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I'm baaaack... What's new, you ask? Well, here's the beginning... there's more to come.

Life is crazy. At times, I feel like there is nothing to say. I go a whole two months without writing anything about my life. Things happen, but they don't seem noteworthy. Or things happen that are too big to try expressing within the limited medium of a blog.

And then life shifts, and I have what feels like a gazillion things to write about-- camping, castles, Big Event, Relay for Life, hosting a Baby Merit, tulips, the Medieval Fair, conversations about babies with two faces, getting stuck at Starbucks... and thats only the stuff I can list off the top of my head.

So where do I start?

I guess chronologically would make sense. Lets start with...

Hosting Another Baby Merit

I got to host another Baby Merit last weekend. Her name is Sarah and she is from somewhere in Kansas that I can never remember, even though its a really easy-to-remember place. Apparently not for me though.

It is so much fun to host a potential National Merit student overnight, because I basically just get to hang out with new friend for an evening, and the National Merit Office reemburses me for whatever I spend. Its a win-win situation, for me at least.

I decided to take her to Cafe Plaid for dinner, which is where I took the last Baby Merit. Three other girls on my hall came with us, and we ate dinner and then strolled around Campus Corner and did a little window shopping at Shoetopia (the best little shoe store in the world).

Then we drove to the other end of campus for a baseball game. Our OU team was playing Texas (our bitter rivals), so there was a pretty decent crowd turnout, even though baseball isn't necessarily a crowd-drawing sport here. The weather was perfect (I love spring in Oklahoma), and baseball turned out to be a good event to go to, because Sarah and I got to talk while we watched the game.

Listening to her talk about her college search and the other options she is looking at, it was REALLY hard not to keep telling her that she should come to OU. I mean, I think she should come to OU, because I love it here, but I didn't want to pressure her and make her uncomfortable.

After the baseball game, we got a ride back up to the dorms (being car-less down here, I've gotten really good at mooching rides from people). Once there, we met up with a few more girls from our floor, and five of us piled into a car and went to Classics. Because an OU visit without Classics is no visit at all. And because we girls just really wanted an excuse to go again.

I wish I had thought about staying the night in the dorms when I was visiting OU last year as a senior in high school. I guess I didn't even know it was an option.

But for anyone who is coming to visit, I would highly recommend asking to stay overnight in one of the dorms. The National Merit Office (or whoever you talk to) is not going to set you up with someone weird or creepy, and it will be a fun chance for you to learn about the college from a real person in a normal, laid-back setting. And we students will always answer your questions honestly. Maybe sometimes too honestly. =)

Homecoming Revisited

A video from the Homecoming Pep Rally 2007.

"I'd vote for Clinton... the other Clinton."

Bill Clinton came to OU a couple weeks ago, and I got to see him speak. It was on a Wednesday, and I skipped both of my morning classes to go. I figured that seeing a former president speak (even if he was campaigning for his wife) was a worthy use of one of my few allowed absences, and it was the best decision.

I had decided to get in line early, since Clinton was speaking at the Fieldhouse (which is rather small), so I dropped off some homework at my French teacher's office and then got in line about an hour and half before the doors were supposed to open. I got there just in time. There were only fifty or so people in front of me, but not even fifteen minutes after I got there, the line began to grow. By the time the doors opened and we were allowed to go inside, the line was so long that I couldn't see the end. I was told by a friend that the line stretched from the Fieldhouse to half a block or so past the library. That means that the line of people who wanted to see Bill Clinton speak was at least three blocks long. I was so glad I had gotten there early.

This was how close I was to the door.


Secret Service men trying to look tough.

I got a really good seat too. Coming in, most people sat in the chairs on the floor and some people sat on the lower bleachers on either side. I decided I wanted to be a dead center as possible, so I got a seat seven rows back and only five or so chairs over from center. I had the perfect view.

While we were sitting there waiting for people to file in and the speeches to start, I made friends with the people sitting next to me. The guy sitting next to me wasn't a Hillary fan (at all), but he loved Bill Clinton. He had read his book and was pumped to see him in person.

The guy on the other side of him wasn't much of a Hillary fan either. He took the "Hillary" poster that had been sitting on his chair and folded it up so that only the "llar" part of her name was showing. Then, using a blue pen (which I, being a team player, provided), he changed the second L into a I. So, instead of a "Hillary" poster, he now had a "liar" poster. It was pretty genius, if you ask me.

Not being a Hillary supporter (or hater) myself, I really didn't take offense to the sign, but the two older ladies sitting on the other side of me didn't appreciate it very much. They kept shooting dirty looks our direction, and when the guy waved his "liar" sign along with everyone else, the woman sitting directly beside me mumbled something about "disrespectful kids these days."

A few politicians (some of them from Oklahoma, some I'd never heard of before) spoke before Clinton came out, and as interesting as they were, everyone was very ready for Bill by the time his name was announced and he entered the room. The two girls in front of me were especially eager to see Clinton. Every time they thought he was being introduced (but someone was really only talking about his merits, etc), they would sit on the edge of their seats, ready to lift off at a seconds notice. A couple of times, they actually partially stood up before they realized the speaker was still talking and Clinton wasn't coming out.

But finally he did. And the girls in front of me were jumping up and down with excitement, and the rest of us just clapped really hard and most of us had our cameras out, trying to take pictures. It took a bit for the crowd to settle down, but finally it did, and I got some good pictures of Clinton.

Because he was on the campaign trail for Hillary, Bill didn't talk much about his own presidency. I understand why he did that, but I would have liked it better if he had talked about himself and what he had done with his years in office. But he talked about Hillary and what she could do for the country, etc, which was pretty interesting.

I wish I remember everything he had talked about, but I just remember the basic points. He talked a lot about Hillary's plan for health care and her plan for how America should become energy independent. There was a lot of talk about the environment and popular issues that weren't very controversial (almost everyone agrees that we should do something about global warming and that the US should be energy independent) and almost zero talk about immigration, the War in Iraq, and other touchy stuff.

I am so glad I decided to skip classes for the morning and go listen to Bill Clinton speak. Now I can say that in the two semesters since I have been at OU, I have gotten to see both Colin Powell and Bill Clinton speak. And I'm sure I'll be adding to that list constantly in the next three years.

Initiation Brunch

I am now officially an initiated member of the Chi Omega sorority. Hooray!

My personal initiation ceremony was on Saturday night with three other girls, so at the appointed time, we all showed up at the door of our house. At exactly 5:30 p.m., we knocked on the door and were let in. And that's all I can tell you about the ceremony.

After the whole thing was over, I went back to my dorm and hung out with my friends. One of my newly initiated "sisters" came over too. We all ended up playing Taboo and Catch Phrase for hours, and then, in honor of my newly initiated status, we watched Sydney White (the new sorority movie). It was a laid-back night.

The next day Chi O hosted a brunch for the new members' families. My parents, living so far away, obviously weren't able to make it, but my grandmama drove down from Tulsa to see me and my "Aunt" Rese, who lives here in Norman, also came. I hadn't seen either of them since coming back from Christmas break, and I loved spending time with them. I feel so lucky to have extended family close-by. Sometimes I feel like they spoil me unnecessarily much so I wont get homesick, and I really appreciate that.

The brunch was pretty laid back. The food was delicious, and after eating, I showed Grandmama and Rese around my sorority house (where I'll be living next year). I gave them a full tour, and then we headed back downstairs for coffee. We took some pictures, and I introduced my family to my "big" Kandice.

As we were standing there drinking our coffee and talking, I (in one of my more graceful moments) tipped my entire cup of black coffee down my dress. The sad part was that I hadn't even been fiddling with or losing control of the cup. I was holding it with two, maybe three fingers, balancing it on top of my other stuff, and the cup just tipped over on its own accord. The best part was everyone else's reaction. I really wish a camera had been rolling and could have caught the look on their faces. Their eyes got huge, and they all looking really surprised/ on the verge of laughter. I think they didn't want to embarrass me, so no one laughed. But I wish they had, because it was really funny. Here I am, standing in the middle of a bunch of people I want to impress, and I spill coffee all down the front of me. It was perfect.

Even with my little mishap, I had a splendid morning with my grandmama and aunt and was so glad they had come to see me.

Aunt Rese, me, and Grandmama.

Sorority Initiation Week

This week is initiation week for me. Up until now, I have only been a "pledge" or new member of the Chi Omega sorority, but after this weekend, I will be a full-on member and get to eat at the house and everything.

Because of OU policy, I have to live in the freshman dorms my first year here, but next year I can move into the sorority house, which I am really excited about. The Chi O house is really big and beautiful, with three stories, a kitchen (and a cook), and a bunch of comfortable living rooms and dens.

Once I am a member, not only will I be able to eat at the house every night (not just Mondays and Wednesdays), but I will also attend house chapter meetings on Sundays and member-only things like that.

So far, initiation week has been pretty low-key. We are required to dress-up every day when we go to class, which hasn't been the most pleasant experience since I think this is the coldest week OU has had since I've been here. Last night, my pledge class went out to dinner at a "bonding" experience, and tonight we are going to the house to get our invitations to initiation. I'm hoping they are gold-embossed or something fancy like that. Why else would they make us come all the way to the house for it?

The actual initiation ceremony will be on either Friday or Saturday night. Because my pledge class is so big, we have to be split up into two nights. Tonight I'll find out what night my personal initiation ceremony will be on. As far as the ceremony goes, I have no idea what to expect. The whole thing is kept top secret, and only Chi Omega members are allowed to know what goes on. In fact, I have to take the secrets of my initiation ceremony to my grave.

All I know is that, since Chi Omega is a really old sorority (and we lo-o-o-o-ve tradition), some of our initiation ceremony has been around since the founding of the sorority. So therefore, I can be assured that some of it will be pretty... interesting (silly, old-school, steeped in superstition, etc). But hey, that's what a sorority is all about. Tradition and sharing experiences (good and odd) with our sisters.

Back in the Swing of Things

Now that I am back in Norman, I'm trying to get into some sort of routine, which is proving difficult since we didn't have school today. Today was reserved for people to make up finals they missed at the end of last semester, so those of us fortunate enough to have taken our finals before leaving for break didn't have anything officially to do today (except, apparently, the ballerinas).

But since I flew in late yesterday, having today off was really nice. I woke up early-- well, relatively early-- and went to Target with my roommate and suitemate to stock up on cup-of-noodles and fruit snacks. Then we reacquainted ourselves with the campus cafeteria, the coffee shop in the library, and the convenience store downstairs.

On top of eating a lot, we also walked a lot. Becasue some of my classes this semester are in new buildings (for me) and because none of us wanted to be late for class our first day because we couldn't find the right room and got lost, a few of us spent our afternoon locating where our classes will be. And since working out was not on my priority list while at home, I was feeling a bit out of shape as we canvased campus (my legs were feeling most of it).

For the most part, I like where my classes are. One of my classes this semester is in Price Hall, the business building. I would be a business major just to have classes in that building. It is extremely nice, new, and they have the most comfortable lounge areas imaginable.

But to counter-balance the awesomeness of having a class in Price Hall, I have a class in Sarkey's Energy Building. For those not familiar with campus, Sarkey's is a building on the northern-most, eastern-most edge of campus. It is the farthest building on campus away from the dorms (if you don't count the Meteorology building, I think), and about twenty minutes to walk there. And I have to make it in ten. Yay. On the other hand, Sarkey's does have a coffee shop in the basement. That is a serious plus.

Classes start tomorrow and I am so ready to get started. Wish me luck!

The Long and Short of My Fabulous Christmas Break

The Week One-ish:

After taking my last final on Tuesday, I flew home on Wednesday. It was so nice to be home. On Friday night, I surprised my friend Michelle by coming to her bridal shower. She thought I wouldn't be in until later that night and would be missing her shower, and it was SO much fun to see her reaction when she saw me.

The shower was a blast. After a quick scavenger hunt of all the couple's most memorable places, we unwrapped gifts and talked about being married. Sitting there listening to everyone's stories later in the evening, I suddenly realized that I was the only single person in the room. Not only that, but I was the only one there not married/in a serious relationship/expecting a proposal any second. It was a funny realization. Here everyone was talking about honeymoons and newly-married life and not-so-newly-married life, and I couldn't even relate. Don't get me wrong-- I thoroughly enjoyed the stories. But their experiences and plans are so completely different from my own. Marriage isn't even on my radar right now (unless it deals with being a bridesmaid or something).

That Saturday I got to see my brother play basketball against a rival team. He played really well. It was a bit sad too, because I knew that I would only be getting to see my brother play two or three basketball games this season. That means for the rest of his high school basketball career, I will probably see less than ten of his games.

Week Two:

I don't really remember what I did. Its all a blur. I do know that I spent a ton of time with Mom at our favorite coffee shop.

Oh, and on Thursday night I played in an alumni basketball game against my old highschool team. That was incredibly fun. I had been snowboarding earlier that day with some of the girls I would be playing against, and I kept talking smack and telling them they'd better bring their 'A' game. lol I should have brought my own 'A' game apparently.

There were only seven alumni girls who played, which meant we had a very small, very out-of-shape bench. We didn't win. Of course, I would love to make lots of excuses as to why we didn't win-- we were out of shape, some of us haven't played in years, and we had forgotten how to play together, etc.-- but excuses are lame. We lost fair and square. And I have never had so much fun losing. I forgot how much I love basketball, and I was sad when the last buzzer rang. I can't wait for intramural basketball to start up at OU.

Week Three:

Christmas!!!

My oldest sister brought her boyfriend with her and my other sister got to come home too, so we had the whole family home for the holidays. It was so nice to spend time with everyone, and I got some pretty sweet gifts (including a new iPod Nano).

Saturday the 30th was my friend Michelle's wedding. Again, I was the only single bridesmaid. I am sensing a trend here.

The wedding was fairy-tale material. The bride was positively radiating with happiness, and the look on the groom's face when he first saw her walk down the aisle was worth a million bucks.

Not only were the bride and groom adorable and the ceremony beautiful (I cried), but the reception wasn't so bad either. The dancing didn't start up until later and there were never more than ten or so of us on the dance floor at a time (except for during the chicken dance), but we had a blast. Sadly, I did not get the opportunity to show off my cha-cha skills that I learned during Thanksgiving, but such is life. Maybe I'll slip in a request to the DJ when I am a bridesmaid (again) this spring.

Week Four:

I spent New Years Eve with my dad, my younger brother, and his girlfriend. Surprisingly, I didn't mind staying home in the least and actually rather enjoyed sitting around watching movies and counting down the seconds until the ball dropped with Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve thing on TV.

I went snowboarding in Bridger on New Years Day with some friends (which meant almost zero sleep) and the snow was some of the best I've ever been on. It hadn't snowed the night before, so the trails were all groomed, but there was still fluffy powder in between the trees, which meant lots of off-roading (and a couple run-ins with a tree-- the same tree).

I also finally finished editing a video of OU's Homecoming Dance Contest... which I will try to put up as soon as I figure out how.

Week Five:

While my friend was on her honeymoon, I was lucky enough to get her job for the week. And I do mean lucky.

My friend takes care of an older gentleman, Ken, calling him every morning between 9 and 10:30 am (and not a moment later or he'll dock you money), running errands for him, and sometimes just sitting with him in the evening for an hour or so.

Some people might consider the old man rather rude, and he is proud of being known as stubborn, but I have to admit-- I loved him. I enjoyed (almost) every minute I was with him. On Sunday evening I just went over to his apartment and talked with him for an hour or so. We talked politics, which probably wasn't a smart choice, and economics, which is his favorite topic and I find incredibly boring. Monday through Friday, I took Ken to his various appointments. He went to the YMCA almost every day to lift weights with his personal trainer, and we made trips to the grocery store, the doctor's office, and the bank.

Every day, when we got into his truck, I would say "And we're off!" and the Old Man would remind me every single time not to hit the massive concrete pole in the parking spot behind us. When we got on the road, we'd exchange a few pleasentries and then move on to politics. I had made the mistake on Day One to tell him who I would probably vote for in the coming election, and so every day Ken would come up with a new light-hearted (but equally serious) stab at my candidates character, politics, or appearance. It became a little ritual. We'd talk about our evening, discuss a little politics, and then Ken would tell me that we could wait to have our conversations later and that I could just focus on my driving. I don't think he believed in my ability to multitask.

But we had a fun week together, and I was actually quite sorry to tell him good-bye. I hope I can see him when I come home this summer.

And that, my friends, was the long and short of my fantastic Christmas break.