Winter's Ode

Down came the stockings
and down came the tree
down came the sparkly ornaments
with abrupt, disturbing ease

Out goes the orange flame
say goodbye to the cold
box up the wool scarves
farewell to winter old

Home.

This fire is warm,

she thought as she maneuvered the beige recliner closer to the fireplace and pressed her toes restlessly against the metal hearth. The bottoms of her feet were getting toasty from the orange flame, but the warmth was comforting and familiar.

Journey of Change

I drove into Kerrville tonight. Nothing really ever changes here, but it feels less and less like home. I guess it's not really "home" anymore. I'm in Waco more than I'm in Kerrville but it's still a bittersweet feeling.

People change too.

It's funny. There are always going to be the "Kerrvillians" that stay in Kerrville and haunt its streets daily. The regular Walmart loiterers that will never really leave and the Hastings heroes who peruse the aisles looking for familiar faces.

I used to hate coming home. I still hate the drive, but Kerrville isn't so bad. Of course I enjoy seeing my parents and Zach and Trevor. But other than that, I enjoy homecooked meals and the simpleness of this town. When I come here it means that I don't have any obligations. In Waco, there is always an exam looming ominously in the distance (or within the hour). In Waco, there are events to attend and an apartment to upkeep. In Kerrville, it's perfectly acceptable if I choose to lounge around in my pajamas all day, eat a chocolate chip muffin, and curl up with a book.

Distance changes things too. There are people I was friends with in high school who I rarely talk to now. Life doesn't really let you have your cake and eat it too. In the same sense, I am so unbelievably grateful for the friends I have made in college and I can honestly say that the friends in college will be the ones I have for the rest of my life. I thank God everyday for the friends I have made and the changes that have happened in my life this year. And I know there is some reason why other friendships have disappeared out of my life.

It's a journey.

Well hello there

Dear Bloggy,
It's been awhile. Final exams have been quite consuming. I haven't got much sleep and I have had even less fun. Oh, and I got another parking ticket. That was nice.

The main piece of noteworthy news is that I'm getting a promotion at the lab. That's right,next semester I will be banking $9.20 an hour to sit...and do homework...and write blogs...and love life, of course. WHEE

Goodnight Bloggy.
I am quite sleep deprived.

She's a suicide blonde

Formal on Friday was pretty fun. I enjoyed it. Brian was a surprisingly good date (kidding - of course he was a fabulous date). He was also very handsome!

I think it might be 70 degrees in the arctic tundra tonight. Am I still allowed to refer to it as the arctic tundra?

I have 4 interviews this week with different people for my beat: nonprofit work with the elderly. My huge story for Dr. Owens is due on Dec. 2. I'm a little stressed out about that la la la.

I'm going to stop complaining now. Life is good. Really, it is. It's almost Thanksgiving and I have a couple of fun things planned for the break. There is a concert at Guadalupe River Club that I want to go see and I also want to go to Enchanted Rock - FINALLY. Brian has never been there and I think it would be a fun way to spend the day. I'm also excited to see the fam and the pups.

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.

And so begins a 6 hour shift at work... 6pm to midnight. In the arctic tundra. What could be better? Oh, I know. Maybe if I had 27billion hours of homework to complete.

Back to happy times in Waco, I'm so excited about this weekend! Friday is Theta Formal and Brian is my hot date. Kate is coming into town to grace us with her presence and staying for the Baylor/Texas game .. and hopefully I'm going to Austin Saturday night with some of my girlfriends to celebrate .. er, mourn .. the loss of the bears.

Sunday night I pulled an all-nighter. As in I was still awake when Jennifer woke up Monday morning. It was quite funny. I was still sitting in the same spot too. I ended up getting a ONE HUNDRED on one of my tests that I stayed up for (not sure how that happened) and a 95 on the other and a 92 on the other. LEGIT. I was pretty excited. Still am pretty excited actually.

So I treated myself to groceries and a dress and some bday presents for Brian! I spent more on the groceries than I spent on the other items - that was kind of sad. But it's okay because I was recently donated a nice sum of $250 by the parentals. I guess they love me or something, I'm really not sure (Thanks Mom and Dad).

Oh and our neighbors are still harassing us. I'm convinced they have a crush on Jennifer and the dang cat, because all of the fiascos happen when I'm gone...but Jennifer is always home when the chaos occurs. Such as today: A plastic bottle was thrown onto our porch and, as Jennifer described it, "A metal tube was sticking out of the bottle."

Hm, so I'm really not sure what to make of that, except that our redneck neighbors are sending mating calls via homemade contraptions that fly through the air, but cannot be identified. She begs to differ, but oh well.

I will post pictures from formal :) this is the first formal I have been to - I went to semi last year, but never FORMAL. haha. SOPHISTOCATION.

Quote by Henry David Thoreau.

Look what I found

“Just remember, the same as a spectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close you follow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention. Well, get used to that feeling. That's how your whole life will feel some day. This is all practice. None of this matters. We're just warming up.”
- Chuck Palahniuk

The Arctic Tundra

I really cannot comprehend the temperature in the lab right now. I am wearing a blanket and a fleece and my legs still have goose bumps.

I just looked at the temperature. 58 degrees. Okay, it's warmer outside and I consider it cold outside right now. This is ridiculous.

I just spent 5.5 hours working on chapters for my marketing class. I have a quiz on Monday. Wow, talk about working ahead. I never do this.

I started planning for Brian's 21st birthday today. And I bought a couple of presents for him. I get really into the whole birthday season thing. I like shopping and buying for people. I just realized that I will need to get him a Christmas present too.

Boo.

It's Friday and it's Halloween weekend and I only have one test next week.

I'm going to Austin tonight and exploring 6th street for the second time (hopefully I can have another $17 night) and coming back early Saturday to partake in Waco Halloween festivities. One of those festtivities is going to include the Fiji Haunted House aka Fiji Fright Night. I haven't ever been before and I'm pretty excited. I haven't been to a haunted house ever in my LIFE except once when I was little one of my neighbors had a sketchy "haunted maze" in their garage.

I'm not really sure what to expect. I think it's going to be funny to see the boys dressed up and acting scary. I have a feeling I'm going to laugh when I see them more than I'm going to be scared.

Last night, me and 5 of my girlfriends went to Piano Man at Treff's. Okay, so the Piano Man aka RUSSELL is completely LEGIT. He's from Austin and plays in College Station on Wednesday nights at The Tap (I got this information from Matney) and then he plays in Waco on Thursday nights at Treff's.

He knows every song known to man. He sings ANY song that you request and he plays the piano to ANY song that you request. Last night we heard a variety of songs ranging from Queen to Tim McGraw to Sublime and the list goes on. I don't know how he can play the piano and sing to any any any song in this entire world, but it was definitely a fun night. I am beginning to gain more respect for Waco. Just a little.

Happy Halloween to all my loyal followers (and Mom)

Laughter. The best medicine, truly.

I was walking home after class today, dragging along because of another sleepless week.

I had just finished an exam that was pretty easy, but I stayed up pretty late studying for it. I was ready to take a nap and not feeling entirely too chipper.

I was irritable because I had to wake up this morning, I guess. I overslept and my routine became hectic because of it. Thank goodness I didn't sleep through my exams like last week, but I still slept 10 extra minutes which doesn't seem like much, but when you have your morning down to an art (each minute has a detailed task - wash face, brush teeth, coat lashes, grab granola bar - and there is no room for flexibility - this type of rigid routine happens when you're not a morning person) you don't realize how much of a difference 10 minutes makes until. you. are. late.

I got to class on time, no big deal. I'm a speed-walker.

Anyway, after class and exam I was walking home. Dragging along. Not really wanting to talk or smile at anyone. Just wanted to get home, have some hot soup, and climb in bed for a small sojourn from life.

I happened to look up once and there was a girl talking on her phone. I'm not really sure what language she was speaking in, but it wasn't mine. Her voice was high-pitched like a little girl but the thing that really intrigued me was her laugh.

It was such a genuine sound that danced from her lungs that I couldn't help but smile myself. I didn't know what she was saying, but she must have been glad to say it and in turn, I became glad that she was saying it too. I caught myself feeling happy and content and relaxed for the first time that afternoon. Thank you to the unknown girl in front of North Village.

Strange, contagious thing, that laughter.

Plaid Pajamas in Class. Very Uncool.

I'm not typically one to judge another person's appearance or attire choice, but I couldn't help myself when a girl showed up to class today ... wearing pajamas. Gasp.

At first I thought I was being too harsh on the poor girl. In her defense, Baylor campus was all but completely flooded this morning and it was pretty chilly outside. Maybe I could see her logic. But not really.

I asked Matney what she thought of said girl's fashion statement, and evidently I'm not alone in my belief that pajamas are meant for lounging/sleeping/napping, but they are not meant to wear to class.

Let me explain my reasoning:

1. First of all, Paige Pajama was wearing full makeup, so it wasn't a case of I-woke-up-late-and-I-literally-had-to-roll-out-of-bed-so-as-not-to-be-late-to-class. And the makeup looked fresh and smudgeless too, so it wasn't last night's makeup either.

2. Wearing pajamas to class is kind of like wearing your sweaty workout clothes or your lingerie to class. It's kind of intimate. Your professor and classmates do not want to see what you slept in last night anymore than we want to see your pit sweat from doing too many bicep curls. It's just a little too much informatiion for the classroom environment. Not to mention, it's a private university, so keep your private bedroom attire in the bedroom.

3. When I asked Matney what she thought of Paige Pajama's pajamas, Matney admitted that she wore sweatpants to class that day. Sweatpants are not pajamas in any style, pattern, or shape. The pajamas that I saw this morning were blue plaid flannel drawstring creatures and they were NOT to be confused with sweatpants.

I wear Nike shorts nearly every day to class, so I respect the need for comfort, but I don't disrespect my peers so much as to wear plaid flannel drawstring pj's to class. Uncool.

She's a true farmer

Jennifer is currently addicted to FarmVille (Mom, if you're reading this, FarmVille is a game on Facebook where you "farm" with your other friends and compete to see who has the best farm. It's very uncool).

Let me tell you how bad this addiction is. Well, she is in the computer lab aka the arctic tundra right now and she's not doing homework or anything like that.

Nah, she is totally working on her FarmVille skillz.

I guess I can't really judge her though because I'm writing a blog.

"I was doing homework. I was doing it. Look at that." says Jennifer guiltily as she shows me some scribble that is supposedly her Arabic. Psh, looks like another language to me. Jibberish.

This Friday I will have two articles in the Homecoming edition of The Lariat. One about the hockey team again (I feel like their personal reporter) and one about the location change of Pics & Gifts. Legitimate news. Not really, but I try.

Also, it's homecoming weekend. That means homecoming parade on Saturday morning. That means that tonight will be an all-nighter at the floate site. I haven't been to float in a week, so I'm anxious to spend some quality time with my beautiful sisters and bond over things like paper machet, welding and paint. (sarcasm)

Good luck Baylor Football against OSU this weekend. Homecoming is important. So make your school like you more.

Hurray for Moms

I'm in Kerrville right now. It's funny how this town never really changes. I come home after 6 months and expect to see new things, but nah, it's the same old Kerrville.

It's been really nice to be home. Brian and I rode home together after I drove back to Waco from Austin on Friday morning.

We rolled into town about 6pm Friday and there was a lovely feast of my favorite foods waiting on the counter courtesy of Mom. Brian and I decided to go out Friday night (partly because that way I could have more food to take back to Waco and partly because Brian and I's favorite foods aren't really aligned...so what my mom made for ME, wasn't really what brian wanted for dinner). We went to ACAPULCO. IT WAS DELICIOUS. I haven't had good mexican food, save Taco Tuesday, in literally MONTHS. the chicken enchiladas with double rice hit the spot.

The house full of yummy baked stuff hasn't changed either. There were s'mores muffins, homemade sugar cookies with homemade icing and chocolate cake all tempting me. It's still tempting me and I hope to take a lot of it back to waco with me. Maybe I can even give a couple of crumbs to Kitty to fatten him up. mwaha

Saturday (that would be today) morning my parents and I went to some garage sales. I found some great bargains! I got some REALLY cute stationery for 50 cents, 6 pairs of earrings for 50 cents a pair, a pecan pie plate that has the recipe for pecan pie on it (1.00), two tall candles for 25 cents each, a retro cookie jar for 50 cents and two brand new pillow shams for 50 cents each that match my bed perfectly!

After Garage Sale Tour 09, we went to China Town - another Kerrville favorite. I have not had the bounty of chinese food in my tummy for MONTHS either. maybe even a year or more. I know. SHOCKING. but true.

Now I'm sitting on the couch, talking life with Brian's parents and being fed cookies by his mother who is quite the baker herself (thank goodness for moms). We have also been watching various sports all day. Whoo.

Time for homemade chicken strips! I'm going to enjoy them thoroughly.

Sincerely, Your Frantic Friend

I slept through 2 quizzes and a midterm today.

You know that feeling when you wake up on your own, realizing that you're late for class or work... or when you accidentally fall asleep and miss important committments?

Okay, multiply that feeling by 1 million billion trillion and that is how I felt this morning when I looked at my clock and it said the time was 12:37pm instead of 9am, when I'm supposed to wake up on MWF.

I frantically emailed my professors and told them that I had slept through class and asked if there would be any way to make up my quizzes/midterm. Then I booked it to the business school to talk to them in person.

To make a long story short, everything is completely okay and I'm making up my midterm tomorrow morning with the Tuesday/Thursday class, my quiz tomorrow at noon and I made up the other quiz today. Whew.

Thank goodness this was the first time I had missed class in any of my classes. It pays to be a relatively responsible student at times.

I blame this sleepless week - and my water-damaged Blackberry - for the mistake this morning. I still don't know if I turned my alarm off when it sounded at 9am, or maybe it didn't even go off at all? That part is still unclear. Maybe someone (aka Indy Kitty) is plotting against me.

Life goes on.
Oh, and I get more time to study for my test.

future events

I am very jealous of the Gumby's pizza rolls that Matney got to devour tonight. I was supposed to devour some tasty Taco Tuesday treats, but alas, I did not grace myself with the delicacy of Rosa's in my belly.

In other news, I am FINALLY going legit Waco bar hopping on Thursday. I actually don't have tons of things to do. I do have class at 10 on Friday morning, but I will survive (I hope). I can't wait to go to Piano Man!

I think I'm also going to College Station Friday night to have a sequel to last weekend. Daisy Duke's was so fun and I want to see what else Northgate has to offer. Theta Casual is on Saturday (to Six Flags) but since I have class and cannot attend meetings on Monday nights, I wasn't able to sign up in time and space was limited. I tried getting someone's spot who decided not to go, buuuut there was a waiting list that I did not know about! That was a little disappointing. Brian was sad too.

Next week (october 16) is fall break...and I don't have class that Thursday, so it's only going to be a 3 day week. Whoo and I have 4 tests in those 3 days. BRACING MYSELF FOR HELLO OPERATOR. It's also Kelly's birthday on Thursday and the plan is to road trip to Austin and go to 6th street that night (I think Matney is joining as well for her friend Molly's birthday!) and we are going to stay with Kate. That is the plan so far and I really really really want it to transpire because I have never been to 6th street and the thought of partying with my best friends in Austin ... well, it would be AMAZING.

And I'm back to studying for a quiz tomorrow. Thank you, blog, for always being a time-waster. good night to all.

Pizza Procrastination Post

well, well, well. if it isn't the blog.

I haven't written anything in a while, partly because I have been very busy and I guess I have also felt that nothing has been blogworthy.

I still don't really have any blogworthy things to write, per se, but I will let you in on a little secret: When I really really really really don't want to do my homework, I resort to dirty methods of procrastination. such as:

1) facebook stalking

2) sending emails over Theta list serve about every possible topic

3) reading mylifeisaverage.com

4) reading peopleofwalmart.com

5) blogging on this blog

6) blogging on http://www.thetabaylor.blogspot.com/

7) texting people

8) reading cnn.com and washingtonpost.com

9) playing Brick Breaker

10) looking at old facebook albums

I do a lot of stuff that has nothing to with school or homework or studies.

My marketing professor brought pizza (and 5 little girls) to class again today. Dominos pizza is amazing. I don't think I have ever really appreciated its greatness. I've always liked Mr. Gattis and Little Caesar's, but Dominos is a front runner as well. And no, of course I'm not bias because I was hungry and it was class and the thought of getting pizza for class is usually unheard of. no, it was actually one of the best pizzas I have ever had. Ever.

I expect posts from all of my loyal followers soon as well.

twenty-one

Oh, the arctic (tundra).

This week was a pretty good week and it was filled with interesting events. For one, I turned 21 on Wednesday whoo hoo and got to go to the Blink 182 concert which was playing in Dallas on my birthday. FATE.

I also learned that Brian knows a lot more Blink 182 songs then I ever thought he would. He knew a couple that I didn't even know! Such as ones from their first album...the first Blink song I ever heard was All the Small Things and I never bothered to research what songs came before that one. Brian did bother to research that though, way back when.

The concert was amazing! It really really really was. and words cannot really express how much i enjoyed it, so i'm going to stop talking about it.

Tonight I'm celebrating with all of my best girlfriends. I think that Matney is even coming from College Station to Waco to go bar-hopping with us. I hope she does end up coming. I haven't seen that child in a while and next weekend is HER 21st birthday so of course I will see her then, but I think we deserve 2 weekends. Haha.

School is going okay. My journalism class is REALLY stressing me out right now. We don't have tests and it's not especially hard, but there is a LOT of outside class work such as interviewing people, finding contacts, etc etc. It's a lot harder than it sounds. Sometimes I just want to grow up and get a job and skip all this college stuff altogether.

I get stressed out way too easily.

But then again, I love college and I love my friends and if I had to skip all of that right now, I would miss out on so much. One day at a time.

Jennifer's Body

I saw the movie Jennifer's Body last night. and if you can get past the "cool" phrases and poorly delivered lines, then it's actually not a bad movie for a comedy-horror flick.

Example 1. Jennifer (Megan Fox) gets stomach punctured by a long metal pole. She says (after taking the pole out of her abdomen):
"You got a tampon? You look like you might be pluggin'."

Example 2. At the end of the movie (spoiler? maybe) "Needy" (aka Anita aka the chick from Mean Girls) stabs Jennifer in the heart to kill her. And instead of screaming or moaning in agony or acting shocked at the fact that her best friend just stabbed her in the heart, she says:
"My tit..."
Needy says, "No, Jennifer. Your heart."
Jennifer then regains all the color that possessed little demons have and died.

I don't really feel like I wasted my money seeing the movie ... if anything it motivated me to go work out because Megan Fox's body is totally, like, perfect.

Bears on Ice

http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/96772.pdf

That is the link to my first official newspaper publication if you are interested in reading about the Bears on Ice.

Today was Neat.

I thought this picture was appropriate (read the headline hahaha).

So that hockey story I was telling you about...it's going to be in the Lariat (that is Baylor's newspaper) tomorrow! I'm thrilled. My first legit publication. Besides The Tivy Tatler. If only Clarkson could see me now.

Today has been a hectic day, to say the least. I took the article to Dr. Owens' office to have it scan over it and ask a couple questions about attribution. It was just going to be a daily grade toward the class. Apparently he decided that it should be in The Lariat.

"Can you get pictures and submit this by 5?" Owens asked.

I had 30 minutes.

I ended up using photos from the team's photographer, Josh Ward (crediting him, of course). I submitted 4 photos with the article and notified the coach that Baylor Hockey might finally be getting some exposure. They deserve it.

hockey players have cute butts.

Thank goodness it's hump day.

I'm writing an article for one of my journalism classes and I'm covering the Baylor Hockey Team. Tonight I'm riding with Brian to his practice in Duncanville so I can interview the players and coaches and get some pictures.

I'm going to be so legit.

I love hockey, simply adore it. Never really liked it before I started dating Bri. Well, let me rephrase: I just wasn't really aware of how attractive of a sport it is. Hockey fights are the epitome of manliness and it just so happens that my boyfriend is pretty manly and can knock people down. It's also just an intense, adrenaline-filled game.

I have all my interview questions written in a little notebook. My camera is charging as we speak. And a heavy sweatshirt is ready for the occasion. It gets cold in the hockey rink. Oh, and Jennifer is coming too; maybe she will meet the man of her dreams in a sweaty jersey and skates.

Sleep, you're ugly on me

Sleeping, if observed, is an uncomfortably candid and unattractive portrait of a person.

Think about it: sleeping is basically the only time that you can be stared at without noticing that you are being stared at while your body does some strange stuff. I used to deny that I drooled in my sleep. Those denials were contradicted a few months ago when I woke up with a round wet smear on my pillowcase.

"It's not drool. It's just room evaporation." riiiight. If there was such a thing, maybe I would have gotten away with it. As luck would have it, there was a witness.

Snorers, heed this announcement. Snoring is not pretty. Nor is it manly or cute or silly. No one is ever going to say, when asked how they met their significant other, "I heard him snoring through the walls in my apartment complex and knew he was the man for me." Life is not that generous to your snorefests.

What about those indentations on the side of your face when you wake up from a particularly hard nap or an extra long slumber? The lines that cause one side of your face to penguin puff while the inside of your brain feels like it's been t-boned by a train. We won't be winning any all-star kisses by Prince Charming with those lines.

Rain Time

The rain whispers sweet nothings to the window.

Rain is one of my most favorite things. Okay, that is a small contradiction because when I'm walking to class and torrents of wet flood from the sky, I curse the rain. It also turns campus into a muddy maze of puddles and soggy, dirty earth. I am forced to use The Wall Street Journal as an umbrella which just sort of smears the ink and makes everything messy.

But on days like today when I'm sitting at work and no one is in the lab, the sound of rain is a welcome companion. Or on evenings like Friday when the week's lack of sleep catches up with me, an afternoon nap is surely complemented by the raindrops.

I also have an excuse to break out my Theta raincoat which I so dearly love...and paid way too much for.

My job is an awesome job

The hum of printers. The rustling of papers. The chatter of business students discussing the latest Obama speech. and their accounting projects. I'm at work.

You're welcome for setting that oh so serene and inviting scene.

I get to write a lot in my journalism classes. It's nice because I like to write. Always have and probably always will. I've also found out that I have been doing a lot of stuff wrong. I won't go into those melodramatic details, but let's just say that once you get into the tedious tact of "Writing for Media Markets," you begin to respect those news men and women who file news stories in a day or less. It's hard work.

One of my classes is set up to run just like a press conference so we have to take notes in class. Duh. That's no different than any other class. But in this particular class, the notes we take need to be direct quotes by our peers and our professors just in case we are assigned a story to write that night where we have to use those quotes. It's happened twice already. We take notes and ask questions just like in a press conference setting and then we're given 3 hours to file (email) our story to prof.

I like it though. At first I was extremely overwhelmed...especially when the number of students in the class has dwindled down to a meer 9 students out of the original 16.

I think I'm going out tonight. I usually don't go out on school nights, but it's been really frustrating that I haven't been able to sing at Scruffs the past couple of Wednesday nights. There is time for school and there is time for fun. and tonight I think fun is going to get the better of me.

Brian had his first hockey practice tonight and the boys actually have about ten games lined up for their season. They just got a new coach who seems pretty adament about building up the Baylor Hockey Team, so I hope he's not all talk and I hope those games actually transpire and I hope that Baylor hockey becomes a widely followed event.

Just Kidding.

I know that last one isn't going to happen considering the closest ice we have around here is in Arlington. The boys have to travel there every Wednesday night (they leave at 6 and don't usually get home until 2am) and sometimes games are even farther. They deserve to have a real season this year.

The Magic Button

I have said this many times before, but if it weren't for class, college would be great.

That's a joke. But think about it. If we could magically press a theoretical button and all of the knowledge that we learn in our selected majors could suddenly just be imbedded into our brains. Wouldn't that be nice? well, maybe...but maybe we would miss a couple of things from that zoom fire when the magic button transferred information into our brains. or maybe not.

I wouldn't mind a bunch of late nights doing nothing but sitting and watching Lost with boyfriend or having drinks and giggling with my friends about everything.

I get tired of busy homework assignments that don't really mean anything and the wrinkles that all-nighters from my former Chem and Bio days gave me. It would have been nice to avoid those events in my college career.

That seems a little lazier than most people like to picture. It would probably also mean a ton of blogs. Joyful occasion.

"there is no excuse for not trying," President Obama said in his "back to school" speech today. He's probably right. Generation Me is already considered a lazy, uncultured, apathetic generation ... and I completely just proved that stereotype to be true.

Like I said, it was just a joke. I don't honestly wish a beam of information into my head without having to learn it first. What kind of experiences would that give me?

And most likely, we would all weigh 3oo pounds.

I would like to Thank Mr. Obama for discouraging the kind of view that I just pointed out. success starts in the school system. So let's go learn something.

clean sheets

I love the feeling and smell and ... cleanliness of clean sheets. I would wash my sheets every day if I could. But I can't. That would waste a lot of sheets. Plus I hate doing laundry.
This weekend was a good relaxation time away from school and obligations and stuff. It was my dad's birthday and I completely forgot it was my dad's birthday until my mom texted me Friday afternoon saying, "Did you remember it was Dad's birthday today?"

Oops. and no, I didn't.
Sometimes I get so caught up in my own little life that I forget about other things that are important. You know, like parents' birthdays. I'm not a selfish person but I think sometimes we are ALL a little selfish. I don't like that part of me.

I ended up getting Popster a present for his birthday on Saturday and hopefully I see them sooner than later so I can give him his Baylor pajama pants (he really likes Baylor stuff...more than Texas Tech, HA!).

Not sure why, but here are some random pictures. REALLY RANDOM. don't judge me.

Yes, it does snow in Kerrville, TX. Here is a picture to witness the bounty. and yes, I am wearing hot pink tights with tennis shoes. or "sneakers" as Jennifer would say.

This picture is an ode to Jennifer. It's true, there is a part of me that likes cats. A very small little part of me. I prefer fat cats. So plump up Indie.

Men doing what men do. I guess.

Go clean your sheets and get ready for a great week.

ambiguous posting

This week played a disappearing act. It went by quickly. I barely had time to stress out about school and, let me tell you, that is quite a rarity.

I'm trying to become one of the "favorites" in one of my journalism classes. I read bubooks reviews and it says that he picks favorites. Well, I want to be one of those. Today I was especially gabby in class. I shared some pretty enlightening experiences about how I used to feel prejudiced in the waitressing biz. He seemed intrigued. Nice. I'm generally not a brown-noser, but I think it is especially important to get to know my professors, especially this guy...he knows his stuff. If bubooks tells me to do it, I'm gonna do it with all my heart and soul.

This is my 4.0 semester, I can feel it.

Since I am becoming a well-read news consumer now, I was reading the Baylor Lariat and discovered that the Waco Hippodrome is officially re-opening for friday movie nights. This Friday they are showing The Godfather. In HD. For 5 bucks. Am I going to be there? You bet your blogging little behind that I'm going to be there! They're going to show a lot of the old classic movies which is really cool because the Hippodrome is the original place they were shown when they first came out way back when.

All depending on whether Brian and I go to College Station this weekend, of course. I really want to go, but Greg is...being difficult. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Well, TGIW everyone. Happy Laboring.

I sort of like School.

I would like to start this off by saying that Gumby's Pizza Rolls truly are a delicious indulgence and I am extremely jealous that I will not be able to indulge with matneyrae.blogspot.

The next thing I would like to discuss is that fact that Beej (commonly known as Brian Patches Rolater) ate at Rosa's last night for Taco Tuesday without me! I can't help it that I have class until 9pm...you should never ditch a woman on the night of the week that she looks the most forward to in regard to FOOD. If Gregory Scott is a fuddy-duddy, then Brian James is a TRAITOR.

To be honest, I don't have much to write about. School is going...schooling-ly. I don't have to go to Theta meetings on Monday nights anymore because of my Monday evening class (which, by the way, is a FANTASTIC class)... so I really can't tell ya how Theta is going. The VP of Education does my announcements every meeting so I don't have to resign. I'm pretty glad about that. I think I might want an Exec position next year so keeping this position and not having to "resign" is a good way to get on Exec.

I like my journalism and marketing classes A LOT. One of my journalism classes is going to be my hardest class by a land slide this semester but that will be good. We get to put some our news stories in The Lariat (Baylor's newspaper) if they are good enough. I really wanted to write an interest piece on the Baylor Hockey Team (there is no ice in Waco, they have to travel 2 hours just to practice, they have legit players from Canada, some of the kids have been playing hockey since they were 3 or 4 years old...I thought it would be a great piece) but we don't get to be that creative and my professor assigned our stories. I'm covering nonprofit work with the elderly. Ho-Hum.

I hope your weeks are going schooling-ly. Like mine.

Dear Blogspot, it's been awhile...

I have had a fantastic week so far! I really enjoy my classes and since I have 2 evening classes (once a week, one on Monday night and one on Tuesday night) it's basically like I'm taking 12 hours when I'm actually taking 18! I have 17 hours a week at the Computer Lab hahahaha and I have been so productive there lately. For one of my Journalism classes, we had to write an 800 world self bio and I finished it at work when I most likely would have waited until the night before and stayed up late to finish it. Wheee sitting around doing nothing and getting paid for it is the life.

The weekend was really fun! There was a lot going on just because it's the first weekend of school and no one has tests yet and I had a great time going out with my girlfriends. Saturday was the Margarita and Salsa Festival and bands like Randy Rogers and Eli Young were there!

Sunday is winding down now and I'm reading for one of my Marketing classes...I'm actually enjoying the textbook. What??? Yes, that is correct. I'm. enjoying. my. text. book.

I think the roomies and I are going to have one of my friends who is a photography/journalism major take pictures of us for the apartment. She is wanting to take pictures to build her portfolio so she is doing it for freeeeeeee so I'm really excited about that. We just have to find a day/weekend where me and jennifer and vanessa are all free. That's going to be the hardest part - we have completely different schedules! But hopefully it will work out because I think it would be completely cool and absolutely cheesy to frame a large picture of the 3 of us in the living room. ahhh, please let that happen.
I baked cookies this evening for the girls that got 4.0's last semester in Theta (whoo a Scholarship Chair's duties never end) ...and I ate several of them as you can tell. Here is 1 partially eaten batch. Oops. There were snickerdoodles that I had a few of as well.

I have always wanted a lamp like this...and I happened upon one at Goodwill on Saturday! it was only $4.99 and it is in perfect condition. I think these lamps are so cool and would look perfect in a study someday. For now, the desk in my bedroom will have to enjoy it.

I have spent a long time trying to figure out how to decorate my bookshelf. I have a lot of random things (do you see the owl?) and for the most part, my room isn't "cluttered looking" at all. however, this bookshelf is allowed to be a little bit cluttered and I think I like it right now. My dad made this bookshelf for me when I was like 12 so I have always kind of liked it...and now it gets to be in my room again!

I found this at Salvation Army for $10! I'm going to paint it and sand it up a little bit better, but I thought it was really great!

Have a great week! and matney (since you are just starting class), GOOD LUCK. and don't walk on the grass.

first day.

Today was the first day of school. It actually went better than expected. I think it's getting better because I'm actually getting into upper level classes now instead of blow offs like Theater.

I'm in class from 10:10am to 1:10pm, then I have one evening class (with Brian) from 5:30 to 8pm.

My first class is called Pro Selling and Communication and my professor is amazing! He is an older guy (probably our dads' age), he wears blue glasses, he seems like one of those snobby older men that wear really nice suits and Gucci shoes, only instead of being uppity, he is really nice and eager to share his knowledge of the selling/marketing/business world with our hungry young minds. He is also a high school football coach.

My second class, eh. Not really fond of. It's Quantitative Business Analysis II (pretty much statistics) and while my teacher is precious (she was definitely a lil' hottie in her day), I just don't get very fired up about crunching numbers and regression analysis.

My third class was Business Writing and I think it's going to be pretty interesting as well. My teacher has actually heard of Kerrville and we got into a pretty intense discussion about the old flower children who are now in their 60's and 70's (but don't realize it) who attend the Kerrville Folk Festival aka hippie fest of the year. She's real loopy, my kind of prof.

The evening class I have, Principles of Marketing ... was FUN. Yes, it's true. School can be fun. When you have a total bad ass, smart ass, kick ass professor who is a frat boy from Cornell and describes himself as a tool who orders hot chocolate from Starbucks. It was literally a comedian tour the entire class period and the 2.5 hours went by quickly!

This is my day in summary. Hope you enjoyed my day as much as i did...or didn't. I haven't decided. I also just ate two bowls of ice cream.

I don't want to go

ugh. ugh. ugh. ugh. ugh.

I am not ready for school to start. This was absolutely the best summer of my life so far and now it's ending. My woes are immense. IMMENSE, I TELL YOU and NEVER ENDING.

I didn't buy a parking sticker (they were $225!!!) for this semester so it looks like i'll be a)hitching rides to school every day or b)riding the glorious bus to school everyday. I like the bus, but I seem to miss it quite often (the whole punctual thing and me ...yeah, we don't really mesh well).

I just changed the time of one of my classes like an hour ago and so now instead of having it on Tues/Thur, I have it on Monday evenings from 5:30 to 8pm. I'm also taking a Tuesday evening class from 6:30 to 9pm. we'll see how that goes.

I wish that I was as lucky as Matney and got to start school on Aug 31st. I envy her terribly right now. I know I'm not supposed to envy people, but how can I NOT when she gets a whole other week to do nothing that involves school?!?! TOTAL ENVY.

I also have a class with Brian now. ha. love in the classroooooooom.

I guess I'm going to hit the hay now (be shocked, Hannah and Jennifer. I'm going to bed before 3am). I'm rather tired from running errands and getting ready for escuela today, plus I have to wake up at like 8:45 because I'm not really sure when the bus comes (I'm prepared) so I need some shut-eye.

I created a new blog for Theta (scholarship stuff). check it out. www.thetabaylor.blogspot.com - I just posted the first entry. Have a good night and good first day of school (except for Matney because she doesn't have to worry about starting school for another week).

August Twenty-Second

Today has been a pretty lazy day. It's welcome weekend so there has been a lot going on ever since I got back from the beach. Tonight won't be any different. I enjoy that, and it makes me ready for school to start ...seeing all the new freshman out at parties has been fun. It will be interesting to see what Theta's new pledge class is like this year. There's a whole semester before rush starts ... that I am very glad about. I don't think I could deal with rush right now...although I'm a gamma chi this year so I don't have to actually be in on as much stuff as normal.

I'm not ready for classes to begin. If it weren't for class, college would be great. haha. I don't really believe that...I enjoy some of my classes and since I'm actually going to be starting in on classes that pertain to my major it should be a lot better.

This was a pointless blog. I'll leave you with a picture of me and my littles. I'm not sure why. I just like the picture. It describes our little family perfectly!

The Self-Timed Getaway

If I had to pick an awkward theme for our South Padre trip (that's what people do, right? pick themes for their vacations?!) it would be Self Timer. We had a lot of fun with the ole ST. I had to find random things to set the camera on, such as my car or a stubby palm tree. It was great and it totally added many points to our coolness level.

We had a good journey. We had to wait in line at the inspection station for a pretty long time (they were doing very thorough checks) I think partly because there was a high speed chase in Padre that we were in the middle of on our way out of town ... and apparently there was some illegal who injured a cop. Pretty intense.

creativity squared

I did a couple of teeny weeny crafty woman things today. First of all, I had these 2 little boxes on my bookshelf and ... I didn't really like them. I don't know why, but I have a plethora of these kinds of storage boxes (these are some of the smaller ones I have) and most of them end up under my bed ... storing nothing but dust.

Anyway, I decided that since these were small and since I bought a huge book of $6 scrapbooking paper at walmart the other day (I have been trying to figure out what to do with it...I can't pass up scrapbooking paper when i see it ON SALE). So i decided DUH the only logical thing to do with this huge book of scrapbooking paper is to USE IT! So i reverted to 10th grade Geometry class and cut out the shapes of boxes from 2 different sheets of paper.

This is the finished product. I am OBSESSED with this ribbon that i tied on the pink box. bought 5 yards at walmart when i was moving into my apartmet (for "decorating purposes") and have thus far used it on several items to add pizzazz. ITS THE BEST.

I'm also known to go a little ribbon decor crazy ... bows add such sweet touches. ahhh.

I liked these scrapbooking letters a lot! I decided that I should go ahead and give in to my creative (though somewhat juvenile) urge and re-vamp one of my picture frames. Wheeee. I believe this frame was actually a gift from matney for high school graduation. Anyway, when she gave it to me it had something cute on it ... I'm sure of it. But over the years, that cuteness has left the frame and now it's looking rather drab. and that's cork around the picture so it's very bulletin-board-esque, and I think it deserved some re-vamping. This is the finished product of the picture frame. I guess I will put a picture of Brian and I in it one of these days. Right next to another frame that is picture-less (I have friends, I promise). And right next to the boxes that I'm sort of thinking remind me of something in a nursery. Still better than they were before though.
Ta-Da.

I'll be packing for the beach soon. Yay beach. And I'm still working on my random and allegedly impressive mix of songs for the roadtrip.

worthy of commentary

I am feeling very guilty right now. I have used a tanning bed the past 2 days in a row. I just got back from baking my skin, actually. I hate the smell right after you tan in a bed. It's the smell of your skin having been burnt to a crisp, literally. I was getting rather pasty and just needed a "glow" for when I leave for the beach on Monday.

I still don't have a good quote for the long piece of wood that has been pictured in previous blogs. I was considering using the quote "Life is Beauty Full" from Hannah's blog, but I need something a little bit longer because the piece of wood is 4 feet long and the stencil letters I bought are only like 2 inches tall. I WOULD LOVE SOME SUGGESTIONS! I have been googling quotes for the past week and haven't really found anything that would be good for a bedroom/living room (I'm not sure if I'm going to hang it in the living room or my bedroom yet).

ALSO. B and I are making playlists for the beach trip. We're each making 4 mix cd's and he has already made two and I have made zero! I need some GOOD SONGS that are very road-trippy and also upbeat and beachy so as not to let us fall asleep at the wheel. PLEASE HELP IN THIS CONQUEST. I have made so many mix cd's in my life that I feel like he has heard all of my songs and cd's and I want him to be like "dang, katie burn me a copy of this cd."

I expect a rush of comments on this blog, considering I have asked TWO, that's right, TWO questions.

if i had a band i would name it Blogspot.

...It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis.

(and when you don't have to pay an electric bill...)

IN OTHER NEWS, I found this priceless gem of a photo while definitely not stalking the one on the right's facebook profile (pshh, who uses facebook anymore?). I would like to note that the very couch pictured in this photo is located in the boy on the right's apartment as we speak - he is 20 years old now.

I wonder how many children were conceived on that bad boy. kidding!

This is the piece of wood that I'm not quite sure what to make of. I was thinking maybe painting it a deep teal color and then writing or stenciling in gold letters a single word or a good quote. Or painting it brown and doing the gold lettering. I'm indecisive. Shoot me some ideas. Oh, and please excuse the I-look-like-I'm-on-drugs appearance ... I swear I'm not.

What would a girl do without a manly man to photograph while he sands his new future table of unmentionable purpose? Answer: she would make her own unmentionables!

tra la la, you're cute.

New Mexico, Part II

happy feet.

Because the lovely sky decided to start HAILING on us, we found refuge in a nearby garage. This was someone's garage to their HOUSE ... Imagine a random car pulling into YOUR garage. Yes, we were those people. This is us taking pictures inside the anonymous garage. It was scary. Those are our scary faces. Below you will see The Garage that we chose for refuge. I would say it's a prefect candidate if you're in the market for sketchy garages to hide from hail in.

We went to a bunch of cute shops (did I mention it was raining and hailing?!) and Hannah and I decided it would be a good idea to take pictures in the dressing room. We scoured the racks for some GREAT pieces. The lady at the counter was scowling at us as we went into a single dressing room together ... after we had been whispering about what to take inside. I'm sure she thought we were stealing her precious fashions. The best part about this store was that on the entrance door a sign was posted that literally said "do not take pictures in the store." We didn't see it until we left the store, but come on, how often does that actually happen??

Below, the fabulous Hannah Stewart is pictured in a lively and very fashion forward fur VEST made of the finest quality fake minx. and above is none other than yours truly (looking rather pale, I might add) photographed in a similar fur vest, red kimono, and American flag visor. These styles will be gracing your neighborhood Vogue any day now. Don't let your copy get away.

Taking pictures of Hannah and Little Ava is one of my most favorite things to do! Too bad I don't see them quite enough! I would like to let everyone in on a little secret: prior to my NM trip, I had never fed a baby! Yes, it's true. And I have another tidbit of hush-hush: I'm not the biggest fan of babies either. Don't get me wrong, they are precious and cute... and my babies (in the way way WAY future, mind you) are going to be my pride and joy ...but right now at 20 years old, I'm just like, eh, it's a small thing that cries and has to be fed every few hours. Which I actually enjoyed doing!! Ava is the sweetest thing. If and when I have a baby, let it be as cute as her. We ate at a cute little coffee/drink/dessert place Saturday night after shopping and horse races. It was called The Dreamcatcher and this is where we decided to move once we realized that the band was 3 rock hippies who didn't seem to like the idea of playing quietly. Oh, and did I mention that this cute little coffee/dessert place already had violated the city noise ordinance?

thriftin'

The crowned jewel of Goodwill finds ... DA DA DA. This was actually Jennifer's purchase, but I must take credit for the initial "spotting" of the item. Priced at $14.00, this is an unbeatable bargain! It's rustic antique-y blue metal with a storage compartment for magazines or anything you want and the top is colorful mosaic. Obsessed. This candle stand is about 3 feet tall and I paid $2 for it! I have seen other such stands at stores like Bed Bath and Beyond and Target, ranging from $25.99 to $58.00! I am pleased with this little addition. I kind of have a swirl-black-metal theme going on in my room ... didn't mean for that to happen, but it just kind of happened so this was an obvious fit. The candle came wrapped in plastic with a gold ribbon and a gold base for $0.50 at Goodwill. This is probably 1/3 of the current and ongoing "mug collection" that has been bragged about. Each mug was found at a different thrift store, none of them more expensive than $1. I'm thinking about moving the ever-expanding collection to the top of our cabinets (the room mates have suggested such...2 mugs have already been broken in freak accidents).

Lamp originally priced at $6.99. Fridays are 25% off days at Goodwill, so it was 25% off of that. I still haven't found a good shade for it yet ... but the texture and antique quality is great and even better in person! This is our fabulous $20 coffee table...purchased at Goodwill. the bottom of it says 1968, so I would say that it's in pretty damn good condition for being alive 40 years.