30 Day Remix begins tomorrow!

People that know me know that I really love to shop. It's one of my favorite past times. It can be a good thing. I mean it makes potentially dreadful trips to the mall bearable. It is causing me a problem because money doesn't grow on trees! I've gotten into a bad habit of buying everything I think is cool whenever I have money, and this is so not a wise way to handle my resources. To fix the problem I've decided to follow in my good friend Laura's footsteps and do a 30 day remix. This means no more shopping for a month, no outfit repeats, and I have to try outfits I have not tried before. This should be fun! I took a picture of what I wore today, but I'm going to start tomorrow because I don't think I wore this outfit long enough for it to count (I changed into shorts and a tee after church). I'm going to go ahead an apologize for my bad quality mirror pictures. (:  This should be fun. Wish me luck!

Jacket - Gap
Shirt - Forever 21
Jeans - Charlotte Russe
Shoes - Nine West c/o JC Penny
Bag - EBay

Oh, and if you have any ideas in the coming posts on how I can change things up and keep them interesting, comment and let me know!

My Week.

This week I've become obsessed with documenting my life through instagram. These are a few of my snapshots!

Home Stretch

Here are a few pictures of what my home stretch look like...

I've been spending the past few days with my bum glued to my desk chair studying away. Also, I know the end is near because I'm finally running out of soap. I really accumulated a lot before school started, and sadly my favorite has reached its end. ): Possibly the highlight of my week so far, though, has been watching MM Live. I'm a sucker for funny parents. For those of you who watch it regularly, would you believe they're like this out of the public eye, too? I think I'll keep them. (:
I only have 15 days until I'm out of school for the summer! 5 of which I'm not in classes and 2 of which are exam/pack and drive home days. I can't believe I'm already to the (hopefully) halfway point of undergrad!!

One Last Hurrah Before the Crackdown

This weekend I made my last trip before the end of the school year! I was able to go up to Oxford and see Kate for the Grove Bowl. It was fun! This makes my total count of Ole Miss football games I've attended a solid 2, and we won! (It was a scrimmage by the way (; ) This weekend we had a nice relaxed get together after we decided not to drown ourselves in the pouring rain to see Gavin Degraw. Even though I was so excited to go see him, it turned out for the better. I hope that I will get to go up to Oxford some more this summer, but unfortunately now it is time to bite the bullet and get to working on finals! I have several papers due this week but thankfully summer is only a few weeks away!

Patience Is [Most Definitely] a Virtue

Well, congratulations! We've made it through Wednesday! This point in the week is usually the time that I let out a big sign and send out my thanks that tomorrow is Thursday, my last long day of classes. If I can make it through tomorrow, I've made it to the weekend and I'm good to go. I'm so excited because after tomorrow I only have 2 more of those!

I'm not going to lie. Today was a pretty tough day. You know those days when you are just feeling overwhelmed and run down? Well for me that was today. For some reason it just all fell on top of me. School work, social stuff, spring fever, you name it! Thankfully, though, I received some wonderful encouragement that really helped me pull things together by the end. Right as I was about to go into ultra meltdown mode my mom messaged me on Skype, which started a short video convo. I'm so glad, too. She told me that everything would be alright if I took it in stride and suggested I just make a list of everything I need to get done. (She wrote about how to fix being overwhelmed today.) It really helped! She also told me that I just need to be patient and I will make it through the next few weeks.

Also, the chapter for this week's section of The Fitting Room was "Patience." I guess I really needed this lesson today or something... This passage from the book didn't talk about my "waiting for summer" kind of patience, though. It talked about the kind of patience where there is kindness, humility, and forgiveness involved. Like when someone does [or doesn't] do something and you just have to be patient with them. The example the author uses repeatedly in the book is 1 Timothy 15-16 where Paul writes about how since God had patience for him, who is the self-titled worst sinner ever, so in turn he will have patience for us and we should have patience for others, even if they do things we do not like.

What I learned today is that The Book of Virtues was right. Patience is a virtue we should strive for. Hearing so much about it today really gave me peace. Now the list is written (with some things checked off!!), I'm finding some calm in trying to have patience towards other, and like the little engine says... I think I can! I think I can! ... make it a few more weeks.

Thanks Buddy!

I haven't had one of these in quite a while. As tempting as the school Starbucks is, it can get quite expensive for those who are trying to save on their bonus bucks. Today I finally caved, though. You see, it was raining very hard when I got out of class and I forgot my umbrella. How convenient! How is it that out of all the days I don't carry it with me I have to walk all the way across campus in the rain? Oh well. Because it was so cold and I was so wet, I stopped by and got a wonderfully delicious caramel macchiato. Yum! It definitely revived my spirits and helped me finish up some reading I've been working on for about a week and a half for my world lit class. I have been reading A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. To call it wierd and slightly unsettling would be an understatement. There are very few books I have read that I have been so unsettling or odd to me that they have given me wierd or bad dreams. This was one of them The Lovely Bones and The Hunger Games were the other two. [Disclaimer: I really enjoyed The Hunger Games when I was awake and didn't have dreams until weeks later... It was odd]. All I have to say is "Thanks buddy!" and know that I will remember my umbrella tomorrow!

A Great Weekend Has Been Had!

 I have to say I have been blessed with some wonderful friends! I went Friday to Louisiana to see The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 3OH!3 and Shayliff with Laura and Caleb. I always have such a great time when I hang out with them, and the concert was so much fun! Before the concert we went and get burgers at The Dog House (I think that's what it's called), which was delicious! I'm not sure what Caleb got, but Laura and I shared the Fiesta  Burger. It is so good. It had a jalepeño bun, avocado slices, salsa, and some sort of spicy sauce. Yum! I think I will have to replicate this ASAP. It was great to sit and talk to them while we ate. Laura and I started planning out all the fun things we are going to be doing this summer, and I have to tell you, it's going to be AWESOME!

 At the concert we got to be on the floor, which was pretty cool. We started off in the middle, then went and sat down a while because the girl beside us was driving me CRAZY, but we ended up triumphantly fighting our way to where we were only about 2 people away from the front! I don't think I have ever spent so much energy at a concert. It was hard work, what with all the dancing, jumping, fist pumping and singing. We were worn slap out after.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus sang my favorite song of theirs! I got some video. Once you factor in all the off key crowd singers and swayers, it's kind of comical.

I ended up leaving Laura's bright and early yesterday morning because we both had things that we had to go do. As I was passing by home I called my mom to say hi, and boy am I glad I did. She encouraged me to stop by the Brick Street. I was going to leave after that and get on my way, but did I? Nope! I ended up staying for lunch, then tagging along with the family while they ran some errands. (I got some new sandals!!) Then - wait for it! wait for it! - running 10 miles with my mom. Way to go for unexpected plans! It was a good run, and I had a great time. I can't wait until this summer when I can get out on the trails and run more than once in a blue moon.

A great weekend has most definitely been had.

P.s. - I watched "We Bought A Zoo" again...just as good as the first time!

Shopaholic

Ok so I have to take a moment and say, "Hi. My name is Anna, and I'm a shopaholic". Today I organized my closet which inspired me to stop by Forever 21. Usually when I go there I can't find anything, but I still like to go...They play good music! This time I found something; a spring dress and some shorts. They were both really good sale buys! Anyway, I've been stuck in the world of A Handmaid's Tale for the past few days (reading for World Lit), and I needed some real world exploration time.
When I was checking out I just happened to see the bottom of the bag. Now, I've gotten several of these yellow bags, but this is the first time I have noticed the "John 3:16." It's so cool! I am pretty sure I was more excited about the bag than my actual purchase. It makes me want to take more notice of my shopping bags to look for hidden messages. Hmmm... challenge accepted!

We Bought A Zoo!

Tonight was growth group night, but instead of meeting at church like usual, we had a party! We ate hamburgers with lots of other yummy foods that go with hamburgers. The entertainment for the night was the movie "We Bought A Zoo." I have to say this is one of the cutest movies I have ever seen! It was also really nice to just kick back and enjoy hanging out.

It has been so nice to have a group of people to meet with every Wednesday this semester. We meet and talk about our weeks, what's going on in our life, and discuss the book we have all been reading, The Fitting Room. I think every 20-something woman should read it. It has really challenged me to put more thought to my actions and my motives behind them. I did not realize how much I don't think about what I'm doing. The book is centered around the verse Colossians 3:12-13a: "12So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other..."


I really encourage everyone to check it out.
You can buy it here!

Year In Pictures Day 99!

Spring has sprung! Today was the best weather we have had here in Hattiesburg for about a week, and it was very much enjoyed! Our campus here at USM is so pretty when it is warm outside and the sun is shining. Last week they started landscaping and today they finally got to the flower beds outside my dorm. The picture above is one just across the way. They finished it right before I went to dinner so I snapped a quick pic. They worked very hard on it and the finished product is just splendid!
One of the habbits from winter that I really need to break is the amount of time I spend of the computer. I waste so much time just sitting searching for random things. A few of my favorites? Pinterest, I Waste So Much Time, and College Fashion. I've decided that now that I can go outside and enjoy the weather I should do just that or something else productive.
Today I was on Pinterest and one of my friends had posted this list. Read it. It has some really good ideas on it! Think about it. How often do you waste time just doing junk on the computer when you could be exercising, learning something, or growing closer to God or a friend? I really liked number 10. I'm one of those people that check the mailbox every day to see if I got something. I absolutely love to get mail- even if it is just a catalog! I haven't gotten any mail in a few weeks and the other day I was kind of like, "Man, why don't I get any mail!?" Then it dawned on me, "Hey Anna, maybe if you sat down and sent people mail they would send you something in return. Duh!" It's a dying art, writing notes and letters, and that is sad. We are so used to the instant gratification of text messages and emails that most people have lost the patience and excitement of good ole snail mail.

In a couple of weeks I'm planning on going up to Oxford to visit Kate and see Gavin Degraw! I am so excited I can't stand it. I got his latest CD a few weeks ago and I am really liking it. This video above is one of my favorite songs on the album. The words he sings are so good and true. The message is kind of bittersweet (haha get it?) but its refreshing that an artist is singing about something real - not that Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" or LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" isn't applicable to real life situations (catch the sarcasm? (: ).

Enjoy the wonderful weather everyone!

Anna

Easter Eggs!

I think Easter is my favorite day of the year. I just love all the newness of life and the meaning of the whole week! One of my favorite traditions of Easter is dying eggs. We've done it every year that I can remember, and I still look forward to it. This year, I made it through without staining my hands. I'm pretty sure it is almost impossible for me to go within a 5 foot radius of any kind of dye without getting it all over me. Success!