Show Me State

Hey y'all it's Mary!

I had a very eventful past few days & decided to fill you in on what all went on.  This past weekend was the bi-annual Snyder Family Reunion in Carthage, MO(The Snyder's are my maternal grandmother's side of the family).  My family tries to go when we can, but there's usually something going on & we have to miss it.  This year, however, we got to go!  I was really excited to catch up with family that I hadn't seen in years!  My mom thought it would be fun to keep us coming to the reunion a surprise, so for weeks leading up to it she would tell my grandparents that we couldn't make it.  We packed up the car Saturday morning & hit the road!

Side story:
My 24th birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  Jennifer & I usually celebrate our birthdays together, but with Jennifer in Atlanta & me in Texas that was not possible this year.  We were talking the night before I headed to Dallas to celebrate & we decided I would make a "Flat Jennifer" to take with me & take pictures with so she could feel like she was there...so I made one & EVERYONE loved it!  I'll post about my birthday later, but I just wanted to fill you in on Flat Jennifer.

Original Story cont.:
I drove the whole way to & from Missouri(because mom is a scary driver).  Our first stop was at the TX/OK border.  I couldn't resist taking this picture with Flat Jennifer:

We look great EVERYWHERE we go!

After LOTS of driving, we made it to the reunion dinner & surprised everyone!  One of my distant cousins prepared a family history & it was interesting to find out a little about us.  The Snyder's originally came from Kentucky.  I was excited to hear this because I was born in Kentucky.  We also found out that much of our family fought in the civil war.  After the presentation I caught up with family.  I met a lot of my cousins' children which was weird but exciting at the same time.  It was crazy to see these kids that you used to play with now chasing after kids of their own!  I met a lot of my Mom's cousins that I hadn't met before.  Two of her cousin's actually live in North Texas, & one of them works in McKinney!  It is great to have family so close!  We ended up staying in a hotel the first night because my grandparents weren't expecting us & their house was full of family. 

Sunday, we woke up & went to church at Centerpoint Christian Church(my mom's childhood church).  A lot of the church is family so it felt just like a continuation of the night before.  I was excited to meet my cousin Ben's fiancee Lacie.  They've been engaged for a while now, but we've never met.  It was great to finally put a face to the name.  I surprised my grandparents by singing.  When I got up to sing I almost started laughing, because everyone in the congregation whispered "She looks just like Judy!(my mom)".  After a wonderful sermon from Pastor Bob Teegarden, we all went down to the river for a picnic & swimming.  There were so many people there & it was just nice to relax & catch up. 

Gran & I at the picnic...I love her sunnies!!!

Probably the funnest part of the day was when my cousins pulled out the potato guns!  It was a blast!  We ended up calling my dad(who was away at a camp) & convinced him to make us some of our own!  I can't wait to have one!  I'm gonna sit on my back porch & launch potatoes onto the golf course...well, maybe not, but it sounds fun!
 

Shooting the potato guns!

Flat Jennifer & I at the river

Flat Jennifer & I at Silver Dollar City!

Monday, we hit the road to Branson, MO to spend the day at Silver Dollar City!  I was so excited for this because I hadn't been in over 14 years!  We were worried when we got there though because the weather wasn't supposed to be good.  We ended up getting rained on for most of the morning, but it was actually a blessing because most people ended up leaving the park, so when the rain finally stopped, there were no lines for any of the rides & it wasn't too hot!  My brothers & I rode most of the roller coasters...I chickened out on one.  I'm still not too sure about the ones that go upside down.  Anyway, the day ended up being really fun! 

We love crayons!!! (ignore the typo)

Reckless Kelly in Springfield!

As we were leaving, I checked facebook on my phone(My grandparents have no signal because they live in the middle of no where so I was excited to be able to check my phone for once!) and one of my favorite bands, Reckless Kelly, posted about a show they were having in Springfield that night.  I was SO upset because we were currently 20 minutes from the concert, but my grandparents lived an hour away.  I talked to my mom about it & she let me borrow the car for the night so I could go!!!  SO EXCITED!  We booked it home so I could change & get back on the road to get to the concert.  It was AMAZING!!!  Even though I was by myself it was TOTALLY worth it!  Tuesday was just a lazy day.  We went to the local Memnnonite store to stock up on some yummy food & headed back down to the river for another picnic with just my grandparents.  It was great to lay by the river & relax!  My brothers taught me how to skip stones & my grandma fished.  I ended up getting a HORRIBLE sunburn & the worst places but it was worth it!  I'm definitley a country girl at heart!

Wednesday we hit the road back to Texas...nothing exciting...just driving.  I'm glad to be back, but it was SO wonderful to spend so much time with family!!!

God Bless Texas!

"I Can't Wait To See You Again!"

Hey people!

It’s me, Jennifer (or Jenn if you’d prefer). I’m writing from all the way out here in Atlanta, GA. I moved here for design school in September, but through a series of eye-opening events; I’ve realized my life needs to go in a different direction. I’ll always love art and design, but my main passion all my life has been people. I love meeting new people and figuring out how to connect with them. I’m looking to find a new career path that centers on human interaction and allows me to serve them in some way.  I’m definitely a chatterbox—that’s probably why Mary and I hit it off so well, neither of us has ever been called quiet or reserved. Ha!

Besides all things art related (painting, photography, design, crafts) I also enjoy:

Magazines/Pinterest

Music/Singing (another thing that brought Mary and I together)

Rifle Paper Co. (beautiful cards and stationery. http://riflepaperco.com/)

Walks on the gorgeous Beltline Trail behind my apartment complex

Texas! (I’m ready to come home!)

My wonderful church here in ATL—http://buckheadchurch.org/

Museums

My current job—http://www.paper-source.com/

My Family (seriously…the best!)

Miranda Sings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWt2YJCJleY&feature=plcp

Kittens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtX8nswnUKU

All-University Sing…this act in particular :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAgSdpmYaz0

Parks and Recreation, The Office, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Dance Moms, Dawson’s Creek (now on Netflix, yes!)

Hot Rod, Mean Girls, Waiting for Guffman, Stranger than Fiction

Betty White, Tina Fey, Emma Stone, Ellen

Ingrid Michaelson, John Mayer, fun.

Diet Coke, Frozen Yogurt, Popcorn

Making Lists

How We Became #1 Friends (According to Jennifer)

Well, Mary pretty much hit the nail on the head with the story. But I do have one thing to add. Yes, Mary and I being #1 friends started out as kind of a joke just to prove we were more awesome than 2 of our sorority sisters, but fortunately for me, Mary is so good at taking little jokes and fun ideas and making them a reality. Every time I have some sort of funny plan, she makes it happen—from brownie sundaes for Sunday dinner, to spending her 21^st at a fancy hotel, to even starting this blog. I appreciate her fun-loving, motivated, and determined attitude toward life so much! She is a constant reminder to me to live life to the fullest. Her enthusiasm is contagious and we make a great team! I’m also glad that I found my “personality twin”—hopefully we will live in the same state again soon! 

Here is the friendship photo/story I would like to share:

I'm not really sure exactly how this happened, I mean I don't remember the first time this was decided, but Mary and I have a friendship song, "I Can't Wait To See You Again" by Miley Cyrus. We have choreography/poses and everything! We request it every chance we get at a dance/event! We are so obsessed with the song that we got Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana friendship necklaces. This photo was taken at the ADPi Crawfish Boil Crush our junior year. The crush was so much fun...flying kites, blowing bubbles, hanging out at the Suspension Bridge...and it gave us a great chance to show off our jewelry. Just another reason why everyone is jealous of us. :)

xoxo,

Jennifer

It's The Jenn & Mary SHOOOOOOOOW!!!

Hello world!

This is Mary, the 2nd half of "The Jenn & Mary Show".  I am BEYOND excited to finally start this joint blog with my #1 friend, Jennifer!  This is something that we've been talking about doing for a while and we're FINALLY making it happen!  We will be documenting all of our CRAZY adventures & experiences(both together & apart), so we'll have something to relive them by when we become golden girls!

A little about me:
I just graduated with my Master's degree in Vocal Performance from Baylor University.
I live at home with my parents(who I will refer to as my roommates...sounds cooler) & my brothers.
This is temporary until I move to Plano in August to teach.
I'm going to teach voice lessons for McKinney ISD (At Jenn's Alma Mater!).
Crafting.
Yellow & mint.
"SNL", "Toddlers & Tiaras" & "Real Housewives of Anywhere".
Mormons.
Singing...duh!
Dancing.
Country music.
Boy crazy.
Spontaneous.
Single & mingling!
Redecorating.
All-University Sing.
Shopping.
J. Crew.
Rangers.
Baylor.
Diet Coke.
Leopard.

How we became #1 friends(according to Mary):
This journey starts WAAAAY back in January 2007, when I went through sorority recruitment at Baylor University.  I was incredibly excited to be meeting so many wonderful women and to get to know each sorority better.  I tried to keep an open mind going into recruitment, but deep down I knew which group I wanted to join: Alpha Delta Pi.  I was rushed REALLY hard by them and fell in love with everything they stood for.  For most girls, recruitment is really stressful & upsetting.  A lot of girls get cut from their first choice group & don't know what to do.  I, however, was one of those few lucky ones who ended up where I wanted to be & couldn't have been happier.  All I could do was talk about how excited I was to keep getting invited back to ADPi! I am so blessed to have ended up in my first choice...but back to the story. 
I ended up meeting Jennifer early on in the pledging (or Alpha) process & we became fast friends.  That bond of sisterhood instantly connected us!  fast forward about a year to All-University Sing(or Sing! for short).  Sing! is one of the biggest traditions at Baylor.  Fraternities & Sororities put on 7-minute long Broadway style acts, complete with singing, dancing, costumes, elaborate sets, & fun themes.  That year, Alpha Delta Pi's Sing act was...well, I can't actually remember the name of it, but we were clockmakers in a clock shop & all of our songs revolved around clocks or time. Jennifer & I were really close to 2 other girls, Shelley & Catherine, & would goof off with them in the chapter room after each sing performance.  One night, we got into a friendly dispute over which of us were the better friends.  After much debate, Jennifer & I came up with THE most indisputable reason as to why we had the better friendship...because we had the universe's #1 friendship!  Shelley & Catherine didn't want to buy it, but they had no choice, because, well, it's a fact! 

(Our first picture as #1 Friends!)

We really do have the universe's #1 friendship!!!  From that moment on, we were #1's...a kind of friendship that goes FAR beyond that of best friends.  We are basically the exact same person...Joey, from "Friends", may have found his hand twin, but I have found my personality twin!  Ever since then we've been as inseperable as possible, and shared in so many wonderful, crazy, scary, exciting, and hilarious adventures.  Jennifer has been there for me through the absolute best and absolute worst times in my life and I am SO blessed to be able to call this inspiring woman of God, my NUMBER ONE FRIEND!!!

I hope that you enjoy reading this blog, but I'm just excited to have something else to share with Jennifer!
Happy reading!
Mary

p.s. Jenn, I challenge you to upload a picture from our past(& tell the story behind it no matter how short) with each post...I'll do the same!