I survived.

That's about all I can say about my first day. I survived! My education class was wonderful, and I think it is going to be a really good class. Plus, the fact that I have done a lot of the assignment's through RST is going to be incredible! Cha-Ching!

That class was from 8-8:50. SOOOO early!! I don't know how on Earth I made it to school by 5:30 for 3 years. That's absurd!

My next class wasn't until 12:45, so I had a lot of time. I came back to my room and started on went online to download and print off all of the assignments for this week. It's going to take a lot of getting used to going online and printing off assignments and doing them without the prof even mentioning it. Yeah, A BUNCH of getting used to. I started on some reading that I had to do, and before I realized it it was almost noon. Not knowing exactly where I was going, and knowing I was meeting a friend at the front of the building at 12:25 (everybody gets to class SO early... don't know how long that is going to last) I hopped on my bike and headed off. I went the wrong way and ended up on the engingeering street, but eventually got to the right building.

Political Science. Or, from here on out, polisci.

UGH! I loved government last year. Loved it! This semester might be different. I didn't get a good vibe from my prof, but the fact that I know a friend from Pre-K and a friend from camp that is in that class with me it's going to help. (This is me putting it VERY positively. Ask Megan who got an earful at lunch today right after I got out of class, and she is going to say it came across WAY differently).

I got my mail afterwards, and had 2 packages! One was a book that I am so excited to read called Prodigal God. Too bad now my time to read that is going to be minimal! The other was the entire first set of NCIS that my brother had sent me!! Considering my day was craptastic at that point (i was almost in tears after polisci), I watched the first episode. SO comforting! Then I began to read. and read. and read. I spent 3 hours reading and taking notes but have my education assignment for Wednesday done! I then went to Breakaway!! AH!! That is deserving of it's own blog post, but essentially it was 10,000 + students coming together at Reed Arena for a huge praise and worship session! AMAZING! I was definitely in need of a spiritual boost after my rotten day. So refreshing! That was from 9-10:30, and so I got back to my room around 11. I did some polisci reading and figuring out of assignments until midnight and called it quits. That stuff isn't due for a while, and I think reading that was getting a head of the game? Maybe? Wishful thinking?

Tomorrow I have geography, music, and history. I feel like music is going to be a huge eye opening experience for me because I have NO experience with that at all. But, we shall see!! The syllabus talked about identifying rhythm and measures and genres. Um... I can't clap my hands right to Rise and Shine... let alone something of high class musicalness. We most definitely will see how this goes. Another challenge perhaps?

But, I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted. Let's see how tomorrow goes!!

Breathe

I have figured out what my theme for this semester is... "breathe".

As a swimmer and a polo player, I have learned to limit my breathing when I'm in the water. So for a long time, when people would tell me "don't forget to breathe" I would just laugh at them. Breathing. How silly of a concept!

Megan and Renee have told me for a long time when I would get stressed out to "breathe". To take a breath and slow down. I would always stop, take a second to breathe, and then get all stressed back out again.

A good family friend gave me this decoration for my dorm room that simply says the word "breathe" on it. I absolutely LOVED the decoration when I got it, and enjoyed the reminder.

Tonight I was talking to Laura (someone from camp who graduated from A&M in the spring and who I got close to this summer and look up to) and she was asking me if I was ready for class to start up tomorrow. I kinda sighed, gave an "ehhh" response, and quickly tried to change the subject. Laura (who knows me extremely well) stopped the conversation, called me out for avoiding my nervousness, and asked me again. I nearly broke down in tears because I was nervous, scared, worried, anxious, excited, intimidated and every other emotion under the sun. All she said was "You can do it. All you have to do is remember to breathe and you will make it through tomorrow. Don't stress out, you have so many friends from camp right here on campus that can meet you where you are if you need them. You can, and you will do it. Just remember to breathe. Breathe Kylie, breathe".

After talking to Laura, I walked outside, unlocked my bike, and took a smile bike ride around campus. I timed just how long it takes me to get to my first class tomorrow, and was enjoying the cool 98 degree weather. Campus was relatively quiet, and after finding my 8AM class, I rode around for a little bit. I thought a lot about breathing, and realized that it is more than the simple inhalation and exhalation of oxygen. Breathing means taking time to stop. To stop whatever you are doing, and breathe. To focus on God and all of His creation that is constantly surrounding us. It may only be a second, but taking that time to breathe and refocus our attention on what REALLY matters, regardless of how stressed out we are, is so refreshing and provides us the strength to make it through whatever is going on.

So, that's what I'm going to do tomorrow. Right before I walk into that 8AM education class, I'm going to take a second to breathe. Soak up the beauty surrounding us that is God, and breathe, knowing that our God has a mighty plan and everything will be okay :)

Back in the Water

I WENT SWIMMING THIS MORNING!! Oh my goodness gracious, it was fantastic to get in the pool again. I grabbed my suit, cap, and goggles this morning and headed down to the Rec. Luckily there were a couple other people in the pool, so I wasn't making the lifeguards work just so that I could swim. I didn't do much... I did a 500 free, 400 IM drill, and then 100 easy. I wasn't in any sort of rush, and took my time. I could hear Coach Dennis' voice in my head at some points... so funny! I loved just being able to glide through the water, and the comfort that the water provided. I hadn't swam a practice in 11 months... So, even though this was no where near a "practice", I still was in the water and LOVING it!

I forgot how much enjoyment I used to get from swimming, and the calmness that I would feel when I was just gliding through. I was ALL smiles when I was in the water. I think I was even laughing to myself at some points about how much I missed the water. I loved it!! This is going to become a regular thing, and I'm so excited!

Legal? Moral? College No Parents!! Let's Do It!

Don't get freaked out by the title of this entry... I haven't gone crazy yet!

There is so much freedom here that people do the craziest things! Essentially, if it's legal, and if it's moral, then why not?!

Examples that I have seen in my dorm... basketball being played up and down 4 flights of stairs. Legal? Yep! Moral? Yep!
Another example... golf down the hallways of the dorms, a total of 4 holes (one for each hallway) and trashcans as obstacles. Legal? Yep! Moral? Yep!

Tonight I was hanging out with my Impact group and the same kind of thinking happened. We went "coneing". Essentially, you order an ice-cream cone in a drive-thru, and instead of grabbing the cone (like normal people), you grab the ice cream itself and flip it over. The person riding shot gun is videotaping because the reactions are HILARIOUS! This is basically what happens... (although it's much funnier when you are actually in the car, plus the reaction isn't very good on this one, but you get the gist ). Is it legal? Yes! Is it moral? Yep! (I mean, the workers get a laugh, and the mess ends up in the napkins in the drivers lap, so they don't even have to clean it up). After coneing (We had a cookout earlier, and the p&w later), around 10:00 we met up on campus and went "pond hopping". Essentially, you run through campus (all 25 of us that went), and in every fountain that you see, you all go swimming in it! Is it legal? Kinda. The police all turn their heads the other way... it's kinda a "every freshman has to do it" kinda thing... So YES! Is it moral? Yep! We even drip dried by having a dance party before we walked into our dorms.

You only get to be in college once, so you might as well live it up! Right? :)

I have missed being BUSY!!

Ever since moving up to Cstat, I have been anything but busy. I mean, moving in was kinda crazy, but other than that, college life has been SO lax it's scary. I was constantly busy my senior year, and then working at Cho-Yeh I was always on the go. ALWAYS. Even being home, I was always trying to get things done. So being here, and having NOTHING that I had to do, or really even needed to do was terrifyingly boring and scary.

Today.. that was a different story. I set my alarm for 9 (I'm trying not to let myself sleep too late. Because then I just stay up later, then sleep later, then stay up later... it's a vicious cycle), and had some quality Jesus time and got ready (which at A&M means throwing my hair in a pony tail and putting on nike shorts and a t-shirt. Doneskees). I headed off to Target, and then followed my GPS to Michaels where I found a whole new part of Cstat that I didn't even know existed! Oh yeah! I headed back on campus, and walked a good 25 minutes to Sbisa where I had lunch with Kevin. We then walked took a very very very long-cut scenic route to get to the Rec where he attempted to teach me how to play racquetball. I understand it from outside the glass, but put me in there and it moves way too fast for my brain right now. BUT, I'll get the hang of it. I won't let Kevin say that he can beat me at that just because I don't know what I'm doing. Then Kristen Dennison from Cho-Yeh and another friend, Maggie, came up to the Rec and we worked out for a while and went exploring the Rec. We walked onto the pool dec, a pool that I always wished I could swim at in college (back when I thought about swimming in college) and a HUGE flood of emotions rushed over me. I never thought that I would miss swimming as much as I did!! It was ridic. Right then I decided that tomorrow I was going to go swimming! This time though, I am going to be swimming for ME. Not for my friends or coaches. Not because I had to, but because I want to. So excited! After the Rec I came back to my dorm and created a quick craft project. The wall next to my desk has become my "inspirational wall" and so I created a little cross that says "loved" to hang up there. It's SO cute! And a constant reminder of the love that I have from all directions in my life. My small group from Impact then met up for a surprise event. Having NO idea what that meant, and no plans for the night, I decided to go. Oh my gosh. So much stinkin' fun! Reneé (my small group leader) had come up with a photo scavenger hunt to go on!! The first thing we had to do was "take a picture with a Corp guy holding up a gig 'em"... Umm... we finally found 2 Corp guys who wasn't doing anything super important, but the picture turned out really funny because there is a huge gap in between the 2 guys... so funny! Then we had to "take a picture doing the stanky leg in the commons lobby". UM. For all who don't know... the commons lobby is one of the most populated buildings on campus, especially around dinner time! It didn't help that I knew 3 people in there from Langham! Then we had to "take a picture planking underneath the catwalk between Evans and the Annex". Luckily there was like NOBODY around, and so it wasn't too terribly horrific. Once we got done taking this picture (only our 3rd out of 15) a giant 60mph wind/hail/lightning/rain storm came out of nowhere. The wind HURT and it didn't help that we were right by a construction sight so dust was everywhere. It looked like a hurricane/tornado mix! We all took off running for the nearest car (most of us had walked to where we met) and hopped inside. Well... the scavenger hunt was obviously over so we went to Freebirds for dinner. (Funny story.. Renee (best friend, not Impact leader) has been trying to get me to go to Freebirds for YEARS and I have always used the excuse "I don't like burritos" even when I don't recall ever trying a burrito) I ended up having tacos, deciding I couldn't have my first burrito without Renee. It wasn't half bad! After Freebirds, we met up with another small group and some other leaders from Impact and played Disney Scene It. It was SO much fun! It ended up being like 6 freshman and 10 leaders, and we laughed SO hard. Gosh. I have missed having fun being surrounded by strong Christians who are pursuing our Savior and just being able to be myself (as weird as that is) and just LAUGH. Gah, it was awesome!

I didn't get dropped off at my dorm till 11:30, and had been gone for the most part since 10 this morning. It was SO much fun though, and I absolutely LOVED being busy! I'm already planning on how I'm going to be busy tomorrow... I'm probably going to let myself sleep in a little bit, and just have a lazy morning because I think Genny will be here all morning (I barely get to see her with rush stuff... she just texted me that she JUST got done with rush and is getting dinner... CRAZY!). Then I'm having lunch on campus with a leader from my impact group, and then going to the rec and to academy to look at bikes. That night my impact group is having a cookout, and then we are going pond hopping! Supposedly it involves jumping in the fountains around camp.. so excited! Another busy day!!

God is so good :)

Day 1... Survivin' and Thrivin'

It's been a CRAZY day. It seems like this morning was FOREVER ago though!

Genny had rush (sorority stuff) all day today, and so she left at like 7. I quickly went right back to sleep and didn't wake up till 10:15. That's a record. The latest I've slept all summer is 9. WAHOO! Maybe that's because I didn't go to bed till 1:30... haha :)

After getting ready (it doesn't take long... typical college station attire consists of Nike shorts and a t-shirt... Cha-ching!), I headed off to Walmart and Hobby Lobby. SO stinkin' excited there's a Hobby Lobby AND a Michael's in College Station! Although this could become a bad thing... haha. I met up at Firehouse Subs with some of my Impact friends, and had a great time catching up and just hanging out. I miss those girls and that awesome fellowship!

I came back to my dorm after lunch and just hung out. I put some things away, and started investigating how to get a mailbox. Going to try and finish getting that accomplished tomorrow, so after that--bring on the mail! I then spent some time in my dorm just relaxing. I don't have a problem at all being by myself for the most part, and since most of the people I know are all rushing, there weren't many options. I skyped with Kole to see how his first day was, and then ended up skyping with Carley for about 2 hours! Oh how I miss that girl! I talked with Carley until about 5:30 when Genny was supposed to be done with rush. After talking with Carley I might have taken a quick nap... For some reason I was getting VERY cho-sick. That place is my home, and I miss camp so much. I can't wait for rush to be over so that I can see those friends again! (They literally cannot have any social life during rush. As in, they aren't allowed to... STINKS!) I don't think it helped when I realized how limited my friend-list was, and when I realized that I'm in a totally new city where I really don't know anybody and don't know my way around campus, it wasn't fun! Luckily, right as I was beginning to feel helpless, Genny walked in from rush! It was about 8:00 at this point and I was STARVING, but we had promised to have a roomie dinner. We decided to walk over to Sbisa (about a 15 minute walk) which is THE best dining hall on campus. Well. Guess what? They closed at 7 during Gig'em week... LAME! We were close to Northgate at this point, and that was about our only option. We opted for Subway which was only like 5 minute walk from Sbisa. The guy helping us... MAJOR creeper. Luckily Genny is VERY good at talking to people and pretending like she cares what they are saying (I've been in CS about 24 hours and we were already being invited to frat parties.. Um no thanks). We got our food, found a table FAR away from the counter, and then laughed at the guy. SO glad that we are on the same page as far as that stuff goes! We walked another 20 minutes back to our dorm, and then began our SUPER FUN paint project!! If you know me at all (or have ever stepped foot into my room at home, or seen my bunk at camp) you know that I HATE blank walls. They terrify me. They have to be decorated! So, Genny and I decorated this AWKWARD (I know you are reading this Mom... [she HATES the word awkward!]), long, ugly, disgusting blank wall above our closets and made it much more "us". :)

I know I forgot to post pictures last night, so I'm going to post a couple dorm pictures, and a picture of our new wall!!

First Post from A&M!!

I'm here! It's crazy to think that after 13 years of sitting in Cy-Fair I've finally made it out and onto the next step! Move in was a breeze looking back. Although I did get stressed at times and had to look up on my wall where there is simply the word "breathe", it all came together really well! I LOVE my room! It's very "me", as you will see through the following pictures.

After getting everything situated, my family and Genny went out to eat at On The Border -- YUM! So good :)
We then came back to the dorm and hung out and went "exploring". We walked around southside of campus and went over to the Rec, and then went through the northside of campus. We even went to Northgate--interesting to say the least!

We headed back to the dorm and rearranged some of Genny's furniture to make our room more homey. And we planned decorations so that these blank walls are GONE for good! I am not a fan of blank walls AT ALL!!

We kinda hung out here tonight. Genny went and met up with some of her friends from fish camp, and I talked to Kevin for a while. It was nice just hanging out together though and realizing all the things that Genny and I have in common -- she's AWESOME!

Plan for tomorrow? Or for today I guess since it's already 1AM...
Making a Walmart/Michaels trip in the morning. Having lunch with some of the girls from my Impact (Christian Freshman camp at A&M) group, hanging out with friends/seeing Megan's appartment that afternoon, then meeting Genny for dinner at Sbisa (BEST dining hall on campus!) and then having a "painting party" to finish some of the decorations for our room!

So far... so good!! :)