Catching Up: September Edition

I didn't want this to happen, but it was inevitable. And it's really not even school that made me fall so far behind on blogging this time. Friday evening was the start of the Hills YoungLife area retreat, and we met up at a park in Tarrytown, where we enjoyed a delicious Chick-Fil-A dinner, and engaged in a friendly game of kickball. We intermixed teams, so I was reunited with some of my Murchison teammates, while at the same time getting to know my new Anderson teammates. 

After an hour or so of kickball, we were told that the next part of our retreat would be going to The Friendly Savages and Penny & Sparrow concert at Stubb's. All the girls went back to the house of one of our area director's friends and changed, and we all re-met up outside of Stubb's. The concert was incredible, though I honestly don't know if I ever stopped sweating. At least until I escaped the packed-in crowd and made my way to the back of the room and talked with some of my Murchison teammates for the remainder of the evening.

After the concert, Team Anderson went back to a house in Northwest Austin and half of the team went to Whataburger for a 1:00am Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit run, while the other half of us went to sleep. Just guess which category I fell under. The next morning we had our big area meeting where we talked about the calendar and hopes and dreams for this semester in YoungLife, and it was honestly probably the first time I left that meeting feeling encouraged and excited for the year as opposed to feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Our area director is incredible and I am so excited for this year to get going. And while it is hard to jump onto an established team as a new member, I think this year is going to be great. My new team is full of incredible people who are goofy and full of big ideas to get new kids to experience the gospel.

On Sunday, after a 9:15am church service and a little bit of homework, Taylor, one of my best friends from high school, picked me up and we drove to campus to go watch the Nike Big 4 Volleyball Tournament. The tournament featured the Texas Longhorns, the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Stanford Cardinal, and the Florida Gators. Mary Ellen, one of our other best friends from high school, plays for Stanford, so we rearranged our schedules when we found out she was coming to Austin to play. 

Because she goes to Stanford, and her family moved to West Virginia, we don't get to see her very often, and we jumped at the chance to see her, even if for ten minutes after the game. Lindsay also drove in for the game from Houston, and it was such a great start to my week being reunited with the Stratford volleyball dream team. 

Taylor, Mary Ellen, Lindsay, and I

And though I was wearing my burnt orange (as hard as it was to put on after the abysmal performance in our football game on Saturday), Lindsay, Taylor, and I went crazy when Mary Ellen took the court. We may have gotten a few stares, but it was well worth it.

Stratford America

After the game I went on a relaxing walk around Town Lake, where I was met with a beautiful sunset to end my weekend.

And now it's back to the books. School is really starting to pick up speed, and it's only going to get busier once I start going to the high school (hopefully next week). Have a great Monday! And GO TEXANS!

P.S. Here's a very special shout out to a great roommate - Natalie - for holding me accountable and posting this blog post. Once I get too far behind, there is no hope for me to catch up. Thanks, Nat! Hopefully some new workouts and recipes will be making an appearance on the blog soon!

Austin City Limits

I apologize for the delay in this post. The original plan was to post my ACL review on Monday, but school caught up to me and what I thought was going to be a painless weak turned into a very stressful one. While the stress stinks, I am thankful that my professors have offered the opportunity to rewrite papers for a better grade. I have accepted that the rest of October is going to be pretty crazy, but I am hoping things will slow down upon the arrival of November. They probably won't, but here's to wishful thinking!

Anyway, let's move on to Austin City Limits. For those of you who don't know, Austin City Limits, also known as ACL, is a three-day eight stage music festival that takes place at our very own Zilker Park. This year was its 11th year, and it was the final year of being only one weekend. After years of sellout crowds, ACL is going to be two weekends next year, with the same bands playing each weekend.

2012 Line-up

I have to admit that ACL wouldn't normally be my scene. An avid country music fan, I have generally not heard of a majority of the bands that come to ACL, and I find myself being unable to justify spending $90 on a one-day pass. However, I knew that I wanted to take part in this legendary music festival at least one time before I graduated college, because let's face it, then I could call myself a true hipster. Okay, not really, but a girl can dream. Anyway, even I had to admit that the lineup was pretty phenomenal this year, and Sunday literally had all of the bands that I wanted to see, so a Sunday ticket was just calling my name.

Unfortunately, I was in Spain when the tickets officially went on sale, and tickets sell out fast for ACL, so I was unable to buy myself a ticket. Two of my roommates had Sunday tickets, so I refreshed Craigslist pretty much every day until I found someone who was selling Sunday tickets for a decent price. I ended up finding someone in Houston, and my mom so graciously met up with the man to make the ticket purchase before mailing me the coveted Sunday wristband.

When Sunday rolled around, I got all dressed up in my best hipster attire - which really isn't that hipster at all - ate a quick lunch, and rolled out in the direction of Zilker Park around 12:45pm. We ended up having to walk about twenty minutes to the park, but parking was free and I didn't have to attempt to parallel park. Score!

Roomies: Jamie Lynn, me, Natalie

Since this was my first ACL, I was pretty pumped, and it certainly didn't disappoint. First up on the list was Needtobreathe, and since I missed their February concert, I was excited to get to see them live. I listened to them for about 45 minutes before heading over to Aaron Ivey Band on the Zilker stage. While I get to listen to them every Sunday at church, it was cool to watch them perform at such a secular event. Plus, they sang some songs that we don't normally sing at Stone, so that rocked. Next up was The Civil Wars - a band I was unfamiliar with, but I fell in love. It is a Joy Williams and John Paul White duo, and they are just precious. I recommend doing a search on iTunes for them - you won't regret it. My friend and I jetted out a little early in the attempt to see The Lumineers, but that was a complete fail. They were on a small stage with poor sound, and it was a total traffic jam. Props to Jamie Lynn for forging a path to Austin Eats.

NEEDTOBREATHE

Aaron Ivey

I was starving by this time, so when my friend said she was getting barbecue, I knew exactly what I wanted. I opted for the chopped beef sandwich from Stubbs, which I scarfed down in a record three minutes. Seriously. I was still pretty hungry, so when I saw someone walking around with a giant slice of watermelon, I just had to find out where I could get one of those. It was from Luke's Inside Out and it was the perfect refresher for someone who was quickly losing energy.

After dinner it was time to make our way over to see the Avett Brothers, who I will admit I knew nothing about, but they were performing as the sun was going down, and I was able to sit on the grass and listen to some great music. They put on a fantastic show, and I was hesitant to get up and head over to get a prime spot for Randy Rogers Band, but they are one of my favorites, so I knew it had to be done. While I didn't stay for all of their show, they sure put on a great performance and here's to hopefully seeing them again at the Houston Rodeo!

Randy Rogers

We left after Randy Rogers, before the headliner Red Hot Chili Peppers, one, because none of us were too keen on them anyway, and two, we still had quite a bit of neglected homework to complete before Monday morning rolled around. We got home a little after 9pm, sunburned and smelling like a mixture of questionable things, but it was a day well-spent. And though I certainly paid for it this week in the school department, sometimes you just gotta do those things. I am already anticipating the release of next year's lineup, in the hopes that I will know enough bands to justify purchasing a ticket, because it sure was a great Austin experience. This view just never gets old.

Jamie Lynn and I

Kayla and I

Jamie Lynn, Natalie, me, Kayla