Skype

So this coming up Sunday I have my annual fantasy football draft. Now in the past couple of years I've gotten together on a glorious Sunday August afternoon at the Reservation and picked the players we think would have the best season for over 3 hours. Now some of y'all would think this is crazy and stupid, but that day had to be one of my favorite days of the year. It's like you're the GM of your own football team drafting rookie prospects, picking up the right veteran to help your squad its just awesome. Much more on fantasy football to come, but I just had to say that to set up what I wanted to type about.
So anyway all of the guys in my league now live in different states and the logistics of getting together to draft just ain't happening, so we decided that we are going to do an online draft. Now it is not the ideal situation in the fact that half the fun of the draft is yelling at people for taking the guy you wanted or making fun of someone for making what seems like the stupidest pick ever (this is especially fun to do at Hutton, even though for every 2 crappy picks he has the steal of the draft, Randy Moss last year). We'll anyway since we aren't around each other Jesse brought up the idea to do some video chat. He wanted to do iChat because he has a mac, but I had to get a Dell for school so I can't use iChat. But what I can use is Skype.
I love Skype. Taryn and I talked to Jesse and Jenny for a good hour and half to two hours about life and even got a tour of their apartment. Now I know some of you haters will say why don't you just talk on the phone. And all I have to say is that it is not even close to the same thing. So much is lost over the phone and when you can see them so much is added to the conversation. So I urge everyone and anyone who has bought a laptop in the past year or two or if you just happen to half a webcam get skype and add me as your friend. It is so fun to talk to people and I would love to talk to anyone. So go get Skype.
O and yes I'm ecstatic about our draft on Sunday being able to talk and see people, I just hope Hutton has a cam so we can make fun of him again (O and if you know how to conference chat on skype and maintain video let me now because I need to know.

Medical School + Olympics = Conflict of Interest

Why did the Olympics have to be on during my first few weeks of Medical School? I mean really the timing could not be more horrible. I literally go to school from 8 to 12, study 1 to 6 and watch the Olympics from 7 to 11. Normal I would think this was a great schedule, because of the balance between school and fun and the fact Taryn and I watch the Olympics together to make sure we don't skimp out on our time, but during these first couple of weeks of class I feel so overwhelmed and that I just am not studying enough. Of course I think most people feel the same because before you have ever seen a test you automatically assume the hardest concepts and questions will be on the test (and it Med School this seems highly likely). Anyway it is just freaking me out because the Olympics end like two days before my first test and you know I'm going to watch the Closing Ceremonies and so I'm just scared that I'm not studying enough. Anyway for Casey Cope's benefit I'm going to step off my diva soap box and talk about interesting things.

So Taryn's brother Christopher and my cousins Jeff and Madison moved into good ole Mabee Dorm yesterday afternoon. Wow how crazy it was that 4 years ago today I was moving into Mabee 1st North room 102. O great times with Thursday Night Parties, Survivor watching (go Ian), workout time, Christmas tree showers and Stevie. Speaking of Stevie has anyone seen Steven the Korean lately? Just wondering.

Speaking of Korea I noticed that there were none of them in the Men's 100m race yesterday. All there was were Caribbean runners. All eight were from either a Caribbean island or south Florida and boy could they fly. It's no wonder Florida Univ. spreads the field like crazy. Anyway I want to talk about the man they call Lighting. Usain Bolt is the fastest individual to ever live and call me crazy, but I don't know if anyone will ever be as fast as he is right now. He ran the race in 9.69 seconds. He beat the world record by .03 that is like breaking the marathon record by a minute and half I heard one analyst say. But here is the craziest part. He STOPPED sprinting at about 75m and coasted into the finish line. If he wanted to he could have ran it in 9.5 there is no doubt. So I got to thinking why doesn't Jerry Jone gives this guy a nice little contract to come play football for the Cowboys. Just put him on the opposite side of T.O. and tell him to go deep ever play. If nothing else he could make some room for Witten and T.O. over the middle, any takers on this idea?

On a completely random note a United commercial just came on and it sucked. No wonder they are about to go down the tube. You know who doesn't have crappy commercials? Budweiser. Now it is not secret Beer company's spend a bazillion dollars on advertisement, but that one where they sing, "This is Budweiser, this is beer." and all the Americana scenes flash across the scene o its just awesome especially during the Olympics. The only thing that bothers me is that they just got sold to InBev which is not American so I kind of feel like the Patriotism is forced, but hey I love it and Taryn cries every time so they must be doing something right.

Anyway Michael Phelps is awesome and I'm seriously considering ordering Olympic Legend: Michael Phelps. Maybe you should to.

"The Real World" Lubbock

Life has begun here in our sweet, little town. I officially feel "grown up"..... and its pretty crappy! I mean, I've always loved the weekends, but now that Chase and I are non-stop 8-5ers, we LOVE the weekends. We woke up yesterday and said, "thank goodness its Friday." So we now live for Fridays.. and I dont like it one bit. Its cool to grow up and all, but not really that cool:) It felt like flight of the bumble bee today to try and get the laundry done, clean the house, grocery shop and run errands... but on the flip side it is so nice to finally sit down and watch the olympics AND Cowboys all in the same night! Go Romo!!!! I recently declared to Chase that I am a "Romo groupie" and you better believe I'll be in front of the TV every Sunday or Monday night cheering my boys on!!!! Oh, and if anyone would like to get me some tickets for the new stadium next season... I'll gladly accept! Just kidding, like anyone in their right mind could afford those things!

On another note- The Olympics. Is it just me (or maybe just Lubbock because there's not much to do here) or does it seem like everyone in the world is watching the games. I feel like its a bigger thing than it has been in a while since Atlanta, but it could just be that I'm more into it this time. How could you not be? I've lost more sleep this last week than I have since my fun days of college. Between Michael Phelps and the women's gymnastics, I'm obsessed!!!!!

Phelps: Amazing!!! Really, maybe one of the greatest athletes ever!!! I mean, I LOVE Tiger and definitely believe he has an awesome gift, but Phelps is unbelieveable- there's no stopping this guy. Last night when he won by one hundreths of a second, I was yelling so loud and freaking out because I thought for a brief second he might lose... but then I thought, No WAY!! He's Michael Phelps! After the race, I told Chase, I really feel like the nation would be depressed if he lost. Everyone would be a little more somber. He's like a breath of fresh air for America!!! Go USA!!!

Gymnastics: If you dont already know, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT GYMNASTICS!!!!
I used to be in it and enjoyed every minute of it. It makes me giddy just to get to watch others perform. So, this has been one of the best olympics ever in my life. Dont' get me wrong, 1996 was picture perfect when the girls won the team gold. I recorded it on VHS 8 years ago and we still have it- I wouldn't let Chase get rid of it when we were moving- its just that special to me. But, this year has been so fun to watch. When Nastia won the gold, I just cried for about 5 minutes. Don't ask why, I just get into these kind of things. Even when the national anthem started, I just let the tears keep falling. SO proud to be an American!

So, I just realize I haven't put any pictures up of our sweet, little apartment, so here you go. (Mom, these are really for you:))
There's a few pics of the beautiful sunsets I get to look at every evening...aahhh.

Chili's

So I just got back from eating a delicious meal at Chili's where Taryn was my server. It was awesome because when my check came I just said you got cash and she took my check from me. It was great because it was like a free meal. Anyway I got the Smokehouse Bacon Burger. I'm not a huge fan of Bacon Burgers for the taste and health reasons, but I have to say it was awesome. So anyone that goes to Chili's I highly recommend that hamburgers. Well I tried the Smokehouse Bacon Burger for one and only one reason. All the other burgers I used to get are no longer on the menu. To explain, back in the day I use to get this burger called the Nacho Burger. For anyone that thinks that sounds disgusting don't hate. It's a burger with queso, sour cream, guacamole, tortilla strips, pico de gallo and jalapenos. Absolutely awesome. Well like 8 years ago they took this burger off the menu. Why? I have no idea, but I was not happy. Lucky for me though they said if I ordered it the cooks in the back could still make it. Great I thought, so all throughout high school I ordered this burger got a weird look from the server, told them they knew how to make it in the back, and went on my way. Well I got made fun of for being too high maintenance and so I decided it was time to move on from the Nacho Burger. On a side note I ordered it from Chili's the other day when Preston was our server. He gave me the look, I told him the same thing I always tell him and what was on it, and got it served to me. O it was delicious. Plus later that week Preston told me somebody else ordered it. Sounds like a good man to me.
Anyway since I can't get a Nacho Burger hardly ever anymore my next adventure was the Ground Peppercorn burger. A normal burger with fried onion strips, ground peppercorn and blue cheese dressing. Not as good as the Nacho, but still darn good. Well now when you go to Chili's that is not on the menu anymore and this time they no longer carry the ingredients so I'm just out of luck. I think it is a curse that whatever burger I fall in love with comes off the menu. So my only warning is for those of you that fall in love with the Smokehouse Bacon Burger get ready for it to go off the menu.

The Infamous White Coat

The time has come for Chase to start his long, strenuous journey to become Dr. Chase Cawyer. Last night we had the "White Coat Ceremony", which is a tradition started at Columbia University in 1993 and ever since then, medical schools all over have taken part in this traditional ceremony. Each medical student is given a white coat that comes to about their waist (the more education you have, the longer your white coat is- so if you see a doctor with one to his ankles... pretty good chance he's a good doc!) Every student walked across the stage and the Deans of the med school presented them with their coat- it was such a neat way to start off this new journey!!!
As I was sitting there watching Chase walk across and put on his coat, I started to tear up. Why you ask??? Well, It brings me such joy to see how much Chase has accomplished to get to med school- its no walk in the park and I couldn't be a more proud wife!!!! I know its going to be a rough road ahead, but I couldn't be happier to take this adventure with him. As the cermony continued on, I started envisioning him walking across the stage 4 years from now and the Dean saying, "Doctor Chase Robert Cawyer"- if the sound of that doesn't give you chills, I dont know what will!
And might I just add... sitting among all the professors, doctors, parents and medical students, I was completely surrounded by knowledge and it was such a surreal experience. I felt part of a different realm of society that was WAY out of my league!!! Way cool!!!
Here's a few pictures of the exciting event:

So because this is the Cawyer's blog spot I decided that I (Chase) would write occasional on this little blog. Now here is the deal, I am only writing on certain days and being the OCD person that I am the days I write will have a pattern. To clear this up a little I will not be writing on all of the days that are in the pattern, but every day I do write will be a part of the pattern. Comprende? Didn't think so. Anyway so what to write about. I've been emailing the Choctaw reservation about getting a blog together and each of us write in it about once a week, that way we don't get burned out, and I heard great feedback, but as is typical with most males, and that fact that fantasy football is around the corner, that idea fizzled pretty quickly. And the fact that Taryn doesn't like to talk about herself a lot she asked me to write in the blog every once in awhile so you know it is the next best thing.

So what's going on with the Cawyer's? Well first off I am still ticked that I was not able to go to Jenny and Jesse's wedding. I did see pictures, I did get a replay of the music in order from my wife in the car on her ipod and I did get to talk to friends about it so I understand what went on, but it's still not the same. This has been the second wedding I had to miss because of stupid weekend classes. Check out this amazing coincidence. To set a background I am getting my MBA in the summers while I am in Med School and so it's pretty time consuming, but in order to keep you from killing yourself during the week they allow you (or in my case mandate you) to take weekend classes. Not a bad deal considering you get 3 hours grad school credit to sit in class for 4 days, no test, no real homework, just readings and reflections papers. Sounds like a great deal right? It is unless you're like me and you have 2 weddings and your grandmother-in-law's funeral to go to 3 of the 4 weekends. So what do you have to do? You have to skip them, except for the funeral which I had to write a dreadful paper to make up for my absence. But think about that out of the 4 weekends I have something going on during 3 of them. And what did I have to do the other 6 weekends I did not have class. NOTHING. Yeah just my luck that all of those major events fall on those days. So all in all if your thinking about taking weekend classes I warn you they are great unless they conflict with the things in life your not supposed to miss.

So yeah MBA school is a breeze if you had an undergraduate degree from COBA. (Shout out to all my profs), b/c everything you learn in your basic MBA classes you had at the undergraduate level. So go Wildcats. It kind of sucks though because this summer has been so relaxed and chill and then boom tomorrow I get thrown into MS orientation and classes start on Tuesday. Goodbye life as I know it. O well, from what I hear school still beats working, you know except for the whole little deal of a salary, so I'll take it with a grain of salt. Speaking of catchphrases my all-time favorite is still "boom goes the dynamite"
See here

So if you didn't know Taryn and I watch a lot of TV, and I've decided its for the following reasons. 1) It's cheap (well cheap in the fact that it's a sunk cost, got to love business terminology, and we don't pay anymore to watch it) 2) If you find the right show its like a movie that never ends and 3) Taryn can eat ice cream while she watches it, I think that's the main reason for her. Anyway despite why we like to watch TV we still watch it and being the critical person I am I'll give you a little insight into a few shows on our DVR.
Flipping Out - Casey Cope was asking Taryn to explain this and so I'll take the honor. Imagine the most OCD person in the world flipping and remodelling multi-multi-million dollar houses all the while creating a 48 point to do list for his FOUR employees that just take care of his personal house and animals. O and did I mention he's a flaming homosexual, just makes the show that much more to laugh at. On TLC Tuesday nights at 9. A new fav thanks to the Rampys 4 out of 5.
Jon & Kate plus 8 - I was a little skeptical of this at first, but after watching one interview with Jon the dad this show is hilarious. It's about that family from Pen. that had sextuplets (that's six kids) after having twins and how they function. Like Full House except reality based, updated, and actually funny. If you like sarcastic males you'll love Jon and this show. On TLC not sure of the time b/c Taryn records all the episodess 3 out of 5.
Hidden Potential - Really worth watching in HD. These designers take 3 crappy houses and make them into awesome abodes. I love it in the fact they completely change floor plans in almost every house, and if you're like me and love walking into construction houses I feel you'll love this show. My only complaint is they do these huge remodels and say it cost like $40,000 when it actually has to cost like double that. On HGTV 3 out of 5 when the guy Barry is the designer 2 out of 5 when its the girl Paige.
High School Musical Get In the Picture - Now I'm sure your wondering why I watched this show and I'll give you the simple answer, advertising. I could not watch a single program on ABC without seeing a preview for this so I had to record it. Let's just say it's American Idol for kids. No Simon Cowell telling them how bad they are and too much encouragement for me. The only thing I enjoyed in the first 4 episodes was the duets in the final 20 minutes of 2 shows. Other then that count me out. I'm sure I'll still record these and watch them, but it will be in mega fast forward just to watch my boy Ether, yeah that's his real name. You might want to check it out just to see this band geek rock out. On ABC on Sunday and Monday nights 7, 2 out of 5 stars.
So those were just a few recommendations for some TV watching this summer. Hope you enjoy and look forward to talking again soon.

For Casey Cope

Its official.. I finally gave in and decided to start a blog. I've been debating whether to do one the past few months since we moved to Lubbock but I just dont think our life is interesting enough to write about- I guess you can be the judge!

So this past weekend I went home to see family and see Jenny and Jesse get married- it was such a bittersweet weekend. And lets just say that if anyone is planning on coming to Lubbock anytime soon, I highly recommend flying- a grand total of 45 minutes from DFW!!!
I spent some time with my family and Chase's- even though he had to stay in Lubbock for a mandatory weekend class!! I just love getting to spend time with family, but its never quite long enough- just long enough for you to wish you didn't live 5 hours away.
On a lighter note, The Eyer's wedding was perfect. It was so sweet and couldn't have come at a better time. Its been hard here in Lubbock only knowing Shelbi and Preston, so it was so nice to have quality girl time with a few of my faves:) I started tearing up when we had to leave... so emotional, I know.

So I would like to make a formal request for everyone to relocate to Lubbock as soon as they can- I dont know why everyone thinks DFW is the place to be- I mean I know it has everything you could ever want in a city, but Lubbock has Baskin Robbins...and the most amazing sunsets you've ever seen (very romantic!)

Please consider:)