Thursday, August 04, 2011

The Texas Two Step

I really am going to try and be more consistent about this - you'd think I wouldn't have such a hard time considering it's summer.  But on to more important things!

Every sorority and fraternity has a National Convention where members from every chapter meet in one location to exchange ideas, get to know each other and vote on matters of business for their association.  The past weekend, my sorority held its national convention in nowhere else than San Antionio!  (In case you didn't know, I'm in Phi Beta Chi - a social sorority with Christian ideals.  If you're interested in learning more, please message me!!)

The trip begins Wednesday evening, the night before I left.  Being practical and intelligent (stop laughing) I asked my mom to spend the night with me in Chapel Hill.  That way, we would have a shorter drive in the morning and would be able to sleep in a little (6 am ... we were at the airport at 8:45 ... for a 10:30 am flight.)  My mom thought it was a great idea and invited my younger sister as well!  You may be wondering - where did everyone sleep - and the answer is: in my queen size bed.  We learned a lot about each other that night - that my sister likes to "rock herself to sleep" and that you should always put your phone on silent because my dad may call at 12:30 am asking what we're doing (resulting in my mom trampling both my sister and I, jumping off the bed into my suitcase and finally lunging for the phone).

Thursday morning, we finally made it to the airport where I met my future roommate, Macy.  Macy and I boarded our first plane which took us to Atlanta.  Can you guess which famous pilot Macy and I met?
Ring any bells?  For those of you who don't know who this is (like myself until Macy told me), his name is Jake and he was on the Bachelorette and then hosted the Bachelor.  Apparently he made some pretty terrible decisions by choosing Vienna, but that is neither here nor there.  After getting off of our plane and walking to the food court (you will find me anywhere that there is food), Macy stopped me and asked, "IS THAT JAKE?!"  And I replied, "Jake who?  Jake from school?"  With a look of shock/horror she yelled, "No!  Jake from the Bachelor.  We have to go take a picture with him!" With a dumbfounded look on my face, we began to chase after Jake (yes, everyone was pointing/staring/laughing).  After finally catching him, I (yes, I) asked him if he was in fact Jake and if we could take a picture with him.  His response was: Yes.  I am sorry.  I just ate tuna, but yes I will get a picture with you.  And the rest is history!

We arrived in San Antonio around 5:30 or 6 and were taken to our hotel.  We spent the night getting to know the other girls and enjoying a delicious meal catered by room service.  Trying to get a "taste" for the area, I ordered a quesadilla (obviously).  If you know me, you're laughing because that is all I eat considering it is one of the 3 things I know how to make.  We stayed up late making friends (aww) and talking about absolutely everything!

The following morning was busy: breakfast in the hotel restaurant, critical trip to Wal Mart for the staples (the Help, cake/cupcakes and decorations for a birthday) and a little bit of laying out by the pool.  At 1:00 the weekend's festivities began.  Most of the girls had arrived and we celebrated their arrival with lunch (tacos, nachos, etc.), a lesson in line dancing and a t-shirt and gift swap.  We spent the afternoon in meetings and around 7:00 left for the Riverwalk! 
Pretty!  There were shops, restaurants, boats, live music and so many different types of people!  Boys, if you're ever in the area and want to impress a girl, take her on a couple's dinner cruise - so romantic!  Hint, hint Jack ;) It took us forever to find somewhere to eat, but we finally settled on Texas Lonestar.  We were seated by live music (Scott Hammock) - my first realish example of Texas Country.  Keeping in the Texas mood, I ate Texas' version of pulled pork which I must admit I actually did enjoy.
Following dinner, we toured the ALAMO!  Unfortunately, we missed it's closing by approximately 7 minutes and had to settle for taking pictures from the outside. 
The Alamo concluded the night's festivities and we all went home and crashed - I am not kidding y'all, I feel like an old lady sometimes with how early I go to sleep.  The next morning was our National Business Meeting, brainstorming for Recruitment, followed by another delicious lunch (potatoes and salads) and a few more meetings.  We got ready for the Award Banquet where awards were distributed to all of the chapters for their accomplishments.  Kappa Chapter got Alumni of the Year :) Way to go!  
After the banquet, we celebrated one of our National Executive Council's birthday with Princess cupcakes and a crown ... and a delicious chocolate mousse piece of heaven.
Does that not look AMAZING?  Following a wonderful dinner, a delicious dessert and a little bit of quality bonding time with the girls, a group of us got ready and headed down to the local honkytonk - Midnight Rodeo.  Our Texas chapters demanded that they show us the true Texas and what better way than at a honkytonk!  Y'all will not believe what I am about to tell you!  The dance floor was in the shape of a track with a bar/tables on the inside and a bar and tables on the outside!  When you two step - you are always moving forward and this allowed you to move freely ... and around the track!  A much older man (60's/70's) came up to Macy and I and asked if he could teach us how to two step!  Of course we said yes.  Below Macy is seen dancing with the man.  

We also learned how to "Wobble," something involving a grapevine, the Cotton-Eyed-Joe and got to perform our Copperhead Road line dance live!  Before leaving, Macy and I asked if we could buy souvenir shirts because who would want to forget this?  The manager came back with two child XLs - questionable - with a peacock on the front and a back that read "Polly wants a cocktail at Midnight Rodeo." So we left Midnight Rodeo with brand new shirts and memories to last a lifetime!  Oh and if you're wondering how to two-step, it's simple!  Two steps to the right, one to the left, repeat.

The next morning, after saying our goodbyes, Macy and I left for home.  My parents, her parents and Jack were all there waiting for our arrival.  Y'all do you want to know how you can tell you're in love?  When your boyfriend (of 9 months on Friday!!!) comes to see you at the airport and you can't stop grinning even though you saw him the weekend before.  I could barely contain my excitement!  Awwww.  Enough for that cheesy stuff.  We ended the trip with some good eats: none other than ZAXBYS.

I have a really important piece of advice for y'all - never judge someone by what they wear, what they look like or who they might know.  One of the most amazing things I learned on my trip is that God puts the most unexpected people in your life to make the biggest impact.  First impressions, looks and everything materialistic doesn't matter.  What matters is the way people make you feel, whether they make you laugh or cry, whether they genuinely care.  Oh and one more thing: people in Texas are some of the nicest, most hospitable people I've ever met!  Maybe we can all learn a little something from them.

It's so past my bedtime! 

1 comment:

  1. It looks like y'all had an amazing weekend in my Hometown! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks! <3 & avvic

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