Saturday Swoons: Birthday Edition

Hey there, peeps!

How was your week? As for me I survived what I thought would be the end of me: September 16. AKA: Yesterday.

Last week our Music History prof. gave us a ten page test review to fill out. It was the test. Being me, I waited until the Wednesday and Thursday before the test to fill it out. BUT! I did it all by myself! I think that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that. Weeee. Also on Friday our form and analysis groups had to present projects we had been working on since the second week of school. I did well in speech and had a bud, Marla, up there with me presenting as well.

My voice lesson also surprised me. Being preoccupied with worrying and writing down 80 terms for music history I had neglected my lesson music. (Sorry, Mrs. Newman. It’s true. We cool, right?) So at the last second, (11pm on a Thursday) I hastily threw together the things I needed to look successful at the next day’s lesson. Her exact words in my lesson: “I can tell you’ve put a lot of time into this!”

Yeah. I’m awesome.

SO! On to Saturday Swoons! I’ve done a post like this before but I’m thinking of making it a regular/semi-regular post for the weekends. Here I’ll share things I wish I could buy if money were no object and share things I wish I had anyway. Here we go!

1. Jeffrey Campbell boots. $160.
2. Bare Escentuals Prime Time. $22.
3. Frederic Fekkai Luscious Curls Cream. $24.
4. Miu Miu Booties. $890.

(I read about the Frederic Fekkai cream in Cecily von Ziegesar’s book series The It Girl and have wanted it ever since. Is that weird?) So, family, since my birthday is in 13 days (eek!) feel free to get any of these things. 🙂 Well, except the Miu Miu boots. That’s understandable.

What?

I went all day today thinking it was yesterday. I almost even stopped my voice teacher when she said, “Aww, today my baby is 15 months.”

That would have been awkward.

Anyone else just not get that into Fashion Week? Not that big of a deal, right? Fancy clothes on skinny girls don’t really interest me. Show me a Goodwill with a crazy amount of awesome pieces and I will freak. out.

Speaking of Scrubs, this is one of my faaaaaavorite episodes. My sister and I say this all the time now. Go here to watch.

Totes hilar, right?

You’re welcome.

Spoiled Rotten

Sitting alone on the second floor of the music building I’m looking out onto the roof of the next building. As I let my mind wander I can’t help but think of times when roofs of public buildings are being redone and the people inside can’t think of a reason not to complain.

I mean really, what’s a little extra noise for a few weeks? Have we gotten so accustomed to being a me-me-me and an I-wanted-it-three-seconds-ago society?

As a nation, as a people, as children of God, we are spoiled. Spoiled rotten. We don’t realize how good we’ve got it. Yeah, our government may be in need of some divine intervention and we could use a good three month long rain, but are we still not blessed? We have our families. We have our lives. Lives to dedicate to Jesus. We have food, shelter, air conditioning, running, clean, water. We have so many things a lot of countries around this world don’t.

Amidst these 30+ foot flaming fires I beseech you to be unselfish. Be givers. Be Christ’s love. Be His hands and His feet. Especially now, but always.

Side Note: So far, there have been no fires in Laneville itself, but our neighboring town, Carlisle, was evacuated yesterday due to a blazing fire that is still flaming. My parents are safe for now, too, but streets over from them are being evacuated. We’re not out of the woods yet. While some of my church family members have returned to their homes, there are still a number of them that are displaced. If you have any more information, share in the comments!

Things I Love

Back in June, when I was stressing somethin’ major about starting back to school, I decided to make myself feel better by making a list of the things I love doing. And not a superficial list. I’m talkin’ things I absolutely love to do. What tasks, hobbies, activities or things I like learning. Here’s my list:

Singing.
Cleaning.
Rain.
Shopping.
Dressing up.
Chocolate.
Blogging.
My cats.
Jason.
Reading.
Beach.
Swimming.
Nailpolish.
Baking.
Colors.
Decorating.
Being with my family.
Having deep, serious conversations.
Sharing.
Spanish.
Learning.
Golden Girls.
Cooking for others.
Giving.
Fall.
Winter.
Temperatures that are under 90. (Am I right?!)
Organizing.
To-Do lists.

Clearly, I have a cleaning problem. I find it really relaxing. Example, about six seconds ago I just finished reorganizing the whole kitchen. And I loved it. Rudy, my little sister, is the same way. She organized my sister’s dorm closet just because she wanted to. Weeeeirdo.

I really encourage you, especially if you’re stressed, take some time for yourself and think about all the things you love to do. I keep my list in a sticky note on my laptop desktop so I see it all the time. Let me know what’s on some of your lists!

PS. Happy Labor Day!

The First Day of School

Monday was my first day of school. My first day of my journey towards my Bachelor’s Degree. My first day to try and meet new friends. (So far, there are some excellent candidates! Woohoo!). I wasn’t freaking out too much since I did that a few weeks ago. While my day was good, I couldn’t help but miss Kilgore College and all the familiarity. Everything at UT Tyler is so new so it’s going to take some getting used to, but one thing I’m excited about is picking out outfits for school. (Plus, there’s a Chick fil-a and Starbucks on campus!)

Last week started out well enough, though the heat is killer. I’ve managed to stay indoors most of the summer and I am really pining for fall! (Hurry up, cold!) The week before school finding tuition money nearly sent me to an early grave but we managed with some family love, so when last Thursday smacked me, I nearly broke down. Our first meeting with all the music majors let me know that I was missing a $400 class. Unfortunately, the class only comes around every other year so I couldn’t wait.  So, after sweating my way over to the admin building and registering for the class I realized that it was a T/Th class at 3.30-4.30. There went my errand days. And of course, I had to stay an extra hour that day to attend the class without any paper or pencils or food. Instead of getting home at around 2:15 I wasn’t home until 5:30. Boo.

I know that sounds incredibly selfish but driving 2 hours every day can really take a toll on the gas tank and the bank account. Driving four extra hours a week (for a ONE HOUR CLASS! AHH!) has really hit us/me. Thursday was a really tough day for me. It was one of those days when things just keep piling on top of you until you just want to scream as loud as you can. Finances, books, a new school, and realizing that 90% of my closet doesn’t fit anymore has really made me stress out. (My forehead started cramping. Now that’s stress. Oh, and did I mention that our post office sent two checks to the wrong address and people stole money from us?)

So, I’ve decided to try and take control of at least one aspect of my life as much as I can. I’ve joined Jason’s cousin, Becca, in her fitness challenge. It started last Thursday and will end on Thanksgiving day: 90 days. Last week, I worked out three times. (Though, one of those times was Thursday so it doesn’t really count because I was so angry.) The people in her Facebook group paid a $25 ante and whoever loses the most inches wins the money! There’s a first, second, and third place. I’d love to win at least one of those, but first I have to get motivated. I figure the best way to do that is to tell all of you!

So, who’s with me? For 90 days let’s eat better, exercise, and strive to lose those inches. As a mini challenge, also from Becca, I’m going to cut out sugar for two weeks. On the 15th day Becca challenged me to eat one serving of sugar and to see how I feel. I’m already guaranteeing I’ll feel awful! Which, of course, means I shouldn’t eat so much sugar. 🙂

As much as I can, I’ll report back here with my progress along with some outfit posts! I also apologize for my blatant absence in the past week. As you can see above I have been beyond stressed out, but I’m praying this week will be merciful. My one consolation is sleeping late on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Hey, at least it’s only a one hour class. (See, I’m being optimistic already!)

Who’s with me!

PS. Whadya think of the new header? It’s a little different from the vintage, eh?

Humble Pie

Our air conditioner has given us a lot of grief since we got married. A bit into our marriage we had to shell out $700 to fix the gas line that led to the unit so we could have heat for the rest of the winter. Thankfully, the school paid half since they own the house. A bit after that we had to replace the electrical board because it was being leaked on. We paid that on our own–another several hundred. Since then we’ve been fine.

However, when summer really started to heat up our house just wouldn’t cool down. We’d have it set on 69 degrees and after about 11 AM it’d shoot up to 80-82 degrees. Most days I’d feel really dizzy or just sick so Jason and I would have to go to the back of the house to hang out where there weren’t as many windows.

Before the party Jason decided enough was enough and called someone out to look at it. The guy was out here for a record 15 minutes and we gave him a check for $80. He said we’d have to replace either the whole unit or the cooling system. That’d run us upwards of $2,000. Awesome, right? Read more