Spring Break 2009

So for spring break, the usual five decided to go on a road trip to Lake Travis, our usual chosen destination for spring break road trips. Well, Ryan's mom recently rented a three-story condo with her new fiance and so we had somewhere nice to stay this time, instead of sleeping outside and getting raided by critters in the middle of the night. Yay. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. We couldn't leave Tomball until Friday night because Joe's spring break is the week after ours, and he had to fly back, while Ryan felt the need to spend his only real day home from spring break with his dad. So after we got everyone dispersed into three cars (Ryan, his younger sister and brother, and Joe rode in his car; Hillary and I rode in her car; & Tim and Ryan's brother Matt rode in Tim's truck), we hit the road... at 9 in the PM. 

Ryan was leading, with Hillary behind him and Tim behind us. With the weather and visibility bad enough because of the rain and, um, dark, it was pretty nerve-wracking trying to follow Ryan's pitch black car. About an hour into it, we're doing pretty well when Ryan doesn't see the Austin exit until the very last second and cuts across three lanes to get to it in time. Well, when Hillary tries to do the same, we realize that there's a white van in the lane we have to cross and end up violently cutting him off. And when we get to the exit lane, already sort of out-of-control due to the fast lane changes, Hillary's car completely hydroplanes on a giant puddle and we swerve around for a few life-changing seconds. Needless to say, a major freak-out ensued, especially when we looked behind us to see Tim's truck spun in the opposite direction. Tim called and said he was okay, he just needed to straighten out, and at the next gas station, we all got out to hug and celebrate our survival. God was with us.

We recovered and got back on the road. The next two hours weren't bad. Hillary and I jammed out to our old favorites and the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. We finally got to Ryan's mom's place, which was beautiful beyond belief, and sleeping arrangements were made and pictures were taken and Mario Kart was played. I just watched, because there were only four controllers anyway and I suck hardcore at Mario Kart. It was still fun togetherness, and we didn't go to sleep until around 3 AM. 

I slept through the night for the first time in months that night, and awoke to the smell of breakfast! Hillary and I went downstairs to eat, discover that all the boys were still asleep, and pretty much just wait for them to wake up so the day can start. We decide to spend the day on the town and leave to an outdoor outlet mall Ryan's mom had mentioned. (By the way, throughout this entire eventful day, I left my camera at the condo! GAH!) Anyway, when we get to the outlet, we realize that there's a Barnes & Nobles, the same Barnes & Nobles we had taken refuge at last spring break when it rained on us at camp! Funny stuff. We walked around, didn't buy anything, and since Joe really wanted to see "Taken" in theaters, we ate lunch and saw the movie (the second time for me and Hillary, but it was still awesome). After the movie, we went to Barnes & Nobles, where we didn't really read but rather sat in the Starbucks and talked. Oh, and we ran into Ryan's family there.

Then... the five of us decided to drive to downtown Austin, mainly to walk around 6th street. There were some super awesome little shops there. There was this hat store with super funky hats. We all picked our favorites and took a group picture. 

And there was this vintage music-themed shop with all this cool jewelry and artwork and there was this cat that looked just like my cat walking around the store!! I was sold. Then we visited the capital building, ate dinner at a bar, and drove back to the condo. At the condo, we played the Game of LIFE. I won. 

Before bed, we watched "The Pianist" (super depressing but super good). Then we went to bed, woke up, and had to depart. Sad day. Hillary, Joe, and I were all returning to Tomball while Ryan and Tim were to return to Waco later that day. The trip back wasn't bad. We missed the highway exit a couple of times because my GPS isn't updated and therefore confused, but we got breakfast at Sonic and it was smooth sailing from there. It was a great spring break. Oh! And I made my Montage #7: Spring Break 2009. Freaky thing is, my Montage #6 was done exactly one year ago, during spring break, at Lake Travis, with the same people (except for Nick and Austin). Everyone looks so different! Well, here's the latest montage. Enjoy.

Destination: Shawnee, OK

I think it's safe to say that this weekend was wonderful. Tim and I had been planning a road trip up to Oklahoma Baptist University to see our Joseph for several weeks now, and it finally happened, and it was phenomenal. 

My dad picked me up from SHSU at 12:30p.m. and we drove the 2 and a half hours to Baylor. Tim introduced me to his friends there, and Ryan came to say hi and see us off. Then Tim took his 5-hour energy shot and we were on our way. He experienced a couple of funky chemical reactions due to the crazy energy shot, but it worked for the most part. We listened to pretty much every CD in his CD wallet, and reminisced on all of the awesome times we've had together as a group, basically coming to the conclusion that our group of five was the coolest group of best friends known to mankind. Can't fight the love. When it got dark, we stopped at a Taco Bell to eat, and kept on remembering all of our fun times, which we never seemed to run out of now that I think about it. Back on the road, we finally entered Oklahoma and Tim tried to stay behind a certain truck that seemed really good at weaving in and out of traffic, but I think he noticed us tailing him and he succeeded in losing us. Shucks. Joe kept calling us for updates on where we were, while Tim and I noticed a lunar eclipse happening and almost saw it eclipse completely until the clouds got in our line of vision. When we finally reached OBU, Joe ran out into the street and attacked Tim's truck, then clambered in and directed us the rest of the way. It was all joyful screaming by then.

Joe led the way into his dorm building, where the lobby was packed full of his friends waiting to greet us. It was a nice welcome. After meeting everybody and checking out Joe's room, we all ventured outside looking for something do to. In a small town like Shawnee, "you have to make your own fun", as Joe puts it. After aimlessly wandering outside in the freezing cold, picking up friends here and there, we finally settled on getting out of the cold and playing Catch Phrase. One of the highlights of the trip was sitting on the couch in one of the lobbies with Joe and Tim on either side, just talking and laughing like we used to. It was so happy! At around 1 a.m., we went to IHOP and that's when I began to crash. The three of us shared the appetizer sampler, and I almost fell asleep on the table numerous times. Tim also found a new friend in Beth, the girl who relentlessly gave him foot massages on request. Poor thing.

After sleeping in and waking up just in time for lunch, Joe took us to Bricktown to see Slumdog Millionaire. Well, the movie was basically for him and his friends, since Tim and I had already seen it, but it was so good that heck, we'll see it again! I mainly wanted Joe and his girlfriend Savannah to see it because they just came back from a month-long trip to India, and I think that affected their view point on the movie quite a lot. Then Joe attempted to give us a tour of Shawnee but got lost in the process, and we retreated back to his room where Tim serenaded us on his guitar and I fell asleep for a good hour or so. Then dinner, and a basketball game. OBU won. The other team had these twin asians playing and Tim kept trying to insult them from the stands. That was funny.

The next morning, the three of us went to an early lunch at the Cracker Barrel, then said our goodbyes at a gas station. It was so depressing. We hugged for a good ten minutes before Tim finally pulled out and began heading home. The gas station was sold out of 5-hour energy shots, so he bought a Monster instead. When we stopped in Dallas to have an early dinner with Chelsey at Cheesecake factory, Tim was beginning to crash from the aftermath of the Monster energy drink. Seeing Chelsey was fun. We've been best friends since freshman year and it's almost hard to believe that our friendship has hardly changed after all this time away from each other. She took us to her apartment after dinner and we just relaxed for a while. Tim left eventually and Chelsey and I started watching "50 First Dates" until my dad came to truck me back to Huntsville. 

I love my friends. They make life amazing.