Is 20 too young to be feeling very nostalgic about things?

Job Well Done

I probably wrote about this last semester, but it's worth mentioning again.

In the academic world at least, there is probably no greater feeling than walking out of an exam, shaking the professor's hand, knowing it was a good semester with a job well done...

...and I'll do it again Friday morning...and next semester...

that's why Dr. Judge has class.

Katie and I are friggin' geniouses...be on the lookout...we're going BIG time.

Abe Froman: The Sausage King of Chicago

the end of any school year really calls for a viewing of Ferris Buellers Day Off. my freshman year of college the urge hit with great strength and was unfortunately met unquenched as i at this point did not yet have my own copy. this year however, the annual viewing was only beginning to nag my brain when i stumbled across an AMC_DVD showing of the movie. It's like pop-up video for an entire movie and for a movie i'v seen over 20 some times, it was perfect. i love falling into a fix.

i was introduced to ferris when i was about 10 or 11 and i was destined to fall in love with the movie as it was released only 7 days after my birth. i will watch it practically every time it's on tv and on other occasions when the mood strikes (for i now own the dvd for myself). it's just brilliant. it encompasses that wonderful, romanticized idea of high school that so lacks reality you can't help but love it. it's full of wisdom and an attitude towards life we could all afford to adopt. plus, deep down, we all want to be a little bit like ferris.

sigh...it's just brilliant...and most definitely on my top ten movies of all time.

New Layout

I figured it was time for a new layout.

I started this thing back in 2004 and have changed absolutely nothing about it except for the ramblings I post as I find the mood striking.

Consider it part of the gradual process of becoming a more sophisticated adult.

Why do I..

...have such a knack for ruining completely tasty and wonderful food options by looking up the nutritional facts. once i KNOW exactly how bad something is for me, i feel obligated to eat something healthier.

on the one hand it's good i guess...but milkshakes and grilled stuft burritos are just so so so very tasty.

Musical Whiplash

What is so great about itunes or using the shuffle mode on an ipod is that your musical is not neccesarily arranged in any particular order so you never really know what to expect next. and it leads to really funny transitions like going from Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden" (complete with the sound clips from Jerry McGuire) to Bubba Sparxx's "Miss New Booty."

that's what's so great about technology kids.

Overcompensating

I am overcompensating for my total lack of posting with the previous two (incredibly provocative) posts.

I promise, I'll try harder to be a better blogger.

Where's the love...

The 11-year-old version of myself would have never believed that my love for Taylor Hanson would one day come to an end.

But the 20-year-old version of myself has concluded that Isaac has definitely outshown his brother in rugged good looks (perhaps mostly in the "rugged" department), that age has done Isaac well, and in my expert opinion, he has become the best looking Hanson brother.

I have to admit, although many of you already know, that in my old age by affinity for Hanson has far from waned, and that with each new album (yes, they did produce music after MmmBop, and it's quite excellent too) I like them more and more.

It's nice to have something that I've liked for that long...we're going on 10 years boys...here here.

A New Prophet

The Office is brilliant. If you don't watch it, you should.

One of the greatest Michael Scott quotes, or any quote for that matter, is in an episode from Season Two called Casino Night. Michael has decided, in the name of charity, to host a casino night in the warehouse at Dunder-Mifflin, which would include gambling, drinking, and other such things. Toby, being the top-notch HR pro that he is, thinks that having children at the event would be a little inappropriate. In response, Michael says: I hate so much, about the things you chose to be.

I love Toby. Sure, Jim is gorgeous, but there is something about Toby...I just love him.

So naturally, my reaction was to think that Michael, while funny, was too harsh on my boy Toby.

Little did I know, Michael Scott is actually a prophet.

See, a week or two ago, while having absolutely nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon in the tutoring lab, I was looking around The Office cast members MySpace accounts and came across Toby's, and much to my dismay (I kid you not, my heart sank just a little) under religious views Toby had listed "atheist."

How sad. Coming from my Christian perspective, it just seems to be such a dismal outlook on life, and my dear Toby is part of that.

Michael knew though.

He hates that for Toby, but ultimately all he can do is just make this sentiment known.

Michael Scott is a prophet, that doesn't suprise me really.
:)

Out

For those who are unaware...I'm going to Singapore for a few days...

see you when I get back!

A New Face for Marlie

You know, as Americans we take so much for granted. I don't think that's anything any of us have never heard before thought about on occassion. However, tonight I have been sort of overwhelmed by how fortunate we are to live in America, where we have access to clean water, food, and medical care if we need it.

Tonight I have been watching TLC and they are showing one of those surgery shows and tonight it is about a girl named Marlie who had a 16 pound liesion on her face that has completely disfigured her. She is from Haiti and was on the verge of death because it was keeping her from breathing, eating, not to mention going out in public where people thought she was cursed or a monster.

Can you imagine if that was your child?

Anyways, she was fortunte enough to be able to come to America to have a never before performed sugery and as she was going in for the first part of her operation, her mother and the two Haitian nurses who made the journey with her were singing and even praying the song "God Bless America." They aren't Americans, but because of the medical technology we have in our country, their little girl is saved. We really are blessed.

Get Up and Go

Sometimes I become very overwhelmed with the feeling that I need to go somewhere and do something. I don't mean, like go for a run (although that does happen), but do something really purposeful with my life.

I'm thinking Peace Corps.

100 You Might or Might Not Know About Me

1. I got this idea from KTB.
2. I'm listening to Dashboard Confessional right now.
3. I'm a nerd, I really like school.
4. I once made a mixed tape for a boy I liked. To this day it was probably the boldest thing I've ever done for like.
5. On most guys in most situations, I find facial hair incredibly attractive (exlcuding the solitary mustache).
6. I have been to four countries outside of the United States and have driven through or flown out of two additional ones.
7. I once spent an entire day convincing my little brother he was adopted. He later told his kindergarten teacher.
8. Carvel cake is the way to my heart.
9. Despite being raised in a church, I became a Christian at 14.
10. I've had lice.
11. I still listen to Hanson (that's including recent CDs).
12. I have been keeping a diary/journal since I was 8 1/2 years old.
13. I really like Harry Potter and sometimes wish I could go to Hogwarts.
14. I want seven kids---this could be attributed to watching a lot of 7th Heaven, but I won't say that is the sole reason.
15. I could (and sometimes do) listen to nothing but 80's music and music from musicals or Disney movies.
16. I'm 64% gross according to blogthings How Gross are You quiz.
17. Before college "exercise" was like a four letter word...and never would have been done for fun.
18. I like to blend things with the Magic Bullet.
19. I compulsively check my e-mail.
20. I cry at A Baby Story.
21. Watching Newsies makes me want to do something important and stand for something I believe in.
22. I don't watch the news or read the newspaper as much as I should to be an informed citizen.
23. Grass green is my shade of green.
24. I've gone four straight days without a shower.
25. I am pretty sure I don't want alcohol at my wedding.
26. One time in middle school, to stick it to the man, I wrote "We the People of the Back of the Room" with two fellow deviants who got sent to the back of the room.
27. Ben Moser is mostly responsible for who I am...all complaints can be directed to him.
28. Sometimes I truly think I should just have the final opinion on how things should be in the world.
29. I'm taking hip hop this semester.
30. I love taking pictures.
31. I used to want to be an actress and sometimes really regret not pursuing that dream.
32. People think I look like Katie Holmes.
33. I went to see Michael Jackson cover band last spring.
34. There are 150 people on my buddy list...I hardly talk to them all.
35. I have a copy of The Giving Tree with me at college.
36. I read non-Narnia C.S. Lewis books for fun.
37. I want to write a book and be published.
38. I don't really like talking on the phone.
39. I like to play dress up.
40. If reasonable, I would wear skirts and dresses all of the time.
41. I loathe being cold, and sometimes lose feeling in my toes when it's too cold out.
42. I collect large eyewear.
43. I was a semi-finalist for the Park Scholarship to NCSU.
44. Despite what people might think, I really don't like icebreakers.
45. I am a camp dork...seriously.
46. I did not want to go to my high school graduation.
47. I want to live in NYC for some period of my life.
48. If The Wedding Singer of Son-in-Law are on TV, I will watch it regardless of how many times I've seen them.
49. Flirting gets on my nerves.
50. I love jewelry!!!
51. I'm convinced Jesus was a good looking man.
52. I want a tatoo.
53. I believe everyone should join in on the musical of life that is already going on in my head.
54. I memorize and quote lyrics and movie lines all of the time.
55. I like to eat ice cream for breakfast.
56. I hate feet.
57. When Army recruiters kept calling me I told them I wanted to be a fasion designer and giggled a lot to get them to hang up.
58. I want to go to Africa.
59. My stomach makes weird noises all the time.
60. My watch smells but I don't want to get rid of it because it shoots lasers.
61. I caught Gregg Marshall's shirt at the last basketball game.
62. I got detention twice in middle school...once for wearing non-uniform jewelry...I told my teacher I was "expressing my individuality"...she was not impressed.
63. I am anal about color coordination.
64. I always have my toenails painted.
65. I once refused to read Gone with the Wind on the basis that it was bigger than the bible.
66. My basketball number in middle school was 12.
67. Cocoa Wheats was my absolute favorite food as a kid.
68. The only two occasions that I can remember of "having an accident" as a young child both times I tried to blame it on sitting in water (which wasn't a completely inprobable story).
69. I carry a Hello Kitty compact mirror in my purse that my dad got for me when I was like 3.
70. I have never broken a bone, but I fractured my wrist in 2nd grade roller blading in Myrtle Beach Middle School.
71. I can still derive pleasure out of watching professional wrestling.
72. I'm not gonna lie, I like poppy rap music.
73. I sort my gummy bears and M&M's by flavor/color when I eat them.
74. Cute old men make me smile.
75. Burritos and milkshakes=goodness
76. Sometimes when I listen to music about the high school, punk rock love...a part of me still wants that (even with the drama and heartache).
77. Lime is one of my favorite flavors...cherry limeade, lime chips, lime seasoned chicked...
78. I used to make up dances to Spice Girls all the time.
79. I don't floss daily like I should.
80. I did a collage on belly buttons for art class in middle school and my teacher wouldn't hang it up.
81. I want to be a judge for the National Pie contest in Florida.
82. As a kid I was really into the spy/detective thing (Harriet the Spy and Ghostwriter were favorites) so I would keep notebooks of observations and follow anything I thought was a clue (once I rode my bike around the neighbor hood following blue paint splotches).
83. On August 4, 1997 I fell in love with Jonathan Warren...that's according to my 11 year old self.
84. My dream car is a green Jeep Wrangler.
85. I have a strange fear of doors opening on my toes...like if a door opens towards me, I am always afraid someone is going to push it open and my toes and gonna get messed up.
86. I have always thought I was old for my age...it doesn't take much to convince myself that was not true.
87. I've seen the pope...three times.
88. I used to want to be on the Real World.
89. I really wanted to play the flute when I was younger but my parents told me I had to master the recorder first...it didn't happen...needless to say, I never played the flute.
90. I have an over active conscience.
91. I truly believe love is in the details.
92. I have never been in love and am quite ok with that.
93. Once, when I was around 10, I decided I was going to spend an entire day sitting in the woods...so I took my "sit-upon" and packed a lunch...I'm not sure I even made it more than an hour or so.
94. I ran away once...around the corner...sat on the side of the road...and returned shortly after.
95. I suck at emotions and communicating things that are important.
96. My brothers once told me that the sodium earthobate in hotdogs was earthworms and I did not eat hotdogs for about a year.
97. They also tried to tell my that one of my my cousin's head wasn't real...Her real head was on this really high shelf at my grandparents house.
98. I wanted to be Clarissa from Clarissa Explains It All...I also wanted to be Alex Mack.
99. I saw Sharon, Lois, and Bram in concert.
100. I am a pack rat.

Take that 2006---2007 is about to rock the house down

I have met this new year with an especially high degree of excitement and enthusiasm, unnatural or abnormal even...but I am quite enjoying it this way.

I love how the new year (or school year or semester or first of the month or sunday or really any beginning) somehow conjures up in us the great sense of empowerment. It is as if, for some reason when the calendar page flips from one year into the next we are suddenly much more motivated and capable of achieving the goals, breaking the habits, or losing the weight we have been carrying around for years, previously unable to do anything about.

I say this not to mock new years resolutions, but to smile at the fact that for some amount of time we are all a little unsensibly idealistic. In fact, I have a long history of making new year's resolutions almost all of which (if not absolutely all) have never been achieved. In fact, because I am a chronic overachiever and tend to take on a "go big or go home" mentality, I actually have a habit of making an entire list of reasonably obtainable new year's resolution that so divides my attention that as a result not a single one gets the attention or dedication deserved to make it a reality. In fact, these resolutions were so significant that I remember practically none of them; although I do recall several resolutions to lose weight, work out, eat healthy, give up soda, give up candy, and other such things. In addition I pledged other things like to stop popping my knuckles, do all the reading for classes, and I believe once I even made a resolution to smooch the object of my middle school heart's affection (I'm that cool, yes, I know).

I share all this juciness for the sole purpose of saying that this new year I am truly about to burst with excitement about what's in store for the next few months (at least). I feel like God is up to something in my life, and it's a refreshing feeling to have, one that is an answer to months worth of prayers. I know I am a nerd, but I feel like God is putting more passion into my school work, I COULDN'T SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE CLASSES. I sat excited, about to pee my pants, in each new class, just wanting to learn new things. This isn't just academically. I feel like a time of hardcore spiritual growth is on the horizon for 2007. He is calling me to spend more time with Him and has been making it an urgency in my life (which is awesome) and revealing so much to me about my relationship with Him and bringing forth a lot of things I need to deal with to experience more freedom and joy! It's so exciting. Overall just a sense of excitement about life in general and a desire to learn and grow.

I might pee my pants just thinking about it, which wouldn't be too hard because one of my new years resolutions is to drink the recommended amount of water each day ;)

It looks like my future husband has some competition

So, I have always had this little joke that I would pretty much marry a guy who wrote a song for me, we'll whoever he is, he has quite a high standard to meet because today, today, I got my very own song...merry christmas.

Be Like Brooke

She's the queen of the swingers, oh, the Rockfish VIP

She's reached the top and had to stop and that's what's botherin' me

I want to be like Brooke and stroll right in to town

with my big sunglasses on my face

I'm tired of monkeying around.

Oh do be do, I wanna be like Brooke

I wanna walk like Brooke, talk like Brooke too

You see it's true, a girl like me, can learn to be

just like Brooke too.

Katie B and grace are perhaps the silliest little girls I know, but I guess I should get used to it, because it looks like I'm marrying them! ::wink:: I have such cool friends.

Well I Guess This is Growing Up

Maybe you've experienced it, maybe you haven't...but sometimes there are moments in life when you just realize you're growing up. Not neccesarily anything tragic or lifechanging (although, that will certainly do it), but those moments when you just sort of realize that things that you've clung to or enjoyed in the past just aren't as interesting anymore, or that you are just ready to be beyond things that are sort of immature, yet quite a natural part of growing up. It's kind of a hard feeling to explain, though I guarentee most of you will start feeling it soon.

It's kind of been like that lately...just coming to realize that, I'm growing up.

To be honest, I always have thought of myself as mentally being a lot older than my chronological age at anytime (starting in at least middle school), but it doesn't take much to realize how wrong I was, but the other day I was thinking about the first week of college, how completely overwhelming that was. It was never so overwhelming I just had a mental breakdown or anything, but even in the past two years and I see where I have grown up. One particular instance that came to mind was one of the many trips I took to Thomson by myself freshman year (which I didn't mind and still like doing on occasion). It was one of the first days of school and at this point I only knew how to get to Thomson by one particular route. Well, somewhere in the process, I walked down a different road, arrived at Thomson, but had no clue which door to go in to get to the cafeteria. I must have looked lost, even though I am sure I was doing my best to pretend like I knew where I was going, because some girl was like "You can get to the caf from that door" and of course (secretly releaved) I responded "Oh yeah, I know." But even small things like that, heh, were just a few years ago college seemed like such a big deal and now I am wanting to be part of a big, grand adventure.

Anywho, what brought this on is that in the past few days I have had a few instances in where I felt my adult mind starting to kick in:

1. I felt this desire to subscribe to a professional journal
2. I want to host a dinner party
3. I realized I chose to listen to (and enjoyed) the Adult Alternative station on Launchcast

So there you go. That's pretty much all I have to say on this for right now, and yes, I get a chuckle out of the fact that a post of growing up can have a title so very connected to the middleschool version of myself.

Sucker!

There have only been two instances in my college career where I can truly say I felt like a complete sucker...where someone's really pulled one over on me....both times professors...

the first was in my Political Science 201 class with Dr. Belk (who is amazing by the way). So, this is my first semester in college, in one of the first honors classes I have ever taken here at Winthrop. One of the first days Dr. Belk hands out a "pop quiz." After freaking out about it being a pop quiz and knowing full and well I didn't know the answers to most of the questions, I turn in my quiz. Then we grade them. I got a 20...In a few brief seconds, my academic world comes crashing down. Almost to the point of tears, thinking there was simply no way I was going to cut it in college...Dr. Belk smiles and says "This is the intelligence test they used to administer to decide who could vote. You are educated people and still you couldn't answer the questions, what does that say about this method?" Punked.

the second instance, happened this past Monday. In my tests and measurement class we have been taking a series of personality tests to see how consistent the results are. So, in class, Dr. Daugherty hands out a sheet of paper with our NEO "scores" and an "interpreation" of these scores. Naturally, I am excited to see what my answers reveal about me. I'm reading through the first paragraph and I am thinking to myself "daggum, this about hit the nail on the head" then, being the slow reader that I am, Dr. Daugherty interupts before I am done reading to say, "So how accurate do you feel like these interpretations are?" Then procedes to tell us everyone got the same interpretation, but because they were common experiences and generally free to interpretation statements, we saw in them the similarities to our own experiences. Punked again.

now i just need to pull one over on someone...

"Thank God I'm a Country Boy..."

No...I'm not watching Son in Law...

So, I'm sitting here, enjoying the fact there is no class because of Election Day...I've been almost entirely unproductive...and naturally, I start listening to John Denver...actually I don't really know what moved me to do so, but I came across the classic "Take Me Home Country Roads"...West Virginia's state song.

I'm from West Virginia...I have very fond memories of West Virginia as a child, but honestly, I cannot imagine who I would be if I had lived there my whole life. We moved when I was 8, so all those vital, character forming stages like middle school were in Myrtle Beach, but sometimes I try to think about how my life would be if I were still in West Virginia and I just can' t do it. The things that most form my personality I never would have experienced or been a part of if I lived there. I don't know where I'm going with this...I'd like to go visit West Virginia I think.

Welcome to the Office

So today I was introduced to my new favorite TV show, The Office. Seriously, I had tears pouring out of my eyes during a few of the episodes.

I must say, themed parties really just are more fun, we should have them more often. Katie B and Grace...here's to you!

Good party, co-workers. See you Monday, 9 sharp.

The working boys of Rock Hill.

Katie Katie and Brooke Inc.

Katie and I after a hard-days work. We got the Dundee for wearing ties.

Best Boss Ever and Assisant to the Regional Director