely ready for next year back in Manhattan!

Laker Lover & I

Fratty Frat, Laker Lover, & I

Brother of Mine & I for our 2nd Annual Picture

KY Initiation
As you have read before this year for Kappa Psi my little was one of my friends from my 4-H days, My Little B! Well we had our official initiation and she is now part of my growing family! Welcome to the family doll!

My KY Family!

My Little B!

My 1st Little!

My Grand Little!

Mrs. Texas's Baby Shower
My dear friend Mrs. Texas is due January 7, 2013 with her first child. Back in August when she told me her baby shower was going to be in November I told her that I would love to come, but it would just depend on my testing schedule. Well God must have heard my plea because as soon as the testing schedule came out I was able to go to Lubbock for the shower. If you know me I didn't want to just tell her I could come, but surprise her. Man that sure was hard to keep that kind of secret from her, but I did and she was thrilled. The shower was great and it was even better to see her. I look forward to heading to Lubbock in a few days to be there for her on one of the biggest days of her life! I can't wait!!

Thanksgiving
This year was a weird year for me. My brother was not able to get off of work to met up with family and I was not able to travel up to Kansas to be with him and my parents. Lucky for me I have a great family and was able to join my mother's side for Turkey Day. I was blessed to be able to spend the holiday with family, but sure was missing my favorite three!

December
Barbara's Life Celebration
This year heaven gained another one of his precious angels. These times are always hard for those of us our loved ones leave behind, but the only thing left to do is celebrate their lives and wait until we can join them on the other side. The good part about family events whether they are planned or not, you always get the chance to catch up with family you may of not seen in awhile. That part is always great. After the weekend was over we were able to snap a few shots of some of the family.

Brother of Mine.

Girl cousin's on my Mom's side.

Boy cousin's on my Mom's side.

Holiday Festivities
This year I was blessed to be able to spend the holiday season with all my loved ones. We were able to spend a couple days with my father's side and a couple days with my mother's side. I could not of asked for a better time with them.

Ice Skating
I had to come back to town to work a few days before headed back out, so Laker Lover, Prince Ali and I all went ice skating. Man it was a BLAST! Prince Ali and I had never been ice skating before and we just had a ball. Now I would like to think I am pretty much a professional ice skater now, but I did end up falling a few times and woke up the next morning feeling like I was 70 years old, but hey! Isn't that what your twenties are for?

And finally, if you made it down here to the bottom, God Bless You! Thank you for taking time to read my stories and I would love to hear some of your top stories from 2012!

I hope yall's 2012 was just as enjoyable as mine.

May all your hopes and dreams come true in 2013

and God Bless. I love you all!