Catching Up

 

I’m currently in Dallas where I will be spending Thanksgiving break. I’m sitting in a coffee shop called Frogg with my roommate doing homework. I’ve had a lot of stuff due lately for school and have just as much when I come back from break. So my apologies for slacking on the blog. Anyway, I have been able to check most of the stuff off my list for what I wanted to do in Texas. Last weekend, I went back to San Antonio since my aunt came back and visited me. We stayed in a hotel that was right on the Riverwalk. I got to enjoy lots of good food that weekend and shopping. I ate a giant hamburger since I was really craving meat. Last Sunday, I went to Zilker Park in Austin and finally got my skyline picture. Zilker Park is so beautiful and a must see in Austin. The park itself is huge and has a natural spring.  I went to Tyler’s for the first time and got to experience more of Austin’s urban culture. I didn’t leave without buying a shirt and some shorts. The drag was super cool and had a lot of shops. It’s right across from the UT campus. I ate at a restaurant called Austin Ale House on 6th street and most of the menu was gluten free (I thought that was interesting/cool). Last Monday, I went on a glass bottom boat tour on the TXST campus. There is a natural spring that runs right through campus and the water maintains a constant 72 degrees temperature. I went to a Christmas lights display called Santa’s Ranch in New Braunfels. There were a ton of cool displays. Another super fun place I got to go to was Spring Loaded. It’s a trampoline park with a ton of trampolines. Talk about a good way to release endorphins. I finally went to the coffee shop right by campus called Tantra which had a really unique vibe. I think one of my biggest challenges of being in Texas/on my own is getting proper nutrition and eating right. Being a very picky eater does not make this easier. I also do not have a lot of time to cook/learn how to cook. I’ve got to try plenty of good restaurants though. Particularly lots of good Mexican food! Well folks, my days are numbered here in Texas, less than a month until I’ll be home. I’ve already shipped about 25 lbs worth of clothes home.

Hellooo, Dallas! And East Texas!

I made it through all my midterms in the past 2 weeks! I ended up with 3 As & 1 B. Since I was free of school work for a bit last weekend, I went to the Dallas area with some friends. It took us 6 & 1/2 hours to get there instead of 4, because of HORRIBLE traffic. But we made it. We stayed at my roommate’s aunt’s house in Plano, which is a suburb of Dallas. We ate at this cool cafe called Cafe Brazil when we arrived Friday night.  Saturday we went to Kilgore College in east Texas to see my roommate’s old college and drill team. Drill team is a Texas thing, it incorporates dance and is categorized by high kicks. They all wear white cowboy boots, hats, and gauntlets. Kilgore Rangerettes was the first drill team ever created and it is a huge accomplishment to make the team. It is only a 2 year school and most Rangerettes want to coach high school drill teams after graduation. Some go on to be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. We went into the Rangerettes Museum and I saw my roommate hanging on the walls in there.  The football game was in Tyler.I got to see all the flat fields in East Texas and some of the oil derricks. The leaves were actually changing over in east Texas which is something you don’t really see here in south central Texas. We went out to dinner with some of my roommates old friends and then returned to Plano. We left early Sunday morning to head back to Austin. We stopped in Waco and drove around Baylor’s campus. We went into this famous bakery called Collin Street Bakery. It was so cute and delicious.  I’ve decided I really like big cities, especially seeing them all lit up at night.I saw the giant revolving ball and many other huge buildings.  Everyone in Texas tells me that every part of Texas is different which is so true. Even though I didn’t get to see a whole lot of Dallas, I liked the atmosphere there. I would love to go back!

San Antonio with the Fam!

Last weekend some of my family came to Texas and visited me. We stayed in San Antonio for the weekend, which was awesome. I absolutely loved the Riverwalk! It was nothing like I expected, I felt like I was in another country because I hadn’t seen anything like it. You could go on boat rides on the river and get a guided tour of the area. We ended up doing the boatride Saturday and Sunday because we liked it so much. All along the river, there are tons of hotels, restaurants, and shops. I ate Italian food about 3 times with my family, since that is something I’d been missing and hadn’t really eaten out here yet. I picked up some new items at the mall and downtown shops. We also went into a Marketplace, which was very cultural. It incorporated Mexican culture and there were many traditional Mexican items sold there. I rode the mechanical bull they had 2 times. It was too fun not to. We visited the Alamo and it wasn’t quite what I expected. It’s literally right in the downtown. We went through it in about 15 minutes. I took my family to Freebirds back in San Marcos, Centerpoint Station, and Whataburger. I showed them Texas State and my house. They loved the kittycat. We had a fabulous, fabulous weekend and loved San Antonio! It was nice to get away for the weekend. I was sad to see them go, but my aunt loved it so much she will be back next month :)

What I’ve Been Up To

Life has been pretty busy now that the school year is completely underway and my first round of exams is approaching. My classes are going well and it’s different being in almost major-exclusive courses now. I’ve been exploring many different places/restaurants while being here. There is a place called Freebirds that is amazing Mexican food. It is similar to a Moe’s or Chipotle, but better. I’ve eaten there about 7 times in the past 3 weeks. I finally got around to trying the infamous Whataburger and I must say it was quite delicious.  I’ve been volunteering weekly at the Boys and Girls Club, which is really rewarding. I am involved in Crosstalk at Texas State, which is a giant church organization that meets on Wednesday nights. I have finally gotten back into a workout/running routine, now that I am more settled in. I am obsessed with my roommate’s kittycat & about half of the pictures I’ve taken here are of/with her. I met someone from SC the other day and we laughed at all the people here who think the weather here is “humid.” They haven’t been to SC yet.

First Football Game in Texas!

This was at our first home football game a couple weeks ago. I had fun, but it was very different from USC games. The whole stadium wasn’t quite filled and it was much easier to get tickets. I also thought it was interesting that a lot of the students here do not go to the football games. I’m glad I already own a lot of garnet, even though it is known as maroon here :)

Centerpoint Station

 

This is located right across from the giant outlet mall and I noticed it my first time out that way. It looked really cool, so we finally stopped in the other day and checked it out. It’s very unique and there are a lot of cute things. There is also a restaurant attached to it, similar to how the Cracker Barrel is but many more items, particularly clothes. This type of place is exactly what I think of when I think of Texas. It’s touristy but locals are also into it. I will definitely be going back there once I have more money to spend!

My First Trip to Cavender’s!

Something I really wanted to do while in Texas was get a new pair of cowboy boots. Cavender’s is the place to get boots. They have hundreds of pairs to choose from. There’s a bunch of locations throughout Texas. This one was about 15 minutes away from my house. A bit pricey, but good quality. So yes, yesterday my roommate took me there and I ended up getting a pair. I love them! They’re exactly what I wanted! Today was our first home football game so I already wore them! In case anyone wants to see them, here’s my new babies :)