an ode to my lack of good judgement

in the past 24 hours, i have managed to make two dreadful decisions, the first being my decision to pull and all-nighter last night. i have a chemistry test on thursday night, and it is imperative that i do well on this exam. my solution to this problem: stay up all night and study. although i feel like an all-nighter is never a good idea, it is a necessary college experience. i have now had mine, and expect me never to do that to myself again. and the potentially most upsetting part of this saga is that i fell asleep at 6 am and slept til 11 am. please tell me that does not take my "all-nighter status" away from me. my body just said no more. now i am sitting in the ferg, eating fake chick-fil-a for the second time this week (it is only wednesday, mind you), and downing a coke. i am slow to forgive myself.

unfortunate decision number 2 i blame on unfortunate decision number 1. the word to best describe myself at about 11 this morning was docile; i had no energy left in me, and as a result, i caved to the pressures of the fashion world. i put on ugg boots with my nike shorts. as i know katie k has discussed on the blog before, this is such an inappropriate and unforgivable fashion statement. these words are harsh, i know. but really kids, this fad only offers two possible outcomes: cold legs or hot feet. it's science. today i have been dealing with the hot feet side of this situation, and i feel it is only a fair punishment. i sat for 50 minutes in math class stressing about the temperature of my feet and thinking about how ridiculous i look. i will survive and be a better person for this.

forever yours,

phoebe

(because of the fashion statements she pulls off)

one fish. two fish. red fish. blue fish.

in elementary school, we had announcements over the loud speaker every morning. looking back, i am not sure what they would tell us cause it's not like a little 3rd grader keeps a planner or anything. nonetheless, at 8 am our principle's voice was broadcasted all throughout the school, except for mondays. on mondays, dr. kynerd would do the announcements. i don't even know what his job officially was; i just remember him as the school's granddad. he is the nicest man ever. he has the most unique voice, and he would always begin his shpeel with, "happy monday morning." as mundane as that might sound, his upbeat voice at the beginning of every week will forever be stuck in my head (in a good way). so i pass these simple words onto you... happy monday morning!

i know that taking the myers-briggs personality test is so yesterday, but i tend to live my life a few steps behind. i actually took the test for the first time a little over a month ago. that time, it was completely unsuccessful. i over thought every question, and then i would end up passing it on to katie k to answer for me. this does not make her happy, for the record. after a couple weeks passed, i decided it was time to retake this thing for real. katie k had just taken it, and she is an estj. she read me everything about her personality and got me all excited to figure out who i am. turns out, i am an estj, too! consequently, i already knew everything about my personality. my favorite part about this whole endeavor was when we discovered estj's are compatible with each other. this makes katie k and i the best roommate pair ever. so to wrap this segment up, i would like to announce that i took the test for the final time this past friday night, and i got an estj again. never in my life have i had such success with a test like this. i really feel a stamp of approval in my personality. yippie.

i did some other things this weekend besides personality test taking, the most important being a visit from my best friend. she lives in auburn and goes to college there too, and although i don't get to see her often, when i do, we have a lot of fun together. we always seem to pick up where we left off. over the past few years, we have been through a lot together, and you just can't replace people like that in your life. so this is just a little shout out to mary katherine for being there for me through everything. i love you, sweetie.

now it is time for me to officially start what appears to be a very busy week...

ross

(because i plan to be a nerd this week)

Conan O'Brien is huge in Finland.

Wow. My roommate has seriously taken over OUR blog since my last post, even to the point where yesterday Kate pointed out to me that I needed to reclaim what is rightfully mine. So here I am, doing just that. 

I attribute my blog resistance over the past week and a half to a myriad of issues that have arisen in my life. First, the negative comments that have come from people we don't even know. To whom I say: if you don't care about our lives, don't read our blog. We're not writing it for you anyway. 

Secondly, I haven't been blogging due to the stomach bug that struck me on Monday, which Katie B. has previously alluded to. Now, I don't want to be graphic, but it was a rough day. My mom and I both had it and were pathetically lying next to each other, as my dad patiently took care of us all day. Since then, I've had no appetite and very little energy. I envy Margaret Clark. I don't understand how one person can only have vomited twice in their lifetime. Let's just say I broke that record several times over on Monday. It's amazing how one day of illness can set you back so far. It was just a 24-hour bug, but I missed two days of class and a lab. I'm used to going out and doing things every night, but the past three nights, I've been in bed before 12, falling asleep during Letterman. So, not only did I get the stomach bug, but I seem to have aged 30 years. 

I wish I was one of those people who could miss class and just not worry about it, I'll catch up when I catch up. I'm quite the opposite actually. I get super stressed, prone to breakdowns, and feeling like I'll never catch up. That's what this week has been like for me. I just keep convincing myself that I will get through the week, and it's ok to just let myself be sick if I don't feel well.

In all the hullabaloo of my illness, I never got to blog about my weekend. It was a good one. I feel like I had a really culturally rich weekend. Friday, I went with some friend-os to see Medea along with our favorite puppeteer. I loved the show. I think I'll like anything I see in the Allen Bales, but this was a truly interesting, engaging take on a classic story. Saturday, I had a day Valentine date with Miss Sarah Young road trippin' to the 'ham. After two missed turns and driving next to the Almond clan, we made it to lunch with our friends and a fun shopping date before I passed her on to her "real" Valentine. I think his name is Chris. Then I met up with my evening Valentine, Mrs. Ellen Godfrey. It was so good to catch up. I love that she and I have the kind of relationship where we can just pick up where we left off. Then we went to see her awesome husband in The Last Five Years. I love this musical and they did such an amazing job with it. I really hope they do more shows like this in the A Bryan Photo studio. The show was only highlighted by the fact that Sarah noted that Jacob Black and Angela were sitting across from us. Sunday, I got to hear two of my best friends, Ben Watson and William Mason perform at Zydeco. They did such an awesome job. I seriously felt like a proud mom. I've loved getting to watch both of their musical talent develop through the years. And then the sickness hit, but the weekend was good while it lasted.

Katie B. and I are registering for our new two-person room tomorrow over a breakfast date at Crimson Café! I'm really excited about this roommate outing. 

I'm sad that Late Night with Conan O'Brien is on its second to last show... and jealous that he is hacking up his set and giving it to people in the audience and I'm not there.

This has been really long, but I had to make up for lost time.

Kallam

butterfinger day

apologies all around for taking over this blog. katie k is still alive, and i feel sure she will soon make a come back. but for now, you are stuck with me. lo siento.

last night, i was finishing up the second paper of my college career (i try to steer clear of those evil things). i really hate writing papers for school, and i pretty much suck at it. thankfully graham was there to save the day with his large vocabulary and eloquent phraseology. one thing about graham is that he is such a good listener. this becomes a problem when you've got me, such a good talker. this quality is only amplified in the wee hours of the morning. in an effort to avoid paper-writing, i began to talk. thus graham listened. when there were finally no more words in the english language left to say, graham simply said, you should write a book. that was the nicest way possible for him to say shut up and just write down your thoughts. like i said... eloquent phraseology.

this afternoon, i camped out in the math lab for 3 horrible, terrible, miserable hours, but there was one ray of sunshine. his name is kyle. kyle walked in but didn't come sit by me at first. nope, he skipped a seat. there was an initial moment of hurt, but when the computer he sat down at wouldn't work, he was forced to move over and sit by me. ha... i win. then he proceeded to struggle with most of his math lesson. he kept having to ask questions, and the only instructor that was helping him was this little oriental guy that spoke little to no english. observing the two of them try to communicate made my day. when kyle left, one of the football players from the mtv show "two-a-days" came and sat by me. there was a half a second that i felt pretty good about myself... then i remembered how pathetic that t.v. show was, and i suddenly decided he should feel cool to be sitting by me. 

tonight, katie k was finally getting caught up on the bachelor. we love the bachelor here in our dorm. it is so entirely entertaining; however, this season, more than ever before, it has hit me how wrong this whole process is. it is just rather disgusting. so, friends, if any of you are considering signing up for this little venture, i cannot and will not condone it. stay away! but definitely watch the next few weeks... much excitement to come :)

to wrap this little puppy up, i have two random announcements. the first being that the stadium scoreboard apparently caught on fire today. i feel like that's a pretty big deal and consequently wins a shout out on the blog. my second announcement is that i ate sushi for dinner last night, a corndog for lunch today and breakfast for dinner tonight. if all of that sounds gross to you, you are probably correct. still i feel so deeply sorry for you. i have never been so satisfied by food. love it!

best friend coming to visit tomorrow... i'm doing a little dance... too bad you can't see it...

rachel

(because everyone wants to be jennifer anniston, right?)

a blog post lacking creativity.

so i just went on a date. it was perfect. i really think it might work out between us. dinner was very laid back, and i totally felt like myself. everything seems right. i'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch... but margaret clark just might be the one :)

so i have recently had an epiphany. this epiphany covered a lot of different areas of my life, but one major part was in the area of my schoolwork. i desperately need to be a better student. no matter how many pep talks i give myself, i still always seem to fall short. an intervention was absolutely necessary, and it took place last night in the form of tough love from graham. he made me stay up last night until the last word of my paper was written and the last problem of my math homework was submitted. i was not happy, but this homework-doing would not have taken place on my own... so thanks spenc! it feels like a new beginning.

so my roomsmate has been sick. you probably know her; her name is katie kallam. she's pretty cool. a lot of times i forget how cool she is. then i am oh so painfully reminded of her coolness when i am forced to live without it aka she is stuck in birmingham puking her brains out. (sorry if that is too graphic for you... you are dealing with a nursing major here.) thus i have spent the last 24 hours alone thinking about how cool she is. this afternoon she returned, and now i can bask in her coolness again. 

so in closing, i will note that i have been wearing the same clothes for the past 24 hours. this newfound focus on my schoolwork has taken a toll on my personal hygiene. i will find a balance... soon hopefully. 

"stay or leave

i want you not to go 

but you should

it was good, as good goes

i want you not to go

but you did" 

signed,

someone who recently discovered dave

(thank you hillers)

suck it seahawks422... we blog on!

right now i am watching my favorite movie in the entire world: my best friend's wedding. it is hollywood's greatest accomplishment (at least in my opinion). i realize that everyone has their own thoughts when it comes to this topic, but for some reason this movie just really hits home with me. i love julia roberts, i love the not-so-perfect ending, and ahhh the soundtrack... don't even get me started. smile. 

i have no idea how many times i have seen this movie, but every time it brings up the one question: what if i turn out to be the best friend? i choose not to think about that too much... 

this weekend's accomplishments thus far:

thursday: my roommate made capstone men and women. that's right!

i crashed the axo/ato swap. what's new?

i hit up owl key (xo/kappa party). say "owl key" out loud. funny, right?

i lost a bet and got mustard squirted all over my face. struggle.

friday: katie k and i delivered valentine's to the people we love. hugs and kisses.

i went and saw barrett in medea (and caught a cat-nap... so sorry barrett!). oops.

momma goldberg's. enough said.

game night at hill and graham's... satisfying the lack of game-playing in my childhood. 

saturday: valentine's lunch in birmingham. yummy.

i gave a tour of birmingham to spencer during which i ran a red light. yikes.

third-wheeled it to the movies with my parents. again yikes.

finally, i am watching "my best friend's wedding" as i type. my valentine's is complete.

plans for tomorrow... church, potentially productive afternoon, and battle of the bands! get excited. 

lots of love on valentine's day,

katie b.

i might be in love with my life.

it's  4:01 pm. i am still in my pajamas. english 102 was cancelled today; therefore, i did not have class. i woke up late, did some schoolwork, and did my laundry which has been piling up for about 2 weeks now. i would consider the day a success. the only problem i have run into is that i am hungry. however, i can't decide if i am hungry enough to put on some real clothes and leave my dorm in search of food. (i am the college student that has a lone jar of peanut butter in the cabinet, and that is all.)  i have considered delivery, but i am cheap. the thought of running over to lakeside in my nightgown has even crossed my mind. but don't worry friends, i quickly reconsidered. i love that instead of dealing with this issue, i pulled out my laptop and started blogging. i question my train of thought sometimes.

that is all. thank you for reading... have wonderful day!

gunther

(because he deserves a shout out every once and a while)

You should know that you're just a temporary fix

My paper's due Friday. Today is Tuesday. Thus, I will continue Operation Procrastination by blogging. The way I see it, I just turned in a huge project for my UH class, so I deserve a break. Except for the fact that looming on the horizon is my aforementioned English paper, a Spanish paper, Spanish test, and Capstone round 2 interview. So basically I have no business doing anything that is not school-related right now. This week is kicking my butt. I take hope in the fact that it has to end eventually, and next week is a big blank week in my planner. Why is it so easy to write a 3-5 page blog post but when asked to contrast Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, I just can't make myself do it?

It turns out that my roommate blogs a lot more frequently than me. This is interesting to me because I thought it would be the other way around.

This weekend was a good Tuscaloosa weekend of being outside, watching movies, and just hanging out with friends. I love weekends like this one where you can have just one day of peace and tranquility, free of obligations and deadlines, even if you know in the back of your mind you have to get back to real life eventually. I am actually welcoming the premature warm weather, as much as I love winter. On Saturday, Sarah, Katie and I decided it was our mission to find a dog to play with; it was just that kind of weather. We finally tracked one down and called a near-stranger asking if we could play with his dog for the day. We were elated when he consented, so we spent the day among the trees playing with a happy dog. We are now the Witchhazel Children in case you were wondering. A series of children's books is forthcoming. 

As Katie mentioned, we received news on Friday that one of our teachers, Barry Walker passed away on Friday of a heart attack. We went back for the funeral yesterday, and I was overwhelmed by the number of students who came to show respect for this great man. His former students came from great distances to honor his memory. There will never be another man like Coach Walker. Katie and I talked about memories of him all the way back from the funeral. He loved his students immensely. He genuinely believed in us and our potential. He wouldn't settle for anything less than our best. He used humor to connect with his students and loved each of our quirks. He liked The Office before anyone knew what it was. His ringtone was "Hey Ya" by Outkast. He wore Wallabee's at 66. He lived in the Philippines, Montana, and Alabama. He spent his life teaching and sharing with people what Christ did in his life. He told stories that you were never sure were actually true, that was how incredible his life was. It makes me sad that the next generation will miss out on such a great teacher, but it inspires me to live my life the way he did.

Ok, enough procrastination. I have GOT to work on this paper.

I'll get to it eventually,

Kallam

tell me, how does it feel to be so high above the clouds?

so i realize that i blogged a mere 20 hours ago, but i am back anyways. i felt that the world needs to know that i locked myself out of my own life this morning. yep that's right.

this morning katie k and i walked out to the parking lot together to head our separate ways to church. it was such a beautiful morning, and the sun was shining in my sunglass-less eyes. so i thought to myself, "self, you need to run back up and get your sunglasses before you go to church." i waved goodbye to katie k, jumped in my car, and drove up next to my dorm. when i got back to my room, i grabbed my sunglasses, but in the exchange, i left my keys, phone, and act card on my bed. oops. i did not notice my fatal mistake until i was standing outside of my car with no way into it and no way back into the dorm. the major problem with getting locked out of the dorms on a sunday morning is that absolutely no one is coming in or going out. i felt stressed at first cause i knew i would be late for church, but then i decided to spend this free time standing pathetically outside riverside and reading about "squirrel-wrangling yates" in friday's crimson white. it was time well spent. in the end, a kind soul came to save me. oh life.

funny happening #2 of the day: kyle ordered the colossal burger at ruby tuesdays after church. consequently, everyone at the table was entertained for the entire meal. kyle's got to be feeling it now... :)

annoyance of the day: our dorm room is located right above a faculty family's dorm. struggle. the hard part of this is the three cute little kids that stand outside my window and scream at the top of their lungs too much of the time. i thought i loved children... i think god is testing me.

in closing, it is so very important that i note that katie k and i were listening to the exact same song (blue eyes... check it out), at the same time, but in different rooms. oh the levels of meaning this entails.

rachel

(because cleaning up my room as been put on the back-burner, as of late)

jackalopes and jenny

life is funny.

it is amazing the amount of things that can be going on at once in your life. it can be overwhelming. most of the time, i am overwhelmed by all the schoolwork i have not done or something of that sort. right now, however, i am overwhelmed by the power of god. yesterday, my sister informed me that my favorite high school teacher suddenly died of a heart attack. i was sitting at the alabama gymnastics meet when i heard this news. my heart stopped. this man was amazing. i have never met someone who cares about people more than coach walker did. i had him two years in a row at briarwood. i usually didn't have great relationships with my teachers cause honestly it didn't mean that much to me. however, with coach walker, i knew that he genuinely cared about me and my success. he used to tell me over and over again how smart i was, which sadly is not true. but it meant the world to me coming from him! as one of my friends put it... with his death, " the world just became a little less kind." it has been really hard to process this news. for me, it will just take time.

amazingly, while i am experiencing this grief, god created the most beautiful day. the weather today was incredible thus i went on a hike. katie k, sarah young, kyle ogard, and i all headed out to the university's arboretum for a little chick-fil-a picnic and quality time with nature. on top of this perfection, we "borrowed" a dog to make the trek all the better. and boy did it! walking around in what felt like the middle of nowhere and taking in the beauty all around me was such a good reminder that there is a god. he is in control, and he knows what he is doing. 

oh there is so much for me to learn... thank you for the little things (like jackalopes and jenny) to teach me these lessons...

just myself 

Let it ride, let it ride easy down the road.

So, I really wanted to hate the show 17 Kids and Counting. I just found their long hair, long denim skirts, and crazy amount of offspring just plain creepy. I also saw them as competition with Jon & Kate Plus 8, and ain't nobody gonna mess with the Gosselins. But then I watched the wedding special where the oldest son, Josh, got married, and in spite of myself, I started to like them. They're just so darn nice. Crazy, but nice. 

I just realized that my last two posts have been about television. I promise I have a life.

So, now for another admission. I have participated in the "My 25" movement. Usually, I'm pretty against these trendy facebook fads, but I saw this one, not as a mere form of procrastination, but an introspective look inside myself. Meyers-Briggs tests have become a popular topic among my friends recently, and while the jury's still out on what acronym defines me, I thought I'd give you this little slice of my personality. 

1. Sometimes I think I have split personality disorder. I love attention, but find myself shy when intimidated. I'm an introverted extrovert and an extroverted introvert.

2. I'm viciously loyal to my friends. I mean it. Just try me.

3. I resist change but love the point where change becomes normal. It surprises me every time.

4. I am far too impatient.

5. There's nothing I love more than driving by myself singing along to a mood-fitting song.

6. I give really good advice, but I don't listen to it myself a lot of the time.

7. I'm a sucker for a good folksy singer-songwriter.

8. I love every little thing about musical theatre. It makes me feel alive.

9. I'm a facebook stalker.

10. I don't last long shopping. You're lucky if you can get an hour out of me.

11. I love to travel. I have a life-goal of visiting all 7 continents. 2 down, 5 to go.

12. Me encanta el español.

13. I live for words of encouragement from other people.

14. My life is on full of schedules and lists. I find it hard to veer off a given schedule. I wish I were more spontaneous.

15. I hate surprises. They make me nervous and anxious. I like planning them, just not being surprised.

16. I'm a really open person. Ask me anything and almost all the time you'll get an honest response.

17. I avoid confrontation at all costs. You could call me a bottler.

18. Growing up as a pastor's kid has made me really good at small talk with adults.

19. I'm intimidated by failure and pretend that I don't want things when I really do.

20. I HATE when people feel sorry for me I avoid it more than anything else in the world, even if it means lying to myself.

21. I love cold weather. Winter kicks summer's butt. Winter has Christmas. End of discussion.

22. I miss high school. I miss being a little kid. I miss coming home from school and playing outside until dinner.

23. I'm super sarcastic and a little cynical.

24. I judge people by their taste in musics, movies, and TV shows.

25. I live my life in awes of the fact that God loves me and pursues an intimate relationship with me. I can never measure up. I fall short of God's glory.

So there you have it. Maybe you know me a little better now.

the bachelor is banging your mother for twenty-four hours.

today was one of those days... and i hate those days. those days are always the worst. nothing bad actually happens, but nothing good does either. and in my opinion, that makes the day even worse than a bad day.  that might not make a lot of sense to you, but it works in head. 

inspite of my mediocre day, i had a funny thought. katie k and i were walking through the cosmetics section of publix when we ran across the pregnancy tests. naturally, we began an amusing banter comparing our need of the pregnancy tests to the cost of the pregnancy test (cause those things are rather pricey). we toyed with the idea of buying a few... just in case. you know us. however, we decided that we didn't have the money to purchase the amount that might be necessary.  i suggested just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best in our hypothetical situation. meanwhile, my mind flashed-forward to a youth pastor telling the kids in his youth group about a little trip to publix where he overheard two college girls discussing how they didn't have enough money for a pregnancy test and how they were just going to cross their fingers and practice wishful thinking. the idea that someone might have overheard our joke and would use it to promote sexual abstinence was too much for me. i lost it right in the middle of the grocery store.

and in a moment of bragging, i would like to announce that i got to wear the real miss alabama sash tonight (no it's not as good as the crown, but it worked). my friend's sister is miss alabama, and in a luggage mishap on the way home from the miss america pageant, he somehow ended up with the miss alabama sash. the moment after i saw it, i had that thing hanging around my body. pageants have never been my thing, but let me tell you, there is power in the sash. it felt right wearing it. sadly, i did have to remove the sash and put my scarf back on. i then wished my scarf were magically... boo scarf.

fun fact that i forgot to mention in my last post: i almost correctly predicted the score of the superbowl. i was definitely in the right ball park and even being in a ball park is a big deal for me. i celebrated.

also, very worthy of being noted, katie k found keys to an acura in her purse this afternoon. she claims that she has no idea how they got there. but i know better than that. your keys might be next. hold tight to those little suckers...

thank you for making it all the way through this blog post... a rather disorganized array of my thoughts. you just gotta bear with me. 

ross

(because i am over thinking things tonight)

...and a happy groundhog day to you, too!

so most people do these fun little things on facebook, but i am so much better than that. i have a blog. what up? ha... here goes my lameness...

my twenty-five:

1. I love boots. Cowboy boot, rain boots, ugg boots, all boots.

2. I have six best friends the in entire world, and their names are rachel, monica, phoebe, chandler, ross, and joey.

3. I am an extremely indecisive person.

4. I absolutely love to laugh. If you want me to like you, be funny.

5. Traveling the world is my dream.

6. I really appreciate honesty. I hate beating around the bush.

7. Deep down I will always be a ballerina. 

8. According to most of the people in my life, I have bad tastes in music or just no taste at all. Help me.

9. I don't want to grow up.

10. Winnie the Pooh is the greatest Disney character ever. The end.

11. One of my greatest fears is being a bad mother... right after never getting married.

12. I tend to stress out way to much over the little things and not near enough over the important ones. 

13. My favorite color is green, and yet I steer clear of most green vegetables.

14. Huge procrastinator. It's a problem.

15. Bodies of water (i.e. oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.) mesmerize me.

16. I have a weird fascination with airports and hospitals.

17. I tell long stories. Very long.

18. Mexican food is from the devil. Don't hate me please.

19. I don't like chocolate specifically dark chocolate... and yes I am still a girl.

20. In my imagination, I have two dogs: a dalmatian named Tate and a chocolate lab named Genevieve. One day they will be real.

21. God made Katie Kallam just to be my roommate. We are so perfect for each other, and I don't know what I would do without her!

22. I will speak Spanish one day.

23. I look a whole lot like Keri Russell on the show Felicity. It's a little scary.

24. I struggle when it comes to driving. Apologies all around.

25. I analyze everything. Most people would call it over-analyzing, but it's normal for me.

there you have it. me in a nutshell. 

other things worth noting: this was another excellent weekend. between hill's twenty-first, the superbowl, and a plethora of board games, much fun was had. not sure if this is related at all to this past weekend, but all of my roommates overslept this morning. the chaos around our dorm was utterly amusing. getting back in the swing of things takes us time, but we will get there. 

(nothing to do specifically with this post, but "call on me" just came on, and i demand everyone dance. go.) 

smelly cat 

...just because