two June projects and an anniversary.

Hello out there, blogland!  I don't have very long to write but I just wanted to post this up really quick.

First, today is Rob's and my fifth anniversary together!  We've had a great relaxing day and even made a yummy dinner of chicken, mac & cheese, green beans, and dinner rolls.  I whipped up a special dessert yesterday for the occasion, which brings me to my first (well, second chronologically) June project.

 

Delicious cupcakes! I used my secret Sin Cake recipe to make cupcakes and then got a vanilla buttercream frosting recipe from a friend. I tried to color it a much deeper blue, but it didn't seem to want to get any bluer than this. Next time I'm going to try for a pink frosting and experiment with some vanilla cupcake recipes. I'm really going to miss all my kitchen equipment when I am in Orlando. :-(

My second June project is this Hermione Cable & Eyelet hat that I knitted earlier this month.  I love it!  The picture makes it look red, but it's really a wine-like color.  The ribbing turned out so-so, but the cables came out wonderfully.  I'm very proud of them.  Now I actually like knitting cables.  Go figure!  I'll definitely use this hat pattern again.

That's it for me today.  Take care!

Am I Reading the Right Blog?

Just wanted to make a quick note for my followers.  I know some of you probably found my profile from other WDW College Program blogs and so you decided to follow me, too.  Just wanted to give you a quick heads-up that you're in the wrong place. ;-)  This is my personal blog, and if you came here looking for my CP tales then you want to move along to this one.  I didn't want anyone confused in case that's the one you were looking for when you decided to follow my blog.

And if you want to stick around here for my personal ramblings and stuff, feel free!  I'm thrilled to have you following along. :-D  Have a great day!

Beginnings of Summer. a.k.a. Historian for Hire!

Wow.  I've totally ignored this blog!  I haven't posted here since before final exams started, which isn't entirely unusual but I have a couple of things I could have blogged about during that time.

I'm a college graduate!  That's right, historian for hire!  Or whatever.

Several of my relatives flew/drove into town for the ceremony, and we all had a pretty great visit while they were here.  It's too bad we can't all get together more often.

So now I'm staying with my parents for the summer before I leave for Orlando.  I kinda miss the privacy I had back at the apartment.  Not that my parents are all that invasive, but there's definitely a lack of the personal space that I was used to when I lived with Sarah and Kellie.  Plus I feel a bit cluttered because I'm in storage limbo here.  I'm slowly moving out of the apartment while cleaning out my stuff here at the same time.  So there are boxes and suitcases everywhere I turn.  And there's still a bunch of my stuff that will need to be packed up, moved, or purged.

This leads me to another point.  I'm in this weird hesitant mode lately.  There are projects or activities that I want/need to start, but I keep hesitating.  A few examples:
- Cleaning out my room.  I know that I have lots of time, but I really don't want to start.  It's just such a daunting task.
- Running.  Granted I need to finally pick out which shoes I want as a belated birthday gift before I can actually continue working on my running.  But that right there is another example.
- Knitting.  I have all of these projects in my head that I want to start, but I can't pick just one to begin.  "Ooh, I want to knit more hats!  Wait, I want to do a bajillion pairs of fingerless mitts!  But I think I may be ready to try socks, so maybe I should do that.  And I really want to learn how to sew buttons onto my work!"  Etc., etc.  Although I did just finish a hat for Rob and some mitts for my mom.  So it's not totally hopeless.
- Netflix.  Weird, right?  My queues for DVD and Watch Instantly are both very long but I just can't seem to make myself watch anything.  Right now I have a documentary on the Titanic and The Invention of Lying sitting by the DVD player.  And we just started up the Watch Instantly on my parents' Wii.  I have plenty to watch, I don't know why I don't do it.

Is it just hesitation to start new things?  Laziness?  Maybe I'm transferring my habit of procrastinating into real-life stuff now that I don't have schoolwork to do.  Whatever the reason is, I'd like to stop feeling so lethargic about accomplishing these tasks or even working on projects about which I'm excited.  I'm ready to get started with my summer!

The weekend is finally coming!

As of 6:30pm this evening, I'm officially in the single digits of my graduation countdown!  Insert dance break! :)

I turned in my senior thesis.  We had the option of requesting extensive feedback from the professor if we want to know more about how the finished product turned out, so I definitely asked for that.  After working so hard on it, I want to know what she thinks of the completed project as opposed to just sections here and there.  I have to take my Personal Finance exam tomorrow afternoon, but it should be fairly easy.  And then the weekend will finally be here!  Even though it will be spent studying, I'm excited.

After waiting for over a month, I was finally able to watch the newest episode of The Tudors last night.  Remind me why it was a good idea to watch the leaked episodes so far in advance, only to be later burdened with waiting that much longer?  So... I had some more thoughts/reactions/ramblings.

• Sarah Bolger.  OMIGOD.  I think I love her more with every episode, seriously.  This is the only performance of hers that I've seen, but I intend to keep up with her career after the show ends.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: I desperately wish they were continuing on with the reigns of Henry's children.  As for Edward, eh whatever.  But Mary!  Sarah could do so much with this role and it's tremendously unfair that we'll never get to see more.  And on a superficial note, she is definitely in second place to Natalie Dormer on my list of girl-crushes from The Tudors.
• And the Mary/Chapuys alliance is still going!  So cute.  I don't really like Eustace historically, but on the show he's okay.  It makes me happy that he continually has her back.
• Thomas Culpepper... I don't even...  Why does everybody make him so swoon-worthy but despicable at the same time?  I love it and hate it.
• I'm probably one of the only people alive who sympathizes with both Anne Boleyn and Jane Boleyn historically speaking, and I am not surprised that they are continuing the jealous/bitchy/villianous approach with Jane's character.  Everybody does that, so it's nothing new.  But "peeping tom" Jane?  Just... what.
• Was Charles Brandon even in this episode?  I think I saw him at a table at one point chatting in the background...
• Aw!  Little Edward!
• I usually love Elizabeth, but I am lukewarm on her involvement in the show at this point.  I don't know, she just doesn't seem to fit with the action right now.  Maybe later this season she'll be able to play a more prominent role, but for now it's just moments of "Hey Henry!  Remember this daughter, too!!"
• Henry and Anne... WHAT. THE. HELL.  That scene was just so weird.  And not to be strange, but did they actually have sex or was there just cuddling?  Because they were both in their PJs...  You have to see sex or nudity on this show to know for certain, I'm not kidding.  For all I know they had sex and then put on nightgowns.  It's just so... odd.
• I'm a bit confused on the whole anti-Earl of Surrey thing.
• That ceremony for the Order of the Garter!  Hilarious!  All those men flashing legs with embroidered garters on them made me giggle, I'm sorry.  I can be immature.
• Poor Henry and his impending old age.  Crisis, much?
• Ugh.  Un-sexiest place to have sex that I've seen on this show so far.  Like, really?  We're not talking about a bathroom that's been sprayed down with Lysol and whatnot.  That's just sick.

Well I need to get to bed!

Catch-up post.

Just a few ramblings about what's been going on over the last few days and what's coming up soon!

Well, the final copy of my senior thesis is due Monday.  Then it goes into my university's archives forever.  Actually, I'm imagining something like that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  But still, it's a scary thought!  From what I understand, future students and faculty will be able to access it.  For what reason, I don't know.  But they might!  So today I've been working heavily on revisions and I intend to still be working late tonight.  And probably tomorrow.  I can be a bit of a perfectionist so if I have until Monday afternoon to submit this, then I will still be proofreading Monday morning!  And if you read my earlier posts, you know that I've really been enjoying this project (most of the time).  So I'm a bit sad to be finishing and don't feel ready to part with it.  Regardless, I have a bottle of champagne ready to be opened Monday evening!  I also fill out my exit forms for the department that afternoon.  So it's a big day graduation-wise!

And graduation itself is approaching quickly.  The ceremony is two weeks from tonight, actually.  Some complications have arisen which I'd rather not get into right now, but they are relevant.  The short story is that I've had some really bad anxiety attacks this week due to stress from school.  And I haven't been sleeping well at all over the last couple of weeks.  I'll spare you unpleasant details, but I was getting really sick from all the anxiety.  And that's highly unusual for me, even at my most stressed.  So my doctor put me on some short-term medication to help me relax, sleep, and curb panic attacks.  I know that once the next two weeks or so are over, my stress levels will quickly decrease.  But it was quickly getting out of hand and having a horrible effect on me.

For a quick rundown of my final days of class, here is the schedule.  Thesis due Monday, last paper of undergrad due Wednesday, final exam Thursday.  Then the next week I have a final Monday, one Tuesday, and my last exam is Friday.  Yup, the day before the graduation ceremony!  I could opt to take it two days early, but I'm really going to need those two days to study for it.  And I have several family members coming into town for the ceremony, so the first days after school ends will be busy.  But at least I'll be able to relax a lot more!

I can't wait to get back to knitting.  Earlier this afternoon I was taking a break from revising by looking up knitting patterns on Ravelry, and I felt inspired!  At the moment I have a mental list of potential Christmas gifts to knit, and I'm ready to get started!  With Netflix and knitting, I'll be set for relaxation!  And I still really want to learn to crochet this summer.

Rambling about My Birthday

So tomorrow is my 22nd birthday.  Maybe it's just because I'm extremely busy with school stuff, but I really don't care.  I don't feel like celebrating in any way tomorrow.  I've noticed that I care about my birthday less and less every year, though.  But I was never really one to make a huge deal of it.  The last time I had an actual birthday party was when I turned 14.  Over the past few years my birthday has fallen into a routine of going out to dinner with my family, coming home and having cake, opening presents, and that's it.  And the monotony of it has made me extremely bored.  No offense to my family, but you can only do that so many times and now we just do it because they think it's what I want.  So last year I shook things up and went to Disney World for my birthday.  It was really fun and I'm glad that I did it.

This year is a different story.  I've got so much schoolwork to do that I planned on just letting it go by with no notice.  Class all day, come home and work on papers.  My sister invited me out to dinner tomorrow night, though.  And I'm pretty sure my parents talked her into it, because they think I was going to sit around being depressed.  I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I'd rather just be by myself than receive pity.  Maybe there's the chance my sister thought to invite me on her own, but I doubt it because we're not close.  And my parents are really into "tradition" so they probably think I'll be upset if I don't get to go out to dinner on my birthday.  Not really.  But I hate hurting people's feelings, so of course I'm going out with my sister.  I'm really in no mood for forced birthday celebrations, though.

This post is kinda rambly and selfish, I know.

Picspam: Audrey Hepburn

So I actually had a totally different idea for what to write about today, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow.  At some point, my post for today became focused on Audrey Hepburn.  And I find this incredibly amusing, given Audrey's captivating nature.  I admit I haven't seen very many of her movies (my Netflix queue has a few waiting!).  So far the ones I've watched are Sabrina, My Fair Lady, and Roman Holiday.  It's crazy what an icon she is.  I mean, how many women do you see who try to be like her in one way or another, whether they want to dress like her or imitate her grace?  She seems like the embodiment of poise and style, even today.  So here are some pictures and quotes that I hope will brighten your day!  And believe me, it was really difficult to pick on a few favorite photos to share.

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

~ Audrey Hepburn

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." 

~ Audrey Hepburn

"Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me."

~ Audrey Hepburn

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows." 

~ Audrey Hepburn

"I'm not beautiful. My mother once called me an ugly duckling. But, listed separately, I have a few good features."

~ Audrey Hepburn

"There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don't need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain."

~ Audrey Hepburn

In which I share some strange thoughts.

Four weeks left!  14 days left of classes, then three days for final exams.  It feels so good.

Time for me to get weird.  If you've seen (or read) Julie & Julia, then you'll recall the feeling that Julie had that she knew the woman she was writing about and learning from.  You know, when you spend so much time focusing on one person, their life, and their characteristics that you truly feel like you are close to them?  If you don't know what I'm talking about, then just go with me on this.  That's how I feel about my senior thesis.  As if I didn't already love this woman, now I feel even more passionate about her life and who she was.  I feel that way about many people from this time period, but about her especially.  It's just.. crazy.  It's like writing about a friend.  I'm so ridiculously attached at this point that I am actually sad that this project is coming to an end.  As much as I complained about some of the work (mostly the writing process and actually putting my thoughts on the page), I will miss it.  But at least I can continue all the independent study I want and eventually travel to where they lived and try to imagine what their experiences were really like.  It's crazy that it took so much of my college career to get to this point, where I am studying what I love.  And genuinely feeling passionate about it again.  Sometimes the hoop-jumping made me forget why I came here, but it's to do exactly what I'm doing right now.  I'm studying people and places about which I already cared so much in a new way, and that's what I'll miss about this project and about college in general.

Oh my goodness!

So I'm sitting here working, working, working on my thesis (yup, another all-nighter!) and it hit me just how little time is left for me in college.  Well, at least with undergrad.  But let's not kill my buzz. :-)

Anyway, I've thought about it several times but it seemed like a revelation tonight anyway.

I have five weeks left of school.  Five weeks between me and my diploma.

22 days left of classes/finals (34 days counting weekends and non-class days).

Less than 850 hours?

Three book responses, one research paper, one huge test, four final exams, and the final draft of my senior thesis.  That means roughly... 34 pages to write for various assignments, including revisions.

It seems like so little but so much at the same time!  Well, now I need to stop counting and get back to writing/editing.

Bedroom post!

I've been thinking about what to bring with me to Orlando.  Originally I was going to bring the sheets, pillows, and comforter that I have at my apartment here and just leave my room at my parents' house the way it is.  Then I was visiting them recently and it hit me how messy my bedroom there is.  There is junk everywhere (I am a notorious packrat) and the whole room desperately needs to be cleaned out.  And this is pretty gross, but I'm pretty sure there are bugs living in the closet because it hasn't been properly cleaned since I moved out in 2008.  Shockingly, this makes me even less eager to clean it. :-/  Plus, I've basically had all of the same furniture since I was 11 (some of it is actually older than I am) so it could stand to be updated.  The last time I even moved anything around was in 2005 when we re-carpeted.

So anyway my parents and I chatted about it and we're going to work on re-doing the bedroom this summer. They already have a guest room, so they don't intend to do anything different with it in the near future.  The first goal is to clean out the room extensively... bugs and all.  Then we plan to paint it.  Pink is still my favorite color, but my bedroom has been light pink for more than a decade (mostly out of laziness) and it's definitely not appropriate for my age.  I still want it to be a bright color though.  I'm thinking maybe a nice blue-green.  Then we're going to get rid of the bed I have there and most likely replace it with the one I have here in the apartment.  That way we won't have to store it while I'm in FL, and I still get to keep it!  The mattress is the most comfortable ever, so I don't want to part with it yet!  And I'm too cheap to go for an upgrade for my bedroom at my parents' house; I'll just save the moolah for a bigger bed for wherever I move later.

I'm kind of excited to be changing the room so much.  The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the cleaning.  Not too keen on bug encounters and having to part with massive amounts of knick-knacks.

Ricardus

Tonight's episode of LOST was so awesome!  I actually forgot about it until 9:02, which means I didn't go over to my friend's house where I usually watch it.  But I was able to catch it online.  Richard Alpert is one of my favorite characters ever.

But it's ending soon!  We have what, two months before the series finale?  Somebody comfort me.

Lovey dovey post

At the risk of nauseating someone, I'm going to be sappy for a moment.

I'm so glad to have Rob in my life.  Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without his love and support as both a boyfriend and a best friend.  At 5:30am this morning, I was about to have a mini-breakdown because I just felt so incredibly overwhelmed.  Not just with school, but with other personal stuff too.  And I needed to talk to him.  So entirely expecting him to not answer his phone (I assumed it was silent or he'd just sleep through my call), I went ahead and called him just because I needed to.  And to my surprise, he answered.  Just hearing him sound happy to hear from me made me feel so much better.  Then we spent about an hour on the phone.  Mostly I told him about what was upsetting me.  He listened and provided some advice and support.  It was exactly what I needed and I'm so thankful that he was there for me.  And it makes me thankful that he's in my life.  Sometimes he aggravates the hell out of me, and sometimes I drive him absolutely crazy.  But when it all comes down to it, he's a fantastic guy and I'm such a lucky gal.

Thanks, Babe. :-)

Oh, what a night.

So here's how much of a "break" my spring break was: I forgot that it happened.


Right now I'm avoiding any more work on the Midterm Essay of Doom and really wishing I had some caffeine because I suddenly feel very sleepy.  Even my tea selection is all decaf.  I could try to take a short nap and then get up and get back to work, but then I'd run the risk of being too stubborn to get back out of bed and actually write.  For me, it's better to just stay up late and push through than to take a break first and try to rejuvenate.  Odds are I'd realize that sleeping actually is more fun than writing a paper and not get up again until morning.

I'm thinking about doing some kind of fast in the next week or two.  Nothing drastic, just a couple of days to kind of reset after the past few weeks.  I've been suffering tons of stress with school, I haven't been eating very well, my sleeping habits are screwed up, and I've come to a standstill on the regular exercise that I was getting for awhile.  So I can feel like my body could use a little spring cleaning and tuning up.

After some reading, I'm leaning towards the honey water fast.  Honey is my new health obsession lately, so it would be just another use for it!  Basically it's three days of putting honey into plain water or any type of tea and consuming just those options, abstaining from solid foods.  Surprisingly, that's not the part that intimidates me. I'm actually more worried about breaking the fast.  I could potentially make myself very sick while reintroducing solid food, even after only three days.  I've read that a good rule of thumb is that breaking your fast will probably take about half as long as the fast itself, if not longer.  And what foods you choose to eat immediately after are crucial because the digestive system is now used to cleaning rather than digesting, which is intimidating!  So far the general consensus seems to be that the first meals should consist of fresh fruit, but I haven't read much about which fruits would be best.  I'd imagine that fruits which contain the most water would be ideal because the body still needs the hydration.  And as far as vegetables go, lettuce could be a good choice.  And that's good, because I love lettuce!  Avoiding salt would be a bit difficult during the first few days.

Fasting for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday would probably be a good way for me to do it.  Then I could break the fast over the weekend, so if I felt ill at all at least I could stay home rather than be suffering in class. I'll have to read up more to find out how to best prepare my body for a fast, how to carry it out, and how to break it properly.

Now it's back to the Essay of Doom!

More Tudors stuff!

So the first two episodes of the new season of The Tudors have leaked online!  And of course I've already watched them.  Here are some thoughts I had (if you watch the show and don't want to be spoiled, skip this post!)

• Kitty Howard seriously needs to stop with the giggling.  NOT EVERYTHING SAID IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO YOU IS FUNNY.  But I have a feeling she won't be giggling much longer ifyouknowwhatImean.
• Thomas Culpepper has some pretty eyes.
• But he is a total creeper/rapist/murderer/jerk.  Did I mention creeper?
• Lancing leg wounds.  DO NOT WANT.
• I don't remember the premiere of season 3 very well, but isn't this the first season premiere where nobody died a horribly violent death?  They mentioned four executions numerous times, but nobody actually died onscreen.  Unusual.  Oh wait I forgot... Culpepper and his sword of forest murder.  Nevermind then.  Or was that in the second episode?  Oh, well.
• Heads on pikes next to the food market.  POOR CHOICE OF LOCATION, FARMERS.
• Henry Cavill's hair is just... odd.  I get that he and Henry need to appear older, but it looks bizarre.
• And Charles Brandon isn't getting laid left and right?  Even Patchy was having sex all over the place last season!  I call bullshit.
• Speaking of Patchy, Edward Seymour's harlot wife has questionable taste in men.
• Fitzy from The Departed is playing the Earl of Surrey.  Crazy!
• Sarah Bolger is amazing, gorgeous, fantastic, fierce, etc. etc.  She desperately needs her own spin-off.
• Joss Stone's accent.  Blegh.
• Thomas Culpepper and Jane Boleyn?  Wtf random.
• Henry has really lost it if puppet shows are now considered foreplay.
• Puppies!  Too cute.
• Elizabeth I is obviously way too old in the first episode.  I'm assuming it takes place some time in the last half of 1540, which would make her absolutely no older than seven years old.  This actress looks like a preteen.
• Jane Boleyn, you of all people should know that the queen can't be hooking up with anyone else.
• This mourning of Cromwell is very random, Henry.
• I can't wait for more episodes!

Take care!

WANT WANT WANT.

These earrings are morbid and hot pink and I WANT THEM.

Image credit to pretentiousjewelry on Etsy.

Random updates about school and yarn

There are only 52 days until graduation.  I absolutely cannot wait.  This semester has been so brutal!  And it's only going to get worse, unfortunately.  Most of my writing assignments are all piled up at the end of the semester, which means that I have roughly 50 pages of writing to do before it all ends!

My senior thesis is going well so far.  I have a meeting on Monday to discuss it with my professor, and hopefully I'll get some positive feedback.  If only this were the only thing I have to do this semester.  I'd be in heaven!

On a lighter note, I've been looking at yarn on Etsy.com lately and I WANT TO BUY SO MUCH.  I love looking at all of the cool color combinations that sellers have come up with.  And it makes me want to learn how to dye yarn myself!  It can be done with something as simple as Kool-Aid or Wilton icing coloring (which I have a ton of!), but I'm not sure if there are certain fibers that can't be dyed.  Like I love working with acrylics, if only because they don't need blocking.  But can I color them myself?  I'll have to look into it.  I found some superwash merino wool on Knitpicks.com that can be dyed, so maybe I can buy a skein to experiment with when I get a chance.

And I've been keeping an eye on the Yarn Sales group at Ravelry because I really, really, REALLY want to try some Malabrigo.  I just missed a really good sale the other day!  I also need some Noro for Mom's Christmas gift, and I'd love to get it on sale if I can.  Both Noro and Malabrigo are a bit more expensive than I'd like.

I also have some fingering weight yarn that I bought a few weeks ago and have no idea what to do with it.  I liked the colors a lot more before I tried knitting with it.  Maybe I'll make a small shawl for my Nana, something that can be wrapped around as a scarf?  I really don't want to buy any more of it, so I'll have to search for something suitable that will use up as much as possible.

Since I'll be moving to Orlando in August, I'm going to try and get as many Christmas gifts together as possible before I leave.  This way, I won't have to ship tons of gifts home from FL.  I'm sure that I will find a couple of gifts for people while I'm there, though.  But I already know what I want to make for my Mom and Robert.  So I'm going to try and finish those over the summer!  Unfortunately I can't post my ideas here, because the surprises could be spoiled. ;-)

I'm learning how to use double-pointed needles!  They're not as intimidating as I thought they'd be.  I'm still getting used to the feel of juggling 4-5 needles at one time, though.

Season 4 of The Tudors

I can't even tell you how excited I am.  But at the same time, I'm really bummed that the show is ending.  It's one of the only three I keep up with (LOST and The Office being the other two) and LOST and The Tudors are both finished this year.  :-(  But enough sad talk!  I brought some videos.

Here is the Behind-the-Scenes video:


And the official trailer for this season:


I miss Natalie Dormer so much.  And I can't wait for the reunion of the Zombie Wives.  It's too bad they aren't continuing with Henry's children and their reigns.  Sarah Bolger is so amazing, and I'd love to see more of her playing Mary I.

Have a great day!

Quick post on craftsy things.

So I finally finished the Man Scarf for Rob last month.  It was supposed to be a Christmas gift. :-/  The scarf took me way too long to finish considering the project itself.  Anyway, I was able to put together his Valentine's Day gift today while getting some movie research done.  (Yes, my senior thesis is on movies!  And Anne Boleyn movies, at that!  Be wicked jealous.)  I really hope that he'll love his gift as much as he loves the Man Scarf!

I know it's not the greatest knitting project in the world, but he loves it so I'm happy. :-D  Now here's hoping that he'll enjoy the V-Day matching gift, too!

And just because, here is my Ravelry page.  I really should start taking pictures of my finished projects.

WDWCP Blog

I put up my WDWCP blog the other day, in case you're interested.  Here is the link.

Have a great morning!!

Good news!!

I got my acceptance e-mail to the Disney College Program today!  They sent it out at 3am this morning! :)

I'm going to start a blog specifically about that soon, so look out!

Zzzzzz

Sleep is one of my favorite things in the entire world.  And most of the time I don't feel like I get enough of it.  I am a night owl by instinct, so I usually stay up way too late into the night and consequently I either sleep too late the next day or I have to wake up early for something and wind up feeling like Death all day.

If you've read anything I've written before, you might remember my attempt to significantly lower my coffee intake.  So far, this is going fairly well.  I'm at least at the point now where I don't feel like I need it in the mornings anymore.  It's just a nice treat to sip leisurely if I have time.  And I'm definitely not drinking as much of it as I used to.  On a side note, this means that I have been putting the money I would have spent on coffee each week into my savings account instead.  Yay me!  But I only put this money away if I haven't already used it, then I don't feel like I'm punishing myself if I do decide to enjoy some coffee.  (If this makes any sense) I see it as only putting away money I've truly saved, rather than putting it away first and then dipping elsewhere in the budget for a treat on impulse.  Of course it's not much money at the moment, but every little bit helps.  And a few weeks ago I calculated roughly how much money I've spent on coffee in the last year, and you don't even want to know.  The number was shockingly high!

But I digress!  This post is about sleep, not coffee or money!  But the coffee detail is a jumping off point for the real reason I felt like blogging on this cold, rainy morning.

When I embarked on this "drink less coffee" thing, I was really worried about how I would get through the days when I need to wake up earlier than I would like for class (or whatever else comes along).  For someone who stays up until wee hours of the morning and then wakes up at 6:30am for a workout before school, coffee can be a neccessity!  So I also decided to try making a habit out of going to bed earlier.  Of course there will be exceptions as the semester goes by: reading for class, writing papers, etc.  But as a general rule, I'm trying to get myself in bed and asleep earlier at night to try and counter the lack of caffeine.  If my body is not getting that boost in the mornings, it needs to be well-rested for the day ahead, right?  So my target time to go to bed is sometime between 10pm-midnight, varying of course night-to-night.  Sometimes I get to bed pretty early, sometimes I need/want to be awake a bit later.  But those hours are the goal.

Let me tell you something.  I feel like I've been let in on some big secret.  Seriously.  Why have I not made this a habit before?  This morning my alarm went off at the usual time, and instead of hitting snooze for half an hour as I usually do (it tends to take that long for me to register than I am awake and it is time to get up), I felt wide-awake and ready for the day!  I am not at all a morning person, but I certainly feel like one lately!

One hitch in this transition is that I still get that really sleepy I-need-a-nap feeling in the late afternoon.  I've also been avoiding taking naps during the day as I'm accustomed to doing (which is probably why I am a night owl).  So far I've been pretty successful at keeping myself awake, but just barely.  I need to figure out a good afternoon pick-me-up routine or snack that will help alleviate this.

Yes, I just wrote an entire post about sleep.

New Layout!

If you frequent my blog (does anyone? I don't think so), then you've noticed the new layout! I found it on Deluxe Templates! I'm still working out some kinks, but I think it looks pretty nifty. The one thing I'm really having trouble with is the header being slightly off-kilter with the menu text at the top. Just can't seem to figure out how to edit the HTML properly to fix that yet.

Hopefully one day I can find the time/energy to produce one myself.

LOST post.

I just wanted to express my excitement about LOST!!!!!!! So here are some silly gifs!

Can't wait! Some friends of mine invited me to come over and watch the premiere on their big screen television, so I'm baking them some cupcakes! Yum!!

Everyone enjoy!

Unlistlessly

I'm bored and not feeling at all ready for sleep, despite it being pretty late. And I have my first test of the semester tomorrow, in Intro to Personal Finance. So I thought I'd make a list of some things happening lately, or what I've noticed.

- My skin is freaking out lately! I don't know if it's the stress of being back in school or what. But it sucks.

- I really miss Robert.

- I already hate this semester. I enjoy some aspects of each class, but overall I'm just ready to GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE and get my BA.

- Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" is truly addicting.

- My laptop died! So I have a new one now, and I'm still getting used to it. Windows 7 has been a big adjustment, since I was only using XP before.

- Trying to go coffee-free, or at least drink much less of it. So far it's been a hit or miss.

- My 2010 goal to drink more water is going pretty well. I try to drink at least 50-64 oz. a day by carrying a large bottle around with me so I can refill it as needed. If the water is right there with me, I'm more willing to drink it than if I have to seek it out. So carrying it around regularly is helping.

- I've applied and interviewed for the Disney College Program in Orlando for the fall season. Now I'm just waiting on pins and needles to hear whether or not I've been accepted. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much in case they reject me.

- Working on a new layout for my blog. I'll probably switch to a template for awhile later in the week while I put something together.

- Thesis: Take Two is about to begin. I'm already nervous!

- My roommate and I have started working out again. We try to at least do a 20-minute Pilates workout three times a week. According to other people, it's already paying off for me! Rob said he was surprised at how different I looked after only two weeks of not seeing me. He said my body is definitely gaining more of a toned appearance, which is good!

I guess I need to get to sleep now. Wish me luck with my test tomorrow!

Justice khakis.

Ugh.  My favorite pair (okay let's be honest... my only pair) of khaki pants ripped beyond discretion.  I loved the way they fit and how comfortable they were.  So I'm on the hunt for some new khaki pants.  I have my eye on a pair that I remember from Old Navy, but I'm going to be looking around anyway.  A good pair of pants can be expensive, so I want to put some thought into the decision.

Leave it to me to overthink purchasing pants.

And the title obviously comes from the first episode of How I Met Your Mother.

Love to cook? So do I!

I don't know how you've spent the first days of the new year, but I've been knitting, watching episode upon episode of LOST (gotta refresh myself before the final season starts!), and looking up recipes online. I'm still a novice cook and I actually just got my first slow cooker for Christmas!  And I decided to write a quick blog about the website where I've found lots of great new recipes to try as I learn more about food and how to cook it.

If you enjoy searching for new recipes like I do, then you need to be using AllRecipes.com now!  It's such a great website because they do a lot more than just list recipes.  There are tons of reviews to read, often with great suggestions as to how you can improve or alter the original recipes if you want to try modifications or substitutions.  And sometimes other people just feel like preparing something differently and make great discoveries, so you can read their notes!

If you register with the site (it's free, although they do have some upgraded paid membership features that I don't use), then you can save your favorite recipes or those that you want to try later by putting them in your "recipe box."  It's a great way to keep things organized.  There is even a "shopping list" feature, but I haven't used that one yet.

All in all, it's a fantastic website that I highly recommend!  Enjoy!

Greetings, 2010.

When I started this entry yesterday afternoon, I thought I would write out a list of things I'd like to accomplish during the new year. Since it's now officially 2010 and this post has taken me way too long to write, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Anyway as to these goals, they're not listed by priority or anything, just as they come to me.

1. Find a new job. I've been unemployed for two years now while I focus on school. Now that my years as an undergrad are ending, I want to get back out there and find a good job for my early 20's. Which leads to the next goal...
2. Put together my resume. Sorry, my laptop doesn't do accent marks. Anyway, I need to sit down and build a good resume in the next couple of months. I didn't need one for either of my previous jobs so never really had to put it together.
3. Make a special purchase for myself. I don't know what in the world this will be yet. But I feel like since this is a big year for me, getting my BA and all, I should treat myself to something special. It won't be anything too extravagant like buying a new car or anything, and I'm sure that I'll know it when the opportunity arises. Maybe a small trip? A new laptop? Who knows! Although hopefully in the next couple of years I can save up enough money to go on The Anne Boleyn Experience if they continue offering it. Maybe 2011, if I'm lucky?
4. Knit my birthday/graduation blanket. I've already started looking at patterns to determine how I want this to look. It will definitely be a royal blue color and I've already got some yarn to get started whenever I find the right pattern.
5. Spend plenty of time by myself. This isn't a new idea in my life by any means. I'm one of those people who really appreciates time to themselves and enjoys it a lot. So it's basically just a goal to keep making time to just be alone and enjoy something on my own. One of my favorite ways to spend this time is in the cafe at Barnes & Noble reading magazines and having a snack.
6. Complain less. As covered in my last blog entry, I'm a very patient and optimistic person by nature. But I do tend to complain frequently about things that later seem very unimportant and definitely not worth the energy it takes to be upset over them. So I'm going to focus on not letting these things get to me and therefore not complain as much as I generally do. Hopefully this means that slightly larger problems won't stress me out as much or bring un-needed negativity into my life!
7. Drink more water. I almost never get as much water as I should, so I'm dehydrated most of the time.
8. Read more. This specifically applies to reading for fun more often. Most of the time my schoolwork makes me tired of reading so I never get to the other books that I want to enjoy. But I'm going to try and set aside more time to turn off the laptop and curl up with a book.
9. Graduate in May. This one is pretty self-explanatory.
10. Complete my senior thesis this semester. Again, self-explanatory.
11. Eat more vegetables. Yup.
12. Watch films from my Netflix queue more frequently. I'm not a very quick Netflix-er, and I need to get cracking! I hadn't anticipated keeping it after May, but who knows if I will. But there are so many films that I want to watch already that I'm going to try and use the service more often than I do. Often I'll get a DVD and keep it for way too long without realizing it. So I'll try to get new DVDs more often and send them back more quickly to get the most out of it. I definitely get my money's worth out of the "Watch Instantly" section, though.
13. Look people in the eyes more. I'm not a very confident person, and it's showing in my conversation skills (or lack of them). Lately I don't seem to make eye contact with anyone while talking with them, and I need to change this!
14. Generally gain more confidence. Stemmed off of #13.
15. Learn to crochet. I really love knitting, and crocheting looks like a fun craft to learn as well.
16. Continue setting realistic goals. There will definitely be more things I'd like to accomplish as the year stretches on.

Hope that everyone has a safe and fantastic new year in 2010!