Oh Kay

Dear everyone that I have lost touch with over this last year: 1. Don't take it personally. Because it's not. If it was or is my intention not to talk to you ever again, I will flat out tell you that. More likely than not, this is not my intention. Believe me when I say you are not special in the sense that you are the only person I have lost touch with. School is tough, and life is busy. Neither of these things has anything to do with you as a person. So, again, don't take it personally. 2. If you haven't made an effort to talk to me, you are not allowed to complain. If you have actually tried talking to me and I haven't gotten around to responding, then OK. I'll apologize for that. But if you haven't put forth the effort to contact me at all, you cannot bitch and moan about me not reaching out to you. Yes emails, messages, and phone calls are "quick and easy", but they also work both ways. And if they are so easy to do, then it shouldn'...

For the first time since before college, I missed Wurstfest. For most of the people that I went to school with, Wurstfest was a perfect time to get turnt with all our classmates on a Thursday night. However, for me, it was one of my favorite things that I would do with my parents. It was one of my favorite things to do because it was always so amazing to see my dad so happy. This year, since I moved out to Fort Worth, was the first year that I didn't get to go with them and I was and still am so sad about it. But, with the help of my sisters, we were able to send my parents there without us. Although it was sad to see them go without any of us there this year, it was so nice to see the pictures and videos they posted of the great time they were having.  So, thank you Wurstfest for making my family, especially my dad, so happy every single year.  Wurstfest 2012 Wurstfest 2013 Wurstfest 2014 Wurstfest 2015 Wurstfest 2016

Oh year 23. First and foremost, I'm so very grateful that I had yet another birthday. Thanks mom and dad for making me. Here are all the things that I was blessed to experience in my 23rd year of life: I was voted Offensive Player of the Year and nominated for TLU Female Athlete of the Year and NCAA Woman of the Year. I went to Wursfest for the 4th year in a row! Ziggy Zaggy Ziggy Zaggy Oi Oi Oi I traveled to DC for the first time for a conference. #TeamRice I spent my 3rd Christmas with Lalo's family. I went on my first cruise! Lalo and I celebrated our 3 yr. anniversary. And then we celebrated our 4th Easter together with his family. I saw Chainsmokers at SPI for Spring Break. My parent's surprised me with a new car. [I still miss the box, though] One of my best friends got into chemistry grad school at UT. I graduated with 2 degrees, a minor, and honors. I got into a super competitive 1-year masters program in Medical Sciences. I moved to Fort Worth, TX...

It has officially been 1 year since my lifelong soccer career has ended. Wow. I poured 18 years worth of blood, sweat, complaining, laughter, friendships, and tears into this sport. It has challenged me both physically and mentally while molding me into a team player, a leader, and highly determined and competitive person that I am today. Those 18 years went by so freaking fast that I really never had the chance to reflect on everything I was able to accomplish thanks to my parents and the many teammates that I had. So if you're interested, read on. It's going to be pretty lengthy and I'm most likely going to brag because I'm proud. If it's not your cup of tea, go ahead and skip this one. My soccer career started in the living room because my older sister was already playing. As soon as I was old enough, my parents put me in the YMCA where I was blessed to have my dad and sister as my coach. My team at the Y dominated, and when I say dominated I mean that we l...

One thing that I will just never understand is how some people can still be so selfish when other people are obviously struggling right in front of them -- how some people completely lack the capacity to empathize with someone who gets in the way of their agenda, if they can even empathize with anyone at all. Yesterday,  I was on my way home around 8pm and the sun was finally down. I was less than 3 minutes away when I saw a car accident up ahead. I slowed down, pulled over to the side, and automatically did my best to get out of the way. The car was in the middle of the road and a man was standing about 50 yards away directing cars to turn away and not drive past the car that was ON FIRE. I pulled into the parking lot so I could call 911 (because of the bystander effect that Dr. Bailey taught us about in psychology and I just had to be sure). While I was in the parking lot, I was watching the man direct traffic when this red SUV drives up and almost hits him. He then proc...

Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera sera. So I've been talking about getting this tattoo since I turned 18, and well, now at age 22 and some months or so, I finally did it! It was only $50, which I paid for from my credit card rewards. And the best part? It didn't even hurt! I was sweating bullets and freaking out right before, and now I'm not really sure what I was even worried about. Thanks again Tracy (@ River Rat Tattoos). But anyways, I feel like this tattoo is my freaking life. I spend so much time trying to plan out every little detail in my life that I just stress the heck out when I finally get there and find out that nothing really went as planned. And every single time , I go crying to my parents who once again remind me that things happen, and even if its not what I wanted or planned, it'll be ok. So yes, although they may have not really wanted me to get one, this tattoo was inspired by them. Fun fact: Back whe...

And good-bye to 2015. The year of 2015 was a year full of learning and growing up for me. I started the year just like every other year with several goals. And just like every other year, I ended it a different person. 1. Lose weight.  So freaking typical. The last time that I was happy with my body was in 7th grade when I was a basketball, soccer, cross country, and track athlete and weighed 115 lbs. Every year since that, I have always told myself that I needed to lose weight. Probably even more irritating, I told myself that I looked so good the year before and didn't know why I hated my body then. Yet, it is still a vicious vicious cycle. So at the beginning of 2015, I started out at 165 lbs. I started running. I ran my first 5k and even got up to running 5 miles. I lost about 7 pounds through all of that. At the end of the year, I could still run more than I really had ever before, but I had gained twice that back, ending 2015 at my heaviest I have ever been. So resolu...