Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Opera: Becoming Santa Claus

Recently my mom took Zac (my little brother), Kaitlin (my little sister), and I to see an opera called Becoming Santa Claus. We've been to lots of musicals in the past, but we've never been to see an opera, so we were incredibly excited. We all got dressed up in dresses and tights (or in Zac's case- a plaid shirt and jeans), and made our way through the traffic to the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Our seats were on the very top, fifth floor of the auditorium, which my mom hadn't realized would be SO high up when she purchased them, due to the fact that we had never been to this performing hall. We assumed that the seating would be the same as at the auditorium where we usually go to see the musicals, but we were wrong. Zac and I didn't mind being sat at the very top though, because when you're that high up you're sure not to miss anything going on on the stage, and you also don't have to worry about a tall person sitting in front of you, completely obstructing your view. My mom and Kaitlin, on the other hand, were not the biggest fans of being sat so high up. They are both very afraid of heights, so sitting in the front row, at the very tip top, wasn't what they would call fun. Once the musical started though, I think they more or less forgot about how high up we were.

The singing was absolutely fantastic, and the fact that these actors are capable of singing at such high notes for such long periods of time, amazes me. I don't want to give away too much about the story line, just in case you end up going to see it, but I will give a short summary: It is all about Santa when he was a child, and the journey he goes on to becoming the Santa that we know. His mom is an enchantress, and the elves are their servants.


I highly suggest to anyone of you who have never been to see an opera, to give it a try, at least once. Although the constant singing can be a bit much at times, it was just as enjoyable as any musical I've ever been to. I'm not sure if all theaters do this, but the one we went to had a screen with running subtitles hanging above the stage, which was tons of help- Although the singing is absolutely beautiful, it can be a bit hard to understand them at times. Overall, it really was a great opera, and I look forward to going to many more in the future!

-Melissa Cooper

Friday, December 11, 2015

The Christmas Parade

If you know me, you will know that Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love how happy everyone is in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and the fact that for just a few weeks it is acceptable to wear horrible Christmas sweaters (which I love so so so so much). For the past four years I have gone to watch the Christmas parade that takes place in downtown Dallas, and this year was no exception. Although it may not be on as large of a scale as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC, I still love going to it. Once I go to the parade, I know that I can officially start the countdown to Christmas. This year the weather could not have been more perfect- It was cold enough to need to wear a coat, but not so cold that my fingers felt like they were going to fall off, which was a relief. I remember one year I brought with four different blankets, a coat, a sweater, and gloves, yet I was still freezing. Overall, the parade was just as wonderful as it usually is. Here are some pictures I took, I hope you like them! I think I have finally figured out the settings on my camera that work the best (it only took me three years, haha)!

This may be the best picture I have ever taken! Everything is so perfectly in focus.
The Stormtroopers were so festive.
Mrs. Claus!
"You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa!" Does anyone know what movie that's from?

-Melissa P. Cooper

Monday, September 7, 2015

September: Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Ever since my little sister, Kaitlin, was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2007, September has always been a very important month for me. The first day of September marks the start of childhood cancer awareness month, and for some reason I've always found it to be a month full of hope. September is a chance to not only shed light on the statistics behind childhood cancer, but also to hear stories from families all over the world who have been effected by this terrible disease. I usually support childhood cancer awareness month simply by liking and sharing posts from others due to the fact that I can never quite figure out how to put into words what it is that I want to say; but, after talking to so many people who (ironically) weren't even aware that childhood cancer has its own awareness month, I feel like I should at least try to type up a post. Hopefully my words won't be in too much of a jumbled mess.


I want to start off by giving you some childhood cancer statistics:


These are just a few of the statistics, but I felt as though they were the most important. On November 9th of 2007 my little sister was one of those 46 kids, and it breaks my heart to think that before the clock strikes midnight tonight there will be another 46 kids as well as their families, going through what we went through that day. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Not knowing if someone that you love, may live, is torture.

Kaitlin was diagnosed just weeks after her third birthday. She only had THREE YEARS (1095 days) of being alive before her world was turned completely upside down, and that's something that's always really bothered me. Here I am, in my nineteenth year of life, and I've never once spent a night in the hospital. The sickest I've ever been was that one time when I was fourteen and I had the flu. So why is it that Kaitlin, being so young, is having to fight for her life? I'm not sure I will ever know the answer to this question. My only hope is that one day there won't be any siblings that have to ask themselves that question. That one day, cancer will only be talked about in history classes as 'The terrible disease, which claimed so many lives, but is no longer something to be concerned about because they found the cure'. That hopefully one day, no child will have to endure all that my little sister has and still is going through. As one of Kaitlin's oncologists once told my family and I, "I am looking forward to the day that I am out of a job, because hopefully that means that this disease is no longer in existence."


Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post! I know it wasn't eloquently worded, but I did my best. It's so hard to write about something that is this personal. I hope that you've taken away something from reading this, and that maybe you'll consider helping out the childhood cancer community by volunteering, registering, or donating. We could always use more support! And to those of you who right now are saying 'That's a nice thought, but why would I volunteer for something that's never affected my life'- Never did I ever think that my life would be so closely impacted by childhood cancer. Until that Friday night in November of 2007, the most affected I had ever been by childhood cancer was through the St. Jude commercials they played at the movie theater. You just never know what the future may hold.

Here are some different ways you could help out:

Register as a bone marrow donor with Be the Match.
Shave your head with the St. Baldrick's Foundation as a fundraiser.
Volunteer at your local Children's hospital.
Help out with foundations such as the Rally Foundation.
You could even organize your own fundraiser within your community.

I want to close this post by giving you a quick update as to how Kaitlin is doing today... Her cancer is in remission, but this doesn't mean she's completely out of the woods. As I said earlier, nearly 60% of the kids diagnosed will have to deal with chemo-related side effects for the rest of their lives- Kaitlin falls in that 60%. She has severe organ damage throughout her body, specifically in her heart, due to the chemotherapy. Luckily, she has a fantastic cardiologist who thus far has been successful in keeping her heart as stable as is possible. We're not sure what the future holds, but I try to not get too caught up in the 'what if' game. All that I care about right now is the fact that Kaitlin is still here, driving me crazy, as little sisters should. I'm lucky enough to still be able to talk about my little sister in the present tense, and that's something that I will never take for granted.

-Melissa P. Cooper

(P.S. Don't forget to use the hashtag #GoGold on any childhood cancer related posts you share on social media! Thanks again for caring enough to read all of this!)

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch is a piece of art that was created in 1974 by the art group, Ant Farm. It sits on a piece of land in the middle of Amarillo, TX, and is a popular road trip destination. We had never been there before, so on our way back from visiting my brother in Lubbock (which you can read all about here) we decided to take a little detour to go see it. It added on about an hour to our drive home, but it was so worth it.

The Cadillacs that make up this piece of art are there for you to spray paint, so we of course had to stop at Home Depot to pick up some spray paint. I picked out a lilac, Zac (my little brother) picked out a dark green, Kaitlin (my little sister) picked out a navy blue, and my mom chose a bright yellow (so that she could tag all of the cars with yellow ribbons, in support of childhood cancer awareness).

Zac realizing that it may have been a bad idea to climb on top of one of the cars while my mom catches it all in pictures.
Can you spot the ribbon?
It's crazy to think that people have been spray painting these cars since 1974.

After spending nearly an hour out in the extreme heat of Texas, spray painting our initials onto all of the cars (I promise, it's a lot more fun than it may sound like) we all loaded back into the rental car, and began the million hour drive home. I would most definitely recommend making a stop at Cadillac Ranch if you ever find yourself near Amarillo, TX. You won't regret it.

-Melissa P. Cooper

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Visiting Justin

A few years ago my big brother, Justin, moved to Lubbock to attend school at TTU. Since he moved out my family and I haven't been able to go visit him very often. Lubbock is quite a few hours away from where we live, so packing everyone up into a rental car is quite the undertaking; but, this past Friday we finally made the trip. We rented the car, booked the hotel, and after what felt like centuries of driving we arrived at his apartment.

We spent the next five days playing video games, board games, and going out to eat. One of the board games that we spent much of our time playing was Wits & Wagers, which was tons of fun. It's a trivia board game, but not the type that makes you feel stupid. It's more the type that makes you laugh, due to how random all of the questions are. 99% of the time no one knows what the answer is, therefore it's not a big deal if you don't know the answer (Expect for that one question that asked how many boxing matches Muhammad Ali had won, to which I replied 2000. I don't know much at all about boxing, but apparently 2000 is absurdly high.)


Overall, the trip was tons of fun. It reminded me a lot of when we were all still little, living at home, and made me quite miss those days. Back when everything was so much simpler, and we spent everyday together. I may have thought my siblings were a bit annoying back then, but now that we're all growing up, and starting to pave our own lives I wish I could go back; but, alas time travel is not a thing yet. I guess the best I can do for now is hope that as we grow older we don't grow apart.

-Melissa P. Cooper