Volunteer, study, sleep, eat, class, baseball, repeat.

Once again I drifted away from writing this blog, due to being tied up in too many things. My course load is just two credit hours more this semester, but an extra 5-10 hours of studying a week. Usually, if I'm in my room, I am either studying, doing homework, or sleeping. That's not to say I don't have a social life. Actually, you might say that it's improved. I recently started dating Nathan, my friend who helped me study Cal II. He's been a good friend since about Thanksgiving Break, but I really have got to know him better this semester. More about him in a later blog though.

So lately, Ciara and I have been volunteering for everything! Apart from already being in Honors College Student Ambassadors, Lead Hogs, and being very active in random volunteering opprotunities last semester, I've added Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, Diversity Impact, Loving Choices, and tutoring twice a week to the list. Sometimes when I'm having to crunch and schedule to get everything to fit in, I wonder if it's all worth it. Yet, there isn't really anything I would want to drop, because they're all really good organizations and working with them alongside my friends is part of my social time. It may be stressful sometimes, but I tell myself that someone has to help make a difference, why not me.

My only actual no-strings-attatched relax time is baseball. I only made it to one game of the opening series last weekend due to my schedule, but I hadn't realized how much I missed baseball season: the food, the family/friends, the game, the jokes, and once again, the food. I have a class that ends at 3:20 on Fridays so I'm going to have to miss first pitch until they start going to 6:00 games, but other than that, I'm making a strong effort to be at every game possible, keep my grades up, and still be involved in volunteering.

Just three weeks til Spring Break: a road trip with the girls!

P.S. I just realized I've had this blog for a year...not many entries, but still fun to look back on how much things have changed in a year :)

Life comes at you fast...

I've realized that life seems to speed up as you get into college. Homework deadlines, tests, studying, and keeping up with the extra class work takes up a lot of time lately. This semester is already starting to test my patience. It's hard finding time to just relax with my friends as the sudden increase in homework seems to be affecting all of us.

However, this semester hasn't been all studies. I finally told Coady that we weren't ever going to get back together. It was a liberating feeling, and I didn't realize before how oppressed and overwhelmed I felt with him. He never tried to make me feel that way, it was just the way it was. I noticed that I hate disappointing people, and this is not a good trait when it comes to a love life. You have to do what's best for you, and sometimes that involves moving on and learning from your experiences. It was hard on both of us, and he hated me for a while, but I'm hoping that we can be the friends we were before we started dating. He's a good person, we're just different people now.

On the same note of my love life, I have my eye on someone new. While we aren't dating, we have been friends for a few months and we click really well with each other. It's a lot easier for me to like someone I already know, and who is already part of my group of friends. It also helps that we can work with each other on Cal II homework and complain about the professor together.

I found out earlier this week that I'm in the last round of interviews for a RA position. The interview is scheduled for Saturday, but I'm not sure if the date is going to hold up with an ice storm moving in. While I'm nervous about this part in the LONG application process, I have to say that the individual interviews gave me the biggest scare. I won't find out until mid to late February whether I have a job or not. Getting this job would mean a lot more financial freedom, because I would basically have tuition and room/board paid for.

I'm looking forward to the future, but not forgetting the lessons learned from the past.

Why would you want to do that?

There's been a lot of changes in the lives of people around me lately. An engagement, pregnancy, and a birth have been the latest news in just a few months ( and these are three different couples!) It makes me wonder where my life is headed. Now before you get worried, I'm nowhere even close to considering the three mentioned life-altering things! However, being in college, I have a feeling that I should start considering what exactly I want to do professionally, and have a solid reason to back it up.



Right now when people ask me why in the world I would want to be a math major, I respond with,"To be a high school teacher". Most just accept this answer and move on, but some keep on asking, "Why?" I have no real answer to this. I usually just shrug my shoulders, smile, and say "just because". Honestly though, I don't know why I want to be a math teacher! It's just a hunch. Ok maybe more than a hunch, but I think it'd be a bit much to describe it as a calling. It's just what I want to do. I think.

What really got me was seeing my friend, who is the same age as me, and her newborn baby tonight. I realized that I have nearly all the freedom and ability to do whatever I want to with my life, while she will have to consider how her decision will affect her family. I feel almost wasteful not knowing what to do with the freedoms, advantages, and skills I have.

My guide of what not to wear on campus

So since I've started college, I've notice a lot of...um...interesting fashion choices on campus. My roommate and I have decided to compile a list of things that should NOT be worn, no matter how good someone says it looks.

1. leggings with t-shirt- A shirt is just that, and not a dress. On a similar note leggings are not pants. If your "pants" are made completely out of a stretchy material, you might want to consider covering yourself up a little more.

2. wearing high heels on regular basis-We live on "the Hill"! There is no reason to walk to classes in four inch stilettos. It's not impressing anyone and the podiatrist bill later will not be kind.

3. low cut shirts without camisole - Some companies make shirts that require an undershirt to accompany them. In this area, the less skin shown, the more attractive the outfit is. It is NOT appealing to see your bra, no matter how "cute" of a design it has.

4. Large muffin tops- I realize that muffin tops are a regular thing, but this is not about the everyday muffin top. This is about the rolls of muffin tops. I realize that you may be having weight issues, but buying pants 6 sizes too small isn't going to help anything. You would look a lot better with pants that better fit your form and show off your curves in a positive way.

5. Ugg boots/rain boots with short shorts-Just seems like a contridiction. You have the nice furry boots to keep you warm, but then the short shorts that barely cover you? Are your legs immune to cold weather?

6. shirts from other SEC colleges-Ok so I get that you may have picked these free shirts up when touring and choosing colleges, and thanks for choosing the U of A. But thats the thing, you chose the U of A. Now I have no problem with you taking advantage of a free t-shirt, but don't wear the shirt of an opposing team on game week. Also, under no circumstances is it ok to wear an opponents team colors/ shirt on game day especially in the student section.

7. wearing dresses to football games- football games are sports events, NOT social events. It's hard to jump up in down for your team in a slinky dress. Oh and the high heels rule applies here too.

Well this is all of the fashion peeves I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's more!

Ready for the weekend

So at the beginning of this week, I was really stressed out. I mean tears all over the place, on the edge of hyperventilation, nervous wreck type of stressed out. Why? Because of a Calculus test.

So to back track, on Sunday my friends got up to go to church. I got up bright and early with them, but I immediately started in on my Calculus book. I did problem after problem with 5 min study breaks every now and then to get on the internet and heat up some soup for lunch. It wasn't until 5:30 that night that I realized that I hadn't been off my floor all day and 95% of my time was in my room with my door shut. I had just been doing problems til I got them right with no trouble at all. So after I finally left my room to eat dinner downstairs, I decided I was prepared enough and took the rest of the night off. Between my first class and Cal, I took another hour to cram.

I went into the test feeling really prepared, came out feeling defeated and I thought I had failed. I went back to my dorm and just cried. I was already struggling in the class and I knew that a failed test could bring my grade down, and my scholarship would be in jeopardy. I felt like there was nothing that I could do, and it just felt like everything was crashing down.

I finally got my test back on Wednesday, and what did I get? An A. After all that worry and stress I made not just an ok, but an awesome grade considering the difficulty of the course. Needless to say, I was relieved.

Through all this, the curious thing that got me was that my ex-boyfriend, who is now just a really good friend, was there for me. He kept checking in on me to see if I'd heard anything about the test and constantly telling me that I was smart and it would be ok. It was weird because even though we're friends and were really close in the past, I just wasn't expecting that. He wasn't like that towards that at the end of our relationship, which is one of the reasons that it ended.

He has apologized multiple times and while I forgave him, I just never really believed him. Then he told me about the conversation he had with his mom, and how that made him realize that he needed to grow up and that he wasn't in high school anymore. That made me respect him a lot more. The way he's acted the past week is more like someone I would want to hang out with and get to know. I'm not at all implying that I'm interested in dating him again, just saying I'm interested in knowing if this is a true change of character.

I just wanted to jot down these thoughts now so I can see in a month or so whether or not they're the same.

But after all that this week, I am so ready for the weekend!! Hog basketball tonight, football tomorrow, and a lazy Sunday filled with a little homework. Much needed relaxing!

My favorite things

So my sister, who is the pretty much the only one that reads this blog, requested me to do this and get back to blogging. As you wish, sis.


The rules: share five things you're obsessed with

#1. My phone: I feel weird if I go anywhere without my phone. Even if I'm not always using it, I don't like it when people can't contact me or vice-versa. For this reason I've been through many a phone lately....some lasting longer than others.

#2. Living on campus: I like being able to walk everywhere. Classes, sporting events, food, and the gym are all just footsteps away from my dorm. Also shopping is just a 1 to 10 min drive fom the dorm depending on where I'm going and how bad traffic is.

#3. Taking Random Pictures: I've learned that some of the best pics of me and friends come from when we're just goofing off. I love to take some of these pictures and print them out in black and white. They look so good and are cute little memories to keep around.

#4. Making People Smile: My friends and I've learned to pass time by "pranking" some of my other friends. These pranks are usually just random acts of kindness that end up making people smile. We've been deemed the " Birthday Bandits" but we don't do just birthdays :).

#5. Stumbleupon.com: A website that I've heard from a friend that takes you to awesome random websites and I've found many cool pictures and articles using it. Of course you have to sort through some not so cool things but otherwise it's great.

I'm BACK!!!

So it's been about four and half months since I last wrote on here and let's just say there is SO much that has happened. I'm in college now and loving it. My roommate has become my best friend up here and I've got a little group that I always hang out with. So since it's been so long I'll try to touch on the important changes going on.

Out of the house- but I've been home 5 or 6 times and my parents come up for every Razorback game, so it's not so bad :). Plus I have my brother up here when I miss home but don't have the time to drive back. I've only hung out with him one night though other than just having food after football games.

New friends- Ciara, my roommate, Pepper and Madison, roommates from down the hall, and Brad, guy that I met on my first day here. This is my group that I'm always around. We've been here for each other through everything. It helps a lot to have them constantly making jokes and putting me in a better mood when I'm feeling down.

Relationship status- single. After 10 months of dating Coady and I broke up. It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do, but I had to do it. He wasn't very mature about me moving off and it hurt our relationship. Since our breakup a month ago, he's seen his faults and apologized for not believing me when I pointed them out. We still talk because he was one of my best friends before all of this, but I like us being friends and can't see us as more than that right now.

Semester 1- coming to an end. I signed up for my 2nd semester classes last week. I can't believe that I've been here long enough to be preparing for the second round of freshman year. It feels as if the first round barely started! On to Cal 2 though and leaving honors Cal and it's professor behind :) He's not a mean person just a hard grader, and thats not good for people on scholarships!

Can't wait for the holidays- just want to go home with the whole family, have a nice cooked meal, play some Wii, and mess with my puppies. I guess I can't call them puppies anymore though. They're over a year old now and getting larger everytime I see them. I miss being at home sweet home.