Awesome Opossum

You know how people use that expression, a serious case of the mondays? Well, today I was definitely experiencing a serious case of the Tuesdays. And let me tell ya, I think those might be worse.
I was literally ready to give up today and have a LARGE margarita at 11 am. Luckily, I refrained. (It wouldn't be too bright to show up at my boss' house working on a buzz). But today was just one of those days that dragged on. And on. And on.

So I caved and treated myself to some sweet potato tots from Sonic. I'm telling you, I'm obsessed! They're so yummy, and I keep telling myself it's not cheating since they're sweet potatoes. It's kinda true, right? And then I killed some time wandering around Hobby Lobby - I swear, that store is like therapy for the crafter's soul. I found a couple goodies for my little's shot book page I'm making (her 21st is next weekend, it's gonna be cray!). And then Maggie treated me to dinner at Redzone on campus! She's trying to use up all her meal-plan dollars before the end of the semester, but hey, free food is free food!

Oh, and I cheated again! Me, Maggie, and Mal went to DQ after dinner and got mini-blizzards. So yummyyyy. I'm definitely running till my legs fall off tomorrow.

The night was definitely turning around, and then guess what? I hit a opossum! That;s right, a opossum. It was just taking its sweet time, moseying across 31W (which is 4 lanes, btw) and i didn't even have time to swerve! I mean, it's not like I've never hit a opossum before. I live 30 minutes from town on about 400 acres of farm land. Of course I've hit a opossum. And racoons. And probably lots of other things too. But man, my heart was beating so fast!

Definitely quite an end to my Tuesday. Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I plan on going for a long run, a quick tan, and then laying in my bed catching up on all the shows I watch. Sounds perfect :) 

oh, and p.s.
There's kinda this boy...and we've been texting. Honestly, if anyone saw our conversation, they'd think we were both insane. But he's a cutie ;)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!! I had a lovely Easter weekend with my family and friends and home, and I honestly could not be more thankful and blessed for the amazing life I have.

Friday night and Saturday were spent at the lake with my mom, dad, and little brother (unfortunately, Michaela only go to stay Friday night as she had to work). We got up early Saturday and hiked about 6 miles through some of Kentucky's prettiest wilderness. I honestly think Appalachia is one of the most beautiful areas left in the US. But maybe I'm a little biased. :)

ready to catch some channel-cat with my PINK rod!

I had really bad luck fishing all day, managing to catch a stick. Yes, a stick. Not even a small fish worth throwing back. A stick.

he's cool.

But the hike more than made up for it. We climbed over trees and stomped through mud - I mean, this was a legit, outdoor, wilderness man hike. And I loved it!

BIGGEST catch of the day right here!

We stopped for ice cream at this little "trading post" store on the way back to camp and then took pictures at the lookout point. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

lovely view from Lake Cumberland's lookout point.

After the hike, and a quick bite back at camp, I drove back to the house to get ready for our Pre-Easter Celebration! Meaning - Amber and her roommate were in town, and Stace and Heather and the rest of the girls were all meeting us at Cozy to throw down. We had a blast too; I might not be able to tell you who the band was, but I can tell you I had a good time.

Heather and Shadow cooling off in the creek.

Sunday, after rolling out of bed, Heather and I went for a stroll around the farm, walking down to the slab and wading through the creek. One, the water was freezing cold and I wanted to stab Heather for convincing me "it's not that bad." Two, we found some weird stuff in the creek. Like some sort of iron-rod like-contraption, oh, and eggs. Yeah, eggs. And not snake eggs, or something else you'd expect out there. Like, real chicken eggs. In the water. Are these chickens plotting something?

our spoils.

The fam finally made it back from the lake around 3 or 4 and we opened our Easter baskets (no, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm nearly 22 and I still get excited over an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny) and grilled steaks for a late Easter dinner. Ooh, and I got lots of fun things for the house my friends and I are renting next semester! Exciting!

my "grown up" Easter basket!

So, very fun weekend. Loved catching up with the girls and getting to see the guys (no matter how stupid/protective/older brotherly they act) and can't wait to see everyone again soon. After all, summer is quickly approaching and there are many more fun times to be had!

We are the BIG BLUE NATION.

How bout them cats, baby!! Did anyone else watch the NCAA Final Four and NCAA Championships? Cause you can bet we were watching here in the BLUEgrass state! First off, how often does a state have 2 teams in the Final Four games? And how often are those 2 teams pitted against each other in what was dubbed the Final Four Civil War?

China Glaze "frostbite"

UK and UofL played their little hearts out Saturday, and in the end, my Cats pulled out a win. We went all out to show our support. T-shirts, facepaint, burning couches...you name it, we did it. And then my babies did it again Monday night!

reppin' Big Blue!

KU vs. UK. Both teams were underdogs this season; ESPN didn't even have UK in their final four bracket. And they both played incredibly well. I literally thought I was having heart palpitations during the game! But UK did it, and KY celebrated like only we can. There were riots in Lexington, people were burning couches and crowds got pepper-sprayed. It was pretty much pandemonium.

fire in the streets. there may be a couch under there.

We even watched the live coverage of the celebration at Rupp Arena and the arrival of the team back home. I honestly have never been this proud of UK basketball and felt this intense about a season or a particular team of players. We are the #BBN!

After Saturday's win (and celebration) I headed out to the Lake with my parents and brother for some rest and relaxation (read: beer and sunbathing). We roasted s'mores over the fire and hiked around the campsite. Me and Tanner even got out our baseball gloves and tossed the ball around for a while.

Woodchuck and a fishing rod. Great day at the lake!

I swear, it felt like summer in high school all over again. Just hanging with the fam, laying out all day, no worries. And then back to the grind and reality early Monday morning. But, everyone's at the lake til Easter Sunday, and I'm so ready to pack my bags and head out there come 4pm Friday afternoon.

Dad's 2nd catch of the day!

I'm ready for all day at the lake, laying in the sun, Saturday night out with my girls back home, and a great Easter with my family.

Bring on the sun and good times, por favor!

I am the Mockingjay.

Okay, can I start out by saying I LOVE the Hunger Games trilogy? Like, literally. LOVE. I haven't been so engrossed in a book series since I turned the page of the first chapter of The Boy Who Lived. I honestly never thought I'd come across another book series that grabbed me and held tight the way JK Rowling works did. And then I picked up the Hunger games. For the longest time I refused to; nothing could stand up to Harry or the Golden Trio. I seen and read others poor attempts at it - take Twilight for instance.

Yes, I read it. And yes, I'll admit, some parts were enjoyable. But the writing...my God, woman! No wonder the target demographic is 13 yer old girls, it's written at their level! Yet somehow, Suzanne Collins did the unimaginable. She filled the void left at the end of an era. And not by writing some teen-porn wannabe love story.

yeah, that's right. MIDNIGHT SHOWING.

I think I was drawn to the Hunger Games for the same reasons I was drawn to HP for so long. The universal themes of love and friendship, war and peace, sacrifice and redemption. How far will you go to protect the people you love? To protect the ideas you believe in? To do what's right?

Okay, rant over. In case you missed it, I love THG. Even though I was a little late to the party haha. So of course, my friends and I had to go to the midnight showing.

And I'm so glad we did! The movie was AMAZING. Jennifer Lawrence may be my new favorite person. And Josh Hutcherson? Don't even get me started. That jaw line...mmhmm! And, they're both from KY. Represent! Oh, and someone brought a bow. A BOW. To the movies. There were Effies and Katnisses and Seneca Cranes. It was like all of Panem up in there!

Oh, and I did my first 5K!
My friend, Amber, is a Kappa Delta at UK and every year they host a Shamrock Run, a 5K run/walk where all the proceeds go to their philanthropy. My friend, Heather, and I did it in 37 minutes! Kinda slow, but Heather wanted to walk part of the way and she threatened to hurt me if I left her haha. Even so, it was our first 5K and we were very proud of ourselves! We're gonna try to make 5K's a part of our routine; we've already researched all about the Color Run this October in Nashville. Can't wait!

#239

Where has the time gone??

Wow, I haven't posted since this year began!

And so much has happened since then, I don't even know where to start!

My brain (and body) has been all over the place lately, between work and reapplying to school for the fall semester, road-trips to North Carolina, looking for a new house, and preparing for my upcoming 6-week trip to Spain, it's a wonder I haven't lost my mind! So to keep things straight, I'm gonna do a series of posts, instead of one reallyyyyy long one!

I've been to North Carolina not once, but 2 times just in the last couple of weeks. That's a 10+ hour drive, people! My friend, Samantha, and I drove down for WKU's Spring break, which was an absolute blast. We got there Saturday around dinner time, so my sister and her husband took us out to a nice dinner downtown at Winslow's and after-dinner milkshakes at Cookout. Y'all, Cookout may be one of the greatest missing enterprises outside of NC. It's that good!  So sad we don't have them in ky...

"nursing" our sick sea turtles back to health.

And then the rest of the time we were there, my sister showed us around Greenville and Manteo or left us to wander around on our own. In Manteo, we went to the aquarium, which is honestly one of my favorite things to do on vacation!

I know it's super nerdy and childish, but I LOVELOVELOVE going to aquariums and zoos and museums. I think it's something that's been engrained in me over the years. Every family vacation when I was little included trips to museums and aquariums - Riply's Believe it or Not Museum, the Newport Aquarium. Hell, one of my favorite school field trips was to the Louisville Science Center.

Even now, on study abroad trips, I live for the outings when we get to do these things - Taronga Zoo in Sydney, the Museum and Memorial at Normandy, MALBA Museo de Arte in Buenos Aires. LOVE.

My older sister's the exact same way. Nerds at heart!

Grilled Brie and Tomato sandwich (mine)- Open-faced Hummus Sandwich (Sam's)

So the aquarium was a blast; of course I was suckered into buying those tourist-y photos where you're riding a stingray and surfing into a shark's mouth. And we took our own hilarious photos - me, laying on the ground next to a replica of a grown alligator. Us "nursing" sick toy sea turtles back to health - complete with lab coats.
And then on the days we were left to roam on our own, Samantha and I took in Greenville and the teeny neighboring marine town, Washington.
We walked around ECU's campus (which was almost dead since nearly everyone was gone for spring break) and walked downtown for lunch at this hole-in-the-wall cafe/bookstore called the Tipsy Teapot. We went to Washington and walked all along the docks and through the streets, which are full of these huge, southern homes. Some of them had been there since the 1800's! And strangely, there was this really authentic NY Pizza place where Samantha and I went for lunch. The owner was born in Brooklyn and had grown up in Long Island, and then moved down to NC when he got older. We chatted for a while and then he gave us free Italian Ice. That's what I call a good day.

working diligently!

My second trip was shorter (just for St. Patty's Day weekend) but no less fun! My little sister and I drove down late Friday evening; we literally got to my sister's house at 6:30 in the morning. But we slept in a little and then all of us (yes, Scott included) went to the Accidental Artist and painted adorable margarita glasses!

Lilly lion!

I based mine on our Phi Mu Lilly print, using the quatrefoil, the lion and the carnations. I actually thought it turned out really cute!

quatrefoil and carnation love.

Charlsey went with a Tiffany blue and painted a diamond ring next to the words "Forget diamonds, Margaritas are a girl's best friend." Cute, right?!

Carnation <3

And of course, Michaela went with a giraffe print, 'cause she's the wild child of the family!

the Accidental Artist!

We had plans to go out that night for St Patrick's Day and meet up with some of Charlsey and Scott's friends downtown, but somehow we ended up at Christy's Europub! I think it had to do with hearing bagpipes from somewhere down the road where we parked (who can resist bagpipes? no one, that's who!) and we went to investigate and Christy's is what we found! It was actually a really fun pub-type bar with really cool people. Win-win in my opinion.

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!! The work-week is almost over and I, for one, CAN. NOT. WAIT. This week has felt like the longest week in the history of weeks. Partially, I think because Barbara (my boss) has been out of town for 2 days, which leaves me at work COMPLETELY by myself with just a list of tasks to occupy myself. It's not all bad, really. I take my laptop and listen to Pandora (I've been stuck on my Luke Bryan station for weeks now!) but it really is just me, myself, and I piddling around in Barbara's home office. And also, I think this week has dragged on because I've been so looking forward to this weekend!

My friend Christina and I have a certain affinity for peach margaritas.

For one, I can't wait to be in Louisville with some of my lovely, Phi Mu ladies!! A couple of weekends ago, they came down from Louisville to my hometown and stayed for the weekend, which was an absolute blast! We went out that Friday night to our local bar and watched the local band, Sidewayz. Then Saturday we hiked all around my family's 350+ acres and went for Mexican and Margaritas before getting ready and heading out again for a 2nd night on the town. It was so much fun just showing them around my hometown because it's so much smaller (and country-er) than Louisville. So this weekend it's my turn to visit them and the girls are going to show me how things are done in their hometown. Also, this is one of Christina's last weekends here before she leaves for Argentina (she's going through a different program, but it's basically the same thing I did!) so we're all trying to get together as much as we can before she's gone.

Tale as old as time...

Another reason to look forward to this weekend, my friends and I have plans to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D!! Y'all do not understand how excited I am for this. Beauty and the Beast was always one of my absolute favorite disney movies when I was little (who am I kidding, it still is) and I'm getting such a kick out of the fact that Disney is re-releasing some of their classics from the vault. And putting them in 3D, no less! My friends and I were pretty much first in line for the Lion King and I've heard that they're releasing the Little Mermaid sometime in August. That movie is my namesake, for crying out loud! Oh, and also, I am FINALLY getting my white iphone 4 this weekend. POR FINNN. I swear, I have been trying to get this phone for ages and something is always happening. Seriously though, right now, I could go for a Peach margarita or a tall glass of Argentine Malbec, and a stack of Disney movies on dvd. And some sushi. I'm always up for sushi. Just one more day!!

See ya bye, 2011!! Bring it on, 2012!!

Wow! My last post was in September!! I can't believe it...I've been so busy with different things, I haven't had time to write at all. And sometimes, that's when I need to the most; just to take a minute and get things off my chest and out of my cluttered mind and out in the open where I can rake through them. And man, do I have a lot of things to rake through. First off: SPAIN. Back in September, I had to face the possibility that I wouldn't get my Student Visa on time and I might not get to go to spain. So I started researching some other options - basically anything that would get me to Spain (I just want to go!) One program I came across was called TEFL and they offer a 1-month long certification course that certifies it's students to teach English ANYWHERE in the world. And you can take this course online, in chicago...or pretty much anywhere you want! They even have an option for Madrid! So I sat down with my parents and we basically pro-conned both programs and how they would fit in with me finishing my senior year here at Western Kentucky and keeping my current job (which I love!) In the end, we decided that even though TEFL is only 1 month (versus the 10 months I could get to spend in Spain with the Language asst. position) it definitely seems a better option for me - both now and in the long run. I can choose to take the course any month that works best for me (I'm looking at March right now) and I can come back to WKU in the Fall and keep working my job up until I leave and pick right back up when I get back. And looking at the future, 10 months would have looked AMAZING on my resumé, but that's all. It would be a resumé booster, nothing more. TEFL actually helps you get job offers - ACTUAL JOBS. That's what I need to focus on, and just reading some of the testimonies online, I'm getting super pumped about this! So that's that, for now. A huge weight off of my shoulders. And something to look forward to in the upcoming months! So...as to what I've been up to the last couple of months, a little recap: Luke Bryan came to Western for my school's Homecoming!! 

Luke Bryan at WKU !! 

Homecoming is a pretty big deal at my school, especially for the greek organizations, and since Luke used to be a Sigma Chi back in the day (he's still totally a frat boy) the concert was wall-to-wall Greeks! It was such a fun time and I'm so glad I got to share it with my lovely sisters of ΦΜ!

Can a simple black v-neck be any sexier ??? 

Hmm...so next: Thanksgiving! Always having been one of my favorite holidays, what with the food and the family and making messes in the kitchen helping mom cook, this year it was one of the best I've ever experienced! My girls from home and I finally got to experience the wonderment that is TURKEY-KICK! What's that you say? You've never heard of it?? Well, it's a pretty big deal here. Turkey-kick is a HUGE bar-crawl held every year in Bardstown (the Bourbon capital of the world) on Thanksgiving Eve. Bands play at the Old Stable and Talbott Tavern and there's a bus that takes you around to the different bars.

Oh ya know, just Turkey-kickin' it up! 

Well, somehow, we didn't end up on the bus, but no worries! We got to ride around in a limo - for FREE - and see one of our favorite hometown bands, Hooker! It was definitely a great memory with some great friends, and we've already decided: we'll be back next year :)  Christmas was also a blast this year, even though for some reason I just couldn't seem to make myself believe that it was actually Christmas. Maybe because it was so warm this year, and it just doesn't seem like the holidays to me without a little snow on the ground. Butttt...my sister and her husband managed to make it up from North Carolina for the holiday and that was probably the best present of the year! It's a lot harder to get to see them now that they live in NC and I work a lot and my little sister has her first job and none of us can really get away for long periods of time. But we did get to spend the lovely holidays together, so I'm very thankful for that!

Tis the season...

Oh, and ever since my cousin's wedding back in September, my family seems to have decided that we are wine drinkers. Not that I'm complaining though! I love it! I think I came back from Argentina with a slightly more mature palette. My only complaint is that my dad sent me to the liquor store with the wine list and the workers gave me a giant box for all the wine because "it didn't look like a little thing like me could carry all that wine!" So embarrassing.  And this year was actually my FIRST New Year's Eve experience. One of my sorority sisters came down from Louisville for the weekend and we went to Hooker's last show (so sad!) It was her first and last Hooker concert and I'm so glad it was the one she got to see! I'm telling ya, they really outdid themselves. We definitely rang the new year in in-style, and I'm looking forward to everything 2012 has to offer. And maybe since it's a new year, I'll start keeping all my resolutions! Wish me luck!