Day 86: Happy New Year!

It's 2011!

Since I'm writing this on January 1st, I can say that. And since New Year's Eve is the only real time that people celebrate the New Year (why is that? weird.), I'm including the New Year celebration in this blog post. So Happy New Year! I think my resolution this year is to try something new every week. Either a food/recipe, an activity, go to a new place, etc. So stay tuned for new things coming soon!

Today my mom and I went shopping and I ran into one of my best friends that I hadn't gotten to see yet over break. Yay! I rang in the New Year with my family. We watched the Back Street Boys poor singing and the ball drop followed by 30 seconds of hoopin' and hollerin' before we returned to our respective preoccupations. Mine was watching Dawson's Creek. So... Happy New Year. Hope you had a great 2010 and are looking forward to all the opportunities that 2011 has to offer.

The Seventh thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

7) Eating Scrumptious Food

6) Singing Christmas Carols

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 85: Despicable Me

Today was an alright day with the family. My 6 year old cousin and I watched the movie Despicable Me. It just happens to be absolutely adorable and filled with really cute Minions (I want one). Other than that, going to the library, and taking my cousin to the post office for the first time, today wasn't too eventful.

During the long drive back home, we met a really wacky Florida Highway Patrolman, got off an exit before the rest stop (didn't know) to go to the bathroom, stopped for ice cream sundaes at Dennys, and laughed at all the idiots driving. Got home really late/early and I'm still awake. What's wrong with this picture??? I don't know. But I am thoroughly enjoying Dawson's Creek. Which is probably the main reason I'm still awake. NOW bed time. Enjoy the last day of 2010!!!

The Sixth thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

6) Singing Christmas Carols

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 84: Boca Adventure

Today I visited Hannah (roommate) and Raychel (RA) in Boca since I'm only 30 minutes away. We went to a delicious place called "Lindburgers" and then went to dessert at Ritas. We also stopped in Publix for a potty break and for me to cash in some scratch offs. It was a fantastic time getting to see my friends from school.

Pesto Burger, Cheese Burger, and Pizza Burger at Lindburgers

Publix Fun! And... we all wore teal!

Tonight after we made Chicken and Dumpling Soup, put the kid to bed, and chilled, we were ready to close our door, but the family dog was napping on her favorite carpet which happens to be in our room. She's a very sweet old dog who wouldn't get up. It took us at least five minutes to get her to wake up and move. We eventually bribed her with some of her food. :)

The Fifth thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 83: To Infinity... And Beyond!

I think the highlight of today was playing with Buzz Lightyear with my cousin Kyle. I sure had fun... We played around the house a little bit, then went to Chickfila and Super Target. We made Spaghetti for dinner and played a new Wii game called Smarty Pants. It was a great family day!

Bonus: Helped my cousin Scott learn how to use Blogger and hopefully we will have a blog or website up really soon!

Also, I take back what I said about writing the blog super early. TONIGHT is the earliest at 10:15pm! Amazing!

The 4th thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

4) Sitting by the Fire

3) Visiting with Family

2) Two-ply Toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 82: Traveling South for the Winter

Today my mom and I drove South for the next few days. We are visiting my cousin Scott and his kids Kyle (6) and Brennan (18mos). Brennan is sick and in the hospital (continual prayers needed), so we are here to spend time playing with Kyle while we're all on break. Be looking for a link to the website about Brennan that I'll be working on the next few days. Yep, that's right, I'm starting my cousin Scott on blogging on a website. Hooray! I love being able to be connected with my family.

On the 5 hour drive today, Mom and I played the license plate game. We shouted out whenever we saw an out of state tag. Whoever got it first got the point. Mom won 11-9. Pretty entertaining...

I forgot to tell you! During the Christmas season, my mom and I count how many times we hear certain Christmas songs. It started with Feliz Navidad, last year was Walking in a Winter Wonderland, and this year was Jingle Bell Rock. Between my mom, brother, and I, we totaled 62 Jingle Bell Rocks this season. That was only what we heard. Next year we want to count Sleigh Ride. It's SO popular! (In case you were wondering, Winter Wonderland has them all beat by a huge landslide, not that we remember the actual number right now...)

Off to bed since Kyle will inevitably wake us up super early. As my cousin Jamie who is currently visiting, too, put it tonight: " As age increases, spontaneous non-sugar-induced energy bursts decrease exponentially. It is a proven fact." Kyle was Crazy Hyper. And all of us were not to say the least. Ok. Goodnight! Wow... this is the earliest I've posted like... ever.

The Third thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

3) Visiting with my Family

2) Two Ply Toilet Paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 81: Lounging

I slept in for a long time today, went to church, out to dinner, and back home. Where I watched Julie and Julia. I love that movie. It's so cute! If you haven't seen it, you really should watch it! It's just a great movie. About a girl who 1) cooks and 2) blogs. AND is played by Amy Adams, who I used for my doppleganger last year. So.... You can see how much I love this movie! How cool would it be if I turned into a professional writer just from writing a blog? Highly unlikely, but it is keeping me entertained (and you, I hope...)

Only other big news of the day: I have started a new TV series to work through! Any guesses on what it is? Okay I'll tell you - Dawson's Creek. I had watched a few of the later episodes since my mom watched the TV show when I was a little younger. So decided to start it. Only problem is that the episodes are longer than the 22 minute Scrubs or Boy Meets World episodes, so I'll be watching fewer episodes a day. Although, since 1) I'm on break right now, 2) I don't have a lot of school on M,W,F and 3) there are less episodes in a season, and only 6 seasons, it should be a pretty quick show. I'm already almost finished with the first season, so YAY. The episode I finished up tonight was a spooky one and I HATE scary/suspenseful/creepy/gory things, so I'm a little uneasy about falling asleep. I know I'll have nightmares...

Anywho: Bed and nightmares are on the way. Hope your Christmas weekend was amazingly memorable.

The second thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

2) Two-ply toilet paper

1) And a baby King born to save me

Day 80: Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today's the big day: Jesus is Born! Hooray!!!

To celebrate, we all slept in for a very long time. My dad made holiday shaped pancakes (snowmen, tree, bell, wreath, snowflake, etc.). Then we all just kind of chilled around the house, wrapping presents and getting ready for dinner. We ate dinner (ham, green beans, pineapple baked goodness that Danielle and I are DEFINITELY going to make sometime, potatoes au gratin, and yummy rolls). Neither my brother nor I felt very well after though. Perhaps something to do with the boil water advisory? Not sure, but still don't feel great. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Finally we wrapped up the night (hehe) by opening presents. Yes, we do wait around to open presents. It sure beats waking up early. We all had a great night and we are so blessed for everything that God has given us. My brother's girlfriend got me these really cute Paris-themed pj pants that I'm lounging in right now. And I built the Eiffel Tower puzzle my parents got me. Hooray for a French-y evening. Now I'm off to bed!

I hope your Christmas helped you realize how blessed and loved you are. May God continue to bless you each and every day.

New thing for the True 12 Days of Christmas: I have revised the song to fit me. So here goes, one day at a time!

The first thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

1) A baby King born to save me.

Day 79: Venite Adoremus Dominum

Which translates to "Come let us adore the Lord". MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! What an exciting time of year this is. To celebrate, I headed to an annual Christmas brunch at my friends' house for a while, and then returned home to spend more time with my cousins. They left shortly after I got home and then I got ready for church. This included doing my nails, of course.

I played flute at 3 Christmas services today. It was very busy, but lots of fun. Now I'm exhausted, but ready to head out to "tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born". We read from Luke's nativity story tonight and heard about how the shepherds were told that Christ was born. They traveled to see him and then, as Luke says: "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." How awesome is this to think about? Most people have heard the nativity story. But what would have happened if the few people that were there (Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep, etc.) never told anyone? It'd be far less likely that we would know the story and become so excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday, over 2000 years later! It's just phenomenal to think about.

So thank you, Lord, for sending the shepherds out to tell the world about your Son. And thank you SO much for sending your Son to save us! <3

Merry Christmas! Remember to think of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Not the presents or Santa, but JESUS!

Day 78: Water Main Break!

Tonight, right when we were ready to start making dinner, the water stopped working. My cousins who are visiting and I headed to Publix to use the bathroom and be able to wash our hands. That's when we realized that it wasn't just a faulty bill problem at home... We soon found out that the water was in fact out throughout most of the county. A huge water main broke, leaving us all stranded. Not literally. But still. It was annoying. So after buying 5 jugs of water and predicting a baby-wipe shower for the morning, we just settled down to dinner, a walk around the Christmas lights display at the gardens and gift exchanges. During that time the water came back on, so we're all good now! We were laughing too hard in Publix though and I couldn't wait to tell you all about it!

Also today, we finally got our Christmas tree up and the fireplace decorated! Woohoo! :) It's the same tree I had up in my dorm room.

Hope you had a great Christmas Eve Eve!!! As I'm writing it's officially Christmas Eve! YAY!

Day 77: Elf

Tonight I went to my bestie's house for an "Elf" party. We settled down with her sister, sister's best friend, and several people from their youth group. It was a blast! I love that Christmas break provides the opportunity for everyone to get to see each other and relax. I only have 3 real days of break though, so that's kind of upsetting. As you all know, from now until Sunday is traditionally considered "family time" for Christmas. And then Monday through Thursday next week my mom and I are going to visit family in South Florida. Then I leave the next Monday for school!!! And what's worse is that, as exciting as the Bahamas class is, I won't have a spring break to hang out here. So unless I come home for a weekend, I'll be gone until the end of April. AUGH. Oh well.

Still love Christmas!

Day 76: Busch Gardens

Today my friend Ella and I went to Busch Gardens! It was a lot of fun. We got to ride Montu 5 times and saw this awesome Christmas On Ice show!! This picture was from one of my favorite numbers. The little girl (center, in white) was amazing and so cute! All the rest of the skaters were some sort of toy or character. Bears, Raggedy Ann & Andy, King & Queen, Jesters... So cute!

After the Christmas on Ice show, we saw some small kangaroos, wallaby's and even a wallaroo.... I don't know, that's what the guide said. They were all super cute and really friendly!

Finally, we finished up the day by taking the train around the park, mostly to see some animals. While the real zebras were infinitely more awesome, this one was much more photogenic.



Merry Christmas!!

Day 75: Chilling

Besides it being cold (for me), I just kind of chilled today. I had a dentist appointment that was a lot less painful than I expected it to be, so that's good. And then went shopping for materials to make a few friends' Christmas presents. Pictures will be up after they receive said gifts. I'm going to Busch Gardens in the morning, so need to get some rest!

Who's watching the lunar eclipse?? If you did and took a picture, post it in a comment and share!

<3

Day 74: Musical Moments

I played flute in a student Christmas Concert today at a nearby church. It was fantastic to get to play and listen to other students as well! I love playing flute and glorifying God at the same time. So great!

Also got to go back to my old youth group for the annual Christmas Party. Hooray fun parties!!!

Watching Practical Magic on TV right now, but laptop is going to die, so wanted to write blog quickly. Talk to you soon!!

Day 73: Christmas Parties

Today I went to two Christmas parties with my family. The first was with my dad's side of the family at my Grandparent's house. The second was at my old neighbor's house. Both were fun! We were the last people to leave my neighbor's at 1 am (and a 40+ min drive home), and were having a great time catching up. So I'm truly exhausted. It's very entertaining to be a designated driver, let me tell you!

Day 72: "I'm Making Waffles!"

I ate homemade waffles for two meals today... They were delicious and the company was fantastic! I loved getting to see my best friends from home. When I first saw my friend Kaylee, she ran across the courtyard to give me a hug. At the same time, my friend Tyler ran from the other direction, previously unseen. During all the running, the drumline was playing on their way back from a performance. Needless to say, it was like a perfect moment out of a movie! So awesome!

After dinner, I went to see my best friend Grace dance in a Nutcracker Suite performance at our local gardens. It was great to see her dance, see all my old dance friends, and all of Grace's family. I love break!

Finally, I found out early this morning that I passed Calc2!! Yayyy!!!! :)

Day 71: Endings

I officially ended my first semester of college today! It's amazing how fast the time has passed since move in day. It just blows my mind.

I also officially finished watching Scrubs today. I've now watched every episode of all 9 seasons. And I'm quite sad to be finished! I loved watching them all in order and recognizing things from other seasons that I would have forgotten if I had been watching them in real time. Love Scrubs, but they really didn't need the last season of Med School. But oh well. It's really over this time, so no worries about them messing it up more. The final episode of the (real) last season was Peter Gabriel's The Book of Love, which I'm listening to as I blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Got to go to Starbucks with one of my best friends from home today. Boy is it good to be back! Going to be a very VERY busy 18 days, let me tell you that!

Safe travels to everyone this Holiday season!

Day 70: Good, Clean Studying

Today was a "study day" for Calc2's exam tomorrow. In between studying, I cleaned my room like I've never cleaned before. Floors swept, mopped; fridge defrosted and emptied; room dusted. And best of all: packed for leaving tomorrow! Everything in one suitcase (besides what I gave my brother to take home for me later...) I'm so ready to leave. Just 2 dishes left to wash and breakfast to eat before my exam tomorrow. And then I'm home-free! Literally. Hope everyone else has had a great week either on vacation, getting ready for it, or studying for exams.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

Day 69: Chemistry and Christmas Cookies!!

I'm much more excited about the Christmas cookies than the Chem exam, but hey, whatever. Got a B in my Chem class! Hooray!! Anyways: Cookies. So delicious. We have to defrost our fridges so there's nothing in them over the break. So Danielle had a whole lot of eggs and butter to use up. Hence Operation Bake-a-Lot. And it sure is tasty!!
Milk and White Chocolate with Peppermint Chunks, Milk Chocolate with White Chocolate Holiday Chips, both on Shortbread cookies, and Christmas Chocolate Chip cookies (not pictured). Everything is so delicious!!!

Finally, I took down all the decorations in the room today and organized a bit, recycled a lot, and started packing stuff. So excited to be home!!! It's now 3:30 am and I REALLY need to go to sleep so I have energy to study tomorrow (ew). Night!/Morning!

Day 68: Fantasizing about Warmth

It was VERY cold today. Mostly because it was really windy. I had to pull out the hot cocoa after my French exam!

I had my interview for the Bahamas research course today. Guess who's going to the Bahamas over spring break!?! Me!!! So I've been thinking about the warmth of Spring Break all today. Even though I actually hate the sunshine and heat... but still, the break will be awesome.

Chem exam in the morning and then a little relaxation and more studying. Only 3 days until I'm home! Woohoo!!

Day 67: Good News

Today several happy things happened.
1) I finally got a seat in the Bio2 class for next semester!
2) I found out that my friend Elizabeth is in that section so now I'll have a friend.
3) I studied for French exam and I'm confident about it.
4) I realized that I only need a 63% on my Chem exam to get a B in the class. Hopefully I can get higher, but it's definitely less stressful now...
5) I found out that I got a 12/10 on my last Calc2 quiz!!!
6) Therefore I calculated my grade and if I can get at least a 55% on the exam, I can get a C in the class. So I'm going to do better than that on the exam and therefore get a better course grade.
7) With all the expected grades (the minimum), I'll be getting a much higher GPA than I expected to. YAY!

Now. Off to bed to rest up for first final exam tomorrow. Bonne Chance a Tous! (Good luck to all)... It's the French exam.

Day 66: What Day is it??

I'm super confused about what day of the week it is, seeing that we had 2 days off of school before the weekend. So I just chilled in my room today. Did a little studying. My friend Sam came over and I painted snowflakes on her toes and we talked. Other than that, nothing special! Lots more studying tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

Day 65: Oot and A Boot

Woke up this morning and made Apple Latkes with Danielle. Yummy!!

Then my beautiful roommate left for break. So my room is now very lonely.

Danielle, her roomie Chelsea, and I went to dinner at TGI Fridays, sniffed trees at a Christmas Tree Lot, went to 3 different bookstores, and Target. Trees smelled great, laughed at what each bookstore didn't/did have that the others did/didn't, respectively. We ended up getting a great deal on books at Books a Million. So I'm definitely going there next time I need something. At Target, I bought an extra set of Christmas lights because the room is so dark. It's now very beautiful! Yay!!!

Headed to bed now and then nothing scheduled for tomorrow. Except some studying....

Day 64: Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Songs

Danielle and I made sweet potato casserole today for lunch. It was SO DELICIOUS!! Yumm. After that, I went to the Phi Lamb Christmas Party. Had a great time but left early to go to Christmas CRU. Which was amazing. It's just so great to participate in awesome Worship of our Lord. Just can't get over it. After we got back to the dorm, we had a little story time and then Raychel (R.A.) came in and visited and we just had a great time.

So for socializing, sweet potatoes, and Worship songs, today gets a YAY TODAY!!!

We sang Relient K tonight!!!

Day 63: End of the Semester

I'm finished with the classes for Fall Semester! Now just 3 exams left on Monday, Tues, and Thurs next week.

Hannah had her final acting showcase today, which was super great to see! All the actors did a great job.

Tonight we went to the Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas Party. It was lots of fun. Christmas Karaoke!

After that, Hannah and I watched the Christmas Glee from last night. It was awesome!!!

Now off to bed and sleeping in however long I want since there's no school tomorrow.

Day 62: Caroling and Crepes

Today I joined my RA Raychel and others for a Christmas Caroling session in the free speech zone on campus. We caroled for almost 2.5 hours! It was a blast! I played flute for some of the songs and ended up having a video project done about me. Glad I could help the project presenter! It was so much fun just getting to play and sing "just for fun". And wearing my Mickey Mouse Santa hat wasn't too bad either.

After caroling, my friend and I made crepes for our French class tomorrow. The teacher asked us to bring in food (related to France) for a party tomorrow. Hopefully people bring toppings!!! (aka Nutella!)

It was a good day. Last Calc2 test in the morning, then French party, a theater showcase that Hannah is in, dinner, and the CRU Christmas Party! So much (fun) stuff to do!

<3

Day 61: Winter Redesign

Re-did the blog for winter!!! Comments welcome.

Besides school, studying, and Phi Lamb today, Danielle and I made CHILI!! Yummy delicious hot chili. I also splurged for a Caramel Apple Spice drink at Starbucks. Oh, and I fell in the hallway on my way to the bathroom for a shower. The floor thought it was a slip-n-slide. Wrong. It is indeed a floor. But feeling better now.

I also did a Holiday Henna!

Have a great, cold day tomorrow. Christmas Caroling on campus!!!

Day 60: Partyyy

The first Christmas party of the season happened today! It was with our CRU community group (CG). Tons of fun and very yummy. Then we came home, had a floor meeting, a quick going away thing for our floormate, and then watched The Holiday together. (we being me and Hannah)

Loveee the Holiday. <3

Day 59: Holiday Nails!

Today I slept in really late, watched Scrubs, and went to dinner for our friend's birthday. But didn't feel all that great, so I went home when everyone moved to party part 2. I then returned home and did my nails! Tada:

That's it for today!

Day 58: Comedic Friday

Other than a lunch at the A Cafe with my big, Jenny, today was a normal boring school day. I went to the student union for a comedy show. It was not the people that they said were going to be there, so I was a little upset. But the headliner was pretty good. A little rude, but hey, we're at college.

Anyways. Going to bed, sleeping in and doing nothing until tomorrow night. :) Happy Weekend!!

Day 57: Date Bidding

For CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ), we are doing a fundraiser called Dinner/Dates. The girl community groups design a dinner for a guy's group and the guys design a date for the girls.
Our dinner is called the MeetBall. Meet new people. Have a ball. Eat meatballs. At the MeetBall. Spaghetti flinging included!

And the guys date that we bid on and won tonight is Cottage by the Sea - a relaxing trip to the east coast. :) We are all really excited for it, and the best part is that we are helping people get to go to a conference in Atlanta for Christmas break!! Hooray!!!

Speaking of Christmas, this is our whiteboard decoration for the season. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!!!

Day 56: Last Lab and Late Jams

Today was my Last. Chem. Lab!!!!! (until Chem2 if I end up taking that...) But still pretty exciting. And if we did well enough, we won't have to take the final exam!

Other than that, the only exciting thing is that tomorrow (well today now) is our great friend Katy's birthday. Hannah sang and I played flute for Happy Birthday at 12:26am. Moments later, Alyssa breaks out the Trombone and plays with Brooklyn singing along. We then combined our efforts for a third and final video mixing together like "peanut butter and jelly meets the bread" (or in our case Peanut butter and Jam!). Anyways it was a lot of fun. Especially at 12:30am. Since the floormates keep us up often...

Anyways, off to bed now after quite a bit of writing for my Digital class essay.

Goodnight! Listen to sweet melodies! (Note to self: Trombone and Flute do not sound that great on a laptop microphone when posted to Facebook...)

Day 55: Deck the Dorm

Decorating is SO much fun! Because now our room is lots more festive than it was earlier this week. We're waiting until we clean the room this weekend to take pictures, but we have a 3ft tree with lights, Santa hats, garland, snowman on door, dangling snowflakes and Christmas trees, and holiday rugs. Hooray!! Hopefully getting lights this weekend? Or batteries for the lights that I already have.

Anyways: Calc2 quiz went well (I think) today, one of my essays got pushed back to Friday for the due date, leaving me more time to spend on the other essay and the rest of my classes. And Danielle helped me with Chem Lab, therefore I am happy and understand this assignment! Last chem 1 lab tomorrow!

I'd also like to give a shout out to my friend Tyler back home who was just announced Section Leader for the percussion of our band. Congratulations and I'm so proud of you! <3

Humorous-but-not-so-funny thing of the day: I bring my yogurt with me to class every morning, and today it erupted all over the inside of my Vera Backpack and its contents. Needless to say it's really awkward to scoop yogurt out of your backpack in Calc2 discussion. Backpack is clean, notebooks are purple (blueberry-pomegranate flavor) and fruity-smelling, but still legible. This is why Publix was selling the yogurt for $0.25 a piece. The end.

(Last thing, I promise! The AOL radio station for Christian Christmas music is REALLY great!)

Day 54: Active-ness

Tonight was Initiation for Phi Lamb. I am now an Active sister, no longer a Pledge. Hooray!! It was a lot of fun and my big got me beautiful flowers (yellow daisies and roses, my favorite color and flowers!) I had decorated a paddle for her (sorority tradition thing). I'll put up pics later, but here's one of my "sister" Elisa and I!

Hair props go to Danielle. I love it so much I don't want to take it out!

After initiation, Jenny took me to Publix. We were asked why we were all dressed in white. Kinda funny. :)

Calc2 quiz tomorrow, so off to bed now. Cya!

Day 53: Brain Traffic

All I know is that I'm exhausted. Stayed up late, woke up early ish, went to church, crammed everything into the car and came back to school. Glad I'm back, but I'm freaked about how much work there is left to do!! Only 8 class days until finals :/ and I have 2 essays due this week among a bunch of other nonsense. So... blogs will probably be skimpy and full of complaining. I apologize in advance.

Welcome back to life (for 3 weeks anyways).

Day 52: Catching Up

I woke up this morning and went on a walk with Grace, my best friend. We did a Penny Walk; you flip a penny at each fork in the road. Heads is right, tails is left. We had a blast doing the walk through the gardens and talking at the same time. The last five minutes I was with Grace was when her dog FINALLY decided that he likes me. It was so cute and adorable, but really annoying since she's had him for two years and I've known him the whole time. After receiving kisses from the Cockapoo Mr. Darcy, I left for a lunch date with Ella.

Ella and I haven't talked in a while, but were great friends in middle and high school. It was so great to see her and get to catch up. The waitress was hilarious and loved our enthusiastic socializing. Luckily I get to see Ella again in 3 weeks for a recital at her church! Yay!!

We also celebrated my dad's birthday today. Leftover pie, cupcakes, and more pie and cupcakes! Mmm.

Heading back to Gainesville tomorrow afternoon. And homework to do when I get back.

Day 51: Putting Up Lights

On this beautiful Black Friday, I slept past all the deals and put up Christmas lights with my dad. It was a much better use of the day, in my opinion. I also went to Danielle's house for dinner/sitting by the fire. Lots of fun! I'm really tired and have more work to do tomorrow. Paddle, seeing the bestie for a little again, lunch with Ella, birthday dinner for my dad, and homework somewhere in between.

Tonight, I also applied for Tropical Marine Ecology, a field work course centered in the Bahamas over Spring Break. If I get in, that would be awesome. I'll let you know when I find out.

Happy weekend! Hope you got something special at Black Friday shopping today!

Day 50: Turkey Day!

Yummm - Today's food was so delicious! I made pancakes in Thanksgiving day shapes this morning while I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. My high school marching band and colorguard were performing, and they were amazing! So proud of them all! :)

After that, went to Kmart and got my skinny jeans and new Christmas lights for the house, then proceeded to the Bestie Grace's house for a little socializing. It was, as always, great to see her. I'm so thankful to have such an amazing best friend and her family that adopts me and makes me feel at home with them!

At my real home, my brother and his girlfriend arrived for the holiday. We had mashed sweet potatoes with rosemary and shallots, maple ginger carrots, green beans, broccoli, stuffing, turkey, two kinds of bread, sparkling grape juice for me and several different wines for everyone else, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. It was sooo yummy. I am so thankful for an amazing family and for being able to have all this food on our table and the ability to cook it.

After dinner, we went to Michael's to get some decoration type things. I have garland, ornaments, and crafts for Christmas! Yay!!

All in All, I am very thankful for this amazing day and everything that God has blessed me with.

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods." - Psalm 95: 1-3

Day 49: Brown Wednesday

I've declared today Brown Wednesday as opposed to Black Friday. Just because I went shopping a whole lot today. We avoided the crowds, saved more money than we spent at every store, and had time to try on over 50 different pairs of skinny jeans (proved unsuccessful...). So while everyone else is out rushing around the stores on Friday, I will be sleeping, hanging out with my friend, and putting up Christmas lights with my dad! Hehehehe.

List of items received today:

• gray dress pants
• black cardigan
• purple sweater thing
• red sweater
• aqua/brown jacket
• Christmas decorations
• an extra pair of my favorite gloves
• an extra pair of my ear buds (hello $5!?)
• a $12 mouse for my computer. Half off!
• white elephant gifts for Phi Lamb and CRU CG!
• a new can opener since someone *cough Alyssa cough* broke it...
• a battery operated snowflake
• one penguin and one snowman rug
• a lamb photo box (hello Phi Lamb something or other!)
  and most importantly:
• A PUMPKIN PIE!

So it was a lot of fun shopping today with my mom. We enjoyed listening to Christmas music in the stores and the car. Every year we count a certain song during the holiday season. The first year was Feliz Navidad, then Winter Wonderland (which was super high scoring!), and this year is Jingle Bell Rock. So anytime that either of us hears the song, we put a tally down. So far we're at 2. I'll keep an updated count on the blog!

Hope everyone had/has safe travels! My brother and his girl friend are headed hear tomorrow. And my High School band is performing in the Macy's parade in the morning (around 10:30) so you should definitely watch out for them. During the parade, making breakfast; after going to the best friend's house for a while to chill, then coming home to make food/eat food and work on my paddle. And go back to Michael's for pre-Black Friday sales. Hooray!!! I love break. Wish I didn't have any homework to do though...

<3

Day 48: Friendly Waves

I'm Home!!! (to my hometown, aka not at school) My friend Kit drove me home this afternoon and we had a great time talking, catching up, and jamming to music. There was this really annoying driver for about 2/3 of our drive. When he finally decided it was time to get off the road, we started clapping and sarcastically waving. Little did we know he apparently saw us! As he was exiting, he waved at us. It was pretty creepy but definitely hilarious! He didn't have a rear-view mirror (it was a weird van like vehicle) so he probably didn't see us cheering that he was leaving. The mystery remains... Still made the ride entertaining though.

When I got home tonight, I was able to enjoy Jeopardy, NCIS, NCIS: L.A., and The Good Wife on a TV in the comfort of my living room. I have to say that it was a lot more fun than watching it on my computer. Unfortunately, none of these shows will have new episodes next week, so I will be grumpy when I'm back at school with no TV to catch up on.

Bonus(es) for the day:

• My final paper for one of my classes was to be due next Tuesday, but the awesome teacher extended the deadline to Thursday!
• Elisa and I went to interview a professor for our class. He had left early for break. After scheduling the time with us... But luckily his grad student got him on the phone for a phone interview (complete with screaming children in the background) and it went well! This conversation led to...
• A description of a class he teaches in the Spring called Tropical Marine Ecology. The coursework includes going to the Bahamas over spring break to conduct field work. All inclusive (minus airfare) with tuition! Applications due next Wednesday and I'm definitely applying! What a fun class that would be!!

Well that's all I have for you. Besides the fact that I left my glasses at school. Grr...
Happy Pre-Thanksgiving Day! Safe Travels everyone!

Day 47: Dorm Disasters

Today had some really exciting things, but also several not so great things.

My big Jenny's older sister Amy's birthday was today. We painted the 34th Street Wall for her birthday! It was super fun and very relaxing. Happy Birthday Amy!

After I got home from Phi Lamb though, I found out that someone had (disgustingly) thrown up in the showers. All four of them. Ew. So Hannah, Brooklyn, and I made the trek up 4 flights of stairs to Danielle's floor where we stole away to nice, clean shower stalls to bathe. It was hilarious walking up and down the stairs in our bath robes, I must say. So many strange looks.

And finally, I'm waiting for my hair to dry while watching an episode of Scrubs, and Alyssa and Brooklyn's fire alarm starts going off. It's still going right now... No one else's alarm is going off, just theirs. Apparently the fire department may be coming? Their room is fine, no fire or smoke or anything. Apparently it's just because they're so "hot". ;)



Now waiting for the alarm to stop so we can go to sleep.

Heading back home tomorrow around 3!! Excited for the break to start.

AHH the alarm is getting higher pitched now... going to go see what they're doing to it. Goodnight!

Update 10 mins later: IT'S STOPPED! Thanks to one of the residence officials of the area. She played with the alarm for a while and it has stopped at the moment. A maintenance person has been called and should be here within an hour (jeeez so long!) to permanently fix the situation. I'm going to bed. Hopefully I can sleep through it if it starts again...

Day 46: Almost There!

With less than 48 hours until I'm home, I am overflowing with the anticipation of getting to sleep in my own bed, shower 10 feet away from my room, have delicious food at hand in a pantry rather than under the bed, and get to spend time with my family! Hooray!!

Yeah. So that's all I'm thinking about right now. I watched The Proposal tonight. Loveeeeee Sandra Bullock so much. And Ryan Reynolds. So that made me very happy.

Volunteered at the neighborhood homeless shelter with Phi Lamb tonight, which was awesome. AND the residence area hosted a Thanksgiving Feast which was delicious. Plus the added bonus of getting to go to church and not having to do any homework! Hooray!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!!!

Day 45: So Relaxing

Today was the last home football game for the season. Danielle, her roommate and boyfriend, their friend from home, and I went to Gator Walk. There were a ton of people there, so we didn't really get to see anything. But oh well.

On my way back to my room, I stopped by the Fan Fest going on and got my picture taken with Alberta! Saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, too! And got a sticker to prove it! I'm amazed at how many people don't care about seeing the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile! It's definitely a generational thing. I was super excited but little kids were like... why do I care?

Anyways. I also got to see my old neighbors who I've missed seeing all season. I was on the way to where they tailgate and passed them as they were walking to the stadium! Perfect timing. It made for a great day. Even though this all happened in the first hour I was awake.

Other than that fun, I slept, watched TV, watched Letters to Juliet, and all together just chilled in my room.

Letters to Juliet: I LOVED it!!! I thought it was super cute! Not to mention, the lead guy is from the TV show Kings which was amazing while it lasted. Out of this movie, I got a great quote and an amazing Colbie Caillat song.

"'What' and 'If' are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together, side by side, and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life. What if? What IF?..."

And the song "What If".

Finally, and perhaps most importantly. I decided several weeks ago to start watching Boy Meets World episodes whenever I had free time. At only 20 minutes a piece, I enjoyed them while eating lunch, getting ready, and other times when I needed to fill 20 minutes. I have successfully completed this goal of watching all 7 seasons of Boy Meets World. I am kind of sad to see them end. I guess I'll have to start another show soon! Probably Scrubs. Seen most of them, but not all! I watched The Nanny (with Fran Drescher) over the summer.

3 Days until Home!!!

Day 44: End of the Week!

The stressful, crazy week is over!!! Yay! A relaxing weekend awaits me.

After my wretchedly late chem exam tonight, I went to the Kappa Phi (one of our brother frats) bonfire with Jenny and other sisters. It was really awesome, but exhausting. Now it is late and I am going to bed.

Up semi-early to go to Gator Walk (players walking to the stadium before the game). It's a tradition that I have to/want to do, and since this is our last home game this season, I've gotta go!

4 days till break!!! :) PLUS no homework over the weekend and only 2 papers to write and an oral exam in French to study for over the break. Not too bad if I say so myself!

Day 43: [5] days left!

The lovely whiteboard that Hannah decorated!! And on that note, only 5 days until we get to go home for Thanksgiving!!!

Today was my registration for classes. I didn't get the Bio2 class that I needed. So I just signed up for the lab instead and I'll wait until drop/add week and try to get into the class. Otherwise, I'm signed up for Chem2 instead. Hopefully I can get the Bio instead! Other than whichever science class and lab I'll have, I have no classes on M/W/F! But lots on Tuesday and then everything is double blocked on Thursday so yeah. Thursdays will be busy, but fun! Potentially. Hooray Anthropology minors!

Other than that, I had lunch at A Cafe with two Phi Lamb sisters which was awesome (maybe found possible rooming situation for next year through them?!?), then a little studying and CRU and more studying. Danielle and I made grouper for dinner. mmmmmmmm

It was a good day. And BONUS: Last chem test is tomorrow (tonight at this point) from 8:30-10:30. Then I will be finished until Exams with that class! After the exam, headed to the Kappa Phi (our brothers in Christ) bonfire to enjoy some Smores and such! Yay!!

Happy Harry Potter Release Date! Still haven't read the 7th book so I have to do that before I can watch the movie...
<3
Also, Brooklyn made us a video. Enjoy!

Day 42: 50 Trillion Dollars!

If you've been reading regularly, you will have noticed that I had a surprise that I was waiting to reveal. Well today's the day! Here goes:

Jenny and I were walking through campus when we were asked if we wanted a 50 Trillion Dollar Bill. DUH. So here's the story behind it: This is Zimbabwe currency that is no longer valid (bummer). The economy was so bad in Zimbabwe that the value of a dollar was decreasing super fast. It got to the point that the government issued these 50 trillion dollar bills. Several days later, Zimbabwe stopped printing currency and decided not to use paper currency due to the invaluable-ness of it. Or something like that. Therefore, this club on campus is selling these bills for a donation that will be sent back to Zimbabwe to help citizens get micro-loans to be able to live and whatnot. Good cause!

$100 Trillion!!

Front and Back
What awesome currency to have an elephant on it!!



COW FOR A WATERMARK!! Seriously. I'm so impressed.

I of course got one for myself and one for Grace because it was so cool and we love cows. So for 24 hours, I held 100 Trillion Dollars!!!!! So that's it for tonight. Besides the fact that I only have 1 full week of school left! AUGH!

One test remaining for the week. Then a break until December!

Day 41: Roommate Appreciation Day

Today was celebratory Roomie Appreciation Day (I guess it's really tomorrow but our floor moved it to today). So our amazing RA made cupcakes for us to decorate for our roomies and we made cards too! Fun study break!
I love my roommate!!

I did some class planning today and lots of homework. Calc2 test in the morning! Preceded by morning prayer and followed by French exam.

HANNAH: I APPRECIATE YOU!



So on both my card and her plate, we each wrote one of our inside jokes, "glad we have something in common... Just one thing though!" Ironic that we both had in common what we wrote to each other. Perfect roommates! <3
And yes, the cupcake on the left (mine to her) is spiky. And the one on the right (hers to me) has every single color of frosting available in a stylish design!

Day 40: Good News/Bad News

Good News: BERT IS ALIVE AND GOING TO BE OKAY!!! (Bert is my pet bamboo)
Bad News: I have the 2nd worst headache of my life. Also felt/feel like my legs are going to give out at any minute and I'm kind of hot... Just praying that it's a one night thing and I'll be better in the morning. Here goes 9+ hours of sleep!

Sorry it's so short but I don't feel well....

Day 39: Sing out to God Now with All You've Got!

"So come on, come on, sing out to God now with all you've got. We live in Christ alone!"

Tonight was UniteNow Worship. All the Christian organizations gathered together for three hours of praising God. It was so powerful. I love God and all that He has done in my life. Wow. It's just too amazing for me to even write about. But the song I've quoted and have been singing endlessly tonight is You Deserve. Listen to it!!! (It's a link)

After UniteNow, a group of us went out for our friend Rachel's birthday! Pita Pit (again) and Mochi (again)... Good food, Good friends, Good fun, Great God!

And finally, we're off to bed! Hooray! It's only 1 am... no big deal.

Goodnight all!! Have a wonderfully Blessed Monday!

Day 38: Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Hannah is singing "Take me out to the Ball Game" right now... We just played Family Feud and the last question was "different things vendors sell at a sporting event" hence the song.

ANYWAYS: Today I went tailgating with Danielle and her family. We had a blast!! Great food, too. Italian sausages, hot dogs, hamburgers, bruschetta, tomato/mozzarella, cookies, I don't even remember what else! Oh Corn! Which we were shucking here:

While we were tailgating, the buses full of the football team drove by! Obviously very eventful, thus I took some pictures!

Then I went to the game with Hannah and several other girls from our floor. It was pretty fun, especially in the first 15 seconds when we actually played well. Other than that, we amused ourselves by watching the fabulously drunk guy in front of us yell belligerently at his "friends" during the first half and the on-his-way-to-getting-drunk while at the game semi-cute guy who made a kissy face at Hannah during the second half.

Yep. That sums up the day!
Tailgating: success
Game: not so much

Day 37: Couch Bonding

Successes for the day:
1) BEAT shirt + two other random shirts acquired
2) ticket acquired
3) all the other stuff in the poorly phrased paragraph I told my friend on FB below. I've had too much fun today to detail right now. But I will include a few pictures and might update later. I'm so exhausted!!

"Tonight we had our Campus Crusades for Christ meeting outside and we carried a sofa out to the field so we could sit on it. Then we went out for late night eats (side note, went to Pita Pit for the first time! Very yummy) and then when we came back, we took pictures with fake comb-overs b/c we were laughing about it before. (we being my roomie, our 2 neighbor roomies, and our RA)"

Game day tomorrow!!!

Day 36: Veteran's Day

A huge thank you to all Veterans out there! THANK YOU!

Today I slept in, studied a bit, and studied more. I tried to study outside by the pond. After being there for about an hour, I moved on the blanket just enough to disturb the ants that I had apparently been sitting on that whole time. They swarmed on top of me. Only 3 bites to show for it, and I didn't get a picture, but my entire blanket/towel was covered with ants. I squished about 100 and then shook the rest off. Not something I would ever like to relive again. As much as I would like to use that towel again, I keep thinking that there are still ants all over it. Augh!

Other than the ant fiasco, I watched some stupid people taunting Obi the alligator in the pond. Poor Obi. I also doodled on my wrist. Here's the result. I went over it in sparkly brown/gold sharpie.

Danielle and I made enchilada's for dinner! They were sooo yummy! And after finishing studying, I watched Prince of Egypt which I had never seen before. It was great!

So now, I bid you goodnight. Up early in the morning for breakfast, class, waiting in line for BEAT shirts, getting tickets (Oh yeah, I got a ticket to the game!!), studying while waiting in line, Chem Quiz, finding something for lunch, French class, then back home for some relaxation before CRU. Wow. Such a busy day ahead! Goodnight!

Day 35: God's Love

I had an amazing God-filled day today! Unite Now, the organization on campus that puts all Christian organizations together for events during the year sponsored a week of 24 hour prayer by the different organizations. So I prayed with my Big from Phi Lamb today for an hour. It was so awesome!

Then, I ate Panda Express for the first time ever and headed to the Phi Lamb fall retreat. We bowled. Which I'm really bad at... So after getting zeros for several frames, my friend showed me exactly where to stand to get a great shot. I got a strike!! And broke my thumb nail all in the same minute. No worries though - a sister gave me a glittery Band Aid and I repainted the nail after trimming it tonight.

After all this, we returned to campus for worship and a speaker. It was cold and we were outside, so my friend Sam and I kept warm underneath a blanket. After the retreat was over, we stayed under that blanket talking for over an hour and a half. Didn't get back to my room until 12:30, but it was an awesome night getting to know Sam! We're pretty much the same person, it's so scary! People get us confused all the time. Therefore, we've taken pictures as both characters. See below.

Have a fantastic day! No school!!! Thank you to all Veterans for serving our country. God Bless You!
<3

Day 34: There's a Worm in my Pepper!

When Danielle and I went to make dinner (sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms with steak and potatoes), we discovered a little worm in our bell pepper. Therefore, there were no peppers in our dinner.

Other than that fascinating occurrence, I did decent on my calc2 quiz, returned from class and went to Red Mango and Plato's with the roomie and our neighbors for an adventure "out on the town", and then went back to class again. It was a great day! I bought a Vera Bradley purse at Plato's for only $20! It's my favorite style- the hipster- which are normally quite expensive. And it's blue/green so I can wear it with the other half of the color scheme opposing my yellow/pink purse. Hooray successful investments!

I also had a great discovery in the Plaza of the America's today, but that will have to wait to be revealed until my best friend, Grace, receives a certain letter in the mail. So maybe Friday I can share with you!

Happy No-Chem-Lab-Wednesday!

Day 33: Worries Relieved by the Grace of God

God is SO AMAZING!!! From freaking out about work (specifically calc2) over the weekend to this morning's huge breath of relief, God has been with me! I thought we had a quiz on like 6 sections of the chapter, but it's only on 3. So that means lots less studying I had to do!! Yay!!

And bonus: found out that the hugemongous curve that the teacher will give us at the end of the semester will significantly boost my grade. So now I'm much happier! Quiz tomorrow!

Phi Lamb meeting tonight was awesome because we had a prayer night where I just got to talk to God. I love those nights. <3>

"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

Have a marvelous day tomorrow! Let God's light shine through you!

Major du jour: Environmental Management in Agriculture and Natural Resources
Minor du jour: Sustainability Studies

We shall see where this takes us later in the week... (as always, thoughts are appreciated)