'Tis the Season

Well I have finally motivated myself to write another blog post! So here it goes...

This break was an awesome amazing winter break! I got home pretty late due to having a final on the last day of finals, but then I was off! I actually started the break by going to the trail of lights with Sephra and some of her friends! They are all super nice, and it was a classic cold weather evening to head off to the trail of lights!

Then I was back off to Houston! I mainly stuck around the house as everyone was super duper busy, but I did get to see the Biffles a couple of times and we exchanged Christmas gifts!

After that it was pretty much time for Christmas and then the CRUISE! We had Christmas Eve over at my Tia's house as per usual, and we ate some great empanadas (the meat was better this year)! Then we had Christmas Day over at my Grandma Cal and Grandpa's house, and we ate delicious homemade raviolis! It was awesome! Especially cool was that all of my grandparents were in town and I was able to see them over the holidays!

Now the biggest part of my Christmas break... THE WEEK LONG CRUISE!!!! This was the itinerary:

Boarding Day 1 in Galveston!

Day 1: Leave Galveston/Cruisin'

Inside of Ship

Day 2: Cruisin'
Day 3: Cozumel Mexico
Day 4: Roatan Honduras
Day 5: Belize City Belize
Day 6: Cruisin'
Day 7: Cruisin'
Day 8: Disembark

It was a great vacation, definitely Top 5 (#1 is still Yellowstone), and I think the entire family really enjoyed it! The breakdown of the ports is this:

Mexico is SO SO SO commercialized, but it didn't matter too much because we were going to swim with dolphins! We got to kiss a dolphin, ride on the fin of a dolphin, and be pushed by a dolphin while riding a boogey board! The water wasn't too cold, and it was a really nice day out! You can see by the pictures that the water is so crystal blue, it is ridiculous.

Outside of Ship

Then we went to Roatan which is an island off the coast of Honduras that is very new to the tourist life. We took a bus to the "nicer beaches" (aka where all the white people go) and we went snorkeling! The nice thing was that we didn't have to take a boat out to the reefs, we were able to just swim a little ways and then bam there they were! It had been raining that morning so it was a little cold, but we powered through and afterwards we just relaxed on the beach napping and reading as it warmed up! The pictures that look very tropical beach/jungle are the ones from Roatan!

After that we were off for Belize, and boy it did not disappoint. We went on a "jungle cruise" which was more of us going around a river, surrounded by jungle (sorta) and spotting out different animals! The real treat was heading out to Lamanai (Submerged Crocodile), where there were tons of old Mayan ruins. We got to see about 4 or 5 big temples, and then we also got to climb to the top of one! It was crazy the view from up there!! Our tour guide was really great and seemed to know all the facts, and described everything as "Un-BELIZE-able!" After all of these trips, we were back to cruisin'!

So all along, the first stop in Mexico, I met this girl name Emmalie. She happened to be a sophomore chemical engineer, from you guessed it, UT! Crazy huh? So pretty much after that, every night her and I would get dressed up and go hand out and be at the "Club" haha. Pretty much if you are over 18 and younger than 21, the cruise doesn't have anything for you to do. You are too old for the teen club (where jen spent most of her time), but too young to really hang out with the 21+'s. Luckily, Emmalie is very social and her sister is older, so we were able to meet some people and pretty much just danced and hung out with them until late at night! I can tell you that I slept until 11:30 am on Days 6 and 7 because I was so exhausted from the nights before!

All good things must come to an end though, so finally we disembarked in a cold and rainy Galveston, and I had caught the worst cold ever. It took over a week to get rid of the coughing and the runny nose, and I pretty much had to stick around the house that entire time. My Dad ended up catching it from me, and he ended up going to the doctor and had bronchitis! Whooooo.

Anyways a few other things I did, which I don't really have pictures of but I will tell you anyway are this: went to a Rockets game with James, went ice skating with Christina, Michelle, Andrew, and Kevin, made cut out cookies with Marissa, Abbi, Sarah, Jordan, Stephanie and Aelia, went bowling with Eric, Kevin, James, Andrew, and John, went to a HS basketball game with Marshall and Jacob, tried to go to top golf with my dad, Baylee, Marshall and Kopecky and ended up at willies, and I had a sleepover with the Biffles! Like I said, all in all a great vacation and it was really really hard to leave my family after all that time! But now I am back at school and things are going pretty smoothly. More details to come later!

-KD

Soph(LESS) Time

So what I have discovered this year is that I really don't have enough time in the day. It has felt like the past few weeks I have been completely booked solid almost every single day. Sometimes, I just need me time, you know? Being stressed about school, internships, Bluebonnets, and ASME isn't really how I want to live during my years in college. Luckily, I have some pretty amazing friends here  and some awesome parents to help me out and make me feel better. And I am most definitely learning through my mistakes and trying to worry less about the small stuff.

First off, let me tell you about one of my new close friends, Christina. She is one of the most genuinely caring person you will ever meet. I met her through Bluebonnets, and now we are officers together, and boy I would not survive if it wasn't for her. Her and I have pushed through some of the craziest, busiest times together, and she has always been there to either share our worries about one thing or another or be the optimist for me. She seriously takes on more than she should be handling, and she is always willing to step up and help me out with Bluebonnet stuff when she sees that it is overwhelming me. This past week was Big/Little Week, and it was a ton of work but it was all worth it in the end when my littles found out who I was. And to top it off, Christina and I have named our joint families the "Depena-Dennington Dynasty" or the 3D's! haha

Next are my parents/Sephra/James, they have all listened to me talk/cry for who knows how long about schoolwork, bluebonnets, and internship stuff. If I was in their shoes, I don't know if I could do it. (I can talk a lot) Anyways, my mom and dad have really been giving me good advice concerning internships and schoolwork. Not to mention, they practically proofread every email that I send out to a potential employer. Details to come later, but I should be employed next summer! Anyways,  I really miss my family, I had planned to spend this weekend with them, but I stupidly slept through my bus. On the not so but sorta bright side, I studied 4 hours for my Solids test today and did 3 hours of computing homework. I predict I will be doing the same amount tomorrow... Life of an engineer.

That's all for now, to any Biffles reading this blog-I am sorry for not being super in the loop with y'all, it has been a really hectic couple of weeks, but I miss y'all a lot and I can't wait until Thanksgiving!

-KD

Soph(MORE) Fun!

Well I have kicked off my Sophomore year at The University of Texas at Austin! I am living in newest dorm on campus which is closer to my classes in the engineering quad, the drag, and West Campus! I love my new room, and I am so glad to be with Sephra again!

I have been attending my classes, and I am really enjoying them! I know they will be a lot of work, but I am doing my best to keep up with all of the homework and readings.

With Texas Bluebonnets, we have kicked off our recruitment with tabling outside and info sessions! It is a month long recruitment process full of tons of events, and I am really excited to have it underway and meet our new Baby Blue members!



In ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), as the new events coordinator, I have already set up a Freshman Meet 'n Greet and our Ice Cream social is tomorrow! Whoo! We had a tailgate yesterday for the BYU game, and I got there at 7am to help cook the brisket! We also had some dang good ribs, played tons of games like corn hole, ladder golf, and can jam! All in all it was really fun!

Now, I am trying to relax away my Sunday before my first full week starts up this week! Yep that is right, we had labor day off last week, and started on Wednesday the week before that, so this will be my first full week of school! Yay!

That is all for now! I will keep you posted as much as possible!

Katie

Summer Livin'

Well I am sitting in my Physics Summer Class that I attend Monday-Thursday 4 hours a day. Whoo. Go school. But there are only 5 days left, so I am just trying to power through. So where did we leave off last... Oh right!

MITE! My Intro to Engineering Camp counseling! I had a great second week and it finished off with my mom driving up to Austin and suprising me with cake and presents! It was so nice of her to come up and spend 6 hours in the car to see me on my birthday! 

After she left, James took me out to Hula Hut, and we had a nice dinner out on the lake!

The Biffles also celebrated Abbi and I's birthday with a night out in the woodlands! 

About a month later (mainly I just hung out with friends), we went on family + Hall Vacation to Colorado! We had never visited Colorado in the summer, so it was cool seeing Colorado in the summer! We drove to Amarillo the first day and went to the AWESOME Palo Duro Canyon, and saw the "Texas Show".

Once we got to Colorado, we river rafted the Rio Grande (not so Grande 20 miles south of it's origin), we traveled on a train through Colorado and New Mexico, and we visited Pagosa Springs! 

On the way home, we stopped in Santa Fe, and we saw the "miracle stairs" that supposedly Joseph built, pretty cool! We walked around the city markets and just explored the cool city! And then as soon as it started, we were back home!

Ever since then I have been doing this super fun summer class, full of homework, too many stupid questions, way too long tangents by my professor, and tests with averages of a 65! Go team! 

It hasn't been all bad though, I do get 3-Day weekends and I have spent a lot of time hanging out with friends, working on a TON of Bluebonnet stuff, crafting stuff for the dorm, and cooking up/eating yummy food!

I also saw Rascal Flatts at the Day in the Country Music Festival with my Mom! I have wanted to see them since I was like 12!!! 

I am really looking forward to school to start, but I am still trying to enjoy every day of summer I can get!

-KD

Spring to Summer and all the Stuff in Between

It has been a really crazy semester for me, between being an officer in ASME and Texas Bluebonnets, having to rerun for new officer positions, Spring Break with Marissa in Utah, Finals for college, starting summer classes and being a camp counselor there is no rest for the weary! I will try and summarize some of these things in the next few paragraphs, wish me luck!

First off! SPRING BREAK IN UTAH!!!! Oh my gosh, it was amazing. I planned that trip to visit Marissa since August 2013 and it finally happened in March 2014! I met her awesome roommates, Jessie, Becca and Maren and got to see her cool apartment styled dorm! We went skiing up in the mountains, hiked up a frozen waterfall, saw a boy band a cappella show, visited Salt Lake City, walked up to a point and overlooked the city of Provo, ate JDawg Hotdogs, toured a history museum, and had some delicious waffles. As you can probably tell, we did a lot of stuff thanks to Marissa's awesome planning of our time! I will never forget that spring break and I am so so so glad I had the opportunity to spend it with Marissa and the mountains!

Next up, end of the year shenanigans! I applied, interviewed, and was chosen as the new Events Coordinator for ASME! Basically, I coordinate and plan all events that our organization does throughout the year. We have approximately 500 members total, but normally a little less than 50 show up to the actual events, but it is still a lot of work. During the transition from the old officer team to the new officer team, I planned Senior Project Happy Hour (money donated from professors for a Happy hour for the seniors at a local bar, Posse East), Fiesta Friday (end of the year grill out), and two Study Break sessions (free food and a place to study during finals week). It was a ton of work, and I am loving reorganizing and documenting how these events are run! We also had a delicious end of the year banquet, and I was awarded Officer of the Semester!!!! It was such a great feeling to be awarded this honor, it really means a lot to me to be chosen by my fellow peers to receive this award. I look forward to all of the events that we have planned for the next school year!

Another organization I am in, Texas Bluebonnets, also had officer elections. I was nominated for Vice President and sustaining my role as Secretary, so that is what I will be doing next year! We also had our official initiation ceremony for the "Baby Blues" who are now active Bluebonnets! So exciting! We also had our semi formal end of the year event where we rented a party bus and headed down to Peter Pan mini golf all dressed up! I even got a hole in one at one of the holes, of course this is right after James golfed before me and also got a hole in one on the same hole.... oh well. Still pretty cool in my opinion!

While all of these end of the school year events were wrapping up, it meant I had to start studying for finals. I had four finals this semester out of the five classes I took. Economics and Thermodynamics were the first day of finals, Statics the day after, and Differential Equations two days after that. I finished up early and in time to make it home for Mother's Day, only to return a week later to Austin to attend Patrick's graduation from the MPA program! It was interesting meeting James' family, and it is really cool to see the end of the journey of which I have just begun!


Once I got back from all of this, I started taking Online Government via community college and also volunteering a little at Habitat for Humanity! I went to a music festival called Free Press in downtown Houston and saw a bunch of different alternative singers and rappers with James. I have also been watching The Bachelorette with my friends and trying to enjoy my summer!

The past two weeks I have been at MITE (My Intro to Engineering Camp) where I had the opportunity to mentor high school seniors. This camp is really special to me because I also attended this camp when I was in high school. To give you an idea of what we do, professors from each engineering department give a talk about that engineering area, they work on a Rube Goldberg styled project, tour campus, participate in engineering activities, and have fun (hopefully)! This camp really wears me out! Here is a picture of my kiddos from Session 1 (there are two sessions with 50 different kids at each session). I was very proud of them because they earned 2nd place overall! We are almost finished with the second session, and I am eager to see how my new group fares!

(Session 1 Group)

Whooo, that is 4 months summed up as best as I can!


-KD

Random Stuff!

So I have been up to a lot of random things over the past two months, but mainly I have just been too busy to focus on anything but school, organizations, and squeezing in a little friend time! Here are some pics of random things I have done with captions underneath!

Eric, Andrew, Sephra, and I tried going to Hopdoddy's a famous hamburger place, but then we ended up going to Mighty Fine Burger and Fries because they had a smaller line!

Look it's Kevin!! And Eric creeping in the back ground...

 James and I volunteered at ExploreUT! It was a huge open house, and each of the engineering groups put on some sort of activity! James' group mixed cornstarch and water and put it on a sub (speaker) and you could see it harden and soften due to the vibrations! My group dissected toys and taught kids how things work!

 One day James, Eric and I went to a Vietnamese sandwich shop, and we ordered sandwiches that taste suspiciously like Vietnamese Pho. After we went to a driving range, and also practiced some putting! Eric is demonstrating how you have to squat really really low if you want to use a kiddie putter. 

Jimmy, Andrew, Eric, James and I went to Kerbey Lane one night after we finished taking tests! Super fun hanging out with these geeky guys :) They didn't know I was taking these pics... so they all look pretty derpy in them!

Sephra and I also went to some parties during an event called Roundup! I am reppin' my spirit group, Texas Bluebonnets!

In the other picture, Sephra is hanging out at the Phi Kapp party with a bunch of my MechE friends from class!

 

Last picture is with this guy! James and I had some awesome brunch this past weekend at then infamous IHOP! He demolished the mexican omelette and two pancakes he ordered, while I stuck to two pancakes, two eggs, and some bacon! Let's just say one of us wasn't feeling too well after we ate, and it wasn't the person taking the picture ;)

E-Week!

Well that awesome week that I have heard so much about is here! Here is a quick schedule of the events I participated in over the past week!

Saturday Feb. 15: Puzzleception, Scavenger Hunt: Build a UT Monopoly game board, Hug 7 people in your dorm, eat Chik Fil A in Raisin Canes, build a resume for future Dean of Engineering, wear an ice skater suit.

Monday Feb. 17: Musical Chairs (ASME got 2nd!), ASME 500 (an event I planned and ran), Charades, study for tests :(

Wednesday Feb. 19: ASME Knockout (a basketball game), Thermodynamics test, Statics test.

Thursday Feb. 20: Trivia game, ASME Capture the Flag (another event I helped plan!), after which I was exhausted from standing in the sun for 3 hours! I also got to see my sister,  when she was touring the Capitol building for a Leadership Group she is in!

Friday Feb. 21: Texas Bluebonnets info Session, then I left for home!

I hadn't been home in almost two months, so it was great to see my family and catch up with them! Also I had to pick up all of my snow gear, because I was heading up to Utah for Spring Break!









One of the events for the scavenger hun was "highest stack of pennies", so we went to the top of RLM (17 floor math building) and took a picture!

Sorry for the late posts, I am just trying to catch up!