the trials of the Bryan DMV

So my license was to expire on my birthday, June 12 (check out alisha blog for a whole summary of the festivies). And since I am in Texas and hopefully will be here a bit longer, I decided to get a Texas drivers license (and because it was cheaper than renewing it online in Mississippi). So the thursday before my birthday I went down to the dmv with my current license and my passport. Upon arrival I find out that they only take cash and that I have to show my orignal social security card. (which by the way i think is ridiculous because i had to mail it and my birth certificate in to get a passport). I returned home only to figure out that my social security card had been left in mississippi when i was there last. So I got my mom to mail it to me, but did not recieve it until the thursday after my birthday. When I finally got back to the dmv, last thursday, I have my social security card and drivers license, which is not enough, so i go back home to get my birth certificate. I finally get the paperwork to fill out and wait. During my wait I see one of the women who works in my office, Dr. Flaherty, with her daughter. My number is called and i proceed to the teller. She tells me since my license is expired I have to retake both portions of the tests. So I take the written part of the test. I was pretty nervous, considering that I don't know about Texas violation laws. And there were many questions on the fines for driving. But alas, I pass the written test. The lady tells me to go and talk to the woman at the original counter about scheduling a driving test. That lady informs me that there are no tests available and I have to return at 8 am another day, because the appointments are given out on a first come first serve basis. I return on Friday at 8 and the line is out the door and eventually I find out that there are no tests slots left for that day. Well Friday afternoon I find out from Dr. Flaherty that she and her daughter arrived at the dmv at 7:05 to get their driver's test slot and there were 7 people in line front of them. So this morning, I get up and get gas and proceed to the dmv. I arrive at 7 exactly and there are four men already there. Once i get to the front of the line I get a test at 8:45. I wait and arrive at 8:45 ready to go (actually I was pretty nervous). The lady gets me to do all of these different things and then we finally pull out and I have to parallel park. Now I know how to parallel park. I have done it many a time trying to move out of the dorm. But I fail to do it to her liking. I pull out of the spot and then we are off. I basically make a big square and we return to the dmv. She proceeds to tell me that I didn't pass and actually I didn't even get to finish the test. At this point I am mad. And there are many reasons why but I don't really think anybody wants to read about all of my "mistakes". So I can return at any point, but I only have two more trys to pass or I have to start this whole process over again... I keep waiting for them to ask for a blood and urine sample.

we went and conquered

ok, so i have been talking about this race since at least february if not before. and finally the weekend came for alisha and mine's adventurous race, the muddy buddy race. we left college station on sat and arrived in austin, at what we thought was the only rei in austin for registration, but we later found out was that there are two rei's in austin and we were at the wrong one. so we got directions and headed over to the other rei. we signed our lives away and got our horrendous technical shirts (i'll post a picture). then we headed over to andrea and jocelyn's place to hang out and get ready for the race on sun. upon arrival we finally got to explain the race and andrea looked at the race's website and of course found the costume contest. she proceeded to ask us what we were dressing up as. (at this point we didn't know, we figured we would just make some t shirts or something) but andrea and jocelyn were like wear that awesome teal 80s dress that andrea owns. so i tried on, but it didn't fit but we rigged it up to my shirt so that i could wear it. but then we were like what is alisha going to wear? and we decided that we would be beauty queens. so we had to go get alisha a dress. we headed on over to goodwill and found her a black and blue sparkly dress. it was so pretty that the women who checked her out said, 'well, didn't you get a deal? this dress is so nice' and alisha didn't have the heart to tell her that we were going to wear it through the mud. then we grabbed some dinner and picked up a few more supplies (some tiaras and white t shirts) and then rented little miss sunshine, because none of the girls besides alisha and i had seen the awesomeness. so we watched little miss sunshine, which was so much fun to watch andrea, jocelyn, and katie's reactions to the movie (i even think andrea shed a few tears). we made our miss muddy buddy 07 sashes and attached our crowns to our helmets, then we hit the sack. we set the alarm for 5 but i didn't even hear it, so we got up at 5:30, ate some cereal, got dressed, took some pictures, and took off for the race. once we arrived, we had to park about a mile away. we also felt a bit ridiculous because all the people around us weren't dressed up at all, but we put the bike together and headed toward the start point. when we finally got close to the start point, we heard the annoucement for all of the costumed racers to come to the stage for the contest. so we headed up to the stage, which was a bit hard to find because of all of the barriers and things in the way. we started to feel a bit better about our outfits once we saw everyone else around us. even though we looked awesome, the two guys that were dressed up as the ambigously gay duo beat us for the road atlas. there were other people dressed up as chicago bears football players, some master's graduates (they both had just gotten their masters at tu), some people in those fat bikini suits, molly shannon as superstar, dirty nurses, and some girls wearing lingere. well, the race started in waves and we were in the 9th wave which meant that even though the race started at 8, we didn't start until 8:50. the race course was a bit more difficult than we expected but we made it through. there was serious mountain biking and a mountain that alisha had to push the bike up (she's a hoss). there were balance beams, cargo nets, a small climbing wall, a ranger weave (it was a bit lame) as the obstacles at each checkpoint. but alas we arrived at the mud pit and crawled through the grossest mud i think i have ever encountered. it was thick liquid mud. and because we had those tiaras on our helmets, we had to stick our faces into the mud to get under the flags that made you crawl through the mud. but it was amazing. here's a picture after some of the mud had been sprayed off of us.

my dress was so heavy from the mud that it was falling off, but i did have on another shirt underneath. more pictures will be posted soon.

we are awesome

muddy buddy...

so today i went with alisha to purchase her new bike helmet. she got this light blue louis garneau helmet with lots of ventilation. it looks pretty cool. i know you are wondering why this post is about alisha, well it's not. the reason why alisha needed a helmet is because in two weeks she and i will be participating in the most amazing experience in our lives (well at in our racing lives). we are doing what is referred to as the muddy buddy race. now there are several of these races across the country but instead of going somewhere like orlando, we will be heading to good ole' austin, texas to participate in this run/bike race, or what is more commonly referred to as a dualathon. but this isn't your average dualathon. this is a partner race. so alisha will start off running and i will start off biking. there are five to six legs of the race. so once we arrive upon the first checkpoint we will overcome some sort of obstacle and then switch, i will being running, she will begin biking. and we do this 5 times until we reach the final obstacle. this is the best part. we will have to crawl, not run or walk, maybe it will involve a bit of swimming through a huge mud pit. yes, a mud pit. it will be glorious. i can't wait. if you want a little bit more info, head on over to
http://www.muddybuddy.com/info.php - theres a video you can watch, but it's not great or anything, but it will give you more of an idea.

when we complete this feat, i promise to post my thoughts, feelings, excitement (maybe pictures) of the awesomeness that is known as the muddy buddy race.

identity theft

so val is doing her stat homework and wants me to update her blog...but its kinda hard writing as someone..like being a ghostwriter...you know those people who actually write the book, but its credited to someone else

anyways, i tried and couldnt do it, so i've resorted to come clean...this is not Valerie, its her best friend.

at ECU, where I was at grad school this past year..we started school the 2nd week of jan, so i finished up with everything on the 27th of april...its nice. i'll have a small break, but then i have to finish up my portofolio.

Val landed a student worker job at the International Programs Office. she will be working 20 hrs week for the summer & its kinda ironic: i've been applying for jobs there and she actually sent me a rejection letter today...but hopefully she'll put in a good word for other apps i send in.

in other news, Disturbia is a avery freaky movie. Valerie thought it was good, me on the other couldve lived a fullfilling life never having seen it..but then again, i'm not a fan of scary/suspenseful movies.

thats all ive got for my debut appearance on val's blog.
now that i have access..who knows? maybe i'll sneak on again :o)
stay tuned. hopefully val will be getting back to regularly updating this thing!

alisha

getting ready to die...

well, not literally. but within our world of the corps soon, i will be dead and forgotten. which i am coming to terms with. i think back to all of the time and sweat that i have had here in dorm 4 on the 4th floor. i hope that i will say that it was worth it, and the closer it comes the more i do feel that way, that it was worth it. i have met some awesome people that i would have never met before and we have had some fun together and some arguements as well, and thats okay with me.

class is winding down, and it has gone by so fast. i feel like the older i get the faster it goes by.