Mini Vacation!

You know when people make you do visualization exercises to get you imagination flowing or calm you down, and they tell you to go to your happy place? Well the picture above is more or less a version of what I picture every time. The beach is my favorite place on earth. I love the waves, the smell, the sun, the food ... pretty much the whole idea of the beach.

Yesterday I was out of classes for Mardi Gras (How awesome is that?!) and thank goodness lovely Laura was out, too. So what did we do? We went to the beach!!! It was great. I'm pretty sure Laura appreciates the ocean as much as I do, so she made the perfect day trip companion. We left Clinton at 7 and were on the shore taking in this view by 9:45.

Because it was a bit chilly we took to the beach in several bits of time, and did other things throughout the day.

It was pretty much beach, shopping, explore, eat, beach, explore, shopping. Fun stuff!

 We stopped for lunch at this great place named "White Cap Seafood" or something like that. I didn't notice until now that everything on the plate besides the sauce was fried, but it sure was good! I mean, hey, I WAS on vacation wasn't I? We will definitely be returning (hopefully with more friends!) to this place.

Here are a few other things we saw:

There were sand sculptors at one of the places we went shopping! There were figures all the way around the thing, and it was pretty cool!
Also, I think we found the next Toddlers & Tiaras featured pageant... I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have seen one of these kind of posters in my life. It's quite funny.

It was so fun to be able to hop in the car and go down to the coast for the day. I hope that I can do it again soon! It was so nice to sit just chillin' and talking.

What is that? A plane?

I got to come home today! After this past week, it was so nice to be home and see my family. I ran some errands with my mama, and we saw this strange sight. How often do you see parts of a plane being carried down the interstate? We were quite intrigued.

I also got to go get my hair done. I'm blonde again! (If you didn't know, I've been a redhead for several weeks now) This is something I enjoy so much. I especially like to get my hair colored because then I get my hair washed and blow dried. It reminds me of when I was little and my mom would blow dry my hair and I would practically fall asleep standing up because it felt so good.

Tonight Caroline and I had a girls' night out. We went to OEC; it was so good! Then we went to the store and picked up some Valentine's candy and a movie. We are watching "Letters to Juliet." It's such a cute little movie. If you are a hopeless romantic like me, you should check it out.

Summoning Springtime

I am determined that it will be spring soon and I will be able to spend my days in sunshine. (Let's pretend it is not currently raining outside) I spent my lunch sitting in the sun reading a nice book and my afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather. I went my the store and picked up a few lovely things, too! Here is a shirt and some nail polish I got. I am so excited about their springiness! I can barely contain it. I have already put on the polish, and even if it is 30 degrees this weekend I will find a way to work this cute little shirt into my outfit! Now I just have to make it 4 MORE DAYS!!! until I can escape to the wonderful beach with my precious friend Laura! This is going to be great. Congratulations on making it up the hill, everyone!

Key to my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I have to admit that I am not a whole-hearted supporter of this holiday though. As my mother would say, it's a fake one. I really believe that this day is unnecessary because we should celebrate the people we love every day of the year! To each his own, though.
Undoubtably now I am going to sound like a hypocrite when I say that the highlight of my day was getting a Valentine's Day card in the mail. It was a sweet card from my mom reminding me that she loves me and hopes I have a wonderful week. I have always been thrilled with getting mail. If there is one way to brighten my day or get my heart, the key is sending me mail. I love it! I think this is because it is something that takes thought and time. I mean, think about it. You have to put thought into what the card says, write something in it, find out my address and walk out to the mail box and send it. This is definitely a novelty in today's fast pace society.

Just Another Ordinary Day

My new umbrella. Isn't it bright and cute!

 Here are some little snapshots of my day! It rained pretty much the whole time, so most of it was spent in my dorm, but I did venture out a few times. First to go to class, of course. We had a guest teacher in modern today, and it was kind of interesting. It is always nice to learn from a different teacher's perspective, but so far all of the teachers here seem to have the same one. We spend a lot of time rolling around and chugging to depressing music. I want something fun! After class I took a nice nap, then headed over to the Fresh for some food. I had a spinach omelet, tater tots, and a cookie...it's important to balance out the healthy, you know. (at least that is what the people who cook here seem to think) I will definitely be eating tons of vegetables this weekend while I am home! Later I headed off to the library for some studying with my great friend Jackie. She's so sweet. She brought me a valentine chocolate! She knew that my valentine is far and was kind enough to think of me.

I ate one of them as soon as I took this picture. Yum!
We got a massive amount of studying done for our test Wednesday. (Prayers would be greatly appreciated!!) We have studied almost every day for a week to prepare for this test. It is the first one so we are not quite sure how it will go. I am hoping well because we have been working so hard.

Yesterday and today!

I've missed a few days! Nothing notable has really been going on besides lots of studying and yearning for Mardi Gras break.
Yesterday, though was pretty productive. I only have two classes on Fridays, and I get done with school by 10:30. Lucky me had a canceled class so I decided that I would be productive. First, I did some studying for my history test coming up. I usually have a hard time focusing long enough to retain any information when studying by myself, so I set up some time to meet with a friend today and look over everything. After I did some of that stuff, I got this nifty Apartment Guide in the mail so I thought I would look through it and get a jump start on preparing for next spring. Bad idea! All it did was get me overwhelmed. That book is now hidden away in the back of one of my drawers for a few more weeks. (:
All the studying and researching had me tuckered out. I took a nice long nap then went and spent the evening hanging out with a couple of friends, eating delicious pasta. Yum! Nothing real eventful has been happening these days, but maybe something good will crop up. Only 1 week, and I will be soaking up some sun at the beach!!!

Love the Sunshine

Today I was able to spend some much needed time outside in the sun! It felt so wonderful to sit there with my book letting the sun warm up my sleeveless  arms. I think I even got a little color in my face! I had a rough start to my day. I woke up in a funk, and I couldn't eat breakfast. This was definitely one of those simple things I needed to turn things around.

While I was sitting soaking up some good ole vitamin D, I read a chapter out of my current read, The Fitting Room. It is about how since God loves us we are given the clothes of patience, kindness, etc (Colossians 3:12). This particular chapter I was reading talked about "agapoa" love. Agapoa is the kind of love you feel for someone when you desire to be in the presence of someone and just share your experiences with them. It is a continuation of agape love, which is unconditional, all-consuming love. This part of the book was something I really liked because my "love language" is spending time. I really enjoy just hanging around, talking, and spending time with the people I love. When I was reading about this kind of love, my mind was flooded with the people I love in that way, and it was an Aha moment for me because it showed me how God feels for me, x infinity, how I feel about these people in my head, and no matter what I do, he does not plan on stopping.

Cool.

Thanks Mom

Today, I give many thanks to my muti who has spoiled me all these years by not making my do my own laundry...Oh the things we take for granted when we live at home!

Like every Tuesday that I am away from home, this is how I started my day. Glamourous, huh? I've decided to make these mornings my official laundry day. This is good because everyone else is usually in class, and I have the machines to myself, but not so great because I really don't like to do my laundry. I have been very lucky to grow up with a wonderful mom that does it for me. I am so thankful for that, too! 

The machines have a serious problem, though. Because they do not get very hot, it takes roughly and hour and a half to get a load dry! This is quite a problem. I have stuff to do! It presents quite a challenge because if you leave and your clothes sit in the finished dryer too long, some person will come and put your clothes out on the floor. Gross!! Luckily my good timing skills have kept that from happening to me, but I've seen it happen.

Oh well, I can't waste too much stress on it...I'm done for the week anyway. I'm so happy I won't have to darken that doorway for another week. As celebration I've decided to have a snack of goldfish (not with chocolate ice cream ... chocolate kisses (: )

Thankful For the Sun

This weekend I was introduced to a new (new to me) band! They are called Seryn. After hearing them, I spent the last of my iTunes Christmas money and bought the CD. I am so glad I've been introduced to them. Their music is beautiful and very uplifting. It might end up being my soundtrack for the spring. Below is a video of my favorite track on the album. Check it out!

Seryn - We Will All Be Changed

As I was driving back to school from home, I got so into the music. I don't know any of the words yet, and that was refreshing to me because I could just soak it all up. This song started playing when I as I came to a stop light and right at the climate I looked up and the sky wasn't gray anymore! I was just taken aback for a moment by its beauty backed up by the song because I hadn't even noticed until then that the sun had come out. It was great, and made me smile.

I have really missed the beautiful blue sky the during the rain this past week. I'm so happy to have it back! I've decided that I would do my homework with my window open so I can soak up some of its goodness. I'm glad I was not put in charge of designing the earth's beauty. I would never be able to accomplish it like this.

Shopping!!

I LOVE to go shopping. It is probably one of my favorite things to do. This is most likely because it is one of those things that allows me to hang out and catch up with people I care about. (My number 1 rule of shopping is don't do it alone!) Today I made a trip to the mall with my great friend Laura because we had a mission. We have a dear friend couple who are expecting a baby and we had to get a gift for their shower. How exciting!! It was so much fun to go through all the little baby stuff...We just couldn't get enough of it. We both left the mall so proud of our gifts and excited to present them to our friends. If there is one thing I like better than shopping for myself is shopping for someone else. I have so much fun going in and trying to find something I think the person I am shopping for would really enjoy. It makes me feel good, and who doesn't like to feel good?
We went to the baby shower later that afternoon, and I had so much fun! It was so good be there, see all the people, and congratulate the almost parents. I am very excited for them, and I know they will do a exceptional job raising their baby boy.

I have been surpassed!

Can you guess which pare of shoes is me?

Today I became the proud owner of Caroline's barely worn sparkly black Toms! Yes, people. I am 19 and my 12 year old sister has given me hand-me-down shoes. Is that crazy? I am very excited, though, because I have been wishing for these shoes since she got them. Lucky me! I think Caroline is going to grow up taller than me. We'll see soon...she's getting close!

Tried something new today!

Today I tried something new! It's guava (in the form of jelly). It was really good! A woman from one of my classes and I have started tutoring each other, and when I went over to her home today she gave me some to taste. (I'm helping her with history, and she is helping me with my spanish in return.) It was super sweet, though, and I ate it with some coffee as well as a piece of chocolate. My heart has been racing ever since from all the sugar.
On another note, I'm so so happy that tomorrow is Friday! This has been such a long week filled with tons of reading and homework. I can't wait to just sit and relax...until Sunday when I have to do all my homework.
Happy Thursday!

Reading, reading, reading

Today I have spent several hours reading excerpts from the book Coming of Age in Mississippi for my World Lit class. I got my book a few days late, so I've been trying to catch up on my reading. Needless to say it has been very overwhelming...I still have to read two acts of Othello by tomorrow afternoon!
I was very interested by this story. Growing up in social studies and  US history classes has taught us about the Civil Rights Movement, and living in the Jackson area, we hear about it all the time. Reading this book, though, it was very moving to see it all interpreted from a first person perspective. Even though we still have touches of racism in today's society (who are we kidding saying that there isn't any?) it is hard for me to understand why the amount of racism and discrimination against the African American community was so big a brutal. I guess I've been lucky to grow up in my time, in a home that does not judge people for their race. It is totally unfair for a person to be judged by something they can not control, like the color of their skin. I think that everyone should read this book at some point because it is quite good. I learned a lot.