102. Go to Vegas!

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It’s been awhile since I’ve crossed something off my bucket list. I’m glad this weekend I had the opportunity to go to Vegas with my best friend and experience the city. I’m not a huge gambler, I’ve been to the casinos in Oklahoma twice, and most the time I have no idea what I’m doing. Emgand and I decided to go to Vegas in February. She called me and literally was like “Want to go to Vegas? Let’s buy tickets and go.” So we did (with the help of my dad’s southwest points).

We arrived on a Saturday and literally did everything we could. We went to dinner at this adorable little mob-owned italian restaurant and walked around. The Bellagio fountains was one of the coolest things I’d scene.

On Sunday, we walked around some more. We tried to get in as many sights as we could. We then began to get ready for the Billboard Music Awards. Going to the awards was easily one of my favorite things and something I’ll never forget. Knowing that I was in the same room as some of the biggest names in music was an amazing feeling. When we walked into the awards, Miley Cyrus was walking onto the red carpet right by us. It was so amazing. Also, being there to hear JBeibs get boo’d live was so incredibly awkward and humorous. Poor kid.

Monday we did some more sight seeing and we went to the Pawn Stars shop. I might have been a little too excited. It was so fun to see all the things I’ve seen on the show (it’s one of my families favorites). Emily and I zip lined down Fairmont Street (which was on Emily’s bucket list). It was so fun! It went by really quickly, but it was an awesome experience. We ate lunch at In-and-Out which was delicious, I’d never been to one. It lived up to the hype I’ve always heard about.

I had an amazing time in Vegas and would love to go back when I have my own income to gamble haha. It was so good to hang out with Emily before she starts OT school (I’M SO PROUD OF HER!) and it was a nice break to get away before I really dive into my internship for the summer. Below are some pictures from the trip! Have you ever been to Las Vegas? Did you walk away a winner?

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50. Dance Under the Stars

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This happened 6+ months ago, but I’ve been extremely busy with school and just got around to writing/posting it. It’s officially summer and I’ll be posting a lot more often! Yay!

When I put dance under the stars on my bucket list, I didn’t want it to have any specifics. It could be with friends, just dancing around, singing and being crazy or it could be with someone special. Lucky for me, I got to dance under the stars with an extremely special guy.

We had gone to dinner and then watched a movie at his place. He then grabbed me a jacket and told me that he had a surprised for me. If you know me, you know I hate surprises. Literally hate them. We started walking towards the golf course that he lives on and of course the whole time I kept asking what we were doing. We were about half way there when he finally broke and told me that he had read my blog and wanted to take me to dance under the stars. I was in shock. I didn’t realize people actually read my blog…hahah. This is easily one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. We ended up walking to the green and dancing to Jason Aldean’s Night Train.

It was beyond perfect and I feel extremely blessed to have such a sweet guy looking out for me. I hope I get to dance under the stars again sometime (especially when it’s warmer out).

SNOW DAY!

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Hands down, my favorite thing about going to school “up north” are the snow days. Growing up in Austin, I had experienced ice days but never a real snow day. My freshman year, we had multiple snow days. I remember waking up one morning and it was completely white outside. It. Was. Awesome.

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Every year I’ve hoped for a snowfall like we had that year. It was so much fun! Last year we had about half an inch, but it wasn’t very fun. Yesterday we had a half day because of a “blizzard” that was headed our way. All of my classes got cancelled, so I was able to relax and study. It rained all day and finally started to snow around 6 p.m. My roommates and I were all hoping for a snow day and around 9:30, they told us that school would be cancelled today! Woohoo! I went to bed with a winter wonderland outside my window and woke up to literally no snow. I guess the sun got an early rise and decided to melt all of the snow before we did get. Now, instead of playing out in the snow, I’m inside studying. With a test and a project due tomorrow and two tests Thursday, I am extremely thankful for an extra day to study. P.s. When we first found out we had a snow day, this is the text I received from my friend Cordell. Awesome Elf reference.

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Have you ever had a snow day? What’s your favorite thing to do in the snow? Ski, snowboard, sled, snowball fight?

Airports and other random updates

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Before Christmas break, I pictured this upcoming weekend a lot differently. I would be getting on a plane, flying to Austin, hanging out with my family, and on Sunday I would be running my third marathon. One of the marathons I have looked forward to most. The Austin half marathon. When signing up for my first half marathon, one reason I chose to do it in OKC was because I didn’t know the city well enough to realize how far I was really going. Over the summer, I finally felt ready enough to tackle a half marathon in a city I knew, extremely well, and one with lots of hills.

Two months later, this trip is going a lot different than planned. Right now, I’m stuck in the OKC airport waiting on a flight that’s going to be over an hour and a half delayed (and make cause me to miss my connection in Dallas, fingers crossed that it doesn’t)…and I sadly won’t be running the half marathon on Sunday. It breaks my heart that I can’t do it and unfortunately, i’ve cried about it more than I should have. I am so blessed to be healthy most of the time, but I do have my moments. About a year ago my family and I learned that my kidneys are functioning at a lower level than normal. Until now, it hasn’t been that big of an issue. About a month ago, I had some blood work done and it revealed that my kidney levels were high. This means that running a long distance could be extremely dangerous. Of course when my mom told me that I couldn’t do that half, I was upset. Growing up, I was use to being told that I couldn’t do certain things because of my health. Now that I’ve been generally healthy for almost seven years, I hate when my health holds me back. With time, I learned to accept it and realize that God always has a plan and I need to learn to step back and let him lead the way. I’m still extremely excited for this weekend! I get to relax at home for awhile and watch my parents, brother, friends Ronck and Jordan run the half! While I can’t run right now, I’ll eventually be back. Hopefully a year from now I’ll be able to do the Austin half in record time.

My flight keeps getting delayed more and more….so lets hope the Dallas to Austin flight will hold the plane for me. Don’t these people know that I’m trying to get back to the greatest city on earth?! I’m coming for you Austin, Texas…it might take me longer than planned…but I’ll get there.

It’s National Donor Day!

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It’s also Valentine’s day and the first year I have a valentine…so there’s that. We don’t have anything huge planned, but I have some fun things planned and G has no idea. Haha I weirdly like being the planner.

If you want to do something life changing today…become an organ donor. You have the potential to donate life and give the most amazing gift there is…a second chance for someone. So do me and yourself a favor, donate life.

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Outside the Classroom: Staying on Top

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So…all my life I’ve been a major procrastinator. If you don’t procrastinate, you’re one in a million and probably an all A student. This semester I’m taking 18 hours. I promise I’m not crazy. I’m doing it because of scholarship reasons and because a lot of the classes I wanted to take were offered this semester, so it all just worked out. Over Christmas break, I was thinking about all the work I’ll have this semester and how badly I don’t want to be stressed out all semester. I decided that the best way to not be stressed is to be organized and not to procrastinate.
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First off, to stay organized I invested in a Jon Hart planner. I wanted a nice “adult” looking planner that I would use daily and that I could use for many years to come. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Lilly Pulitzer planners, but I wanted something that’s more permanent. To help me stay organized, as soon as a teacher assigns something, I immediately write it down. I have the worst memory, so if I don’t write it down right away…chances are that I’ll forget it.

Second, I’ve done my very best at not procrastinating. We’re only in our third week of school, but I’m still finding it difficult to do my homework the day it’s assigned. The first week, I was really good about not procrastinating. No lie, it was the easiest week of my life. I had time to take a nap and hang out with friends and I wasn’t constantly stressing about homework and rushing to get stuff done. I know it’ll be a challenge, but I hope I can kick my procrastination habit and stay on top of my work.

Any suggestions to not procrastinate? How do you stay organized?

 

Happy New Year!

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Happy 2013 y’all!

I can’t believe it’s 2013. That sounds so..future-y? Personally, I’m happy to begin a new year. These past few weeks have been rough, so I’m ready to see them go. Last year I had a few New Year resolutions and I kept to some of them, but not all of them. This year, I don’t really have any “resolutions” that I want to keep. I have somethings I want to change and do, but if I don’t follow through, I’ll be ok with that. In 2013 I want to blog more, run more, study more, and not get sick as often. I think these are all pretty doable, so I’m ready for it. I have the Austin half marathon coming up on February 17th. I want to try and finish under 3 hours…this will be pushing it for me since I typically go slower during long runs then I do for a typical mile or two jog, but I have a month to train…so we’ll see what happens.

2012 was a good time, but I’m ready to leave it in the dust. Hello 2013! I can’t wait to see what you have to bring.

 

Shiner Beer Run

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The day before the Shiner half marathon it really hit me how extremely unprepared for this half marathon I was. I had maybe gone on one run and hadn’t gone on a long run since…my last half? Yeah, it was bad. I started debating if I even wanted to attempt to do a half. I knew I could do it, I’d most likely have to walk and struggle most the time, but I could do it. The morning of the race I was seriously debating doing the 5k. It was rainy and overcast and I wasn’t in the mood to jog / walk 13.1 miles. But I knew if I did the 5k, I would be mad at myself. It was like I was giving up. About 15 minutes before the race started, I knew I was going to attempt the half. I knew there was a chance that I’d give up while I was out on the course, but at least I tried. First off – Shiner, Texas, is a gorgeous little town. The brewery is right off the main road and is definitely a cool site. Right before the race, Ryan and I were talking about the course and what were to happen if we had to go the bathroom during the half. He goes “we’ll be running past gas stations, just stop in one.” We had no idea how wrong he was. The gun went off and Ryan and I started jogging. I got in the groove and felt good…for about half a mile…I told Ryan to go on and I’d see him at the finish. He kept going and I kept a fast walk going. The course started out in neighborhoods, like most races do, then all of a sudden we were in the country. In the middle of no where. I kept thinking about that gas station Ryan mention. Yeah, none of those out there. We were literally on little country roads and eventually ended up on a dirt road. My feet hated that since I was in my vibrams. I could feel every little rock I stepped on. It was miserable. Around mile 10 I wanted to give up. I wanted to sit down and never get up. But what always keeps me going is thinking of my donor. She was definitely up in heaven and telling me to keep going. At mile 11, I wanted to cry. I could feel all the blisters on my feet and with every step I felt like my knee was going to give out. At mile 12, I look up and see Ryan. He had already crossed the finish line and had come back to do the last mile with me. I started tearing up because I was so happy to be done and I love my brother so stinkin’ much. That last mile sucked, but it was the most fun. Ryan kept my spirits up and as we walked by the volunteers he would be like “man, is the finish close?! I’m so tired!” And of course, I’d roll my eyes at him. But as I saw the finish line and my parents, I jogged and crossed it. Thank goodness. I immediately sat down to examine the damage on my feet. I have some nasty blisters. And I can barely walk today. But I got my medal and had a Shiner Bock, in Shiner, Texas, with my family. What more could I ask for? We also took a tour of the brewery, which I’d definitely recommend. It was really cool to see. If I learned anything from this half marathon it would be to always train before a race. I’m definitely regretting not doing that. But I finished, and I couldn’t have done it without my amazing family and my donor, who I can never thank enough for the gift of life. Next up, the Austin half marathon with the whole Horton clan participating!

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