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.