Confessions of a Bootless Texan

Christmas is just hours away! I still can't believe this! With that being said, the entire house is decorated, the stockings are hung, and the desserts are made. Merry Christmas everyone! :) Ornaments!   Chocolate cream pie and pumpkin cheese pie! (Yep, I made both!)

WINDING DOWN... Two weeks left of class this semester! 2.8 months left until ACDFA! 5.5 months left until graduation! DANCE! I survived the SFA Repertory Dance Company/Danceworks Concert. The weekly 2 hour rehearsals for my senior piece and 6 hour rehearsals for company paid off. The concert sold out all three nights...something that's never happened before! Also, I travelled to Dallas for the TAHPERD convention. It was a great experience. We performed in front of a panel of three adjudicators, one from TCU, one from UNT and one from Ryan ISD. Overall, they seemed to really enjoy our performance. In particular, I'll never forget this trip because of the amazing room at the Sheraton, the profusely sweating guy that cut in line at the Sheraton, the commentary made by both SFA professors after the profusely sweating guy cut in line, the awesome Houston ISD volleyball coach that was behind us in said line, the Draft Sports Bar, the map of Dallas that fail

I made the show!  My dance is officially the third piece in the show this upcoming Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No words can explain how happy I am to say this. It's been one roller coaster of a semester, but my cast stuck with me and never failed to give me 110 percent. I can't thank them enough for this. In addition to my piece, I'll be in three other pieces. :) Photography? I vowed to never pick up a camera again after my ridiculously hard photography class last semester. With that said, however, one of my friends asked me today if I'd be interested in taking their graduation photos. This excited me! I guess my love for photography still exists...it was just on a hiatus for the last several months or so. Final Advising... I was advised today for next semester. It was kind of bitter sweet. I'm happy to have only 19 semester hours standing in my way from graduation, but I'm sad to know I'm leaving so many great friendships behind.  My spring 2

Two weeks... There is only two weeks until the SFA Repertory Dance Company concert! YAHOO! Performances will be on Nov. 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 19 at 3 p.m.  I can't believe all of this hard work is about to pay off. More importantly, I can't wait to see my senior choreographic piece come to life on stage. It has been one roller coaster of a semester, but in the end, I think it will all be worth it. Final Graduation Audit... I filed for my final graduation audit today. It's kind of bitter sweet not knowing, yet again, where life will take me once I graduate. I put this decision off for a year, so I guess it's time to finally put my big girl pants on and either get a job or go to grad school or possibly do both! Also, next week I'm getting advised for my final semester. I'm definitely looking forward to my class schedule...5 dance classes, 1 kinesiology class and 1 journalism class. Yep, I'm doing 20 semester hours this upcoming spri

Another week has come and gone... This week I realized that eavesdropping is my favorite hobby of all time. There is no other pastime quite as fulfilling. You never know the shockingly hilarious things people will say when they think no one else is listening. I'm not a fan of so-called "useless" criticism. I feel like there comes a point when criticism crosses the line and is no longer beneficial to the individual. It ends up doing more damage than good. For instance, I was told my music for my senior piece overpowered my dancers this past Wednesday. It's about two weeks from the show...the last thing I can do at this point is change my music. Instead of working on cleaning my dance, I spent hours upon hours searching for alternative music options. In the end, nothing came close to my original music selection, and I wasted hours upon hours of my precious time. I guess I'll just have to agree to disagree with my professors on this one. I only have 5 more pa

It's OVER! OK, the week may not quite be over, but I consider it over. Yes, I still have one class left tomorrow, but I've mentally checked out for the remainder of the week. Don't hate! With that said, this week was one for the history books (yet again) I had to have my senior choreographic piece finished by Wednesday. While this doesn't sound like much, it really was. I had approximately 2 minutes of choreography to whip out and teach my dancers in one night. Let's just say things didn't go as planned. I didn't choreograph enough which forced me to come up with something on the spot...not good. With that said, however, I did get a compliment in disguise from Stan. His words exactly were, "Your dance is a hidden gem in the rough." Yep, I'm taking that as a compliment. Don't argue otherwise! This week I also was very productive in terms of yearbook stuff. I e-mailed every single adviser and student leader for all of the organizations

Hectic. That's how my entire week has been. 1.) I finally finished the ACDFA paperwork. On Monday, I have to take it to the Student Affairs office to be processed. (Yep, I only wrote that to remind myself! Please disregard!) I hope the Repertory Dance Company gets a large grant for our trip to Laredo next semester. I could definitely use the financial support, and in a way, I feel like I'm responsible for the amount we qualify for! 2.) I also ordered my Mentor Ring. I've been putting it off for the past three semesters. It's crazy because I set out to spend the least amount, but I ended up spending way more. I had originally planned to go with sterling siver but ended up going with yellow gold. I originally planned to go with the extra-small design but ended up going with the small design. I originally wasn't going to get the diamonds, but you better believe I did! I must admit it didn't help that the girl next to me kept saying, "Go big or go home!&qu

It has been quite some time since I've updated my blog. Shame on me! I had planned on writing weekly, but my schedule bacame jam-packed. In fact, I really should be filling out paperwork for the SFA Repertory Dance Company ACDFA trip right now, but I'm writing this instead. Last week was surreal. My name was in The Pine Log once again but not as a byline to a story. My name became a story. To be more specific, my name was thrown around numerous times in a Letter To The Editor. This letter was by a hospitality professor at SFA who wasn't too hospitable. Apparently, I had ruffled her feathers quite a bit with my "Meal plan rantings" piece.  I really didn't think there was anything too debatable about my piece. I guess this is why I was so puzzled by the letter. I mean the food in the cafeteria is awful, 99 percent of the student body would agree. The food is expensive, 99 percent of the student body, yet again, would agree. With that said, however, this p

Highlights of my week: I got my column published in The Pine Log. This alone made me so giddy. I couldn't help but get a high any time I saw people around campus reading it. Since I know you are all anxious to see my column, I attached the link. Please know I'm not responsible for the typos. Meal Plan Rantings   I got a ton of ad sales for the Stone Fort Yearbook. I really think the mass e-mail I sent out to the faculty advisers worked, and if it didn't, I'd still like to think it did. :) My senior choreographic project is roughly half done. Choreographing is such a grueling, draining process. It is so hard to know what the professors are looking for in terms of movement, but I feel I'm constantly gaining ground.  I finally filed for my tentative degree plan. This degree plan is supposed to be filed after 45 credit hours, but I filed after 90 hours. Yep, I procrastinated once again. We had a guest speaker from The Daily Sentinel come into my Feature Writin

About Me... 1.) I procrastinate like crazy. I guess this is the reason I was still awake at 4 a.m. writing my "10 Life-Changing Courses at SFA" article this past Wednesday. 2.) While I may procrastinate, I'm still a perfectionist. Again, this is why I was up until 4 a.m. this past Wednesday. 3.) I can't multi-task. This is why I didn't hear what the word count was supposed to be on the article I wrote on Wednesday. To be safe, I wrote 938 words when I only I had to write 700. If only I would've listened to directions, I could've probably saved myself an hour of work. 4.) I'm very indecisive. This is why I failed to turn in a yearbook spread this week. I couldn't make up my mind on what was worthy of a feature. 5.) I suck at saving money. I tried the whole PB&J diet for a week. I'm so over it! I think I've eaten out every day since. 6.) I like mayonnaise on my hot dog. Get over it! 7.) I love the Rioult Dance Company! I took a mas

Today, my alarm clock awoke from a three-month hiatus. It was loud. It was proud. It was, as you probably guessed, the first day of school. Unlike my alarm clock, I wasn't excited at all. I'm not sure why, but I can only guess the two classes I took in the summer didn't help my mood. At 6 a.m. on the dot, my senior year officially began...how anticlimactic. My day began with a bologna sandwich and chips for breakfast. It's the new breakfast of champions or, at least, that's what I told myself. I then proceeded to Feature Writing. Apparently, Feature Writing is known as the hardest writing-enhanced journalism course offered at SFA. With that said, however, I'm really looking forward to the class. We have a few guest speakers from local papers coming in and even a chef is going to do a demonstration for us. Can you say free food?! After Feature Writing, I proceeded to News Writing 2. When I say proceeded, I mean I stayed in my exact same seat and waited for t

As the summer winds down and the start of another school year lurks around the corner, I thought it would be fun to look at just how many movies I saw at the theater since May. I love going to movies. It's like a two hour escape from reality...something well worth the ticket price if you ask me. In fact, I used to want to be a movie critic. Who am I kidding...I still want to be a movie critic! Without further ado, here's the list: 1) Something Borrowed-cute storyline 2.) Bridesmaids-not for those with weak stomachs 3.) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-those mermaids were crazy! 4.) Super 8-suprisingly good...go Steven Spielberg! 5.) Green Lantern-don't remember much about this one... 6.) Bad Teacher-seen better... 7.) Transformers: Dark of the Moon-so want a Camaro now! 8.) Horrible Bosses-hilarious! 9.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II-so great I saw it twice! 10.) Captain America: The First Avenger-suprisingly

Wow! I can't believe I'm actually blogging. The thought of creating a blog has crossed my mind hundreds of times, but I always put it off for one reason or another. With that said, I have no clue where to begin. I feel like I must kick off my first blog entry with some grandiose statement that is history book worthy, but my think tank is running on empty. I guess I'll just begin with a little about myself...how original. To begin with, my name is Gina. I'm a senior at Stephen F. Austin State University. Yep, I go to a univeristy that has a doctorate program in forestry. Yep, it's a tiny university located in an even tinier city, but I love it. Go Lumberjacks! I'm pursuing a double major in dance and journalism. I know you won't be seeing these majors in the "10 Most-Lucrative Degrees" article any time soon, but I don't care. I followed my heart, and I'm sure it won't steer me wrong. Growing up, I was the shy kid who always had somet