Take a walk with me...

There are times in my life when I think about the past and smile at all those moments that made me who I am. The funny thing is most of my good friends today know very little about that time in my life. That small town, country girl has changed quite a lot. I was visiting my best friend over the Thanksgiving holiday and we went fourwheeling (thats an actual word if you live in the country). All of a sudden I remembered how I used to ride one practically every day of my life in high school. It was almost as if I had forgotten about those moments because at the time they were such a normal part of my day. Riding with my uncle in the woods behind our house. Actually getting in trouble for riding that silly thing to school! Going mudding (also a word) with my friend Ashley and our ever-changing boyfriends. It's not the "country Kayla" that I miss, but just those memories in general. I was not blessed with the elephant memory that my best friend Marci has. So when I do remember those times, its a treat. So each Monday I am going to try and recall an old memory. A little walk down memory lane, if you will. Maybe it will make you think of a few good times too.

My dad's mother, whom I call Grandma, used to babysit for my Grandpa's boss. Jamie was just a little over a year older than me, and Brandon was my age. The three of us grew up together in the small town of Gause, Texas. To fully appreciate this story you have to know a little bit about Gause. With a population of 100 people, this town is the epitome of small-town Texas. This was the kind of town that you could put things on your tab at the local grocery store, Coats Grocery, and still can. The kind of town that you aren't afraid to let your kids walk to said store. This is the setting of this story. My grandmother lived behind the local Full Gospel church, who often complained about her goats getting into the parking lot after Sunday service. The little dirt road that led from the church to her house was lined with honeysuckle which Jamie and I loved picking and sucking the juice out of the flowers.

A typical day at Grandma's was spent playing with the many animals or, in some cases, running from them. She had peacocks that basically just paraded around showing off their feathers (that made for an excellent souvenir to take home). There were pigs, sheep, donkeys, chickens, guineas, rabbits, ducks, and even a few horses from time to time. But mostly, there were goats. My grandparents even raised one goat, Julia (pronounced "who-lia"), to be a pet. She would come to you when called and even shake your hand. She gave my grandparents many baby goats and my grandma cried for days when she passed away. Springtime was my favorite at Grandma's because it promised lots of baby goats. I would go with my Grandpa every day to check on each pregnant nanny hoping to find a baby. If it was too cold for the baby to be outside, we would bring it in and bottle feed it. This was always my favorite, cuddling up with the adorable little baby and bottle feeding it. Some kids had baby-dolls but I had baby goats.  And then there was the black billy goat. One time, when I was outside taking the clothes down from the clothesline, it got out of its fence and chased me onto the back porch. There is nothing more frightening than a crazed black billy goat.

Grandma's house always smelled like fresh tortillas or rice, which just so happened to be my favorite meal. Staying the night with her meant reciting the rosary before bedtime, waking up early to make breakfast tacos, and being terrified of the white lady. The white lady story is told in several different ways. The white lady (white referring to her ghostly color) was a woman who had killed her children by throwing them into the nearby Brazos river upon the request of her deranged boyfriend. She then became so saddened by the death of her children that she threw herself into the river. Today she continues to search for her children and will take any child that is not baptized to replace them, or so the story goes. I have been baptized twice, in two denominations, and I was still terrified of this story. One day as Jamie and I were taking a bath, my grandpa thought it would be funny to dip his hand in flour and press it against the window to terrify us. I'm sure it was pretty funny when we came running out of the bathroom dripping wet and screaming "THE WHITE LADY IS HERE!"

Today my Grandma still makes rice for me when I come visit but she no longer lives in the old house with the attic that we swore was the devil's hiding place. She can't make as many tamales anymore without her hands hurting, but she still has new animals each time I see her, a few baby ducks here and there, or a rabbit. She makes me laugh when she forgets I can't speak Spanish and goes on a rant about some old friend of hers I have never met. She makes me cry when she jokes about not being around much longer and how I need to learn to make tortillas or tamales. But that little girl who loved each baby goat (my close friends are probably going "ahhh thats why she loves baby animals") and helping Grandma make tamales is still here. My first trip when I get home is to visit her. We have some tamales to make!

Me with Grandpa Leno and Grandma at my graduation party.

Paisley with some of Grandma's new baby ducks from this past summer. 

Lessons from a Nanny

In my life I have had four jobs. As you know, you learn a lot from your employers and from those you work with. My time as a Nanny, while short, was pretty close to revolutionary in terms of knowledge gained. Not end a war revolutionary, but learn more about yourself revolutionary. When my sister moved to San Antonio for a job opportunity this past summer, she moved away from all of our family and her support system. With two kids and a job that constantly needed her, she was in need of some help and I was in need of a job. It's not often that you can honestly say you love your job, but when it's your adorable nieces its hard not to. Sure, sure... kids are hard and the adorableness can wear off at times. You start to think you may be dealing with small spawns of the devil but that only lasts as long as your impatience and that little devil morphs back into the adorable angel it always was. Being in charge of two children is both terrifying and exhausting. One minute they are standing next to you and the next they are chasing a butterfly into the parking lot. That parking lot, which is so harmless, all of a sudden turns into your worst nightmare... even after you realize there are no cars driving in it. But that was my three months as a nanny- playing chef, tutor, maid, doctor, and security guard.
Kids are so honest, painfully so at times, but the insight they have is unbiased and quite surprising.
Here are just a few things I learned from my nieces:

1. Bath time can be very therapeutic. I have always been a firm believer in this. I can often be found taking a hot bath after a stressful day; bath fizzies fizzing and Colbie Caillat blaring. My bath time was a safe haven after a long day of nannying, but it was also a great calming tool for Paisley. The promise of bubble-bath was like gold to the kid. One mention of it and whatever she had been crying about was suddenly unimportant. We will forget about the many bottles of bubble-bath that somehow found their way into the bath... all at once. For the purposes of this story, it was calming.

2. There is nothing quite like a good book. I believe I inherited my bookworm. My mom and grandmother both read like addicts. I will never forget the first book that made me cry. I'm not quite sure how old I was, but I brought home Shiloh and sat on the couch reading it all day until I was finished- eyes puffy and nose runny. As soon as I moved in with my sister I took the girls and myself to get a library card. My oldest niece, Taytum, preferred funny children's books like Judy Moody and Mercy Watson. Paisley fell in love with Katy Duck, stories about a little dancing duck who has to get over stage fright. Unfortunately for us, the dance instructor in these books was named Mr. Tutu (who interestingly wore tights and legwarmers) and my niece had a very different understanding of the word "tutu." So needless to say we all had a good time with these books. She would laugh every time I said his name, and her sister and I would laugh every time she recited the book almost word for word.

                                                 
3. Every girl wants to be treated like a princess. For those of you that know Paisley, you know this to be all too true. When I moved in Pay had just turned three and was entering into what psychologists call the "frilly-pink-dress-stage". This is when children discover that they have a gender that is unchanging and there are certain social roles and indicators for their gender. For example: girls wear dresses and play with dolls. The first day I tried to dress Paisley I spotted this adorable romper but before I could even put her in it she cried saying "b-b-but I want to be pretty in a dress." So this was our battle every day. Calm down all you feminists, I told her every day that she didn't need a dress to be beautiful but you try telling that to a three year old. It got worse after she was Rapunzel for Halloween. I would walk in her room to find her singing songs and twirling around in her glittery Rapunzel dress. For now I think she could care less about prince charming, she's just worried about the dresses and crowns.

4. There is no friend like a sister. I didn't really grow up with my oldest sister Falon but we have always been pretty close. She likes to joke about how she thought I was so annoying when I was little because I always got what I wanted. I don't doubt it. Watching Paisley and Taytum interact was really special and funny. It never ceased to amaze me how one minute Paisley could be hitting Taytum and the next minute Taytum would be soothing Paisley while she cried. The maturity that Taytum showed toward Paisley was unbelievable. There was one moment that really stands out to me. Paisley had had a long day and was kind of fussy about her mom having to work late. Taytum, in a very grown up way, told her "don't you remember Lama Lama Red Pajama?...please stop all this lama drama and be patient for your mama." :)

5. The world is amazing. It's so easy to forget how interesting and exciting the world truly is. What I wouldn't give to see the world in a child's eyes every once in a while. A butterfly is magical. An ice-cream cone can solve the world's problems. A playground and a few swings can entertain for hours. Their curiosity is never-ending and their love is so easy to achieve.

Beware the snow.

Well... only shortly after my "I love snow" post we had a quite unpleasant experience with said snow. As Daniel was coming home from work on Friday, he was hit by a car (that was speeding down a hill in reverse... I know... very strange).  Don't worry, he made it out okay but the same cannot be said for his car. Unfortunately the couple in the brand new Lexus SUV that hit him did not speak English so we are not quite sure what was going on on their end. But Daniel is okay, and that is really all that matters. So now we are sporting a nice rental Dodge truck. Daniel said I should feel right at home in my big truck. So my friends, this is a sad report but those roads were a lot more treacherous than I had imagined. Beware the snow.

So this is what it's like...

Against popular belief from my fellow Southerners (myself included), it does not snow very much in Washington state. I'm no meteorologist but I'm guessing it has something to do with the humidity and maybe elevation. Fortunately for myself, I managed to move to the Puget Sound area just in time for the worst snow storm since the 1940s. No sarcasm intended. I actually have really enjoyed having a real winter. Don't worry Texans, I'm still a Texas girl and I admit that I miss being able to walk outside without having to add the layers of protection, but there is just something very special about this Northwestern winter.

It all started with a Christmas tree farm. Yes I did grow up next to a Christmas tree farm in my hometown of Milano, Texas but a few perfectly lined trees surrounded by houses just doesn't quite capture the full winter wonderland feel. This particular farm was full of every type of tree, every height, and required you to do the chopping. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic but all the families letting little "Billy" pick out a tree and hauling them home on to the top of their cars just really warmed my heart.

So maybe hauling around a huge tree doesn't seem that great to you but perhaps one of the many winter sports will help reel you back in. Skiing, snowboarding, tubing, ice-skating- you name it and I'm pretty sure Washington has it.  I have had two experiences with skiing, and basically hated it. My close friends know I'm not super athletic and probably never will be... but geez I don't think standing on two sticks should be that difficult for someone. This time around, after much debate, I got talked into snowboarding and am pleased to announce that I love it (and I'm not too terrible either). We purchased a 3-day lesson and rentals package from Snoqualmie Summit,which is only about an hour away, with our good friends Brittany and Chris. After lots of falling (and snow in the crack for one friend) I think we are starting to get the hang of things. We even managed to make it down the mountain alive in what, I swear, was a blizzard.  Next on this snow bunny's list- tubing and snow-shoeing!

I think Daniel would agree that the snow is pretty awesome seeing as how he has gotten the last two days off of work. I'm telling you, it's just like Texas- a little snow and we all freak out, close everything, and hunker down until it goes away. So we have spent the last few days sledding down makeshift, cardboard sleds, making s'mores, and trying our hardest to stay warm. What started out as a winter wonderland has now turned into an icy death trap on the highway. But, despite the treacherous roads, there are many things about this winter I will miss: drinking coffee every morning, building fires in the fireplace, and watching the snow fall out my window while I study. Luckily for me it doesn't look like winter is going anywhere anytime soon!

Here's to 2012...

I always have so many things on my mind. Today, among many others, I am thinking of all the things I want to accomplish in the year 2012. For one of my scholarships we were required to write a letter at the beginning of every academic year with a list of goals we wanted to accomplish. Later we would be asked to compare it with the letter from the following year to see if we were making progress. It was always interesting to look back on that letter and see how I had done and how I had changed. So here is a rough sketch of a few things I want to accomplish this year (not in order of importance):

1. Keep this blog... let's say at least 1 post a week? Is that do-able? 
2. Apply to medical school if I discover this is my true passion 
3. Decide if medical school is my true passion- which includes volunteering at a hospital, shadowing, etc. 
4. Master snowboarding, well in the way a beginner masters something :)
5. Drink more wine
6. Watch less TV
7. Maintain a healthy lifestyle through proper exercise and diet (straight from the surgeon general) 
8. ACE THE MCAT, whaaatttuuuppp! 
9. Learn something new about myself
10. Oh yeah... and get a job. 

No Experience Necessary

One month. That is how long it has been since I made the big move to the beautiful state of Washington, but more importantly also how long I have been searching for a job. For someone who has worked since they were fourteen, not having a job has been interesting. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sleeping in and watching pointless TV just as much as the next American but it's discouraging. I'm not alone, of course, I'm joined by close friends and millions of Americans in the search for a job. My college degree isn't getting me much credit in the real world and my "lack of experience" is weighing me down. 

Don't worry, it isn't my plan to use this blog to complain about my lack of a job but instead to document my thoughts, my dreams, and my experiences in this time of my life. Right now my life is a clean slate. This is exciting and frightening all at the same time. As I've discussed with many of my close friends, I am so very thankful for this time in my life. I get to be a little irresponsible, and as adventurous as I'd like. So this is my plan- to push myself to take some chances and have some fun along the way. On this journey there is no experience necessary.

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences."  

- Eleanor Roosevelt 

Let's give this a second chance!

As much as I love writing and journaling, let's face it, I'm not very good at it. For those of you that know me well you know that I am somewhat of a stresser... I stress out about even the little things that should make me happy, like blogging. But, what the heck... let's give this a second chance.

I made this blog over a year ago to document my trip to Italy and while I wasn't successful as a blogger I managed to keep a beautiful journal complete with postcards, maps, train tickets, and other memorabilia. Now when I look back to my journal I am so happy with my choice to record my thoughts because I am able to relive some of those moments. It's pretty easy to journal when your having the time of your life.

My next paragraph may confuse you, so hang in there... The past year has been amazing. My relationships with my roommates and "GJ" girls (as I call them) have solidified. I embarked on many a journey and adventure with them and other friends. I found out a lot about myself- who I am, what I want, what I need, and most importantly what I don't want/need. And, of course, I graduated from college. As much as I would love for this blog to continue as a "let me tell you about my adventures blog", this may not happen. Many of you who have just graduated might understand what I'm about to say better than others. Graduating is not as fun as it may seem. You have to get a job or go to more school, or both, and neither of them are simple especially when your questioning everything. Do I really want to do this forever? Is this really for me? You are no longer living on your own time, going to school a few hours a day and then playing/studying the rest. Life changes, you change or you are forced to. So lately I have found myself having a hard time forcing myself to change, to grow... instead I have been thinking a lot about how much fun college was and how I miss it. So now I introduce to you my new blog concept, I like to call it the "Learning to grow blog". Basically I will blog about whatever I am thinking about that day. I will use this space to document my thoughts and interests so that I can look back and observe my progress or my failure.

When I was in Italy I thought my life would never be more beautiful, now I look back on college with the same thoughts. I hope this blog teaches me that all of life is beautiful and that it doesn't end when the fast-paced adventure ends (or hopefully is just paused ;) ) but that every aspect of life is a growing experience and a time to learn more about yourself.