Day 351

My New York Trip
(Part 1 because it's 2am)

It started out with A LOT of stress. I mean, c'mon, airports right before Christmas in a group of five? No please. And of course I had to have the middle seat between Amanda and Kyle. Again, no please. It was worth it though because the first thing I got after arriving at the house we were staying at was a huge hug from Sam :) Just that hug made the hours of traveling worth it.

The next day we surprised the whole family. My grandparents were first. We stood on their front lawn and my brother played "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" on his trumpet until my grandpa came outside. It was kind of awkward because the song ended the first time and no one came out, so my brother had to play it through again. My grandma was in the kitchen washing dishes in the back of the house and she was so focused that she didn't even notice the six extra people in her house until we called her name. We were supposed to go to my aunt's house next to surprised her and my cousins, but she randomly stopped by my grandma's house with Jake, my younger cousin. She cried. The best though was Aunt Tina because it was the most elaborate. We had Sam just chill in my grandparent's living room right before we knew she was coming over. She was surprised, but even more shocked when I came up from the basement. We played it off like it was just us two visiting for the holidays, then the rest of my family came up. All around, it was awesome, and no one had a heart attack, so I'd call that a total win. We spent Christmas Eve with my Aunt Tina, Uncle John and their adorable puppy Sassy.

The next day was Christmas. Because "Santa" didn't have a stocking for Sam, I filled his up for Christmas and my mom put it by the fireplace in the middle of the night like the rest of ours. No one in my house has believed in Santa for a few years, but we still totally pretend like he's real. We always wake up really early on Christmas morning, so I woke Sam up at 6:30 when we were getting ready to do presents. His first reaction was to ask me what was wrong because I am NEVER up that early. He didn't realize that 6:30 is late for us on Christmas morning.

I loved my presents from him. I got a sweater, a necklace and a scarf (the later I picked out myself because I NEEDED to have it and I asked for a scarf anyways). I also got a kitten figure for my room since I can't have a real one. He even bought it fair trade. He's so good :) My favorite though was the world map he got me. It's scratch off, so you're supposed to scratch off countries after you visit them, but that's not the best part. He went on the travel board I have on Pinterest and found every location I pinned and wrote it on the map. Yeah, he's a keeper and no, I'm not sharing.

We spent Christmas Day with my other aunt's family and my grandparents and it was really cool to reconnected with everyone. It's strange, but no one has really changed much. It felt like we never left. Everyone loved Sam which was a huge relief. It's not that I thought the wouldn't, just the whole meeting the family thing.... yeah. All thumbs up though!

Part Two is coming tomorrow (and there will be pictures)!

Day 344 to 350

The reason I haven't been posting is because I've been in New York! (Surprise, Aunt Tina) I didn't want to post while I was there because I just wanted to enjoy being with my family and Sam instead of stressing over a blog post. I'll be posting a lot more about my holiday season tomorrow so stay tuned :)

Day 343

I didn't get to post last night because I spent from 10pm to 3am trying to get my cousins to sleep

Day 342

I'm becoming re-obsessed with the game Words with Friends.

It's so addicting! If anyone wants to start a game with me, I'm logged in with my Facebook.

Also, I thought it'd be fun to try to fit every tile into the square (you can set up the game where you're playing against "another person that's in the room with you") and look here...

Nailed it.

Day 341

LESS THAN FOUR DAYS AWAY FROM SEEING SAM

Day 340

I'm so bad you guys, I'm sorry :( To make up for it, I'm going to put a lot of time and effort into this post.

My Top Ten Favorite Pins (since last time I did this)

1.
Dat couch doe! This couch is 55 inches deep, which is more than the width of a twin bed. I want this couch. It'd be perfect in a den right in front of a big screen TV or maybe in my master bedroom right in front of the fire place. I mean look at it - it's practically made for snuggles.






1.5.
This is where that couch belongs, right in front of that fire place. Behind it I think would make a good place for an office space (taking up one of the corners and having the other one lead into another room) or a library. Maybe put the dining room table back there. It's hard to tell because the room is so big and you can't really tell where it ends.







2. This one is pretty self explanatory. Just look at them!

3. This one is a link:
http://www.leakysquid.com/2013/06/court-recorders-have-best-job-comedyhour.html

Some people just amaze me with their stupidity. It's kind of long but worth the read.

4.

I absolutely love this quote. Someday when I have my own office, I'm going to have this one the wall because I think it's true. When you love doing something, it doesn't feel like work, except when you get the paycheck at the end of the month. I haven't experienced it yet in a work sense, besides working with my FIGlets, but as far as school goes, this was Gateway for me. Now, I'm not saying I loved everything (*cough* transcribing *cough*) but the real journalism stuff was fun. Experiencing last term that makes me even more confident in my career path.







5. 

Though I'm not quite sure what a "lanai" is (I'm assuming a back porch-type thing), I'm really digging this floor plan. There's a big family room, the flow of the house makes sense, there's a very nice master suite area, and even though it's a one story house, the other bedrooms are far away from the master suite. I just wouldn't have a door between the front porch and the master suite... that's a little strange. The floor plan shows a basement and an upstairs, but I'd probably just go with the basement as a party room and I'd make the "study" would be a library/office combo.

....... Can you tell I've been watching a lot of house shows?


6. It's almost Christmas! Plus, c'mon, it's Mean Girls.

5. For some reason this winter I've had an obsession with sweaters. So instead of trying to pick my favorite, here's a collection of sweaters I love:

7.

When/if I'm a mom, I'm definitely going to have one of these. It's going to be totally rigged though because most of them are going to have chores written on them. Muahaha!

8. 

I know, I know, I should probably stop with the house stuff but I realized as I was looking through my pins that this staircase idea would work perfectly in the floor plan I posted above. I'd just need to trade the part basement for a party loft (which would totally be okay by me). I'd just need a railing on those stairs because right now that is NOT OKAY.

9. Mmmmmmm fondue. Nom nom nom.

10. And last but not least... more sweater love!

Day 338

Should have posted it when I first saw it but after seeing her in the finale... I just had to share. This girl can sing!

http://youtu.be/Uay9ZmxTZwU

Day 337

I determined today that I have a problem.  I can't go to the mall without buying something. And usually, it's something I do end up wearing or using. It's not like it sits in the back of my closet, never to see the light if day again. But I don't really NEED it and honestly, I don't have the money to spend. I was really good during the term about saving but then I get home and BAM debit card's out.

It just makes me feel good, to have new, cute things. I've been putting a lot of effort into dressing up every day instead of going to class in yoga pants and a ratty sweatshirt. I've had a lot more confidence this term and I think the way I've been dressing has a lot to do with that. I think the shopping is me trying to keep that going.

Buying those new, more fashion-y clothes is definitely important because my wardrobe has been seriously lacking but I'm worried about over-spending. I buy on sale ALWAYS (40% off American Eagle right now!) but still, I'm not rich and I have things like, you know, rent to pay for. I think I'll be turning over my debit card toy mom until after Christmas. That way I can't possibly spend until after Christmas, and then I'll have all those gift cards to use :)

Day 325

Recently, I've felt either too bored or too tired to write anything good. I think now that I've really gotten into my journalism work, I don't NEED this blog as a creative outlet. But I'm gonna try and finish it out anyways. 

Today I got a pedicure with my mom and grandma. The older I get, the more I'm realizing how cool my grandma is. For example, she takes shots of Patron. Like, what?!?! I told her today the she was throwing my bachelorette party. I love my sister dearly but she won't even be older enough to buy drinks for the party. I don't want a stereotypical "girl's night out" bachelorette party anyways. Women who do those usually do it to celebrate their "last night of being single" but 1. It's not like you were single before and 2. It's not like that will be my last night ever going out. I'm getting married, not dying. I just want a girl's night in with movies and drinks and maybe a few games (like Apples to Apples. Has to be there). No male strippers for this girl.

Day 323

One of my FIGlets shared this video with me during our movie night tonight and I just had to post it on here - mash up between two of my favorite movies :)

Day 322

I'm officially done with the term :D Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Day 321

I've spent about the last hour looking at these: http://microaggressions.tumblr.com/

I don't want to make any personal opinion comments because I just want you to think about them with your own thoughts, not what I say.

Day 320

Guess what time I woke up this morning...


....



....



....



If you guessed 3pm, you're correct! I think it was the combination of it being the end of the term and staying up late and not having anything to do (I can't really work on my video project until tomorrow and it's too early to study for Japanese). I'm kind of in this purgatory where the term isn't quite over and there's nothing I can do about it.

Also, 16 more days until Christmas :D

Day 319

Didn't post. Was watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King extended version with cast commentary. Twas a good night.

Day 318

SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

Also, check out these kick ass photos from the wonderful people at the Emerald: http://dailyemerald.com/2013/12/06/photos-snowfall-at-university-of-oregon-campus/. 

I didn't participate in the snowball fight today because I was taking a rest day and went out to do some Gateway stuff, but I still really enjoyed the snow. The walks were nice. I didn't even really mind the cold. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays around for a while because it's definitely making Dead Week (or Weekend now I guess) a little less dead.

Day 317

Future Me:

Day 316

I am seriously hating life right now. I shot my interview, did my audio, hooray, come home and the video quality sucks. It looked fine on the screen the entire time I was shooting but then I uploaded it and crap.

Here is a collection of GIFs and images that sums up my feelings right now:

Day 314

So I contacted the guy at Unikoideas about a Lord of the Rings poster and he's totally down and asked for my help :) I'm having issues narrowing down my quotes though - there are so many good ones!

I had the FIG Banquet tonight to celebrate the end of the term and I have to say, it was a lot of fun. It's such a great group of people and I'm really going to miss hanging out with them after the term is over. On one hand, I'm sad that my job as an FA is almost over for the year, but on the other, I'm going to have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I'm definitely going to need it. Plus I don't have as much energy now as I did at the beginning of the term. Not even close.

Me when I get home from class.

Just four more days of classes and one final left to go :D

Day 313

Feature an Awesome Person Day!

This weekend I went to the Christmas Bazaar in Portland and spent way too much money and had a great time. I can't find/remember the names of the two vendors I buy from every year, but one sells these beautiful class ornaments for $1 and the other one sell journals made from old books. This year, I bought Where the Wild Things Are.

I found a new vendor to add to my list of favorites this year. The company name is Unikoideas and the guy who designs the posters is awesome! This is the one I bought:

He's got a ton more on his Etsy site (link below). The only thing that disappointed me was that there's not a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit one yet! When I talked to him, he said it was in the works so I'm super excited for both of those. If he made one for each movie from LOTR and one for the Hobbit so I could put them up on my wall together I'd be so happy. His work is amazing, check it out!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/UnikoIdeas

Day 312

No internets. Couldn't post.

Day 311

I had Thanksgiving with my extended this year as usual but it was a little different because I had't seen most of them in a few months. My little cousin, the older one that I babysat for this summer, really missed me. It was really sweet. I think I'll be hanging out with her tomorrow too so I'm excited for that :)

Last night was also my first Black Friday shopping trip ever and I must say, I'm kind of addicted. I got three pairs of boots, two sweaters, two camis, a sweatshirt, jeggings, 4 pairs of boot socks, a scarf and a T shirt for $210. That's pretty good, especially considering some of it is from American Eagle (ex: just the scarf was originally $30 there). Everything there was 50% off. It wasn't even that busy - I mean, it was busy for Salem Center but I've been in malls that busy on a regular day. Definitely doing that again next year!

Also, I just refound this video and I needed to share:

Day 310

Just got home from Black Friday shopping and oh my gosh am I tired! I'll write more about it and Thanksgiving tomorrow but I just want to say I had an awesome day :) 

Day 309

One more day until Thanksgiving break :) I really needed this break. I came home from class at 6 and passed out. At 6. That's ridiculously early.

I want to share this video today because 1. I love the message and 2. it was beautifully done and we're learning about making great story based videos in Gateway right now. These are the kinds of videos I want to make when I get good.

Day 308

One more month left until Christmas :D I've been slowly but surely getting into the Christmas spirit by shopping and drinking peppermint hot chocolate but I'm still not at the point where I appreciate Christmas music on the radio. It's not even December. Seriously.

In other news, I have my classes for next term:

1. Evolution of Human Sexuality - sounds like it's either going to be really interesting or a total let down. I'm taking it with some of my FIGlets though, so that should be fun.

2. Cultures of South Asia - I'm really excited for this class because I love the professor who teaches it and it's about the area of the world I want to work it. It's an upper level class but I'm hoping there's not too much boring reading. I don't mind fun reading but boring reading will make me hate the class.

3. Gateway 3 - I have to idea what to expect but there's group projects which terrifies me. 

4. 日本語 - Of course, I have to continue taking Japanese.

I'm also hoping to work 8 to 10 hours a week next term. I'll be really busy but hopefully I'll be enjoying my classes so it won't seem too bad.

Day 307

Why I hate my life:

Day 306

When you let your first time drunk friend type your blog post for the day:

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WHO DOPES THAT IEM  WHY. I DONT HET IT. AND EVERYTIHN I JUST BUR;ERD. I DINT EVE  HVE FEet sdo weird sol muchfort. efforkt. im so warkm . i have to pee. i typles itoi.b9090999\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\jiustn this is do wird. so weird.nyj pitures. like ho tot of tht, stopping thois. oi wzntreds tjis wbat is loifefunnrt. ol. rjws  crum  righht ghete ddont fll. it might hurt./ a loj.

Day 305

This Audio Slideshow project is seriously stressing me out. I'm at the point where there's nothing I can possibly do to it right now. I just have to wait for more pictures which won't happen until Sunday. I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the lab Sunday afternoon/evening/night. I'm really excited about my project though. I'm taking some risks but hopefully they'll pay off. I'll definitely be posting it when I'm done.

I swear, the person who lives in the apartment below mine must be a total pot head because my room smells like weed AGAIN and I know none of my roommates smoke and it's not the person above me. If you wanna smoke, fine, I'm not going to judge, but that's what a balcony is for. You live in an apartment complex. Be considerate. Seriously.

Day 303

I hope you are all as disgusted by this as I am.

5 Reasons To Date A Girl With An Eating Disorder

By Tuthmosis

Nothing screams white-girl problems louder than a good old-fashioned eating disorder.* But they’re more than that. Eating disorders have been—quite appropriately—declared a luxury reserved for only the most privileged members of the female race. In other words, the presence of one of the classic eating disorders is a reliable predictor of various socio-economic, cultural, and personality traits in a young woman–features that, in the end, are desirable to today’s American man. In a world where the “retail price” on the typical Western woman continues to skyrocket—while their quality continues its precipitous decline—there are some real gems to be found in the bargain bin.

I’ve dated several girls with eating disorders—in various intensities—and all of these traits have applied to each of them.

*While obesity is, in most cases, also an “eating disorder,” this list doesn’t apply to emotional eaters, food addicts, and fatties with no self control.

1. Her obsession over her body will improve her overall looks.

A girl who spends inordinate mental and physical energy on her looks is rarely fat. If you were to get into a long-term relationship with one of these girls, she’s also less likely to become complacent about her physique over time. Girls like this are usually deft at properly dressing their body type, which translates into a more stylish girl overall. And, because cheap clothing lines—like H&M—are shaped with straight cuts that are less labor-intensive and therefore more inexpensive, they look good in even the cheapest of shit. While they may have a “distorted body image” on the inside, that usually means staying trim and fit on the outside. Let’s not forget that fatties too, in the majority of cases, have a “distorted body image,” but in the unattractive direction.

2. She costs less money.

You can go out to nice restaurants and order take-out with the confidence that your expense on her will be minimal. In most cases, she’ll get a small dish–like a side salad–or just eat a little bit of whatever communal dishes you order. If you’re a hungry bastard, you can even finish off her plate. “Are you going to finish that?”

3. She’s fragile and vulnerable.

The case has repeatedly and persuasively been made that an inflated ego and an unearned high self-esteem are among the most unattractive traits in a girl. You-go-girlist “confidence”—grounded in little more than years of being told she’s a unique and special snowflake for no other reason than she was born female—renders a woman into an insufferable turd who thinks the world revolves around her.

An eating disorder often translates into the direct opposite: a girl who’s modest, fragile, and vulnerable. Instead of having to constantly wrestle with a difficult and obnoxious girl, you’ll be dealing with a tastefully insecure girl, who’s eager to please, and wants nothing more than your approval. She’s quick to apologize for transgressions, and will make the extra effort to see you–instead of flaking on you constantly. This level of vulnerability often brings out the best in men, whose protector instinct can’t help but get activated.

4. Probably has money of her own.

They aren’t too many poor girls with eating disorders. These girls come from money, and often continue to wield that spending power right into their adulthoods. Her instinct to please you will translate into her picking up tabs, coming to your door not empty-handed, or buying you little gifts.

5. She’s better in bed.

It’s a well-known fact that crazy girls are exceptional in the sack. A girl with an eating disorder has just the right cocktail of pent-up insecurity, neuroses, and daddy issues to ensure that your whole building knowsevery time you’re beating it up.

Say what you will, a girl with a mild-to-moderate eating disorder—that hasn’t excessively marred her appearance—is today’s best-buy in the West’s rapidly plummeting dating market.

Source: http://www.returnofkings.com/21313/5-reasons-to-date-a-girl-with-an-eating-disorder

Day 302

And let's follow up my "Yay 300 days" post with another missed day *sigh* I was very busy yesterday working on my audio slideshow and I just got tired and passed out. *fingers crossed* its going to turn out amazing though.

I haven't gotten to talk to Sam very much in the past few days because he's been training with Special Forces (I think that's supposed to be capitalized...) so he hasn't had much time. On one hand, I'm happy that he gets a break in the monotony of doing stupid work all day but on the other hand it sucks not being able to talk to him for more than a few minutes at a time. It's strange, he's been away for over four months but doesn't feel like it's been that long. Maybe because it's been such a crazy term? Many because my unconscious has become well adjusted to the whole long distance thing? All I know is that I'm so excited to see him :) Less than 5 more weeks to go!

Day 300

Wow you guys, three hundred days. I know I haven't been perfect with it, but overall, I think I've been pretty diligent. If I continue blogging after this (which I probably will) there's no way I'm committing myself to every day though. Maybe once or twice a week or so. We'll see. But considering I thought this blog would be abandoned after a month, I think I've done alright.

Thank Goodness I only have 3 more weeks of school left. I'm slowly losing motivation, especially in my Gateway class. "We know you're just learning how to do this stuff but we're not going to help you and we're going to grade really strictly." Okay, maybe that's not an actual quote, but that's pretty much how it is. This is everyone's first class of doing actual journalism, and they acknowledge that, yet they make it 8 credits and don't provide much time at all during class to actually help with the assignments we're working on. Yeah, there's office hours, but then why am I going to class? We get lab for two hours, which you would think would be a time to just work on the assignments where we can actually have someone comment of our work as we're working on it, but no. It's not even that I'm doing bad grade-wise in the class. It's just so frustrating and I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of this class. I just want to be done.

Sorry for the rant guys. I'm just ready for finals to be over.

Day 299

I got a care package today :)

Thanks Aunt Tina! 

Day 298

Here are the pictures from yesterday. I felt really sick and tired yesterday which is why I didn't get around to this last night. Just a note, they're not edited yet so they're a bit dark.

I'll post for today later this evening.

Day 297

It's early to bed for me you guys. I have to be awake at 4:30 tomorrow to go on a shoot for Gateway. Hey if they can get up early, so can I :) hopefully I'll be able to post some photos tomorrow!

Day 296

Just... this.

Wow.

Day 295

So I've been looking at different study abroad programs for the presentation and I'm getting pretty sad because look at these places!

I want to be able to visit them all but I know it's going to be a while before I get to plan another international trip. I'm *fingers crossed* going to Ghana this summer and maybe Germany (and that's a big maybe) and Japan for my honeymoon but other than that, I don't know. I know that still sounds like a lot of traveling but I'm impatient. I want to see the world.

Day 293 and 294

Okay, this is the last time, I promise. Last night was my dad’s birthday dinner at Outback which was amazing. I got back to school late and then had to unpack and finish my journalism assignment and by the time I was done with all of that, I was ready for bed.

Today is my dad’s birthday and also, it’s Veteran’s Day. I’ve been asked a few times if I have school today and, yes, I do. Regular classes today, though one of my classes on Wednesday is cancelled. I don't really want to talk about Veteran's Day because, I just, I don't. No soldier stuff.

Day 291 and 292

I fell asleep last night before I could post. I thought it was around 10:00 when I finished grading essays... nope, try 12:30. *sigh* I really need to get my crap together. I hope the day before's post made up for it though as it was pretty wordy.

Guess where I am.............. home! I got to take a really long shower (no scalding hot water!), get all of my laundry clean and just relax. It was like hitting the "reset" button. Tomorrow I'll be grocery shopping and maybe getting a few more winter appropriate things to wear. Right now, my wardrobe screams summer which is great for, you know, summer. But this is how I feel every time I go outside:

Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but I'm still in need of some winter clothes.

Just 6 and a half weeks until Christmas :D I've already taken care of a few Christmas presents but I still have a lot more to pick out. I take present giving very seriously so I'm sure this will be quite the process to find the perfect gifts for everyone. Wish me luck :)