Fred Heads 08

Fred Thompson for President!

Former senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson announced he is "runnin for president of the United States," Wednesday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno! I couldn't be more excited. He hasn't spent any money yet and he's second in the polls. That definitely says something! Meanwhile, the other Republican candidates are in the middle of a debate. Gee, I wonder what people chose to watch, the debate or the Tonight show. Smart thinking Fred. ;)

I knew it was coming this week, but I'm so glad it's finally official. I've been listening to all the candidates up to this point in debates and interviews with Sean Hannity on his radio show, and he is by far the strongest candidate. Some of the others don’t represent conservative values at all, i.e. Ron Paul who was ranting about pulling out from Iraq in the debate tonight. He said — and I quote — “We should not go to war when it’s an aggressive war!” Hmm, aren’t most wars aggressive? (I didn’t even know who this guy was so I’m not worried about him.)

I've already became a "friend of Fred" weeks ago at I'm with Fred.com which has just become his official campaign site announced just minutes ago.

Now that my choice is officially in the race, you'll be hearing more from me on this subject in the months to come.

They should bring back the talent competition

(Sorry, I have to remove this video until I find out why it's messed up my format)

When I heard about this, I felt sorry for her. Then I watched the clip. It was a strange question to begin with, but her answer wasn't even coherent. I've had friends in the Miss Teen USA Pageant and I know they are more intelligent than her, so how did she get to the final five?

The "USA" pageants are going downhill and this is just another example. May I remind you of the numerous scandals in the past year.

I blame it on not having a talent competition. That's why I stopped watching. It takes a more focused person to work on a talent and prepare it for a national performance. Otherwise these girls are just being judged on their "fitness level" because it's obvious the pre-interviews haven't screened for intelligence.

Poor thing. Maybe her mom should stop taking her out of school for pageant stuff.

8.

My dad was a merman!



Or so I believed until I was ten or eleven years old. Long after I found out that Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny weren't legit, I believed my dad was really a merman, and if he was a merman, I must be a mermaid. (And if that was the case, I was a decendent of Ariel.)

This picture was above my mom's desk in the kitchen for as long as I can remember and I seriously thought it held a huge family secret that only showed in pictures of him underwater. I never told anyone this, not my mom or my brothers; especially not my dad. I figured if he'd tell me when the time was right. Meanwhile, I would put salt in the bathtub every year or so to see if my tail would show.

Maybe it's because of The Little Mermaid, or maybe I was just a strange kid, but I still hold onto the dream that it's all true.

Datablitz: 8 Things You Might Not Know About Me

Here it is, finally, my Datablitz. I know you've all been waiting ;)

Delta Lost My Luggage!

It may have been American Airline’s fault, but since Delta was not helpful at all last night, I’m placing the blame where I see fit. As I waited in line amongst a dozen other disgruntled travelers, I overheard one of the Delta crewmembers tell another, “WE don’t ever transfer the bags from one airline to another,” or something to that effect in a semi-sarcastic tone. Sucks for me; I thought they did.

I wouldn’t be so upset except my camera, glasses, pearls my dad gave my mom and mom gave me, a gold bracelet and necklace, 2 favorite dresses, 2 pairs of dressy sandals I love with matching purses ¬– a girl needs options even if she’s only traveling for 24 hours – all my best makeup, 2 curling irons, Andy’s suit, two Banana shirts and three ties – he only needed the options to coordinate with all my options – and so much more are in there. Not to mention three new Intimacy bras worth twice what Delta will give you alone if they can’t find it! I won’t bore you with the whole list but let’s just say I’m not a happy passenger.

Andy and I spent the weekend in Lubbock, TX, where went to the wedding of two of my friends from college, Alyssa and Craig. Alyssa and I sat next to each other in the soprano I section of the FUMC Chancel Choir for three years, and being two of the five or six young people in the choir, we bonded, sharing relationship dilemmas and planning our weddings from the balcony of the church where we sat with the choir at the beginning of each Sunday service. When she started dating Craig, everyone could see that special sparkle. He gave me some seriously useful relationship advice not long after, that somehow stuck more than what the rest of my family and friends were saying. I have to thank him for that.



The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. The bride and the bridal party were beautiful. The church was stunning as always with its stained glass windows, huge organ, carillon, high ceilings and of course, amazing choir.

I realized just how much I missed singing in the choir every Sunday and rehearsing very Wednesday. It was strange not to be up there with them. At the reception, my friend Josh and I decided for my wedding, I need to just fly the choir to Ireland or wherever my wedding ends up. That would be easier than getting everyone into Lubbock. ;) (Did I mention you pretty much have to fly to Dallas or Houston to get anywhere else from Lubbock? Not very convenient.)

Oh yeah, I CAUGHT THE BOUQUET! Alyssa totally planned it, but that’s ok with me. If I ever get my bag back, I’ll include the pictures, complete with Andy’s bright red face.

We flew back from Lubbock to Dallas on American Eagle. Our flight was delayed for 30 minutes, but that was ok and fairly expected. We saw the bride and groom again waiting for their flight and wished them well. When we finally arrived in Dallas, we had to sit on the runway for another thirty minutes while we were towed in by a Chevy because the steering went out – and this was the second plane they sent, makes me wonder what was wrong with the first.

I waited to post this blog because I thought my stuff would be here, but it’s not and now I can officially complain about it!

Dream Diary: Shotgun Wedding?

Disclaimer: I know I have high expectations and I want my wedding to be perfect, but I know that's not the important thing, the marriage is. That being said:

Last night I had a nightmare. Weddings have been on my mind for – well – probably since I saw Cinderella the first time. I use to not be able to see the groom, but now I see Andy, only, in my dream last night, I saw him before the ceremony. Dressed like normal and acting like everyday, like nothing special was about to happen. I definitely don’t think the groom should see the bride before the ceremony, so I was asking him what was going on and generally freaking out, but that’s just the beginning.

I’ve had the dream before (in various ways) where I know it’s my wedding day but I don’t know who the groom is or if I do, I know we’re not ready. I freak out because I can’t remember any of the fun stuff, like the engagement, but worst of all in my mind: I didn’t plan anything. When I look around, everything is tacky or not decorated at all and the reception site is awful.

In my dream last night, I didn’t even recognize the church. I showed up in a dress that was awful on me and as soon as I got out of the limo, it got dirty somehow. The next thing I know, Andy was there, saying not to worry. I was really confused at that point but kept thinking that everything was ruined. I must have changed into street clothes and I went into this tiny bathroom to try to do my own hair and makeup. (Yikes)

Someone was with me – one of my friends or girl cousins – and I was telling them how upset I was about doing my own makeup and how nothing is the way I want it to be, but I told her, “At least I’m not showing yet.”

Yeah, and that was the turning point from “bad dream” to “nightmare.”

I then realized I was missing my makeup bag so I started running down the hall of the church looking for my mom and I ran into the choir room where a mix of my church choirs from home and Lubbock were gathered, about to start getting ready to sing at the ceremony. To my disgust, they started singing, "Here Comes the Bride," which is so typical and cheesy that I definately don't want it used at my wedding, especially not sung! My director from home, Mr. Galasso, saw me come in and said I should hurry and get ready. I ran back into the ladies room crying hysterically and then I started a sneezing fit.

I woke up and immediately sneezed three times.

Sunday Night Blah

Friday night has so many possibilities:



But this is Sunday night, Andy is kicking me out so he can go to bed:


Sunday night depresses me. After church and lunch, on a typical Sunday, the night is spent in preperation for Monday. I think I've finally realized how quickly weekends go by when you have a real job, and I don't even have one yet. And as much as I'm looking forward to being "out in the real world," when I am, I really hope I can find time to do other things I love and spend time with family and friends. Andy's got a set schedule now as a teacher, so I guess that got me thinking how once you grow up, free time is few and far between and weekends fly by. It's not like I didn't know that, but I'm not gonna have summers off like he does, and I'll probably be working longer hours, etc. Makes me sad. all the more reason to find a job I'll love.

Somehow, Monday is quickly approaching and I've managed to hardly accomplish any of my targeted tasks. The first of which would be my data blitz. It's a work in progress. I keep changing my mind. I'll probably do my "Eight things you might not know about me" which is for this blog because I was tagged – unless anyone has a better idea. ;) I guess I can't dance with Ty again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out HTML to make this blog better. Keep checking for updates. I may just change this whole thing, you never know. Off to bed; bring on the week.

Dream Diary

I have incredibly random dreams. Almost every night, I have at least two bizarre dreams that I can vaguely remember and if I hit the snooze button, there are usually more – especially lately. In the past three nights I’ve probably had 12 strange dreams. The night before last I had three nightmares involving sharks(I’m not typically afraid of them) and woke up scared but now I can’t remember any details. So, I’m gonna try waking up and blogging about my dreams right away before I forget everything. This should be entertaining if nothing else. Maybe some of y’all will have some input as to what they mean…

The dream I remember, before Andy called to wake me up the first time, was about InDesign class. Yes, I had that class last night and it went on for the full five hours. I’m really enjoying that class and learning so much, but reliving it in my dreams is a little much. There were two sections. In the first, it was sort of class as usual, except we were working in a much cooler lab with colored walls, ergonomically correct chairs, track lighting, etc. (I never dream about actually being in PC).
In the second section, Belfi, our instructor, wanted us to bring in a stack of some of our old T-shirts. My stack had four shirts, all very similar, all very nerdy, all from this ice skating show called Stars on Ice that my mom and I went to every year. I would always get a T-shirt, even though they never had them in my size so they were always way too big. I know I kept them at home, in a huge bin filled with all my shirts from school organizations, All-State choir, pep squad, drill team, etc. My mom said she was planning to make a quilt or something from them one day. Eek. Anyway, I put one of the shirts on and it immediately changed from white to bright red (I almost always dream in color) and Beli started saying what a great piece it was, like it was a work of art or something. Completely random, I have no idea what that means.

My next dream makes a little more sense given that I’ve been wanting to go ice skating lately. If I haven’t mentioned on here before, I used to skate competitively for over five years. I miss it. Anyway, I dreamed I was going up to Canada to visit my friends to celebrate Big Foot Day. These are friends from Lubbock, TX, (Lizzie, Alissa, Josh, Blake, Craig, James (all from the church choir I was a part of while I was at school there). I just made arrangements to fly there and see them all for Alissa and Craig’s wedding this month, so I guess they were on my mind. Lizzie is from Canada, so maybe that explains the reason I was going up there, but Big Foot Day? Random.
I arrived in Canada and went straight from the airport, walking with my luggage in the snow, to some sort of dance and ice skating clinic. We did tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and then changed into our ice skates and skated for a while. Blake and Josh were always dancers in the shows we did at church with me so they were there dancing too, but then Lizzie showed up for the ice skating portion and was telling me all about Big Foot Day and how much they were all looking forward to it. Then we were sitting around the dance studio, taking off our skates and the instructor came up to me and said she gave me a 6.5 for skating and asked me if I was out of practice. The power went out. And I woke up.

So there you have it, two of my random dreams. At least I dream in themes.

"Adverteasing" the Game

I woke up to this text message this morning. At first I just thought it was like a business "Shoots and Ladders." I had to zoom in to read the titles. How funny. The copywriter pulling her hair out– what reassurance.

As some of you know, Andy will start as a high school teacher officially this Thursday for business and computer software classes. He found this game in his classroom this morning and plans to use it. It's more or less a learning tool.

Oh, and for some of you out there who aren't as proficient as you'd like to be in the Adobe programs, they are teaching them in high school now. Scary, huh. So learn them before these kids get out and steal our jobs! Even scarier, Andy will be teaching them. Just kidding, he'll be great once I teach him. ;)

Astros vs. Braves

For our six month (semi-)anniversary, Andy surprised me with tickets to the Houston Astros vs Atlanta Braves game! I'm a huge Astros fan and I had looked forward to this game all year. It's been so hard not being able to watch them play at all and instead, having the Braves games on practiclly every night. I recorded the first game of three games Tuesday night and was so upset when I watched it. Astros lost 4 to 12! Yikes. I put my jersey on the next day, hoping for a miracle, and witnessed another dissapointment. We had a great time though. ;) Andy got us fabulous seats — for all the Braves home run action.

(And a really great view of my favorite catcher, Astros #11 Brad Ausmus. Seriously ladies, look for yourself. He made last summer when my dad and I went to at least 10 games together much more pleasing. ;)



Because of both upsets and because I had class Thursday night, I didn't bother to look at the results from Thursday's game. Of course, Astros won.

The Video I Promised

So, this woman woke us up with her speech at 8 am when we entered Glacier Bay and kept talking on and off for hours, sometimes with minute-long pauses in the middle of a sentence. I think she needs acting lessons to pump up her enthusiasm just a tad. You be the judge.

Let me rant for a moment:

Why can't chargers and USB cords be universal? I'm so sick of having to keep up with two or more freaking cords for every electronic device I own.
I have a cell phone charger,
a cell phone USB(but apparently I don't need that because I have bluetooth),
a bluetooth headset charger,
a camera battery charger,
a camera USB, a video camera charger,
a video camera connector to the TV,
a video camera USB connector,
an ipod charger,
an Ipod USB connector,
and my MacBook Pro charger(which they sell for $80.)

I don't even consider myself that high tech, these are just the things I had to take with me on the trip. Somehow, I came back with one that I have no idea what it goes to and missing the one for my video camera, because apparently none of the three cords I can find for that are what I need to load the movies I took from the trip. AAah. They make such a huge profit off all these stupid cords, because people have more important things to worry about than keeping track of 15 chagers and after wasting time looking for the right one, they go out and buy a new one. The old one will eventually turn up, but the company has already made extra profit for making things difficult.

I had to plea a similiar argument when my last cell was broken. Under the insurance, they had to replace my phone, but thy couldn't replace it with a phone of the similiar line, nope. It had to be a totally different phone with totally different chargers that I had to buy seperately. Luckily my Marine brother convinced them to include the chargers and they gave me a phone that was at least equivalent to the one I had, but that's another story. ;)

I'm off to look for that freaking video camera USB charger. Stay tuned for video from Glacier Bay and the women who nearly made all of us jump ship just to avoid having to hear any more of her lecture.

Why couldn’t I just stay there?

I wouldn’t want to miss out on the amazing educational experience that Portfolio Center has to offer. The idea of kayaking in front of a glacier every morning is incredibly intriguing though. Maybe I could really follow Alissa’s advice: make a living from blogging and freelance and then live wherever I want and travel whenever I have the urge. Just a thought, although I think I’ll stick to my set plan of becoming a copywriter then creative director in five or so years. We will see.

With that said, I love Alaska. Last I wrote, I was on the boat, just getting into glacial waters, not sure exactly what to expect from the excursions we signed up for or the towns we were set visit. I thought nothing could top the view from the ship:


The farther inland we went, the more massive the mountains appeared. As a petroleum engineer with a love of geology, my dad would have been like a kid in a candy store looking at all the geological evidence from millions of years of seismic activity and glacial movement. Here's a great example of that from the next day. This is somewhere between Skagway, Alaska, and the Yukon in Canada. (Did I mention we also went to Canada? I'll save the horseback riding and canoeing stories for my next post.)


We docked in Juneau on Tuesday morning, Andy and I set off to Kayak by the Mendenhall Glacier. I still need to get those pictures developed from my waterproof camera, but here’s a side view from a river my mom floated down during her excursion.

On the lake in our two person Kayak, we were joined by an adorable seal. He just followed us around and floated by our group. We were also lucky enough to see three bald eagles, soaring overhead. Before racing the other couples back to the beach(we really got a hang of kayaking together), Andy and I decided we needed to move to Alaska one day, or at least get a kayak.

Five Blogs: Assignment

Five Blogs worth checking out:
1. http://www.theliberalslies.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
3. http://www.neptunuslex.com/
4. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/
5. http://www.bloomeryweddings.com/blog/

Random note: I have a great specific blog topic, but I have to get engaged first...or maybe not. Hmm

25 Knots to Alaska

Sitting on the deck of the Norwegian Pearl, traveling 25 knots to Alaska, I'm in heaven — or at least on my way there. My dad always wanted to go to Alaska and had been planning to as soon as he got better. It's been three months since he passed away and I realize now, more than ever, how important it is to not put things off. Carpe Diem.

In that spirit, my mom and I jumped at the last-minute chance to accompany Andy and his family and church on this trip. There were two cancellations last week. After debate and careful consideration, we decided we couldn't turn the offer down. This is for dad. I, more than anyone else in the family, shared his love of mountains, snow and cold. That's my heaven and I know he's looking down and enjoying the same view as me right now.

I'd like to make a shout out: *Thanks to wireless internet ($.75 per minute) for making this cruise possible for me! Without you, I'd be sitting in PC with no AC, blogging about blogging and missing out the chance of a lifetime. :) With you, I can get all my work done and have fun, too!

Georgia Renaissance Festival

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I grew up going to the Texas Renaissance Festival every year, so when I found out they had one very similar here I was pretty excited. Andy didn't want to dress up, (he thought it was nerdy or something) but I convinced him to go and we had a fabulous time.

I got pulled on stage to be a zombie in the Ded Bob Show(basically me getting hit on by a skeleton puppet), and Andy got called up to juggle with another entertainer. I didn't know when I volunteered him he would be juggling knives! He did an awesome job though, and the guys sitting underneath the tossing area were not harmed. :)
Can't wait for next year!

Sami and Lucus are MARRIED!

Yay! Finally!!! I know it isn't real, but I'm so relieved! After years of anguish, Sami's troubles, Kate's plotting and the drama with EJ, Sami is now Mrs. Lucas Roberts! Days of Our Lives is one of my guilty pleasures – so sue me.

On to other weddings, my Uncle Pete's wedding was beautiful. They kissed like teenagers, complete with a leg kick. Very sweet. I love weddings. Sometimes I think I'd make a great wedding planner, but then I realize that I'd probably make all my brides go over budget – or crazy – trying to make their wedding into what I envision as spectacular. I can't help but critique all the weddings I go to. From the floral arrangements, to the lighting, the cake, the music, the dresses, and the list goes on. I can already see myself becoming a little bit of a bridezilla when my day comes. But of course, Mom, I know that the marriage is what's important. ;) (We've had this discussion before whenever my princess tendancies come out).

Oh, and Andy was making fun of me just now for blogging about Days, but he would love the fact that Lucas read Sami this old Irish wedding prayer:
"By the power that Christ brought from heaven, mayst thou love me. As the sun follows its course, mayst thou follow me. As light to the eye, as bread to the hungry, as joy to the heart, may thy presence be with me, oh one that I love, till death comes to part us. …"

Gráim thú, Andy!

This is supposed to be fun...

Shopping for Shoes
So, this weekend I'm going to Chicago for another Belsha wedding. This time it's my uncle(my dad's brother) who is getting remarried to a wonderful lady that we all adore. This is the sixth wedding in the past 5 years, so every year it's the same. This part of my family is from Chicago, so it's always there, and the reception always lasts at least six hours long. The difference this year is that I am finally bringing my date! YAY! My ex could never make it for one reason or another.
The other thing that's always the same is me shopping for a super cute dress and shoes. I got the dress a while ago( actually got three at once – I love White House Black Market – but, I can't find any shoes! I usually have so much fun shopping for shoes, but not when no one is making what I have in mind. It's so annoying to have that picture in your head of exactly what you want and to not be able to fnd it. It's amazing the crap you can find out there. I should be a shoe designer.
That's why, for our writing for the Web project where we have to create a Web site for a magazine, we came up with a brilliant idea. Our magazine is Blackbook, a fashion/art/culture magazine for men and women. The idea that would solve my shoe dilemma is to have a search engine in the fashion section, where you could type in what you're looking for (in this case ivory dress sandals) and it would tell you where in Atlanta to find them. Meredith's extension of this idea would be to have personal shoppers for those items that may be more difficult to find, that you could hire to find them for you. I need one right now. When I begin to dislike shoe shopping, something's gotta give.

Radio
I was really looking forward to this class, but now i'm not sure what to think of it. I went in there today with what I thought was a great concept and a couple of my peers felt the need to bash it, which I wouldn't mind if they had something constructive to say. I think(in all my free time) I'm gonna work on more clients and concepts alone so I can be sure to actually get something out of this for my portfolio. At this point, I'm not liking any of the assignments we have had, besides this past one. That doesn't matter as much as the fact that this class is subjective and I've come to realize this particular instructor may just not like my style and I will take comments from certain peers with a grain of salt.

I better go practice the song I'm singing in this wedding...
until next time ;)

Back to "Reality"

Today was my first day back to class, and it was a long one - or maybe it just felt that way because I stayed up till three writing a radio ad. I'm not sure what our instructor is looking for in that class, but apparently no one is doing it. I want to hear his criticism, but there's constructive and then there's just criticism, which is what I feel like I get from certain other students in that class. Oh well, I know who has a clue and who doesn't, but how irritating.

I know it's best to jump back in and do everything so that's what I'm trying to do. It's just hard to get back in the swing of things after the past couple of weeks. nI'm just glad I have my friends and especially Andy to keep me calm when I feel overwhelmed. By Thursday (or Wed night girl's night), I should feel a lot better, especially if I have time to do the stuff I really should like laundry and grocery shopping. For now, I have a little over 24 hours to come up with a children's book and rough sketches. :)

My dad

Most of y'all know what happened after my previous post, but if not, I'll explain why I haven't written in over a week. Tuesday, April 10th, after four years of waiting, went in to get his liver transplant. He called before he went into surgery, excited and looking forward to hopefully feel better. We said I love you and he told me to go to class. ;)
Since my senior year in high school, he's been sick. First they though it was cancer, but after surgery at MD Anderson, he was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (Walter Payton's Disease). When they went in to get his old liver out, there were so many complications from scar tissue and extra blood vessels that the surgery took much longer than normal and his body was too weak to accept the new liver.
I flew home as soon as I knew the surgery was going too long and was there by his side with the rest of my family when he passed. I can't believe he's gone. I just keep telling myself he's in a better place doing all the things he was too sick to do anymore. He was the greatest father and role model and I'm lucky to have had so much time with him. Here's what we wrote for the paper to share some insight into his life:

THOMAS CARL BELSHA, SR., beloved husband, father, brother, son and friend, passed away 4/10/07 of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. Born in St. Louis, MO, 3/18/1952, to Elmer and Ruth Belsha, he grew up in Jennings, MO. He attended The University of Missouri at Rolla from 1970-74, where he played football his freshman year. After graduation in 1974 with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering he worked for Amoco Production Co. in Andrews, TX, and Houston, TX, where he met and married Robin Glasgow Richards in 1977. He later worked for Union Texas Petroleum in Houston, Lafayette, LA and Denver, CO, and once again in Houston. For the remainder of his career, he worked for Scana Petroleum and Seagull Energy which became Ocean Energy, now part of Devon Energy. Active in his community, this Eagle Scout was a leader in Boy Scouts and Indian Princesses. He devoted many years supporting his children’s activities at J. E. Taylor High School parent groups for football, Pacesetters and choir, chaperoning many choir trips. As a 23 year member of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Katy, he served on the Board of Trustees, Finance Committee, youth group leader, Sunday School teacher, Usher and sang in the chancel and men’s choirs. Memberships included Kappa Sigma Fraternity, The Society of Petroleum Engineers, and Trinity University’s PAWS football parents group. An avid sportsman, he especially loved football, baseball, basketball, golf, hunting, snow skiing, camping and any activity involving his children and friends. He is survived by his cherished wife of 28 years, Robin Richards Belsha; their children, Thomas Carl Belsha, Jr., John Logan Belsha, Rebecca Marie Belsha, Jerissa Poulson Belsha his daughter-in-law; his mother Ruth Abstein Belsha; brothers: Dennis, Peter, Robert and Craig; his mother-in-law Mary Lynn J. Richards and a large extended group of family and friends. Thomas Carl Belsha, Sr.’s warmth, wit, kindness, ethics, leadership and dedication to the important things in life were an inspiration to all who knew him.

My brothers and I planned the memorial service with scripture and songs that meant a lot to him. We put together a slide show and recorded the songs, Psalm 139 and Recollection of Joy:

I Thank my God when I remember you, for he has blessed my life with yours. In every prayer of mine for you, I'm filled with joy! For I hold you, I hold you in my heart.

Say a prayer...

My Dad is having liver transplant surgery as I write this. He's been on the list for over four years, and finally got a call this moning that they had a match. He's been under for about ten hours a this point and all I know is that due to his previous surgeries, things are complicated. So, please say a prayer. Andy and Chrissy are here with me. We've been watching "The Bachelor" and my new favorite movie, "The Holiday." I'm so lucky to have such a great guy and friends that are here for me to distract and think good thoughts.

It seems silly to me that I'm here working on an "art object" – a shirt with huge wings that is supposed to tell the story of who I am right now – while my family is in Houston waiting at the hospital.

To blog about anything else, I had a nice Easter this weekend with Andy and his family. This was the first Easter that I haven't worn a new dress because it was 30 degrees outside. I had the cutest one picked out too, but I'll have to save it. Andy's mom is so sweet. She made me an Easter basket and for my birthday, baked my favorite kind of cake and got me the cutest outfit from Banana Republic! I think his parents like me ;)

Six Flags or not

I got up at 4:30 this morning (at the first ring of my alarm) to meet Chrissy, Mer and Ty at 5:15. Apparently, that was not early enough. The radio station 100.5 was letting people into Six Flags this morning for free between 6 and 9 am. We figured if we left my place around 5:15, we'd be there early enough, but on the way a around 5:50, they announced that Six Flags was over capacity. Over 15,000 people got in before 6 am and the doors closed. They even had to close the exit ramps off I-20. Craziness.

I had assumed there would be a crowd, but nothing like this. I didn't know it was spring break for Georgia schools. :/ Oh, well, we'll go later when it's not as packed.

I'm back blogging officially now. You can expect at least 3 blogs a week, yay! (Mom, I know you'll be excited.)

Just to catch everyone up, I just started my third quarter here at PC in the ATL and I'm really excited to get down to business again. Break was a lot of fun. I went home to Houston and brought Andy with me. My family and friends think he's a great as I do, of course. :) We had a great break and it was great to see everyone (especially my girls Ashleigh and Ashley)!!!




I'm off to wok on wings for my "art object" project for my Children's Book class. Later, (promise)!

I Know You've Missed Me

Ok, you've been checking my blog everyday for almost a month, wondering what's going on with me or why I haven't been writing? In short, I've been having too much fun. :)

When I first moved here last quarter started, I went to the Pottery Barn to hopefully find a desk. I'd looked literally everywhere and hadn't found what I wanted at a price I wanted. I found the desk I wanted and my mom found a tall, totally cute sales guy to ask about the price. As is her habit, she practically told him my life story. We talked a little. I bought the desk and he talked me into the matching bookshelf. He sent me a message on facebook and we talked periodically last quarter but never got a chance to get together.

A few weeks ago, he took me on our first date -– THE BEST FIRST DATE EVER! (Those were the words we both used to describe it to our moms). He did his homework and read myblogg (the last entry). I mentioned I wanted to go to the Aquarium so that's exactly where he took me. We had the best time! Completely hit it off. We have so much in common and agree on all the important issues. We're both just genuinely happy people. He's so refreshing to be around. He loves to talk as much as I do too. :)

Crazy coincidences: our birthdays are exactly a month apart (times a month and an hour to be technical), we're both Highlander fans (who knew right), my parents were gonna name me Andrew if I had been a boy(so glad they didn't name me Andy) and we're both totally into our Irish heritage (he now loves my favorite band Gaelic Storm).

Ok, that's all I have to say for now. I just thought I should share the exciting news, and know that when I refer to Andy, as I'm sure I will, it's my wonderful boyfriend!

With that said, I'm back to try to write poetry. I'm so happy and bubbly right now, it's impossible to not write about being happy and in love! I know if I go into poetry with my sweet, happy "outburst of love" poem, it'll be bashed. Why is everyone in this school obsessed with tragedy and sadness? I have come to the realization that I don't fit into the norm here for that reason, among others. Maybe I'll write an angry outburst about that. Nah- I'm too happy :)

Resolutions for the New Year

It's the beginning of a New Year and I have not one resolution, but a list. So many things changed for me last year: some great, some not so great, some I'm still not so sure where they fall. I don't think I made a real resolution last year besides the cliche loosing weight pledge.
I don't think it's right to regret or dwell, but these are the things I could have done differently last year or I learned I need to do differently through last year's experience. This is a list of the things I will do my best to do or not do, whatever the case may be. I'd also like to give my friends the ok to call me out if they see me breaking a resolution. (No, Tyrese and Karelia, this doesn't mean I give you a dollar every time I break it. :) At least not at this point.

1. Stop procrastinating. Set a realistic schedule and stick with it. As much as I love staying up all night, it goes against my next resolution.
2. Live the healthiest lifestyle possible. This means (and here are some sub-resolutions):
-run at least 5x a week
-ballet, pilates or core at least 3x a week
-arms at least 3x a week
-less fast food, more healthy food at home (this means adding more to my cooking repertoire b/c mac and cheese doesn't fit into that category :/ )
-sleep at least 4 hours a night
3. Concentrate more on my writing
4. Read more, and by that I also mean more variety. That does not mean I'm giving up my romance novels, just mixing it up a little more than usual.
5. Go to church at least 3 times a month. As much as I miss church choir, I have a class on Wed night so I'm not adding that to the list. If I have the time, I'll join a bible study or small group. This plays into my next:
6. Meet more people outside of PC
7. Keep in better touch with friends and family back home and in Lubbock or wherever
8. Go out at least once every weekend
9. Three drinks absolute max-counting shots; it only took once to learn that lesson
10. See more of Atlanta: the Aquarium, the Fox Theatre, museums, parks, etc.

There are a couple more but I'd rather not post them on my blog for all the world. I think this list is a good start and will help me keep things more in focus. Good luck to all of you with yours and Happy New Year!