2011.

If I could go back and change anything about this year... I wouldn't.

I've lived more and grown more this year than ever before. 

I love my life the way it is now and I'm thankful for everything that has happened. I really feel that I have a wonderful life. I have an incredible family. My friends are top of the line. I'm blessed beyond belief. Everything that has happened in my life has led me to today and I am thankful for absolutely every life experience. 

I've learned things.

I've had laughs.

I've made new friends and found old ones.

I've found people to count on.

I've grown up.

I've bought a lot of sweaters.

If I could relive 2011 all over again, I would. Every single moment. Except maybe this time... I would savor every second. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thoughts...

I hope my future husband has this many wrinkles when he's an old man. I think this is beautiful.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."-Plato

Oh, and I want to go back to Paris.

"He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought... doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps... means a little bit more!" 

I'm speechless when trying to describe this Christmas.

I got to watch my beautiful grandfather stand up in church and lead a prayer that brought tears to people's eyes. I was able to watch him stand shyly, but also proudly at the front of the church after being asked to collect the offering. While watching him, I noticed how he was the only man wearing a suit to church. Also, even after getting shorter due to old age.. he still towered over the other men. Even after his body goes through wear and tear, and his mind is tortured from constant worry for everyone in his life...he is still a strong, gentle giant. I'm not one for comparing people, but when it comes to him...I just can't help it. Any boy that I date, I can't help but compare them to my grandfather. Gentleness, selflessness, humility, honestly, work ethic, kindness, and a fantastic sense of humor are all traits that my grandfather possesses and when dating someone, I hope that they can at least come close to matching him in these categories, because I know no one can beat him. 

 "And he, he himself, the Grinch - carved the roast beast."

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Merry Christmas Eve!

I doubt that anyone in Alabama will be getting any snow this year, but we can still dream.

I hope everyone has a splendid Christmas filled with tradition and glorious food and festivities. 

And as you anxiously await Santa tonight, may visions of sugarplums dance in your head.

1. I need what I need.

2. When it comes to excitement, I'm a first grader. 

3. When it comes to desired bedtimes, I'm an old woman.

4. When it comes to Christmas, I'm an elf.

5. When it comes to happiness, I'm set. 

I'll admit, these are attractive women. They're beautiful. 

But why do so many feel that they have to look like Victoria's Secret models in order to feel good about themselves? 

Personally, I think curves are more appealing than a stick-thin body. Everywhere you look, there are things encouraging women and young girls that they need to be thinner and stop eating. 

NO.

How about...

"You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the slenderness of your calves. You are not your hair color, your skin color, nor are you a shade of lipstick. Your shoe-size is of no consequence. You are not defined by the amount of attention you get from males, females, or any combination thereof. You are not the number of sit-ups you can do, nor are you the number of calories in a day. You are not the hair on your legs. You are not a little red dress. You are no amalgam of these things.   You are the content of your character. You are the ambitions that drive you. You are the goals that you set. You are the things that you laugh at and the words you say. You are the thoughts you think and the things you wonder. You are beautiful and desirable not for the clique you attend, but for the spark of life within you that compels you to make your life a full and meaningful one. You are beautiful not for the shape of the vessel, but for the volume of the soul it carries."

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"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."

-E.E. Cummings

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I'm old-fashioned.

I love chivalry, good manners, thankfulness, simplicity, easy romances, and modest clothing.

I agree with Edith Head when she said, "Your dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show that you're a lady."

I agree with Oscar Wilde when he said, "You can never be overdressed or overeducated."

After a month of complications and stress and making things the complete opposite of simple, I'm ready to get things back to the way things were. I'm ready to go back to the easy-going, light-hearted gal that I was. I'm ready to be a "fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal" like I was.

Four and a half days, two exams, an art critique, and one three hour drive until I am home with everyone I love. (Except for my two beautiful roommates, Tess and Abbey. I'll miss them with every ounce of my feelings in my body.)

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Today I hope to go to all of my classes and have things go smoothly, go to a thrift store, and buy some oranges and clove them.

"I fell in love with Autumn today. She's a beautiful thing, isn't she? She woke me up this morning, saying hello through the cracks between my windowpane. She rose with the sun and climbed into my bedsheets and numbed the edges of my fingertips with her kiss. I wanted to ask her where she's been, but she told me she was too busy painting the trees red for me. Autumn, Autumn, Autumn. Nights with you have always been the sweetest. November's where the sky bled red and October's where you laid frost against my lips and September's where we shared our first kiss. Oh Autumn, you beautiful thing. You've always been my favorite lover. You tie scarves around my neck and stretch my heart around fire pits so when I crawl under the covers every night, I smell like embers and earthy conversation. It's only with you that we can lay around flannel sheets in wool and corduroy pressing our lips together and chasing twigs out from behind our ears. Only you, Autumn. Only you. I've missed you. Welcome home."

 

1 turkey

17 pies

5 casseroles

3 kinds of dressing

1 healthy family

2 grandparents

5 rowdy children

= 

1 very happy Thanksgiving.

Wanna know about waffles?

1. Originally waffles were "wafers". Wafers were very thin, flat

pastries that were pressed in "wafer irons".

2. The modern day waffle is a leavened kind of wafer.

3. There are many different kinds of waffles:

American

Belgian

Liege

Syrup 

Pandan

I prefer my waffles with just a light amount of syrup and hot tea on the side. 

Soggy waffles are the worst, in my opinion.

That's all I've got to say about that.

May your tummies stay full, your mouths stay sweet, and your waffles stay dry!

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Fall 2011 

1. I've realized my obsession with waffles.

2. I beat my addiction to Nutella. (One month clean.)

3. I've built great friendships with my roommates.

4. I've grown within myself.

5.  I have accumulated enough sweaters to keep a small arctic village warm.

6. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life, but that's okay.

7. I've learned a lot about football. (UA necessity)

8. I found out that taking a short trip to Europe this coming summer is a possibility.

9.  The year isn't over yet. I can't wait to see what else happens.

10. I've managed to keep Edison away from Jon Christian's typical toilet paper torture.

(Filling the fish bowl with shreds of toilet paper which eventually smothers the fish. Morbid, yes.)

Happy Halloween, creeps!

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October 31st.

When I lived at home, every Halloween morning of my childhood started out the same way. My mom would play The Monster Mash loud enough to wake my brothers and I up and when we would walk downstairs, she'd be in the kitchen dancing while wearing wax fangs. Our toaster strudels would be sweetly adorned with iced on Jack o' Lantern faces or "Trick or Treat?" After school, we would come home and start gathering up our costume pieces. Around five or six, we would start get ready and by 7 or 8 we would be out the door and cruising neighborhoods searching for candy. There is nothing like the feeling of sitting in the floor after a long night of trick or treating and pouring your candy out. I would always separate mine out into piles to examine my treasure more thoroughly. For the next couple months, anyone with a sweet tooth was satisfied.

Previous Halloween costumes:

Bunny

Ghost

Madeline

Fairy

Movie Star

Glamourous Witch

Belly Dancer

Pirate

Tinker Bell

Baseball Player

Now that I'm older, my Halloweens have gone downhill. I no longer wake up to The Monster Mash. Instead, I listen to it on my walk to class. I am typically not able to dress up. Instead, I wear Halloween socks or earrings.  Oh well, I'm perfectly content with my batty socks and bug earrings. And... even though someone smashed my Jack Skellington pumpkin...my Halloween spirit has not been dampened. 

Happy Halloween!

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Halloween is one of my top three favorite holidays. 

#1 is Christmas

#2 is Thanksgiving

and

#3 is Halloween.

My birthday isn't included because I don't like loads of attention and that's what a birthday is all about. 

Sadly, the past three Halloweens haven't been that fantastic. 

This year:

 I wont be able to dress up.

Halloween is on a Monday.

My mom called dibs on tonight which means I am babysitting.

Oh well, I get to spend time with the most incredible boy in the world. While some girls will be out tonight in skimpy taxi driver costumes ready to take a boy for a wild ride, or other girls in fire fighter costumes prepared to tame someone's wild burning fire of desire...I will be sitting at home with a sweet 16 year old angel carving pumpkins and watching Just Dance videos online. 

I love my life and everyone in it.

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Happy Halloween weekend, you ghouls and goblins!

"When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween.' "

-Author Unknown

Life is good. The weather is delightful. My friends are incredible. My family is supportive and loving. I'm happy to say that at this moment, I am perfectly content.

A cardigan, a comfy button-down, jeans, knee socks, and a Tiny Tim radio station on Pandora make this moment completely perfect. Well, the only thing that could make it better is if Jon Christian was sitting on my bed tossing his Mario figurines into the air, hoping to get an overly enthusiastic cheer or amazement from me. But this is still just fine.

Today is my beautiful roommate, Abbey Crain's twentieth birthday. We met our freshman year of college and through a strange course of events...we became great friends. We had many dorm room slumber parties and bonded over inappropriate conversations, psycho roommates, and our hopes for the future. We went through pretty much everything together: influenza, deadly tornadoes, and breakups. Now, we're in the middle of our sophomore year and living together in a cozy historic house close to downtown Tuscaloosa. We have built a friendship that I have the deepest appreciation for and I hope to have many more years with this incredible girl. Happy birthday, Abigail Crain!

Design

By: Robert Frost

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth—

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth—

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?—

If design govern in a thing so small.

And they danced by the light of the moon.

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The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are,

What a beautiful Pussy you are."

Pussy said to the Owl "You elegant fowl, 

How charmingly sweet you sing.

O let us be married, too long we have tarried;

But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows,

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?"

 Said the Piggy, "I will"

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon.

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.

They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - George Eliot

 Since the weather has turned from being unbelievably brutal to being mild and fair...I've wanted to spend all of my time outside. Unfortunately, I'm not able to because of classes and studying. However, I have plans to go to the arboretum on Friday and enjoy the blessings of mother nature.

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Nature makes my whole body feel clean and refreshed.

On days like today...the only thing that makes sense is Panera.

Things that went wrong:

1. Woke up on time. Turned off alarm so I could start my day. Turned over to read text messages. Fell asleep. Woke up an hour and a half later. Missed my class.

2. Realized that I didn't understand the Geology that was due today. Not prepared for my test on Friday.

3. I don't have the things I need for my NC class today. Drove across town to go to Michael's to buy the things I needed. Realized that they moved Michael's somewhere else. Hobby Lobby was flattened by the tornados. Oops.

4. Huge Human Development test on Thursday- not ready for it.

5. My plan was to go to Panera to study... got here and realized I forgot half the things I meant to bring.

Things that went right:

1. I didn't die in my sleep.

2. I didn't wake up with any unsightly deformities. 

3. My roasted turkey artichoke panini with chicken noodle soup and an iced green tea hit the spot.

So right now, the bad things are outweighing the good.

Sometimes I have everything together and I feel like I can take on the world. Other times, not so much.

"I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school.

They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous.

They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor.  They don't teach you how to walk

away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't

teach you anything worth knowing." 

Neil Gaiman.

Be yourself.

I've gotten to the point in my life where I have accepted who I am and I love it. I love that I'm easy to please and low maitenance. I love that I don't need people to shower me with compliments for me to feel good about myself. I like that I get embarrassed easily and I don't enjoy being the center of attention. I like that I think everything is funny, even when it's not. I love that I'm not built like a twig. I love that I have freckles instead of a porcelain complexion. I love that I am not judgmental and that I'm accepting. I love the way I was raised. I love my background. I love my life and everyone and everything in it. If everyone would just accept themselves for what they are and quit trying to change it...then people would be a lot happier. Embrace who you are. This is how you were made. You're beautiful, unique, and strong. Love yourself.

I don't know what will be going on in my life in ten years. I don't know what I'll be doing, who I'll be dating, who I'll be friends with, or even anything that will happen tomorrow. But, I do know who I'll be. I'll still be me.

 I'll always be me.

And that's how I like it.

"And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham,
drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."

September 6th

This past weekend:

1. I worked as a member of the Crimson Tide Hospitality staff for the first time.

2. I acquired a respiratory infection.

3. I went home for one last visit before school completely consumed my life.

4. Life was perfect.

5. Jon Christian Thigpen blew my mind, as always.

I have been dreading dreading dreading dreading dreading today for several months now. But it finally came and I'm okay. I prayed that God would keep my mind busy and he made me sick so I have to focus on fighting this off. I'm a firm believer in 'everything happens for a reason' so I think that the reason that I'm sick...is simply because if I wasn't sick then I would be out feeling fantastic and zoning off in my classes-like I always do, and I'd end up thinking way too much.

I made this blog to keep up with things I want to remember and I really would love to remember what I was doing on September 6th, 2011. In the future, I will look back on this day and think, "Wow. I was just fine." And I'll smile.

"If he is not the word of God God never spoke."

-Cormac McCarthy

The Road

Behind the scenes...

Mattresses.

Steak, fries, and coke.

Three people doing what I always thought was a two person job.

Friendships.

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Reading.

I like seeing people who spend their lives in the spotlight do normal things and be normal humans.

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Jim fell for Pam and had to wait years and years until he finally got her. He's still falling super hard, and super fast.

John Krasinski fell for his wife, Emily Blunt the very first time they met and knew instantly that he wanted to marry her.

I'm a sucker for a good love story.