Jashana & Spice & Everything Nice

New Blog

2009-01-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

So I'm trying out a new blog site... seems pretty sweet. But I don't know how to like... send people from this one to that one without putting in a link. I feel like there IS a way to do that, but whatever.

So here is the new site!

Hey, It's a New Year

2009-01-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

New Year's Day is odd, really. It's just like any other day. Any other first day of a month. Except it's also the first day of the year. And what does that mean? It means we think about the year ahead of us and what we'd like to do with it. We determine things we need to change about ourselves and our lives and we set goals to change them. It feels so good to have a new start. Every year is a chance for a new start, I suppose.

How often do you think that people actually take advantage of that and utilize it to its full potential? Most of the time I think people last a few weeks, maybe even a month or two, and then go back to how they were before; their lives no different.

All of these resolutions, though, are important. They make us feel so new and... good, quite simply. We get excited about them and planning them and attempting to carry them out. So even if you don't know if you'll last very long with your New Year's resolution(s) I still think it's important to make them.

Mine are as follows:

Continue to be a better person... a more understanding person... a more aware and grateful person. I don't want any more big regrets in my life.
Tone up my bod. I don't think I need to lose a ton of weight--maybe 10 pounds tops--but you know how sometimes you just feel terrible... so out of shape and just, blah? That's how I feel. That needs to stop.
Save up some cash and move out of state. This might not be feasible until the beginning of next year... but my fingers (and Kevin's) are crossed that it will be able to happen at the end of this year.

So good luck to anyone and everyone who has their resolutions in mind... I hope you reach all of your goals for 2009, but if you don't... that's okay too! There's always next year, right? HaHa.

I Want a New Ride

2008-11-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Although I'm grateful to have the Jeep my parents gave me after my Grand Prix took a crap and couldn't manage getting up my driveway... I do need a new car probably within the next year. The thing has been good to me, but it's got 216,000 miles on it... lots of crap wrong with it... and for the love of god I'm just so sick of having old ass cars that have issues!

As of right now I'd either want a Mini Cooper (preferably S JCW), or a Dodge Caliber (preferably SRT4). They're both so cute and fun! Kevin says they're good, too. I basically just listen to him when it comes to cars.
Now I just need to secure a big kid job so I can save up some money or be able to make payments! Blah!

L is for the way...

2008-11-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

I can breathe.

Last weekend Kevin decided that he wants to be with me again... ! And it feels so FANTASTIC! Ugh. I'm so happy happy happy! He is being so great, too. Last night I was doing a reading on campus and he came all the way here to see me, and decided to stay the rest of the week with me. I mean... how lucky am I?! He's completely amazing. I'm going to be so damn deserving of his sweetness... it's going to be ridiculous! *giggle*

I truly am amazed that he is with me... I'm so thankful... he is such a wonderful person. The depths of his wonderfulness cannot be explained! Honestly though, it's incredible to me. It's probably incredible to a lot of people!

On a side note, I really love making new friends. I love meeting people and spending time with them and realizing, "I really enjoy their company!" Not just enjoying their company, but knowing that we can connect and be more than just friendly acquaintances. In all honesty it doesn't happen all that often in my life. I meet a lot of very nice people, but it's not so common for me to genuinely feel like I could be great friends with other females.

So yay to that. And yay to Kevi!!!!! Yay to Love.

.like we always do it this time.

2008-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

How do we learn to be grown-ups? I just had the sudden realization that I always have so many things going on... so many things in my mind that I remember I need to do. I have lists and sticky-notes and mental reminders... and I get things done. I make appointments and keep them, I organize my to-do lists, I pay my bills, I make good decisions (generally...) and I am a productive member of society.

When did all of this happen?! HaHa. Really though... it's interesting to me how we go from completely care-free little kids with literally nothing necessary to do to these adults who take care of themselves. Well, who are supposed to take care of themselves. I guess some people don't or just don't know how.

I suppose I'll give my parents most of the credit. *giggle* I mean... they were my example for how to be an adult. They taught me how to be responsible for myself and how to get things done on time. At the same time, they taught me to enjoy the people in my life and not to let LIFE get the best of me.

My appreciation for my parents is never-ending, I think. I was so effing lucky/blessed! They did all of this for me... taught me so many things either purposely or inadvertently... and they managed to do so without me hating them or thinking they're stupid or something! *giggle* I genuinely love them as people and have a pretty great relationship with them. Not everybody can say that in complete honesty. And sometimes people can say, "My parents are my best friends" but maybe they aren't very good at taking care of themselves.

I just think that being able to be independent is such a beneficial trait. Sure it's nice to know that there are other people in your life you can count on... but also knowing that if you need to take care of something you CAN do it yourself is a fabulous feeling! I feel like it means that some day when I have little ones of my own to take care of, I'll be able to do it confidently.

No idea where this random post came from. HaHa. Time for me to go be that responsible adult I was just talking about. Studying is calling my name. Blah! I never said I LOVE being responsible all the time.

Definition of fierce, hot mess.

2008-10-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'm done thinking I know what is going to happen with my current relationship situation. Yes, it is a situation. I just... I don't... I don't even know!

My hope dwindles a bit every now and then... but I haven't completely lost it yet, so that's good. Half the time I feel like I'm being played. Or just lied to. Or intentionally hurt. I don't really believe any of those things fully... but it's just a feeling from time to time.

This is all incredibly difficult... I'm not the type of person who can easily hold back what I feel. I feel things and I feel them strongly and I want to tell people how I feel. Holding back my emotions or my thoughts is not an easy task. Biting my tongue is not an easy task, either.

I'm not sure where my line is... but I need to have one. I need to have a line so that if it is crossed I will know that I need to end all of this for my sanity. Probably for his, too. I just can't figure out where that line is. Who knows. Maybe he thinks I shouldn't even have one. Maybe he thinks I don't deserve to have one and I should just take whatever is thrown at me and shut my mouth about it. I don't know! I don't know because he never wants to actually talk about anything. Not really. He wants to ignore it or fight about it.

Blah. Blah blah blah! Steve said it best... "This is all just a hot, hot, HOT mess."

Lil Update

2008-10-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Life is getting a bit better. :)

I'm still incredibly distracted most of the time... my school work is slacking a bit... but not a TON. My priorities are so great. HaHa. Really thought, it's fine! For now...

Kevin and I spent ALL of last weekend together and it was fantastic. Ah! :D I just love him. More than I could explain so I just won't even try. I don't think it can be explained. Love is fun like that. We've been pretty good recently... I've gotten a bit more hope, so I'm happy.

My last semester is half-way over. I can't wait! But speaking of school... I should really be catching up on some homework right now. Adios.

I Need to Quit Mobil. And Move to Australia.

2008-10-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." -Henry Ford

So I've wanted to move to Australia for awhile now. I'm basically sick of the United States government and since about 2002 something just feels... wrong. Something is up. We're supposed to be completely free. Our government is supposed to fear us. Do you feel like the government fears you? I definitely feel like I fear our government. And I think that the majority of us do.

What would you do if you found out that you are not legally obligated to pay federal income tax? Because guess what, you are not. There is no law anywhere stating that we as United States citizens are legally required to pay them. And the supposed "government services" that our income taxes pay for... yeah those are nonexistent. Government services are paid for by legal taxes (like gasoline taxes). You'd be angry, right? You'd want to not pay income taxes anymore, right? But you'd be afraid of what would happen. You'd be afraid the IRS would seize your property or take you to court or even toss you in jail. And that's what often happens, even though the Supreme Court has stated time and time again that there is no merit to this.

Completely screwed up, right?

And in the Patriot Act, among other craziness within the document, it is stated that the government can track (among MANY other things) your library and book records. Excuse me?! Since when are we not allowed to freely read whatever literature we so choose? That is just plain ridiculous and infuriates me.

How would you feel about having an RFID chip implanted into your skin that can basically track your every move and would possibly eventually hold all of your money the same way an ATM card does? A chip that the government would monitor. The Pentagon claims it is necessary to the "war on terror" to have a database tracking every purchase made by American citizens. Really? All they would have to do to basically take away all of your rights, if these chips contained and tracked your money, is turn your chip off. The FDA recently approved the human implantation of the chips.

I'm just sick of all this. Something does not feel right. Jon Stewart should be the president. HaHa. But only kind of joking. And if he's not going to be ever (which he is unfortunately not) Ron Paul should be. And if he's not going to be, I want to peace out to Australia. They're chill. They just hang out down there, living their lives.

It's such a sad, unfortunate feeling to not be proud of your country. I love the idea of the United States but it seems to not be what it was meant to be anymore.

Being aware and educated is obviously a good thing, so if you're at all interested or intrigued check out these videos and articles... some of it seems crazy... but really, how crazy is it? Who knows. I just really don't want to see our nation become a police state, which honestly, it seems like we are headed in that direction rather quickly.

This all seems... impossible. This could not and would not happen in the United States, right? Don't automatically assume that. That is ignorance. Don't be another stereotypical ignorant American. Believe what you want to believe, but not until you've made yourself aware.

Call me crazy. But don't call me crazy until you've done your research as well.

If nothing else, watch the Naomi Wolf interview and the "Freedom to Fascism" video.

Freedom to Fascism video

Naomi Wolf interview

Aaron Russo interview

Aaron Russo interview with Ron Paul

North American Union (wikipedia)

RFID video

RFID Chip (wikipedia)

RFID Chips in Passports

Politician speaks out against Bush

.i was born, to tell you i love you.

2008-09-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Isn't it just miserable to be stuck in a shitty situation... and not know how it will ever get fixed? I have a tugging feeling that it will get resolved eventually... some day... but I have no idea how. Because he's pretty damn stubborn.

Hopeless. That's the only way to define it. It's amazing what the smallest bit of hope will do for you, too. Especially in a seemingly hopeless situation. It will make you SO excited... all of the sudden you forget that it's just a tiny bit of hope. Hope is hope, I guess. Doesn't matter how much you have. As long as you have some you're okay. And I'm still okay.

Blair took me on a sweet date the other day. It was a good time. We took some sweet pics of us in the basically empty movie theater! HaHa.

Mom came down to spend the day with me. I bought a SWEET new purse! And some other fun stuff... a new dress for an upcoming event... I took back the two that I had bought because I found what I think will be a better one. <3 Then some jewelry to match.

I need to get some friggen homework done when I come home tomorrow. And some laundry. I've been neglecting my responsibilities majorly! Ah! Sucks to be this distracted all the time... but it's what I've got to deal with.

scream my lungs out & try to get to you

2008-09-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile.

My life has been a hot mess recently. And I have no one but myself to blame. I've been a stupid, silly girl. But, I've come clean about everything I needed to... I'm unbelievably remorseful... and I'm completely set on changing some things and becoming a trustworthy person once again. So we'll see how everything works out, I suppose.

Currently, things are... okay. I have a lot of hope for the relationship to recover. Not for a long time, but I do see that it could be possible. Because I am in love with the greatest man alive. I'm not even kidding you, he amazes the hell out of me with how completely fantastic he is... if you only knew. In no way do I deserve him, but I am trying my damndest because I know that we both love each other deeply and would LOVE to be together for... a long time! *wink* I have a lot of hard work ahead of me and if everything works out it will be 150% worth it!

Okay well moving on to other things... classes started a few weeks ago. I think they're going well but in all honesty I have basically been ignoring my classes due to the nuke bomb that I dropped onto my life. The initial struggle is coming to an end so it's time to maybe do some homework!

If you're bored I highly recommend visiting the Best of Craigslist.

Some of them are ridiculously funny. I'll suggest reading "To the perv who groped me on my way home" and "To the minotaur who lives above me." The minotaur one is completely hilarious. "For the love of sweet baby jesus, go to the local Target and get yourself a new pair of hoof mufflers." HaHaHa. You'll see.

Go Shorty, It's Your Birthday

2008-08-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since I traveled to Spain and brushed up on my Spanish skills I get ridiculously excited when non-native English speakers come into work. Particularly when their English comprehension is very low. Because then I am able to practice my Spanish! Usually it's just, "Es todo?" (Is this all?) because when I ask them in English, "Can I get you anything else?" they sometimes shake their head "yes" but then kind of stand there with their money out for me. Last night I actually had the chance to use semi-full sentences! HaHa. A Hispanic man was asking if we had any 12 packs of Coke that were cold. It took me a minute to get what he was saying because he started speaking in English but his accent was incredibly thick. Eventually I got what he was saying and we figured it out.

My Spanish is still elementary at best but that's why I love getting practice in. I hope to one day be at least semi-fluent. I plan on making sure that when I have children they are taught Spanish from an early age. I just feel that being bilingual is incredibly important. How else are you going to explore the world and be able to get to know people from other cultures? It also makes your brain power that much better! I don't know any multilingual/bilingual people who are unintelligent. I wish I could learn even more languages. Maybe some day.

Today was the final day of my internship. I'm truthfully kind of bummed. I LOVED this internship! I loved the work I was able to do... the people are all super friendly... and it was an amazing learning experience. I hope I'm able to get a job doing something like this. Well, I hope I'm able to get a job, period. Thinking about it is so stressful. I can't work at a gas station for the rest of my life! HaHa. I mean, I could... but that would make the last four and a half years a complete waste of my time. And money. I am not in any position to be wasting money!

Tomorrow is my birthday! I'll be 22 on the 22nd--woot! Kevin and I are going to the zoo and then I get SnoCaps and a rented movie of my choice. That's all I want. Plus, we're both broke. And although I love nice things as much as the next girl I'm not about to whine about "not getting anything" for my birthday when I know my boyfriend is struggling to get by. There will be plenty of time for fabulous presents! Besides, I see a lot of girls with terrible boyfriends (even husbands!) who buy them things to make the problems seem not so bad. I would much rather have a loving boyfriend who cares about me than 3 dozen roses and a diamond necklace. It just doesn't seem like a good trade off to me!

I Love... Intelligence.

2008-08-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

I love grocery shopping. I don't know why. It's oddly relaxing... but it's better with Kevin. For some reason we really love grocery shopping together. HaHa. Does that make us incredibly huge dorks? Probably, but whatever. We're dorks together.

Tomorrow is going to be a productive day, I've decided. I hate having large portions of my day open and then not doing a d.a.m.n. thing with that time. Sometimes it's nice... but usually it makes me feel like a lazy pile of crap. It's funny how we do that... we know that we have a ton of time to get something done and then we procrastinate until we have NO more time left. Maybe that's just me. *giggle* Could be.

Does anyone else think that boycotting stupid reality shows like "I Love Money" would be a good idea? Usually I get sucked into those kinds of shows... Rock of Love... I Love New York... and various other shows full of ridiculous drama that matters NOT AT ALL in the grand scheme of our lives. But lately I've just been sick of them. I no longer care what idiots are fighting and what idiot is going to win and end up with the famous idiot. I'm over seeing so-and-so hook up with what's-her-face and obsessing over these shows when I'm not watching them. I've actually begun to feel my brain cells decreasing from watching crap like that.

Shows like NEXT and Parental Control are basically making me choke down vomit every time I pass them by... I seriously can't even watch more than 10 seconds of them before I feel the headache coming on. I'm sad that these shows are my major options. So lately I've been sticking with reruns of Will&Grace and Frasier... Law & Order marathons... and whatever I can find on National Geographic. Oh, and of course That 70's Show. Those shows at least have intelligent conversations... and honestly, they are usually more realistic that "reality" shows. I'm sorry, but I can't quite recall the last time I REALLY saw a house full of drunk skanks punching each other in the face over some rockstar in order to become his new "love." I'm fairly certain that's not real life. For anyone.

I guess this set-up of television show has just become... incredibly boring and repetitive to me. I'm no longer entertained by them, you know? And I'm pretty pleased about that, I won't lie!

.i'm talkin 'bout the D.

2008-07-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last night Kevin and I were invited to go to a Kid Rock concert in Detroit for wicked cheap, so we ended up going even though neither of us really listen to Kid Rock. We figured it would be pretty fun and it was a good group of our friends going so, why not?!

It was awesome! He put on a HELL of a show. Aaaannnndddd... Rev Run came out and performed with him! I was so excited! Everybody was having a great time... dancing, singing (or yelling), and obviously getting effed up. HaHa.

While we were there I was thinking about how it must be for Kid Rock to come back to Detroit to play. Or anywhere in Michigan, but I'm thinking he probably just goes to Detroit. Anyway... it's gotta be insane! I have to imagine that if he's in I don't know... Philadelphia, and he's singing about Detroit or Michigan... people probably don't go ape shit like they do here. I mean literally every time he said Detroit or Michigan or referenced the city and/or state... EVERYBODY went NUTS. I think bat shit crazy would be the best way to describe it. HaHa.

At the end of the concert he was thanking everybody for coming out and what not and he said, "I know that times are hard right now in Michigan, and we just want to thank you, for spending your hard earned money to come see us play tonight." And again, everybody LOST it. It was pretty intense!

So even though I don't listen to Kid Rock and I only know his songs that are played on the radio, I definitely enjoyed myself. He put on a great show, sounded awesome live, and I had a ton of fun with our friends. If you ever have the opportunity to see a Kid Rock concert, I'd recommend going. :) And hey, maybe you'll see Rev Run at the same time! (Who's house? Ruuunnnn's house!) HaHa.

Scientology Alien in my Chest

2008-07-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Since being in Europe for 5 weeks, I now have a liking for techno. LoL. Which is strange, if you know me. I usually hate it! Always have. But it's basically all they play in the clubs over there. Even though I like it, I will definitely be so excited when I go out to a club and hear some RAP! *giggle*

Mom came to visit me today. We went to see Mama Mia and it was great! Very fun. Then we cleaned out Jarred's Jeep since I'll be driving it until I can get a new car... and it was disgustingly dirty. He basically never cleaned it. HaHa. Silly little brothers.

So I have costochondritis, apparently. I went to the emergency room last Friday because whenever I would take a semi-deep breath or cough or laugh, my sternum and upper left back hurt realllly badly. Like, made me wince. I guess costochondritis is basically an infection of the cartilage connecting your rib cages. The doctor said that it pretty much prevents my sternum from stretching the way it should when I breathe deeply or whatever. So that's why it hurts so damn bad to do anything like that.

I got some sweet ibuprofen 800mg and that seems to be doing the trick. It's still uncomfortable to take deep breaths or to laugh a lot... and when the medicine starts wearing off every little movement I take starts to hurt again. It's also difficult to sleep comfortably. But whatever! I just hope it goes away. If it doesn't go away by next Monday (not tomorrow... the one after that) I have to go back. Mom read that it could be up to 6 months before I feel completely normal again. SUPER!

Is anyone else's summer going by wayyyy too quickly?

p.s. Only Courtney & Kevin will "get" the title for this post. HaHa!

Anniversary Presents

2008-07-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

You might not think that a wireless mouse for a laptop computer as an anniversary present would be very romantic. I would disagree.

This week Kevin has been here with me and the other day my laptop "mouse" button mysteriously was broken. It's permanently pushed down and it still works, but is EXTREMELY sensitive and annoying because it clicks on everything. I found it odd that it was broken when I came home from work and hadn't been broken when I left for work. I didn't freak out or anything, but I was kind of like, "Wow Kevin... that's an odd coincidence." He swore that he didn't do it and I told him it was fine and I know that if he did do it wasn't like he did it on purpose.

The next day when I came home from work he had the wireless mouse hooked up to my computer. And I think that's so damn sweet! He really didn't need to do that and I really wasn't mad or anything. It's just another way he is sweet and considerate. And he was so damn excited to give it to me. He loves doing anything to help me and make my life even the slightest bit better.

So even though it was our 3 year anniversary... which is kind of a big deal... this little computer mouse is probably the best gift I could've gotten right now. It just reinforces the fact that I made a fabulous decision by running back to him.

Headaches Can Go Die

2008-07-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Waking up with a headache has got to be one of the worst ways to start a day. I especially hate going to bed with one and then waking up with one the very next morning. I don't know where they come from! And I'm sick of them. So many times when I mention to someone that I have a headache they reply with, "I can't remember the last time I had a headache..." Then I want to punch them in the face. Because I get them roughly 3 times a month, sometimes more. Same goes for bloody noses. I probably get a bloody nose 6 or 7 times a year (on average). Something is wrong with my brain region.
I am currently interning, but this headache is preventing me from being able to focus very well. It's also making me sick to my stomach, which is a lovely bonus. Ever since I got back from my trip I've just been completely unmotivated where my internship is concerned. I don't know why. I AM excited about the feature article I'll soon be writing! When my supervisor told me he was going to let me write one I was basically freaking out in my mind. It's such a great opportunity. Thank God I got this internship! At the LAST possible minute. HaHa.
Kevin and I are back together after our little bump in the road. I really don't know what was going on with me. I just love the guy. He makes me so completely happy just by doing nothing. But he does so much more than nothing! I really hope that everything works out between us... we shall see!
We got back together last weekend, over the 4th. The 4th is always a good time! Actually, last year Kevin and I were fighting hardcore. HaHa. It happens! But I still love going to the lake for the 4th every year.
Oh I seriously feel like I could throw up. Time to go.

When Did I Go Back to Being Grown Up?

2008-06-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Annnd... now it's back to reality.

My phone got wet the other day so it wouldn't charge and then it kept turning itself on after I turned it off... luckily my "new every two" was up with Verizon so I hit that up and got a new phone. After using the last $60 in my account... luckily, again, there is a $50 mail-in rebate. Whew.

I have to pay bills like... now... and I literally have no money...

My bridge card benefits were taken away because they claim I didn't send in the correct forms... only I DID send them in... but apparently their number isn't working so I can't call them to get it worked out. AH!

Now I need to unpack my life.

Welcome home, right? :)

Feels Like Home To Me

2008-06-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

At 4am I will be on my way to the Barcelona airport to wait for my flight (which leaves around 7am). Sweet times? For sure.

I´m just not going to bed tonight. I´m basically done packing--woot woot! I´m going to go to the beach for a sweet nap, I think. If the clouds stay away (it was raining this morning). Going out to a bar or something tonight with everybody--nothing crazy, no clubbing for me since I have to be home at 3am anyway. That would be a complete waste of money considering the clubs won´t even be busy until 3am.

Sometime early tomorrow afternoon I will be back in sweet ass Michigan... hallelujah! I really am excited. I´m sure I´ll miss people... but I miss my friends from home so much more. And my family! I can´t wait to really talk to Mom! I usually talk to her every few days but here I haven´t been doing that because it costs too much. And I have tons to talk to her about!

So kids, have a great Friday and Saturday... and I´ll see all of my Michiganders when I get back. Welcome back Jashana party, anyone? :) In GR? I think so!

San Juan and Leaving Barca

2008-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Only 3 and a half days left in Spain for me! It´s kind of crazy... I think I´ll be a little sad, but I really will be SO excited to see my friends and family again. And then the next weekend is 4th of July at Leasha´s cabin! Always a must. And always a fabulous freaking time. I´m so excited!

I realized today that I don´t know what I´m going to eat when I go home. I´m so use to Luisa making dinner every night! Damn good dinner, too. No more pasta de Luisa! I love her pasta with my whole heart. And it´s just so nice to have actual meals made for you, served to you, and then to have someone clean it all up! I´ve been spoiled, in that aspect. I won´t miss the whole NOT having air conditioning thing. Or the whole Michigan not experiencing a drought thing. I´m sick of 4 minute showers, usually with cold water, and sometimes shut off in the middle of the shower. Great times!

As interesting as it is to be forced to speak Spanish to get my point across, it´s going to be so great to know that I can have a normal conversation with no severe miscommunication. Last night on my way to the beach to party it up for San Juan I met this Spanish guy and he spoke NO English. I had a conversation with him, but I´m sure I sounded like a 4 year old trying to make coherent sentences. It´s good to practice, though!

The beach party was out of control last night! I swear it looked like all of Barcelona was out on the beach. Fireworks were going off... people had little fires going... there were just people evvvverywhere. It was pure craziness. I couldn´t find the friends I was going to meet up with then I met two guys from Michigan (how random!) then I found Monica and Kelly and Lauren so I hung out with them for a little bit. Monica and I ran out into the water and got a picture. We had to ask a random guy to take the picture and I may or may not have been a little bit drunk... and I was asking him in Spanish if he was going to steal it. LoL. I was like, "Will you take a picture, please? But don´t steal it! No steal! No steal!" I´m pretty sure that´s what I sounded like to him. HaHa! He didn´t steal it, so that´s good. He basically just laughed at us. :)

So anyway, San Juan in Barcelona is officially a fabulous time.

Hopefully I Don´t Get Alzheimers.

2008-06-22T05:56:00.001-07:00

So in all of the pre-departure brochures and e-mails it was hammered into our heads to watch out for pickpockets and such. Have bags with zippers. Don´t let your bag hang behind your body. On the Metro be especially careful during busy times. When walking down the sidewalk next to the street keep your bag away from the street because mopeds will speed by and someone will yank it right off your shoulder.

This whole time I´ve been incredibly careful... always holding my bag tight to my body... zipper in front so I can clearly see it... aware of my surroundings at all times. Thursday night I was walking with 5 other people down a big empty sidewalk. We were coming up on a corner where the sidewalk got even wider. I was probably... 10 or 12 feet away from the street. I was walking on the outside and I got a text message. So I pull out my cell phone, zip the bag back up like I always do, keep the wristlet around my wrist and tuck the purse/clutch back under my arm. So I´m walking and texting... and suddenly I feel something hit me in the calf. I turned to see a moped and in the split second it took for me to turn the guy on the back of the moped YANKED my purse off the wristlet and they drove off. Needless to say, I yelled out a few choice words.

So yeah, those 900-some pictures I was going to have and share with all of you... well say good-bye to them because they´re LONG gone. They got my camera. They also got my debit card but I called Mom immediately to have her put a stop on it. And they got my apartment keys here so now I have to go to the friggen Spanish police station so my señora can get reimbursed via her insurance company for changing the locks. But my friggen CAMERA!!!! OHHHHH my god you have no idea how upset that makes me. Seriously like 900-1000 pictures... GONE! No, I have like 300 up online, but that is IT. Those were only from the first week I was here.

I just have to not worry about it. Yeah I lost practically all of my pictures from this awesome experience... but I can just steal most of them from people on Facebook considering we all have a lot of the same shit in our pictures. But there were some really cool ones I took of street performers and of my friends and of me... but whatever.

So anyway, now I officially hate mopeds. Seriously you stupid stealing Spaniards on mopeds... find something better to do with your time at 2:45am. Stop driving around ON the sidewalks. Get a real effing job. It was a waste of their time anyway, really. I´m sure they saw all of us dressed up and thought, "Rich American tourists, awesome!" Except they didn´t realize they singled out the friggen BROKEASS American tourist. I had no cash in the purse other than some change... even if my card hadn´t been stopped there was only like $140 on it, which is like 80 euro. Their only profit is pawning off my camera, which I doubt was really worth their time. And in the process of wasting their time, they ruined my night and semi-ruined the rest of my trip. And I certainly don´t have extra cash floating around to get a new effing camera.

But anway... it´s really okay. I´m actually doing really well with not letting it get to me too much. Worse things could happen, right?

Still, I hate mopeds.

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

2008-06-14T05:35:00.001-07:00

I´ve been pleased to discover that my Spanish isn´t as terrible as I thought it was. In the past week I met 4 Spanish people and 2 Argentenians and they all told me that my Spanish was decent! I was telling them that their English was much better than my Spanish and they disagreed. I don´t know, I think they speak English incredibly well! But either way, I was happy to have them tell me I´m not so terrible.

Today I´m going to the beach with a couple of mis amigas. I need some more sun, that´s for sure! Every day we want to go it ends up raining or being too cold or cloudy. Boo! Of course we have to come to Barcelona when they´re catching up for all the rain they didn´t have in the past year. Whatev, though. I´m still in friggen Spain! :-)

Time to head off to the Metro.

.you´ll be my american boy.

2008-06-09T03:38:00.001-07:00

Things I look forward to when on my way back to the States:

1. Going out with my girlfriends and not having every male we walk past yelling and making inappropriate comments and gestures.

2. Free water with food at restaurants.

3. Knowing what people are saying around me when I´m out in public.

4. Telling a guy I don´t want to dance with him and knowing that he´ll go away, rather than stand there and stare at me like if he stares long enough I´ll give in.

5. Cheap drinks at bars and clubs!

I do have a newfound gratefulness to American boys. Or United Statesian boys, as we´re supposed to call them. *giggle* Either way, they know that they can´t go around shouting at random women on the streets and they sure as shit can´t touch a woman or grab her without her permission. They know they´d get their asses beat by any other guy who saw it. I guess Spanish women probably don´t think it´s such a huge deal because touching and being in close proximity with other people isn´t a big deal here. To a point it´s flattering to have men cat calling at you... but when you know they do it to every single girl that walks by, it kind of takes away from the compliment.

I´m going to the beach again today! Yay! It´s sooo nice out. It gets kind of windy down on the beach, but I seriously don´t even care! I just want a sweet tan.

.photo-aholic.

2008-06-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

So it takes a long time to upload 391 pictures I guess. I´m sitting here in the internet cafe again waiting for them to be finished. It´s taking some time, that´s for sure! But soon they´ll be up!

We went out last night to the Port Olimpica Party Strip... good times to be had down there! I do recommend having some guys with you, or at least one. The Spanish guys are just so dang grabby! I was walking out of the bar toward some of my friends and suddenly 3 or 4 bouncers were literally all over me! My friend Andrew grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back behind him and said something to the guys in Spanish. LoL* No idea what he said, but I was grateful!

The Spanish love to stare, we´ve come to realize. Not glance. Not double-take. Literally just sit there and stare at you. It´s so strange! And it makes me incredibly uncomfortable! LoL.

Oh my lord, yesterday on the Metro... funniest crap! I was standing and Monica and Kelly went to sit down only to discover a pile of puke on the floor in front of the seat next to Kelly. SO gross. It started to smell so they got up to move and these two guys standing behind them moved because of the smell too. Then we stop and all of these people get on... Kelly goes, ¨Let´s see how many people get up and move.¨And this chick seriously walks right over to that seat, sits down, and steps RIGHT in the vomit. We basically lost it! We laughed SO hard that tears were coming out of our eyes. The two guys saw it too and were laughing. It was seriously so great. Couldn´t even handle it.

http://www.clarkcolor.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=232766086/a=132446059_132446059/fromupload=true/imagecount=360/videocount=0/t_=132446059

Estoy en Espana!

2008-05-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

So I´m in Barcelona and I have MANY pictures to upload... but I haven´t had time yet! Ah! We´re in an internet cafe right now but we have to leave like, now. I´m so glad I found a cheap one though. SO glad. We were all internet deprived. It´s kind of ridiculous.

My roommate is awesome, as is our pseudo-roomie. We thought Kelly was going to be our roomie as well, but it turns out we all got the wrong paperwork and Kelly is by herself. We´re still basically attached though.

Okay time to go, we have to meet another girl at the Metro to head to our group tour. Barcelona is pretty awesome so far! I´ll write more later when I have more time.

.adios amigos.

2008-05-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

So I'm writing now because I probably won't write again for about a week or so... because tomorrow I'm going home then I'm going to Kevin's... then I'm flying my ass on over to Spain! YAY!

I don't think I'll get to Barcelona/my host family until like... next Wednesday or something. Who is excited for me?! :D

Well that's really all... I need to finish packing and what-not. Everyone have a fabulous weekend... and a great month of June. *giggle*

It Was A Wild Ride

2008-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Only 5 days left, kids! :D Who's excited for me?!

So I had a fantastic weekend with some of my favorite people... minus a little snag on Saturday night with Kevin (because I may or may not have had a few too many...) I had an awesome time celebrating Blair's 22nd.

Now I'm back to counting down the days before I leave for Spain. Friggen SPAIN! I can't even explain how anxious I am right now. I've started packing... too bad I can't wash my dirty clothes because we currently don't have a dryer. Boo.

Now it's time for work at la gasolinera. No es bueno, pero es necesario. You like that Spanglish? *giggle*

Pop-Up Video

2008-05-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm feeling the video posting lately... because I have another one! It's of this guy I work with. He is very easily scared... so I basically sneak up on him at any and every opportunity, and scare the living shit out of him every time. HaHa! Fun times at Mobil.

It gets me every time. It's probably funnier if you know Ian... because he's basically one of the funniest people I've ever met. He doesn't even try. And most of the time I don't think he realizes that he's being funny!

Only 12 days until I'm on my way to Spain... ! AH! I seriously can't believe it!

Funny Little Snippet

2008-05-09T21:11:00.001-07:00

I just saw this commercial again and it seriously makes me crack up every time. The guy's facial expressions are classic! I can't seem to get over it.

Mom called to tell me today that she got my final Barcelona packet in the mail. I know who my host family is and who my American roommates will be! YAY! I'm SO excited, but now it's time for buying gifts for my host family.

The family consists of a single mother and her two daughters who are 28 and 25. What kinds of gifts should I get them? We're told that the best kinds are local and somehow represent where we're from and who we are. Yeah... I'll just go find that in the mall somewhere. HaHa. Really though, I'm kind of lost. Other than Mackinac Fudge. That's basically a must, and luckily Mom is heading up to Mackinac Island! Woot.

Time for bed.

El Caminito del Rey

2008-05-04T20:25:00.001-07:00

This video was posted on the Notes from Spain website I check out... and it's friggen crazy! I'd LOVE to do this... I think I'd be brave enough. I hope I'd be brave enough, anyway!

It's near Malaga, Spain. Do you think you'd have the guts for it?!

Adulthood is Overrated

2008-04-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah that's basically it. It just is. Why did we ever want to grow up?! It's friggen stressful! Playing in dirt and climbing trees was definitely the better time.

No, I really do enjoy moving forward with my life, especially since it means I'm getting closer and closer to graduation... and closer to a big kid job. This week has just been busy. Not really stressful though, so that's good. Monday was a freebie besides a few hours interning, but I didn't do much. Tuesday I was at Dairy Queen 10am-3pm then Mobil 4pm-11pm. Today interning 9am-1pm, meeting w/prof. 1:30pm, Mobil 3pm-11pm. Tomorrow Dairy Queen 10am-3:45pm, Mobil 4pm-11pm. Friday interning 9am-1pm, Mobil 3pm-11pm. Weekend... nothing! YAY!

It feels good when there is little stress involved. Being kind of busy, that is. It makes me feel productive and useful. Although, lazing about makes me feel creative and relaxed. What's a girl to do? Hopefully get a good balance of both. I hope I always have this optimism where work and relaxation are involved. I never want to get so bogged down in work that I forget how to relax. It seems that so many people do that in today's world. Or maybe just in our society, specifically.

Random Spain Fun Fact:

They love ham. Seriously. Love it. *giggle*

I leave in 23 days! AH!

Mental Relaxation

2008-04-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday night/morning I started to have a sweet little fever. I was working from 10am-3pm and I just felt like crap. Definitely not like myself at all. I was freezing and wanted a blanket, but my face was on friggen fire. I felt weak and sensitive to touch, especially cold touch. Noooo fun. So I went to my last final of the year, and decided to call in sick to my other job for the night.

That meant I got to go home earlier than planned, and I just got back from home this morning. Ohhhhhhhh goodness did it feel GREAT to just lay around, relax, and get myself feeling better all weekend. And of course it was great to see my family! I didn't get to see Jarred as much as I wanted to, but he's probably fine with that. HaHa! Anyway, I feel fully rejuvenated and that visit was much needed. Much needed indeed.

I'm pretty sure the stress of the last two weeks just got to me. I was wearin' myself out! Yikes! I have a feeling it might happen again this summer... because I'm going to have many busy busy weeks. Interning Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings until 1pm... Dairy Queen probably Tuesday and Friday mornings usually... Mobil 4 or 5 nights until 11pm... AH! My lovely roomie Courtney is also going to have busy busy weeks so I don't think we'll see much of each other. Boo!

We have two new roomies for the summer now! Well, Hailey hasn't quite moved in yet, but she'll be here this weekend. New roomies are fun. But so are old ones. I've had some good roomies!

It's seriously time for me to get my room cleaned up & organized.

Gas and gas stations.

2008-04-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

I am officially a Dairy Queen/Orange Julius employee. I am a DQ drive-thru champ! *giggle* I'll only be working there two days a week, probably. I just need a little bit of extra money and it was fairly easy to get the job, considering I had a hook-up. I didn't want to get a very demanding job, as far as my time is concerned. Because I don't have a lot of time! Also, since I know the manager it's cool with her that I'll be gone for 5 weeks.

So now I have two lame part-time jobs. Yay for me! No actually, I've decided that the gas station is my favorite job I've ever had. It's easy now because I know how to do pretty much everything... and it's incredibly laid-back. And besides a select person or two, I love every one I work with. And I get to interact with people (even though they're sometimes a**holes). So as far as part-time, non-permanent jobs go... I'd say the gas station is pretty good! I'd probably enjoy it a lot less if it was in a bad neighborhood. Worrying about getting robbed or shot would add a lot of stress to the work environment. Just a guess.

Time for me to sell my books back. Wish me luck in that endeavor! I'm gonna get robbed, I just know it.

p.s. $3.70/gallon for gas?! Are you KIDDING me?! Pure ridiculousness.

Quick story on that... a middle-aged guy came in to work and commented on how when he started driving, gas was only like... $.65/gallon. And I was like, "Yeah when I started driving it was only $1.60!" So in those like... 20-30-some years between when that man started driving and I started driving, gas only rose $1.00 in cost. And in the 5 years since I started driving, it has risen $2.00. @#$*&!(#@$!^* WTF !#()!*&@#)(%^*!&

End o' story.

--EDIT--

I finally have a summer internship! Check out my writing blog for more on that, if you care. :-)

Burger King Steakhouse Whopper

2008-04-19T12:41:00.001-07:00

The past two days have basically been amazing. Since about 5:00 yesterday I've been loafing about my room & living room... eating some grub... working out... doing the massive heap of laundry that was resting in my corner... and catching up on some sweet leisure time. Let me tell you, it's been fairly fantastic!

I've decided not to bring my laptop when I go to Barcelona. I thought I would need it to webcam chat with Kevin, but I guess ISA has a nice computer lab (webcams included) and internet cafes are fairly cheap over there, too. So I just figured I'd leave it here so I don't have to worry about it being stolen or worry about toting it around with me when I fly. I'm going to have enough to worry about!

Maybe I'm kind of silly, but I just love this commercial from Burger King... (the video quality is pretty much terrible, but it was the only one I could find!)

To Do: Everything

2008-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling terribly inspired. So here is another to-do list to organize my thoughts:

1. finish LIB article
2. finish bullshitting concert report (1.5 more pages)
3. revise writing portfolio (5 more pages! and don't kill the husband intentionally.)
4. e-mail vinette submitters (submitors? submittors? the e looks weird.)
5. do math homework
6. do laundry
7. friggen clean your hot mess of a room
8. work out sometime SOON
9. DQ training every morning this week
10. work Wed. night
11. work on wrt351 web pages
12. vinette unveiling Friday afternoon
13. study abroad meeting Friday afternoon
14. go to GR library for books on Spain
15. study for everything
16. watch Jarred race Saturday or Sunday

Raise your hand if you're excited for the end of the semester! I imagine everyone would raise their hands. I only have to do this crap one more time. Ohhhhh. M. G.

Random Spain Fun Fact:

Spaniards generally don't like to wear shorts on city streets.

?! Totally random. Well, to my little American mind it is. Culture is fun!

Legalus is a Badass

2008-04-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

I wish Orlando Bloom would walk around with bright blonde hair extensions and a kick ass bow & arrows in his daily life. Just like in Lord of the Rings. He's a: much hotter and b: way way cooler.

Sitting here is so relaxing. I love sitting alone late at night, doing my own thing. I wish I could go back in time to high school when my homework wasn't incredibly time consuming or important... and putting it off didn't matter. I could just sit in my room doing whatever I wanted with little thought of anything else. Soon! So very soon I will be finished with my college career... and oddly enough I will have nothing to do with my free time, except whatever I want. I almost can't imagine it... I can't imagine sitting at home doing nothing, and not worrying that I should be doing some homework. I can just sit there.

Ira a Espana, amigos!

2008-04-07T09:55:00.001-07:00

Oh sunshine, how I've missed you. And how I love you. It's so amazing how different peoples' moods are when it's sunny outside. Loves it. I do wish the wind would die down. In Grand Rapids? Yeah right.

So there are 46 days left before I go to Barcelona! I can't even begin to express how excited I am about my trip. I'm still a bit overwhelmed because everything isn't in order yet, but it soon will be. I just need to trust that I'll get it all done in time! Ah!

Random Spain Fun Fact: Barcelona is noted as having some of the "best" pickpockets on the planet. They have become artists in their craft, and it's hard to be in Barcelona for an extended stay without having something stolen from you while walking around the streets.

^perfect for pickpockets!

How friggen great is that? Damn pickpockets, leave my crap alone!

Toilet Seats & Gender Relations

2008-03-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

Last night at work I was telling Ian my philosophy on the age old issue of men, women, and the toilet seat. Kevin and I were talking about it a few months ago (for some random reason) and I came to a realization.

Women always complain that men leave the toilet seats up, because then they have to lower it when they use the bathroom. So they're annoyed that they can't just go in and sit down, right? Well, if the toilet seat is down from a woman using it when a man goes into the bathroom, he has to go ahead and lift it. So really, the same amount of "work" goes into both sexes' toilet experience. So nobody has the right to complain about the other one leaving the seat up and/or down.

I think sometimes women also complain that if the toilet seat is raised in the night when they go to use the bathroom, they'll sit on the bowl sans seat. Well, turn on the bathroom light, or install a night light, if you're seriously having an issue with that. And I have an argument for men on that one also! What if the seat and the lid are both down when a man goes blindly into the bathroom at night (since women are apparently doing this), and he pees all over?! That's MORE inconvenient than your butt touching the toilet for 3 seconds.

This is the crap I think of.

Blog Tag!

2008-03-12T08:09:00.001-07:00

What was I doing 10 years ago?
... Hmm... '98... I believe I was in 7th grade.
... I'm sure I was crushing on 7 or 8 of my guy friends, mostly Chris
... I was running track and playing the clarinet

Things On My To Do list
... look up significant person connected with MLK Jr.
... work out
... shower, after working out
... go to Health Center for physical exam
... organize my life
... research Spain
... Math portfolio/problem set
... small group writing for 219

Bad Habits
... Procrastination
... drinking pop
... being a mild control freak

Places I have Lived
... Miramichi
... E-town
... Grand Rapids

Things Most People Don't Know About Me
... I enjoy getting roses
... I want to be mostly vegetarian
... I don't hate my biological dad

Graduation, where are you?

2008-03-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

I felt myself getting older today. I was sitting next to another student, reading off his book, and I could feel my face going slack, my eyes becoming heavier by the second. I swear I could feel wrinkles forming in my skin. My heart feels heavy, and it won't slow down. Its beats feel anxious; nervous about what will happen on the next pulse.

To all of you people out there who thrive on a hurried lifestyle... more power to you, psychos. Maybe that's harsh, but I don't know why someone would enjoy having something to do ALL the time! Sure, I like to have a few things to do... I don't enjoy being bored all day every day. I like to have some tasks that need completing, because completing them makes me feel like I accomplished something.

But having something major on my mind all day long, knowing that I'm forgetting SOMETHING, and worrying that I'm going to miss a deadline... well I can do without all of that nonsense.

Why do I not feel relaxed after spring break? Oh that's right, my stress isn't coming from my classes. Boo on adulthood. Can't I go spend just two weeks being 9 years old again?

Done complaining! I'll be fine. I think I need a hot date with my Love... those are always relaxing and fun!

Sunshine for Spring Break

2008-03-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for the sunshine we've been getting the past few days! It's amazing how much better it makes the day. There is a different mood in the air when the sun is out. It makes me feel more productive usually, which is awesome! Too bad I have to work at 3:00 today. Eh, whatever.

Ashley came to visit me Sunday night & just left this morning. We had some fun times... just generally being stupid together like we always are. *giggle* Mom is coming to visit me tonight! I can't wait! Because I don't have to work at all tomorrow. Hopefully the sun will be shining then too! I think it's supposed to snow this weekend. Boo. I'm so sick of snow I could throw up.

I found out today that basically no matter what, I'm going to have to get a loan through a bank in order to go to Spain this summer. *sigh* I really just hate money. I'm thinking that I'll have to get a second job this summer. It wouldn't be a bad idea at all. I could definitely use the cash, and even though it will be stressful & difficult, at least I won't have a full class schedule on top of it! Just an internship.

December (a.k.a. graduation, hopefully) cannot come soon enough!

Some pics from the idiocity...

We wear our sunglasses at night.

Awww. So sad!

Who doesn't love a good side ponytail?!

Thanking My Lucky Stars

2008-02-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

My weekend was f-a-b-o-l-o-u-s. Like the rapper. *giggle* Honestly though, it was awesome because a few good things happened. Firstly... I found out that I was approved for a bridge card (a.k.a. food stamps) so I can now buy groceries! Friggen AMAZING! I don't have to become anorexic anymore. :-)

Secondly... Kevin was fixing the heat in my car (which is ALSO another awesome thing!) and saw my lil trash can sitting in the garage so I figured I would empty it out. I walk over to his dad's steel trash can, and dump it out. I hear this loud thud sound... so I reach into the garbage I just emptied and what do I find? MY DIGITAL CAMERA! Ohhhhhhhhhhh my god you can't even begin to imagine how excited I was! I was SO upset that I didn't have it! I looked all over in my car and never found it... well, the night I lost it Blair and I had gone to Taco Bell and we put our trash in there on top of my damn camera. AH!

I feel kind of stupid now because I was so incredibly angry about it, cursing whoever I thought stole it at the party. But hey, I thought I did a thorough search! I guess it didn't cross my mind that it might have slipped off my wrist into my trash and I would need to dig for it! Regardless, I am oh so amazingly happy to have found it. And now Kevin isn't mad at me for losing it! *giggle*

Time for me to get out of the computer lab. I'm just wasting space now, and I'm sure some of these people waiting actually need to use the computer for homework. Adios!

To-Do List

2008-02-19T08:59:00.001-08:00

go to all classes
eat
finish laundry
find the bitch who bumped into me & ripped off my straw cap & punch her
call the sun up & tell it to get outside where it belongs
watch Ghandi video
submit to Oldenburg contest
download new Maroon 5 CD
call up CTS & tell them to fix the damn computers & printers
call case worker about Bridge Card so I can buy food
pay bills
put submissions pdf on server!
do nails, french manicure style
avoid slush & puddles at all costs so my socks stay dry
make appointment with financial aid so I can afford to go to Spain
call Mom
eat pizza rolls tonight
fill out all study abroad forms

That's pretty much my life in a nutshell right now. I don't feel like writing paragraphs. Deal with it.

Mo' Money Mo' Problems? Since when.

2008-02-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

Do you ever just want to get in some comfy clothes (probably pajamas), curl up in bed with the lights off, and watch your favorite movie while crying yourself to sleep?

I do.

I hope and pray that once I get a "real job"/career, I will never be this broke again. I will most certainly not look back on my college years and jokingly say, "I lived paycheck to paycheck, but it was fun!" It's not fun. Anybody who says it is, isn't REALLY living paycheck to paycheck.

I can't imagine being more broke, but I know that unfortunately there are MANY people out there MUCH worse off than me.

It's so sad that something we aren't supposed to worry about... something we're told we "can't take with us when we're dead"... can totally run our lives.

Most of the time I'm optimistic and don't let this kind of bullcrap get to me. If you know me you know I don't enjoy crying over stuff. But frustration is a biggity biatch and can easily get to a person. So here I am, just venting a bit.

Thanks for letting me release some frustrations. Also, thank you to the snow shovel I've chucked across the driveway numerous times in the past few days.

Hope is a Precious Thing

2008-02-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

After the last 7 years of feeling so incredibly hopeless, I am so thankful to see a presidential candidate like Barack Obama. I've been leaning towards him and his policies and views... but tonight I've been browsing YouTube videos and watching his speeches I have found myself literally brought to tears.

I see comments on these videos from Germans, Swedes, and other Europeans saying that they are brought to tears and that Obama would restore their hope in America. And I can't help but feel the same way. He seems to be a rational, intelligent, moral, fair, and inspiring individual. You can just tell that he feels passionately about everything he is saying... and that his ultimate objective is to bring our nation together and to create a country where we can just live happily. That's what we are supposed to have here in the United States, but recently we haven't had it so much.

He is a real person. He was not born into politics and money like so many candidates are. And I love that he talks about race and racism, but he doesn't "play the race card." He doesn't imply that racism is a one-way street. He doesn't imply that ANY issue is a one-way street!

I am so thankful to see a presidential candidate that makes me feel proud to be a citizen in this country, rather than ashamed. If you at all follow the issues or pay attention to the world around you, you know that we have been heading down a scary road in recent years... and we've been waiting for some change.
[oops! I accidentally posted this one twice & now I can't get rid of it!]

If you have some time, you should certainly watch these videos. And if you don't feel something from hearing his words... well, you're just crazy. :)

Barack Obama speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church

Rally for Obama in California

Song over Obama "Yes, We Can" speech

Blackle

2008-01-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

I was just introduced to the web search engine called Blackle and it is pretty awesome! I wasn't sure what it was all about, so you KNOW I went to Wikipedia on that one. Basically, using an all black screened search engine saves more energy than using a white screened search engine. Your computer isn't using up as much energy to display it to you. I think it's pretty cool!

Just another small way to try to conserve and preserve. Who would argue that it's a bad idea?! :)

So yeah, use Blackle! All the cool kids are doing it.

p.s.
Flights to Spain are way too expensive.

Just a Complaint

2008-01-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

I love my mom for a lot of reasons. She handed down some pretty sweet genes, thankfully. She also taught me how to be a respectful, polite, friendly, happy individual. However, one trait I could do without is the constant headaches. I have yet to get her killer migraines, but my own annoying headaches don't really make my day better either.

When I put my fingers to my temples I can feel the blood pulsating through, angrily beating my brain to a pulp. That's what it feels like anyway. Perhaps I'm dehydrated. I know it isn't eye strain because I had one when I woke up. Perhaps stress? I'm not really that stressed though, now that I think about it.

I'm probably dehydrated. Boo. I guess I should go get some hydration to see if it helps. It could also be a caffeine headache. Hmm... curious.

If you can't remember the last time you had a headache, be very grateful.

Being a Big Kid

2008-01-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

I officially have an interview with an editor of the local city's magazine to discuss getting an internship with them this summer! I already applied and he liked what he saw so we are meeting to talk further, and I couldn't be more excited! I'm so anxious, I just wish it was over with. I have to wait until next Thursday morning, though.

Having a real job (even though I won't be getting PAID for it, probably) where I do grown-up things that require some skill will be amazing! I'm sure I'll mostly just be doing the office bitch work, but sometimes their interns write pieces for the magazine, which is why they required samples with the application. I don't anticipate being published in the magazine, mainly because I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be incredible if that did happen.

I'm getting ahead of myself! I don't even know if I definitely have the internship... although it IS looking good so far.

Also, I'm getting all of my crap together for study abroad this summer! Right now I'm just trying to organize my thoughts and my paperwork to make sure I get everything done by the time it needs to be done. I don't want to miss anything! I'm kind of freaking out about getting a passport, because I know it can take quite awhile sometimes. I'm crossing my fingers that it takes about 3 months... maybe 4. I would have done it earlier, but I didn't have the money until I got my financial aid refund check. AH! I need to get SO much done in the next week or so and none of it is even related to my classes!

I guess this semester and this summer are going to be my little tastes of the real world... where life doesn't revolve around college classes.

It's a Wonderful Life, Yes?

2008-01-09T22:18:00.001-08:00

Love
Tomorrow marks the 2 1/2 years mark for Kevin and me... I can't get over it! I've been in a healthy relationship for 2 1/2 years! And I am so incredibly happy.

The feeling of knowing deep down that you are with a completely trustworthy, compassionate, fun-loving, exciting, adoring, sweet, chivalrous, intelligent, ambitious, driven, attractive, kissable as all get-out, and understanding guy... well it just can't be matched. I absolutely adore him... I just feel lucky, you know? I feel as though I've done something right in my life... to be given such a gift. So many people can't seem to find so many good qualities in someone else. I just know he has a good heart... and he simply wants to see me happy.

College
It seems that my classes this semester aren't going to be terrible! The only one I'm worried about as far as the classwork goes is Writing for the Web. I have a feeling that making websites is going to be incredibly frustrating and often times difficult. We'll see. Music 300 makes me a little nervous because the professor is very kind of soft-spoken... and I just might want to fall asleep every now and then. It should be interesting, nonetheless.

So, wish me luck this semester! I wish luck to all of my fellow stressed college kids. :)

Sweet Vacay

2007-12-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

I love having a vacation from school and work! Except for the fact that I won't get a paycheck this Friday. Boo. It's okay though, I should be fine. Luckily our landlord isn't making us pay this month's rent until we get moved-in to our NEW place. *UGH* Boo on that, too.

Good music is so great. I've got some John Legend playing in my headphones and I just can't get enough of him. It is definitely mood music. I don't know how you could listen to it and NOT just want to dance around the room and sing along and give a passionate kiss or two. He makes me want to slow dance. To his song "Slow Dance!" *giggle*

Kevin and I vegged out all day. Well he worked until 2:00. But then we both sat around playing video games, watching Family Guy, and generally relaxing. It was awesome! Although after most of tomorrow is spent doing much of the same, I will be glad for the night out with friends!

I didn't think that I would really be interested in Guitar Hero 3... but Kevin has it and I gave it a shot and I won't lie... it's addicting! I don't know why! It hurts my wrist and my fingers and makes me STRESSED but I still want to play! Video games cannot be good for us.

Hola Chicas

2007-12-20T21:10:00.000-08:00

What is it about the relationships between female friends that pulls at my heart strings? Movies like “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” “In Her Shoes,” and various others make me cry and warm my insides like no other. I've never been an incredibly emotional person but stories like those can't help but get me choked up.

Are women just better at being friends than men are? Or do we just have that assumption? I think about my female friends and I feel such an incredible bond with them. I mean Blair, Alysia and Ashley might as well be my sisters. Even if we never said anything about it we would know. We would know that in any situation, in any crisis (or faux crisis) we can count on each other. Not count on each other in a yeah-i'll-come-listen-to-you-complain-and-say-i'm-sorry kind of way. More like a what-is-going-on-why-are-you-upset-and-who-do-i-have-to-kill-to-
fix-it kind of way. Their problems become my problems and their battles become my battles. It isn't an artificial friendship. It isn't an unstable friendship. It isn't a friendship where you go on and on about your friend and how great she is and how you'll be bestest best friends forever, but then in two years you hate each other and aren't speaking. We've been best friends for some odd 13 years (more like 19 years with Ashley) and I've really never doubted that we'd always be friends.

I guess we girls just feel like we have to stick together. We're strong for each other and we become each other's comfort zone. I love it and I would never be able to fully express how thankful I am that I was given such an amazing gift... I have some of the most trustworthy, caring, sweet, vivacious, exciting women in my life. Eff yeah!

All I Want For Christmas Is You!

2007-12-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

No mas clases, amigos! (Damn it I wish I could do the accents & what-not!)

I am SO excited because this afternoon ended my fall semester of 2007... and I feel as though I did fairly well on my two exams... and hopefully my papers & portfolio were sufficient... but in all honesty I don't really care right now! I'm going to work tonight and while I am at work Kevin will get here! And he will be here until Monday night hopefully!

For some reason I have just fallen head-over-heels for him again. I can't stop thinking about him... I smile when I even think about hearing his voice... I want to spend all of my time with him... and I feel like my heart will jump up my throat with anxiety! Love is so great. I was browsing through the lovely little "bumper stickers" on Facebook last night and I found one that said something about how your soulmate isn't the person you think is perfect... and that if you think you've found the perfect person to turn around and run... because your soulmate is the person who pushes you and challenges you and makes you deal with your bullshit. Kevin is definitely that person for me. If you know us at all... you know that we challenge each other constantly. And then we end up like this... and it's fabulous! *giggle* It's such a great feeling to look back and see everything you've had to deal with in a relationship and to know that you did it together and that your relationship is so much stronger for it.

I'm so damn happy right now! :D

Alas, I need to go finish up my laundry. I want everyone to have a freaking fabulous Christmas Break! Drink lots of egg nog & hot chocolate... play in lots of snow... sit by lots of fireplaces... spends lots of time with your family & friends... and relax! Because before we know it... it will be back to learning more crap. *giggle*

Procrastination Station

2007-11-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

Today has been a day full of nothing. What have I accomplished? Sealing an envelope... eating cereal... writing the introduction to my 6-8 page paper that is due in roughly 10 days or so... and catching up on some Will&Grace. Yeah. Fabulous.

I am pleased that I started on that paper. Seriously, getting that first half-page done is the biggest step for me. I just have to sit down and make myself do it, otherwise I never will. Daniel and I realized last night that out of all of our cousins and aunts and uncles (on our moms' side of the family) there have only been 4 people to graduate from college (and the two cousins who have aren't actually biologically related to us!). We weren't sure about one uncle... but we've seen him once in our lives so we decided that doesn't count. *giggle*

So then we decided that there really is no need for us to try to raise the bar, and we should drop out. Good idea?! HaHa! Obviously we were joking, because we both love what we're going to school for... and we're so close to being done! It is interesting though, how college is such a necessity nowadays. Of course there will always be people who will get richer than all of us without ever stepping foot on a college campus... but for the majority, you can't go without it.

College sucks. I'm just so sick of homework, really. I'm sick of never having time for myself because even if I'm relaxing and not doing anything, there are always at least 4 things on my mind that I could and should be doing instead. Never a moment of peace.

Daniel and I have also decided that if our respective significant others ever break-up with us... we're moving to Australia together to find some hot, surfing Australians with hot Australian accents. That really is a good idea! Even if our sig. others don't break-up with us... we both think it'd be pretty sweet to live in Australia. I've been trying to convince Kevin of that for some time now... Hmm... do dreams really come true?

The Great Barrier Reef... look! It's me & Kevin! Maybe someday!

No More Teachers...

2007-11-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

Realizing that there are only 6 days left of classes makes me so excited. This semester has been as lame as it has been hectic, as far as I am concerned. Nothing terribly exciting has happened... most of my classwork has been lackluster... and I've had more things to do than I can keep track of. So while I am excited, I'm also a bit frantic. I only have 6 days to complete a design portfolio and get it printed out at Kinko's or wherever... write a 8-10 page research report... finish writing a 50 million page recommendation report that I don't even understand (neither does anyone else in the class)... and study for a massive biology exam that is for sure going to kick my ass.

I just feel inadequate this semester. Christmas Break could not be coming at a more perfect time. And I wish I could take a nap right now. I feel like leaving class early and skipping the meeting tonight. Boo.

Home for the Holidays

2007-11-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I plan on moving out of this state in a few years... after we're out of school and... all that other fun stuff. *wink*wink* We want to move somewhere a bit warmer (he absolutely HATES the cold weather... HAAAATES it!) and I was thinking about how weird Christmas without snow is. When we went to Phoenix years and years ago and had Christmas with the fam down there... it was obviously still Christmas, but it wasn't the same. There was no pine tree... just a palm tree pretending to be a Christmas tree. Obviously there was no snow... we were wearing short sleeved shirts... no hot chocolate... and egg nog just isn't as good in warm weather.

Kevin and I will probably come back to Michigan every Christmas anyway because our families are here... but I told him that wherever we are, I have to have a REAL Christmas tree. I just love Christmas trees. I like to have all the lights in the room off except the tree lights. It's very relaxing.

Well I should get going... I have to finish packing and get ready for work... then after work I'm on my way home for Thanksgiving Break! I don't mind that I have to work today because a: I get time & a half... and b: we aren't having Thanksgiving dinner until Saturday. Woot! I cannot wait!

*Happy Turkey Day!*

Thanksgiving... Mmm Mmm Good.

2007-11-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

My love came to visit last weekend. He was here from Friday night until last night! I was definitely excited that we had a long weekend together. We needed it somethin' fierce! *giggle* For the past couple months we've just been "off." We haven't necessarily been having a bad rough spot (just once), we just needed a swift kick in the ass. I don't know if it's because we've been together for quite some time and now we're having trouble adjusting into that "comfortable" zone... rather than the "oh-my-god-I-can't-stop-thinking-about-you" zone. I know that a lot of couples have a hard time with that adjustment. I feel like we're coming out of it just fine though. We both always want to work through things. That's something I'm so glad to have found in Kevin... a man that realizes when effort needs to be put forth and is willing to work through those hard parts of a relationship. Because those hard parts suck... and they just make you want to give the hell up.

Now it's back to waiting 2 weeks to see him again. Boo. And next time it will only be for about a day and a half, maybe 2 days. But it will be for Thanksgiving at my house! I haven't had Thanksgiving dinner in 3 years... I can't stop thinking about it!

Thanksgiving food is pretty much my favorite food. The classic American meal. Turkey... mashed potatoes & some delicioso gravy... STUFFING... my mom's peanut butter freaking pie! *UGH* I can't even express how excited it makes me. So finally this year I get to go home and have Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

Time for me to go I suppose. I'm in class and can't think of anything more to say. I'll have to find another website to occupy my time!

Give Me Back My Ignorance

2007-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

I've decided that ignorance really is bliss. Most of the time I'm glad I've become more aware of the world and important issues people should care about... and I'm glad I have the wisdom that I have. But then I just become so cynical about certain things that I wish I knew nothing about them.

I love jewelry and appreciate the beauty & tradition of giving jewelry as gifts... but now I worry that my diamonds are from a mine somewhere in Africa where half-starved children are finding them in order to pay for civil wars waging in their country, knowing they will probably have to fight in those wars as well. Kind of a downer.

I appreciate a well-made, aesthetically pleasing vehicle... for the past year or so I've wanted a Jeep Commander... but now I'm uberconscious of what a vehicle like that does to the environment and it makes me want a hybrid instead (not that they can't be well-made & aesthetically pleasing, but that limits my options!).

I am a meat & potatoes girl born & raised... I LOVE steak and bacon cheeseburgers and turkey and MEAT. But now that I've heard things about slaughterhouses and the TERRIBLE, inhumane things they do to those animals and how they don't quite follow the FDA rules like they should (at all, in some cases)... I feel kind of sick to my stomach when I look at a slab of meat, or when I think about what might be lurking within the meat.

I want to be a patriot, I really do... but it is becoming increasingly difficult when I learn more and more about the corrupt ways of the majority of our politicians and world leaders.

But at the same time... since becoming more aware of all of these things (and many more) it is easier to do my part in changing them. I can choose a hybrid over a gas-guzzler... I can buy jewelry from jewelers working hard internationally to make sure their diamonds are from child-labor free mines in Canada (or other places that are not Africa & India)... I can cut down my meat eating & purchase hormone-free meat for my own health... and I can pay more attention to politics and vote for those I feel are the least-corrupt and discuss methods for change.

So it isn't all bad. It's just depressing from time to time. :-)

The Crazy Life We Lead

2007-10-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

So my semester isn't as hectic as it was a couple weeks ago. Things are sort of winding down, but I still have more than enough work to keep my busy. I still find myself realizing, "Oh shit! I didn't do that yet!" Then I rush to finish a task 30 minutes before it is due. Luckily that doesn't happen a LOT... but more than I'd like it to. Why can't life just go smoothly with no bumps in the road? That would be so fabulous.

I went to visit Kevin last weekend and it was great. We both feel like we didn't get to spend enough time together for some reason. I think it's because Friday night we made jell-o shots for roughly 2 hours then went to bed... Saturday we shopped for his Halloween costume & went to a party... Sunday we hung-out with Blake & Beth most of the day then he played video games and I did necessary homework... so we did a lot together but it wasn't really together time. We usually spend more time hanging-out together and talking... or eating together. We love to eat together because we talk & get to enjoy each other's company.

I'm still in the process of getting crap together for my internship applications. I just never have the motivation when I have no homework to do. When I'm done with homework I want to sit down and read, write, or watch a good movie. Someone give me a muse!

Thank you, kind sir.

2007-10-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to some classical music in an attempt to calm my mind down. I don't know how well it is working. I just need a day of complete relaxation... hopefully I will get that this Sunday when I'm at Kevin's. The weekend cannot come quickly enough!

Lately I've been noticing that there are a lot of rude, inconsiderate people in this world. Not mean people, just people who apparently were not taught to have manners or respect for others. There is a girl in one of my classes who never shuts her mouth. And she doesn't have an inside voice, apparently. Our professor will be talking... going around the room asking people questions... and the entire time she will sit there looking at the guy next to her talking and talking and laughing and talking... LOUDLY. It makes me SO angry! How difficult is it to shut the hell up for 50 minutes of a class period?! She should have learned to be quiet in class when she was 6 years old. She just drives me nuts. It's just disrespectful, I think.

I did have a guy open a door for me the other day. Well, pretty much every day someone will at least hold a door open for me... but this guy was a few steps behind me... I opened the first door and sort of held it open for him as I continued walking... and as I was reaching for the second door he reached up ahead of me and opened it for me. ! I was thoroughly impressed, I won't even lie.

Kevin always opens doors for me. I love it! Many times he will open the car door for me as well, which just about melts my heart. It's just polite... and chivalrous! *giggle* I'm a sucker for manners and signs of respect.

No Energy

2007-10-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

I had all of these plans for today... and instead I sat here lamely working on my presentation for Introduction to Professional Writing. I mean, at least I did it. But it took me roughly 2 hours to get 3 slides done.

I hate rainy days when I have things to do. I'm sure I've stated that before, but I just can't get over it! When it's gray and wet and cold all motivation is sucked right out of me. I think it just stays in bed.

So many projects are being thrown at me all at once right now... I'm doing my best to take deep breaths and keep myself organized. Wish me luck!

Have I mentioned that I will most likely be spending a month in Spain next summer? Well I will! Hopefully, anyway. I have to get accepted to the program & all that. I decided that Barcelona is where I want to go. Because a: it's a bigger city and it's on the coast and b: La Sagrada Familia.

Antoni Gaudi was the architect and construction began in 1882. When he died in 1926 construction continued until the Spanish Civil War of 1935. It began again in 1940 and has been under construction ever since. It is still not complete!

Whenever I see that first picture... I'm just speechless. I can't imagine seeing something so amazing in real life! It has such a powerful presence and the passion behind it is just amazing to me. I'm not even very religious anymore but I can certainly appreciate the dedication, work, and passion that went into designing and constructing such a striking piece of architecture.

So hopefully I will get to see it!

The Good Life

2007-10-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I am an incredibly lucky person and always have been. Kevin and I were talking about our childhoods a few days ago... and mine was great. I guess I don't really think about it as being great, because it was just normal to me. My parents didn't fight in front of us... I've never seen or heard them raise their voices to each other... my brother and I got along famously most of the time (obviously we had our sibling fights like anyone else, but we were always buddies)... and although we never had a lot of money, we always had food and nice clothes and all that fun stuff. Mom and Dad never raised their voices to us either... they'd get THAT tone, where you know you'd better listen or else... but they didn't have to YELL at us.

But even though I had this fantastic family life, I'm not naive about the ways of the world and I know that a lot of times families aren't that way. I don't feel like it sheltered me at all... it just made me have extremely high expectations for what kind of parent I want to be one day. And for what kind of marriage I will have.

So I had a great life at home.

I've also never been seriously injured, nor has anyone in my immediate family. A few bumps and bruises... some blood here and there... but no broken limbs or stitches or stays in a hospital.

My great-grandparents died, as did my grandparents on my biological dad's side... and my grandpa on Dad's side... but I wasn't very close with any of them and while it was obviously sad, it didn't greatly affect me. I've never had a close friend die or any family member that I was super close with.

All of my boyfriends have been generally nice, decent guys. None of them have been abusive verbally or physically... they've been good guys. Obviously some of them were kind of rude by breaking up with me for no apparent reason and then wanting me back when it was convenient for them (just a couple though)... but I have no ill-feelings towards any of them and I wish all of them the best in their lives.

So I don't know if I'm lucky or what...

All of these things make me nervous. I've always felt like something terrible is going to happen to me someday... like all of these good things are going to come crashing down on top of me and I'm going to get a severe blow to my optimism.

Love Love Love

2007-10-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

My life has been sort of strange lately. My love life, anyway. I'm not going into detail... I'll just say that right before you fall in love again... life kind of sucks. But I like falling in love with the same guy numerous times.
Yup, that's me! Thankfully I have someone who is pretty romantic as well. Someone who wants to work through things with me so that we can stay together. He's great like that.

And also like I said before, I'm getting busier. And I just don't have tons of time for myself and if you know me you know I need that. I'd be such a great millionaire. *giggle*

Time for me to really do some homework. Peace out! Have a fabulous day!

Busy Busy Busy

2007-09-26T06:42:00.001-07:00

So school is officially on a roll now and everyone is getting busier, myself included. I don't mind being busy until it starts to take away all of my leisure time. Even I give myself some leisure time, I'm constantly thinking about what I need to be doing instead. Or about what I need to do tomorrow... or next Thursday, etc.

Thankfully this semester is not chock full of English classes (slash READING classes) because I don't think I would be able to keep up. The only reading I have is a few chapters out of my books for writing. I'm not used to this! But I like it for this semester.

Kevin is coming to see me on Friday and hopefully I'll get everything done before then!

Constantly Frustrated

2007-09-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

I was just on Facebook and I saw a new group dedicated to protesting the recent events in Jena, Louisiana [if you don't know, read up here] and it was so annoying. The group is to show support for the people who were wronged in the situation and in the pictures section of the group everyone was internet fighting like 12-year-olds.

One person posted a picture of the Confederate flag and wrote, "I have no greater duty than to my home." He then continued to defend himself saying he was not trying to uphold racist actions/comments and he is not racist, but rather a southerner and that the flag had nothing to do with racism. Well I hate to break it to him... but I think that when the majority of Americans see that flag... they immediately think of racism and slavery. Whether he meant it to represent that or not, that's what it often represents and he should have taken that into consideration, I think. Especially considering that the group he posted it on was all about a recent act of vicious racism!

Then they all started calling each other names and swearing and spouting off for everyone else to "shut the fuck up." Honestly, what good is this doing? It was so amusing to me that the group was made to bring people together to stand for something, but instead they're all arguing with each other and not just listening to each other's opinions. One person made a comment about the American flag representing our corrupt country... and boy howdy did that ever start a bitch fest!
I personally think that the kid had every right to state his feelings on our country, that's the beauty of our country! (Although in more recent years it seems less acceptable to disagree with the government... a curious change...) Right after he said that a bunch of people started swearing at him and telling him that if he doesn't like it he should "get the fuck out." Again, that is supposed to be the beauty of our country... that you can disagree with certain things but stick around to see some change if you wish.

Personally, I don't know how badly I really want to stay in the country in my future. I love the fact that I was raised by my parents to put myself in other's shoes... but not everyone was raised to be that way. But that's the way it is the world over, I'm sure. I do love that I have such a large expanse of land to travel across without problems or a hassle, though!

I just want to see the rest of the world and get a feel for how bad it really is here, as far as ignorance, racism, and close-mindedness goes. Maybe I'd be surprised to find that we're just like the rest of the world and that it is just in human nature to hate people unlike yourself.

New Goal in Life

2007-09-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided that one of my goals in life is to some day publish my own magazine. I think it would be so much fun and so exciting. And a cool way to use my damn education. HaHa! So I'm going to start working on my ideas for such an endeavor. It would be so much better than working for someone. I'd love so much to work for myself and be able to be as creative as I want.

So far I'm keeping up with my homework. Granted we've only had a week and a half of classes... but I'm going to be very busy very soon so I need to stay on top of things. I'm debating trying to graduate with Distinction. It's basically an honors program for the writing department. But you have to do a LOT of work in order to meet all the requirements for it. And it takes at least a year to finish the program. And next summer I have to get an internship... and I'm also thinking about doing study abroad for about a month next summer. That will all depend on what the financial aid department tells me and what that would mean for my internship opportunities.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be a very very busy girl for the next year. Yikes! We'll see if I can handle it. :)

Wowzers

2007-09-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Sooo it's been awhile. I've been busy! Going back to school is always a hassle. I'm still not perfectly settled because I have more books I need to get. UGH! I hate buying books. So bad.

I actually ran again last night. I got out of the habit as the summer went on. *giggle* It still feels good though.

I seriously need to get some homework done and to organize my life. I really have nothing else to say!

Everyone have a fabulous day!

Poor Little Puppies

2007-08-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a more permanent home and more extra money so I could get a dog. I want one so badly! And I really want to go buy one at a pet store... preferably a small, cute lil puppy... but then I think about all the dogs already out there that don't have families or were abused/neglected and I want to help them. It's probably a good thing I'm not rich because I would seriously have a ton of dogs. That's one thing I'd like to do if I ever did become rich for some crazy reason. I'd have a cozy lil building off my house just for doggies... they'd have a nice big yard to play in when they weren't inside... I'd pay someone to come and make sure they get plenty of exercise if I was busy... and I'd be happy.

Here are my faves I found on the Michigan Humane Society website:

Chico

Dixie

I forget her name...

Milo... aww... my fave.

Peaches

Zena... also my fave.

And kitties too!

Sonja... how cute & fluffy!

Wade... he's havin fun.

I just love animals... I thought about working at a shelter or something so I was looking online and I found a customer service/animal care-giver position at a shelter in G-Rap... and it says you'd have to be able to control your emotions. Now, I think I'd do okay... I know I'd get pretty choked up a lot but I think I'd be alright. Until I saw that you'd have to help hold the animal during the euthanasia process. Omg no way would I be able to do that. I understand that it's to help the animal so they don't suffer any more but I just couldn't do that and feel okay inside.

The reason Milo is my favorite is because he looks like our old dog, Buster. Luckily Buster wasn't in pain for very long when he died... but of course I had to be the one to watch him get hit by a truck. Which was obviously a traumatizing experience! I called Alysia and she came to stay the night with me. :-) And I snuggled my cat Ookums to console myself. *giggle*

Anyway, I just wish I had resources to rescue lots of animals!

Leo Babies

2007-07-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

So Kevin will be 23 tomorrow. Crazy! I met him when he was 20, just about to turn 21. That seems so long ago... I mean it's really only 2 years... but it sounds a lot further in the past. Further? Farther? *giggle* I don't know. Anyway, we both have to work tomorrow so we can't really celebrate all that much. But his friend, Brent, and his girlfriend, Amber, invited us to go stay the night at the casino with them because they got a room with two beds! They're tons of fun so I'm sure it will be a good time. I don't plan on gambling... I'm not really all that interested in it--but it will be fun regardless. It's something different!

I have my birthday outfit all planned. HaHa! I'm seriously a huge ass dork. I'm so pumped though! I'm the last one of my friends to turn 21... I haven't actually celebrated my own birthday in basically forever... and it's RIGHT before we all have to go back to school. I just want it to be fun for everybody that goes. 21 is really the last big birthday that is exciting... you know? And like I said... I think the last time I really had a *celebration* for my birthday was probably my 16th. We aren't even doing anything crazy & different for my 21st... we're just going downtown but I invited pretty much everyone I know. And you KNOW I'm wearing my tiara. Blair did so I feel like it's a MUST for me to! Blair is much less of a diva. HaHa!

I'm at work... wishing I wasn't. I really don't mind this job at all I just hate that we never hear positive encouragement. Any comments made on how we are doing our job are always negative. We are constantly told we are doing something wrong but when we do something well it is never recognized. That's how it is at a lot of work places, though. It just gets really old really fast. It isn't even like my boss is mean or anything... just negative.

I've decided that I'm doing my New Year's resolution early. It will be my New School Year Resolution. And it is going to be that I will be organized and make a schedule for myself every week. I want to make sure I work-out and I want to make sure I get homework done and give myself time to write. I'm sick of laying around during any down time I have. School and work wears me out though. But I'm going to do my best to be on top of things this year! I'm pretty organized anyway, so it shouldn't be too terrible of a transition.

Time to get stuff ready to close. Hopefully we can get out early tonight! That would rock my lil face off.

superfast summer

2007-07-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sick of this summer going by so quickly. I guess that's what happens when you are lucky enough to find a summer job and also when your boyfriend works basically 23 hours a day. *hmph*

I should really be in bed because I'm tired but I'm in that stay-up-late mood. Kevin passed out around 10:15 and is now taking up the entire bed. Wish me luck when I have to make him move! *giggle*

Nothing terribly exciting is happening lately, which is why I haven't been updating very often. I DID just go join in on the infamous Tuesday Night festivities with 3 of my favorite girls! Which was a blast & a half let me tell ya! I love those girls. I'm so glad I found great friends in high school that have been great enough to last past graduation.

I bought a planner last night... I'm in love with it. I am more or less in love with organization and office supplies. So a planner is pretty much the ultimate. *giggle* What is it about office supplies? Us girls were discussing it last night... we all loooove office supplies and we are all very particular about our writing utensils. Blair and I won't use pencils. I won't use black ink. Basically none of us like gel pens. It's just an odd thing!

I have to work the next couple of days but Kevin works all weekend so I'll be bored later. So I'll be more interesting then!

#1, yo!

2007-07-16T13:07:00.001-07:00

Lately my lil brosef has been getting into quad racing. He's been into quads for I don't know... forever, but wasn't allowed to race when he was younger. He'd basically loooove to get rich doing it. Well yesterday I was at home and went to his races. We missed the first one but he came in 3rd out of 9ish. (Not sure exactly but there were quite a few.) In the third race he came in 1st and because the two that beat him in the first race came in 3rd and 4th in the second race... he ended up with 1st overall! I was SO excited for him! He got a huge trophy and everything! *happyhappy*

He was never into sports in high school... in middle school he did well in basketball but then he seemed to lose his aggression/drive for it and eventually he stopped playing. So it's nice to see him really enjoying something and pushing himself to do well. It's just great that he has something he loves to do! I don't know what I would do if I didn't have writing... and I guess quads are his writing.

Time for me to go eat before math. BTW! I am 5th in my math class with a 95%! If anybody knows me well, they know that they should be proud of me! *giggle* I mean yeah, it took me three times to do well in math... but I'm actually making it!

It's Independence Day...

2007-07-04T06:39:00.001-07:00

Although I have become somewhat jaded where our government and founding fathers are concerned... I'd like to say Happy 4th of July! They had the right idea... if only they hadn't been ignorant hypocrites. *giggle*

Honestly though, I hope everyone has a great day! See some fireworks... grill some food... and enjoy the company of your friends & family! Even though it's kind of a crappy day for us Michiganders. I'm just excited that FINALLY Kevin and I both have a day off on the same day! It doesn't happen too often lately... because he works pretty much every single day. I try not to let him know that it makes me sad though. He's already stressing about it enough--especially about how it makes me feel--and I don't want him to stress! And even though it makes me sad, it isn't going to change our relationship or anything, which is kind of what he's worried about. I'm glad he cares, though.

I have officially decided to return to Mobil in the fall. I'm going to be looking for a better paying job, but at least this way if I don't find something I won't be a brokeass! And I thought that all of my fave Mobil coworkers would be gone... but they're all still there! Yay for Ian, Andrew, James, Kendra, Lisa and Shannon! Well I'm actually not positive if Lisa and Shannon are still there, I'm kind of just assuming. Anyway, I love those guys! Andrew and I said we wish we could just take everyone with us to our next jobs. The job itself isn't all that fantastic... I mean, cashier at a gas station isn't usually anyone's dream job... but it makes it SO much better when you have fun with the people you work with.

Time for me to get ready to go have breakfast with my love!

Slacking

2007-06-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking in my blogging and also in my journal writing. Boo on me!

I have been pretty busy though. I work basically every day of the week, and I have class two nights a week, and my weekends are spent spending as much time with Kevin as possible. Because he works like a dog and I really don't get too much time with him. Which of course, makes me sad.

Last weekend I got to spend time with my two favorite lovers though! Blair, Alysia and I were all at Alysia's family cabin. Good times were had by all--which is sort of a given when we are together. Two days after I got back I was trying to think of a topic for this Glamour magazine writing contest I've decided to give a whirl... and I decided to write about the friendship between the three of us. I told them that I really doubt I'll win, because they're looking for some story that defines the writer, a person who changed them or an experience that inspired them... and although they did change me and help make me the person I am today... I'm sure someone somewhere has a much more compelling, dramatic story to tell. So I'm very much not expecting to win, but I wanted to at least give it a shot for once. I always say I'm going to enter writing contests and then I slack off and never get around to it. So I guess just wish me luck!

I'm kind of pissed that it isn't sunny today. My one day this week that I don't have to work during the day and the sun has decided to go hide somewhere. Wtf. :-)

Even though it's INCREDIBLY long (they asked for 2,500 - 4,000 words!) I think I'm going to post the thing I'm writing on my other blog. You'll have to give me your e-mail address and then you'll be able to see it--there are some past things that have happened that I am not at liberty to share with everyone my friends know.

If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions/critiques... let me have 'em! But don't be too rough--you have no idea the courage it takes for me to let something I write be public. I am extrememly confident in every aspect of myself, except my writing. Which kind of sucks because it's what I love to do! *giggle*

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

p.s. If you actually want to check it out... here is the link! .WriterJashana.

Money in the Bank

2007-06-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

Shorty whatchu drank? *giggle*

It's been a while. awhile? a while? I've been taught both ways. Why can't ONE way be taught for everything?! Then people wouldn't be confused so often.

I had my second day of math tonight. I still effing hate it. But I'm trying to look at it in a positive light. I'm trying very hard to be optimistic and determined. If I keep telling myself that it won't be so difficult and that I will, in fact, pass the class... it's bound to happen, right? The power of thought? Hmm... well, I hope so. Because I'm really sick of taking this d-a-m-n class.

It's been harder to run as often this week because I worked Monday-today (Thursday). But tomorrow Kevin works until 2:00 and I think I'm going to run in the earlier morning hours. Not SUPER early... maybe around 9:00. Yeah, I think I could manage that.

The summer is fantastic. But why-oh-why does it have to go so quickly? The school year feels like it takes forrrrrever. Then BAM summer is here and over and it's back to friggen school.

Oh oh! I just thought of a project so I have to go because I'm really excited about it!

Some Upgrades

2007-05-23T13:26:00.001-07:00

Obviously [if you ever actually read my blog] you can see that I changed it up! I started out with one picture on my header... but it was just effing things up so I decided to just make it more personal anyway! Then I was getting sick of my template so I picked a new one and gave it new colors.

A kitty is meowing [mewing?] at me right now and proceeding to rub on my arm. I think he wants attention! I'm so used to my mom's tiny little cat. She's a little furball! She doesn't have that sleek, close-to-the-body, normal cat hair. Hers is long and silky and furry and the fur on her tail doesn't lay down at all so it's just a big fluff ball. I basically adore her.

Today was my first day at the salon, really. I did work yesterday but it was only for an hour and a half and I kind of just was introduced to the place. Today I got to check people in and out, and make confirmation calls. Wooooot woot! It wasn't so bad! Everyone there keeps talking about how crazy and busy it can get... but I really think I'll be fine. They talk about it like I'm going to be so surprised. I hate to break it to them, but I was a waitress and a gas station cashier. I definitely know how to handle a rush and how to keep a line moving quickly. And I most certainly know how to handle impatient, rude customers. I just kill those suckers with smiles and kindness! I never understand workers who are always pissy with people just because the people are pissy with them. Think about it, when in your life have you wanted to be nice & polite to someone who was rude as shit to you? And when have you really wanted to be rude as shit to someone who is smiling and being a general sweet person? [Obviously there are some people who are just rude constantly regardless of the attitude of those around them.] So if someone comes up to me and they're acting like a jerk, unless it's an extreme case, I just continue to smile and be supersweet and usually they chill out or just stop talking. Either is good for me!

So back to that, I think that working there will be good. As soon as I get really used to the computer system and get used to booking appointments, it'll be smooth sailing. And I heard the owner telling some other stylists that I am "really nice" and that I have a "very pleasant, good voice." [I was making phone calls.] Which of course, made me happy! It's always good to have the owner on your side!

I've been working out every day this week! Even if I only do some crunches/planks for 15 minutes, I'm still doing something! So my summer is off to a great start! Halle-freakin-lujah!

Fabuloso

2007-05-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I've decided to get a little bit more serious about working out and tonin my lil self up. It just feels good to look at yourself in the mirror and think, "Hey I don't look too damn bad!" I hate looking a myself and thinking, "Meh. I could use a few jogs and crunches..." It just makes ya feel icky! Not that I think I really have a huge problem to worry about but it's just nice to feel good about yourself. And in light of my newfound seriousness about toning up I've found inspiration for such a change...

This and about five other picture of her are now my computer background. *giggle* I figured that seeing someone as smokin hot as Ms. Alba every day would give me the motivation to try to look that good. Think it will work?

My time at home was pretty good! Blair got wild & crazy for her birthday... it was fun to witness! *giggle* I got to spend time with my lover and I got to meet Andy's new lady! She's super cute and fun! [It's always nice to see a really close friend start dating a good person.] And of course, I was able to spend some time with my family! Even Cassie! She FINALLY could stay the night. We stayed up pretty late too... girly sleepovers are always fun. Especially when it's with your awesome little sister. And Kevin got to meet her! He agrees that she is absolutely gorgeous.

p.s. I officially have a job! I work at a hair salon/day spa as a receptionist! I am sooooo relieved. I was afraid I was going to have a repeat of last summer when I couldn't find a job until like... mid-June. And then it was a pretty crappy job anyway. So now I want to work my lil butt off, make some money, and prepare to FINALLY pass math this summer!

Does anyone else have more exciting summer plans?

Back in E.Town

2007-05-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I will be heading back to my lovely hometown. Blair's 21st happens on Tuesday and then this coming weekend my little bro graduates from high school. That makes me feel pretty old... I won't lie. I can't believe that it has been 3 years since I graduated. It definitely feels like it has been a lot less time. And then my little sister is going to be a junior next year... only two more years before she graduates! Holy crap I'm old! *UGH* I can't imagine how this will feel with my kids some day. Boy does that ever make me feel weird.

I had another crazy dream last night. Well, this one wasn't really that terribly crazy. Two of my friends (Wimmy & Joey J!) were going into the war and I was incredibly upset and not wanting them to do it. Then I was in a house with one of them and I told him not to do it because I didn't want him to die. It was just one of those incredibly real dreams, you know? I looked it up in the dream dictionary at dreammoods.com and it's so crazy how accurate that stuff is! *giggle* Seriously though, it's fun to look up what your dreams mean... I believe it, because you dream about things that are on your mind! Though the things you're thinking of may come across in your dreams in a subliminal way. Which is where such a dream dictionary may come in handy! Check it out some time!

Once again I have become addicted to The Sims. It goes in cycles. Right now I'm obsessed. I think it's a never-ending relationship! Time to get back to it!

Jobless

2007-05-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I still don't have an effing summer job. But make no mistake... I've been looking! I'm a great worker, people! Don't they know that? Don't they know that customers love me because I'm so dang perky and happy? Today a woman at a local greenhouse apparently rolled her eyes at me as I walked away (Kevin was in the car in viewing range). We assume it's because I was wearing cute clothes and *gasp* I had my hair curled! Of course that means that I would never be able to get my hands dirty at a greenhouse! Why do so many people generalize? It's incredibly aggravating.

I remain hopeful, however. Sooner or later something good will happen. That's what I always tell myself when things aren't so hot for a little while. I should just be thankful that I have a place to live (for free!), food to eat (also, free!), a great relationship and family and friends, my health... and to top it all off I have nobody else who depends on me for any of life's necessities... a.k.a. I have no kids at these inopportune times in my life! So I suppose I can't be too negative.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my dermatologist because my supposed sun spots from last summer never disappeared, instead they multiplied and have become dried out. Hopefully she can give me something that will make them go away! I feel like a freak with my lil white spots all over my neck and back! Again, I should take this opportunity to note that I am thankful I don't have a terrible skin disease, horrible acne or deformity of any kind. I suppose a few white spots won't kill me!

Good luck to anyone who started spring classes this week. I have a month or so before my summer class begins. You'll all need to wish me luck then... because I will need it in order to pass math once and for all.

Karma, bee-otches.

2007-04-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

I've complained before about my job and the dumb people I encounter on a daily basis. I swear there is something about a gas station that makes people lose all common sense. I have seen and heard some unbelievable things since being a gas station cashier. My coworker, Andrew, and I came up with a nifty little system a week or two ago. A system that would greatly reduce our stress levels. We call it "Karma" and here are its main attributes:

if a customer needs to come in for their receipt, and they act like we killed their puppy because of it... we can press a button that blows up their car.

if we spot someone driving off we can press a button that slaps a GPS tracking device onto their vehicle.

for anyone using their cell phone at the register (w/o acknowledging that they are being rude by saying "I'm so sorry!" or something of the like), a mechanical arm will pop out and punch them in the face.

if a customer chooses to come in and A) cuss us out for no apparent reason and for something which we have no control over or B) rudely blame something asinine like gas prices or pump problems on us... they get the trap door to Hell.

this next one pertains to our store only because our gum aisle is strategically placed where nobody can EVER find it... so if a customer has to ask, "Where is your gum?" little guns will pop out of the gum aisle and shoot gum at them. At the same time the song, "Whoop, there it is!" will play.

on shitty, rainy, snowy days anyone who exclaims (as if we can't see through windows) "Oh my goodness! It is SOOO cold/crappy/wet out!" will be dropped into an icy lake.

likewise, on absolutely beautiful, sunny days anyone who exclaims, "It's SO warm/beautiful out!" gets dropped into a house on fire.

when customers pull up to a pump which clearly has a bag over the nozzle and pick up the nozzle anyway, then complain that the pump isn't working... they automatically have their driver's license revoked as well as any diplomas and/or academic awards they may have received in their lifetime.

Customer service really is a good line of work for me to be in. I love being friendly and polite to people. I get a good feeling in my soul when I make someone smile. But I swear on all things holy... some people make me SO angry with their stupidity and/or rudeness! I just want to say to them, "How have you survived all these years?!", "What makes you think I know the answer to that question? I'm a CASHIER not a CEO!" or, "What makes you think you can talk to me like that you jackass?!"

Just a note... with the weather comments... we do understand that people are just trying to make small talk... but we feel that if the only thing you can come up with is to comment on the weather (which EVERYONE does) then just don't say anything. Because you may think that you're the only person to walk through the doors that day... but really, about 100 other people have already said what you're thinking about the weather. It's just annoying after the 200th time! :-)

For more advice on how to behave in a gas station... see my Customer Guidelines!

this craziness

2007-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Warning: This is a looonnnnnng post. :-)

So I'm pretty sure everyone knows what happened earlier this week at Virginia Tech. If you don't, you definitely need to stop living in a hole in the ground. I've been thinking about how I feel about it all... my initial reaction was of course, "Oh my god. I can't believe people are so effin crazy sometimes." But honestly... I wasn't terribly phased. I was old enough to remember Columbine... and all of the other school shootings that happened afterwards... I was old enough to remember the Oklahoma City Bombings... and I'm obviously old enough to remember 9/11. The first few days I thought to myself, "How crazy. That really sucks." End of story, really. Then it started to bother me that I wasn't more upset by this.

Today I read the school paper and there was an article about a candlelight vigil held last night to show support for the people at VT and to pray and all of those good things. And to just talk about it. I thought, "Oh that's cool. I'm glad people are showing that they care." Then I had to go to the information desk on campus and as I walked to it I passed the area where the vigil was held. And there were some little tea light candles sitting on the cement in the shape of VT and around them were flowers. And all over the cement surrounding the VT you could see where candle wax had dripped. For some reason it was almost eerie... and I just looked at the VT and the wax on the ground and I felt something.

I went to the information desk, took care of what I needed to take care of and left the building. But as I walked out I passed three girls who had gotten help from moms, aunts, and other women close to them and baked a whole bunch of cookies and treats and were selling them (and taking donations) to send to a memorial foundation for Virginia Tech. I walked past them and as soon as I got outside I felt like I should go back and see if there was something for me to do... I was just going to keep walking because I thought, "I'm just one person. Whatever. I don't even have any cash on me..." But I could tell it was going to REALLY bother me if I didn't go back. So I turned around and of course, they could only take cash or check donations (I have .02 cents in my checking account and I never use cash... so that was out!) but I did sign the flag they were going to send to VT.

When I went to work I decided to buy the daily newspaper with the murderer on the cover... because I wish I had bought one when 9/11 happened... or when Columbine happened... or anything else that really affected me and basically our entire country. I don't like to look at the cover, he really creeps me out... but I just thought I should get one, just to have it.

Everyone is so visciously angry about this right now. I understand anger. Especially when things like this happen. I have thought numerous times in the past few days, "What the hell is this world coming to?" We are all seeing the negatives and rightly so at this point... but I hope that in the wake of this horrible event we will come to see that humanity is not lost. Look at how many people are trying to help... trying to show VT and all of the families of the victims that people really do care and that we don't think this was right. The three girls I saw on campus today just up and decided to do this... they aren't members of any organization... one girl was just studying in the library and couldn't focus because she was so upset by what happened... so she decided to do something about it to help. How awesome is that?

I am so moved by those human acts of compassion and kindness. I just hope that we all don't get so caught up in anger that we eventually stop seeing those things. Or rather, that we don't stop being so moved by them.

Needless to say (but I will anyway!), my heart goes out to the victims and their families and everyone at Virginia Tech right now. I wish we could all give them one big, giant hug! I hope that they know everyone is thinking of them right now and sending nothing but love their way.

.naps & headaches.

2007-04-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish I could go back to the 30s-50s to meet some of the musicians and actors of that time. I'd like to meet Frank Sinatra... Audrey Hepburn... Billie Holiday... Ella Fitzgerald... Doris Day... etc. That would be pretty amazing. I just love the music from that time. And I can't get enough of Doris Day & Audrey Hepburn movies! Romance was so... romanticized! And most of the actors also had to be able to sing and dance well because for a long time movies were musicals. It would just be so... cool to really experience the... atmosphere (?) of that era.

I was just thinking about that because my iTunes is on shuffle and some Frank Sinatra came up... and now LL Cool J (Headsprung) just started. HaHa! I think it's good to have a diverse taste in music.

I think something is seriously wrong with my brain. It hurts all the time. I've had a serious-as-a-heart-attack headache all day long. They're always up in the left side of my forehead.. right on my temple. I can feel the blood just PUMPIN through... and it hurts. Poop.

I feel like I've been slacking off this week in my classes, but I really haven't had much to do. Besides my Spanish shit that we get EVERY day. Oh well, hopefully I'm learning something.

Kelli & I accidentally took a nap in her bed today. *giggle* We were watching tv and then I heard her start to snore... and then I fell asleep. :-) It was good stuff.

Wearing Thin Today

2007-04-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so tired today. To the point where I can't even focus on anything because all I can think about is taking a nap. Which I'm going to do promptly.

Besides working my life away, I had a great weekend. Both days I was out of work at 4 and Kevin was here to spend time with me. *heart* We had an awesome time! I highly recommend being best friends with your significant other... it's so much better that way. And make sure you always take time to be silly with each other.

Who else is ecstatic due to the fact that there are only 2 weeks of classes remaining?! I most certainly am. So ecstatic I can't even stand it. I want to make a time machine and fast forward 2 weeks, actually. That'd be PERF!

This weekend I'm going home for two days... that will be nice. I'll get to see my lil sis, my lil bro, my lil cuz, Mom & Dad... and Tink! :-D I love her. She's still the cutest kitty ever.

Okay. Nap.

Story of my life.

2007-04-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Working again tonight until 11:00. All dang week! Tuesday was my only night off! And this weekend it's 8am-4pm Saturday and Sunday. Soooo not fun! It'll be fun when I get my paycheck though! :-D

Kevin is coming to see me tomorrow afternoon... *heart* And Mom came to see me last night and just left actually. AND next weekend I get to go home. I'm super excited about that!

I feel like the past 2 weeks I've accomplished nothing (school wise). For like a month I was just going-going-going... and then I lost ALL motivation. I'm so ready to be done with school. How weird will that be though? Our entire lives (up until college graduation) are spent getting our educations. We go for 12 years in "grade school" and then 4 (or so...!) years in college and then suddenly it's time for a career and to... actually have a life! I won't lie, it's going to be kind of scary. Scary knowing that my days don't revolve around homework and papers and exams. I'll get up in the morning... go to work... come home in the afternoon... and do whatever I want! SO weird! I can't wait.

I'm going to just sit on my bed and watch some Step by Step for the next 40 minutes until work!

Guess What?

2007-04-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend is still the coolest. We're hanging-out right now... we just ran to Meijer and played around and threw some bouncy balls at each other and now we're trying to stay up late hanging-out with each other. Because I have to leave at like... 8:30am so I can get to geology on time! Pooooop. We've had a pretty good weekend. A little bump in the road... but that's what keeps me on my toes! He always keeps me on my toes. Not always with bumps in the road! The majority of the time it's because he's fun & full of life & just makes me one happy little girl.

Well that's basically all I had to say. I was just feeling bloggy.

<3 Jashana

School Sucks

2007-03-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

I just registered for my classes for next year. Blech. But I'm taking Tae Kwon Do in the winter! Woot! That should be fun, right?! I wanted to take Self-Defense for Women, but it was full. Besides, that's what I have a 3-pound keychain, pepper spray, lethal stilettos, and a feisty attitude for! *giggle*

I'm so ready for the summer. I'm going to live with Kevin again at his parents' house. This time the other member of the family won't be there... otherwise the deal would be OFF. But anyway, I'm definitely excited for that! Last summer was fun (the Kevin&I aspect of it). Hopefully I'll have a job or TWO this time though! I NEED to save up some cash.

Okay well I've wasted away my blogging time talking on the phone with my loverly mom and my loverly boyfriend and now I have class! :-D So peace out, kiddies!

Spring Break & Randoms

2007-03-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

I finally was able to go on a spring break--rather than staying home and working for the week! I went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Kevin, Casey, Joe and Kyle. It was good times! Beautifuly weather (not so beautiful that it was uberhot, but better than Michigan for SURE!), relaxation, and fun times with friends! And a looooong ace car ride. Roughly 16 1/2 hours. I don't recommend it.

It was really just nice to get away from school and the every day. Even though I had homework and I did NONE of it. That's what being a procrastinator will get you. Also not recommended. And yeah, I spent money and lost one week's paycheck because I didn't work for an entire week... but it was worth the memories and the chance for something different. The island is sooo beautiful. Very ritzy! And Casey's aunt & uncle were nice enough to let us stay in their condo that they rent out so we didn't have to come "home" to a little hotel room every day. So we could have fun just sitting around the condo too. There was a little head-butting at times... but when 5 people are stuck together for 6 straight days that is bound to happen! :-)

I really need to be getting to bed right now but for some reason I just don't want to. Probably because I have a headache that just won't quite go away. I even took some Aleve. Eff! I don't know why I get headaches so often... it really kind of bugs me. Makes me sick to my stomach sometimes... the headaches, I mean.

Okay well really, time for bed. Chat more later!

Silly Ho

2007-02-20T21:28:00.000-08:00

I was just browsing through a photo-story of Britney Spears' life since her divorce from Kevin Federline. The girl has gone nuts. What I would like to know is what would happen to any other woman's kids if she was known to be behaving that way? If she was a suspected alcoholic... bared herself in public... partied literally all night long... shaved her head for no apparent reason... got random drunk-tattoos... and checked herself into rehab? Any "normal" citizen would at LEAST get a visit from social services... but honestly, we know they'd get more than that. I just think it's extremely silly that here in America we treat our celebrities like they rule the country. How often do we see photos of underage celebs boozin' it up in clubs? I'm pretty sure they didn't get in with their fake i.d.! They got in because they're rich and famous and to hell with the law! *giggle* I personally think the drinking age could be lowered because when you're younger you just want to rebel and you don't learn to drink in moderation. But that's a whole other story!

It's just so stupid that certain rules don't apply to people who do nothing more than entertain us. I also think it's stupid that they get paid more than say... doctors? Not that doctors are living in poverty by any means... but in my opinion, they should be higher up on the totem pole of wealth than people who sing and dance and play sports and act. I mean honestly... isn't that just a LITTLE bit messed up?

I'm basically just annoyed with Hollywood in general at this point. All those stupid bitches being all anorexic and for some unknown reason, thinking they look good. (No, you actually look like a friggen corpse of an oooooooold woman. You're no longer hot at ALL. Good job ruining the only thing you had going for you.) Hilary Duff, who I actually think seems to be a decent person... why did she have to go and lose tons of weight? She was hot before! Same with Lindsey Lohan. In Mean Girls, she had a rockin lil bod goin on! Now... she's a drunkass aaannnnnnd she's gross looking. And of course, the inspiration for this post in the first place... Ms. Spears. Like what, 3 or 4 years ago she was gorgeous and had a ROCKIN bod happening... she was singin and dancin and makin too much money for her own good. I don't think I even have to explain why she's so effed up now.

It would be nice to be rich and famous... I don't think too many people would complain about it... but I think there is an art to it. They need to remember to keep parts of their lives private... but that when they go out in public people ARE going to watch their every move and take pictures and report everything they see them doing. So how about not acting like a skank?! And also, they should try to remember that if they're in the spotlight that often and they're making that much money... young people will want to be like them. How about giving them something GOOD to aspire to? So props to to Emmy Rossums, Scarlett Johanssons, etc. who have fun and live the celebrity life without going absolutely effing nuts.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2007-02-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

I had a loverly weekend with... my love! I hadn't seen Kevin in 3 weeks so it was great spending 3 days with him. I had to leave this morning at like 9:30 though because I had to make it to the mall be 12. Then I sold shoes until 5:30. Nooo fun. Now I'm studying for history... *giggle* Can you tell?

I made a few purchases this weekend... because for about 2 weeks I've been obsessed with cuffed shorts. And then I ventured into Wet Seal when I was in Saginaw and I found some! Woot! Well then I had to buy some shoes to go with them, of course. (p.s. the stuff on the right is brown, not black. Kind of hard to tell in the pic, though.)

Voila! Aren't the red/white shoes the cutest things you've ever seen?! God, I love shoes. My collection is now at 35. Actually like 5 more, but I basically never wear those ones, so I'm not counting them. And probably 7 are flip-flops. The rest are heels... *giggle* It's good that I was born short so I can enjoy a pair of 3-inch stilettos. ;-)

Due to my spending spree I'm going to lock my credit card away for about ohhhh... 3 months. *giggle* I just like to pamper myself every now & then, you know? I know I'll get a ton of use out of these purchases so that makes me feel a little better about it.

This weekend is my bff's 21st b-day---woot! I can't express my excitement! Especially since I'll actually get to be there! Yay for having every weekend off this entire month! ... until I get my paychecks. :'-(

Everyone have a *splendid* week!

Blizzard & Being Bummed

2007-02-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been a constant blizzard here in the lovely state of Michigan. I especially love that I have to make sure I leave ten minutes early for anywhere I'm going... because there is roughly a foot of snow on top of my car. And that I'll be driving down the road when suddenly, out of nowhere... snow has completely surrounded me and I can't see two feet in front of me! Here are some snapshots of the craptastic load of snow...

Yeah, that ^ would be my car. Yikes!

^Only one car not entirely covered, because they JUST stopped moving.

^The snow sticks to EVERYTHING.

Last night was Andy's 21st birthday and he had a big party planned, but due to the roads being absolutely horrible... pretty much everyone backed out. Kevin & I were still going to go (he had to travel all the way here from Saginaw, however) but his car crapped out on him half-way here. Then I was all bummed and just really not in the mood for drinking & being all happy. Though it was probably a sign that Kevin shouldn't have been driving on US-131 last night... there was a 40 car pile-up earlier in the day and part of it was blocked off. God must've seen a bad situation and wanted to prevent it! Or whoever runs this show. And it's okay because for the next month I will see Kevin every weekend... and the LAST one will begin our week of fun in South Carolina together! Woot!

I'm going to give Aldo my 2 weeks notice sometime next week, I think. It's just getting complicated trying to schedule both jobs and also getting a little straining, what with also being a full-time student. More power to all of those people who do that all the time... I just can't be one of those people for very long. I don't like to work myself to death!

Buenas dias a todo el mundo! Tengo estudiar ahora... no lo quiero. (No me gusta mucho nieve.)

^That should say "Everyone have a good day! I have to study now... I don't want to. (I don't like a lot of snow.)" (The first sentence translates literally: Have a good day to everyone! HaHa!) I'm trying to practice Spanish outside of class... so maybe I'll be able to actually SPEAK it! *giggle*

Lazy.

2007-01-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

Wow. What is up with me not writing EVER? Hmph. I dunno. I think I'm trying to actually do my homework and stuff. *giggle* And then work. Whatev!

I'm so glad I got to see Cassie this weekend, even if it was just for the day. She's such a great person. She's usually pretty quiet around me still, but I'm usually shy around people who aren't my uberclose friends, too. I mean, we're sisters... but it's kind of hard to be that close to a sibling when you have never lived with them and only saw each other once every 6 months (MAYBE) as you were growing up. That's what happens when you share an immature, irresponsible father. *giggle* I'm just glad she wants to hang-out with me. *smiles*

I bought some rockin boots from Aldo today! They're about a size too big... but they were the closest to my size (and that style is going to be sold out SOON) and I just put some comfort cushions inside to make them fit better. I improvise! Why do I love heels so much? I just love the feeling I have when I have a pair of heels on. I love the way I walk with them on. I feel awesome! They can really make an outfit, too! Okay, enough about shoes.

I love finding new comedians who are great. It's a spectacular feeling. I just love laughing! People talk shit about Dane Cook bc apparently he has stolen some jokes... but I'm sure many comedians have done that in some way and you know what... I don't care! He's effin hilarious! I know he doesn't steal every joke he's ever said! I just love his delivery. And then Mitch Hedberg... I mean, come on! And I gotta represent for Dave Chappelle (sp?!). Daniel Tosh. Ellen Degeneres is also a good one. And I just discovered Tracy Smith and Demitri Martin. I love laughing!

"300" movie

2007-01-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

Omg. Any Frank Miller lovers out there? I am, as of watching "Sin City." It was dark and over-played and kind of weird and WONDERFUL! I just love that it was so very different from anything I'd seen before. It was based on a graphic novel (just as the soon-to-be-released "300" is) by Frank Miller and was made to resemble a graphic novel. It was amazing and perfect and I loved every minute of it!

Now I see this new "300" movie coming out (March 9th--go see it!) and I am SO effing pumped for it! Here is a link to its MySpace page where you can view a teaser and a trailer for it. "300"
*UGH!* Every time I watch the trailer I get pumped up. I haven't been this excited about a movie in quite some time! I'm sad that I have like 2 months until I can see it, however.

Back to school, back to school... so far it's going well. My history class isn't too boring--though I usually enjoy history anyway. My english class is going to be great (minus THAT GUY who never shuts up and is just sooooo obnoxious you want to punch him square in the face). Geology I could do without, but it's basically the same shit we all did in like... junior high, for our science classes. Spanish is Spanish... but my professor is energetic and likes to pound information into our brains over & over again, which is what I need for Spanish!

My beautiful, fun, sweet little sister is coming to see me on the 26th! I'm soooo very excited! We haven't had a sleepover since I was like... 13? And I haven't actually seen her in awhile, either. It's been months! I hope that she isn't too bored at my place... there isn't much to do really. Oh well--we'll find something!

The Girls Next Door

2007-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

Kevin surprised me with season one of "The Girls Next Door" yesterday. Needless to say, I was extremely excited! For some strange reason I've become basically delighted with this show. Yes, they are the stereotypical blonde girls with big boobs and for the most part they certainly don't come off as geniuses on the show... but I have found them to be incredibly endearing and also highly entertaining! Although they all have the same general look to them... they really do have very different personalities and they aren't as stupid as most people would probably think. Except Kendra... she's kind of... well... aloof, we'll say. :-) Bridget actually has her master's degree and is working towards a phd in broadcast journalism & communications! They're just silly & have fun with life rather than take things so serious.

Bridget is my fave, btw. She's just so darn cute and she comes off as a very nice person. I just like to watch something less serious every now & then. :-)

2007-01-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

I lied to work again. I wouldn't have done it but if I hadn't, I wouldn't be able to see Kevin for another 3-4 weeks. And I'm sorry but I just can't do it! :-) So now I'll be seeing him this weekend for a couple of days. Which is AWFULLY exciting! Tomorrow will mark our 1 yr. & 6 mths. anniversary of being together. !!! I have to say that I'm fairly impressed with us... I've never had a solid 18 months of being with someone and never breaking-up or anything like that. I've gotten close... but something always goes wrong after like... 14 months. Not with Kevin though! Woot for love! *giggle*

So most of my refund check is already gone. I would have had $1,600 left over but I lent $1,000 to my lil bro for a quad he wants to get. I trust him to pay me back in decent time. He's good for it. :-) I hope so anyway, because I was going to put that money into my savings account and use it to help me pay rent the rest of the year. I couldn't say no to him though... I would've felt terrible.

I don't have much to say that is worth saying... I just figured I should update since I haven't in like a week and a half. I'll write more when I'm feeling inspired.

What Christmas Means to Me, My Love

2006-12-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

So I had a great Christmas with the fam! Got home Christmas Eve... watched a flick or two with mi madre. Hung-out in general. Jarred was sick and I felt pretty bad for him. I got up at 5am to get him medicine because he was hacking up his lungs and sniffling like a crazy person. Then Christmas morning we opened gifts & what-not. I got some good stuff, such as a memory foam matress for my hard-as-rock bed, DVDs up my ass, an adorable shirt from Bebe, stuff for doing my nails (which, if you know anything about me you will know is an absolute necessity!), and some other goods!

I spent some time with Kevin... Ashley... Alysia... and more with the family! So it was a good time at home, as I said before. Thursday night I ventured on over here to Kevin's and received various other gifts from his parents! Kevin said, "You would be one to get a lot of presents on Christmas." I asked what he meant and he replied, "Because everyone you've ever met wants to spoil you." :-) That made my little heart smile, obviously. He says some pretty great things sometimes. Right now he's out in the pole barn working on the gift he has been building for me. It's a nightstand/cabinet thing with some drawers and doors in the shape of hearts. !! :-D I love his presents.

Tomorrow night we (along with a bunch of his friends) are going on a limo bus--all dressed up in cocktail dresses for the ladies and button-ups for the fellas. I'm wayyy excited for that! I love getting dolled-up! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! But I don't do it all that often... mainly because the only places I go are class and work. *giggle* And sometimes I will sort of dress up for class, but I'm not one to wear heels every day to class. (Just every now & then!)

I'm kind of sad that the snow didn't fall until the day AFTER Christmas. Mother Nature just wanted to mess with me, I think. For like 2 weeks I've been gushing about wanting snow on Christmas... and I was getting nervous because we haven't had snow for awhile... and then it came the day AFTER. Grrrr. I'm still pissed! I don't know why I care so much. I just feel like Christmas needs snow. I remember being little and after spending 3 hours gushing over my presents, Jarred and I would bust outside for like 6 hours to make snowmen, sled out in front of the house, build little caves, and just dink around. Snow is a major part of my Christmas memories! So forgive me for being a 12-year-old and aching for snow on Christmas day.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday as well and I anticipate a great New Year's Eve for everyone also! *heart* Time for a manicure & pedicure via myself! ;-)

Boring Day

2006-12-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

So I had a great time with Kevin this week. *hearts* He was here Sunday night through this morning. And it was FABULOUS!!! I'm already anxious to see him next week again. Love is so much fun.

My plans for today include:

downloading some sweet tunes
creating an Ebay seller's account & trying to make some cash
working-out
cleaning up around the house

Other than that, I seriously have nothing to do. It's kind of nice though, I won't lie. Because tomorrow night I work at Mobil... Saturday 9-4 at Mobil, 4:30-8:30 at Aldo... Sunday 8-2 at Mobil. Then it's HOME!!!! And Christmas!!!!!!!! YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! So I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy my alone time. :-)

And I'm off!

What Am I Doing With My Life?

2006-12-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

The past few days I've slept in until 11... and then basically did nothing until I had to work. It's been kind of nice to not have homework on the back of my mind... but I feel like a waste of a human being. Especially since I haven't been working out. All semester I got up at 10, worked-out, did homework, went to class or work... and was productive for the most part! Maybe my body is just like "Ahhh... just relax!" Relaxing IS one of my favorite things... but too much of it can be bad. And I've been staying up until like 3am so that probably doesn't help my "wake-up-earlier" cause.
Also, we don't have much food in the house sooo... I haven't been eating much! Which isn't cool because I'm freakin hungry!!!! And I have $.23 to my name sooo... can't go buy any food!

I was just talking to Kelli and Cory about my 21st birthday and I am sooo excited for it! I have 8 months to go... but I can't wait. Because all of my friends (except Cory!) will already be 21 so they can all go out with me and have a freaking AWESOME time! I just want to make it a really big thing and I want to have a GREAT time. Like the best birthday EVER! *giggle*

Rain, Rain Go Away

2006-12-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

I have an exam in 2 hours and I've spent the majority of the day on MySpace. *giggle*

It's such a crappy day outside. All rainy & wet & gray. I hate weather like this. Unless I'm with my love and we have nothing to do all day but play and watch movies together. I miss that kid. I hate that I have such a fun, exciting, awesome boyfriend and most of the time I have to be away from him... while there are other people who date horrible, boring, mean guys and they see them every friggen day. How is that fair? Whatev.

p.s. to Ahmed (sp?)
Let me know your Google account e-mail address and I can add you to the list of allowable viewers to my writing blog. :-D If you want to! I only have 2 posts right now though.

--------------------------------

Here is a great website for any writers, supporters of writers or those looking to discover writers! :-D

Urbis.com for writers

Random Thinking

2006-12-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm so thankful I have parents who will do their best to help me out financially. They aren't wealthy and sometimes they may struggle, but they're always there to help out anytime I ask. I'm really grateful for them. *heart*

Kylee, Blair & I may have found a place to live! It all depends on whether the landlords can meet us half-way on the summer issue. You see, they offer a 12-month lease on a duplex, but none of us will be here during the summer... and we don't have to pay full price for 3 months if we won't even be in the place. I told the woman I spoke with yesterday all of this and she said that maybe we could work something out. That would be SPECTACULAR! :-D I don't know what "something" she means though. It all depends on what she says they can do for us.

Do you ever feel conflicted about what kind of life you want to live? Sometimes I find myself wishing for fame and fortune and for people all over the world to know my name. I wish to be in magazines and talked about and to have people everywhere who want to meet me. I want the excitement of that kind of lifestyle, I want no responsibilities and just tons of fun. Then there are times where I just want peace and quiet. I want a "regular" lifestyle... husband, kids, work, friends. I want to get up in the morning and carry out my daily routine and to clean up after messy kids and to find excitement in surprise kisses from the man in my life. I guess most of the time I want the regular lifestyle. Hopefully a bit of fame will be tossed in there via my writing. ;-) Who knows?!

Well my classics paper seriously needs to get done... and for some reason it doesn't want to write itself sooo... I gotta go!

Procrastination

2006-12-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

I still haven't written my classics paper. OR studied for my classics exam... OR my spanish exam! Yikes. I'll get to it tonight... but then tomorrow I have to work from 9-4 @ Mobil... then 4-8 @ Aldo. Busy day! But at least I have all night to get some crap done... hopefully!

Tonight I got to work with Ian for the first time! He's a great time, he makes me laugh! It's nice to enjoy the people you work with. For the most part I enjoy all of them.

My roommates and I made sugar cookies last night. We were feeling the Christmas spirit! Here are a few photoooooos!

The Roomies, dyeing the frosting!

Me, getting a little crazy with the flour!

My finished products! :-D

Feeling Weird

2006-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been strange for me. I've gotten quite a bit done... but I feel like I've gotten NOTHING done for some reason. Does anyone ever feel that way? It's like I'm floating through life right now... being disconnected or something. Whatev.

Kevin bought me flowers last week... they were waiting for me when I got to his house, before we went to Chicago. :-) He said he took back pop bottles and had like $14 from it and decided to spend it on flowers for me. I mean... how sweet is that? I'm not the type to always ask for gifts or to even hint that I want gifts... but I do love getting little things like that for no reason. It's great that he's gentlemanly enough to just go out and do nice things for me without ANY prompting. *heart* Once again, I'm incredibly lucky!

I've been trying to write more lately. I noticed that it has been awhile since I really sat down and wrote. I haven't had much time though... and I just go in moods like that. For a few months I'll be really motivated to write, and then I'll go for awhile with absolutely no motivation or inspiration. Right now is the time for motivation!

Now if I could find motivation to write my classics paper, I would be GREAT...

Quiet Blizzards

2006-12-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

I estimate that we got a foot and a half of snow. Maybe I'm overestimating, but there is seriously a ton of snow outside! And it just won't stop! But the good thing about this lil snow "storm" is that it is just lightly falling lil fluffs of snow. Rather than wet, icy, gross snow. It makes everything outside very quiet and calming... very good for acoustics. :-)

Here are some pics I just took as I got home from class...Cory being the shovel-master. :-D

Drifts all over cars... sweeeet... we all LOVE spending 10 minutes wiping off our cars every time we go to them...

Okay so this pic is pretty blurry and crappy... but can you see the lights under all of the snow?! They're really there, I swear!

I'll post more later, but right now I have to eat a french bread pizza and head to the language lab for some spanish study time!

**edit**

I'm pretending to watch "Aladdin" in Spanish... HaHa! Obviously I don't feel like using my time wisely here.

In light of the snow flurries today I have a guide for all of those who have to brave the weather and drive their cars through the ice and snow...

Please, drive slower than you normally would.
When you have to break, do so slowly. Avoid jamming your foot down onto the break pedal because the only result is your car sliding all over the road and probably crashing into another vehicle or perhaps a snow bank.
Also, turn slowly. Whipping your car around because you think you see an accident happening will only ensure that you get into an accident. It would be better to bump into the back end of another car (because you're driving slowly, remember?) than to swerve into oncoming traffic. And besides, when you break quickly and turn quickly you lose control and your car slides quickly around the road, rather than gliding. :-)
Don't forget to leave approximately 20 minutes earlier than you normally would. You will need to spend at least 5 minutes brushing the snow off your car, and since you will be driving slower you will need more time to get where you're going.
If your wiper blades become clogged with ice, REMOVE IT. Driving with a constant mist on your windshield makes for a bad situation... you cannot see ANYTHING!
If your rear defrost doesn't want to work... continuously press the button so perhaps it will think it is really on.

Some of those sound like common sense... but you would be very surprised! I hear so many people in class saying, "UGH! I was late for my class earlier because I had to drive so slow!" Well, idiot, when you look outside and see a white sky above completely white ground... you should probably figure out that it will take longer to get to class today!

Okay well I'm gonna do something with my life. :-D

Chicago & Millions of Dollars

2006-11-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I have been prompted to tell what I would do if I won the jackpot! Sooo... if I won the Mega Millions (that's what I'm going with) jackpot of like... 30 million... I would:

pay off all of my parents' financial debts/vehicles/etc
buy Dad a ROCKIN hot-rod (of his choice)
add a spa room onto the house for Mom
buy Jarred a Trans-Am and the coolest quad on the planet
pay off Kevin's debts
pay off MY debts (stupid student loans!)
invest like... 1.5 million (in what? I have nooo idea! lol*)
buy a house in the Caribbean for me and my family to vacation at whenever we wanted!
put roughly... 2 million (? ish ?) in a savings account somewhere
honestly... I'd go on a shopping spree... I'd probably spend about $500,000 on shoes & clothes
buy myself a Jeep Commander (I want one sooo badly!)
buy Kevin a red, t-top, leather interior '91 Camaro and give him a few hundred thousand to start fixing it up with
Do I still have money left? HaHa! I don't even know!!!!
Take Alysia, Blair, Ashley, Jeluso, Daniel, Andy, Chris, Kevin, Blake, Beth, Lori, Kyle, Gill, Casey, Jarred and probably a few extras (bfs, gfs, etc.) on a SWEET vacation either in Italy or Australia. For like, a month.
buy a house in Italy. Doesn't have to be huge! I just would LOVE a place to go over there! Somewhere I could stay and relax in... and really enjoy

That's about all I have so far. I'm sure I'd spend more on random crap... movies I want and such things. I probably went wayyy over the $30 mil limit... but whatev! *giggle*

Secondly... I'm SO excited for my Chicago trip this weekend! (With Kevin & his parents, his two brothers, and his oldest brother's gf.) We went last year too and it was a good time. Granted, this year there is quite a bit of anymosity between myself and his middle brother (pretty much hatred, on my part!)... but we just won't get into that right now because the story is MUCH too long and not something to share with complete strangers! lol* Regardless, I looooove Chicago, I looooove Kevin, and I get along with the rest of the family SUPERBLY! :-D So I'm pumped up! Except... I just got word today that there is supposed to be a huge shitstorm of snow coming our way. AWESOME.

I'm sure I'll come back with pictures GALORE!! I'm driving up to Saginaw tomorrow after class, and our train leaves at 7am on Thursday. YIKES! So wish us a safe trip (and hopefully not TOO freezing!) and I'll talk to you kiddies Sunday or Monday!!!