new hair!

so i did something completely drastic with my hair!! i don't normally like short hair on girls, but i decided to try it. so i cut about 5 inches off and got some highlights. i'm still trying to get use to not being able to put it up in a pony tail but i'm definitely coming to terms with it and really starting to fall in love with it. needless to say, i probably won't keep it short lol but i like it for now! here are some pictures!! it's definitely a lot different than what i'm use to :)

before

after

what do you think??

low key weekend

so this weekend was busy but low key. which was exactly what i needed.

chris left on friday. he came by in the morning and woke me up to say bye. it was a very tearful goodbye. and not fun at all. i knew i would probably cry a little, but i didn't realize how much i was gonna miss him until i saw him drive away and realized that would be the last time in a long time that i will see that. after he left, i couldn't really fall back asleep so i got up and tried to be productive. i went and got my brake light fixed. then i came back and did a little bit of cleaning. then i got a phone call from shayna saying she wanted to do my hair in the afternoon instead of on saturday afternoon. so i went to tutor with elizabeth and then went straight to the salon. it took a lot longer than i expected. i got about 5 inches cut off and had blonde and caramel highlights put in. it is a lot shorter than i'm use to and i'm not completely convinced that i like it, but from what everyone else tells me, they like it. they're probably just trying to be nice lol once i got back, eric and alfie met me at my apartment and we ventured over to the tattoo parlor. yes that's right, i got my second tattoo. eric and alfie just couldn't resist - they just had to get one too lol after facing the pain of getting a tattoo, i wasn't up for partying so instead i had a few friends over and we just had a chill night of beer pong and guitar hero.

saturday and sunday weren't as exciting as friday...i didn't really have much more to change after that lol my sister called me on saturday and wanted me to come watch her ice skating lesson. so i met my mom and sister at the raleigh rec zone and my sister enjoyed showing off what she's learned so far. after that, mom invited me home for dinner but i politely declined. little did my mom know...i was going to be at the house for dinner because my dad was throwing a surprise birthday party for her. so i showed up for the party and she just laughed. we had a lot of fun celebrating my mom's birthday with our neighbors and friends. dad did some amazing cooking and the cake was pretty good too!

favorite quote of the night.....my nieghbor has 6 year old twins. will (one of the twins) walks in and asks my mom, "ms. helen, how old are you?" and my mom says, "i turned 26 today." his little mouth drops open and turns around and looks at his mom and says "mom, you are so much older than that!" it was so cute!

today (sunday) was a very relaxing day. i didn't do anything too exciting. i stayed in bed as long as possible and then my family for dinner at ruby tuesday. it was my mom's real birthday today, so we just had a small family celebration. it was a fun family dinner but after that it was back to my apartment to do some homework.

so we'll see what this week holds. ps: i'm sorry i haven't been writing lately. i've had a lot on my mind but had a lot of trouble putting them into words. so that's why i've only been recounting what has been happening in my life instead of writing about deep thoughts. i hope the writing buch comes back soon though because i do miss sharing my thoughts.

on my mind

lately, i haven't been too inspired to write. i don't know why, but the creative juices just aren't flowing. that, and the fact that there hasn't really been anything exciting going on in my life. so i guess i'll just give you a few quick updates of some things on my mind...

i've been a little stressed lately. the fact that summer is approaching fast and the idea that i'm completely on my own this summer (financially) is starting to sink in. this whole "real world" thing isn't looking too fun lately with all the expenses and bills and things i have to deal with. and on top of that, i have to take summer classes. how am i ever going to have free time? or a social life? i hope it really isn't as stressful as i'm making it out to be

little thing that's bothering me about the summer - i don't think i can afford going to hilton head with my family for our annual family summer vacation. we always go twice a year, once in the spring and once in the summer. since i started college, i've had to miss the spring one because my spring break doesn't coincide with my brother and sister's, so i can't go. but i've always gone on the summer trip. but this summer, i can't afford to miss a week of work. so i don't think i can go. and that's actually really upsetting. i feel like i'm starting to pull away from the family. yes, i'm growing up and i know i'm not always gonna be going on family vacations and do "family things" and i will eventually only see my family every once in a while. but i'm not ready for that just yet. i'm really starting to realize how much i do care about my family and how much i really do enjoy spending time with them.

hilton head island: summer 2007

another stress - school. how in the world is there only 5 more weeks of classes?? where did the semester go? there is so much work to do in these last few weeks, i don't know how i'm going to have time to do it all. i just have to buckel down and concentrate.

next thing on my mind...chris is leaving. i've known chris since middle school but haven't seen him in over 5 years because we lost contact because he went to a different high school. but these past few weeks i've really started to enjoy reconnecting with him. we've spent a lot of time together lately and he's become one of my closest friends and a confidant. he's easy to talk to and we always have a great time when we hang out. when i am in need of someone to talk to, he's there. but he leaves for Iraq on friday. it's just all happening so fast. i wish i had more time to get to know him again before he has to leave. i'm really going to miss having him to talk to and hang out with.

one of my favorite pictures of us :)

finally, my last little stressor....where the heck am i going to live next year?! i could live in the same apartment but i don't think i can handle the problems with my one roommate. and i just found out her best friend is moving into one of the empty rooms next year. i just can't deal with that, so i have to move out. but to where? and who am i going to live with? do i pay the $250 "transfer fee" to live in a different apartment at the same complex because i really like the complex and most of the people i've met here. but again i have to live with people i don't know. or do i find a brand new complex and live with complete strangers again and hope for the best. again.

ugh, too many things on my mind. but i'm going to try to enjoy this week. i have a lot of school work, but it's my last week with chris. we have a bunch of friends that have great plans to spend chris's last few nights here in raleigh. so i'm going to focus and get as much as i can school wise done so i can enjoy myself. hope everyone has a great week!!

accepting the things i can't change

so monday, i was in the weirdest funk. i just wasn't myself. normally i'm bubbly, outgoing, laughing and constantly smiling. but all i wanted to do monday was curl up in a ball and cry. and i was grumpy and was in a pretty mean mood. the only good thing that came out of my funk was that i was really productive. i got all my work done at work. then i came home and gave kobie a bath and cleaned my bathroom....scrubbing the shower, sink, and toilet. i was so proud of myself lol but i still wasn't feeling that great. but i really didn't know why i was feeling so yucky...until veronica pointed something out to me. maybe it was because i was just accepting the things i can't change. so i'm gonna get my mind off of it by keeping myself busy. i'm not happy about some situations i have to deal with but i can't change them, so i'm not gonna dwell on them anymore. i have a weepy moment, be productive, then move on. yes i still think about things and worry, but i can't change the situation so there's no point in stressing over it. if things are meant to be, they will find a way. and that's all i'm gonna say about that. today i was back to my normal spunky self :) i just hope i can keep this attitude...

no spring break turns into.....

So a lot has happened since I last posted...well spring break happened lol 2 spring breaks, to be exact. but before we get to that, I didn't get a chance to say happy birthday to my amazing little sister, Rebecca. she turned 10 on March 8th (the end of my spring break...part 1). I can't believe she's already in the double digits! stop growing so fast, my little adult. even though she just turned 10, she is definitely wise beyond her years and I'm very proud to call her my little sister :) I love you Rebecca. can't wait to wear our matching dresses once the weather warms up!!

*one of my favorite pictures of us! Fall '06...i can't believe how much we've both grown*

Before - Raleigh, NC (March 2-4)
Ok, now back to spring break.....(just a warning in advance, this may be a long post, so sit tight. it will be well worth reading about my adventures though lol). in my last post, I was complaining about not having any spring break plans because people bailed out and things got too expensive and it just wasn't worth it to do anything big and spectacular. so for the first part of my spring break, which i don't even consider in part 1 or 2, was spent sleeping in, watching quality daytime television and cuddling with kobie. i took the entire week off from work and just relaxed. now that I'm working and going to school, i feel like I'm rushing everywhere and trying to get so much done at once so it was nice to just spend the entire day in bed doing absolutely nothing, all while spending it with my favorite companion, my little kobes. Then Wednesday, I dropped Kobie off at Veronica's and went to dinner with my family, which I do every Wednesday night. I turned in early that night because part 1 of my spring break was about to start. but i didn't know that it would be part 1. I just thought it was how I was spending the last few days of my spring break.

Part 1 - Charlotte, NC (March 5-8)
Thursday, I finished packing up the car and went to pick Emma up around 1:30. We left the Raleigh area around 2 and headed off to Charlotte to visit my uncle and maybe a few friends at UNCC. That part wasn't planned as of yet. On our way to Charlotte, we decided to stop at Concord Mills, the mall located on 85...we pass it every time we drive to Charlotte but I've never actually stopped in, so we decided to this time. If you walk the entire thing, it equals a little over a mile. Emma and I didn't have that much energy but we did stroll through some of the stores and did some window shopping....which then turned into actual shopping lol i ended up buying this adorable dress that i fell in love with. Emma bought a few pairs of flip flops and some bangles. once we had spent more money than we both should have, we got back in the car and finished the last leg of our road trip to my uncles. we made it there about 10 minutes before he got home from work. so we settled in and once he got home, he made us some dinner and we talked and watched TV all night. it was relaxing, which was exactly what we needed after the drive. 3 hours is not very long in a car, but it is draining. not sure why though. so it was another early night for us.

Friday, we both woke up around 11:30, just in time for my uncle to get home for lunch. He made us parogies (sp?? lol) which neither of us have ever had, but they were really tasty. He left for work again and Emma and I just lounged around in our pajamas for another hour or so. we finally changed and spent the rest of the day, and I'm not kidding, the REST of the day out on the porch enjoying the beautiful weather, attempting to get a tan, listening to Lady GaGa, and dancing. Uncle Paul came home from work and then we went to an Italian buffet for dinner. Once we got back from dinner, Emma and I got ready and headed to UNCC. We walked around uptown with a few friends, and after, went back to a friend's apartment and played drinking games and just hung out. It was my night to DD so Emma was quite entertaining on the ride back. Man does she talk when she's drunk lol but it was amusing. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again. It had been a while since we hung out with all of them.

*sunbathing on the back porch*

Saturday was spent much like Friday, only we met my uncle's new girlfriend, Laurie. She's awesome!! we had a great time getting to know her and it was nice to have another girl around for a little while. I love you Uncle Paul, but we just can't talk to you about our "girly" things lol Uncle Paul then cooked us dinner and then it was time for Emma and i to get ready for another night with our UNCC friends. so we got all dressed up and headed over to see them. more drinking games, laughing, and hanging out. now, this weekend was the beginning of their spring break, but it was the end of Emma and my spring break. well a few of the people that we were hanging out were headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee the next day. And in passing, they invited Emma and I. We didn't really think much of it....we had class. I had 3 papers due that week. There was no way we could go. This time, it was Emma's night to DD so I got to drink. It was the first time in a while that I had rum, so I was enjoying Strawberry Daquries....a stray from my normal Mango Margaritas lol but this time it was my turn to be talkative :) and of course, I ended up with a bruise from that night...surprise, surprise! But it was another fun and eventful night with our Charlotte friends.

*all dressed up to party on a Saturday night*

So at the end of the night, we said bye to everyone, wished them fun on their spring break, and went back to my uncles. but on our way back, Emma and i were talking about how fun it would be if we could actually go to the cabin. so as we continued to talk, we came up with a plan.....and hear hatches our spring break, part 2 adventures! Emma never has class on Thursday and starting this week, I don't have class on Thursday either, and I never have class on Friday, so this was perfect! so Sunday we got back to Raleigh, and I worked extremely hard to finish 2 out of my 3 papers because come Wednesday, Emma and I would be heading to Tennessee!!

Part 2 - Gatlinburg, TN (March 11-14)
So Wednesday rolls around, and Emma comes to pick me up at about 3:30 in the afternoon, after I had finished working and she had gotten out of class. We packed the car...and I mean it was PACKED to the brim...and went on our way. Tennessee, here we come!! Before Emma and I got to the cabin, it was just the 8 "mountain men" as they called themselves. I think they were excited to have some women added into the mix lol the first part of the drive wasn't bad at all. it was smooth sailing for the first few hours. It took us a total of 6 hours to get there. the view on the drive was really pretty once we started getting closer to the mountains. the ride was pretty uneventful but exciting at the same time. we had a lot of laughs and some weird/crazy adventures....let's just say hairy mountain, forest ranger, indian, tribal bingo and reversing on the highway were all included in these. but the last hour of our drive was pretty rough considering that it was all windy, curvy, very scary to drive on, mountain roads. and it was dark, so that was stressful. but we finally made it to the cabin around 10pm and they had drinks ready for us. most of the guys were already pretty gone since they had started drinking at about 2 in the afternoon that day lol but Emma and i explored the cabin and then hung out with everyone. there was a rock climbing wall, which i scaled once or twice, in bare feet might i add lol with help from AJ though. we played pool, hung out in the hammocks, and even took a dip in the hot tub. after putting Emma's drunk self in bed, i finally passed out at about 3am...I was exhausted, considering I had been up since 7:30 Wednesday morning.

*one of the many views on the ride there...absolutely gorgeous*

Thursday, I woke up around noon to the smell of breakfast. Devin, Corey and Brandon were cooking pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon. I was so hungry!! the eggs had beer in them...so they weren't quite my taste. but Brandon made me some without beer so i could actually enjoy them. i ate a few pancakes and some bacon too. and then i was ready to start the day. it was a chilly day and pretty overcast so i got in the hot tub for an hour or so with a few people. there was only 1 working shower for 11 people, so late in the afternoon, i finally got a chance to take a shower. but by the time i got there, the shower was cold. lucky me had to do the best i could by taking a shower in the sink lol i washed my hair and used a wash cloth to soap up the rest of my body. well we were in the mountains....so i was roughing definitely it lol after my semi-successful sponge bath, I hung out with everyone, danced, played beer pong, drank and danced some more. by around 5 or 6, i got pretty tired for some reason, so Adam and I went downstairs, away from all the raucous and watched State play in the acc tournament. they unfortunately lost to Maryland, but i got a nice nap in. around 9, Brandon came down to get us and told us dinner was ready. so we meandered our way upstairs and rejoined the group for some more drinking, dancing, partying, and hot tubbing!! the night finally quieted down and we were all just relaxing, watching TV or playing pool. i finally fell asleep around 3am again and slept so well. i actually got a bed that night...the night before i got the pull out couch.

*just a few of the many pictures from Thursday*

8am Friday morning, Devin runs through the house waking everyone up. today was the day to leave. check out was 10am and we still had a lot of cleaning and packing to do. we were a slow moving bunch that morning...especially since some people had fallen asleep even later than i had, meaning only running on a few hours of sleep. so we all pitched in cleaning and getting all the cars packed and ready to head out. we took a farewell picture of the group and then headed on our way. we had a caravan of 4 cars....Britts taking the lead, Emma following, then Brandon, and Adam brought up the rear. About 45 minutes into our drive, we got stuck in some traffic. it had completely stopped so the boys got out and threw the football while Emma and I cranked the music for everyone's listening pleasure. and of course Emma and I danced! it was a lot of fun...but it didn't last long. the traffic began to move. and once we started moving, our caravan slowly dwindled. Britts and Emma were driving quite fast, eventually losing Brandon and Adam. It was a good thing they knew where they were going lol we finally arrived in Charlotte around 2:30 in the afternoon. Emma and I decided we were too tired to make the whole trip back to Raleigh, so we were gonna crash in Charlotte. 45 minutes after Britts and our car got to Charlotte, Adam arrives. And 20 minutes after that Brandon finally shows up. We all said our goodbyes and then Emma and I headed back to Adam's, where we were gonna stay for the night. As soon as we got to Adam's, Emma laid on the floor because her back was hurting but not even 10 minutes after she laid down, she was out. she wasn't budging lol so i decided to take a nap too. at around 8, Brandon showed up at Adam's and they went grocery shopping. they came back around 9 and cooked Emma and I some white bean chicken chili. it was sooo good! Khalid came over a little after that to hang out one last time before we had to leave but Emma was too tired to hang out so she went to Khalid's and passed out there. Some of Adam and Khalid's friends came over for a little while so I hung out with them. They eventually left and as soon as they did, I passed out. I was tired too and we still had another 2.5 hour drive in the morning.

*our farewell picture.*
From top left to bottom right: Adam, Devin, Corey, Diggs, AJ, Britts, Brandon, Sneaky Pete, Devin, Me, Emma, Sherena, Khalid, and Manuel Pumpkiano

After - Raleigh, NC (March 14-today)
Saturday morning arrives, Emma came to get me around 11:00 and we were off to Raleigh again. it was a nasty day...raining and pretty chilly. Emma and I were exhausted from our crazy trip to Tennessee, but it was completely worth it. Once I got back to Raleigh, I slept for hours lol I was sad to say bye to everyone but so nice to finally be able to sleep in my own bed.

there are so many stories to tell but just not enough room to write them all...plus it's getting pretty late (I just noticed the clock lol) and I have to go back to reality in the morning....back to work. blah. at least i have my little monster back with me...i hadn't seen her in over a week and a half. i went out and bought her a new collar today. it's hot pink with jewels on it! she's blinging now lol she's the only good thing i really look forward to about getting back into reality. school and work, not so much.

but anyway, that was the gist of my awesome spring break...part 1 AND 2! so much for not even having a spring break. I had a great time and met some really awesome people, as well as hung out with some of our old friends. these are memories that I will never forget. you only live once baby!! gotta live it up, so be spontaneous every once in a while. you'll look back later on and say, I'm so glad i did that! Ohhh and I hope you enjoy the pictures!

spring break 09

a college student's spring break....every kid dreams about the wild and crazy adventures they will encounter on these trips. but me. do i get to experience wild and crazy adventures? nope. i'm stuck at home. and just when i think this year will be different and i will actually have a great time, plans change.

so the original plan was to go camping at the beach with a group of friends. then we looked at the weather....in the 40s all week during the day, so i can't even imagine how cold it's gonna be at night...so that was a no go. as nick put it, "i don't want to be fighting off hypothermia on my spring break." and i'm in full agreement there. so we move on to new plans. let's go to the mountains and go skiing and stay at the lodge. well the lodge was too expensive...i mean we're broke college kids, come on! so that was a no go.

but then i thought, what if we rent a cabin. so i do some reasearch. i find this goregous cabin, i call and haggle the price until the guy agrees on $450 for a 12 person cabin for 5 days/4 nights. and the cabin was gorgeous!! it had a hot tub, pool table, great space so we don't kill each other. and we finally got a group of people to go. all we needed now was a credit card to make the reservation. well while waiting for the person with the credit card to call me so i can make the reservation, two people back out and decide they don't want to go anymore.

"it's too expensive."
"what are we gonna do for 5 days up in the middle of no where"
"we have to spend extra money on food and alcohol"
"we're gonna kill eachother after a few days from being all together"

and these were only some of the excuses given. so now it's too expensive for the rest of us to go, and to be completely honest, the group dynamics changed so it would be a lot less fun without these two. so we're not going. and now i'm stuck here in raleigh on my spring break. doing absolutely nothing. how fantastic. it's every college kids dream! NOT...

happy birthday ryan!

today is my little brother's birthday! even though he's taller than me now, he will always be my little brother :) i can't believe it. he's not so little anymore lol he is turning 17! ohhh lord. where has the time gone?! i still remember the days we would flip the couch over in the play room and make it into a fort. we would play dog family...he would be the brother dog and i would be the sister dog and we would go on searches for our mother dog. lol and we had nicknames for eachother...he would call me sizzler and i would call him butter. lol what great memories.

happy 17th birthday little brother!
i love you!!