Love Life and Life Will Love You Back

So I  haven't blogged in a while... and I'm just gonna start by saying that the past few weeks have been rough. Not only for me, but for people that are close to me as well. I don't know what it is but a lot just seems to be falling apart, high hopes are being crushed, and hearts have been broken. 

Something that really has been on my mind, (and I've talked about it before), is how important it is to be happy with ourselves. I don't want to sound like im preaching or something but there is no way that we can go through life's struggles without honestly and truly believing in ourselves and loving who we are. We are who we are because that is how He wanted us. There are harsh/crazy/life changing obstacles thrown at us that maybe we can't comprehend why they were, but are because He has more faith in us then we do in ourselves. Sometimes it's hard to find reasons to love yourself, but we are all strong enough to dig deep and find the light  in our hearts to make it happen. God would never have created us to just fail and be upset with ourselves. Everything is a test. A test of how strong we are, and if we put our hearts to it we can pass every one thrown at us.

On a higher note... I am absolutely in LOVE. I'm in love with my life right now... yes there are definitely things I wish I could change but when I look at the BIG PICTURE I see how awesome it really is to be where I am/who I am today. I have the most amazing God who loves me for all my imperfections, I have an amazing FAMILY who supports my every move and loves me unconditionally, and I have friends who have been the most amazing friends a young and stupid woman could ask for.  Yesterday I got my hair done and while sitting in the chair getting my foils put in there was a little girl about 7 and her mom sitting in the chair next to me. The little girl asked her mom what age she wished she could go back to and her moms reply was, "I think I'd like to go back to when I was about this gals age (pointing at me) I'd say she is about 20 and loving every moment she's living." I smiled because it kind of hit me weird... but it really got me to thinking... wow. This, right now, is the time of my life. This stranger opened my eyes to realizing that today, now, this year, me, my peers... is our time to make differences and really live the life we want to. We are young and have so much love to give... even if it's love that maybe is young and dumb, we have so so so much and sometimes we take for granted how much we could use it to impact the world. I don't know about you guys... but I am here to make a difference. How? I have no idea. That's in God's hands. But what are we waiting for? “If your head tells you one thing, and your heart tells you another, before you do anything, you should first decide whether you have a better head or a better heart." "Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers." "The opposite of fear is love. Be FEARLESS." LOVE LOVE LOVE you guys, Kayci

You Can Inspire!!!

Today I got to thinking... and yes this was while I was in class (sorry mom, sorry dad) and I realized that there is so much that we as people don't give ourselves credit for. Or at least, we don't think we can make a change in the world... but if we can't, who can? So many of us have been gifted with a variation of qualities and skills that we hardly put to test in every day life.

Let me ask you something... have you ever met someone that just makes you want to be a better person? Or they make you feel like you can be better than you already are? I can. And I'll be honest, I can hardly fill up one hand when I'm counting. YOU can be that person in someone's life though.

Think about it; at least for me, I am surrounded by people every single day that SO MANY people look up to. Whether they're looked up to by kids, people their age, or even older people, they have no idea how many look up to them. What if we knew this though. What if we realized how many people are watching what we do, just today I was with our volleyball chaplains littler girl Ava who is 3. She watched my every move, and as soon as she saw me and my teammates taking our shoes off... what did she want to do? Take her shoes off! Or have you noticed maybe that someone your age starts doing the same things you start to do? Whether it's cut their hair the same as yours, start buying clothes from the same stores, say funny words you "came up with," whatever it is, this is a sign of someone who envy's something even that little about you! Can you imagine what would happen if everyday we showed qualities about ourselves that maybe have more to do with our faith? Or what about just loving others? There are so many ways that we can inspire people to be better, it can start with something little but soon enough when they see you doing great things, they will begin to do them too. Make people respect you. Make others want to be like you. Be considerate, have fun, smile at a stranger... I'm telling you guys, it's the little things that make the difference. WE CAN BE THE CHANGE. Today's world is hardly any of these things, in fact it's harder to find people that shine than it is to find people stuck in the darkness. Strive to be the person others want to follow into the light, be the bridge, be confident, and make a difference.

"Change is the essence of life. Be willing To surrender what you are for what you could become, be the change you want to see in the world."


"Everyone smiles in the same language."


"The only people that will change the world are the ones who are crazy enough to think they can."


INSPIRE!!!! 


-Me

So Much More Than a Team

So in order for anyone to be able to play with each other well and play hard for one another and not just for themselves, one must trust their teammate(s). "Coach B" decided that to gain this trust and also some respect for each other all the coaches and the seniors, our CORE, needed to give out some reasons for credibility and some background information... brilliant idea. The coaches of course was more of a how long they have been around volleyball, where they've coached, and how they coach. But something that reall hit home with me when all the senior girls spoke was about how this team is their extended family.

I guess when I think about it I have always thought of my teams in the past as a group of some of my closest friends, but more than ever, out of every team I've been on, this team is definitely becoming an extremely close-knit family. Have you ever heard of 14 of the 16 girls ending up all together on a Friday/Saturday night after two 4 hour practices during two-a-days? And no no, this is NOT a one time thing. We absolutely cannot get enough of each other. And I know you're thinking, well ya'll must get sick of each other or nit pick at one another, and yes yes we do sometimes but the kind of love we have is one like your own blood, you love them and would do anything for them even with their flaws. In fact we have come to love each other through our flaws. It's incredible. I don't think I could write about how much I love the girls I play with... in fact I just thought about it, and no... no I can't.




Another though I've been having lately is, "what exactly am I, Kayci, getting out of being a part of this team?" I will be honest with you, it's tough being a walk-on and not knowing exactly what your purpose is when you are surrounded by SO MUCH TALENT. And it really is difficult going to practice and working your tail off day-in and day-out... and I will admit that sometimes I can't figure out if it's worth it or not. But something lately has hit me. I love volleyball. I love these girls, I love coming in and working hard because I love the people I'm surrounded by, I want to work hard for these people, and yes we all have our off days but either way, we all are working right?...  If you're looking at the small picture then sure some of the others might be getting "more" out of it than I am, maybe that means scholarship or whatever but in the end... I think I might be getting more out of being a part of this team than all of them. Everyday I am surrounded by some of God's greatest people, they are passionate, they are understanding, hilarious, they make me want to not only be better at everything I do, but they make me want to be a better person. Being with these people everyday and seeing the competition and heart that is poured out in every single second of every single practice makes me want to be there. If you're an athlete, I want you to think about what it feels like when something happens on your team that is oustanding, maybe its a touchdown or interception, maybe its a goal or a catch, maybe it's a dig or hit that looked like it wasn't possible to do, even if it's not you making this happen, there is just some kind of fire that ignites in all of us when it does, and I know you can't tell me that's not the greatest feeling ever. As athletes we live for moments like this, the moments that we feel so proud of our teammates or ourselves, the moments that we wish we could replay over and over. I've come to realize that this is who I am. This is who all of us are. We were born to be competitors, and thankfully I at least am reminded this in every practice. I literally don't know what I would do without these girls, without my team, without all the people involved... more than ever I have come to understand that this is just who I am. So, when you sit there and wonder why I put so much time into something that I may not be getting anything in return for, stop and think for a second...because you will never understand until you are in my shoes.

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit."


"A successful team beats with one heart."


"Teamwork isn't doing something for individual glory, it's making things happen because they love one another."




XoXo,
Me

Dare to Love

So I am in love with the new Chris Brown and Justin Bieber song, "Next 2 You..." thank you Zo. Anyways, it got me to thinking, why are we all so afraid to let our hearts pour out? I know everyone has been hurt a time or two... but certain things lately have made me realize that every second we wait to spread the love we're just wasting time. Yesterday before practice the team went to one of the churches here in Waco where the "Volley for Molly" tournament (read more here) was being held and I tell you, that beautiful little girl is the bravest person I have ever met.  I think that a lot of us really had our eyes opened a little more knowing how much she's gone through in the past year and realizing that she's way more brave than any of us could be. But why do we take life for granted day in and day out? Why is it so hard for us to love others? And why are we so afraid of one of God's greatest gifts? The ability to love. Surely it is better to love too much than to love too little. And surely there is no such thing as loving too much in this world after what He did for us.

Maybe some of us only think of love as something you can share with a partner... but it is so much more than that. Love the people you see everyday, love the little things in life, love the beauty we so constantly don't notice that's all around us. Love where you are in this moment, with what you have now, and most importantly LOVE YOURSELF.

On a different note...

Today a bunch of the volleyball and soccer teams went to "Church Under The Bridge" and it was a great experience. I definitely reccommend everyone to go at least once while they're here in Waco! Afterwards I got to see the family which was awesome! They were on their way back home from  Dallas where my dad got to drive a racecar at Texas Motor Speedways. Anyways we went to lunch and then they came and hung out at the apartment for a bit, it was so good seeing them! Got another week of two-a-days this week and am looking forward to seeing the team progress some more. It's gonna' be a great season, I can feel it!

Romans 13:8  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

"The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost." 


LOVE,
Me.

Tis' the Season!

First day of full out practice was yesterday and let me just tell you, this team is going to do amazing things. The energy and over all feel of everyone in the gym is just different than it has ever felt (for me at least) on any team I've played on... and uh how long have I been playing volleyball? Exactly. I couldn't me more excited to see what's going to happen in the next five months. There are SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.

I had my spanish 2 final this morning at 8 before our first practice, (oh yeah, two a days started today), and I think it went really well!! Hoorahhhh! Yesterday Jordan and I went to buy our books for the fall and I didn't have to buy one single textbook because all my classes seem to require novels... and that's just great because I litterally bought a total of 12 books, and they're all just normal books which means I'm going to lose my brain this fall trying to keep up with multiple books at the same time. My gosh. So wish me luck on that!!!

The new apartment is doing good and Lacey moves in in about a week!!! AWOOOO baby!
Last night Jordan, Zoe, Allison, Kate, and Alyssa made our own homeade Gnoochi!!! (NYO-KEE/NOOKIE). It ended up being realllly doughey but I whipped up a garlic parmesan and arreggano* sauce so that made it edible. Then we made grilled chicken and some corn to go with it! DELICIOUS! We've been cooking so much lately, it's awesome haha. I will post a picture of the delicious plate soon!!!

Other than just spending time with the team whether it's playing sand, at actual practices, or cooking and goofing off, I have just been doing summer school and volleyball! This summer ended up being really great once I got into the swing of things in Wack. Shamansha came and visited which was amazing! And then last weekend I went and spent a night with Emily! It was so good seeing them both and I can't believe I probably won't get to see either of them until Christmas! ): WAH.

Recap of the summer before Waco? = Went to Chicago with Emily to stay with shamansha in her hometown for 4 days... SO. MUCH. FUN. We had the time of our lives. And then two days after that the fam and I went to San Francisco and did a Northern California trip! Saw Napa and Senoma, went on a tour of Alcatraz, got to take a segway tour around Fisherman's Warf and all through the bay area... absolutely fell in love with the place!!! Before any of that fun stuff I was just working for moms and pops and helping out with volleyball camps for my HS coach!

Wellllppp, I think that's all for now!! Lovin' life right now. So so so so soooo blessed. Blessed to be where I am today, surrounded by so many amazing people. 

DEUCES!!!

How's a Girl to Survive in This Town?!- Skin Care

So since we were on the topic of beauty another problem here is Waco is not only spa places but good places for skin care. Waco only has two dermatologists in it's small community and sometimes there are things that you just don't need to go to a dermatologist for especially when it's hard to book with one of the two in the city, oh and they're not what we college kids would call "cheap."


I have found that going to get weekly facials has kept my skin perfect!! The place I go to? FaceLogic.

FaceLogic Website

Located off of Highway 6 next to Panera and 3Spoons frozen yogurt,  FaceLogic has many different types of skin care services. Not only do they have a variety of services like Acne Fighting facials for teens, different Masks, and even microdermabrasion but they're all for a descent price!! Most places would charge you $60 -$80 dollars for a facial but FaceLogic has an intro fee of only $49.

Alright ladies, now you know exactly where to go when you need skin treatment! FaceLogic has great service, is affordable, and affective. Hope this helped and good luck on finals!!! 

How's a Girl to Survive in This Town?!- Beauty Queen

While in Waco you may experience troubles like those that I have posted in the past, what to do on the weekend or where to shop. This post is going to cover what to do when you need to get that perm or those highlights redone... that's right girls! Where in Waco you can go to make sure your hair is getting done the right way and for a desent amount of money.

Lets first take a peek at a salon in downtown Waco named Salon Evidence.
Located off of Austin and 17th st. Salon Evidence is run by a younger guy and his fiance. The hip salon does everything you can imagine, highlights, lowlights, extensions, perms, even the newly famous feather incerts. Not only do they have all of these different services, they are also the only Paul Mitchell based salon in Waco.
Check out their link for more information about their services and for contact information: Salon Evidence

Next on the list is La Bella Visage located off of La Salle and Franklin. This unique spa retreat has many different hair services but is also a place you want to visit if you are looking for a massage or mani and pedi. Look out though, their spa services can be pretty pricey for college students!! They may have been my savior when it came to fixing my hair dye mistake but when it comes to the massage therapy I don't reccommend going to La Bella Visage. Here is a link to their salon services: La Bella Visage Salon

The last place that I would suggest for getting your hair done in Waco would be The Salon at Ridgewood Village off of Valley Mills as well. It like La Bella Visage is a place where you can get many different services in and out of the salon or day spa. They have all the same services as Salon Evidence and La Bella Visage. They are just a bit further away from campus but it is totally worth the extra couple miles!! The Salon at Ridgewood Village

I hope this helped you figure out where you'll be visiting to try out yet another hair salon in good ole' Waco! 

How's a Girl to Survive in This Town?! - Weekend Troubles

One huge question ask by people new at Baylor or to Waco for that matter is, "what's there to do on the weekend?" Though Waco isn't the greatest place to be with an overload of free time, it does have some crazy stuff to do for fun!

Date night this Friday? Besides the StarPlex Cinema off of Franklin there is another theatre that's much nicer and just as cheap, and it's only 15 minutes away! Link to Galaxy 16 Website

Need a place for fine dining? Diamond Backs is located in down town Waco off of South 3rd st. It is a four star restaurant and is at the top of the places to dine list for Waco. Known for their delicious steaks and seafood this is only a place you want to go to if you want to spend some serious cash. 

Click for directions and reviews!

Something everyone must do while they are in Waco is go tortilla tossing. I know, you're probably thinking what on Earth? Well let me explain. Tortilla tossing is an activity that some crazy Baylor students thought of where you go to the Waco suspension bridge and toss tortillas aiming for the monster cement blocks sitting in the river. It may sound silly but the fact that you can get in trouble for it makes it so much more exciting I suppose. So, if you're bored on a weekend night, go buy some tortillas at HEB and head on over to the suspension bridge!!

Alright well I hope I helped you guys out!! Hope you find a way to start enjoying your weekends here in Waco! (:

How's a Girl to Survive in This Town?!- Shop-a-holic

We all know that Waco isn't the greatest when it comes to supplying activities for us to take part in over the weekend. You may be asking yourself, especially you ladies, where can I go to get a cute new blouse for my interview? Or where can I find a dress for rush? We all know you're most likely not going to find what you need at Target or Walmart, so now you're stumped.

Lucky for us shop-a-holics, or just someone looking for something for a specific occassion, some woman in Waco has blessed us with Spice Village. This sea of adorable clothes, jewelry, and other cute crafty nic-nacs has almost anything you can think of and is right accross the highway from us!

The shop is located at 2nd and Franklin in downtown Waco and is open from 10am to 6pm Monday through Saturday and then noon to 5pm on Sunday's. This schedule has made it possible for my two roomates and me to make going to Spice nearly a ritual every Sunday after church and brunch.

Spice Village has over 40 different designer's creations set up and also has a cute dine-in area for a quick lunch from Simply Good Eatery.

Simply Good Eatery Lunch Menu!

Not only does Spice Village have tons of different clothes for special occassions, it also has plenty of Baylor wear! Not like the clothing you see in our bookstore though, Spice has the fashionable almost vintage and rugged looking clothes. All of it's so cute!!

Well, I hope you've found where you're taking your next shopping spree!! 

Have a blessed day!! 

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."

Battle to Final Four

I'm sure we all know that our lady bears basketball team will be playing Texas A&M TONIGHT for the fourth time this season. Our lady bears have won all three of the previous games just barely so tonight should be a great game!! Being an athlete, I know that when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter which team has more talent or skill, but that the team that fights the hardest and shows the most heart will take the win. This is particularly why tonight's game has got Baylor fans nervous to see what the turn-out will be. After losing three times you sure as heck should know that those Aggie girls are going to come out fiercer than ever, ready to win tonight. Not only have we beat them in all three games this year but out of the past 25 Baylor VS A&M match-up's Baylor has won.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our girls will have their best game ever tonight and be on their way to the final four!!

http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/032811aad.html

^ Legit link with a legit video of our girls about the A&M game!

If you're not one of the lucky few who gets to go to the game tonight then you should come to the game watching party in NORTH VILLAGE! WOOOH. Hahaha, I'll be there! They're gonna have food and drinks and a big TV to watch the game on and anybody is welcome! 

Alrighty well that's all for now! Sic 'Em!!!! 

Clever Title

Since we are having a current events quiz tomorrow, or so at least I'm guessing we are... I figured it'd be good to talk about the news!! Plus I'm using this as my way of studying for the quiz tomorrow, since I never really read the news. Anyways, as I'm sure we've all heard, Elizabeth Taylor passed away today at age 79. ): Sad, sad. 

Elizabeth Taylor Remembered

Today in chapel a guy from Japan but here at school went up and talked about raising money for Japan. His  family lives in Tokyo and luckily they're all alright! I hadn't really thought about how it could actually be affecting people near us here at Baylor, but after hearing him speak I started to! Long story short- he spoke at chapel, it was touching, and he's put out a donation jar in the Spiritual Life Center I believe... I donated some mulaaaa so ya'll should too!!! (:

We all know gas prices are INSANE, and I actually feel like they went down a few cents here in Wacko but... either way they're still skyrocketing. Here's an interesting link to what people think about it! Must say I agree. Pyscho Gas Prices

Last but  not least... here's a link about Detroit losing 25% of it's population!? I had no idea this was going on and the article is actually really interesting! Since 2000 Detroit's population has dropped by 25% because of the auto industry? I know, sounds weird... but if you click here it will tell you all the details!

Bye Bye Detroit People

Alright guys, hope I helped you out  a little bit! See you all tomrorow!

Advancer

So even when reading the class outline for how to write our Advancer's I was kind of stumped on exactly how they work... SOOOOOO... I "binged" Advancer examples and thought I'd share just incase anyone else was kind of stumped too! Here's what I found:

Event Advancer

I ended up doing my Advancer paper on Theta's annual Denim Dash fundraiser for our national philanthropy CASA. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a few more advancers on this event since there's four Theta's in our class! Wooohooo! Represent!

Here's a piece of my advancer:

            This Wednesday is Kappa Alpha Theta’s annual Denim Dash to help support and fund their national philanthropy CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). Last year the sorority was able to raise nearly 1,200 dollars for CASA through this event. The chapter sells designer jeans for low prices and all the proceeds go to the CASA foundation. 

            CASA is a non-profit organization that appoints volunteers to watch over abused and neglected children. CASA’s main goal is to steer these unfortunate kids away from getting lost in the burdened legal and social service system or end up in foster homes. . . . 

Well, I hope everyone has an awesome spring break!!! See you guys in a week and a half!!! (:

T-Minus 4 Days

This week couldn't go by any slower. Blah! I am so excited for spring break and it's making it go by so much slower. Boo. Although, I'm really not doing anything too exciting, I am just really looking forward to going back home for a week! And then I think my family is going on a small vacation to some Hyatt resort in Bastrop.
Well, we had 6:30 AM workouts again this morning... kill me. But today is a beautiful day so I will get to spend the rest of my day outside doing HW or something! Yay!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

One Down

Hello all! I can’t believe we’re already half way through the semester. I hope everyone has been enjoying their first week of blogging and “tweeting!”

So I was doing a little research on Waco and I actually found some really interesting information about Waco and it’s PR opportunities!

This is a link for the ONE and ONLY PR firm in Waco, and how to contact them! I actually have to do a couple hours of job shadowing for volleyball so I was thinking I would contact them, and since I figured so many of you would LOVE to get some job shadowing in, I’d share the information with you all! (;

E.H. Anderson Public Relations

Secondly, we all know that our profile stories are due tomorrow so I figured I would give you guys a preview of who mine will be featuring. I am doing my profile story on my beautiful, athletic, and bubbly roommate Sam Skryd. She plays volleyball here at Baylor with me, and about a year ago she didn’t think she would be getting this opportunity due to a career-destroying ACL tear. Due to her extremely quick recovery she was able to keep her scholarship and is now here with all of us! She truly is an inspiration to any person who has or is going through rehab and any other life altering tragedy. I can’t wait for you guys to read it! Here's the video of her tearing her ACL... thought that would be fun to share! If you're squeemish I wouldn't watch it! She's going to come onto the screen in the bottom right hand corner. 

Alright well that's all for now! See you all tomorrow, remember we have a current events and abbreviations quiz!

Meta description

Post shares an opportunity to shadow over PR professionals and raises questions about this opportunity. The post also gives a “sneak peak” and idea of my profile story.

Meta keywords

PR, opportunities, affective link, etc.

Good Day!

Just got back from the BU VS TCU baseball game! Wooh fun stuff, I love baseball season. We had workouts this morning at 6:30 so we had then entire day after classes to do whatever we wanted! It's been so nice. I guess that's one plus for having to workout so early... getting them out of the way! So with our extra time, besides going to the game, I took pictures of my roomie Sam because "she never got senior pictures" hahaha soooo it was a beautiful day and of course as soon as we decide to go outside for the pictures it got all hazy... BUUUTTT, we still went and took some pictures! And they came out really pretty! (:

There's a few of them!! Anyways, so tonight I'm going to watch some of my Theta's wreck shop in soccer intramurals!!! Yeahhh Theta! So hopefully we win! (: 

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."

TGIF

Gosh I love Fridays. I only have two classes and get to sleep in!!!! (: Hence why it's the best day of the week. Only downer is when I'm in class and people  next to me are like yay last class of the day it's almost the weekend! And it would be the same for me until I realize I still have to wait a few hours then go to workouts... so really my weekend doesn't start til like 6 ): Booooo. Ah the joys of being a student athlete! Sic 'Em.
Adam comes in late tonight after Sam, Alyssa, and I go to SiNG!!! Go Theta!! I'm so excited to see all the great performances!
Bout to go make some cookies for the roomies and I. Yummm!

Bieber Fiever

I just have to say, I can't get over how obsessed everyone is with JBiebs these days! I agree he's precious, and after seeing his movie I definitely am wishing I could be his one less lonely girl.... That is until he takes his shirt off. Poor baby! He's so small. 16?.... are we sure about that?

Haha but really, I wasn't a fan until I saw his new movie Never Say Never! I definitely gained some respect for the kid! Now he just needs to come to DIA! Rumor has it.... so we'll see!

You smile, I smile.....

Where'd all the time go?

I could have sworn that Monday and Tuesday I was freaking out about how slow this week was going by! Now it's already Thursday? Spring semester is going by so fast, it's exciting but kind of scary at the same time.
Last night I got to see my Theta's do their SING performance! It's so cute and I can't wait to see it again tomorrow night! It's going to be awesome.
Adam comes to visit tomorrow as well! I wanted him to get to sing but that's not going to happen sadly. ): Tomorrow is Carley White's birthday! Wooohoooo! Love her.
Alriiiiighhhttt! Happy Thursday!