The Key to Me

It was Real, Y’all.

2012-02-07T18:24:00.001-05:00

It’s been over a month. And I’m pretty sure the only reason I’m even writing now is to prolong studying for the 2 quizzes that I have tomorrow.

But I guess it doesn’t matter why I’m here, just that I’m writing again—at least in this little corner of the universe. My journal’s been getting quite the earful as of late.

I haven’t written about my amazing adventures in Athens, Rome, Florence and Venice in January. In all honesty, I haven’t even begun to edit the massive amounts of pictures that I have. I guess in some way going through, editing my favorites and having them printed makes it all too final that that chapter of my life is over.

I occasionally browse through them as they sit on my computer waiting, remembering all the sights, the smells, and the feelings. And it’s like I’m right back there again. It’s just me and the memories.

It isn’t that I don’t want to share. I just don’t want them to lose their magic…

I guess I understand now how hard it is to understand the beauty and amazingness of Greece and Italy without going there yourself so I just want everyone to appreciate it as much as I did. So when I do share, I’m going to try my hardest to encapsulate every moment of sheer epicness that I experienced in Europe.

But for now, I’m just going to share a couple group pictures that I’ve “collected” from Facebook.

It truly was the best 2 weeks of my life. I met some unforgettable people that I will never forget and I had some amazing adventures that I will carry with me forever.

And when I finally get around to closing that chapter of my life, I will share the pictures with you.

“It wasn’t lies, y’all. It was real.”

Now to get onto writing about the beginning of my spring semester…

Reflections and a Look Ahead

2011-12-31T16:52:00.001-05:00

It’s that day.

The day to reflect.

It’s no lie that every time I read the world reflect, I laugh. Anyone reading this who is a Bridgewater Eagle of past or present will understand this one…oh PDP reflections.

But back on topic. Reflections.

So here it goes. This year…

There was the incident. I say with great confidence that it’s been mulled over quite enough now. It’s been John 13:7ed (read John thirteen sevened—yes, I did make that up) to death. I’m quite happy to be leaving that in 2011.

We found a new normal. The reflecting Hannah would say to this—is there ever anything remotely normal about this life, though?

I had one of “those days”. I think I can laugh at myself over all of that now…

I began the process of finding my place at BC…finding my people. There is so much that I want to say about each and every one of the people that I have come to call my friends at Bridgewater. More then I can say right now while being pressed (I’ve been watching too much Downton Abbey.) to get ready for tonight’s festivities. So a post about these lovely people is coming down the pike soon. For now—they are all so very important to me. I love them all.

We made some videos. I’m a star, didn’t you know? Ha. I crack myself up. But really…we made many videos—some professional and some very unprofessional.

Miss B turned one! And in the new year, Miss B will be getting a Mr. K! Yay for baby love!

I realized that I was alive. How very, very observant of me. But really, I did. This goes back to the finding my people thing.

I finished my freshman year of college. A huge triumph and a mini-mid-year-reflection at that.

I was enchanted (at the T. Swift concert, of course). Oh T. Swift. Why must you understand me so well? And your concert? It was absolutely enchanting.

I met Virginia and danced with Jagger. It was by far one of the best concerts I have ever been to—the awesome people I was with could have had something to do with it, too.

I wrote myself a letter. I didn’t read it yet—I promise. I’m half way through sophomore year so I’m hoping I’ve at least crossed off half the things on my to do list.

We had some awesome weekends and got into some shenanigans. Oh the things we’ve done this year.

We made some forever memories. This goes back to the finding my people thing.

This too shall pass. This also goes back to the finding my people thing. Sensing a theme to my life this year.

Homecoming weekend was awesome. Some of the reasons may have had nothing to do with Homecoming.

We attended Halloween costume parties and got into some more shenanigans. Tends to be what we do these days.

I was baffled. This year I found my people. This year was also a baffling year.

Christmas came once more. And it was amazing.

Man, what a year it has been.

Full of ups and downs.

Of making and keeping some of the best life-long friends a girl could have.

It’s been another year of getting a step closer to finding that key to being me.

All-in-all it’s been pretty awesome.

And I absolutely cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store. It seems that it’s already shaping up to be one of my best years yet.

As for resolutions?

My friend Carrie and I were trying to come up with some today on Twitter.

I think there’s just one thing I’m shooting for this year.

I hope that each of you has an amazing NYE and that 2012 brings every thing that you want and then some.

A Christmas Catch-Up

2011-12-28T21:48:00.001-05:00

The fall semester has ended.

Christmas has passed.

And I’m just now blogging. Thank goodness I’ve picked up journaling or I would have completely missed a huge chunk of my life!

Shall we flip through the pictures (both Droid and camera) so I can remember what’s happened in the past 24 days?

The Semester Ended with a Variety Hour, Secret Santa and Goodbyes

Does my Secret Santa know me or what?! M, won Best Gift of the Year with my mockingjay necklace! I’m determined to get my friends as excited about The Hunger Games as I am!!!

Home Again! and an Adorable Christmas Play

I Made the Dean’s List (spending every day in the library paid off!)

Our table one night during Final’s week. Oh finals…

Christmas is the Time for Baking Cookies!

Christmas Eve Madness (aka the night of, “This Gift Might Not Be Yours…”)

Three Christmases in One Day

It seems it was so hectic that this is the only picture that I have on my computer from the day so far…

It was a great day no matter how crazy it was!

I think that about wraps up the past 24 days.

In one week I jet off for Greece and Italy with my best friend/roommate, my New Testament prof from last semester, and about 20 other BC Eagles for our Interterm class and I am sooooooooooooooooooooo excited. I still don’t think it has fully hit me yet, though! And Mr. Santa Claus even brought me a new zoom Nikon Lens for the occasion!

Now if I could only get my butt in gear to start packing—I loathe packing!

So if you don’t hear from me for another 24 days, you know where I am! :)

I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Everyday I Am Baffling

2011-12-04T18:17:00.001-05:00

Remember the awkward week?

Well I think it could be agreed upon, as this semester comes to a close, that the real one-word descriptor for the year thus far could be baffling.

Seriously. I have never had my brain swirling with more unanswered, maybe even unanswerable questions, then ever before.

And it’s confusing and frustrating and intimidating and exciting and…the list goes on and on.

And I know that part of life is not knowing everything—it makes things more exciting. Some would even say that it’s the spice of life.

But really? How many unknown’s can one person handle?

I’m hoping that next semester brings a wave of answers, but really…with the way things are going, I’ll probably just have a million more questions.

And I think I’m starting to be okay with that.

___

The end of a semester means the end of one of our friend’s time here at BC.

So we’re rushing to take as many pictures as possible. We’re living these last few moments of memory-making to the fullest. We’re preparing for a shift in our group dynamic. We’re bracing ourselves for changes to relationships.

It’s a very bittersweet time. I know before the end there will be tears shed. But I also know that there will be laughs and smiles and hugs. Promises of reunions and future plans together. (There enters one of the many baffling questions that I have.)

___

Some pictures of the past week or so…

___

I hope that each of you has an awesome week! And for my college bloggie friends—good luck with your finals; we’re ALMOST done!!!!!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T12:43:00.001-05:00

Remembering

2011-11-23T11:45:00.001-05:00

I know who my friends are; I know who is there for me forever and always and who loves me for me.

And I really need to work on trusting this knowledge. To not distance myself or question and belittle my friendships—I need to have faith.

I know that the little things, the stresses and the assignments, will always pass.

And I really need to work on remembering that.

And remembering to breath. All of it, the journey, it’s just life. And I need to live it, love it and enjoy it.

What do you need to work on remembering?

Thanksgiving? Say what?!

2011-11-21T22:05:00.001-05:00

Has it really been two weeks?! The days seem to drag on forever, but the weeks, as a whole, are flying by this semester.

I mean, right now, I sit here writing, ~~waiting to go home this afternoon for Thanksgiving~~ from the comfort of my own bed. When did it sneak up on us?! Absolute craziness. I cannot wait to see my friends and family, my kitty cat, to sleep in my own bed, and to spend another Black Friday with Miss B!

Catching up on the past two weeks; they’ve been full of classes, clubs, homework, homework, and more homework. The library is officially my second home. I’m excited to go home to simply say that I’ve been out of the library for more than 24 hours.

Yeah…like I said—it’s my second home. Hopefully my grades reflect it at the end of the semester ;)

But even though there’s been a lot of work, there’s also been ample amounts of fun, too :)

Like…

Trekking through caverns with friends.

Visiting with the salamanders that B cleans—I even picked out my favorite and named it! *Names have been hidden to protect the innocent.

Taking a walk and leaving a mark behind.

Getting my first pair of TOMS.

Deciding, thanks to the help of awesome friends, that I do want to become a marriage and family counselor…and requesting information from grad schools!

Making multiple trips to Sheetz and McDonald’s for late nights in the library.

Visiting with the boys in the Boitnott Honor House and witnessing their “attack” on BC’s president. Only at Bridgewater…

Having a movie night and watching movies that I would have never picked out to watch myself. B convinced me to watch Boondock Saints (so funny!) and Inglorious Bastards (definitely interesting). All I can say is…that I feel more “cultured” and that I can’t wait until it’s my night to pick the movies!

Playing on Pinterest with friends.

And since getting home…

Eating Chick-fil-a with my momma for my first meal home from break.

Oh, and seeing my kitties! :)

I hope everyone else has had a wonderful couple of weeks!

I have a couple more posts for this week and I’m going to try really hard to get them up, but I make no promises. If I don’t, I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving! :)

This Week aka Craziness and Chaos

2011-11-09T22:43:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness. This week.

Every single person that I have talked to in the past two or three days are all having the same kind of week as me.

Everyone is super stressed. Everyone seems to have someone they’re upset with or someone that’s upset with them. Everyone is ready for Thanksgiving. No one is ready for finals. It’s just one of those weeks. And 99% of the Bridgewater community is having one.

Fortunately for me, prayers, Pinterest and my insanely awesome friends are getting me through the club meetings, the essays, the quizzes, the homework, and the social issues (Did you know boys like to gossip just as much as girls?).

I don’t know what I would do without them. Oh, yeah, I do. I would cry.

It’s Wednesday.

Hump day.

And life is finally starting to look up.

Thank goodness for answered prayers.

In other news, the roomie leaves tomorrow to fly to California for a few days to see her Marine—it’s Marine Ball time! She is so excited and therefore, I’m also quite excited! I cannot wait to see all the pictures. I’m also insanely jealous that she gets a break from school!

Fortunately for me, I have a quick, 12 hour mini-trip home Friday night so I get a recharge. I’m going home for teaching test #2 on Saturday morning and then right back to BC I will be going so that I can fully enjoy all of our weekend celebrations—gotta love all that homework and library time! ;)

Unfortunately for me, this posting time must come to an end.

But first, a really cute picture of my friend B and I from one of our Halloween costume parties. We look so happy! Such a funny memory…so glad our friend captured it.

The only good thing about stressful weeks like this are that every thing is hysterical. Like the boy in the library today who was carrying his headphones in one hand and had the cord trailing behind him like a little boy with his blankie. B and I were about to die from laughing so hard. Every thing is so much funnier when you really can’t laugh and are stressed to your wits end, though.

Seriously. Back to homework. I cannot wait to get to bed before midnight…

How are your weeks going?

A Thank You Letter: To You & to Him

2011-11-06T01:34:00.000-04:00

I remember reading this quote during what Laura Story would call a trial of of my life last year and shaking my head. I had faith, a flicker of hope, somewhere down deep inside me. I knew He had a reason, a purpose for the tears and the sleepless nights. I just didn’t know what it was.

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (John 13:7)

And even once that season of my life had passed and I was surrounded by happier times, I still wasn’t quite sure what exactly had happened—I didn’t fully understand why He had done what He had done, just that He had played a major role in it.

But this evening, as I randomly began to reflect over the changes I’ve seen in myself over the past year with my friend B, it came together like the snap of a finger. A neat little gift all wrapped and waiting for me. I understood what He had done.

Because the sleepless nights, the tears, that trial of my life—they were now overshadowed by so many larger blessings.

He did have a bigger plan for me.

A plan that I couldn’t have ever hoped, dreamed, or even thought to pray about because I didn’t even know it was something that I desired or needed.

But He did.

From that trial came: the befriending of a wonderful AC, the active involvement in a campus club that has reached epic proportions this year—and continues to grow—, the meeting and befriending of so many different people (including peers, professors, faculty, and another awesome AC) across campus that I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise.

That is perhaps the biggest blessing that I pinpointed during my time of reflection—my growth from an extremely shy person to a girl who is quite a bit more willing to put herself out there. To meet others, to make friends, to have a full and fulfilling life here at BC.

And He knew that was what I needed. He knew how to make that happen.

Sure it came with few tears and a little bit of heartache along the way, but all I needed to do was have faith.

And I will remember that moving forward. I will carry His words with me during future trials. I might not understand in the moment, even weeks or months later, but one day it will happen—you will understand His plans for you. You just must simply—have faith.

Because we started with Laura Story, let’s end with her, too—her words have helped to put all of this into even clearer perspective.

And because I can’t stop exploring my newest obsession, Pinterest, a few pins, too?

I hope each of you are having a fabulous weekend! I can’t wait to hear all about them—and share our adventures, too :)

Do You Believe in Magic?

2011-11-03T18:38:00.001-04:00

It’s been so long!

October is gone and November is here—with leaves and scarves and snow.

These past two weeks have been. so. busy. And that is probably the understatement of the century. Between classes and homework and clubs, I don’t usually stop moving from the time I wake up at 7 until usually 9 or 10 at night…except for when I manage to squeeze a nap in somewhere. I have seemed to perfect the art of maneuvering cat naps into a packed schedule this semester—a 20 minute rest gives me more energy than an iced coffee ever could!

But even though it’s been a chaotic two weeks, it’s been an awesome two weeks. I’m sensing a theme for this year…magic, we’ve dubbed it. On top of all the craziness, the past two weeks have brought about a lot of change here, too.

So let’s recap, shall we?

Costume parties and Halloween!

We ended up going to 2 (of the 3) Halloween costume parties that we were invited to. At the first one we were: a football wife, Mad Hatter, hippie, football player, and Indian.

This costume party was so much fun—it was also a black light/highlighter party, too and so cool! You probably can’t tell from these pictures, but it was epic!

At the second one we went to, we were: two AC’s on our campus, a Mad Hatter, and more. I got to have two temporary tattoos for the night! A freak snowstorm also started during our costume contest. It was so weird having snow on the ground in October, but it was still wonderful and magical! :) I love my snow!

Last week was also Relay’s fall kick-off on campus—Paint the Campus Purple week! But because I love Relay oh so much, it’s going to be getting it’s own post soon!

Some other news:

My baby sister got into her first choice—West Virginia University! I am so, so, so proud of her—again a HUGE understatement of my excitement. She’s carrying on the family tradition and I know that she is going to succeed in every thing she sets her mind to there. She actually called me while I was in the library last night to tell me—yes, I am still living there with my friends and some few other lovelies—and I had to do my happy and excited dance while suppressing my happy scream so the people doing their homework didn’t hate me before I could leave and fully share in my excitement with her. It was so funny!

Also, one of our friends has made the decision to leave BC and transfer elsewhere. We are all very sad that she’s leaving us at the end of the semester, but we know that she is making the right decision. If you could all pray for her and that she finds some guidance in life over the next few months, I would really appreciate it. Some guidance for us all would be great, really. It’s going to be a major blow to our routine here and we’re all going to need help adapting to such a big change.

M had a birthday this week. A video of the day will be shared very soon!

My friend’s niece was born last night and it’s crazy how excited we can all get over an event that isn’t even occurring in our lives—but rather a friend’s! The magic of friendship…

Life has been so crazy and hectic around here, but all-in-all in every day, I can find those moments of greatness. I have people around me who love me and my issues that I’ve been working on all semester are coming along marvelously with great guidance from God. The power of prayer!

There’s something in the air—I can really feel it coming. Something wonderful is about to happen and I cannot wait to see what it going to unfold over the rest of the semester and the rest of the year :)

And I know that sounds crazy, but I just feel it somewhere, deep in my stomach. A flicker of hope and…magic.

Friday Phone Dump

2011-10-20T19:40:00.001-04:00

Somehow I managed to get my butt in gear this Thursday night to post a Friday phone photo dump. I know, it amazes me, too :)

So, since last week, here are some pictures of the craziness I’ve managed to catch us getting into.

A. A quick peak at Homecoming set-up—the morning sky and the fall leaves were just begging for a picture and so were Zach and the roomie.

B. My roomie likes her chocolate animal crackers. My roomie likes to make her chocolate animal crackers more realistic. My roomie likes to make her chocolate animal crackers more realistic on the headboard of my bed by dancing them around and making their appropriate noises.

C. Another roomie story. I came back from class one day and found she was practicing her Spanish—why she isn’t a Spanish major, I don’t know ;) It’s become a running joke on our board.

D. An interesting magazine we spotted at the library during one of our many afternoon and evenings at the library this week.

E. M and the roomie decided to have a banana war across the suite’s bathroom. As you can see, it didn’t end very well for Mr. Banana.

F. I walked back into our room from the bathroom one night and looked over to see the roomie creepily smiling at me. I needed to document this creep factor—it didn’t do it justice.

G. A two-fold picture. First, B had a speech this week and so late one night as she was practicing, the roomie, M and I decided to round up all of our animals to add to the audience—make it more realistic and all. You can also see my various educational psych papers laying all over the bed—nothing like late night cramming with your friends! :)

H. We have spent every single day since Sunday in the library. We now have a preferred table, thought we aren’t too picky. It’s become a part of our daily routine: classes, clubs, dinner, and library until bed. Exciting—I know!

I. One of our “creeper things.” The roomie and I spotted B and H in their organic chemistry lab as we hung up flyers for our RHA events this month. Creep status was awarded and documented properly for this one—they had no idea we were there.

J. Prepping for our various costume parties of the season, the roomie and I were trying out a few different outfits. This one we like to call ballerinas and as she’s showing everyone, flexible ballerinas at that. What do you think? I’ll share our actual costumes for Halloween Party #1 Monday! :)

If you can tell me how many times the roomie is written in this post you’ll win a prize! :)

Just kidding. But really, we’re pretty much inseparable as you can see.

Hope your week was grand! Have a great weekend!

Homecoming and Pictures Galore

2011-10-17T16:08:00.001-04:00

I took a bazillion and one pictures this weekend, but I had to get this down in the record books for future Hannah.

Friday was packed to the gills with classes, convocation attending (very interesting brook trout lecture—the things that I do for my friends), and salamander cleaning (I just watched).

Friday evening was spent in typical Friday fashion. Man do I love them :)

Then early, early, early Saturday morning we had set-up for the Homecoming carnival (clubs could sign up to run different games and booths on the mall for alumni, their families, students, and the community to play prior to the Homecoming football game).

Running on four hours of sleep, a tumbler full of coffee, and energy we pulled from heaven only knows where, the roomie and I were out there in full force setting up The Potty Toss for RHA. Zach was at the booth next to us—the water jug toss—and it was a hoot and a half setting up together and waiting for the carnival to start in the brisk, fall morning weather.

I mean when you have three potties just sitting there and an hour to kill what else are you supposed to do?

We may (or may not) have settled down before the carnival began ;)

Our other helper showed up and we even got our picture taken with the sophomore Homecoming princess who was crowned the night before at the pep rally/bonfire.

What can I say? I love these ladies.

The carnival flew by and before we knew it is was wonderful naptime—shh, we skipped the game this year. Our Saturday night plans fell through, but we did something just as marvelous: late night Dairy Queen and the What if? game! Ah. Love it :)

What a great Homecoming/fall weekend it was!

Friends: This Too Shall Pass

2011-10-13T15:32:00.001-04:00

I was in the middle of writing a post about how we help our friends who are struggling (which will also be shared quite soon) when this post sort of came tumbling out. I love when that happens.

When you live on a college campus, one of the first lesson you will learn—though I suppose it is really a never-ending life lesson—is how to live with other people. Not necessarily just your roommate or other friends, but with everyone you come in contact with across campus.

So you begin to master the art of compromise. You ignore the little things that classmates do that may irk you to no end—like gum snapping and water-bottle sucking and finger tapping. Because you have to be in class with them for the rest of the semester. So instead you ignore it and vent to a friend later who will understand and not judge you for your overreaction ;)

It’s just what you do. Because you have to—unless of course you want no friends and classroom of people who don’t like you either. Which I highly doubt anyone wants.

And because you live with—whether in your room or somewhere else on campus—your friends, and are therefore always around them, that’s one of the areas where compromise comes into play most often. You don’t always get to pick where dinner is eaten, or what music is listened to, or what TV show gets to be watched tonight. The little annoyances, if you could really even call them that, may seem huge at the moment, but really they’re nothing. And that’s what you have to remind yourself. Don’t overreact. It will be fine. Another time you will get to pick!

And what you do get in return—for this little bitty teensy weensy little compromise—is something so much more. Something so much greater then anything I’ve ever had before.

You get a circle of awesome and amazing friends.

And last night after IHOP, it just kind of struck me all of a sudden; how lucky I am to have these people in my life.

These people who are here for me through thick and thin, through the troubles at home, the perils of academic life, and the slippery slope of boys.

Even more than that, that they trust me to be there for them.

For when it’s 12:30 AM when their crush goes from single to the ever daunting in a relationship on Facebook.

When they had a lab that didn’t really go their way, at all.

Or when a boyfriend returns to their temporary homes states away.

It’s a wonderful set of give and take.

Of putting up with one another’s ticks and idiosyncrasies for awesome adventures, great laughs (that resulted from this morning’s breakfast conversation about turning one’s loved one into diamonds), and wonderful, scrapbook worthy memories.

So I have to remind myself of that when we’re all having our lovely visit from Aunt Flo at the same time—gotta love the irony—and are testy and easily flustered. These days will quickly pass.

We will quite quickly be back to our bubbly selves. Doing every thing we can to help each other through this thing called life. Together. In sync. And happy.

This too shall pass.

Has it really been FIVE weeks?!

2011-10-06T20:40:00.001-04:00

All of my clothes have been folded and packed.

Our trash has been bagged and waits at the door to be taken out.

My last test—Spanish—has been studied for and my backpack filled.

Our Fall Break 2011 Mix has been compiled and burned to CDs—one for me and one for the roomie.

We are ready to jam—thanks to Rihanna, Hot Chelle Rae and 15 other tracks—our way back up the road, back home.

For the first time this semester, for the first time in five weeks, we are each headed off in different directions.

And I cannot wait!! I’m beyond excited. You could call me a kid on Christmas.

While I am quite fond of my BC family here, and my oh my have we had some adventures in the past five weeks, there’s nothing like a little break from classes and some good ole’ home cooking to do a girl good.

We’ll all come back refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to go—new adventures await us all. I cannot wait so see what we can get into in the next five weeks!

But first football game going, Fall Fest attending, home-cooked eating, and family visiting is waiting for me.

Just three classes and one Spanish test stand in my way!

Anyone else have any big (long)weekend plans?

The Forever Memories

2011-10-02T19:17:00.001-04:00

Ever since starting college last year, I live for the weekends more than I ever did before.

Monday morning the countdown begins for Friday afternoon’s arrival; the promise of sleep, of fun, of friends, of laughter, of a brief absence of rushing from one place to the next.

As I said at lunch on Friday, life is so very much like a game of hurry up and wait. How quickly can the weekdays go by so that Friday can be among us once again?

So when the weekend gets here, we do every thing in our power to cherish, memorialize, and capture every little ounce of sweet weekend that we can.

We plan out studying, cleaning, homework-ing, laundry-ing, before the weekend even gets here so as to more effectively use our time (typically this means it waits until Sunday, if it isn’t accomplished Friday afternoon.)

So we nap, and go on adventures, and we just simply are.

This was a relatively easy-going weekend. We didn’t go anywhere, didn’t have any crazy adventures like the last few weekends, but this was one of the weekends that I’ll look back on and remember fondly one day. Because those crazy adventure-packed, fun-filled weekends are wonderful and I love them, but the lounge around, sit and talk about everything weekends are just as magical. Simple and sweet and just as lovely.

They’re sleeping in until noon.

Going to football games and talking to the president and parents visiting for Family Weekend as we run the banner-voting table.

They’re three hour naps under tons of blankets, falling asleep to Season 1 episodes of LOST with M.

They’re spending two hours at dinner, talking to the people coming and going, dissecting the traditions and customs and comparing them amongst northern and southern friends.

They’re all cramming into a dorm room and talking about our childhoods, about our future children and their childhoods.

They’re joking about John the Baptist at dinner and the speed in which certain athletes walk around the KCC.

They’re magical. They’re simple. They’re us in a nutshell.

And they’re the days I will always remember.

Hannah’s Homework Essentials Playlist (Of the Moment)

2011-09-28T16:12:00.001-04:00

You can so tell that I’m doing homework from this picture.

I don’t know what gives it away—the e-mail tab and Moodle links being open or the fact that Facebook was logged off for the 2.5 seconds it took me to screenshoot this picture—because who gets on Facebook while doing their homework? ;)

But really, I wasn’t pretending to do homework. I just finished my New Testament homework and I felt like I needed a little mental break so hello Mr. Blog!

I figured why not share my current homework playlist with my lovely little corner of the Blog-o-sphere?

So one screenshot and some quick numbering later and voila! A re-cap of Hannah’s Homework Essentials Playlist (Of the Moment)!

1) Sara Bareilles’ Gonna Get Over You: Super poppy, catchy and upbeat, this song will have you dancing around in your desk chair. Just ask my roommate; she’s witnessed it a time or two or three. The fact that it’s in a Hispanic grocery store just adds to it’s loveliness—plus you get to practice your Spanish at the end :)

2) Rihanna’s Cheers: I’m not a Rihanna fan so they fact that one of her songs is on my playlist is as much of a surprise to you as it is to me. But really, who isn’t ready for the weekend on Wednesday? Umm. This girl was ready yesterday! Plus it reminds me of my sister (who I’m missing quite terribly!) so it’s just a double whammy of epic-ness.

It’s definitely not a super appropriate song, but it definitely has some good lyrics like: Life’s too short to be sitting around miserable/People gonna talk whether you doing bad or good.

3) Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks: I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this song. It has a very cool beat, but it’s lyrics…I don’t know. I obviously don’t hate it because it’s stayed in my playlist for a week now, but it isn’t a favorite. How do you feel about it—it’s on a million commercials so I’m sure you’ve heard it??

4) Demi Lovato’s Skyscraper: Love, love, love this song. This song, the lyrics, Demi Lovato herself—just absolutely beautiful. Such a wonderful song. I like to keep my playlist’s fun, poppy and upbeat, but this song is so awesome it gets to be on the list anyway.

5) Train’s Brand New Book: You already know I love Train. Their new song—picked to be the new song for The Biggest Loser this season—is just as easily as great as my other favorites by them. So inspiring and so very, very true for me in my current life walk.

Here I am, new as morning/Here I am, just like the sun/Here I am, without warning/I’m the one for you

Here I am, you still know me/Here I am, take another look/Here I am, the same old story in a brand new book

6) Francesca Battistelli’s This is the Stuff: I’m pretty sure that I’ve shared this one before, but I had to share it again. Back to the poppy and catchiness that I love, I absolutely adore this song. Daily life can leave us facing lots of little messes from arguments with friends to bad grades and other things that drive[s] us crazy, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s all the stuff that He uses to shape us into the people that we are supposed to become.

7) Teddy Geiger’s For You I Will (Confidence): An oldie, but a goodie. We made a trip to Coldstone yesterday for our scoop of Make a Wish ice-cream and it was on an old mixed CD we decided to listen to and it’s been in my head ever since.

8) Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger: Definitely a dance at your desk chair kind of song, too! Try not to dance—that includes not tapping your foot, too! Poor Adam Levine lost his shirt.

Breaks up the definitions and vocabulary that’s for sure :)

9) Liz Coyle’s Butterflies: I heard this love song on Degrassi: Now or Never this summer and oh my goodness I looked it up immediately. Reminded me so much of Colbie Cailiat. Cute little love song that will be stuck in your head all day.

Well that wraps up Hannah’s Homework Essentials Playlist (Of the Moment)! Do you have any songs I could add? I’m always looking for new songs to add!! :)

Take Care

2011-09-27T21:52:00.001-04:00

One of the best parts about college are the care packages that people send you. Today I got my first one of the year! :)

My momma sent me all these goodies. She’s quite the funny one, my momma.

She also sent me new pants because I only had one pair left that even remotely fit—the roomie keeps telling me I look like a boy, they’re all so big in the butt.

Quite an exciting addition to the package I might add. I’ve dropped nearly 2 pants sizes, 15 lbs. and both pairs of new pants that I’ve gotten in the past week are already big enough to require belt-age.

That’s what happens when you stop drinking soda cold turkey, start watching what you eat, and add moderate exercise to your daily life! GO HANNAH!! :)

Awkward.

2011-09-22T14:15:00.001-04:00

If there was a word for this week, that word would be awkward. Not chaos or craziness or randomness like the last two weeks. Awkward.

Like people staring at you from across a room.

Like when your friend comes out of the bathroom, clad only in a towel, to be met by a crush-worthy boy and his friends in the hallway.

Like when you’re asked if your roomie likes it wet or dry—her toothbrush, that is.

Like when your friend gets hit on at IHOP by a total stranger.

You might as well call us Jenna.

(Please tell me you’ve seen this show? Awkward. on MTV. Hysterical, much watch, go look it up now—you’ll thank me later. My friend, the one whose towel story I shared above, could pretty much have been the star of this show, by the way. Her life pretty much defines awkward [and I say that lovingly because we’ve talked about it]. So are there any reality show producers out there?)

Anyone else having an awkward week?

My Weekend

2011-09-19T17:23:00.001-04:00

And today shall be another post of pure randomness and chaos—perhaps a sign that this is how sophomore year will continue to be? But if it’s as fun and exciting as it’s been thus far (barring the ridiculous amounts of homework we’ve been assigned), then I’m so okay with that :)

I thought last weekend was fun, but this weekend—this weekend was one for the books. Or well blog, I suppose. A girls’ night of epic proportion; a night out on the town, a dinner (our favorite Texas Roadhouse), and a movie (Water for Elephants—so good!.

And an aside to my review of my lovely weekend? How about a wonderful, awesome review for the new Lady A CD?! It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Because I loved their last CD so much, I bought this one as soon as it came out last week and I cannot get enough of it. Love, love, love it.

I couldn’t even begin to pick my favorite song so Random.Org helped me out on this one. Here’s Wanted You More and the title track, We Owned the Night…but check out the whole thing. Seriously! It’ll be so worth it.

Hope your weekend was just as wonderful! Anyone else do something great?? :)

Random Shenanigans

2011-09-15T16:30:00.001-04:00

I would like to start off by saying that ever since my little vent session the other day, I’ve been feelings loads better. And once I’ve gotten myself in a routine, I know everything will just be peachy! :)

So because I missed Wordless Wednesday and I can never seem to get my butt in gear for the Friday phone dump, I figured I’d cram both together and see what we came up with! It’ll probably just be one of the most random posts you’ve ever seen.

Last weekend was an adventure and a half: tennis-playing, ice-cream-eating, boy-crushing, JMU-going fun. And yes, homework was finished before any of these activities. Well, most of it anyway.

Last week was our school’s Activities Fair—all the clubs set up booths so that freshman can “shop around” the different activities we have on campus—and we just might have taken a break from our booth-sitting duties to get a picture in this super huge chair.

It was definitely a valid excuse :)

The roomie had her first “high place” moment of the year this week. I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about her “high place,” but essentially whenever something B-I-G happens—something shock worthy—she always, always, always has to get as high as she can. Typically that’s her bed.

This time it was almost in the middle of the dining hall, but M and I contained her until we got back to the dorm and straight to her bed she went!

The roomie and I may (or may not) have been in our science building, McKinney, last night in our pajamas. Oh the shenanigans we get in to…

I must say, we’re pretty great :)

See? Super random! But one day I’ll appreciate these little posts of pictures and memories :)

Did anyone else get into any crazy shenanigans this week?

A Vent Session

2011-09-13T20:28:00.001-04:00

I need ten minutes to vent. So I’m giving myself that time starting…NOW!

(Feel free to stop reading now, but I need this time for me.)

This week has been crazy, chaotic, and lots of other adjectives that I’m too tired to think of. And did I mention it’s only Tuesday?

Welcome to my life this semester—running from class to class and then from one club meeting to another club meeting. And then try cramming sleeping, eating, doing homework and some other necessities into the mix and this girl is hoping around like a Mexican jumping bean.

Today alone I had three club meetings—two of the three being ones that I hold executive positions in. The third of which will be pushed to the back burner this year.

I feel like I should take a moment to mention how blessed I am, how blessed I feel, to be able to do all this—to go to school and get an education, to work alongside some amazing people. Plus being able to spend a lot of that time alongside some of my best friends, well that just makes it nearly perfect. And this I know.

But as I said in the beginning of this post, I’m venting.

Because if I don’t…I don’t even want to know what will happen.

So as I said, I stepped back from the third club meeting I had today bringing my total club participation back down to five(SIFE secretary, Relay for Life Logistics Chair, OLA, RHA secretary, and SVEA member). And that makes me breathe a little easier.

I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping me sane right now is the fact that I know I’m not alone—that my friends are trudging along beside me through this. That we’re going to get through this. It will get easier once we get into a groove…of weekly meetings and nightly homework assignments. And my friends and I are going to have a blast along the way because that’s how we do everything—loud and laughing.

And a couple more notes…

This summer as I read my way through the Sookie Stackhouse novels, an idea came to me. In it, the werewolf Alcide abjured a woman whom he loved because she double-crossed him. To him she was invisible, no longer his issue. Out of sight, out of mind.

A piece of that stuck with me and today I realized how maybe Alcide was onto something. After sharing with B, who has been trying her hardest to stay just as positive as I am about things, she came up with a little saying for us that I am absolutely in love with right now, “Make friends, keep friends, and the people that piss you off are invisible.”

So that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve made so many friends in the past two weeks alone and strengthened others. I’m going to work extremely hard to maintain these friendships, staying a friend and being a friend. And those people that don’t mesh with my positive thinking attitude—I’m just going to forget about them.

As juvenile as that might sound, I need to do it for me. Because if I don’t, I might go crazy. Peoples’ emotions and ideas very easily sway my own emotions and thinking so I refuse to surround myself with mean and rude people. Refuse. I know I have to learn to work with them. I do. And one day I will. But for now…they’re invisible.

And that is it, the end of my rant. I may have gone over my ten minute limit.

But I’m feeling a lot better. So I guess it was successful??

I hope each of you are having less stressful weeks then I am!

The First Week

2011-09-06T11:42:00.001-04:00

I’ve been back to school for a week now and I’m finally getting around to blogging—really hoping the whole school year isn’t like this!

I haven’t had too much time for picture-taking and blogging because I have been incredibly busy working as a member of the Welcome Week Staff/Orientation Leader Assistant here at BC.

My fellow Welcome Week-ers and I all moved back to campus early to prepare for the arrival of this year’s freshman class. While it has been an exhausting challenge, it has been such an amazing opportunity—I’ve met and connected with so many new BC Eagles! Gives me yet another reason to believe that this year is going to be an epic one :)

Although I didn’t have my camera for most of this past week, I did manage to get quite a few pictures of our random adventures on my Droid. I thought I would post a few here and quickly summarize what my first week back on campus has looked like!

The view coming back onto campus last Tuesday.

Our dorm hallway and dorm room; T and I are in a suite this year (our rooms are connected by our own bathroom) with M and her roomie, J.

Our first dinner back on campus! We fixed it in our kitchen down the hall (there’s one on each floor in our building this year) after a quick trip to Wally World.

On Thursday, after two days of training and stuffing folders and preparing for the freshman, many of the Welcome Week staff and the Eagle Production (our student-run activities board) members met at Pump It Up for a team bonding night. I had never been to one before and it was SO much fun—especially when they turned off the lights and we all wore glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces.

On Friday morning the freshman arrived and my OL partner and I visited all the members of our group before the afternoon convocation where parents and students were officially separated. B and M were fellow Welcome Week-ers and although the roomie is pictured here, she wasn’t an OL, but came back to campus early to get a jumpstart on this year’s RHA planning.

T and B making another dinner on Saturday night, the day that the upperclassman started moving back in.

Eagle Productions did an amazing job with the first weekend of Welcome Week (we still have activities through next weekend that we are attending/helping out with including Laser Tag!) featuring different events each night. Last night was Fiesta Bingo and I won a game of bingo (a BC blanket) and a raffle (a year-long subscription to Netflix!) For someone who never wins anything, last night was my lucky night :)

On Saturday night there was a hypnotist that came and both H and M ended up on the stage—videos/story coming later. It was so creepy/funny/awesome!

It has been a crazy, jam-packed first week, but it has been an awesome one! We’ve taken a walk by the river and visited Mr. Harvey for ice-cream and talked and laughed and talked some more.

Classes started today, a rainy day at that, and I had an 8 AM linguistics class that I already know is going to be awesome. Another first day tomorrow—jam packed with four classes!

How was your first day/week??

A Letter

2011-08-29T19:14:00.001-04:00

Dear May 2012 Hannah,

I sit here writing on this rainy, August night with the excitement of both tomorrow and this impending year causing the butterflies to flit around in my stomach.

I can’t believe it’s finally here—sophomore year move-in eve. In some ways this summer feels like it has gone by as quickly as the bat of an eyelash and yet as slow as a turtle’s motions on a hot July day. I’ve truly loved being home and I’ve had some grand adventures in my hometown, but a part of me has consistently longed to be back at BC. Back in my place.

And so I thought I would write this little letter to my May 2012 self, from my August 2011 self—a few must-do’s and some words of encouragement.

Freshman year was one of curiosity and wonderment. I found my place on campus: my niche, my people, my groove. I learned how to live with another person, how to juggle a social life and an academic life and so, so much more. It was also a year of ups and downs. Of coming to understand others and even more, coming to better understand myself. But all-in-all, it was an enchanting, wouldn’t-trade-it-for-the-world, months long adventure.

So now taking the knowledge I gained from freshman year and looking onward to this next exciting leg of my journey, I do so with excitement and nervousness.

There’s the typical apprehension of a new school year; who will be in my classes?, where will I sit?, will the teacher like me?, etc. And yet I am, at the very same time, beyond excited to see all of my friends, acquaintances and all the other faces I’d grown so accustomed to seeing every day while at school.

I’m excited for the random adventures at all hours of the day that college brings. For the late, late night conversations that only T and I can have; the ones that range from serious to silly. I’m excited to have homework again. That first paper, yep—it has my name and an A alllllllll over it!

And there’s a sophomore year must-do list that I’m dying to get started on!

:: Wednesday night IHOP runs.

:: Continue my no soda pact.

:: Take a nightly walk on the river.

:: Try the You are Beautiful experiment.

:: Do something big, spontaneously.

:: Go to Greece and Italy with the bestie.

:: Miss my family and my cats.

:: Take a drive to Moscow.

:: Turn my back on drama.

:: Be too loud.

:: Be a friend.

:: Speak kindly and smile.

:: Always love.

:: Enjoy every singly minute of being a poorer-than-poor, college student.

At this moment, that’s all I can think of, though I am sure there are a lot of things that I could/should be adding to this list.

I want May 2012 Hannah to read this and smile, mentally checking off each of the must-do’s and adding all the other great memories that were made over the course of this next year.

I want May 2012 Hannah to be happy, and healthy and confident. I want her to be…wonderful.

So to May 2012 Hannah, I hope it has been one heck of year. That you’ve done all these things and more. That you stayed true to yourself, hold some great friendships near to your heart, and found out even more about yourself.

I hope that when there were the bad days you remembered that these were still the best days of your life; that you were blessed and loved and could do anything your heart and mind desired to do.

Here’s to the next leg of our journey.

With love,

August 2011 Hannah

(What do you desire for this next school year??? Share with me in the comments!)

The Post-it Note: You are Beautiful

2011-08-26T09:40:00.001-04:00

After treating ourselves to a little Chick-fil-a after class one day last spring, T and I came back to our dorm room to find two lovely little Post-It notes stuck to our door—a pink one and a blue one.

Living on a college campus, it can be a bit scary to come back and find any new, strange things on your door. You name it, I’ve seen it. It’s like walking down the hallway and seeing mini-health lessons and snippets of last week’s Jersey Shore episode plastered everywhere—if you catch my drift.

But T and I took a collective sigh of relief when we realized these notes held no real shock value other than the smile it sent to both of our faces.

What did the notes say? Well both of the Post-it notes simply read “you are beautiful,” penned in blue Sharpie. And if I remember correctly, one of them even had a heart drawn at the bottom. A very simple, very random act of kindness.

Now at the time we didn’t know who put them there or why or even that they were also on the doors of everyone else in the hallway (though we did have two on our door while everyone else only had one).

But. That didn’t matter. Because just that little bit of encouragement, that encouragement that all girls desire to hear—especially about their appearance—had brightened both of our days.

And it also got me thinking…why not say it more? If those three little words that took mere seconds to read could make me walk with a little pep in my step, why didn’t I hear them more? Why didn’t I say them more?

So, I started. I started with me. Now I try and tell myself every day how pretty I am, even on the days I stay in sweats and don’t wash my hair. How beautiful I am. How worth it I am. And you know what? It doesn’t get old hearing you’re pretty—even when you’re hearing it from yourself. It just shows how much I love being me.

Then when I read The Help a few weeks ago, some (well the whole book did, but go with me here) of Aibileen’s words spoke to me. Each day Aibileen would recite this mantra to little Mae Mobley in the hopes that the words would envelope her, become engrained within her, that she would grow up remembering them, believing them long after Aibileen would leave.

While it is is a mood lifter to hear that you’re pretty, it isn’t all about appearances as our culture is driving us to believe. Any compliment, any compliment at all, is enough to make a person’s day a little brighter.

So this school year I am challenging myself to give at least one random and one not-random person a compliment every single day. Because we’re all worth it.

And if that little Post-it note still sits in a box to return to school, wrinkled and folded, still making me smile thinking about it, maybe one of my compliments will do the same for another person. And that’s all I can hope.

P.S. Try my little “You are beautiful” thing—say it to yourself once each day. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll love it.

Summer Must-Do: Family Reunion

2011-08-25T15:32:00.001-04:00

I don’t know about you, but for me there are a few staple things that make my summers, summers; like at least one trip to the beach or lounging by the pool or drinking sweet tea or rocking on the front porch.

For me, one of these annual summer things is our family reunion. And last Sunday, I could officially check the 37th Wilkins Family Reunion off my summer must-do list.

The weather was perfect—once the rain cleared up—not too hot, not too cool. The food was my favorite, country cooking. And the family was, well wonderful. Y’all know I love my family to bits and pieces from the laughs, to the remember-when’s, and the baby (now toddler) cuddling.

Here are just a few of the many pictures that were taken this year…

What about you?? Do you have a family reunion in the summer? What are some of your summer must-do’s?

A Makeover, a Thank You, & a Baby

2011-08-21T20:48:00.001-04:00

It’s that time of year again.

Blog makeover time!! :)

[So if you’re reading this on a Google Reader, be sure to pop over and check it out! :) ]

I’m about to embark on the next leg in my journey—my sophomore year of college. To so beautifully mark this transition on my blog, I thought a new blog design would be perfect.

And because the third time is certainly the charm, I once again have a new, fabulous design thanks to the wonderful Kelsey over at Kreated by Kelsey!

She is so awesome! I can’t say enough wonderful things about her. Her designs are tailor-made for each client and she is so easy to work with! I highly recommend her if you’re in the neighborhood for a new blog design. Thanks again, Kelsey!

So here’s to the first step in the next part of my journey.

Leaving you with a picture from today; post to come.

Hope each of you had a lovely weekend!

The Beach, Photos & Friends

2011-08-14T21:14:00.001-04:00

I promised more pictures from my trip to Virginia Beach on Wednesday and you can see that that obviously didn’t happen. As we get closer and closer to the conclusion of summer, the weeks seem to fly by even faster.

The beginning of my week was swept away by the broom of my new favorite book—The Help. An upcoming post will be devoted to this awesome, life-changing, must read novel.

The second half of my week was consumed with the beginning stages of packing myself back up for my sophomore year of college. I completely unpacked which was a chore in and of itself. I spent my Thursday afternoon regretting not having done it sooner, you know when I got home,—especially when I stumbled upon a banana tucked into a bag that was leftover from a May breakfast three months ago. Yes, it was as lovely as you’re imagining right now.

But alas, I am completely unpacked with just 16 days before I will be unpacking once more—this time beside of my roomie in our new dorm room.

And now I will get myself back on topic here and return to the real reason for this post—pictures.

This last picture is of our host, Zach.

When I was brainstorming this post earlier this evening, I was trying to remember exactly how I met Zach, but for the life of me, I cannot seem to remember when the formal introductions took place.

I do, however, remember that the first time we ever hung out was when he played Prince William for our little adaptation of the Royal Wedding proposal. And that’s when I knew that Zach was one of the funniest, sweetest, and most genuine guys that I had met at Bridgewater to date. He had no problem stepping up to help a group of giggling girls who just happened to be on a mission. And when I say he was funny, I mean he was sarcastic, did these hilarious impersonations and had me doubling over in laughter every time I turned around. Besides my roommate, he is the only other person who can make me laugh that hard.

And that was only the beginning of my friendship with Zach. Just like that he became one of my most favorite people and a regular fixture in my life at BC : another homework buddy in the Link, our creeper in the KCC (these missions were reciprocated on our parts, too!), Relay for Life teammate, and fellow Twitter-er.

I am so glad that Zach agreed to our crazy plan so many months ago and I cannot wait to see what shenanigans we get into this year—partying it up with milk, cause that’s how we do it at Bridgewater according to him.

Just goes to show you what kind of friendships you can make when you make crazy, random requests of others :)

Blog Bash 2011

2011-08-08T07:03:00.001-04:00

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL BLOG BASH 2011 LINK UP POST!

Welcome, welcome, welcome! :)

My name is Hannah and this year I have the wonderful honor of being Brittany’s co-host for the Blog Bash. Woo hoo!! I’m so excited to “meet” even more bloggie friends.

As Brittany says, “the reason for Blog Bash is to find new blogs for you to read and enjoy. To participate, it's easy. Just read the Blog Bash Rules and come back to this post to link up. Then, visit as many blogs as you would like. The linky will be up until next year's blog bash, so you can always come back and find new blogs!”

So let’s get this party started!! Before I answer the “official” questions and start getting to know each of you, I decided to share a little bit about myself.

As I said, my name is Hannah and I will be a sophomore at Bridgewater College this fall. I have a love for all things children and will—Lord willing—graduate in 2014 with an undergraduate degree in Liberal Studies in order to become an elementary school teacher.

I am (typically) a big people person. I pull from others’ energies (read: being around people makes me happy!) so being around people in a dorm constantly has definitely worked for me. I have made some of the best friends a girl could ever ask for at BC.

A lot of what you’ll read here are my daily adventures as a college student. I’m growing up, figuring myself out and finding my place in this crazy world. I love taking photographs (especially of my family!) so those are sprinkled in amongst posts here and there, too.

To learn a few more (quick!) things about me, check out these posts: 7 Things and 10 Things!

Now that you’ve learned a little bit more about me, on to the questions…

1.) What's your favorite memory from Summer 2011?

Starting off with an easy question, are we?? :)

Because I am a huge music lover—from pop to country to contemporary Christian and everything in between—I am, by default, also a concert fanatic. So my favorite memories from this summer would be the two concerts that I attended: first Taylor Swift and then Gavin DeGraw, Train, and Maroon 5. (You can click on the two links to read more about my adventures in Pittsburg and Virginia Beach!)2.) What's your dream summer vacation?

I am a beach girl—Outer Banks!—through and through, but if I was planning my dream summer vacation it would be across the pond to somewhere like England, Greece or Italy.

I love British accents and may have a small bout of Royal fever so England would definitely be first on my list!

My roomie and I are headed to Greece and Italy on a class trip in January and we cannot wait! But I guess that’s more of a winter vacation ;)

The food, the views, the boys! My, my, my. Oh the stories I am sure I will have to share…

3.) What's your favorite thing to do in the summer?

Besides the beach and summer concerts, my all-time favorite summer activity is front-porch sitting/rocking—especially at night. There’s just something about a white rocker, a glass of sweet tea, watching the fireflies flit around in the night.

And when you have a friend to front-porch sit with you—perfection.

Betcha know what I’m doing tonight!

4.) What's your "blog goal" for 2011?

To just keep doing what I’m doing. I write and share things about myself here because it is something I absolutely love to do. I love all the bloggie friends that I’ve met and the community we have created.

I have seen many bloggers get caught up in getting a million followers, pleasing everyone but themselves hub-ba-ba-lou and I refuse to do that. This is my blog, my little corner of the universe, and here it is all real, all me, all the time.

So my blog goal is to stay true to me and keep having fun :)

5.) Let's hear the story behind your blog title! :)

The Key to Me: This is a 6 layer dip kind of story; one thing connected to another connected to another. I guess it’s a great representation of the way that my crazy brain works.

At the beach a couple of years ago, my mom and Grandma Joy first introduced me to the classic, A Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And I was in love—with the clothing, Audrey Hepburn, and the jewelry.

This love sent me to Tiffany’s online website where I became enamored with the beautiful key necklaces. And so I began collecting keys—from jewelry to wall hangings to hair things.

Somewhere in there I realized that keys are a great representation of our lives. I have some sort of idea of who I am, where I want to go and what I want to do with my life, but it hasn’t totally all come together quite yet. I haven’t quite found the key to being me yet—the “thing” that brings everything together.

But that’s the thing—life isn’t about finally holding that key, having all the answers, reaching the destination. It’s the journey, the quest in getting there, to finding yourself. It’s an ongoing process during which we are all growing as people.

So it’s present, it’s the right now—I’m seeking The Key to Me.

That wraps up my introduction post. Now it’s your turn to join the party!

Link up your official Blog Bash post below and then visit as many fellow party-ers as you would like! Can’t wait to “meet” you all :)

Have fun and Happy Blog Bash!

Meet Virginia, she has Moves Like Jagger!

2011-08-06T18:02:00.001-04:00

This has been the summer of concerts. First T. Swift and then, on Wednesday night, an epic show featuring Gavin DeGraw, Train, and Maroon 5. And it was amazing.

It was a concert of firsts.

It was the first concert that I drove to sans an adult. And what a drive it was—four hours plus from my front door to Virginia Beach. But thankfully, I had two of my wonderful friends with me to kill the time, help me navigate the awful interstate traffic, and sing our way to the seaside.

It was the first “grown-up” concert that I’ve been to; full of adults, a few kids sprinkled in here and there. It’s such a different experience to be some of the youngest people in the house. But it was oh-so-amazing—a different kind of loud, a completely different vibe, and both Pat Monahan and Adam Levine could use a few choice words that wouldn’t fly at a T. Swift or Jo Bros concert.

It was also the first time that the details and planning were left up to moi from ticket getting, to looking up directions, to planning to spend the day before/night after the concert with my college friend, Zach.

And all these firsts made me feel so grown up: no parents—just me, my friends, the beach, and some of my all-time favorite musicians.

And how the musicians wowed the crowd.

Gavin DeGraw opened with some of his new music like, Not Over You, but didn’t forget his crowd favorites like Chariot and I Don’t Wanna Be.

And after a little break, it was time for one of my all-time favorite bands: Train. I love, love, love, love, love all of their music, both old and new. It was, as my mom says, a great big karaoke session. Dancing, swaying, and belting out the lyrics to some of my favorite Train tunes like Meet Virginia, Drops of Jupiter, and Save Me, San Francisco.

Pat Monahan had the bedside manner of one of the best doctors in the world. He pulled a herd of girls on the stage, got the crowd pumped, and even has an “in” with the weatherman upstairs—while covering Rihanna’s Umbrella, the hot and humid air broke into a very welcome rain shower. Luckily we had seats under the pavilion and simply got a breezy break from the heat!

I found a video from the concert—of their classic Drops of Jupiter—and it shows just how comfy Train is on stage, getting the crowd totally immersed in the experience.

Just because they’re one of my most favorite groups, Train’s performance was probably my favorite part of the evening :)

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t also love watching Maroon 5 round out the night of awesome music with their tunes, both old and new.

Adam Levine is soooooooooooo cute and man does he control the stage! He pulled a teenage girl onto the stage and sang She Will Be Loved to Her—I’m pretty sure I would have dropped dead had it been me! ;)

And because I chose a classic Train video to share from the concert, how about Maroon 5’s new hit, Moves Like Jagger? Such a catchy, fun song! I love how he’s educating the younger generations on a man whom many wouldn’t have ever learned about otherwise.

It was a jump-up-and-down, dance-all-around, sing-until-your-hoarse night and it was absolutely amazing!

I absolutely love concerts—what concerts are you going to/wish you were going to this summer?

On Wednesday, I’ll post more pictures of our adventures around VA Beach with our great host Zach! :)

Blog Bash 2011 Sponsors!

2011-08-05T06:56:00.002-04:00

Blog Bash 2011 is only a few days away!!

We are out-of-this-world excited and we hope you are too!

The Blog Bash wouldn't be complete without sponsors, right?! And this year, Brittany has some awesome and amazing companies providing prizes to this year's blog bash participants. :) Remember, in order to be eligible to win any of the Blog Bash prizes, you need to actually participate in the Blog Bash. Click the Blog Bash button on Brittany’s sidebar to get all the information.

We are so glad to say that all this year's giveaways will be hosted using the new Rafflecopter giveaway forms! This mean they will be easy to enter! Each sponsor's prizes will be given away separately and 2-3 giveaways a day will be announced from August 9th to the 11th so make sure you keep checking back for your chance to win!

And now, we will introduce our sponsors!

You can get ahead of the game on the giveaways by liking on FB, following on Twitter, and etc. now!

Bellaboo is a totally natural skin care system for young skin. It is better for your skin and the earth because we've left out harsh chemicals and instead based our skin care system on 99.5% natural ingredients.

Blog Bash Prize: One complete Bellaboo Skin Care Starter Kit.

Visit Bellaboo Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Butt Naked Baby is a natural and organic skin care line specially formulated for infants, babies and those with sensitive skin. We take a raw, natural and pure approach to the creation of our formulations which contain only the finest natural and certified organic ingredients. Enriched with our signature blend of white tea, green tea and calendula, these advanced formulas are pure luxury for your baby's skin and safe to use everyday! Cruelty free and soufully made in the USA!

Blog Bash Prize: Gentle Shampoo, Soothing Bath Soak and 911 Rescue Cream.

Visit Butt Naked Baby Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Teddy Needs A Bath is the best way to clean stuffed toys. Created by a new mother who saw a need for a safe way to wash not only her old, dusty stuffed animals that she would be passing along to her daughter, but her child's new toys that needed a cleaning either from being dragged around all day, or the dog grabbing them and slobbering all over them. Over a year, 4 prototypes, literally hundreds of emails around the world and endless researching later—she is so happy to introduce the BEST source for washing a plush toy, Teddy Needs a Bath!® Bag is 20 x 30" and can wash one large toy, or several small toys.

Blog Bash Prize: One Teddy Needs A Bath Bag.

Visit Teddy Needs A Bath Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

The World As I See It Blog & Designs is a personal blog ran by Margaret, it is also the home of her blog design business. Everything from Wordpress to Blogger, Margaret has you covered. Margaret is offering one Blog Bash participate a Medium Package worth $50.00. This includes 2 or 3 column design, custom background and header, matching font color, 6 sidebar titles, custom signature and post divider, button, social network icons and installation. Blogger designs only and iStock/kits are not included.

Blog Bash Prize: One Medium Package for Blogger

Visit The World As I See It Blog & Designs Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Katie Bug's Custom Creations makes homemade custom creations such as name/word and photo blocks, customized/personalized canvases, and customized signs. I also sell already made canvas prints and words, that you can purchase.

Blog Bash Prize: Live, Laugh, Love Block Creation in your choice of colors.

Visit Katie Bug's Custom Creations Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Take your website or blog to the next level with bold, fresh designs! Whether you're looking for custom or pre-made designs for wordpress or blogger, printable invitations, blogger ad pacakges or media kits, Zany Dezines will give you a look that begs to be shown off.

-- Looking for an amazing design?

Amber is your girl! A web design student and blog designer extraordinaire, Amber offers clean and creative designs for both wordpress and blogger. Amber is offering ALL Blog Bash participants 10% off with the code BLOGBASH.

Blog Bash Prize: Facebook Landing Page

-- Need help pulling together a cohesive portfolio to bring in advertisers?

Let Jenn, and avid blogger with a Bachelor's degree in Professional Writing, help you create an ad package or media kit to showcase your blog or website for branding and advertisement opportunities.

Blog Bash Prize: One Blogger's Advertising Card.

Visit Zany Dezines Online: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Jenn's Blog | Amber's Blog

We are three friends who love to crochet. Cozy Crafters is a small shop that allows us to share our love for crocheting by creating many different options to choose from. Cozy Crafters creates the cutest crocheted creations for newborns, infants, toddlers, children and even adults. Everything from beanies to blankets, the options are endless with these three wonderful girls!

Blog Bash Prize: One beanie of your choice (2 winners)

Visit Cozy Crafters Online: Etsy Shop | Facebook | Twitter

We are soooo excited for Blog Bash 2011 and can't wait to giveaway these AWESOME prizes from our AMAZING sponsors to one of you all! :) You don't want to miss out! Remember to come back and join us on Monday, August 8, 2011 for all the Blog Bash festivities!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T17:38:00.001-04:00

Well light on the words, anyway!

I went to visit my roomie/bestie for her birthday earlier this month. It was the first time we were reunited (minus texting and Skype/Oovoo chats) since our departure from college nearly two months before. Our "third roommate”, M, also celebrated with us. And it was, in one word, amazing!

After M and I road-tripped it her house, the bestie’s momma fixed us a delicious dinner. We decided to venture over to the carnival that evening and then, after an adventure and a half there, headed home to talk well into the night.

It was if we had never been apart; the joking, story-telling and laughter picked right back up as if two months had never passed.

It was such a fun weekend and made me that much more ready to get back to school! :)

(We did forget to take pictures, aside from the following Droid shots! So unusual for us photo-lovers.)

Blog Bash 2011: It's Time to PARTY!

2011-07-20T17:08:00.006-04:00

All the details can be found on the Blog Bash 2011: It's Time to PARTY! page here on my blog.

If you noticed, this year we're having two hosts!! I'm VERY EXCITED to be working with Brittany of BrittanyCiara.com (the mastermind behind this great blog parade!) to make this Blog Bash a success.

Who said teenagers couldn't do anything! ;)

Click the button above for all the information! And I hope to see you there!!!

Keep Calm and . . .

2011-07-19T08:13:00.001-04:00

I love these prints…in every color.

So when I found this tumblr, I was in heaven.

If you made a Keep Calm print, what would yours say?

And the Chapter Ends

2011-07-16T20:22:00.001-04:00

In the past 3 days my life has completely & totally changed.

Remember this post? While I am sure that I will have plenty more of those days, the boy in the aforementioned post will no longer be the cause. Of that I am darn sure.

And with this chapter of my life officially closed, I seem to have none of the typical, end-of-an-era feelings.

Instead, something B.O.B. would call magic seems to have happened.

All the residual feelings, the straggling questions and thoughts, the what ifs—they all vanished. And the knot that has lived in my stomach for what feels like a lifetime has vanished, too. Poof! Gone just like that.

It’s so weird. I feel so airy and light.

The songs that I used to listen to on repeat,(like this one and this one) feeling that the artist was the only other person on the planet who could possibly feel the same way I did, now cause me to smile and push NEXT, advancing to the following track on the CD.

Because it’s happened.

The chapter has ended—the book, however, nowhere near complete marches on.

Closure has finally fallen upon my heart.

And it is absolutely amazing.

So now I look back and smile at the memories knowing that I will never forget, knowing that I will forever be stronger, and that I will be just fine.

The time has come for me to begin the next chapter.

So, as Nancy Botwin says, I shall…

Hannah: Unedited

2011-07-07T21:30:00.001-04:00

When I came home from college at the beginning of the summer, I started journaling separately from this blog in an old journal for only me, myself, and I to read. There were things I wanted to say, memories I wanted to keep, that I didn’t feel completely comfortable sharing here. I absolutely love blogging, but sometimes I worry about exactly how much I share with the entire world. I worry more about how what I share reflects on me. But don’t we all?

But this week, as I was busy scribbling down my thoughts, I realized that sharing some of what I journal, some of my honest, raw thoughts, may actually help others…maybe you. And it could even, quite possibly, help me. So stick with me, my friends, as I share some of Hannah: Unedited with you.

(copied exactly from my journal entry dated July 6, 2011)

On Sunday’s PostSecret, there was a card that keeps popping back into my mind. I can’t remember the picture, but the words: “I wish my depression could understand how great my life really is so it would leave me alone.”

I’m not depressed—far from that dark time so many months ago. But I just wish I could totally appreciate the life—my family, friends, talents, everything!-that I have been blessed with. Too often I dwell on the past and other unimportant things and I need to stop and learn exactly what it takes to be me with all the joys that surround me each day. I need to start living totally for myself and not for the benefit and purpose of others.

I just need to figure out how.

And there is a little glimpse into my mind (maybe we’ll try this again). I swear, it is a scary place. I overanalyze, over-think, and over-process everything that happens to me. Everything. And I wish I could stop.

Just like I wish I could stop dwelling on the past and begin living in the present. I know with every ounce of my being that I have a great and wonderful life—I just need to start living it.

I just wish I knew where to start.

She's Not a Baby Anymore

2011-07-02T22:32:00.001-04:00

Then…

and now.

Miss B isn’t a baby anymore. She’s turning into a little girl who: loves books (especially about animals), adores her grandma, and can sing Wheels on the Bus in her sleep. She has the absolute best personality—because even when her nap is interrupted by preemptive fireworks, she can rally alongside the best of them, pretend fighting with her daddy and entertaining family.

She’s a miracle baby who’s becoming a little girl.

And it’s such a blessing to be able to watch her become her own little person.

Pure Enchantment

2011-06-26T14:57:00.001-04:00

I’m sure that you don’t want to hear me babble on and on about my experience at the Taylor Swift ~~concert~~ show so I thought that I would sum it up for you in one word: enchanting.

It was not a concert, but rather a wonderfully orchestrated show. Each song, each number had a different feel and a different setting. The songs that I love were brought to life through the use of digitalized backgrounds, dancers, actors, lights and fireworks. It was as if the songs had come to life right there before the 52, 000 of us that squished into the Pittsburg Steelers’ stadium that night.

We were lucky enough to score tickets that seated us on Heinz Field—and we got to wear these nifty little pink bracelets because of it! As you can see in the background, the stadium was P-A-C-K-E-D and we were all incredibly excited.

And so the show began…

From all the different sets to the outfits and actors, Taylor Swift and her crew put on one spectacular show. As you can see in the pictures from Speak Now, with the wedding going on complete with minister, they were able to bring the story of a girl interrupting impending nuptials to life. And that was just one of the first numbers, the same sort of showmanship was recreated countless times over the course of the night.

Taylor Swift even brought the show into the crowd when she walked off the stage and onto the field—where we were sitting and simultaneously realizing that we were on the same ground as T. Swift—and up to the tree to do a few songs. Amazing!!

The night was an all-out spectacular full of fans screaming along to words that mean so much to each of us, creating a feeling, a vibe of happiness, that I will always remember.

It was pure enchantment.

Btw, if you stuck it out, all the way through this post, you should really get a sticker or something! Thank you :)

You also get to hear the song that sparked the perfect word to describe the show for this recap post—it just happens to be from the same concert!

The Vanishing Act

2011-06-25T18:36:00.001-04:00

Hey guys!

Sorry I sort of vanished there; my life’s become pretty crazy since I started my awesome new job and have to juggle it with both friend and family time. But isn’t that what summer is about? Staying up late, having fun, and getting distracted by the distractions?

Blogging, unfortunately, gets pushed to the backburner by the time I get home in the evenings—saved for my few moments of spare time on the weekend. But because I want to document as much of my summer as possible, I am going to try my hardest to get caught up on posting this week. There’s lots to come including: a recap of the Taylor Swift concert, a long overdue Great Summer Read-a-thon post, more about my job, my friends, and a menagerie of other things.

I hope that all is well with each of you and that your summers are going awesomely :)

Reason #5,781 That I Love T. Swift

2011-06-11T23:13:00.001-04:00

Besides her song lyrics that pretty much describe my life,

and her amazing attitude and spunky character,

and her all-around general awesomeness,

Taylor Swift just added number 5,781 (which may or may not be an exaggeration) to my “Why I Love T. Swift” list (which I may or may not have).

Because this quote is one for us to live by.

“Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you'll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone."

I’m obviously on a quotes role this week—can you tell what kind of week it’s been? ;)

*This idea for this post, may or may not have been sparked by the fact that in one week I will be seeing Taylor Swift live!!

We Would SO Be Best Friends

2011-06-07T22:09:00.001-04:00

If I had the chance to meet any actress in Hollywood, Reese Witherspoon would win hands-down every single time. I was a tender young sprout when my momma first introduced me to one of her very first films—The Man in the Moon. And from then on I’ve always admired her character, spunk, and accent. I do not even want to admit the number of times I have seen Sweet Home Alabama (also because I L-O-V-E Patrick Dempsey!) and Walk the Line. They’re always my picks on movie nights! :)

And her little acceptance speech (for the Generation Award) at last Sunday’s 2011 MTV Movie Awards just made me admire her even more!!

First, a little montage of her movies over the years—if you haven’t seen them all, you should definitely add their viewings to your summer Bucket List!

Movie News - 2011 MTV Movie Awards

And now—her awesome, inspiring speech! (If you can you should check out what Rob, Patrick and Chelsea said about her when they presented the award—so funny!) Because there is nothing wrong with being the good girl…

Movie News

“I just want to say to all the girls out there I know it’s cool to be bad. I get it, it’s cool to be bad. But it is possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show. When I came up in this business, if you made a sex tape, you were embarrassed and you hid it under your bed. And if you took naked pictures of yourself on your cell phone, hide your face people! Hide your face! So for all the girls out there, it’s possible to be a good girl, and I’m going to try and make it cool.”

See—I just know Reese and I would be best friends!! :)

What actress do you think you could be best friends with?

Their Amazing Words, Brought to You By ME!

2011-06-03T22:10:00.001-04:00

I have another Great Summer Read-a-thon of 2011 post in the works. I’m setting a goal to share four books per post and I’m about two and 1/2 books in so far! So look for that coming soon :)

Since I don’t have a here’s what novels I’ve been reading post, how about a here’s what blogs I’ve been reading post?

I try and catch up on all my blog reading every two days or so and today there were just so many posts that I just loved and wanted to share! So who better to share them with then you?

1. Annie did a post like this a week or so ago and I loved every single one of her recommendations. Go check this post out especially if: you’re struggling with being a friend or being single.

2. A huge downfall to blogging, at least in my opinion, is that people try to paint this picture that their life is perfect and they have no weaknesses. And I don’t know, maybe they have found some mystery potion,—and if they have they better be sharing!—but I know that there are many days that I feel a lot less than perfect.

Like lately I’ve been feeling downright crummy. So sometimes it is nice to know that I’m not alone. And a few days ago, Shelby admitted that she was right there with me, with many of us I’m guessing. Go check this post out especially if: you’re struggling emotionally right now and for a few tips on how to get feeling better faster. (To all the babysitters reading: you should also check her most recent blog post—you’ll love her humor!)

3. I swear this girl and I are so on the same page. CollegeGirl828 is missing her place (Boston) as much as I’m missing my place (Bridgewater College). And kind of like it’s nice to know that you’re not alone in feeling a little bit blue, it’s also very nice to know that I’m not the only one missing my place.

I told one of my friends that I’ve been having this weekly mini-meltdown where I just want to get in my car and go back to school, even just to drive by. I swear I’m nuts! And don’t get me wrong—I love being home with my family and I’m having a great time with my friends—I just really miss my college “family.”

Go check out this post especially if: you’re home from college, you miss your place, or you love Boston. Also make sure to check out her most recent post about how she’s coping with missing her place!

4. This isn’t a very recent post, but I just needed to share this one because I absolutely adore Laura and I cannot wait to do things like this with my little girl. I will admit, I might have teared up a bit while reading it. Go check out this post especially if: you love children, you watched the Royal Wedding, or you’re a UVA fan.

5. And last but certainly not least, there’s this boy—named Zach—that I go to school with. He is known to my friends and I as Master Creep. This name is said quite lovingly of course; I really need to share the story of how this nickname originated. Zach is a cutie-pie with a heart of gold (that has a few dings in just like yours and mine) and is just as hysterical as Dane Cook—who he, himself, finds really funny.

A few weeks before we left for summer break, Zach started his own little blog after he heard about mine. One of the highlights of my summer has been reading his blog because it is so Zach (not just because he may or may not have mentioned me a time or two), but I love reading it mostly because it makes me feel like I just saw him—when it has actually been almost a month now. It also kind of makes me miss him even more so I guess it is kind of bittersweet.

So go check out Zach’s blog especially if: you’re here right now. Seriously go! You’ll love it :)

That was fun—now it’s your turn!! What are some bloggie suggestions you have for me??

Girls' Night Number 2

2011-06-01T18:59:00.001-04:00

Our second girls’ night of the summer started last Thursday afternoon.

Getting lost on an old one-lane country road in search of D’s house.

Where D frantically watched the radar as the fear of thunderstorms and tornados grew as the skies darkened and weather watches were released.

When A spotted a few swirling clouds, we took cover in the basement and waited for the storm to pass.

Once everything was given the all clear by meteorologist, D, our girls’ night was in full swing: quesadillas, movies, dancing and Mad Gab—and lots, and lots, and lots of talking. We talked clear until the next morning (after a brief break for sleep, of course) over D’s delicious muffins.

It was perfect.

Until next girls’ night aka until next weekend :)

My Forever and Always Friends

2011-05-30T19:32:00.001-04:00

I love the memories that I have of my group of girls from high school; our Friday night dinners, surprise birthday parties, and all of the laughter. The summer before college, a blur of dark chats on the front porch and carrides to one another’s houses. We shared everything from inside jokes to insecurities about college. But when we parted last fall for our respective colleges and universities, something changed—our friendships.

In those moments of settling in, finding our places at college, finding ourselves; we no longer needed each other in the ways that we had just a few months before. Instead our friendships turned to a few texts here and there, a group dinner at Christmas, and a couple of Facebook chats sharing a hello or a remember when. And, for us, that was perfect—exactly what we needed. We each had the opportunity to find our spot at school, find who we were meant to be for the next four years and meet even more friends who will forever have a place in our lives.

But then—much to my surprise—when we all got home for summer, it was as if nothing had ever changed—but something had once more. We were still fighting over who could talk first, laughing at the silliest things, and running back and forth to each others’ houses. But, as I said, something has changed.

By some crazy event, we are somehow so much closer than we were. We shared so much together in our final year of high school, felt the absence of each other’s presence while at college, appreciating the friendships we had forged so long ago, and are now reunited to make this summer before our sophomore year one of the most memorable yet. And it’s absolutely amazing.

I now know that lifelong friendships span time, distance, and limited communication. They span break-ups, new loves, and family troubles. Because the things that hold them together—the friends—are more than just separate entities, but are tied together by love and memories and this makes these friends a family.

And already this summer, in these couple of weeks post-reunion, we’ve shared dark chats on the porch, carrides to each other’s house, and girls’ nights that have us craving the weekends. I cannot wait to see what comes of our next few months; the adventures, the stories, the memories. With my forever and always friends.

Learning How to Be a Friend

2011-05-25T23:02:00.001-04:00

Because of my overwhelming desire to feel liked and wanted, I oftentimes find myself letting others push me around. I lack so much backbone when it comes to calling others out when they have hurt my feelings.

Over the course of my life, I have found (and continue to find) myself in friendships where the other person uses me for their benefit only; like when their other friends are busy or as an advice giver. There is typically very little two-way sharing and caring—as a friendship I believe should work.

I know that there are different types of friendships—you have confidants, acquaintances, best friends, etc. And these friendships each entail varying amounts of responsibilities as a friend. However I also believe that when a friend discloses a certain amount about themselves, the respectable thing to do is show the same type of courtesy back towards the other person.

I know that I am not always the best example of a friend; I get annoyed, I get short—it’s a part of being human. But one thing college taught me was the art of apologizing for my actions when I have done wrong to another; just ask M and T the number of times that I have apologized for snapping, as they, too, have done with me.

However the one thing that I do pride myself on is listening to and caring for all my friends. I have never turned away someone who has wanted to talk or needed a hug. And I always ask about the certain odds and ends that people rarely expect you to remember.

Because I know how it feels to be in the place where you want the exact same thing; a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or a simple hug. Quite thankfully I have found that in the roomie, and M, and many of my other BC and home friends.

I still have those few, though, that can pretty much get me to do anything. So, I’m asking you, my lovely blog readers: What do I do? How do I respectfully and politely ask a friend to be careful of my feelings without hurting theirs? Without being a bully?

Because I need to learn how to stand up for myself.

Great summer read-a-thon of 2011

2011-05-22T17:59:00.001-04:00

One of the things that I have missed most while being at college has been reading solely for the purpose of pleasure. I have been collecting stacks of books over the past eight months that have sat waiting to be read.

So this week I began the great descent into the great summer read-a-thon of 2011. My four conquests this week: The Summer I Turned Pretty, Anna and the French Kiss, Something Borrowed, and Sarah Dessen’s new book What Happened to Goodbye. None of which were anywhere near academic reading material—yay! :)

I am a bad reviewer when it comes to books and movies because I am so easily infatuated with a good story; however, if it’s a bad movie or an awful book and I’ll be the first to let you know. But a few miscellaneous notes on each:

The Summer I Turned Pretty: My mother really encouraged me to read this one (she’s a reader/lover of anything YA) and I’m so glad she did. This isn’t your typical summer beach story, but rather so much more as Belly’s world begins to spin like a top from all the changes brewing around her. But as her life is tossed upside down from so much change, will she realize that everything is simply turning out as it should be?

Anna and the French Kiss: If the title doesn’t scream girly, I really don’t know what does. Although the main character is a senior in high school, this is the perfect book for college freshman as it depicts moving from all things familiar and homey to some place foreign and new; from finding new friends to understanding a new city and gaining your independence. I absolutely loved the fact that I learned so much about Paris—from the landmarks, tourist destinations, to the food and the language. If you can’t travel to Paris this summer, try visiting through this book!

Something Borrowed: I’m one of those people; the ones who have to read the book before they see the movie. Something Borrowed was no exception. I absolutely loved this book, but I found that at the end I was mad at myself because I wasn’t upset that the main character was having this affair with her best friend’s fiancé. In my defense, the author made if very easy to fall in love with these characters and not feel a moment of guilt over their less than moral behaviors. If you read it, you’ll totally understand.

What Happened to Goodbye: I should say first that I absolutely love Sarah Dessen. And this book is no exception. While the story is so very different from most of Dessen’s other books, I still had that same you could totally be my best friend connection with the main character, McLean. And her story of discovering herself, literally, was something that I loved sharing with her. I also happen to love that characters/objects/places pop up from Dessen’s other books totally unbeknownst to readers who haven’t read other Dessen books—I didn’t catch quite a few of them to afterwards.

And so ends the first week of the great summer read-a-thon of 2011.

What’s on the schedule for this second week? You’ll have to check back next Sunday to see :)

And if you would like to leave suggestions or additional book reviews in the comment section below, please do!!

The Trials and Tribulations of Being a Sister

2011-05-18T16:16:00.001-04:00

I’ve been told so many times how lucky I am to have a sister.

A person to be my forever friend. That person who truly understands me like no other.

And, in all intents and purposes, that sounds pretty amazing; like one of the best gifts that a girl could ever be given. But what they don’t tell you, or what I don’t share when people go on and on about how blessed I am, are the feelings of jealousy, sadness and anger that I have also encountered as a part of being a sister. I don’t know why I used encounter in the past tense, just there, because it still happens—for me, it’s a daily struggle.

You see, I am the older one. The one who is supposed to be the role model who does no wrong, who carries off her responsibilities effortlessly, who acts like an adult far before her time, and most importantly, the one who takes care of the littler one(s).

And so that’s what I’ve done.

So while my sister did the cheerleader, I’m super popular, crazy and young sort of thing during high school, I did the FBLA president, close group of friends, safe fun kind of thing. And while I don’t regret the person that I am, (because I love my friends and the memories we have more than anything)I still can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the social life she’s led. However, I certainly do not covet the fakeness of her world, not at all; so once again one could argue if the grass is really greener.

Because of her social life, I have also experienced feelings of hurt and rage over many different encounters that she and I have had. To me there is nothing more frustrating than to do and do and do for a person and have their reception and reaction to be one of expectation, an I deserve this kind of attitude. Absolutely no thanks, no gratitude, no appreciation—nothing. Simply another, Can you do this for me now?

On top of that, I have never felt more hurt than when she chose for the one billionth time to hang out with her friend and her friend’s older sister rather than me. So I don’t have the 29,285 “friends” at my beck and call or all the crazy stories, but I certainly shouldn’t be made to feel bad because I don’t have the “right” ones that will make me “cool” in her eyes. Because I know that I am more than that. I know I am better than that.

So when she stands in the kitchen, after I’ve done so much for her in the past week alone, I can’t help but feel my entire demeanor dissolve when in all seriousness she says, “You know, I don’t really like you anyway,” before turning and continuing her conversation with the other person in the room.

Now I know that I’m in no way a perfect sister, nor is this post supposed to be some sort of poor Hannah kind of thing, but it’s simply how I feel today and I needed to share.

I know that I am blessed to have a sister; this person who understands me better than anyone. We’ve had so many awesome memories together and hopefully we will make so many, many more. I know that I’m so lucky to have her.

And I know that at the end of the day, I love her to the moon and back, and that I would do absolutely anything in the world to see her smile.

So sometimes, sometimes, I would just really like to know that she feels the same.

Over Rainbows After Rain

2011-05-17T18:22:00.001-04:00

If it rains another day, I might go crazy.

It’s been two days of showers and thunderstorms and the forecast shows no sign of letting up any time soon.

Seriously? Where’s my warm, sunny summer days??

I think it might be time for Noah to start building his ark ;)

Thanks to my friend, M, this song makes the rainy days a teensy weensy bit more bearable.

As the lyrics go, Only rainbows after rain/The sun will always come again/It’s a circle, circling/Around again, it comes around/

And because this has become a little music break in my post, Kate Voegele’s new CD debuted today and I am absolutely in love with Impatient Girl. Obsessed is more like it.

Seeing as I will be stuck indoors for the foreseeable future, any suggestions for activities would be a-w-e-s-o-m-e and greatly appreciated :)

Tomorrow I’m thinking of watching some more TV, reading some more books, taking another nap…please help me before I find the nearest cliff—oh wait, the huge river that has formed at the bottom of it will only sweep me away! ;)

Writing, Photographing, Blogging

2011-05-16T15:07:00.001-04:00

Some days I wake up with this irresistible urge to write. Today was one of those days.

But by the time that I finally pulled myself out of bed (at nearly noon—this weekend took it out of me, lemme tell you!) and sat down to write, all I could think about was two of my friends and the struggles that they are facing just a week into our freshman summer. Where we would normally all be able to pile into a room and dissect every inch of someone’s latest dilemma, that’s nearly impossible with everyone scattered across the Eastern seaboard. So we take to the modern technologies that some brilliant men and women have blessed us with—Skype. Those few moments, our faces squished together on a computer screen, makes everything feel back to normal—complete, whole. I love it.

Besides writing, another thing that I’ve fallen back into now that my days are temporarily blank slates, is photography. Last Thursday on the little sister’s birthday, I got a few great pictures of the birthday girl in all her glory.

These two happen to be my favorite; there’s just something so raw and real about them that I absolutely love.

I’ve gotten my blogging itch out, now onto curing my baby itch—babysitting time!

Happy Monday all my lovely bloggie readers! :)

The Show Goes On

2011-05-11T19:06:00.000-04:00

I really don’t know why this post took so much energy to write.

I feel like I should have so many things that I could say as I reflect back upon my freshman year of college. Maybe it’s because it hasn’t fully hit me yet that I’m actually done—even though my room is all unpacked and re-moved into and grades are slowly being posted to WebAdvisor.

I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something I should be doing; a chapter to read, a paper to write, a friend to go talk to, a walk to take. Instead my days are a sea of nothingness (and that’s how they will stay until I begin work in mid-June) and for the first time in months I have absolutely nothing to do. I’m no longer constantly surrounded by friends and even though we’ve taken to texting as our way of staying tied together along the East Coast, there’s just something so strange about not having a friend with me 24/7.

But back to my freshman reflection…

The one word that keeps popping into my head as I think about these past months is change. How cliché, right? I mean everyone expects to change during college, but no one really tells you exactly how much it will change you.

My beliefs: Where my opinion on certain subjects once seemed so concrete from government to religion, I found myself wavering near the middle ground considering viewpoints that I once would have balked at. While I’m still just as stubborn as I’ve always been, I’ve become quite enlightened and less closed-minded.

My judgments: Where I once judged others for certain actions and choices that they made, I found myself giving them the benefit of the doubt and accepting their decisions as their own. It’s college; this is the time to experiment, to try new things (even if you later realize they were stupid things to be trying) and to be a little crazy.

My actions: Where I once considered myself the epitome of the girl any guy would love to bring home to mom and dad, I have realized that it doesn’t mean I can’t have fun (and be a little crazy), too. While I’m certainly not going out and doing anything that will reflect poorly upon myself, I don’t have to be as guarded and cautious as I have always been.

The other two phrases that pop into my head—besides change—are pre and post-January. It was the fulcrum of my freshman year; the month when everything changed. The months before were comfortable and happy. The ones after found me finding my little niche at Bridgewater, finding the friends who helped bring about all this change; they were the months of fun and adventure.

And while the month of January wasn’t the best one, I believe that everything happened for a reason. The friends that I had/have during both sections will always remain a special part of my first year at Bridgewater. I wouldn’t take a single second of any of it back…nada. It all made me who I am today, a soon-to-be sophomore in college and I’m pretty darn happy with that person. So if you’re reading this and you’re one of those people—thank you from the bottom most part of my heart. Thank you for putting up with me, for sticking by me, for being my friend, for helping to change me. I will cherish our memories together (and for many of you, all the many more we will make) and love you forever!

So wrapping up this super long post (thank you if you’re still reading!!), the show has gone on and I have changed (hopefully for the better) during this first year at college. I’ve made some awesome, lifelong friends and I cannot wait so see what new, crazy adventures we will find ourselves getting into next year.

If you’re still reading—because this has been a whopper of a post, but I just had to write it for my 38 year old future self—I asked some of my friends to give me songs that summarized their first year of college. I then set the best of our pictures together to their tunes as a nice little memory of our freshman year.

I would now like to take this opportunity to warn you that there are some less than PC lyrics in a few of the songs, but I still wanted to share our journey not only through my eyes, but theirs as well.

Finals Time

2011-05-06T15:27:00.001-04:00

Is today really Friday?? Because it definitely doesn’t feel like it!

My life has become a continuous cycle of sleep, eat, study, and study break.

This semester’s finals are causing so much more stress than last semester’s did. I think partially due to the fact that we had no days between the end of classes and the beginning of finals—absolutely no days. We had classes Monday thru Wednesday this week and then I was lucky enough to have two finals on Thursday.

But I just have to keep reminding myself—three exams down, two to go. And then it is all over. Freshman year is done. Yikes.

It’s one of the weird, sad/happy times. It will be so hard to say goodbye to all my BC friends, but very nice to be home with my family, sleeping in my own bed. I’m definitely curious to see how “moving back” home will go; I’m no longer used to having time completely alone or having someone to answer to.

It will definitely be a learning experience for us all.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2011-05-06T15:14:00.001-04:00

A few of my favorite pictures from Easter celebrations this year.

"Alive"

2011-05-04T10:21:00.001-04:00

I feel like my life is suddenly moving like a whirlwind, a hurricane, something terribly fast; everything has become so very chaotic that I don’t even know where to begin.

I’ve learned so much about myself these past few weeks from the limits of a little friendly peer pressure to the change in my previous beliefs on both war and military violence.

But hey, that’s college for you, right? I wouldn’t trade these extremely late night homework sessions and the all-day-long adventures and sharing/venting sessions for anything in this world.

Because there is nothing more alive to me than…

…sitting with a group of friends, along the banks of a river.

…laying across beds, as the spring air wafts through open windows as your head is cocked back to peer at a friend in the middle of sharing a story.

…finding those people who you can tell anything to; the ones who know your innermost thoughts and feelings.

And I have never felt more alive than when I found friends who pulled me out of my comfortable little shell and urged me to do some of the craziest, most “adventurous” things that I’ve ever done before.

So no matter how exhausted I am by the time my head reaches the pillow or how many hours I spend studying for finals, everything that I have been doing—all the little things—makes me alive.

Miss B is ONE!

2011-04-24T23:20:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe she’s one already…

Beef Stew

2011-04-19T21:30:00.001-04:00

Today is going to be a beef stew kind of post—a random assortment of pictures and music and little blurbs about what I’ve been up to lately.

FBLA State’s: If you’ve been here for awhile, you know about my love for Future Business Leaders of America. From the friends I made, the real-world business skills I developed, and the awesome destinations I visited, I gained so much from FBLA during my time in high school Unfortunately BC doesn’t have a chapter, so when I was invited to chaperone my old high school’s trip to state’s a couple of weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to be able to be back at one of the places I feel most comfortable.

I absolutely love the people who run Virginia FBLA-PBL and the added bonus of seeing some of my favorites (because they love FBLA just as much!) was a plus! I had a great time even though it was quite different from the days when I was surrounded by all my FBLA buddies and we were swamped with competition preparation and stress.

Rainy Days: It being spring and all, it has been quite rainy around these here parts. B, T and I got caught in a massive downpour last week on our dash from my car to the dorm. And I mean massive: jeans soaked, hair looking like a wet rat’s. The picture says it all.

Relay for Life: We had our Relay last weekend—more on this tomorrow!! :)

Music, music, music: “Jesus-is-my-friend” music as my roomie calls it has been dominating my playlist thanks in large part to CruiseMan3000. And I’m always looking for more; a couple of these were actually suggestions from other bloggie friends :)

Here are a few of my current favorites:

Twitter: Speaking of CruiseMan3000, tweet me! I’ve been tweeting for awhile—with my wonderful bloggie friends—but recently my tweetlife has begun to connect with my real life and it’s so much fun! Come find me misshannahdove :)

Blogging: Thank you so much for your support!! I love blogging so much. When I told my roomie what I was thinking, she yelled at me—in a nice way. She told me I loved it too much to give it up and that it kept me sane. And I would have to agree with her. So I’m happy to say I’m still alive and kicking here in the blogiverse, however, I am still dabbling in the idea of starting a new blog elsewhere.

I betcha my beef stew has ya full, doesn’t it?!

The Crossroads

2011-04-18T16:08:00.001-04:00

Woah. I just realized that it has been over 2 weeks since I last stopped by my little corner of the blogiverse.

And while most of my absence can be chalked up to lots of homework, many adventures, and tons of laughing, there’s also something more. I’ve been struggling lately with the pros and cons of blogging.

You see I used to be able to come here to share and vent with a group of anonymous friends who were able to help me in a way that I never expected; there is something truly remarkable about the sense of community you can develop from blogging. I never felt judged or belittled by what I shared, but rather comfortable and at ease. And it helped me a lot; to be able to just “dump” all I was feeling and experiencing in one place. The support that came with my “dumpage” was just an added bonus.

However, over the past six months as my blog has become more public to those around me—my real life friends and family—I’ve found myself second-guessing a lot of what I’ve shared. Is it too far? Did the wrong person see it?

And I hate it. I don’t want to censor my life to those here who have been such an anchor during this huge transition in my life. That’s not why I started blogging—I started this blog as a way to document my life honestly, like a journal so that one day I could look back and remember all of the ups and downs I’ve had in life.

But somewhere something got all screwy.

For the first time, I’m choosing to not post things—something I never thought I would ever do.

So I’m left here at a crossroad and I’m not sure where I’m headed next. Six months ago I would have been extremely stressed by this crossroads, this change. But something’s happened and it kind of excites me.

What should I do? Start a new blog and leave this one behind? Make this blog private and accept reader requests? Or leave blogging behind in turn for journaling?

The decision is all mine (though I wouldn’t mind some bloggie-friend-opinions) and I’m thrilled at where this crossroads will lead.

Blog Hop?

2011-04-01T14:02:00.001-04:00

I'm getting an itch for a blog hop!

And I think I have the perfect idea--our colleges and universities. It could be like a virtual tour of all of our schools.

Now I know that many of you, for good reason, probably don't wish to disclose your school name--and that's totally fine--I think we can work around it.

My thoughts, and these are early, have yet to be organized in my head thoughts, are that we can preliminarily describe the mission of our school, the type of school, our dorm room/living situation, clubs around campus, places we hang out with classmates (local joints, etc.), and maybe even a peak at a classroom. You can also include anything else that I'm not thinking of at the moment. But you, in no way, need to state location/school/mascot or any other identifying factor, should you desire not to do so.

And those of you who aren't in college yet, how about a post on the schools on your "list"? Maybe through this hop you will be able to meet up with someone who goes there and get some more information on the nitty gritty of your dream university.

If you're as excited and interested in this blog hop as I am, please leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail. From there we move forward with the all the little technicalities! Please don't hesitate to tweet and blog about this idea--the more people, the better! Just think of all the new places you'll get to "visit!"

And if someone can come up with a cool, catchy name for this little idea, please feel free to share :)

Bring 'Em Out

2011-03-31T11:53:00.001-04:00

In honor of being semi-caught up on homework, I thought I would post one of the stories that I’ve been quite excited to share with you!

Last weekend was BC’s first freshman orientation for next year’s class—yes, I know, I can hardly believe that I’m almost NOT a freshman anymore!!

But anyhoo, back to the orientation.

Residence Life asked each of the future freshman dorms to make a mini-presentation during orientation, highlighting all of the wonderful reasons that there are for living in their particular dorm.

Our RD invited two other boys, B and myself to participate in the creation of our video last week. So one night (read midnight) we got together and filmed this incredibly funny video showcasing the best parts of our dorm.

Turns out that the Residence Life staff loved our video so much that they’re bringing a professional film crew in to record us doing another video to be shown at future orientations. How awesome is that?!? I’m so excited!!

But just you wait! That’s not the only awesome video that I have to show you!

When Saturday rolled around and we had to get up to introduce our video for the freshman, each dorm also had to have some kind of roll call/chant coming down the aisles of the church—thanks to the Park Crew and CruiseMan3000, we had the BEST roll call there.

Here’s the video of us bringing them out to Heritage:

Do you have any big, new news??

Life is Good

2011-03-29T23:11:00.001-04:00

Again, I’ve got so much to share—but it has just been crazy chaotic between classes and clubs…and planning for next year!!

But I’m just dropping in tonight to say:

I cannot believe how much my life has changed in three very short (but extremely busy) weeks and that,

I am so very blessed to have such awesome people in my life.

Life is so good.

Hope all is well with each and every one of you, too!! :)

What If?

2011-03-24T16:22:00.001-04:00

It seems to be following me around a lot lately.

It all started about a week ago when my roomie asked the first one. “What if…? Do you think there would have still been the same outcome?”

And as soon as the answer was out of my mouth, I knew there was no stopping the What If wildfire that was about to descend upon our lives—because we had to ask M to find out her response.

The rest of our Thursday night was spent shooting off various What If’s about the past, the present, and the future. At dinner on Saturday, amongst a large group of hungry college students, the What If game re-emerged, this time focused on religion and politics.

Then, procrastinating the completion of the mountains of homework that was unloaded upon us all, the Park Crew and I stepped once more in front of the What If firing squad on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, back to the original topics from the week before.

I always find myself sitting around, daydreaming What If’s up for myself and answering them in my mind, but I’ve never really discussed them with a group of people.

The biggest thing that I have learned from this week of What If’s is that there are typically two sides to the whole entity of questioning in the style of What If. You have your Let’s leave the past the past/I can’t predict the future-ers (AKA as the logical folks) and then you have the Oh well, let’s talk-ers.

I tend to fall into the Oh well category. I don’t think that questioning the past—how one moment could have changed the outcome of your life—is a bad thing. It doesn’t mean that I have things that I regret or things that I want to change; rather, I just like to think about how the past has made me the person that I am today. I like remembering the lessons I’ve learned over the past 19 years no matter how big or small.

I also love to think and daydream about the future so there’s no biggie there discussing the hypothetical's either! There’s just something about good, thought-provoking questions! (You definitely learn a lot about others around you with a round of What If’s!)

Now, on the opposite side of the spectrum you have the Let’s leave the past the past/I can’t predict the futuer-ers. The lovely M tends to fall into this category, she being her logical self and all. While she tends to ~~hate~~ not love, all the What If’s, she does play along like the good sport she also is. She likes to live in the moment, not dwelling on the past, choosing to let the future unfold before her. And there’s something quite admirable about that.

Like most things in life there are two sides to nearly every thing—just like this. And we can take away so much from these varying opinions, beliefs and feelings.

I know that just from these past seven days, I have learned so much about those around me and have been surprised to find how my opinions have changed over the course of my life and even just since starting college.

So which side of the What If spectrum do you fall on? Or do you make up a third category? Let me know—I’d love to hear! :)

Wordless Wednesday--Pretty Park Pictures

2011-03-23T13:58:00.001-04:00

I have so much to get you lovely blog readers up-to-date on over the next few days, but first—because it is Wednesday—pictures!

There are a lot of pictures and I don’t expect you to flip through them all—they’re just a reminder for me of an awesome day with some amazing people!

Totally Off-Topic Tuesday

2011-03-15T22:57:00.001-04:00

My friend, B, and I might just have spent a good part of our afternoon researching nearby “haunted” establishments. I say “haunted” in quotation marks for the shear fact that I’m not sure what I believe when it comes to things of the paranormal kind. We were surprised to find that our campus’s auditorium has had many ghostly encounters—though nothing has been captured on film or video.

We did, however, stumble upon this creepy little place in a nearby town.

Originally named the DeJarnette Center for Human Development, it served as a mental institution for children and youth as a part of Western State Hospital beginning in1932. Over the course of the facility’s lifetime, Mr. DeJarnette’s—the founder’s—research in eugenics was uncovered and questioned. In 1996 the facility was shut down and the patients and employees moved to a new building, on the hospital’s campus, nearby. Since its closure, the building has sat empty, as plans for its demolition were halted. Instead, the windows have been boarded up for residents and passer-byers to enjoy it’s architectural beauty.

Although the road that runs directly in front of the building is blocked from through traffic, a parallel road runs in front of the facility—perfect for a quick stop for pictures!

B and I stumbled upon lots of photographs from inside the sanatorium and it would have been extremely cool to have been able to wander around inside before it was boarded up due to health risks. Check out this Flikr link for some awesome pictures from inside the facility!

Do you do something wild, crazy, or totally random today??

Music, Music, Music

2011-03-12T22:15:00.001-05:00

I’ve been spending this last weekend before Spring Break wraps up at home with the family, trying to be all quiet and peaceful-life.

Oh, who am I trying to kid?

The little sister and I made our Friday night quite eventful, quite spontaneously. Thank you, wonderful party-goers, for your awesome inspiration. Perhaps one day we will return to this night and I’ll share what I’ve noticed about intoxicated folks—this would definitely be a doozy of a post.

Our Saturday was a bit less eventful; a few outings here and there in the afternoon. I spent the majority of the morning packing my stuff back up for my return to college and chatting with a party-goer about their night.

A key part of the packing effort is the music. It begins with adding new music to my library and crafting a playlist for the trip back. Kind of like rotating toys for young children, it is crucial to rotate music.

Songs get old and repetitive so we must put them back on the shelf, pulling out a new one. This way, the next time that we listen to the first song we shelved, we can relive it’s wonderfulness as if it’s the first time we’ve listened to its magical melody before.

Because I do my homework to the croons of various artists, it also acts as a bit of a homework motivator when I have new music to listen to. Who wouldn’t want to read an article about sociological stratification when they have Avril Lavigne’s new CD to listen to?! Or Adele. Or We the Kings. Or whoever you love.

So as I’m piecing together my newest mix, I figured that I would share some of my current favorites with you and ask you to do the same with me!

Here are two of the songs I’ve had on repeat as of late. What two (or more) songs have you been obsessed with lately?? Leave them in the comments so I can be obsessed with you :)

One of "Those" Days

2011-03-11T16:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was one of those days. The kind of day that days, weeks and months later you are still able to recall, quite vividly, from the aroma in the cafe to the clothes you were wearing and all the other minute details in between.

For the first time in nearly three years, I (was supposed to see) saw the boy who can claim the first scar on my heart (whether he intended to leave it there or not). Saw probably isn’t the best word, though; we have seen each other many times in the in-between.

How about talked to face-to-face? Actually sat down with, talked to and hung out with? Yeap, that works. That’s what we did. Or what we were going to do.

Beforehand I had no idea what to feel. I was definitely apprehensive and nervous; for the first time I didn’t want to cry when I thought about him and we could actually talk (via wonderful social media) in a cordial and friendly way. Why did we need to potentially ruin that by talking about the past? That was my line of thinking, anyway. I know—I read too much into things.

I, tried, as the time ticked by to his estimated arrival time, to remain poised and collected as I couldn’t help the butterflies that flittered around inside me. But the time kept ticking. Because our first, post-whatever, sit down/hang out never came to fruition. His doing, not mine.

And at first, I was okay with that. No more stressing, no more butterflies, no more nothing.

But then, as I sat and thought about it, I realized that I wasn’t okay with it. It went back to all I had been feeling beforehand; there’s obviously a reason that we haven’t seen each other, right? If it was meant to be, it would happen.

And while I was very relieved to have avoided the potential awkwardness, I was also the teensiest (maybe a little more then teensiest) bit upset that it wasn’t going to happen. Don’t ask me why; I can’t put words (but Landon Pigg can) to how it makes me feel. All I know is that it isn’t fair that he still has this hold over me. It absolutely, positively sucks.

But it’s okay. I will be okay.

Even though it was seemingly a non-event, I can guarantee that it will remain very much an event in my mind for weeks to come. Just one of those details that makes up one of those days.

I’m so fortunate to have wonderful friends (both in real life and bloggie/Twitter friends) who shared their evening with me—dinner and Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert. It was because of their company, their words of encouragement, and the laughs we shared that I began to feel more myself again. It helped cement my belief that everything is going to be okay. I am going to okay. I am okay.

It was simply just one of those days.

Wordless Wednesday: Potato Soup Kinda Day

2011-03-09T20:27:00.001-05:00

Today was a rainboot wearin’, stay in bed, watchin’ movies, makin’ potato soup kinda day!

I can happily say I did all three. (To get the little sister from school; Adventureland; peeled and prepped the potatoes.)

Adele may, or may not, have been on repeat as I peeled the potatoes…there’s just something about her voice! I’m late to the Adele train, but I’m quickly getting caught up. I absolutely adore one of her oldies (Make You Feel My Love) and one of her newbies (Rolling in the Deep)!

How was your Wednesday?? Rainy or sunny?? Loving Adele??

Here Goes Nothing . . .

2011-03-08T16:10:00.001-05:00

Before you read: After some supportive tweets, I’ve decided to go ahead and publish this lovely little post. It was an incredibly hard decision to make because I, in no way, want to offend my wonderful bloggie readers. However this topic seems to be appearing over and over again in my life, and seeing as this blog is a way to document my life, it kind of made sense to share. So that being said, family and friends, you have fair warning. Read no further, if you prefer not.

Part of living life the liberal arts way is questioning the things that surround us. Instead of going with what we may feel is the “obvious” answer, we should instead look at the issue from all sides—playing devil’s advocate with ourselves. Then, after we’ve looked at the issue from all sides, we should analyze and reflect on why we believe that our side is the “right” side.

Thanks to this lovely philosophy that will forever be engrained in my head thanks to BC’s lovely PDP program, I’ve begun to really delve deeper into why I believe the things that I believe.

In light of recent allegations against Miss Miley Cyrus (including her wonderfully handled stance on the subject) and the opening of two hookah bars in both my hometown and college town, the topic that I have been tossing around in the ole’ noggin lately is that of salvia and hookah bars.

I’m not hiding the fact that I’m a self-proclaimed lover of all things Weeds, minus you know, the weed. So the idealized and media-strewed stance that I’ve been consciously and subconsciously fed, may play a bit into my more liberal view on the subject.

So here we go. First, I’ve linked salvia and hookah bars to their respective Wikipedia site if you aren’t completely aware of what each are.

Again, this is not a debate about marijuana—that is another post entirely, but rather one about the legal (if you’re of age) usage of salvia and hookah bars.

Knowing full well that smoking any substance is not good for anyone, I support the decision of any 18 (or older) year old to have the right to freely use/visit either. To me, I see nothing wrong in the actions of Miley Cyrus (barring her decision to allow someone to film her partaking—videos like these and the revelation of youths’ acts on social media sites are one of the biggest cons in the technology world today) and her usage of salvia. She is of age, can make decisions like these on her own, and has the same rights of any other 18 (or older) year old out there.

Same goes for attendance at hookah bars. When facilitated in a safe and managed way, the usage of hookah at hookah bars, is just fine. To me.

From the glamour that is fed to me via Weeds and my strange fascination with all of it, I take a more curious, investigative, experimental stance on the issue. Hopefully it doesn’t turn into a curiosity killed the cat, kind of thing.

I know where I stand, but where do you?? I want to know how you feel about it and why! Maybe, just maybe, you’ll change my mind!

So, now it’s your turn to sound off on the topics above: from salvia to hookah bars, even to the actions of Miley Cyrus. Just please remember to be nice! We all have opinions and are all just as equally entitled to have them. So let’s hear it—how do you feel?

This is Part 1 of a two-part post. Check back for Part 2 tomorrow!

Minute to Win It

2011-03-07T19:51:00.001-05:00

I know that it’s Spring Break and all, but I’ve been meaning to share with you one of my favorite parts about BC—my residence hall. Because, you see, we have this awesome RA on the third floor who plans the best programs for us. We have Glee nights and have made dream collages and we always have so much fun.

Our latest program? Minute to Win It. (You reality TV lovers probably know exactly what I’m talking about.) Competitors have 60 seconds to complete some kind of crazy challenge. We partnered up, vying to win a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart—because what college kid doesn’t want one of those?! My roomie had already figured out exactly how many Lunchables she could buy; she was that sure that she was going to win.

We started our program (after a wonderful fire drill in the freezing cold) and my goodness was it hard!! And everyone got extremely competitive. But it was so much fun. By the end we were all exhausted between the running around and laughing.

I absolutely love my residence hall!! I can’t wait to go back to school because one of our upcoming programs are planting little potted plants for our dorm rooms—so exciting. It’s really the little things in my life :)

What are some awesome programs that you have in your dorms??

Testing, Testing . . .

2011-03-06T11:55:00.001-05:00

Testing, testing, one, two, three.

Yes! It does still work ;)

Where have I been the past week(s) you ask??

Well I’ve been visiting London. Okay, not really. But we pretended we were there, recreating the romance of Prince William and Kate. It was an epically hysterical success. If only I could get the video to save---any tips on Windows Movie Maker and saving issues??

I have been to IHOP for my free stack of pancakes. And Coldstone for yummy ice-cream. And maybe even Chick-fi-a for a brownie. But it definitely was not all on the same day, I promise. There was some tennis thrown in, too, to counteract all the sugar!!

My roomie and I took Mr. Monkey on a grand adventure around campus one day. He even got to tag along on our Chick-fil-a adventure!

All you college guys and gals probably know what all this nonsense means—midterm time. We were hit hard by the procrastination bug!! I can only imagine what this bug will have progressed into by finals time.

Somehow we managed to get everything finished from papers and tests to all the various meetings that were sprinkled in here and there. A few meetings, of which, I can’t wait to share with you! Even through all the crazy ridiculous procrastination, we made it to the end. We’re finally here—Spring Break!! Hallelujah :)

Even though these past few weeks have been extremely stressful, they have been some of the best of my college experience, to date. I’ve finally gotten my groove back thanks to a wonderful group of guys and dolls that I’ve been fortunate enough to meet (and I can’t forget M and T who have always been there for me!)

While I can’t say that it makes the misery of interterm any less miserable, I can say that I’m glad I went through it so that these next few months are something even more special. It is true, and I do believe it; things do happen for a reason and while, at the time, it seemed horrible and awful and downright unfair, there was a reason that I had to go through it.

Because it made me stronger. And it made me even more appreciative of all of the wonderful people I now have in my life because of it. Thanks guys :)

Upcoming Posts: A Talent Show, A Game Show, and more!!

A New Normal and a Project

2011-02-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

Finally. Everything is starting to feel normal again. Well, a new normal anyway.

I finally feel at peace. I feel content. I feel happy. Genuinely happy at that.

I’m not going to lie and say these past couple of months haven’t been rough—because they’ve been rougher than rough. But the light at the end of the tunnel has been spotted. I’ve made it ‘round the bend. Hallelujah!

I’ve finally forgiven. I’ve finally stopped taking everything personally. I’m finally over it.

And that, my dear bloggie friends, is enough of that!

I want to share this cool, albeit unique, project that M and I started over Interterm. I wasn’t going to share it with you until it was complete, but we’re half way there and I can’t keep it from you any longer.

M has been plastering T and my dorm door with every label from any product that we have used (and can scrounge up from others we know). It has been such an exciting thing—yes, I do know that we are weird—to watch all our labels manifest into something bigger. An art project of sorts.

I asked M if she had a few words to share with you and here goes it (her first quote wasn’t appropriate so this would be round two), “It’s just awesome.” That quote explains more about M then she knows ;)

Is anyone else up to anything artsy or unique this lovely Tuesday??

Hello Spring

2011-02-20T10:35:00.001-05:00

We’ve got a lot to get caught up on—including Love Day crafts and the few other pieces of chaos that I call my life. But first I wanted to share these adorable paper flowers with you because they’re the perfect springtime touch as you take down your Love Day decor.

My aunt sent me this link yesterday and before I clicked on it, I knew it was a bad idea. So beware; it sent me downward into a craft spiral that lasted for a few hours. Poor M had to deal with the craziness of my craft mode, although she did learn how to thread a needle and sew a few stitches!

Aren’t these the cutest little paper flowers?

They’re absolutely perfect for cards, countdowns, decorating and more things that I can’t even think of! Their possibilities are endless.

So cute!! If you have any springtime crafts or tips to share with us—please do so!! I would love some new ideas and inspirations :)

The One in Which I Become a Belieber

2011-02-12T22:23:00.001-05:00

We are now half way through the first half of our spring semester, so I thought that it would be a nice weekend to visit the ole casa.

My Friday evening was extremely low-key; I worked on some homework and got caught up on some of my favorite TV shows—thank you ONDemand! I, so gratefully, found my way to my bed before the wee hours of Saturday morning; just another one of the great parts of being at home is the good night’s rest one can get, free of rowdy-weekend-party-returners.

My Saturday, however, was jam-packed with fun ;)

I met an old friend at Panera Bread for lunch—a lunch that lasted four hours, mind you. What can I say? We both really like talking. I’m pretty sure that I would still be sitting with him there, hours and hours later, had it not been for the fact that I had evening plans.

What evenings plans you ask? I went to see this little, ole documentary. You might have heard of it—Never Say Never? I said that in jest; the whole “maybe you heard about it” and “little ole.”

I can’t lie when I say that I have done my fair share of Bieber bashing; he was probably one of the first fads that I just wasn’t into—I was over the boy-crush, popstar thanks in large part to the Jonas Brothers. BUT! Lately I have started falling for his hair flip and pretty eyes, sans the poppy music.

And when I saw that they were making a documentary of his life—because it’s been such a long one thus far—I laughed at the hysterically overdramatized trailers. I knew, however, that I would be one of the many teenager girls who paid an astronomical amount of money to go and see Never Say Never, in all its 3D glory.

My sister and I invited two of our favorite little girls to go with us. Ya know, so that we wouldn’t look like complete creepers and everything. And three minutes into it, I leaned over to my sister and said, “This movie is going to make me like him, isn’t it?”

And from then on, I knew I was a goner. As much as I hate to say it, I’m one of the 103582058 million other girls—You guys, I’m a Belieber.

His story is such a remarkable one and I highly suggest going to see it. It is such the American dream; if he was, you know, American. I’m pretty sure that I smiled non-stop at his extreme cuteness, through learning of all of his many successes (like selling out MSG after being in the music industry for all of a year) and at all the wonderful things that his crew does to “give back” to all his fans. His story is an inspiring one…and it doesn’t hurt that he is super cute.

So I fully retract every mean word I ever said about Justin Bieber because I’m now one of them, too. Though I promise that this little here blog will, in no way, become a shrine to The Cute One.

As I’m wrapping up my weekend at home, I’m bracing for the chaos that I know this week will bring—I have so many meetings (a few that I’m dying to share with you), a Relay kick-off dinner, and of course lots and lots of homework. Thank goodness for the weekends that let us catch a breath from the chaos of our lives!

Just gotta remember what Mr. Bieber says…one can never say never ;) Sorry. Enough for the Bieber-isms.

Anyone else see it??