Let Me Catch You Up

First off, I had spring break. I mean really, those words are always a start to a great story. Spring Break: Junior Edition, consisted of a trip back to the home base. For the first weekend at home, mom and I fought the traffic all the way down to Houston to visit my aunt and uncle and to help my cousin and her family move into their new house. So we spent our hours playing with the kiddos, unpacking boxes, and catching up on extended-family time. Always good stuff.

meeting my cousin's 3 month old daughter for the first time

Mom and Elliot

so precious

Did I mention my cousin has a fantastic pug named Sydney? You can bet I had oodles of fun with her.

she's smiling!

And of course the trip was accented by the eternally perplexing and mind-numbing experience that is Buc-ees. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I feel half joy, have sadness for you. Buc-ees is a gas station slash convenience store, but it is so much more. First of all, it's huge. As in larger then you're probably thinking the word "huge" even alludes to. Second, it has everything you could ever think of, and many thinks that you never could. (enter beaver nuggets) There are stuffed animals, kolaches, Buc-ees boxer shorts, grilling equipment...need I go on? Hopefully these pictures will communicate the essence of Buc-ees more than my words are capable of.

outside Buc-ees

giant plush animal, anyone?

The following week was filled with little adventures. One of my favorites was our visit to Klyde Warren Park. Dallasites know what I mean, yes? This is a new park in downtown Dallas that the city is very proud of, and rightfully so! Why? Because it is built on top of a freeway. Yes, on top of a freeway. Over the past couple of years, they basically slapped some concrete on top of a part of the free way that dips down below street level and turned it into a sort of extended  tunnel. Throw some dirt, grass, and trees on top and you've got a park! But in all reality it is a fantastic park. It has a very modern design with the sidewalks criss-crossing every which way, sun chairs and little tables are scattered all across the lawns. There's two long gravel walkways framed by a collection of miniature St. Louis arches, there's a dog park, you can even rent equipment to play croquet, ping pong, and put put golf. And best of all, there are food trucks! The sensation that is sweeping the nation has finally made it to Dallas! The trucks ranged from hamburgers and hot dogs to sandwiches to Viatnemese food to ice cream. We chose the Viatnemese food truck, but only because it had mint lemonade. Which was phenomenal. Did I mention that it was 85 degrees this day? Straight up sweltering. That's Texas for you, 85 degrees in early March. Yikes. This temperature spike also resulted in my first sunburn of the season. Summer is the season of sunburns for me.

Other highlights from the week included a much needed hair cut, a pedicure, plenty of card playing, and even more coffee.

Klyde Warren Park. See the freeway?

goodbye split ends!

pedicure day: this was the hardest decision I had to make that day.

cards cards cards

all hail the latte

The first week back at school has been fairly eventful as well. PostSecret came to my school. For those of you who know what that is, I think you can agree that's pretty cool. I certainly found it interesting. 

Post Secret, Frank Warren

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Wednesdays are my observation days. I'm an Education major and on Wednesdays I go into a third grade classroom, work with the kids, and observe how the teacher runs the class. It has its ups and downs, some days are hilarious and some are mind-numbingly boring. Last week while I was at the school, the kids were testing, so I was left to grade papers. While trudging through reading response questions over a passage about folktales, I came across this gem.

Question: "what characteristics do many Americans admire?"

Correct Answer: "bravery, generosity, kindness, etc"

Student A answer: "the great lakes"

Student B answer: "laser vision and piranha teeth"

I mean really. You've got to give the kids some credit for just being so darn creative! 

The last thing I have to catch you up is  a 12 hour dance marathon that my school puts on every year. The idea is that we dance/stay on our feet for 12 hours to raise money for cancer research. This was my second year to do it, but I only did a 6 hour shift. All the same, it's loads of fun! I mean, how often do you get to participate in a dance marathon?! As one of my friends pointed out, it's practically straight out of Gilmore Girls. But unfortunately, ours is not nearly as adorable as theirs. 

Me with my little, Colleen, getting ready to start dancing!

Welp, I think that's pretty much all I have to update you on. All I have left to give you for now is...

a picture of Delilah for good measure.

Ciao!