2012 is coming to an end. In true
blogging fashion, I try and write out a year in review and map out the previous
12 months, highlighting and low lighting events that have transpired in my
life. As most years go, it was
full of its ups and downs. No shocker there. And also in true J.R. fashion, I’m glad to see 2012 go. Not
that it was a “bad” year, per say, but just like everything, life moves on and
we must continue to go forth and prosper.
January was a big month – It was
the start of my FINAL semester as an undergraduate student. I went into 2012 not fully knowing how
the year was going to end. For the
first time in my life, I didn’t have it all planned out. I didn’t know where my education would
take me, if I’d stay in my hometown, or if I’d move far away. My general plan was to go where the
jobs were. It was an unsettling
feeling, but at the same time, accomplished in knowing that I was just a few
short months away from finally finishing up a Bachelor’s Degree at an amazing
university.
The semester progressed and I found
myself taking in more of the campus, stopping to appreciate the beautiful
architecture, the beautiful job the groundskeepers do, and just the overall
feel of campus life. Most students
can’t wait to finish up and move on.
I could feel it deep inside that I was going to miss it terribly. Call me crazy, but I love sitting in an
academic setting, having conversations with very intelligent people on subjects
I find particularly interesting.
There were a few things I wouldn’t miss – the presentations we had to
give in front of a class of tons of students, the long and excruciating reading
assigned to us (let’s face it, academic reading can be very mundane, even if it
is an interesting topic).
March came, and I enjoyed my last
spring break as a free woman. With
it came our usual storm season, which leads to a major storm that came and
turned my life upside down in April.
I was a few weeks away from graduation – on the fast track to finally
finishing everything up. It was
April 29th, the night before my ring ceremony where I’d be rewarded
with the official Texas Tech Class Ring that I wear with pride. It was a Sunday – I didn’t do much that
day. I remember the weather
reports calling for stormy weather, but here in Texas in April, you tend to
expect that anyway. Around 7PM I
went out on my front porch (this was back when I lived out in the country) and
took in the weather. I used to go
out and write on my porch or just get fresh air. The sky was dark and the humidity was thick. Still nothing out of the ordinary for
Texas in April. I began to track a
system that formed to the southwest of us. By the path the Doppler showed and all the other ingredients
with a storm, it looked to probably go just west and north of us, only skimming
us. I was a bit disappointed in
it. We needed rain. The air began to get quite chilly (an
indicator of hail) and I took the computer in to warm up.
Not five minutes after I got in, my
phone blew up with text messages and phone calls about the storm. My mother urged me to get out of my
home. (No basement or cellar to
take cover) I was apprehensive at first.
I had checked the weather and saw with my own eyes that it wasn’t coming
toward us. I chalked it up to my
mom worrying about me, as a mother should. However, my dad called and even people on Facebook alerted
me to take cover, that we had tornado warnings all around us. The storm had shifted southeast and was
coming right toward my community.
I grabbed my dog, put him on a leash, and we left all of our belongings
behind and ran over to my aunt’s house next door. She also does not have a basement or cellar, and at first
wasn’t taking the warnings seriously.
After several more calls and texts, she was finally convinced to go down
the street to my uncle’s house where a basement was available to take cover in.
She had a friend at her house and rather than wait, I ran
down to the other house. My poor dog didn’t want to run. I had to drag him. I could hear hail in the distance
crashing around. It sounded like
loud thuds that still echo in my mind.
We all got to my uncle’s house just in time. Hail as large as softballs got heavier. I could see a funnel cloud just north
of the house moving up and down with each lightning flash. By this time it was
completely dark outside. We lost
electricity. My phone was our only
way of telling what the weather was doing. To make a long story short, the damage was “bad”, but
definitely could’ve been worse. My
uncle’s sunroom got torn up. The
skylights got busted out and the room was under about 3 inches of water. My house lost 5 windows and my car was
completely totaled. I don’t think
anyone in my neighborhood had a roof that wasn’t totaled. What matters most is that we were all
protected. Items were damaged and
lost, but at least our lives weren’t.
I’ll never forget that night. What bugs me most is that I’m usually
awesome at tracking weather, but even professional meteorologists were thrown
off guard by the weather activity of April 29th. For the longest time after, I was
squeamish with severe weather. I
can still hear the hail shattering things, and even in a brick house it was a
deafening sound. With the help of
family, we pulled through. My dad
came over the next day and helped me patch up the glass until we could replace
it. The National Weather Service
was calling for a same pattern for that night, so we had to move quickly.
Thankfully, they were wrong and it was a calm evening. The day after that, we bought glass to
replace what had been broken. We
spent most of the day out in the heat, patching it all up to make the place
livable again.
I was without a vehicle for almost
2 weeks, and with finals coming up, I was stressed to the hilt. Like everything, it worked out well and
I was blessed to get into a much stronger and better vehicle than what I had
before. I had wanted to get out of
that small car and into another pickup, and that’s exactly what I did. It was God’s blessing in disguise.
Hail damage on hood of car. The entire car looked like this...
2 of the 5 windows damaged on my house
Telephone pole split on FM 41 just west and south of where I lived
Uncle's damaged skylight
"Small" hail from that night
May came and that meant
graduation. I passed my courses
with flying colors and made a 4.0 for my final semester. My goal was dean’s list, but I made the
president’s list, which was even better.
I was so proud. I finished
with an overall GPA of 3.7, making me a Cum Laude graduate. My family came to the ceremony – even
my nieces and nephew. The
commencement took a long time. I
felt so awesome walking into the United Spirit Arena decked out in my
graduation cap, gown, and stole. I
was an “official” RED RAIDER. It
was a very emotional day for me. I
was so hyped up that I did it, but it was sad too. It was time to find a job and get out there in the real
world. My days as a student on the
Texas Tech campus had come to a halt.
My official class ring
That evening we had a graduation
party at my parent’s house. Tons
of family came over and offered there congrats and gifts. We had a cake, BBQ, and great
company. What more could I have
wanted? It was perfect. I was fulfilled. I had reached one of my goals that I
had set for myself as a young child – I –always- wanted to be a Texas Tech grad,
and the ring on my finger proved that I had done it. The diploma I worked so hard for proved it.
One thing I knew was that I needed
a job, and soon. I’m not one to
like to sit around at home for too long.
I had already put out several applications long before I even
graduated. I started to apply for
even more. I figured the more I
put my name out, the better my chances would be. By the end of May, I hadn’t heard a thing from any of the
places I had applied. I started to
feel down on my luck and worried about my finances. I swallowed my pride and applied at a day care. I swore I’d never go back to day care,
but I needed income. I got a job
instantly and began working, but told myself I’d continue to search for
something else. This would just be
something to do until something better fell into my lap.
In the middle of July I got a call
from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (Texas Tech Medical School)
asking for me to come in for an interview. I honestly didn’t even remember what job it was – I had
applied at so many places that it all ran together. Of course I said yes to going in. The first interview went well and I had a good feeling. A few days later they called me for a
second interview. The next day,
they were calling to offer me the job.
It is in a Family Practice Clinic within the health sciences center that
allows medical students to do their residency to get board certified. I’m what
I call a utility player in doing a lot around the clinic. It is a state job and I have the best
benefits I’ve ever had. There is a lot of longevity in the job, and I’m hoping
to work my way up the ladder with them.
The opportunity came at the right time, and I’m blessed to be given the
chance that I have.
Since then, I’ve just been living
life. We had a great
Thanksgiving. My brother and his
clan came down and some of my aunts and uncles came over to spend it in my
parent’s new house. That is one
thing I forgot to mention. In
April they moved into a much nicer house.
Another highlight was scoring
George Strait tickets to his final tour – The Cowboy Rides Away Tour! He will
be kicking off the tour right here in Lubbock on January 18th. I was
dead set on going since it is quite possibly the last time he’ll be in
concert. My brother in law found a
code that allowed us to purchase them a day early, which is a good thing,
seeing as the concert sold out in a record 20 minutes!
Christmas was a small one. My brother was unable to come down and
my sister spent most of her time with her in-laws since Thanksgiving was with
my folks. All in all, it was good
since I was with family. It snowed
and we had a white Christmas, which I would’ve been much more excited about if
I didn’t have to drive home that night.
I wish you all a wonderful 2013!
Ready or not, here it comes. I can’t say what it’ll hold for me, but I pray we
all have more highlights than low lights.
Bring on the new year and bring on many blessings!
