Saddle Up 'Stangs

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Thursday was our western pep rally. It's questionable whether that's really a "dress-up day" when all of us pull our boots and denim out of our closets come Rodeo season. Regardless, it's a fun day to let our native Texan really shine.

The day as a whole was crazy. Starting with my 5:45am three-way wake-up call between Lexi, Caroline and I, I knew it was going to be a long day. The day before Lexi, Liz and I were decorating the player of the week water jugs when Lexi's dog scratched me. I didn't think anything of it until the next day when I saw what started out to be some dead skin now turned to a colorful gash on the side of my leg. Not pretty. I didn't have time to think about it, but as the day wore on it started to really bother me. And all it took was a trip to the clinic before I ended up at the doctor's office instead of my 5th period English class. Turns out I'll be just fine, but it added to the chaos of the day. And everyone in the waiting room probably thought I rode my horse to the doctor.

All we had was a mere two hour break between the pep rally and the game. We demolished the Morton Ranch Mavericks 42-6 in our first district game! It was nice to be at home again with our dedicated fans. The only downside was the looming thought of school the next day...

I considered passing on school but my inner nerd took over and forced my exhausted self out of bed. I did, however, decide to pass on Fiji Foam at UT with some friends which I am regretting now but I know I'll be thankful for come Sunday.

Meredith & I

Performing the finale to our western dance with our cheer partners

Katie (who just got into Texas, congrats!) and our wonderful yearbook photo editor Kristen

See, I don't just take pictures in the halls at school all 7 hours! Occassionally, we have this thing called class. This one would be APES (Environmental Science) with Becca, Julianne and Sterett.

Henry, me, Aubrey, Brett & Ryan

Mackenzie and then Shannon and I mocking the ending pose to our dance

Austin and I...little did he know that in just a few hours he would be in our skit falling into the pep rally crowd. A boy from each grade had to spin around a bat 15 times, run to the other side of the gym and circle a girl 5 times and finish by wheel barrowing her to the other side. Let's just say there were quite a few collapsing cowboys.

Cheering on our team to victory

So that marks the halfway point for our pep rally season. Three down. Three to go. Tomorrow night, there's a birthday bash that I plan to look quite glowing at. More on that next!

Thursday Thoughts

Rihanna's new single (as mainstream as it is...we're talking number one on iTunes mainstream) is really pretty good. Something about it makes you wanna conquer the world when you listen to it.

MTV's "Made" was at our school today filming. Naturally, they chose the Western pep rally day to only further enhance all non-Texans false notions that we ride horses to school and wear boots every day. And don't you worry, I saw the camera man in the hallway filming the girl being featured and casually walked behind her...twice.

Monday's Gossip Girl was fantastic. Just as you told me, J! If I had Parisian royalty inviting me to balls, I would totally rock Blair's red gown. New York Magazine does a feature on each Gossip Girl episode called "Reality Index." There's always a few that make me laugh by myself in my room as I stare at the computer screen. Try and resist doing the same:

Blair: “Except Humphrey’s a doughnut.” We bet Dan would have appreciated that. Plus only 1, though, because everybody knows he’s a waffle.

Vanessa is good with babies because she lived on a commune. Plus 2, because we were absolutely unprepared to believe it was her natural warmth.

At the morgue, Serena looks at the outside of a snakeskin wallet, a closed passport, and a generic BlackBerry, and says, “That’s his!” God. Plus 2 because that is so her, but Minus 2 for the police being so ridiculously stupid.

Of course, Nate is not at all suspicious about why this crazy pretty lady has decided to enter, study, and take charge of his life. Plus 3.

And a personal favorite of mine: Dan's lullaby to Milo that was nicely finished with "she wears leggings" [referring to lil sis Jenny]

Is it sad that I bought a few songs off of Selena Gomez' new album?

I love getting mail! And my sister surprised me with a little package enclosed with a darling coral BCBG skirt. She decided after she bought it that it was more fitting for a 17-year-old. Lucky for her, she's got a sister who will happily take never-been-worn super cute hand-me-downs. Another perk of having three sisters and a super stylish mom.

The other night the headitors (our shortened term for Head Editors in yearbook, heaven forbid we have to pronounce four whole syllables) went to dinner with Ms. Hartman. She took us to Chatters--a cute mediterranean fusion restaurant. After, we went to what looked like sketchy factoryville. Turns out, it was where they store art. They had 43 huge statues of all the president's heads that are going to be put in a park eventually among other structures. While cool, it was remotely creepy having all those heads staring at you. Makenna definitely concurred when I took her there after dark.

[The Headitors: Claire, me, Lana, and Dani]

I have a big weekend ahead of me. A short trip to Austin and a glow in the dark birthday, so until then happy weekend!

Something to Blog About

The one thing that's been holding me back from pressing the "Submit" button on my college applications is my essays. I forced myself to sit down and make final edits this weekend. I had to turn one in on Monday for a grade in my English class anyway. I chose one that (shocker!) had to do with blogging. I just turned it in to turnitin.com (a site our English courses use to ensure there's no plagiarism going on and yes, it was due at midnight and I just turned it in at 11:45), and I want to share it with all of you. The prompt: Write an essay in which you tell us about someone who has made an impact on your life and explain how and why this person is important to you.

Here’s the link to my blog. That’s six words. And that’s the maximum my English teacher allowed us for our memoir assignment. Those words would not have depicted the Molly McConn of six months ago. But today, thanks to a stranger living in L.A., that says it all.

I’ve never met her. Ironically, I know her better than most of the people I pass by in those color-coordinated high school hallways every single day.

So, no, I don't know how many siblings she has, where her first kiss was, or what happened the night she cried harder than ever before. I know the basics--name, age, occupation. Emily. 27. Blogger. That last detail, her making a livelihood out of blogging, is what unveiled to me everything I admire about Emily Schumann.

It's almost as if my ignorance of her life beneath the surface, or shall I say beneath the blog, is what makes Emily so inspirational. All it took was that contagious smile she wears in almost every photograph and her writing that makes you feel like you're her longtime best friend for her to speak to me. She expresses herself with such grace and exuberance that gives off this fearless vibe that I hope to one day exude.

In the late hours of the night I took the liberty to send Emily an email. I tend to divide my time dedicated for others during the day leaving the night owl's hours to do what suits me. It's worth sacrificing the sleep for the time of solitude and silence to envision my future, read books that my teachers don't shove down my throat, and write on my own blog.

It was a week later—I had already forgotten about the email—when a reply from Emily appeared in my inbox.

In that moment, when I read Emily's words, I could start living the life I was supposed to. I ignored the voices of reason that had been screaming for me to "be realistic" even if that meant sacrificing doing what I was passionate about. Her words, in their raw simplest form, made everything so clear. They drowned out so many others that were merely holding me back, putting my dreams off track. I was destined for greatness, she said, and as long as I don't take a wrong turn on the path of doing what I love, I'll end up at the right destination. As a sigh of relief came over me, I felt as though I was breathing new oxygen.

I had always thought of myself as a math-oriented person. I got a thrill from solving a problem, taking something complex and simplifying it, reducing anything to its singular concrete answer. But, in admiring Emily, I found just the opposite in myself. I found a desire to create something from nothing. I want to expand ideas, provide more depth to them, and essentially seek the complexities in life, not solve them. And I've found so much more in this process, for there are very few occasions when life will give you one answer, so why continue searching for them?

To many girls, she's Cupcakes and Cashmere. She's the charming blonde bookmarked on their Internet browser. To me, she's Emily, and Emily will forever be the instigator of the day that my pursuit of a career in the media, fashion, and journalism industries transformed from a non-realistic desire to a full-fledged pursuit. So here's to Emily and dreams. And moreover, here's to following those dreams.

If you pay attention to anything in the blogosphere, you're probably well aware of Emily and Cupcakes and Cashmere. If not, please check her out. I did just spend the last 500 words raving about her, didn't I? Carolyn even did a post about how I strive to be like her...embarrassing but one-hundred percent true. Hopefully one of these days I'll get to meet Emily. She's the Britney Spears of blogging, basically. Let's hope that I conveyed how much Emily has impacted me for those colleges to send me an acceptance letter!

[all photo rights to Emily Schumann and Cupcakes and Cashmere]

f(x)= 4x + 6(3x-9)

[In our collapsing period. Yes, that means what it sounds like... we all collapsed on top of each other. Notice the sophomores' expressions in the back]

It's a classic Memorial tradition. Nerd Day. Freshman and senior students alike trade in their designer jeans, polos, glowing straightened hair, and contact lenses for Girl Scout vests, suspenders, scrunchie pig tails and bulky glasses.

Don't believe me? I'll let you witness it for yourselves.

Kelly, Jordan and I before the school day. Note Kelly's rolling backpack. Jordan was proud to say she got her denim skirt straight from momma's closet.

The ones that go above and beyond (like Erin here) sport head gear, retainers, fanny packs, long denim get-ups, pepper spray, helmets, bandages, calculators tucked into their pockets, and carry around their Bio II book all day just for looks.

Lexi and I. We're going to be sorority sisters at Texas...well, that's what my dream from a few nights back predicted anyway. And after I told her all about it, we decided we liked the idea!

Some of the freshmen girls I've gotten to know and love! Way to get in the spirit, fishies.

Ryan, a sneaky Brooke and I in the courtyard during a passing period. On game days, the cheerleaders blast music throughout the halls. As fun as it is, it's just as much stressful because so much of the music that people like these days isn't exactly school hallway appropriate.

Aubs and I while the masses head in for the second pep rally of the year.

Madison (a former JV cheer mate) and I. Love you, Mads. You lucky duck got to get a pic with the triple-threat :)

As exciting as this pep rally was, it doesn't nearly compare to the excitement of the game that night. We played Pearland and from the looks of the first 4 minutes, we were in deep trouble. But, to our pleasant surprise, we gave the oilers a run for their money by the 4th quarter. With 50 seconds on the clock, we tied up the game 42-42...and we even did it by going for 2 on the last touchdown. All of us were jumping 10 feet in the air before Pearland made one last touchdown with 30 seconds left. Despite the loss, it was an exciting game and proved our ability to come back. It even made the front of the sports page the next day. So way to go boys!

No game this week. And I'm not complaining. But don't think that eliminates practice...heaven forbid! We've got lots of prepping for our Western pep rally next Thursday. Giddy up 'stangs.

Sister to the Rescue

I skyped with Carolyn the other night laying all my frivolous high school problems on her. Sorry, Coco. She sent me this graphic the next day in hopes to give me a little boost to get me through the rest of the week. And it worked! So I'm here to pass it on to all of you in case--like me--your week wasn't your all-time greatest.

I shared it with Lana (I immediately thought of her when I saw it) and she loved it equally. We then went on to show our lovely adviser Ms. Hartman who expressed just as much fondness. We even got a little inspired for our division page copy (woops! maybe I'm not supposed to reveal that publicly!)

Coming soon....

New York Fashion Week, Nerd Pep Rally, & Senior Portraits

Ask the next person you see what their passion is.

Start doing things you love.

Get lost--it will help you find yourself.

Go out and start creating.

Wear your passion.

And I Promised Myself I Wouldn't Let This Happen

What's "This"? This is letting school, cheer, and all the other extracurriculars I have get in the way of the blogging mojo I had this summer. Alas, I let it all get the best of me. My sis-in-law Linds reminded me that it had been awhile since my last post, so I hope to appease her anticipation slightly by this mini-post.

This weekend was long, tiring, lacking in the sleep department, and just as weird as the first one. Senior year has been nothing if not interesting. Friday night was an away game for the football boys (which is never as fun because there is a significantly less amount of fans) but we were featured on TV on a local network which was exciting. The night ended in a loss, but we put up a good fight against a very good team.

Saturday was filled with more football, but this time college ball. Texas beat Rice, but it wasn't the grand victory us longhorns were hoping for. And the rest of the weekend I spent with a multitude of different friends. And because of my choice to be a little social butterfly, I find myself tonight swamped with an econ quiz tomorrow, a paper due thursday, an english test tomorrow, my first calc test tomorrow, and an apes assignment.

So, on that note, I bid you farewell. Back to the books, my friends.