The Traveling College Student

...just because

2011-03-27T20:30:00.003-05:00

Hey all,

I'm moving my blog over to travelingcollegestudent.wordpress.com. I like that WordPress gives me more options with how my blog looks (or at least it does so far), and several of the blogs that I read are over there. I hope you all continue to follow what I have to say over there!

-Becca

Because I need some sort of plan...

2011-03-21T20:22:00.003-05:00

I'm trying not to stress out about not having a plan for my life. Really, I am. As I told an RA candidate earlier today, life never goes as expected and I'm slowly learning to accept that. But, I can't NOT have at least something that resembles a plan, especially when I tell people that I am probably graduating in December, which they immediately follow with "Oh really? What's next for you then?" or "What do you plan on doing with your major?"

That's where I get stuck. I DON'T know what I'm doing next. So I had to assemble some sort of plan of attack so I'd have something to say when people ask. Right now, this is what my plan looks like:

-defend thesis in May

-take a summer class, while working somewhere for money and doing theater stuffs

-study for and take the GRE (opinions: do I take it before it changes in August or after it changes?)

-research/apply for grad school...preferably at WKU or close to home; I can't bring myself to be far away from Nashville just yet...and figure out assistantships or something to pay for grad school

-take 18 hours next semester (internship, capstone, 4 classes-2 online, 2 in person)

-apply for Disney college program for January through May-ish of next year (I REALLY want this to work out. Disney=love. Grunt work and all, I'd love every second of it)

-graduate in December

-hopefully do Disney...if that doesn't work out, then find a job somewhere and make money

-grad school next August?

But then here's another question: I graduate in December, don't I have to start paying off loans 6 months later? How does that work if one plans on going back to school?

Then there's the issue of choosing WHAT to do in grad school: student affairs? Communication (and take nonprofit classes as electives)? Public Administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management (or something of the like)?

Ugh.

Reality

2011-03-09T21:14:00.002-06:00

Reality likes to smack me in the face every now and then. When it does strike, it hits hard, and scares the snot out of me when it does.

A few weeks ago (close to a month) I realized that I could potentially graduate in December, assuming everything with my honors thesis goes as planned (plan right now being defend in May, 2 weeks after finals and before my second reader has to go to a conference).

So, I defend my thesis in May. I take an online class during the summer while working, and then take 18 credits in the fall (3 of those credits being an internship, and another 3 being my capstone, which isn't really 3 hours of work). It's entirely possible that of my other 4 classes, I could have only 2 in class classes and have the other 2 online. And BAM. Graduate in December.

December. That's 9 months from now. 9 months from now, I'll be done with college. Actually, that's a like. 9 months from now I'll be dragging towards the last few days before finals, then finals week, THEN I'd graduate. How scary is that?! I'll still be 21, and done, entering the "big kid" world.

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I'll have a college degree, and I don't know what I want to do with it. I don't know if I want to do grad school anymore. If I do, I don't know if I want to do it the fall after I graduate, or wait and then go back.

I'm going to have to find a job that I can tolerate, until I figure out what I want to do for my career.

I'll have to start paying back all my loans. That's going to suck.

I'll be on my own, out of my parents house. That's just going to be weird. But I know that time is coming.

I don't know what to dooooo. Seriously, traveling for the rest of my life sounds awesome. But that requires money. And you get money from working. But with a job, you only get so much vacation time.

Bah.

My 2012 travel list

2011-03-09T20:57:00.002-06:00

So, I'm not holding out hope that I am going to get to go anywhere uber exciting this year. I'll probably be working and taking an online class in the summer, and then working and going to school in the fall, and then probably(hopefully) graduating in December.

With all that in mind, and the impending doom of the end of the world in 2012 (I kid, I kid. I roll my eyes at the people that believe that crap), I've started making my list of places that I would like to go next year, depending on my financial situation.

-Australia and New Zealand

-Mardi Gras

-Back to England for this: http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

-While over The Pond for the previous point, go to Ireland and Amsterdam

-Possibly on a cruise (my mom has group space booked on a ship for Spring Break 2012, but I haven't decided if I'd still do that if I have already graduated)

-Comic Con (possibly...)

That's it for now. I'm sure that I'll add to it as I think of things over the year. I'd really like to win the lottery so that I could just take off after graduation/Christmas/New Years and go travel spontaneously.

The Relationship Status

2011-01-11T22:28:00.002-06:00

“In a relationship.”

The relationship status is only 3 words

But it’s 3 words that make my heart sink

When it’s you “in a relationship”

With someone that isn’t me

Even though you don’t know that

It could be me…

Engaged.

The relationship status is only 1 word

But it’s one word that could make my heart break

When it’s you “engaged” to someone else

Someone that isn’t me.

It’s the one word that makes me wonder

What I should say, if anything at all…

Happy. One word.

It’s what I want you to be

Even if it’s not “with” me.

______________________________________

“Loving means wanting the best for him even if it means swallowing the sad reality that the best just isn’t you.”

—Ellen Hopkins

Writing

2011-01-08T23:49:00.000-06:00

Writing helps me in just about any situation. There is something about pen and paper that helps me temporarily relieve or strengthen whatever I'm feeling at the time. There's been a lot of stuff on my mind lately, so naturally I've had the urge to write, but I haven't found the inspiration to put what's been on my mind on paper. When times like this come along, I get frustrated. Wanting to write but not being able to is the most frustrating thing in the world.

I have people tell me all the time that I need to wait for the inspiration to come, that it's going to come when I least expect it. I believe that, but sometimes it doesn't come soon enough. And when a week like this comes along where I'm thinking about a whole heck of a lot, I can't afford to wait because everything builds on my brain. So I went looking for something to kick start my brain. I saw that one of my friends had posted on their blog part of a "30 day letter challenge." Now, I epically failed at the 30 day blog challenge, because I hit a road block where I had nothing to say on a topic, so I was kind of leary of the letter challenge. But I Googled it anyway (Google has the answers to everything!) and found this: http://tumblring.net/tumblr-30-day-letter-challenge/

So that's what I'm going to do. Write. But not all of these, and not necessarily one a day, every day. But it's something for me to go to. What I write may end up here. It may not. We'll see what happens.

But for now, my journal and a pen are calling my name.

10 Things I Hate About You

2011-01-06T22:24:00.002-06:00

I hate the way you talk to me,

And the way you cut your hair.

I hate the way you drive my car.

I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots,

And the way you read my mind.

I hate you so much it makes me sick;

It even makes me rhyme.

I hate the way you're always right.

I hate it when you lie.

I hate it when you make me laugh,

Even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you're not around,

And the fact that you didn't call.

But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you.

Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

-"10 Things I Hate About You" (movie)

Get up and go

2011-01-05T21:13:00.005-06:00

I know that it's January 5, 2011. I know that most people had their New Year's resolution all laid out by the time they get to their respective parties on December 31, 2010. I typically have an idea of what I want my resolution to be, but I've never really stuck to them or given them much thought.

Then one of my best friends from elementary school got engaged last year, and is getting married this summer. Granted, I'm not IN said wedding, but a wedding is a wedding, so I'd like to look halfway decent. So I was poking around some websites looking for possibles dresses and found this.

So what's that got to do with a New Year's resolution? Every year I tell myself I want to be healthier. Every year I tell myself I want to lose weight, in a healthy way. Every year I start semi-strong...I say I'll go to the gym, I say I'll walk more place, etc. And every year I fail.

I wouldn't say it's a lack of motivation...most of the time it ends up being a lack of sleep. If I'm going to work out at school, I'd prefer to do it before classes, meetings, work, etc. start, meaning I'm getting up early before classes to give me time to go work out, shower, and get ready for the day. But after 2 or 3 weeks, the schedule is well set it, I'm up to my eyeballs in stuff and staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning, meaning I don't really want to get up at 6am to go work out when I could easily sleep until 8 and still have time to get ready and go to class.

As a result of the previously outlined mayhem of a routine I typically get into, I end up telling myself "Oh, I'll go tomorrow"...everyday.

But that's not going to happen this year. The above picture is my computer background, because it's typically the first thing I'll see every morning when I check my email and grumble about working out and try talking myself out of it. And with the help of my long-distance work out buddy, LaVada (who blogs her progress here to hold herself accountable), I'm going to get up and go dammit. She's already agreed to call and pester me every morning to make sure that I actually get up and go. And this year I've got the motivation: I want to look good for my friends wedding, and I think I want to go skydiving...which has a weight limit.

I'm also hoping that the exercising will give me an outlet for the stress that I know is probably going to build this semester.

I can't guarantee that my eating habits will completely change (meal plans during the week limit my food options, and I can only handle so much Subway), but I can see what kind of cooking I can do on weekends and try to eat healthier in my room.

So here goes. I'm going to get up and go.

Dear Santa

2010-12-23T23:00:00.001-06:00

Dear Santa,

You know the drill.

Make him someone who will have made the wait worth it.

Make him someone like the ones in books.

Make him someone like the princes in movies.

Make him someone like the guys in movies.

But make him someone real.

Make him someone who is himself at all times.

Make him someone who will be there.

Make him someone who will fill the gap.

Make him someone who will stitch the pieces of my heart back together.

Love,

Becca

"He's all I want and a big red bow...he's all I want, just for me underneath my Christmas tree"

-Britney Spears "My only wish this year"

Life

2010-11-27T14:52:00.002-06:00

I'm halfway through my junior year of college. I graduate in a year and a half. I'll have a degree in Corporate and Organizational Communication.

"What do you want to do with that, Becca?" That's what everyone asks me every time I prattle off what I am majoring in. Here's my answer: I don't know.

Well, let me rephrase. I know what I WANT to do with my life, but it doesn't necessarily have much to do with my major. It has more to do with what I love doing: traveling, writing, taking pictures. I'd LOVE to find a job that would pay me to travel to a country/city, write about it, take pictures, and come back. I've been told I could work with study abroad offices, but since I haven't studied abroad myself, I don't know how well that would work out.

I'm just beginning to realize that I'm probably not meant to be in a cubicle for life. Granted, I'll never know until I try, and hopefully I'll get an internship that will give me a taste of office life. I am also realizing that I am just one of those people that is interested in too much stuff. I like kids, so I could see myself working at a daycare or a preschool. But I have little to no patience, so at the same time I can't see myself working with kids. I'm just curious about life, and want to try everything.

Bah.

Lady Gaga

2010-10-25T11:29:00.003-05:00

Lately, some of my favorite quotes have come from Lady Gaga. I don't know when she said them, or what the context in which she said them was, but they hit home.

"Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore. "

-Lady Gaga

"Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are."

-Lady Gaga

I had someone ask me once how I could ever take anything Lady Gaga says seriously. My question is, how could you not? Yes, I know she's a little eccentric. Okay, she's VERY eccentric. Her outfits are weird and out of the box, her videos are exceptionally out there and tend to make me dizzy, but she's still a person. A person who isn't afraid to be the person she is or wants to be. A person that doesn't give a flying leap about what others think about her.

Frankly, I wish more people were like that. I could probably do without more crazy outfits, but I wish more people would be who they really are.

All of this, Lady Gaga included, goes back to one song in my opinion.

"I see your true colors and that's why I love you, so don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors, true colors are beautiful like a rainbow..."

Show your true colors. Be who you are. Follow YOUR dreams. Don't let anyone else tell you who to be.

Victory

2010-10-24T10:54:00.003-05:00

This traveling college student has a lot of school spirit, through the good times and the bad.

736 days before yesterday was the last time WKU won a football game. It was September 20, 2008, against Murray State. That was my freshman year of college. I am now a junior.

Yesterday changed all that. The whole time I was refreshing ESPN from my iPod, I kept hearing people say things like "I don't care about football" or "They're just going to mess up like they always do." There was no confidence. So when we won, I don't think my excitement was wholly understood. I literally went running into my hallway screaming that we wo

n...then called my mom jumping up and down...then went downstairs jumping up and down...then calmed down for a bit before heading to the stadium to welcome the team back.

I had basically forgotten what it was like to win, what the campus atmosphere felt like after a win. I've always been proud to be a Hilltopper, but yesterday I really let it shine.

"Whose got it better than us? Nooooooooooooobody!!!" Keep it up boys!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2010-10-18T16:38:00.003-05:00

Part of my Fall Break this year included a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Here's an overview of my experience.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

I was bouncing with anticipation at the gates of Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. It was 7:45 in the morning. I was running on little sleep, some caffeine and a lot of excitement. 8 o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. I had an important date with my childhood waiting for me through those gates.

Harry Potter and his friends have been with me since I was in 3^rd grade, around the time that I was eight years old. For those doing the math, Harry, Ron and Hermione have been my friends for 12 years. So it’s easy to see why an area of a theme park would make me a little giddy. The world I had only read about and seen in movie adaptations was becoming real, something I could be a part of and touch.

The gates finally opened. The only things keeping me from sprinting to the back of the park were the looming security officers and my friend. We had to cross through a couple of “lands” before finally making it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

All it took was an archway with a sign that read “Please do not break the spell limits” to set me off…I literally did a happy dance that a nearby employee said she always enjoys watching. She said watching a guest’s first reaction never gets old.

Then I saw the Hogwarts Express and the Hogsmede sign and I teared up. Words cannot describe the sheer joy I felt as I started snapping pictures. The Hogwarts Express. Dervish and Bangs. Ollivander’s wand shop. The Owl Post. I’m pretty sure I was bordering on sensory overload as I tried to take it all in.

I’ll never forget rounding that corner and seeing Hogwarts for the first time. I could hear the movie theme music playing in my head and I teared up again. It was beautiful. Perfect. The line for The Forbidden Journey, the ride inside Hogwarts, made it feel like I was actually in Hogwarts. The portraits talked to each other. Some of them moved. The Sorting Hat gave us a short speech. I walked through Dumbledore’s office. Not necessarily in that order, but you get the picture. The ride itself was pretty freaking awesome, too! I literally was in awe of Universal and their abilities to pull everything off. The Dragon’s Challenge (formerly known as Dueling Dragons) provided a lot of fun, as well. My friend and I rode it twice before heading to breakfast at the Three Broomsticks.

The Three Broomsticks was a lot bigger than I expected it to be, but I figure Universal had to make it big in order to make it a substantial eating establishment. Breakfast was huge! I went with a traditional American breakfast, even though they had several different breakfast styles to choose from, and wasn’t really hungry for the rest of the day.

We spent a good 4 hours total in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We passed on going into Ollivander’s. The line to get in? INSANE! So we went to Dervish and Bangs instead to do some souvenir shopping. I only got a few postcards, and got the Hogsmede Owl Post mail stamp. I then got a butterbeer and my friend got a frozen one. The taste is hard to fully describe but it tastes like butterscotch. I’m not the biggest butterscotch fan, but I still liked it. It’s ridiculously sweet, though. My friend let me try her frozen butterbeer, and we came to the conclusion that it was the better of the two drinks. Still to sweet for one person to finish alone, but good.

I could go on and on about my experiences at the Harry Potter world, but words will never do it justice. A person really needs to go and see everything for themselves in order to understand.

And with that, mischief managed.

Decision

2010-10-18T16:16:00.002-05:00

So, I'm ridiculously behind on my Project 365 updates on here. I HAVE them all, I'm just about a month behind, with no time to really sit down and update this.

So here's the deal. I am going to continue my Project 365, but the pictures will not be on here. I have them all on Facebook, and chances are good that if you are following me, then you are friends with me there. If there's a particularly good picture, or a picture with a story, I will then post it here. You can find the albums for all the pictures here (Days 1-200) and here (Days 201-265)

I want this blog to go back to what I started it for...writing. Specifically, my travel writing. I do write stuff for my mom and her travel agency, and she sends it out to her email mailing list, but I want that stuff here, too. Read it. Tell me what you think of what I post. I legitimately value all of your opinions. If I could find a career that pays me to travel and write about the places I go, I'd be happy as a clam. Broke, but happy. I shouldn't go after a job just because it pays well. I need to go after what I love and what I want to do.

I want to see the world. Why shouldn't I?

Update

2010-09-26T23:27:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, I haven't updated my blog in like 2 weeks. But I PROMISE that I have all the pictures and will update soon (hopefully sometime this week). In the meantime, you can see them here on my Facebook.

Day 240

2010-09-11T20:11:00.003-05:00

I don't know why the first picture is so small...anywho, 4 of my residents, 1 of their friends and I all volunteered with Extreme Makeover Home Edition today. It was only for a few hours, but we still had fun and got to meet Tracy and Paul! :D

Day 239

2010-09-10T21:46:00.001-05:00

The cat had been laying on top of my laptop, and then rolled off of it. It would have made for another really cute LOL cat caption.

Day 238

2010-09-10T21:35:00.003-05:00

My volunteer confirmation email to work with Extreme Makeover Home Edition this weekend! :D

Day 237

2010-09-10T21:33:00.001-05:00

The about me poster that I made during my program on my floor.

Day 236

2010-09-10T21:32:00.001-05:00

I was rather slap happy, so I was very easily amused when my cup changed colors when I poured my milk into it.

Day 235

2010-09-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

Pancake night!

Day 234

2010-09-10T21:28:00.001-05:00

Parents took me shopping for goodies while I was home.

Day 233

2010-09-04T20:42:00.000-05:00

Stats homework. In Excel. Bah. But my mom helped me figure it out. :-)

Day 232

2010-09-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

Kentucky Museum for the win.

Day 231

2010-09-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

Reason number 689 that I love my friendship with Meagan.

Day 230

2010-09-02T19:58:00.002-05:00

I had a bit of a mid-college crisis and freaked out. These are all the classes I have left to take, and it puts me at graduation in May 2012. And I have no idea what I want to do with my life! I realize there are seniors right now freaking out, too. :\

Day 229

2010-09-02T19:57:00.000-05:00

The quote on the poster that I bought.

Day 228

2010-08-30T23:14:00.000-05:00

Our floor's community standards. Please note pancake night every Monday night. Nom nom nom

Day 227

2010-08-30T23:13:00.002-05:00

Kat's note that she left in my mailbox. It pretty accurately describes my fan girl moment from the SafetySuit concert Thursday night.

Day 226

2010-08-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

I came back to a very artfully decorated white board. :)

Day 225

2010-08-30T23:09:00.002-05:00

I got bored and made this for my room. Each letter has an encouraging quote under it that starts with that letter.

Day 224: Fan girl moments are SQUEE!!!

2010-08-27T01:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's really small BUT it's my signed MASTER Plan shirt. SAFETYSUIT was a WKU for the MASTER Plan concert, and I went complete fan girl. Doug (the lead singer) held my hand, and I'm convinced he was looking at me a couple of times when he was singing and looking around at the audience. Had I been the girl whose hand he kissed, I probably would have passed out. But just holding it for a few seconds was good enough for me. Afterwards I got to meet all 4 of them and talk to them and they signed my shirt for me. Best. Night. Ever.

Day 223

2010-08-27T01:06:00.002-05:00

Care package from Grandma!

Day 222

2010-08-27T01:01:00.004-05:00

Helped lead a walking ghost tour of campus.

Day 221

2010-08-27T00:59:00.001-05:00

2010-2011 School Year

2010-08-22T23:11:00.002-05:00

This year is already so different from last year, and we only just finished the first night of MASTER Plan.

Reasons why it's different:

1. My group of residents is completely different. I have 3 girls from last year returning, and that's it.

2. I'm not crying like I was this time last year. This time last year I was a first year RA, had just finished my first floor meeting, thought my residents hated me, and called my mom crying.

3. It just feels different...a good kind of different. I can't wait to see what this year brings.

Day 220

2010-08-22T22:57:00.001-05:00

Lots of freshmen going through MASTER Plan in The PFT!

Day 219

2010-08-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

It's MASTER Plan time, y'all!

Day 218

2010-08-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

Residents from last year that are now RAs. We're just missing Katerra.

Day 217

2010-08-20T21:32:00.001-05:00

The fabulous staff of The PFT.

Day 216

2010-08-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

My textbooks for the semester. Accounting and Statistics might make me cry, even though I have people to help me when I need it. It still scares me.

Day 215

2010-08-20T21:30:00.002-05:00

Coach Taggart came and spoke to everyone at lunch...told us to bring the "juice" (spirit) to the football games this year.

Day 214

2010-08-17T00:44:00.001-05:00

It looked like Joe was trying to teach Dao Vietnamese. It was pretty funny.

Day 213

2010-08-15T21:07:00.002-05:00

My huge, yummy dinner that I made after training today...Chicken, green beans, and rice. I hadn't eaten since 11 this morning, so by the time we were done for the day around 7:45ish, I was starving. Hence the large quantities of food.

I felt it again...

2010-08-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

...that pull, that drive, that feeling. The feeling that reminds me that my job is so much more than a job, that being an RA isn't necessarily "work" for me. Now, I don't want that to sound like I am being cocky or anything, because I'm not. Yeah, this job is not always easy and it takes work for me to get everything done, but I enjoy every single minute of it. What I mean is that I don't feel like I am working most of the time, unless I'm doing paperwork. I really only remember the paycheck when my checking account funds start to dwindle (like right now), and every 2 weeks on payday.

It hit me today during our first day of staff training. I was sitting there while whoever was talking and it hit me like a ton of bricks...that feeling of belonging, of excitement. The feeling of sadness when my mind wandered to the possibility of studying abroad and having to leave this behind for a semester. The feeling of excitement, horror, and panic when I think of grad school possibilities and possibly getting my Masters in something student affairs related. Grad school...*shudders* Scary.

Okay, so some of my fellow RAs might think I'm completely coo-coo for Coco Puffs, but really I owe a lot to the fact that I work for housing. I wouldn't be doing some of the things I'm doing or hold the positions that I hold on campus if I weren't an RA.

Day 212: Welcome to the Jungle!

2010-08-14T17:10:00.001-05:00

Apparently T and Janice are our king and queen of the jungle...aka Tarzan and Jane.

Day 211: Helloooooo PFT!

2010-08-13T19:00:00.003-05:00

I moved back into my room at school today! Here's my study area...

...and my sleeping area (bottom bunk is serving as a couch)...
...and my entertainment/storage area. One of those drawers is all craft stuff...
...and my kitchen area...
...and a view of my whole room!

Day 210: Goodbyyyyyye Summer

2010-08-12T23:08:00.002-05:00

All packed and ready to go! There's still a few things to squeeze into my car once my fridge has been loaded in the morning, and then my mom's car is packed to the brim full of stuff.

Day 209: My Packing Nightmare

2010-08-11T22:43:00.006-05:00

I move back to Bowling Green on Friday...hence, I am living in a packing nightmare.

My packing nightmare before...

My packing nightmare after...all the stuff on my bed made it's way in here. There's some stuff all ready down in the basement, and then the rest of my stuff (dishes, pots, pans, bathroom stuff) has to wait until tomorrow...and then there's the nightmare of packing the cars.

Day 208

2010-08-10T20:06:00.002-05:00

Ugh. Once again it's a small picture, so you can see it here if necessary...

I was a cleaning and packing BEAST today. This is part of my packing nightmare...emphasis on the word PART. I was very proud of myself because I got all of my clothes in one suitcase. Now it's a matter of getting everything else packed.

LOL Cat

2010-08-09T20:41:00.002-05:00

So when I uploaded my day 207 picture on Facebook, I made the comment that I thought it would make a good picture for LOL Cats, but I didn't have a caption, so I didn't do anything about it. About an hour later, my friend Chad commented on the picture with a link and VOILA.

Day 207

2010-08-09T19:17:00.003-05:00

In case you can't see it, visit Facebook.

Dad's cat crawled into my closed, unzipped suitcase. This is what resulted.

Day 206

2010-08-08T22:51:00.002-05:00

Put together my picture frames for my room at school today...next up is my collage poster with a bunch of other pictures I'm about to send to Walgreens to print. :D

Listography: Things that make me happy

2010-08-07T23:37:00.002-05:00

friends. family. perfect sunny days (75 degrees, blue skies). flowers. letters. postcards. laughing babies or toddlers. hugs. chocolate.

Day 205

2010-08-07T20:15:00.005-05:00

I'm a chronic list maker, especially when it comes to packing. I'm always afraid that I am going to forget something.

This would be my packing list for school. It takes up the front and back of one page and half of another page. My grocery shopping list (for once I get to Bowling Green) is a page all by itself. Oy vey.

Day 204: Tax Free Weekend

2010-08-06T21:49:00.002-05:00

It's the weekend before school starts here in Tennessee...that means it's tax free weekend!!! Woo hoo!!!

This picture is part one...the Mom&I edition. We hit Target and Office Max after taking the car to get serviced. That huge Target bag? $50 worth of $2 pairs of flip-flops for me to turn into really cute door decs when the time comes, which is the end of February for Spring Break door decs...hey, don't judge me. Didn't really think I'd be able to find cheap flip flops in the 30 degree weather in February. It's called thinking ahead. We also got my white board for my door and various office/school supplies.
This is the after dinner edition. Mom, Dad and I hit the rest of the stores that I needed to hit and got a lot of stuff for school and storage here at home. We also got my bedding for this upcoming school year, which we left in the basement. It came nice and pre packed in a bin, so we didn't see the point in bringing it upstairs for a week. We got the rest of my school supplies, as well as 2 outfits at Old navy (where we stood in the checkout line for like 15 minutes) and a new pair of shoes at New Balance.

Tomorrow: Dad's shopping (at one store) and Costco. Huzzah!

Day 203

2010-08-05T21:31:00.003-05:00

I got my hair cut today. Even with as nervous as I was, I think I like this style better than any other style I've ever had before.

Day 202

2010-08-05T21:29:00.003-05:00

Once again, the cat supervised while I cleaned. I don't think she trusted me to do a good enough job in the kitchen. :p

Day 201

2010-08-05T21:29:00.001-05:00

Voila! Finished door decs! Now they just need names so they don't look quite so lonesome.

Day 200

2010-08-03T01:03:00.001-05:00

I feel like this should be an LOLcats picture. haha. On a different note, I only have 165 days left in my project 365! Time to think of something else to do after I'm done...

Stuck in Hillbilly Hell.

2010-08-02T21:56:00.003-05:00

Okay, not really. But 3 years ago when I wrote this speech, I was still kind of if-y about living here and the possibility of going to school in Kentucky. I still LOOOOOVE this speech, and am very proud of it. I'm contemplating tweeking it, rememorizing it, and using it in an open mic night or something where stand up-ish comedy is allowed. Thought I'd share. :)

“Oh my God, you’re ruining my life!” –That was my reaction when my parents told me we were going to move from Sunny Southern California to Middle Tennessee (more like Middle of Nowhere Hicksville, I thought). Up until that point, I’d lived in California my whole life. I was comfortable-and now my world was turned upside down. Where was I going to shop? In California, there are malls the size of small towns—in Tennessee there’s the Bass Pro Shops. Where was I going to eat? In California, there are places that have 2 dozen different types of sushi—in Tennessee, pickled pig’s feet are a delicacy.
In California, everything I wanted was a short drive away. In the summer there were the pristine beaches, with the sun-kissed surfers with their perfectly chiseled bodies. And in the winter, there were the majestic mountains, with the rugged snowboarders and their perfectly chiseled bodies…*BIG SIGH*
I’m sorry; I was just getting a little nostalgic. But what are you supposed to do when you’re a California girl stuck in hillbilly hell?

Once I realized that this wasn’t just a cruel joke on the part of my father, I figured I better find out a little about this place called Tennessee. I asked all my friends what they knew, and I was shocked. I found out that Tennessee is actually still part of the United States, that I’d have to wear overalls and ride a tractor to school, and that if my cousin didn’t move too, I wouldn’t have a date to the Senior prom…EWWWWW.

I went home that night and told my parents in no uncertain terms that we were NOT moving, and they were just going to have to deal with it…After they stopped laughing at me they suggested that I look on the internet for more accurate information. I read about this great philosopher, and his teachings really helped me come to terms with my pending move. I’m telling you, Jeff Foxworthy is one smart guy!

First he taught me about the difference between y’all, all y’all, and you’uns. Apparently y’all is singular, all y’all is plural, and you’uns is all y’all plus three. It took me awhile to adjust to using y’all. It annoyed me to no end when my dad bought a shirt that says “what part of y’all don’t you understand?” Well, the “y” and the “’all.”

In his stand up routine, Foxworthy points out that there are a lot of misconceptions about the South and that many people automatically assume that all southerners are rednecks. He has a good point. There are A LOT of misconceptions about the South. I had some misconceptions about Tennessee when I found out that I was moving. Granted, most of them turned out to be wrong, and I actually learned a lot from moving to the South.

Californians don’t know much about the Civil War, or as it’s called here “the war of northernly aggression” or “the war of the lost cause.” A Californians’ idea of a civil war was when their state was liberated from Mexico, or more recently, the Bloods versus the Crips. Which leads me to hunting … in Tennessee people actually hunt animals. In California, they hunt each other and call them drive-bys.
But most importantly I learned that shopping in Tennessee is more than Bass Pro Shops and the Tractor Supply Company. The malls may not be the size of a small town, but they are malls all the same – with huge stores, stocked high with all the essentials that a teenage girl needs for her survival – shoes, purses, clothes, more shoes, make up, cute guy behind the counter and did I mention shoes?
And then I learned that I can date even without my cousins living in the same state. Unfortunately my father has also learned that he can legally buy a shotgun, and use it to scare the dickens out of any potential dates. We need to work on this.

I quickly learned that I wasn’t going to starve either. Pickled pigs’ feet aside, Tennessee has a lot of food and restaurants to choose from. There are plenty of steakhouses, and enough BBQ to choke a pig, but Waffle House is still kind of creepy…and I don’t get the whole thing with grits. In California, they give “grits” a fancy name a la polenta, so that they can charge a fancy price, while y’all call them grits and charge a lot less. Personally it doesn’t matter if you call it polenta, grits, or ground up corn, I don’t like ‘em. On the subject of food, let’s talk about road kill. (Stay with me here…) Amazingly enough Tennessee has a law assuring your right to take home anything you hit with your car for your “personal use and consumption.” Maybe this law makes sense, especially if you drive around in a monster truck.
I may not have ended up in Hicksville, which really does exist in Tennessee, but I found someplace scarier. One night on my way to a friend’s house, I missed a turn. I drove for what seemed like forever. I hadn’t seen another car for at least ten minutes when in the distance I saw a small farmhouse and a barn so rickety that a simple sneeze could have blown it over. That’s when my headlights hit the small sign that read “Welcome to Vernon Hollow, population 6.” As I quickly turned around I could have sworn that I heard banjo music playing.

Did you know that Tennessee actually has four seasons? They’re referred to as Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. I guess technically California has four seasons as well, they are just referred to by different names: earthquakes, fires, floods, and riots.

The one thing that everyone asked me after I moved was whether or not I had ever met anyone famous while living in California. Just because I lived somewhere with a population of 37 million people doesn’t mean I lived next to Tom Cruise or ran into Paris Hilton while shopping in one of those small town sized malls. In the year that I have lived in Tennessee where the state population is 6 million people, I have seen 4 celebrities in person, and live within a mile of 3 that I know of (I’m sure there are others hiding from me out there). I have even bagged groceries for … for … oh shoot … what’s his name … you know, that one country singer … the one that wears a cowboy hat.

I learned about southern hospitality too, when I moved here. On my first day of school, I didn’t know anybody, but people were still nice to me, showed me around, and quickly befriended me. I learned that I can’t always jump to conclusions about people or places like Tennessee. Now whenever I have to do something for school, like a forensics tournament, my parents remind me that I thought they were ruining my life when we moved. And my friends in California say that I am slowing starting to pick up on a Southern drawl. I have no idea what they are talking about. *southern drawl* Oh no…I’m turning into one of them!!!!

Day 199

2010-08-02T00:13:00.000-05:00

I only have 3 more door decs to color!!! Yay!

Dreams

2010-08-02T00:03:00.002-05:00

-Lady Gaga

Okay, so Lady Gaga might be one of the weirdest musicians of my generation, and might be ridiculously out there on some planet that I can't connect with, but wow. That quote. I just heard it today, and it's exactly what I needed. I know that I can have love and achieve my dreams, but for now, I'm focusing on my dreams first.

Coloring

2010-08-01T19:33:00.003-05:00

I've been coloring a lot lately. Leis. Hibiscus flowers. Pineapples. Block letters. All for my floor decorations, so that I don't have to stay up late during RA training week to get them all done.

Coloring is so simple, so calming. It helps me relieve the building stress and pressure of getting a room clean and moved to a room downstairs, preferably by the end of this coming weekend. It also preemptively lowers the impending stress of packing up and moving back to school. It keeps me from snapping.

It also makes me yearn for my childhood again. I find myself yearning for the days when drama was considered someone taking the crayon I wanted to use...the days when I didn't have to worry about the things I worry about now.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more coloring to get to.

Day 198

2010-07-31T23:22:00.000-05:00

The Harry Potter theme park poster that my mom got for me at her conference. :D

Today has been a day...

2010-07-30T23:16:00.002-05:00

Today has been...a day. Yeah. That's the best way to describe it. Not a good day, not a bad day, just a day. Good things happened and things that make my blood boil happened.

Good things:

1. My friend introduced me to this game site called OMGPop that has a game called Letterblox. I've only known of it's existence since this morning. I love it...darn near close to addicted. It will be the object of my counter productivity in the future.

2. I found a stack of construction paper and card-stock paper while I was cleaning. Yippee.

Thing things:

Uhm. I played with a Nook on display today at Barnes and Noble. It was nice. It didn't feel like I was reading on a screen, like I thought it would (and reading on a computer screen hurts my eyes), it was easy to use and I've heard that some textbooks are becoming available for use on the Nooks. I find myself legitimately wanting one, as opposed to a few blog posts ago where I was listing all the reasons why I didn't want to cave and get one.

Things that make my blood boil:

This. Let me preface by saying that the point of me posting the link to this story is NOT to call attention to the fact that I don't agree with this particular bill's passage into law, or to start a debate about whether or not people should be allowed to carry guns into bars, like the law now allows. The point is to address an issue: our elected officials, that we elect to be our voice in the legislature and represent us, are not truly representing the views of their constituents.

To quote the Tennessean, "Eighty two percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents were opposed to the gun law, but a majority of Republicans, 59 percent, were against it as well." WHAT THE CRAP?! That many people were against it, yet our state legislature still pushed for it. Our governor was more of a voice for residents of Tennessee when he vetoed the bill than district representatives or state senators were! Even then, Bredesen vetoed it and the state legislature overwrote his veto. Barely, but still an overwrite is an overwrite.

I'm sorry, but what happened to "government of the people, by the people, for the people?" Abraham Lincoln said that "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

This really bothers and concerns me. A lot. If this is happening on the state level, what's happening on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC? Are those representatives and senators truly being a voice for their constituents back home? Or are they pushing their own agendas and brushing off what their constituents think and feel?

Sometimes I think that people are afraid to speak up...or they forget that they CAN speak up when their elected representative/senator does something that they don't agree with. I think people sometimes forget that they can write letters and make phone calls to make sure that their voice is heard. SPEAK UP PEOPLE. Isn't that our job? To quote Abraham Lincoln again, from his first inaugural speech in 1861, "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."

I have the urge to write heated letters, much like this blog post, to every person that represents me in politics. State representatives. State senators. My congresswoman. The 2 US Senators for Tennessee. I want to make sure my voice is being heard. Is yours?

Day 197

2010-07-30T22:53:00.002-05:00

I found a stack of construction paper and card-stock paper today while I was cleaning! RA jackpot!

Day 196

2010-07-30T22:53:00.001-05:00

Worked on floor decorations for most of today

Day 195

2010-07-30T22:52:00.001-05:00

The little things

2010-07-27T23:07:00.002-05:00

I realized today that I can take the littlest things for granted...things like air conditioning. The AC upstairs isn't working right, so the entire upstairs and my room was my own personal sauna, sitting at a nice stuffy 90 degrees. It's a good thing the downstairs AC is working, but still, I take even having an AC for granted. I have friends that don't have AC and don't complain as much as I did today. I really started feeling rotten when I thought about people in other countries who don't have proper houses, let alone air conditioning.

That thought alone really makes me think about what I take for granted on a daily basis.

Day 194

2010-07-27T23:06:00.000-05:00

I started figuring out floor decorations today...I'm putting the quote "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." in the hallway by the elevators on yellow butcher paper. I think for the final product the letters are going to be a darker blue (done with markers, not colored pencils) so that the letters stand out more. Under/around the quote I am going to have the word family in different languages, in hopes of being on the international exchange floor again. :)

Day 193

2010-07-26T23:56:00.000-05:00

My "crap-I-forgot-to-take-a-picture-today" picture of the cat before I went to bed. She had been scratching at my door and trying to dig her way into my room. Oy vey.

Growing Up (Part 2)

2010-07-25T21:00:00.002-05:00

The weirdest feeling in the world is knowing that people I know from elementary school are getting engaged/married and having kids. Also a weird feeling is knowing people from high school that are getting engaged.

One of my best friend's little sisters graduated from high school this year. She's two years younger than I am. When did she get old enough to be graduating high school and starting college?!?!? One of my little cousins, who is about to be 14, added me as a friend on Facebook today. When did he get to be old enough to have his own Facebook?!?!?

I guess I never thought about this aspect of growing up. I always knew that growing up meant getting more responsibility and having more stuff to pay for and all that, but I never really thought about the day that would come when my friends would be getting engaged/married/having kids...not that I didn't think it wasn't going to happen, I just never thought about it...

Growing up is a REALLY weird feeling.

Day 192

2010-07-25T20:59:00.000-05:00

The conversation on my friend Meagan's Facebook status amused me...a lot.

Nerd (noun)

2010-07-24T22:33:00.003-05:00

I have a confession to make. I am...a nerd.

Nerd: noun. "An unstylish or socially inept person...one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits."

Okay, so the first part doesn't really apply to me...and I wouldn't say that I am "slavishly devoted" to school, although I am determined/motivated to do well. But I do think that the term "nerd" has another meaning that isn't listed in the dictionary. That meaning? The ability to recite this:

"Space...the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explain strange new worlds, to seek out new life, new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before." -Star Trek

Most of that was from memory. I had to Google to find the exact wording for new civilizations, but you get the point. Being a nerd doesn't have to mean that someone is geeky looking and does nothing but math and science and has no social life.

I've loved Star Trek and Star Wars for as long as I can remember...add Harry Potter in around third grade and you've got early on-set nerdism. Add in a love for miscellaneous SyFy shows like Eureka, Haven and Stargate Atlantis and you've got me today. Okay, so I'm not as crazy about the SyFy shows as some people can be, but I sure do enjoy watching them and going "What the...?" And nothing excites me more than the possibility of a new Star Trek movie, or anything Harry Potter related (can you say theme park and Deathly Hallows?). I stand in line for midnight movies and book releases. I play Halo with my dad and the day will probably come where I will be standing in some really long line for some really awesome video game.

I marvel at the technology that goes into making movies...I love tech stuff for theater and movie making. A good example of that is the fact that my brain explodes a little when I even THINK about the movie Inception (I mean, REALLY. That fight scene choreography...guh).

I've known that I'm that kind of nerd forever. And I'm not afraid to admit it. But it really clicked today when I found myself obsessively refreshing my Twitter home page for Comic Con updates...and when I found myself adding "attend San Diego Comic Con" to my bucket list, with the hopes of catching a Harry Potter panel (right around the time part 2 of Deathly Hallows comes out in theaters) or a Star Trek panel revolving around the sequel to the most recent Star Trek movie.

But you know what Bill Gates said..."Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

Day 191

2010-07-24T21:19:00.000-05:00

I was a very happy RA after a trip to the Parent-Teacher store today. :D

Day 190

2010-07-23T23:45:00.002-05:00

We're seriously starting to think that the cat is obsessed with my mom's tote bag...to the point that she will pull stuff out of it to make room for her to crawl in and curl up. Either she's obsessed, or she really, really wants to go for a random car ride.

Day 189

2010-07-22T23:40:00.001-05:00

Argh. It's small. :( Anywho, I started working on my door decs today so that I don't have to worry about them during RA training week. They're Hawaiian leis colored in and the names will go in the middle. :-)

Technology

2010-07-22T14:56:00.003-05:00

It's official. Technology is out to completely take over my life. I just caught myself thinking about how nice it would to have a Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Now, to the average person, this may seem like a completely normal thought. To me, it's a sign of the Apocalypse. Okay, maybe not quite that dramatic, but it's a pretty big deal if you know me. I'm a big fan of books. I've been a bookworm since I first memorized "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." I'm constantly adding books to my list of books to read (currently reading Eat, Pray, Love...next is Lolita and then 1984 if I have time before classes start). There's something about going into a bookstore and thumbing through the shelves to find a book to buy and take home to read. There's something about the actual paperback that I love about books. I love being able to highlight my textbooks and take notes in the margins. I love going into someone's home or a professor's office and browsing their bookshelves. The books they read can say a lot about their character.

A Nook would take all of that away from me. The joy I find in spending hours in a bookstore. The joy I find in sitting down with a my nose in a book. A Nook (or a Sony Reader or Kindle) takes my love of reading and computerizes it. It would never be the same if I caved and bought a Nook/Reader/Kindle. I'm kind of afraid of the day that having a Nook/Kindle/Reader is mainstream, and few people own actual books. I'll be one of those "old fashioned" people when that day comes that will have the multiple bookshelves full of books.

Now, if my textbooks were available on a Nook/Kindle/Reader, with margin note taking abilities, I might cave and get one. But until then, it's not going to happen.

I leave you with a quote that I heard a long time ago when I was a kid: "A room without books is like a body without a soul." -Cicero

Growing Up

2010-07-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

I'm 20 years old. Some might say that makes me a grown up. Some might say that I am still a kid. I say that I am somewhere in the middle. I don't like being called a "kid" any more, but then I realize that I have car insurance that has to be paid in a month, a gas tank that is going to need to be filled up again in a week, books to pay for, and no money left to do the things that I WANT to do. No money to buy the camera that I really want. No money to take a cruise with friends or a trip back to Europe.

But I remember WANTING to grow up. I remember WANTING to be an adult so that I could do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. Heck, I still WANT to grow up...just a little...as in 9 more months til I am 21 kind of growing up.

But it's times like these when I realize that I STILL can't do what I want to do. It's not my parents telling me that I can't do it, it's my checking account telling me that I can't do it. Not if I want to have an insured car with gas in it, or to finish school or study abroad.

I think it sucks now. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when my mom no longer pays for my cell phone bill, when I have to grocery shop every other week, when I have to pay rent and utilities and have a "big girl" job in the real world.

They say that "growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional." If growing up is optional, is all of the stuff that comes with it optional, too?

Day 188

2010-07-21T16:41:00.000-05:00

While cleaning and doing laundry, the cat jumped into the empty laundry basket and supervised. She got really confused when I picked the basket up (with her in it) and carried it out to the living room and back.

Day 187

2010-07-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

Spent an hour fighting with Microsoft Word to get it to do what I wanted with the pictures and text. I finally won.

Day 186

2010-07-21T16:07:00.001-05:00

Started reading Eat, Pray, Love today

Day 185

2010-07-19T22:30:00.000-05:00

Not necessarily the best picture of me or the Jugg sisters, but the Nash Trash tour was a hoot and a half as usual.

Day 184

2010-07-18T19:19:00.002-05:00

Cavender was attacking Meagan. It was quite funny to witness.

Day 183

2010-07-18T19:19:00.001-05:00

Went to see the midnight showing of Inception. Holy crap, what a good movie!!!

Day 182

2010-07-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

Roxi thinks that she is a lap dog...also, this marks the halfway point in my Project 365

Day 181

2010-07-14T22:16:00.001-05:00

Couch hog.

Day 180

2010-07-13T20:45:00.002-05:00

New books make me :D. I have a thing about reading the book before seeing the movie adaptation. I've heard that both of these books are good and both movies look good.

Day 179

2010-07-12T20:02:00.002-05:00

Even though she doesn't look very happy here, Katie voluntarily jumped up on the couch and curled up next to my head...this is the same cat that completely snubbed me 3 weeks ago.

Day 178

2010-07-11T21:57:00.001-05:00

Saw Despicable Me today. (sorry the picture is so small...don't know how to make it bigger)

Day 177

2010-07-11T02:31:00.002-05:00

Played Apples to Apples with Kylie, Meagan, Nathan and Josh today...these were the adjective cards I won. Supposedly the cards you win describe you/your personality. I would like to think that I am NOT most of these...although I will admit I can be rather sappy...and I'll take stunning as a compliment.

Anywho, I think I hear Inspiration knocking on my door, so I'm going to go curl up with my journal and a pen and see what comes of it. Stay tuned!

Day 176

2010-07-09T13:33:00.002-05:00

Cow appreciation day at Chick-Fil-A. If you wore a cow costume you got a free meal. So Robby and I put the costume from Gypsy to work and both got free lunch. They also told us that we had the best costume that they had seen all day. It was quite funny.

Substance

2010-07-08T23:39:00.003-05:00

I used to think that this is where I was going to end up in 10 years...either here or the White House. Not as a politician, but as a politician's communication director. Have you ever watched West Wing? Remember Toby? Yeah, I'd want his job if I were to work in Washington, DC. But that was before my sophomore year of college...Before I became a resident assistant.

Not everyone likes being a RA. To be honest, there are some parts of the job that I could do without, but I suck it up and do the things that I don't like doing because it's still a part of my job.

But to be honest again, I don't really consider being a RA a "job" anymore. I'm sitting here at home, in the middle of the summer, wanting nothing more than to get back to school, to bulletin boards, door decs, residents and programs. I really, truly believe that when a job ceases to be a job, that says something. In my case, I think it's saying that I'm not meant to be in an office building somewhere in a cubicle, or taking the subway to work everyday and running around the Capitol Building.

I feel like being a RA gives me substance (as weird as that may sound to some people). I'm not saying that I want to be a RA for the rest of my life, because I don't. I don't even know if I want to work in housing for the rest of my life, but it's definitely somewhere to start. I really feel like I might be happier working with college kids in some way, shape or form.

With all that being said, I also realized earlier this summer that junior year is when I really need to start thinking about grad school (especially if I get to study abroad like I want to during senior year). I *used* to think that grad school was going to consist of more communications work, political science, or public administration. Now, not so much. Now grad school looks more like student affairs or leadership stuff.

Does this mean that I'm giving up on my Washington, DC, dream? No it doesn't. Who says that 15 years or so down the road that I wont get tired of doing whatever I end up doing? Just because I do something different doesn't mean that I can't go back to my DC dream...especially if anyone I know ever runs for office.

Okay, I'm going to stop thinking about the future for now...it's starting to freak me out just a little bit.

June 29, 2010: Harry Potter versus Twilight

2010-07-08T23:16:00.003-05:00

I feel the need to discuss a seemingly on going debate...which is better: Harry Potter or Twilight?

Now, before I begin, I have to admit that I am what I like to call a "guilty pleasure" Twilight fan. I enjoyed the books, I enjoy the movies. They serve as a good escape, but I also realize the storyline doesn't have much depth to it, and it really is mindless entertainment.

My friend had a quote posted as her Facebook status yesterday that I think is great.

"Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding
inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity… Twilight is
about how important it is to have a boyfriend."

Okay, so Twilight isn't ONLY about having a boyfriend. I definitely think that it says something about changing who you are for someone else and the consequences of your choices. Granted, Bella does change who she is in a sense, and I'm a big fan of staying true to yourself, not being someone you are not. My friend Jenn gave us a fascinating analysis of Twilight/True Blood/the vampire-supernatural phenomenon, but I can't do it justice here. But, like I said, Twilight is a good guilty pleasure series...I still don't think that 9 year olds should be reading it, and Twi-Moms scare the snot out of me...I also realize that Edward and Jacob are fictional characters (which I think Twi-Moms and Twi-hards can forget sometimes).

My big thing is, people need to realize that Harry Potter and Twilight are two COMPLETELY different stories. You CAN'T really compare their stories and say that one is better than the other because of the completely different story lines, settings, characters, etc.

Other than that, here are my thoughts.

Harry Potter is also a very IN DEPTH story...otherwise it wouldn't take 7 books or 8 movies to cover. Twilight? 4 books...which for someone ridiculous reason they're making into 5 movies. Don't even get me started on the whole split-Breaking-Dawn-into-two-movies business. It ticks me off. Also, Twilight doesn't have it's own theme park...it doesn't have people dressing ALL OUT for midnight shows like Harry Potter does...it has a smaller demographic audience (mostly women)...and it hasn't been around as long...I also don't see any Twilight movie trailers eliciting the response that the Deathly Hallows trailer spawned, and I don't see it becoming the pop culture phenomenon that Harry Potter has become.

As I said before, you can't FAIRLY compare the two series. But I still stand by my claim that Harry Potter wins over Twilight any day.

June 16, 2010: My Story

2010-07-08T23:16:00.002-05:00

My Story...or at least part of it
I realized today that a lot of my friends may not know how I got where I am today..and by "where I am today" I don't mean the comforts of my bedroom at home. No, I mean living in Tennessee and going to school in Kentucky in general.

I was talking to my friend Annie who I met at KARH back in February. (For those that don't know, KARH=Kentucky Association of Residence Halls...state conference was the first weekend in February) Anywho, she's headed to California soon for a conference and I mentioned that I'm originally from California. She seemed kind of surprised when I said that...then again, this was all over Facebook chat, so I don't really know if she was or not. But she asked how I ended up at WKU for school and live in Nashville if I was born/raised in California. I started thinking, and realized that quite a few of my friends probably don't know that I'm from California. Yeah, I mention it in passing sometimes, and my high school friends definitely know, but a lot of my college friends might not. So here's the story.

My dad works for Nissan. Headquarters used to be located in California, but in November of 2005 (I think) they announced that they would be relocating to Tennessee. They already had a plant in Smyrna, so I guess it kind of made sense. Anywho, long story short, we had until my 16th birthday to decide if we were moving or not. We couldn't find job opportunities close to home for Dad, so Mom and Dad decided we'd move. Mom had been gung-ho on the idea of moving since the relocation was still in rumor stage. I on the other hand was not because we had moved before my freshman year of high school, and they had promised they wouldn't move me during high school. That, and it was Tennessee of all places. 2000 miles away from "home." Hillbillies. Bare feet. Etc. (I ended up doing an entire speech my senior year about the stereotypes, but that's another story for another post).

So, we moved. We got the keys to our house on like July 2, 2006, had the carpet replaced, painted, I sliced my foot open on a piece of glass, didn't get stitches, and the moves came a week later to help us move all the stuff in.

Keep in mind that I swore from my 16th birthday on that I was going back to California for college. There was no way I was staying here...or so I thought. Then I got sucked into forensics at Ravenwood...and then heard that WKU had a forensics team...and thought I might continue competitive speaking (until I found out that the WKU team takes control of your social life basically). So I wound up applying at WKU, Belmont, UTK and MTSU...and ended up at WKU for Honors.

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I don't always know what the reason is for specific events in life, but I know it happens for a reason one way or another. Had we not moved, I'd be in college studying to be an English teacher, not studying corporate/organizational communications and being an RA headed for student affairs after undergrad was over. I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to help plan a state conference...to be conference co-chair, or get a state board position for KARH. I literally wouldn't be who I am today.

So yeah. That's a part of my story. And don't worry, I'll post tidbits of my speech from senior year someday. It was a good one and absolutely hysterical.

June 15, 2010

2010-07-08T23:15:00.005-05:00

A Quick Note to Writer's Block
Dear Writer's Block,
You come at the most inconvenient times. I've had a couple of lines and ideas floating around in my head all day, but haven't had the time to sit down and write. I get that opportunity to put my thoughts on paper and you magically show up. Go away. I do not appreciate your company and you deprive me of the relaxation that writing gives me.
Much love,
me

June 14, 2010

2010-07-08T23:15:00.003-05:00

I'm a Disney freak, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I grew up on Disney...literally. I lived close enough to Disneyland that we had passports and went almost every weekend. I had Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and several other Disney movies on VHS, before DVDs were even thought invented (I think). With my Disney obsession comes the typical-girly princess obsession...and the idea of happily ever after...that Prince Charming is going to show up and whisk me away on his white horse.

Unfortunately, life is not like a movie. Yeah, I know everyone knows that, but I can't help but wish for my fairytale ending. I know that I'll "live happily ever after"someday, but I just wish it was as...easy?...as it is in the movies. Or I at least wish that I wasn't so afraid of rejection/losing a friend that I hold back when I even think about telling a guy that I like him. Then again, I'm old fashioned, and like to think that I shouldn't have to make the first move.

My prince charming is out there...somewhere. He's just lost and refuses to stop to ask for directions. I'm just hoping it doesn't take him, whoever he is, another 20 years to find me. So Prince Charming, if you're reading this, I'm over here. *waves*

June 13, 2010

2010-07-08T23:15:00.001-05:00

I realized today that I'm really bad at updating my blog. I upload my project 365 pictures on Facebook as well as on here, and usually use Facebook to keep track of where I am and such. I noticed today that once I update Facebook, I tend to forget that I haven't updated this. Oops. I'm going to work on that the consistency of updates this summer. Hopefully once training comes around and school starts I wont fall off the horse again, but we'll see.

Speaking of summer, mine ain't all that great so far. The best things have been LeaderShape right after school got out, a week with my grandparents, and Gypsy. The job I had lined up didn't work out and I was done after 3 days (not my choice), so now I'm freaking out about money stuff. Blargh.

Idaho was a good break from life and a nice chance to relax for once. Little did I know at the time that I would have plenty of downtime this summer...more than I was anticipating. Hmph.

So, if anyone knows anyplace that will hire a personable college student for the remainder of the summer, let me know. I need money.

May 21, 2010: LeaderShape

2010-07-08T23:08:00.004-05:00

>Ok, I can (finally) play the pen game.

>Integrity is who you are when no one else is looking.

>"Don't be a square" has a whole new meaning.

>Star Power is blah.

>I'm trapped behind the green glass door.

>Shut up and focus. (GAG! haha)

>Dream big.

>Be the person you want to be. Don't be someone you aren't or who other people want you to be.

>Shake and bake.

>It IS possible to take balloons and turn them into castle like structures.

>Even though I'm from California, I probably wouldn't survive a 7.5 earthquake on my own.

>I'm an all around "I," but can be a situational D when necessary. And apparently when I turn into a D, people forget I'm usually an I.

>The WKU hill is nothing compared to that short, yet somewhat steep hike to breakfast/lunch/dinner.

>I spook too easily.

>A group of people that didn't know each other before Sunday May 16 can become like a family in just six days. <3>"What do tigers dream of when they take a little tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit?y Don't you worry your pretty striped head, we're gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed. And then we're gonna find our best friend Doug, and then we're gonna give him a best friend hug. Doug, Doug, oh, Doug, Dougie, Dougie, Doug, Doug! But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweakers...then we're shit out of luck."

>Sit in the front row of your life.

>Whenever you make a mistake say "How fascinating!"

>Cory thinks he's the bomb. ;)

>I was reminded of this: "Dear Darla, I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You're scum between my toes. Love, Alfalfa."

>Hillary REALLY likes The Hangover and Stu's Song.

>The Action Team of LeaderShape superheroes is awesome.

>We are the future for Katie Selby's one year old son Miles.