I can never remember how to spell vacuum...so, since there's no spell check on my title bar I just covered all the bases. Is there any other word in the English language with double u's? (not to be confused with W's) Regardless, it has been my goal all week to vacuum my floor in my bedroom. I know, dream big.

I mean I did do my laundry a couple days ago, but that was basically just one small battle won in conquering the territory known as:  my room.

But I knew that if my goal was "vacuum floor" then I would be forced to clean my stuff off the floor first (purses, shoes, papers, CDs, hair ties, make up, head bands, pens, ET cetera).  And that was my real goal (picking up the stuff).  So I just had to play a trick on myself to get it done. Also, I put my vacuum in my room last night and vowed not to remove it from my floor until it was used for it's God-given purpose.

My room is about the size of a standard walk-in closet. Cut in half. Knowing this, one might think a couple of thoughts such as "The floor can't possibly get that dirty" and "It shouldn't be too hard to vacuum." Think again. And again.

So this morning I bet myself $5 that I wouldn't vacuum today. And then I did! I hate losing bets..I mean, quite honestly my pathetic bracket I posted yesterday is enough losing to last me a few lifetimes.

Funnily enough, my twin sister (who could be described as "the epitome of organized") asked for a vacuum for a graduation gift, and my Aunt is getting her this one:

I mean, maybe the first picture makes more sense but I just had to include the second as well because, if it moved by itself, who wouldn't want it?  It is pretty sweet, as far as cleaning devices go. Still, when my aunt asked me my gift request for graduation, I was quick to respond, "Not a vacuum."

Bracket: Busted

My bracket has been busted for a while now. Actually, the only time it wasn't busted was ...March 17. Those were the days. Before my hopes and dreams were shattered before my eyes in the form of computer-generated red lines.

I think I am probably in the bottom in America, of anyone who actually tried. Next year, I am going to purposely try to be wrong, and I think I will probably get better results. But seriously, ZERO number one picks in the Final Four? Was the Selection Committee purposely trying to mess me up? Screw the Final Four, I had 1 pick right in the Elite 8. I will not mention that I did play Division 1 basketball for four years, as that would be even more embarrassing. 

Regardless of me picking Pitt to be the National Champion, and them getting knocked out by Butler - I am now on the Butler Bandwagon! Their Coach, Brad Stevens, is so young and so calm! He hardly looks like a basketball coach, which is probably why I like him so much. While other coaches are screaming and flipping shit like BASKETBALL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OXYGEN SO RUN THE DAMN PLAY RIGHT BEFORE I CUT OFF YOUR LEGS AND FEED THEM TO MY DOBERMAN and threatening the lives of the referees (and the lives of their family members, too.), Brad just stands their, calmly watching his players. Which, in my mind, is how it should be. Coaches have hours and hours and hours and hours with their players. Hours to direct and teach, and yell and scream, if they want. Why do this during a game? During their "performance"? 

And, from my experience, nothing makes a coach more mad than when a player yells at a ref. Coaches always say things like "You can't control a ref, don't worry about things you can't control." Yet, some coaches yell at refs FOR FORTY MINUTES STRAIGHT. Some example. It's nice to see a coach who doesn't jump up the ref's ass the second the ball is tipped.

I've thought a lot about going into coaching at some point in my life, but most likely just at the high school level, where the sport is less of a business. Regardless, I hope to be as cool and composed as this guy, and I hope Butler wins it all this year!

Heaps of Happiness

Somedays I wake up, look at my room, and instantly know what I'm going to do.  Like today, I recognized that my laundry had formed an army over night and was threatening to take over the territory of my floor that my 5 strewn Vera Bradley purses have claimed for the past 2 weeks.

I guess I asked for it, since yesterday I couldn't close my closet last night due to my overflowing laundry basket. It was kind of a coincidence because earlier yesterday I was talking to my boyfriend, and he was saying that he always shuts his closets before he goes to bed. And I said, I usually do, if I can, I guess.

But you know what, sometimes it's just like well, I could go to sleep now with my closet open. Or, I could physically move everything that is currently prohibiting my closet door from closing. And go to sleep with my closet door closed. Four hours later.

Of course, my boyfriend did refer to me as a "little ball of entropy" before when I visited him over break.
Since, 5 minutes after I arrived, his "cleanest mancave of all time" looked like an actual mancave. I thought it was kind of impressive that one girl with two carry-ons could cause so much disorder as he put it.  And clearly took it as a compliment since he also accidentally indirectly called me "little."

Anyway, have to go to do laundry before my room becomes a lair of entropy!

Art Work

Remember when you were little, and coloring/drawing were a part of your daily schoolwork duties? I still remember my pre-school teacher praising my picture of flowers. And my fifth grade teaching being genuinely impressed with my palm tree I drew on the chalk board. Sadly, I still draw palm trees and flowers pretty much as I did back then. Lots has changed n 15 years, but not my drawing skills.

Kind of how in Christmas pageants I had a nice voice, because I was 7. Now, being 22, I have the same, unchanged singing voice, but I'm not exactly given solos to sing in front of the whole Church, am I?

Regardless, little kids drawings are the best. My cousin has been drawing me some adorable pictures, and my grandma has been sending them my way. Getting any form of mail in college rocks, but getting drawings from her really brighten my day :)

So, I decided to share some pics with you:

They are especially applicable, since my cat definitely thinks she rules the apartment!

Burning Questions

What was Mark Zuckerberg's intended purpose for the "poke" function on facebook?

How do you win a poke war?

Is it when the other person removes you as a friend, or deletes their account?

If someone pokes you in real life, what does that even mean?

One thing's for sure, if you haven't already played Poke the Penguin stop everything and do it right now. You won't be disappointed.

The Calendar is a Scam

I am hoping the snow that graced us with its presence overnight is Winter's LAST laugh. Fingers crossed.  To be honest with you, I've been over this whole Winter Wonderland thing since approximately December 26th.  I'm all for a White Christmas, but a tropical New Year's Eve sounds pretty spectacular, too.  And, since March is traditionally "in like a lion, and out like a lamb" I vote for someone informing March's publicist that it needs to transition to the "out" phase ASAP. After all, there are only 9 days left, we wouldn't want March destroying its brand equity. I mean, everyone knows February weather is going to be expectedly depressing, but this whole surprisingly miserable thing could ruin March's reputation beyond repair.

I mean, if I were Easter, I would stay in April for as long as possible, you know? Next thing you know, St. Patrick's Day is going to be all "screw this, July 17th is sounding better and better" and then the only "holiday" March will have is the "First Day of Spring" which we all know is a BLATANT LIE.

I thought about taking more pictures of snow - but then decided it would be much better to post more of natural Arkansas: where "the vernal equinox" isn't some cruel joke of mother nature.

 This picture doesn't do the mini-wildflowers justice, but I loved how they speckled the grass!

I'm a fan of flowering trees!

hello, yellow

Never saw one of these signs before!

It was dusk-ish when I took these photos, but I loved all the green and "canyon-like" backdrop.

I bet none of your ever considered moving to Arkansas before. Anyway, got to go put on my boots, fleece, coat, grab my umbrella, and head to class.

"The Natural State"

I have never been to Arkansas before, and although I did not come back from spring break with a tan (like many girls in my class today), I did enjoy my time in Little Rock! So I decided to share a few pictures with y'all today. (Just kidding about the y'all.)

There was a trail near my boyfriend's apartment, and I was so excited to see all of the flowers blooming...it is full out spring in Little Rock :) -- and we might get snow tonight, boo :(

These pictures really remind me that I must get a better camera (better than my blackberry one, at least!)

Despite the poor quality, hope yinz guys enjoyed my pics!

Motown Madness

Just for all of you who are wondering, the whole "missing your connecting flight and being stranded in Detroit for a night" isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Perhaps more frustrating though, is missing your flight because your first flight is DELAYED AN HOUR and then, once you make up time in the air and land in Detroit, your plane is SITTING ON THE TERMINAL because the GATE IS OCCUPIED for FORTY MINUTES.

Just enough time so you can stare at your watch and think "I might still be able to make it." And then SPRINT TO YOUR CONNECTING GATE which conveniently, is located IN ANOTHER BUILDING.

So you are DRIPPING IN SWEAT only so the snippy person at the 100-MILE AWAY GATE can inform you (with an attitude) that the LAST FLIGHT TO PITTSBURGH left SEVEN MINUTES AGO.

Welcome to Detroit.

You think the excessive use of Caps lock is overkill? You should have talked to me last night.

There was, I guess, a silver lining, or at least some type of lining that wasn't composed of toxic waste, which was I met three people who were in the same situation (only stuck in Detroit on the night on their way from D.C. to St. Louis.) At least Delta is consistent. Since our flights left at the same this morning, we stuck together for the night - first eating together in the hotel restaurant, and then meeting up in the morning to head over to the airport at the glorious time of 5:00am.

Quite the eclectic group, actually. There was a freshmen boy from St. Louis University, heading back to class after spring break, a Cambodian woman who talked about moving to America after a civil war in her country (abt 30 yrs ago), and a girl, about my age, who was originally from Afghanistan, but moved to the U.S. when she was 13 and is now working towards her nursing degree.

Since the wonderful Airline rep only gave me $6 in meal vouchers, but gave each of them $36... they contributed to my healthy alternative to dinner:

Remember like, two days ago when I was all "I wonder if I've ever been to Michigan, I'm not sure." Well, I am now one thousand percent sure that the creepy hotel with a random pair of pants left behind in my room is about all I need to see of Michigan. Permanently cross that one off of my "lists of places to go." The lady beside me on the plane told me the airport "was actually one of the nicest parts of Detroit." Not exactly comforting.

However, in said airport that I had sprinted through I had the pleasures of running through a trippy rainbow tunnel connecting the two buildings. It was probably one of the most ridiculous experiences of my life to date. Just all-out sprinting with two bags on a moving walkway is pretty crazy, but the trippy rainbow tunnel (which I photographed this morning) really provides the most exhilarating atmosphere for this activity.

You can actually see one of my new friends in the first pic taking a picture herself, so we both have eternal memories of the great state of Michigan... as she said, "I'm really going to miss this place." To which the SLU freshmen agreed, "It's like a second home."

March (St. Patty's Day) Madness

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Green is my favorite color, and when I was younger it basically dominated my wardrobe. I remember wearing green all week some years in honor of good ol' March 17. I do have a little Irish in me, too.

This year, I am wearing green, and heading South on an airplane! I'm hoping to touch down in Arkansas, the land of the Razorbacks (?) in time to catch some madness and watch my PERFECTLY PREDICTED basketball bracket come true before my eyes.

Let's all root for the underdogs, shall we? Ray Bucknell :)

Also in the spirit, check out this Coolest Name in the NCAA Tourney challenge...Bucknell has a candidate too, so vote for him!

Fifty Nifty

It is my goal to go to all fifty United States. Some people have goals like "go save orphans in Africa" but I guess I'm not one of those people. 

Just kidding, I'm a huge fan of being nice to everyone, remember my one inspiring post?!?  It's true that my ratio of inspiring posts to sarcastic posts is about as good as my assists-turnover ratio. I'll work on it.

Okay, back to my selfish travel goal. See map:

Yes, this is what I do in my free time. The Smileys represent the states I have been in my life. (28) the red represents states I need to go! (22). I'm clearly not sure about Michigan, though considering all the smileys around it, maybe I've passed through? (can any family members help me out?)

I drew on this map from Google with "Paintbrush" on my Mac. If you want to see someone whose blog is awesomely hilarious and who draws hilariously awesome paintbrush pictures visit hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com . She makes a living off of her blog (see, there is hope for me ;);) 

Also, this is my favorite post of hyperbole's about why being being afraid of spiders is PERFECTLY OKAY.

Back to the map - the most observant of my following bunch might notice that "one of these states is not like the others"...that's right, Arkansas has a big yellow star/asterisk type thing on it .. meaning... I fly there tomorrow!!! If there's one thing that needs three exclamation marks, it's that.

Why, you ask? Well, so that I can have 29 Smileys, of course! It has nothing to do with my boyfriend living there. :)

Since he just moved down there, he has no internet yet so I can't promise a post on Thursday or Friday, so have a nice weekend if I don't talk to you all before :) 

Expecto Patronum

I've been waiting too long to name my post after a Harry Potter spell. And, now, I have the opportunity to name it after the best spell of all time! (about time.)

Behold, a wonderful part of being home, that greets me every morning as I walk down the stairs:

The sign was hung 2 summers ago when the 6th movie came out and I saw it in theaters once (or twice or thrice). My mom and I had a HP movie marathon and watched all of the other 5 that summer - and I was inspired to make this beautiful artwork and hung it below Henry the deer (my dad used to hunt back in the day). Granted, had I known the sign would remain up for the next 20 months or so, I may have spent more time on it.  Still, doesn't everyone's home have their very own Patronus?

Spring Cleaning

I am home for my spring break! Not anticipating going back to school with a tan, though, since it did flurry here yesterday.

My youngest sister was cleaning out her closet the other day, and I was "helping." And by helping, I mean, my mom was showing her clothes and putting the "keep" clothes into her closet, my middle sister was dealing with the "donate" clothes (putting them into bags) and hangers, and my youngest sister was deciding which ones she wanted to keep/donate. And I was lying on the floor chiming in comments on particular pieces of clothing ("that looks like an ugly pair of pajamas") and telling them stories about my life (what could be more interesting?)

My mom claims that I was helping by "keeping them company" but that's just because she is nice. Anyway, I did suggest getting rid of 40 bags (of things from your house) in 40 days for Lent. The lady whose blog I follow on 3 Peanuts recommended it... and with the clothes from my baby sister's closet, we are already on 5 bags (don't worry, her closet is still ridiculously full. Oh, the joys of being the youngest ;)

My mom and I went through some shoes yesterday and generated 3 more bags! Some of the shoes were as small as size 8 ... the last time my feel were that small I was probably in 5th grade (or younger)! :) Still, some of the shoes were absolutely hilarious so I wanted to keep them around so I could show them to my sisters occasionally to make fun of their former sense of style. I decided instead I would post some of the BEST shoes on here, so, although they are headed to a donation center or the dumpster, their memory will live on for eternity:

I don't care what you say, these were TOTALLY IN. And I distinctly
remember having a black pair, white pair, green pair, blue pair, ET CETERA.

My middle sister said she would cry if we got rid of these. Let the tears begin.

It wouldn't be fair if I didn't include embarrassing shoes I once wore.
If furry platform clogs are wrong, I don't want to be right.

And last but certainly not least...

My twin-sister's cow-spotted heels!! Too bad they don't still fit or you could wear
them when you interview to work on a dude ranch. 

Hopefully we will find more "treasures" as we try to fill up 32 more bags :) 

Birthday Wishes!

Today is one of my most loyal followers' birthday! Happy birthday to Alyssa, my awesome teammate! I've never dedicated a blog post to anyone before, and figured the birthday is just the time :)

I'm a huge fan of birthdays. And maybe that's not the most profound quote, but it's the truth. No, not just my own. Ever since junior high, I've loved making "Happy Birthday" signs for all of my friends' lockers come the big day! With my basketball season coming to a close, I will have no more "lockers" to decorate (how sad). So birthday blogposts is the obvious alternative!

Top 3 Extraordinary things about Alyssa:
1. She doesn't like chocolate or peanut butter
2. Her metabolism is faster than a speeding bullet
3. Need to know who some famous athlete is/the score of ANY game to impress your boyfriend?? ASK HER

Sounds like a pretty good catch, right?!  Could have mentioned how she's the sweetest person in the world and got like a one hundred and ten percent on the SATs, but I'm not that considerate of friend.

Regardless, perhaps you're thinking, what's so great about #1? Um, HELLO. When the team gets chocolate, who does she give her extras to? When her dad gave her PEANUT M&M's from the white house who did she pass these along to on the basketball bus?

Yes, the M&M's were red, white, and blue and the box was signed by Barack Obama. What did you expect? Told you she was awesome!

Since she is home for spring break, I have yet to celebrate her birthday with her, but aim to make her some non-chocolate baked goods for her return! Considering my previously discussed cooking skills this may or may not be a good thing for her.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa! And Happy Weekend, everyone! :)

Lenten Fail

Well, my vegetarianism was so life changing I feel moved to write a memoir about it.  However, considering this experience was only 12 hours long ...I'm just gonna stick to a blog post.

WAIT. DON'T RUN AND TELL THE POPE. LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF.
(Also, remember, I'm not Catholic! Lent is like bonus points for protestants, right?!)

First off, let me just say that I had every INTENTION of not eating meat. Let's face it, as I said yesterday, either the Ozone layer or Mexican farmers were conspiring against me - yet, I prevailed! And, in the absence of eggplant, I ordered baked ziti for the trip home.

Was there baked ziti waiting for me on my seat? Nope. I was meal-less. Aka, whatever random Italian restaurant we ordered food from, was also conspiring against me.

One of my teammates, however, had left with her dad after the game, so I decided to not say anything and eat hers. Why wouldn't I speak up and demand my food? Well, there's a time and a place for everything, and turns out immediately after losing a semi-final game is not the right time to demand everyone sits on the bus for 30 minutes waiting for your lost food order to be delivered. Plus, she had a salad, bread, and a pasta dish that LOOKED LIKE baked ziti.

I know what you're thinking,  why would you eat her food just because it looked like baked ziti? Well, I didn't. Turns out it was meat lasagna. So I ate the salad, bread, and sat there as my stomach began eating itself. So far, the whole "being a vegetarian" involved a whole lot of not eating. Then, one of my teammates told me there was some leftover pizza in the front of the bus, so I headed up to grab a slice.

I proceeded to go get a piece of pizza, and then drop it on the way back to my seat. Then, I went back and got another one.

That had nothing to do with being a vegetarian, just with being clumsy.

Half way through my slice a realization hit me like a mac truck. My pizza did not look like this:

Although I admit that would have been ideal. But no, sadly, it looked more like this:

So yes, all that work just to eat a slice of pepperoni pizza at 10 pm. This may go in history as the ultimate lent fail. I'm brainstorming something else for my Lenten promise, and am leaning towards straying away from the whole abstaining from food thing. Clearly, not my forte. 

Ashes to Ashes

Happy Ash Wednesday! Isn't it super late this year? I'm hoping this means that Easter will be warm, sunny, and beautiful! Snow on Easter = not a good look.

My goal today has been: don't eat meat. I'm actually considering giving up meat for all of Lent, in general. I'm not sure why, but my roommate said she did it one year, and it sounded like a good idea to me. I decided to at least try to give up meat on Ash Wednesday to start it off!

So far, it has not been easy. (and I've only had 1 meal). Basically, I have limited choices as to what to eat for my pre-game meal (aka 5 options at "Macaroni Grill") and the only non-meat option was eggplant parm, so I wrote that down next to my name when placing my order. The problem being, I already ordered eggplant parm for post-game meal. So I was bracing myself for an abundance of eggplant.

Then, sure enough my assistant coach  texts me and said they don't have eggplant parm at Macaroni Grill anymore, and the post-game restaurant didn't have eggplant parm either! Talk about "feast" or "famine"... she found out this is because the farms these restaurants get their eggplants from in Mexico are having trouble because the ground isn't thawing??

Which is so weird because a.) who knew my eggplant came from Mexico? and b.) could this whole global "climate change" thing actually be legit?? ;)

Regardless, I will let you know how my "penne with red sauce" before the game and "baked ziti with cheese" is after. mmmm. yummmm. :) I don't know if I'll last 40 days, to be honest!

Long Time No See/Talk

Hiiii world. Well, basically, my life has been relatively crazy in terms of "things I have to do."

I could write a 10 page post explaining the busy-ness of my life but let's condense it by saying:

a.) it's PL TOURNAMENT time!! ....March Madness!

b.) I'm sick (March sadness? :(, lol)

c.) It's the week before spring break = 12 page midterm essay due SOON! eek!

d.) I've finally been actively pursuing the concept of "getting a job after college." Which, believe it or not, takes up lots of time, too!

Sadly, a. through d. have been infringing upon my "gotta write my blog" time. Sometimes vicious thoughts like "I need to pass this class and therefore graduate college" also deter me from blog-posting. I know, no fun at all.

Without further ado, here's a picture I snapped on the way back from NYC (yes, I made a trip to NYC on Friday, told you I've been busy! And I'm also off to Annapolis tomorrow!):

Obviously, not a very good picture. I took it with my Blackberry out of the window of a moving car though, so cut me some slack :)

Hope you all have a nice week, if I don't get the chance to check back in. Remember: Tuesday is Mardis Gras and Wednesday is the beginning of lent!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

There is sun shining through my window, and yesterday I wasn't even shivering when I walked home at 9:30pm. I just looked at the weather website and saw today is forecasted to be "sunny" and that's enough to make me happy!

I never, ever, ever look at the weather website, but I did for the sake of this blog. The things I do for you people.

I don't know how many of you have a little sister who went through a phase when she was OBSESSED (that's an understatement) with "Panic! At the Disco" but they have a song that says, "I know it's sad, but I've never gave a damn about the weather, and it never gave a damn about me." That is kind of how I feel. Either that or I'm just lazy and/or disorganized. (Read: Either that or Actually, I'm just lazy ANDand/or disorganized.) But I didn't start this website to advocate my flaws, so I'm keeping it as is.

Still, I've realized that my nonchalant attitude towards the weather can translate to celebrities. Example: My other little sister went through a phase is OBSESSED (t.a.u.s.) with Ryan Scheckler, and wanted me to drive her to Cleveland one summer so she could meet him bc he was "on tour." However, my response at the time was "The day Ryan Scheckler waits in line for two hours to talk to me, then I'll talk to him."

So I wanted to use this time to tell her, in hindsight, I should have driven you to Cleveland. (Since I did take other little sister to see Panic! on tour - though that was only 40 mins away). (Don't worry, my mom did take her to b-more to meet the almighty skate-boarding wonder.) (Are you allowed to use three parenthetical sentences in a row?)

So, the next time you want to go to Cleveland, I'm game, and have already planned the itinerary:
Cleveland Fun Part One
Cleveland Fun Part Two

If you haven't seen these, watch them. Unless your from Cleveland or Detroit and don't have a sense of humor!

Hello, Kitty

I have a lot of reading to do today before my class from 1:00-4:00. (Seriously, even if it was a class discussing Grey's Anatomy plot lines and People magazine articles, three hours is a long time.)

Fortunately, I have some help:

I always knew Minnie liked tuna-flavored treats, mouse toys, and climbing curtains, but who knew that her interests extended to stakeholder theory and business ethics?