#107 Go to a Dive Bar

Yep, it used to be an old church! Courtesy: myspace.com/littlelonghornsaloon

When I say “dive bar”, I mean your hole-in-the-wall, only serves beer and the lead singer of the band is pushin’ 80 kind of bar! It’s always a good time to hit up the trendy places like 6th street, especially the West 6th area, but every now and then being able to go to a place where you can enjoy a beer and laugh at the fact that the bartender looks like your grandma is definitely a good time, too!

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to try Burnet Road where we visited Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon and Lala’s. First of all, Ginny’s is a small honky tonk bar at 5434 Burnet Road and was owned by a husband a wife team. Don Kalmbach passed away in September 2002, according to their website, leaving the little bar to be run by the witty Ginny herself.  There’s never a cover here and they have Domino Night on Mondays. You can hear all kinds of country/ southern rock artists at the saloon most nights starting around 9, except for Sundays where bands play from 4-8pm.

#105 Try to Two-Step

I cannot believe I haven’t done this one yet! This is probably one of my favorite things to do and will never say no if someone asks me to go. I am definitely not a pro or anything, but I just love to two-step, waltz, half-step; you name it, I’ll TRY it!

My roommate teaching an out-of-towner to Two-Step

This is one of those dances that I think every true Texan, or visitor to Texas, should try at least once to say that they did it. And you have to get the full effect of going to a honky tonk bar with lots of smoke and you must have a beer, I’d recommend Bud Light! (My beer of choice.)

I already did a blog about two-stepping for an earlier class project because I am just a big supporter! I know a lot of people do not know how, but it’s really pretty easy. Keep reading to watch a video I found a while back to help teach the basic two-step.

#90 Visit a Historic Museum

First of all, I am not a history buff or anything, but I just think this is something that should be done at least once in your lifetime. There are so many important things that have taken place in this country, let alone in the state of Texas, that have helped us come to where we are today.

Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, Courtesy of Google

I visited the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX this past weekend and I have to admit, I actually enjoyed myself, (and felt a little patriotic, too!) The museum took us through the life of Admiral Nimitz, Pearl Harbor and then ended off with a section for President Bush, SR.

I have also been to the JFK Museum in Dallas, TX and it was very interesting. I had to go with a class and do not think I got the experience I could have truly had. I plan on going through the museum over the Christmas holiday so I can hopefully appreciate and understand it better.

JFK Museum Dallas, TX, Courtesy of jfk.org

Mollie noted some great places to visit in D.C. in her blog which are very helpful. I know her historical points hit outside of Texas, but I am going to suggest a few places within the state with this site., (since going outside to the rest of them would take a long time!) Let’s try to be reasonable and find out more about those Texas roots!

Take a step back in time,

#72 Be a Secret Santa

I know it’s a little early for the holiday season, but heck! 95.5 is definitely already playing the classics and all the major stores have already released their holiday commercials! I don’t know about you all, but I’ve already broken out all of my winter clothes and am just anxiously awaiting the “cold!” And by cold in Texas, I mean the 50s and low 60s.  I also bought a glade plug  in with the apple cinnamon scent, and all of my roommates’ stockings are hanging on our entertainment center!

My cute festive mom making pumpkin bread for one of the nights!

Anyways, this is something that was done to my mom a few years back and she has made a tradition every year since. Basically, you choose a recipient to place anonymous gifts on their doorstep every night before Christmas. Mom likes to do it the 12 days before Christmas, so she can sing the song EVERY night, semi- torturing my sister and me. Then, she will make up a riddle that has 12 parts to coincide with each gift. She will cut each part so she can attach them to the gift of the night.

The gifts don’t have to be anything lavish at all! They can be funny holiday socks, or 7 snickers for the seventh night, 8 candy canes, cookies, homemade ornaments etc. It’s a rush when you have to go to the house at night and place something on the door, and basically do a ring-and-run. Mom gets a kick out of this! It’s just really fun when you are expecting something and knowing that someone is thinking of you every day, it really gets those holiday spirits going!

And if you don’t take part in the whole Christmas thing, that’s okay! It can be for Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or  just a nice gesture around the time, or any other time for that manner.

So, go ahead and start thinking of your “victim” and just be as anonymous as possible! This is just a fun way to celebrate the giving part of the season! I’ve added a video from youtube that my roommates showed me the other night and it really got me excited, especially since it’s from Robert Earl Keen! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Holidays y’all!

#53 Pitch a Tent

Everyone needs to go camping at LEAST once in their life! There is nothing cooler than “roughing it” and living in the outdoors for a little while (even if it’s only for one night). A lot of people are not too keen on the idea of it being too hot, or too cold depending on when you go, bugs, not knowing how to set up a tent and many other things. My advice for those concerns: GET OVER IT! It’s a lot of fun and defintiely a must do!

Matt and me setting up camp!

Last weekend, we went to the Lazy L&L Campgrounds just south of New Braunfels. It was so much fun! It’s a great place for families, (my boyfriend’s roommate brought his 6 and 4-year-old daughters), and it’s especially good for beginning campers.

There were not too many people, during the day it was beautiful, the leaves are changing and the fall colors

Some of the trees changing colors across from our tents

are coming out! It did get pretty cold at night, but each campsite has a pit for a bonfire. Just make sure to bring your own wood! There are also showers and each campsite has an electricity outlet!

The Guadalupe River also runs right through the campgrounds and some sites have stairs going down to it. They don’t usually allow dogs, but we didn’t know that so we had to sneak one in, oops!

If you ever get the chance to go camping, here are some MUST HAVES:
1. Lighter fluid and coals to grill out
2. Tent/sleeping bag/ air mattress (whatever you prefer to sleep on or in!)
3. LAYERS! Like I said, it was not bad at all during the day, but I wore leggings, pj pants, a long-sleeve T shirt and a sweatshirt to bed.
4. Hot dogs, burgers, buns and condiments. 
Or you can be real Texan and make Kristin’s famous “Beer-Butt Chicken”! Yum!
5. Bug spray
6. Cooler (with whatever beverages you prefer)
7. flashlight
8. tennis shoes, boots…it can get really muddy or just dusty
9. hand sanitizer (kids like to get a hold of all kinds of nasty items sometimes!)
10. ipod or radio of some kind
11. S’mores makin’s!! (Hershey’s bars, marsmallows, hangers to roast the marshmallows, graham crackers)
12. Lawn chairs
13. Koozies

The Guadalupe River, which was right across from our campsite

Texas offers so many campsites, as does any state really. But I have to give credit to the Central, TX area because of the awesome Hill Country and because I live in Austin right now. Austin Chronicle named Pace Bend the best campsite according to the Reader’s Poll in their annual “Best of Austin” competition for 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Being out of the city is one of the times where I feel most alive and gives me a chance to appreciate what I have! It’s a very awesome feeling, especially to be able to see the stars- and a whole lot of them!

So get out your ball cap, throw on a t-shirt and some old jeans, and get to campin’!

#43 Eat at Jason’s Deli

A little sample of the greatness. Courtesy: Jasonsdeli.com

But you have to call it J-Del! This is someone that my roommates and I take part in weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly if possible! Jason’s Deli has been a huge part of my life throughout my three years in Austin and I am so greatful that it’s a chain so I can enjoy it when I move back to Dallas!

One of my favorite recommendations is the Turkey Wrap. I get it with a spinach tortilla, 86 the ranch, get the guac on the side, and if I do it for dinner, I’ll get veggies, but for lunch it’s always fruit. I’m even rather picky on the fruit because I always want pineapple and kiwi. It’s just so good!

Two of my roommates fancy the salad bar and my other roommate is all about the California Club. But recently, Alison and I have taken a different turn with the change in weather- and the slimmer amount of cash- and we go in for a cup of soup (usually broccolli cheese) and diet coke or sweet tea.

The best part of the whole J-Del experience is the aftermath! We go nuts when it comes to frozen yogurt-or ice cream. (We’re just not sure what it is exactly, but either way we don’t want to know the truth and get depressed!) Sometimes we will mix a little strawberry shortcake, banana pudding, chocolate mouse, or just some apples and honey. It is just delightful and leaves us full for hours!

I can’t rave enough about J-Del, but it has come to be apart of our lives. If we don’t go at least once, there are definitely some nasty moods to be dealt with!

So if you haven’t had the chance to hit up Jason’s, you need to! There’s a location in the Hancock Center off of Red River and 41st street.

See ya at the salad bar,

#33 Put together a fundraiser for someone

Whenever tragedy hits, it’s tough to see the positive side of things and to “appreciate the small things in life”. I am usually a person who definitely does these things, (if you know me, you know that I get excited about everything), but my friends definitely came through and showed my whole family what it’s all about when I could not.

My mom was in a terrible car accident last year and she suffered a traumatic brain injury. She was in a coma for six months and is now in full-time therapy and bouncing from one long-term care facility to the next almost every two months. The hospital bills, ambulances to transport her and costs for therapy have been tremendous and we had to make a lot of sacrifices. We sold my house, I picked up a full-time and part-time job in the summer and I had to work two jobs while finishing my last year at college.

Sportsplex in Dallas, TX

Though the whole event has been scary, horrific at times, I have defnitely seen the goodness in people. A ton of my old high school friends and their families put together a sports tournament to raise funds for my mom’s hospital costs and to help my sister and me out.

My sister and me after the tournament

It was awesome and it shows how good God is! My friend Alyssa and her mom did a fantastic job marketing the event to local high schools, gaining sponsoships for food, t-shirts, and even trophies!

Dallas Divas

There were almost 40 teams of 6 who played from 9a-4p on a Saturday during the summer. The teams competed in dodgeball, basketball and volleyball. Some teams went all out making shirts and people were signing up the night before.

Bloodhound Gang

We ended up raising over $7,000 and it was just amazing seeing how willing everyone was to wake up early to come out and support our family in such a dire time. Although my mom was not able to witness the event at the time, we made a scrapbook and have a facebook album that we show her everytime we go home.

Also, the girl who really put her all into the event ended up interning for the sports facility where it was held and is now putting together another tournament this Thanksgiving! If you or if you know anyone in the Dallas are who would want to play, just send her an email or check out her facebook event! It’s so much fun being able to bring out that high-school competetiveness…we all still have a little in us. ; )

Winning team

Shout out to the hometown folks,

#29 Attend a major sporting event

Whether it be the NFL Superbowl, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, just pick something you care-or at least sort of care- about and be there! It’s history in the making and you can say, Hey, I was at the Alamodome for the Final Four in 2008!

Alamodome courtesy of utsa.edu

There are so many different sporting events to choose from and the state of Texas is home to many sporting venues! For example, Irving is home to the memorable Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys; Grand Prairie hosts horse races every year at The Lone Star Park, and Austin is even home to the Texas Rollergirls. There are so many events in every big city in Texas that you could be apart of something great! From the championshipship of the raging Texas rollergirls to watching Big Brown at Lone Star Park.

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to be apart of a record-breaking event yet, and I was born and raised in Texas, but I will definitley plan on that! So if you have the chance to see the Mavs head to the sweet 16 or the Stars take a Stanley Cup (I’m a Dallas girl, too), take it! And take lots of pictures to say “I was there!

Hoops and Dreams,

#23 Fly

Not literally, well, kind of I guess. The flying I am talking about is getting in one of the old-fashioned, 4-seater planes basically as a little “sight-seeing” adventure! This seems like something rather difficult to come by, or probably sounds a little pricey, but it’s all about who you know.

Peter heading out to check the plane before take-off

Our friend Peter is trying to get his flying license and he has to put in a certain number of hours each week, so he gets a free plane ride pretty much anywhere in Texas or in the closer states like Oklahoma or Louisiana whenever he wants!

Well, we were talking to him, asking him if he gets

Just a little bit of nausea

bored sometimes doing that alone, and convinced him right away to take us along! It was great and really easy. We met him at the airport in San Marcos, grabbed a map, three sets of headsets, and hit the sky! It was so much fun being almost 30,000 feet up in a smaller plane, and being able to look at parts of this great state from a bird’s-eye-view! He put the new Randy Rogers CD in, which is fantastic by the way, and we just glided

Pilot Pete

in they sky for about two hours.

We flew from San Marcos, over Enchanted Rock, to the

Enchanted Rock

Fredericksburg Airport where we did a “touch-and-go”, and went over Canyon Lake on our way back to our starting point. It was really exciting and relaxing all at the same time!

So if you know anyone who is trying to get their flying license, just ask them if you can tag along! It’s free and really pretty awesome being able to tell your friends, “I’m going flying for a couple hours on Saturday morning! See ya later!”

 

Sky High,

Sweet view of Canyon Lake

#16 Have dance parties

 

Kathleen showing some moves

This can be done by simply taking a study break with your roommates, putting on someone’s iPod, and just jammin out! You have to dance for a full song. It can always start out being awkward, but ends up being awesome! One of my roommates would youtube certain dances like “The Cupid Shuffle” or “Soulja Boy”and we would follow along. Lame, but so much fun!
If there’s that one person who does not dance at all, make them the lead singer! You can also play a game I

Ali and I jammin

learned in Lubbock called “Add-A-Move”. Basically, one person makes up a move, then the next does that move and then makes up there own and so forth. It’s really fun and everyone’s included!

My roommates and I will send out text messages to each other around 8 in the evening on a random day during the week saying something like “dance party…midnight…be there!” This is kind of a way to con each other into getting into because we know that we have to all be at home at the same time at some point! Even if it does end up being midnight or one in the morning! We will dance party it all night long if we have to!

We see it as a way to reduce stress and to just have a great time making some ridiculous memories! We haven’t had the chance to have too many dance parties, but after writing this post, I’m sold. I’m sending out a text on Monday. “12:30, dance party, at home!”

Dance the night away,