Woohoo!

It's spring break! I've been so looking forward to this week! Not so much in the fact that I won't have to do work, that I'm going somewhere cool, or I get to sleep in. Oh no, none of those things are really true.


I have a list of all the things I need to do school-related. It takes up an entire Word document page. 


I am getting up early with my husband like normal so he can go to work and all that. Man, this morning was bad. Daylight Savings Time seems to be rougher than I remember...


But, here are the good things about my spring break 2012:

• We got to hang out with some good friends this Saturday and have a lot of fun
• I don't have to drive to campus
• I don't have classes. I'm particularly excited about not having my late night class tonight! Woohoo!
• Have a fun day in Ft Worth on Thursday with my husband
• Visit a dear friend on Saturday
• Cook a lot more. On the agenda are things like mini-apple pies, jambalaya, twice-baked spaghetti squash, and stir fry.

Source
 Pi day on Wednesday- I thought making mini-apple pies would be quite appropriate!

Source

Making some jambalaya, minus the shrimp for my seafood-disliking husband 

None of these recipes involve the slow cooker and involve actual cooking that i normally don't have time for. I'm excited!

What about you? Any exciting plans for this week, even if you're not on spring break?

A change of sorts

This is a little late in coming, but I blame grad school. 


In response to my self-declared social media fast, I had various reactions and thoughts. Things definitely changed, not so much my plan for my life, it's still unknown. Instead, my thoughts changed regarding social networking changed.

I know I don't have the most popular blog, and I'm always happy when I have 3 comments. I know more than 3 people read this blog, just most never tell me. No emails, messages, comments, etc. The purpose of this blog is to share what's going on with my life, especially with those I care about but I don't get to see as often as I would like. I like that I've gotten to know people through this blog that aren't in my 'real' world, don't get me wrong. But, I got to a point where I became fixated on getting more followers and was sad when that number dropped inexplicably. 

What's weird to think about is how I don't really know who reads this blog. I know strangers do, but that's not what bothers me. It's my friends, family, and acquaintances that read it but just don't tell me. It makes it difficult to write when I'm not sure who my audience is. Do you, the reader, like what I'm writing? Or do I sound like a blathering idiot who has no clue what she's talking about? Feedback is good. It starts a conversation. 

I'm a social person, as we all are. I thrive off of good conversations with good friends, and one of the hardest things about moving is losing all that. Matt is my best friend, but a girl still needs her girl friends. 

My parents (hi Mom and Dad!) talk about how lucky my generation is to have the internet for things like Facebook so we can keep in touch with former classmates. But sometimes I'm not so sure. It can turn into this weird stalking relationship where no real communication is taking place. Instead, I look at so-and-so's pictures, read their status updates, and I think I know what's going in their life. People do the same with me (theoretically). But that's not really knowing someone. 

I think Facebook and the like is an easy way for us to fulfill our needs to be connected with the people around us without the responsibilities of having a relationship. Yes, it does allow for you to have messages back and forth with people, but I know the majority of my time on these sites is not spent messaging people. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. It is a site I wish I could not belong to, but unfortunately some of my organizations use it to communicate so that's not really an option. 

Instead, I think my solution is to cut back severely. I'll still get on it, but just limit my time thanks to a handy little Chrome Add-On. 

As for this blog, it's going to change a little bit, too. I made an email address you can use to contact me. PLEASE no negativity/spam, etc. As I know not everyone as a google account, you can't all comment. Instead, if you have thoughts feel free to email me at littlebitofeverything.jessica[at]gmail[dot]com


It's long, I know, but copy and paste is a magical thing.  

I know social media can be a good thing, it can connect people all over the world to each other, provide a convenient way to learn, trade ideas, and get to know each other. However, I think that as the lazy human beings we are, we instead passively scroll through someone's page instead of actively typing a message.  

So, do you agree or disagree? I'm interested in your thoughts on this.

The First Wedding

Last night Matt & I went to the wedding of our friends Travis & Ginny. I have known Ginny since basically the beginning of freshman year, at which point her and Travis were dating long distance. They remained about 8 hours apart for several years, and then he transferred to A&M. So after 4 years of dating, last night they finally got married!

It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was a lot of fun. Ginny and Travis- I wish you the best of luck and have fun in the Dominican Republic!! We'll see you in a few days!

The church's altar-- I loved the flowers!

The centerpiece at our table

Cupcakes!!

I thought the topper was so adorable!

Groom's cake

The happy couple walking in to the reception

First dance!

Creeper picture, but I loved the back of her gown!

Us with the bride & groom

Ginny wore Toms :)

During their ceremony, Matt & I just couldn't believe that we would be up there in one week. It's 6 days til our wedding. After seeing Ginny & Travis get married last night, we are beyond ready!!

Elephant Walk

So yesterday (Tuesday, the 23rd) was the annual Elephant Walk. For all you non-Aggies, it's an A&M tradition that commemorates the seniors. The point is to walk around campus and reminiscence about your amazing A&M memories. Then at the end we're shot dead by the juniors (a part I may or may not have skipped out on...). Once we're shot dead, we can no longer make them push for pulling out... oh, I'm getting too much into Aggie-lingo, my apologies. ;)

Anyway, since it IS called "elephant walk," before it begins, they have elephants you can take pictures with...

Then all of the interested seniors (hundreds of us, BTW) meet up, have a mini-yell practice, and start walking near the 12th Man statue by Kyle Field

 From there, we walk around campus as a huge group, just talking. We stopped at various places, starting at Academic Building

A view of the huge group of us...

Senior yell leaders

We did a couple more yells, then headed to Bonfire Memorial

 Here we sang "Spirit of Aggieland," our school song (not to be confused with our Aggie War Hymn). It was pretty incredible, seeing so many of the seniors, the huge majority of which I didn't know, all in this important and emotional place, singing a cappella ... Definitely one of those things that just make you feel the Aggie spirit.
From there we went to Administration Building, where of course we did more yells and sang our War Hymn.

At this point, Matt & I left because... eh, not sure. But the plans were to go to bonfire with my roommate/bridesmaid Kara, and her boyfriend, but that didn't quite work out. There was a burn ban in the county bonfire was in, and they didn't give approval for them to burn a ginormous pile of lumber in a grassy field. What-do-ya-know? 

But, it is sad I never got to see bonfire burn as a current student. Matt & I just agreed that in the future, we'll take off work/school early to come in for the burn and for the t.u. game. 

As we all know, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm here at my house and my mom's extended family is here as well. It's a fun bunch, and definitely have tons to be thankful for. 

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving with your family & friends! :)

Update!

Figured I would provide you with an update that is non-wedding related!

Last night I went with several girls for the midnight (more like 12:40) showing of the new Harry Potter movie. It was amazing!!!!! I'm absolutely exhausted, though, since my body is so used to getting up at 6:15 that around 7 it started wanting to get up. It completely ignored the fact that I probably got to sleep around 3:45 or 4 AM, and then kept on waking up.

But, about the movie, I kept on having flashbacks to the earlier films and how lighthearted they were. Remember this?

Source

Source

 Gosh, they look like babies! It's weird to think that my generation grew up with them. Now that they're older (wait, Daniel Radcliffe is only 21...), that means I'm older. That's just scary.

I submitted my first graduate application today-- mailed it to the University of Connecticut. It's due Dec 1 (I know, pushing it close!), but it was the weirdest app I had in that it required ME to send the official transcripts from each school I have attended. A&M was no problem, but getting the two from the community colleges I went to either in high school (dual credit) or over the summer (online course) was a PAIN. For instance, for the latter, in the space of 2-3 weeks, I requested at least 2 transcripts be sent to me. I only received one of them, and that was yesterday. It was major stress out time because I hate being so last minute about applications, too, in conjunction with stupid the stupidly slow mail.

But, it's done. The application is off. I'm exhausted, but last night was amazing. Now this weekend will consist of attempting to write a 20-page paper for my animal behavior class (hello octopi predatory behavior!) and attending the Texas A&M vs. Nebraska game, where we will beat the hell out of Nebraska! 

Source

Next week is Thanksgiving. When the heck did that happen? What are your plans?

My life as of late

I feel I have been slacking in my blogging, so here is me giving a quick update!

With school, I've been busy with my thesis and the world's easiest test ever (yay for multiple choice & T/F questions!).

On Saturday, a couple of friends and I drove up to the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, home of the world's most awkward looking cowboy, Big Tex:

Source

 It also holds what is probably the world's largest collection of fried foods. Fried Cheesecake, Fried Snickers, Fried Beer (disgusting, BTW), Fried Bacon, Fried Butter, Fried Peaches 'n Cream... you name it, they fry it! Here is a random assortment of pictures of such food:

Source

Source

Source; Yes that is a fried PB & J & Banana sandwich

 So yes, it is the place to get a heart attack, it seems. Fried beer- definitely not worth the $5 it cost. It was these little raviolis fried with what tasted like hot oil inside. Not appetizing... But, along with being surrounded by a copious amount of Texas Tech & Baylor fans (they were playing in the Cotton Bowl stadium that day), we had a lot of fun.  For the bargain price of $6/person, we got to ride the world's tallest ride in the western hemisphere, standing at 282 ft-- the Texas Star!

Me, BM Kara, and Maddy-- before we were terrified

 This thing moves fast. The first revolution you stop every so often so they can load the next set of gondolas. That was the worst part, because you would have these moments to pause and look around. For some reason it was much better when you were moving continuously... 

See those red shirts? Tech fans...

Dallas skyline

Ha, the girls being terrified

At the top

 It was a lot of fun, though, and offered a great view of the city and fairgrounds. 

Anyone else been to the Texas state fair? What crazy fried foods did you eat? What other state fairs have you been to?

The birthday post, day 2

I last left you describing Friday, which included black-light mini-golf, yelling at midnight, and good food and friends. Saturday came, and my parents came up from Houston to take me out to lunch for my birthday. We went to Atami's, a local hibachi steakhouse. It was really good, just sad I didn't discover it before my senior year! Sorry, no pics.

Then we headed back to the apartment where we waited, and waited, and waited for...

CHARLIE!!!

Due to an organization my roommate is in, she occasionally gets to puppy-sit... uh... puppies. Like this adorable fellow, Charlie. He's 8 weeks old and is a chocolate labradoodle. He is the most precious thing ever, seriously. I love him.

I know you said, "awwww," right??

Anyway, so we played with Charlie, though he was very sleepy, before we headed to the Fightin' Texas Aggie Football game vs. Florida International University. 

The game was definitely stressful, though we somehow won (just barely, scored the winning TD in the last 5 minutes of the 4th), but here are some pictures:

WHOOP!!!!

 And so that was my Saturday. It was fun, spent with family, friends, and a puppy. What more can a girl ask for?

The birthday post (picture heavy)

Friday was my 22nd birthday. The age I'll be when I graduate college, get married, apply, get accepted, and start a PhD program. Pretty significant/scary. But, thankfully, I had a lot of friends and family to celebrate it with, so it was pretty much one of the best birthdays ever.


First, my brother came down on Friday for my birthday shenanigans, and as we got ready to leave for dinner, we took a variety of pictures:

My roommate and bridesmaid, K

The boys- my brother and Matt

All three of us, actually looking happy

Then we headed to a local BBQ place to meet up with some more friends for dinner. The table next to us had Ty Warren, actually. We knew he was a football player because he was so tall, large, bulky, etc, but none of us knew who was. Turned out he had just gotten his Aggie Ring that day (WHOOP!) to go along with his 2 Super Bowl rings (he plays for the Patriots). So that was pretty cool. 


Anyway, here are some pictures from dinner, followed by SOME of the obligatory, girly, "I have to get pictures with every combination of people I can."

My Lechner 'family'- daughter K, on left, me, husband C, then son J

The group, minus my brother

My amazing MOH, M, and me

My friend M (I like referring to people by just their first initial. I feel James Bond-like)

Following dinner, some of us headed to go play mini-golf, black-light style. It was awesome. I may have had a little too much fun taking pictures. But here are some of those...

Haha it was fun, trust me. We then headed back to my apartment, met up with some other friends, and walked to Northgate. Following that, we headed to Midnight Yell. For you non-Aggies who don't understand what I'm talking about, here's some info: Midnight Yell



Basically it was a great way to cap off the end of my birthday, and then we had a long walk back to the apartment, but happy things awaited the next day, like puppies, harriers, and good hibachi. But that post will have to come another day!