Spartan at 2 months old.
(Personal photo, March 2014)
Hey
everyone! My name is Taylor Hamstra and I am a senior Chemical Biosciences
major here at OU. I work as a Resident Advisor in Couch Center which
keeps me busy on top of finishing classes to graduate a year early. Couch
Center is arguably the craziest residence hall so the freshmen definitely keep
me on my toes. I'm not sure what you all
would like to know about me, but a couple of the more interesting things about
me is that 1- I have an insane tolerance for spicy food (I completed the
Buffalo Wild Wings challenge and it wasn't spicy lol) and 2- I am technically
an ordained minister, so I can marry people. Some may say it’s not a
legit license, but my friend did the same online certification as me and
actually married a couple when the pastor became extremely ill the day of the
ceremony. Anyways, I love rom-coms (Bride Wars is great as well as 27 Dresses)
and I am currently engaged to an absolutely incredible man. My wedding is set
for July 26, 2015, and my fiancee also goes to OU and is finishing up his
Master's degree in Computer Science (yeah, he's way smarter than me).
With that being said, over Christmas break we did mostly wedding planning
stuff. After graduating, we will be moving to Austin, TX. I have
only been there once so if any of you know of things I should do/try while I
live there, please let me know! As for my family, I am the oldest child of a
family of 5 - my parents work at a high school teaching and coaching, my sister
is a freshman art major at Maryville College, and my brother is a junior in
high school. They're super great and we have a puppy dog at home named
Spartan. She's super sweet and is so funny. Anyways, that’s about it – can’t wait to get
to know you guys through this course and good luck with your other classes!
Oh oh oh, Taylor, SPICY FOOD: I am totally with you on that. I love spicy food, and luckily my husband does too! I think the spiciest food I have ever had was in Thai restaurant... it made me cry: but it was a good cry! Yummmm!!! And it is so cool that you are moving to Austin: my parents live there (I was actually born there... but Austin is like a totally different place now than it was back in 1964, that's for sure), and I go visit them twice a year. What a fun city! This sounds like such a great time in your life, with more great times to come! Wonderful!!!!
ReplyDeleteDang! Grown up life is happening fast for you. All that sounds pretty awesome. I have only been to Austin once as well, so I cant tell you really anything to do there; however, I freaking loved my time there and I am dying to go back! So I am kind of jealous you get to go live there haha. I also I done the blazing buffalo challenge, I did think it was hotter than hell though lol. So my love for spicy food isn’t as strong as yours.
ReplyDeleteIt seems you have been busy. I understand some of the stresses that go into planning a wedding. I have been married for three years. I however, did not plan my own wedding. I just let my family do it for me. They enjoyed it a lot more than I would have. I also love spicy food too! I have never tried the Buffalo Wild Wings challenge but now I think I might have too. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteI too love to watch a good romantic comedy and 27 Dresses is one of my favorites! Wow! you are going to graduate a year early? That is incredible! That is pretty cool that you are an ordained minister. You never know when that will come in handy. That is so cool you have done the hot wing challenge. I wish I was able to do that. It is nice to meet you Taylor.
ReplyDeleteYes! Another fan of super spicy food is seriously the best. I love the endorphin rush that I get after eating something super spicy. That's so exciting that you're getting married! One of my dream jobs is wedding planning. My pinterest board is seriously overflowing with ideas. I think that's super awesome that you're technically an ordained minister! I don't think many people can say that!
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor
ReplyDeleteI also work on campus! I work at the Quiznos in the union and it has been pretty crazy so far, especially with Chick-fil-a closed. We often have to deal with long lines of freshman who would ordinarily eat at Chick-fil-a, so it has definitely been challenging. I also love spicy food. Haven't tried the extremely spicy wings at B-dub, but maybe I will soon. My thoughts tell me that you can probably take more spicy food than I can. Finally, congrats on graduating this semester and getting married! I wish you well on your future endeavors and a safe trip to Austin! Take care.
NO WAY! You are an ordained minister? I am getting married in June, so my fiancé and I have been trying to figure out who is actually going to marry us haha. Congratulations on your engagement! I’m sure you aren’t marrying yourself, but if you do, that would be one super entertaining wedding. I hope marriage is as awesome as people tell me for both of our sakes. ☺
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on making it to your senior year!! What kind of experiences have you had as a resident advisor? I am sure you have many stories to share with the class. Crazy story...I lived in Walker 911W. In 1990, my mother had the same exact room! How crazy?! Smh. I tried my best to get my room switched. I can't believe that you completed (I really do believe you) the BWW challenge. I watched a guy try to do the challenge and his nose was running so bad. Ordained minister? Wow. You are pretty cool.
Congrats on getting married soon! Your puppy is adorable!!! I cannot believe you're an RA! I definitely would not want to deal with freshmen night and day haha. But good for you being able to handle that! I can't believe you did the Bdubs challenge. My dad's friend did it and he was in tears. It was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteHey Taylor. That’s awesome that you’re an ordained minister- I bet that makes for a really interesting conversation starter. Like you, I am also majoring in chemical biosciences and I’ve loved almost all of the classes I’ve taken here at OU. That’s awesome that you’re going to be graduating a year early too- I don’t know if I would be able to do it.
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor! Congrats on the upcoming graduation and wedding! I bet you are excited to get through the semester already. I am graduating this semester and cannot wait for what is in store afterwards. That is also awesome you are an RA. Cherrish Abinah is my G-little and I love her to pieces! (I don't remember what tower she is an RA in, but I know she is an RA). All of the RA's I know certainly love what they get to do, so that is awesome you are an RA.
ReplyDeleteI was in Couch Tower when I was a freshman and it was always crazy so I are always busy, lol. I have always wanted to try the BWW challenge but I just can’t eat that many wings in like 8 minutes. Do you like Bridezillas? I watched that show for awhile and thought it was hilarious. But I also really like Bride Wars too.
ReplyDeleteHey Taylor! Wow, I'm graduating a year early as well in May--congrats on graduation and on the upcoming wedding! I'm sure both of those things are super exciting! I also have a really insane tolerance for spicy foods, so I am constantly in search of trying what others consider "spicy." I think your picture of Spartan is super cute! And I also love rom-coms! Hope your semester is going well!
ReplyDeleteA resident advisor? Whoa... That must be draining to keep up with all of that freshman energy and pep! Plus graduating early? That's pretty impressive, especially for a Chemical Biosciences major. Also, what made you want to become an ordained minister? It seems like a role with a lot of up-and-down nuances, as well as sort of a responsibility to the couple that you're joining together.
ReplyDeleteWow, Taylor, you and your husband are quite the duo! Judging from your chemical bioscience and his computer science, you both must be extremely intelligent! I'm jealous of your ability to eat spicy foods whenever you want, mostly because I really do like spicy foods a lot, but sometimes I just can't handle it! And lastly, your dog is very cute! I wasn't sure if his name is a Halo reference or an actual Sparta reference, but either way it's awesome!
ReplyDeleteHey Taylor! I gotta say, I think I had one blazin wing one time and my eyes started tearing up a tad so I have no idea how you survived that. I lived in Couch as a freshman and there was definitely plenty of energy going around. I have a couple friends who are also RAs though and they make it seem fun. All that and being engaged, I'm sure you've got a pretty decent level of stress going on most of the time! Just remember to keep taking deep breaths and you should be okay.
ReplyDelete