Famous Last Words: Week 14

I had a fantastic weekend! One of my friends came up from Dallas for Norman music festival and stayed with me, so it was really nice to see her. I got a last minute invite to a concert in Tulsa (Death Cab for Cutie) for Friday and was able to go. It. Was. SO. MUCH. Fun! I haven’t really listened to Death Cab much before and they are pretty mellow. I was excited to recognize quite a few more songs than I imagined I would and to say the least I will definitely be listening to them more. They had AWOLNATION and Robert DeLong open for them which was pretty awesome.

At the Death Cab for Cutie Concert. Source: Personal photo

On Saturday, my friend and I went to Norman Music Festival. I decided to dress like a hipster because everyone else was doing it. Haha. But really I went and bought fake glasses. Because I am a nerd.

Me being a cool hipster. Source: Myself

I also went to a family dinner and brought the dessert (pretty proud of it). It was berry cobbler. Soooo yummy and actually really simple to make. I had a bit leftover for Sunday and made homemade vanilla ice cream (really proud of that one). Delicious!

Photo I took of the delicious berry cobbler.

I have been getting more and more excited for India. Although I really feel behind on where I would like to be on how prepared I am. I know I am fine and also that I need to focus on school, but I just want to be fully prepared and packed. I keep talking to a lot of people! Which is super cool for networking and making contacts. Lots of advice and I am taking notes in my phone so I don’t forget. I plan to contact my company so that I might be able to pick their brain for more details (they haven’t given me anything yet). 

Famous Last Words: Week 13

Man, I have been pretty terrible about my work. I know I can do better, but I just get so tired of all of the things I have to do (no excuses though). I know I need to push hard through these last few weeks. And I know I can do it. I think I just set so many little goals for myself in numerous areas and when I don’t continue to accomplish everything (maybe I just accomplish a few consistently and a few here and there) I become disappointed with myself. I know one of my strengths and weaknesses is expecting a lot out of myself. And I have made huge strides in praising myself for all that I have accomplished (I think a lot of society struggles with remembering to look at the positives).

Speaking of positives, I have been working out more. Not a ton and nothing that reaches my expectations (I have really high expectations), but some working out is better than no working out. I’ve fallen back in love with sports. Which is awesome! I have also been trying to use working out as a prize. So, if I get blank done, I will allow myself to go work out. It has helped a little bit.

This past weekend I went to Kansas to visit my cousins. At first I didn’t want to spend the time or money to drive (really wanted to see family though). I am incredibly thankful I did because one, my little cousin is absolutely adorable (see the picture below) and I needed to spend time with this part of the family (I have neglected them because they live in a town that is out of the way when I drive from Oklahoma to Colorado) and two I trekked up to Topeka, Kansas to see my Grandma who has very recently become ill. Given the circumstances, it was perfect timing. Hopefully my Grandma gets better soon!

A personal photo of Bristol's peanut butter mustache.

Famous Last Words Week 12

Hmmmmm…where to start.

The weekend before last was super fun. I was celebrating my first annual 21^st birthday on Monday, so I pre-celebrated last weekend. We went to Cowboys (I bet if you had read some of my past famous last words, you might have been able to guess that). This past visit was by far my favorite. There were so many awesome people with me and I was constantly dancing. One of my post-college goals is to find someone who might want to take dance lessons with me! Two-step, salsa, whatever! I may or may not have had a true cowboy ask me to dance….and let me tell you…he knew how to dance! Those were some of the best moves I have seen! He even dipped my 6’1” self. Lots of spinning (not due to inebriation) :) It was epic. Definitely the best birthday yet.

Personal photo at Cowboys....my new favorite two-step outfit

I also made cannolis on Wednesday just for funsies (I might have been procrastinating). Okay…I cheated, and only made the filling, but they were really yummy. The shells would have taken a lot more motivation and time to make.

Personal photo of the deliciousness I made (cannolis)

Due to my festivities last weekend, I was looking for a nice relaxing weekend. And that is just what I managed to do! I cleaned and had a Netflix night Friday, played in a slow-pitch softball tournament Saturday (we won)!, and one of my good friends was in town from Dallas, so we got to spend some time together Sunday for brunch. I went to the Warren to see The Longest Ride….I’m not one for romantic movies, but this was a good heart-wrencher. I had to choke back some tears.

I still need to network a bit for India this summer. My goal is to do something small every day. For anyone interested I have the link to my India blog below to document all of my adventures this summer! 

Emily's Eastern Excursion

Famous Last Words: Week 10 INDIA!!!

Ummm. Hi! I'm going to INDIA!!!  *Breathing heavily*

Not sure if you can tell that I am excited or not. I just found out on Tuesday that I have been given the opportunity to work in Gurgaon, India for my internship this summer with Honeywell! I am so stoked. Like, I basically don’t have words to explain my excitement. I’m just ready for all of the adventures (both the good and the challenging moments).

I have been talking with some of the past interns who have had this opportunity and I have already started to network as much as possible. I am definitely going to keep a blog (starting now actually…to document from the beginning to end). Therefore, I am really thankful to have some blogging experience from this class (how ironic too…both India related). Ahhhhh everything is just so cool right now. I haven’t come up with my full list of what I would like to do, but the top three things in my mind right now are:

1. To ride, touch, hang out, see, etc. an elephant
2. Visit the Taj Mahal
3. Travel to Nepal and see Mt. Everest

Painted Elephant. Source: Melanie Thelen's personal photo

I had such a terrible time focusing this week due to my excitement. Which was unfortunate, because I had a test. I even had to go for a run (which I HATE cardio) the day I found out to try and get some energy out. At the same time, it has been great for my motivation. I started eating healthier and working out a little more.

I feel like this opportunity rejuvenated my desire to travel! Sometimes we get so stuck in our everyday lives and focus too much on our surroundings. I think college and the lack of finances made me forget about exploring as much as I can. I got to thinking about my schedule this summer. I’ll bust my buns throughout the work week and have mini trips on the weekends…so it sounds like my rest and recovery will actually be on the weekdays. Unlike college. It seems like we try to catch up on the weekends. I hope that maybe I can take a few mini vacations over the weekends next school year and explore the U.S. a little more than I have!

I feel very blessed to have this opportunity and can’t wait to start my adventures!

Famous Last Words: Week 9

A lot has happened in these past two weeks! I’m sure everyone will be commenting on the racist video in their famous last words. And I am glad! I think it is so important to have educated and respectful conversations about this incident. A lot of my friends have expressed to me how glad they are that people are actually talking about racism because it is very much still alive. I think most people have become more willing to talk about sexism and other issues in today’s society, but it seems like racism is still a touchy subject and one that people might try to avoid a little bit more.

One thing that I haven’t enjoyed is the stereotype that has now been made for the University. When an outsider hears ‘The University of Oklahoma’ the first thought that might pop up into their head is a negative one. That bums me out because I love OU and all of the amazing experiences I have had here.

I wish that in this world we could just learn to respect one another! I know it probably isn't as simple as that, but sometimes I think it could be. If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.

On another note, Spring Break was fantastic. I went back home to Colorado and the weather was perfect. It was a relaxing, yet productive spring break. The biggest thing is that it boosted my motivation a little bit, so that was important! I did many fun things! I went for a hike with my best friend, I hung out with my sister and we went to the opening show for the Garth Brooks Concert (amazing by the way!!!), I hung out with my cousins, I made a chocolate silk pie for pi day, my aunt came over and taught me some more cool crochet tricks (see the cool headband I made below), and I volunteered at my old high school by helping to give mock interviews for the students. Very awesome spring break!

Colorado Headband that I Crocheted. Personal Photo

Erin (my best friend) and I after our hiking endeavor. Personal Photo

Delicious Chocolate Silk Pie to celebrate Pi day. Personal Photo

Famous Last Words: Week 7

This week was a longer one for me (despite the class cancellations for the snow and ice). I was very thankful for those by the way. Sometimes my weeks are longer because I have a hard time judging how long some of my Chemical Engineering homework will take me. I have definitely become more on-point when judging the time it should take throughout the years, but sometimes you just don’t know.

Luckily, I did make it through the week and ended it with a very fun weekend. Friday was Fluid Dynamics Lab (sounds terrible, but it is actually where us engineers study the flow of green fluids at O’Connells Irish Pub and Grille). This past week was Engineers’ Week. It’s a wonderful time where we get to celebrate all that we do. Our traditions at the University of Oklahoma are to have competitions/events (sometimes more than one a day) every day from Sunday until Friday. There is lots of free food, raffle prizes, and cash prizes for those who win competitions. Friday’s event is Fluid Dynamics...and lots of fun is usually had. During E-week, one might see a lot of green and clovers. This is due to our history and tradition/Irish background. It is said that Patrick, the Saint of Engineering, saved England from the invasion of snacks by inventing a machine that rid them. He was dubbed a Saint. Hence, why we have an Irish background and go to an Irish pub at the end of the week.

E-Week on the Quad. Source: Facebook

I was doing better in this class, time wise, but I definitely procrastinated this weekend and am here, yet again, finishing off last week’s assignments. At the end of March I will have a short, six week course, so I really need to get my bum into gear for that extra work. I have faith that I can do it.