My Week in a Flash

So....I haven't blogged in a while.  I had a two tests last week and was just really busy trying to clean my side of the room (it is usually really clean), which took way longer than it should have- I'll get to that later.  Anyway here's a quick recap of last week and a little bit of the week before.

Present day:  No, this isn't last week yet, but I figured I'd start with more recent stuff since it's rather fresh in my memory.  And no I'm not quite starting with the present day (I swear I know my days of the week), but I this is at least a normal point from which I can begin regular blogging.  Saturday was a much better day than Friday (this has to do with the messy room thing- again, I'll get to that later- sorry), praise the Lord!  I went shopping with Isaiah about 30 minutes after I woke up.  We went to The Domain and I wore my new red pants and my new leather jacket (not sure why I'm telling y'all this, but I was clearly excited about my outfit).  We went shopping for Isaiah, so I didn't get much- just a red leather jacket.  I know, so much red.  Don't worry, I'm going to start mixing in other colors.

After shopping with Isaiah, I drove home to meet my mom and sister to go to a 90th birthday party for one of the sweetest ladies I know.  Happy birthday, Mrs. Buckner!

Then I went home for a little bit and watched The Heat with Jodi.  I don't really like that lady from Bridesmaids and didn't think I'd like the movie, but it turned out to be really funny.

Then I went to work in the nursery.  My church was having a dinner for all of the young families, so I got to babysit Mallory and her brother, Mason, as well as another kid I've watched for a long time, Merrick, and his baby sister, Evie (they're Gina's grandkids if you guys remember who she is).  Like I always say after going home, it was great to spend time with little people again.  Kids are so much fun, and it is so uplifting to be around them.

On Sunday morning I worked in the nursery again and had seven kids to watch.  I think that's a record for my little church!  I got to watch Mallory, Merrick and Evie again, as well as Josie and three other kids.  Most of them were under three and Evie is only a few months old, so there was a lot to do; but I've found out over my years of watching kids that I can do many things while holding a baby.  On Sunday, I learned that there are many things I can do while holding a baby and a toddler at the same time.  Of course, Mallory was the toddler I was still holding, but shout out to my Mallory for sharing my attention so well :)

Side note- the best place to get frozen yogurt is a place in Marble Falls called Fresh 'n' Fruitti.  I always go there with Zae; it's kind of our thing- Fresh 'n' Fruitti after church.  I mean, I'll go anytime with anyone, but I especially like going with Zae.  It's more of a tradition with her.  Anyway, Zae was home this weekend, so we got to go together!!!  i love my best friend, and I'm so glad we've stayed in touch so well while going to different colleges.  I guess I'm used to staying in touch with friends.  I met my true, best friend forever and ever and ever friend in 3rd grade.  We were both in Mrs. Herrin's class.  But, third grade was the only year that we have ever gone to the same school, at least since we met each other.  As nine and ten-year-olds, we called each other all the time and managed to stay best friends, hardly ever getting to see one another, until 7th grade when Sierra moved to a town about 30 minutes away from my hometown.  We've stayed best friends this whole time, and I've never known anyone else to be as good of a friend as Sierra.

Zae & Me on "Twin Day"
#throwback(whateverdayoftheweekitisthatpeopledothat)
#besties #zaedawglol

Sierra & Me at my graduation, best friends through it all

All three of us #wcweventhoughit'snotwednesday #canyoutellilikelonghashtags

I have remained close to Christina since I moved in.  Yesterday, I even called a girl I used to be good friends with but don't talk to anymore.  I think when I became friends with this girl (who was a freshmen when I met her my senior year), I just wanted to sort of be a guide for her, because I knew she wasn't on the best path.  Anyway, I just called to check on her, but I realized that I miss hanging out with her a little bit.  The only friend I can't seem to stay in touch with is Kathryn, WHO GOES TO THE SAME COLLEGE AS ME!  It's pathetic how unoften we talk, even though she lives less than a half of a mile away from me.  Confession- it makes me really sad, and I don't know what to do about it :(

Anyway, I came back last night in time to go to Kerbey Lane for dinner with Sara.  I brought back all of my winter clothes and some board games :)

Today was a pretty good day.  It was the first day in a while that I have gone to all of my classes (not counting Tuesdays/Thursdays, on which I only have one class).  Some days, I miss my UGS on accident, other days I miss Anthro to study for a test or quiz.  Astronomy is the one class I always go to.  I don't miss my UGS or Anthro classes very often, but many days I skip Theatre.  Anyway, today I went to all of my classes, and I remembered to go to my Astronomy lab, which I sometimes forget to go to.  

After class, I took a great nap and went grocery shopping with Sara.  Then we hung out with Kristynn and finished the game of Monopoly that we started with Karen yesterday (we also played Life yesterday).  Sara won Monopoly, and Life, and Uno, which we played later, and Clue, which we played a couple days ago.  She is so good at board games- she positively dominates!  UGH!

I guess Sara wants a shout out- when I asked her to send me blog pics, this is what I got.  SO, shout out to Sara and to Kristynn, as well.  And good luck to Kristynn on her test tomorrow.

I like this one more.

I also got this.  

Yeah Sara, I can take a hint.  My room was a little messy this week.  It was strange- my side was clean when I woke up; then I scrambled to get ready for various things, and it turned into a mess; then I slaved to clean it, only to have a fish tank overflow twice; then I cleaned again.  The only thing that remained messy throughout the week was my dishes, but they are done now and all of the fish mess has been dealt with, so I should be able to keep things clean.

Recap Time: Wednesday, October 30: I didn't mention when I blogged on this day that it was my GG's 92nd birthday.  I just want to say that I love her so much!  I used to spend the night with her all the time when I was a kid, and I really miss spending time with her.

Thursday, October 31 (Halloween): Let's see, I didn't think I'd be doing anything for Halloween, so I didn't get a costume.  However, I did go costume shopping at Buffalo Exchange with Isaiah and Molly.  Shout out to Isaiah- he was one sexy French man!  Instead of going downtown, I introduced Karen to Austin Java and went shopping at Target.  Isaiah eventually convinced me to go out with him and some of our friends from the FIG, so I put on an orange and black dress I found and pretended I was a pumpkin.  We didn't get to Rain on time to get in, so we went to the club next door (I forget the name).  It was fun dancing for a while, but I wore heels (BAD IDEA!) so I got tired of dancing within too long of arriving at the club.  Lesson learned: do NOT wear heels on Thursdays or on Halloween and especially not when Halloween is on a Thursday!  One last thing about Halloween: there were some people wearing really odd clothes on Halloween, and it was just really hard to tell whether people were dressing up or if they were just......different, but no judgement from me!

Friday, November 1: I went home on this day to get my hair cut.  I got home early, so I surprised Christina at work and went to the preschool where I used to work to spend time with Mallory.  Also, Sara came home after being gone all week :)

Saturday, November 2: My Aunt Kim and Uncle James came to visit me and to go to the UT vs. K-State game with my cousins, Caitlyn and Sean.  James and Sean went to the game, while Kim, Caitlyn and me went shopping.  We went to South Congress and I took them to Bouldin Creek for lunch.  After the game, we (plus Sara) all went to dinner at Magnolia Cafe South.  I really love that place and their home fries!  It was like Sara was a part of the family, because she is!

Sunday, November 3: I met a prominent graffiti artist with Elly.  Then we went to lunch at Austin Java.  Pancakes.......yum.  And, I can get cranberry sauce at Austin Java :)  Sara, Karen and I went shopping in Round Rock this afternoon.  I finally got some red ankle pants.  Don't judge me for being frivelous; I know I already got a pair of red pants, but the ones I had were denim and I really wanted some nicer ankle pants.  I finally found a pair at Ann Taylor, and I couldn't resist!  I also got some house shoes.  Sara wears slippers all the time, and I gave in to the temptation.  The last thing I got was a pair of running pants, which I've been wanting since my middle school soccer days.  I even went on a run with Karen afterwards to test them out.

Monday, November 4: I can't remember anything I did on this day.  I think it was raining, and I know that I forgot to go to my Astronomy lab.  However, I don't remember what I was doing during the time I should have been in class or at any other point in the day.  We (Sara, Karen and I) might have played Clue and watched the movie (super quirky and funny btw).  I know we did this at some point, but I'm actually pretty sure that we did it Sunday night.

Tuesday, November 5:  I registered for classes!  My registration went pretty well since I got sophomore registration.  I didn't get the English class I really wanted, because it filled up several days before; however, I did have time to choose a new one and got my second choice with no problem.  I also didn't get the Advertising session I wanted, but I was still able to register for the class with the professor I wanted.  The worst thing was that I did not get the Government professor I wanted :(  Aside from registering for class, I studied for Astronomy A LOT.  I went to the review session my professor held and studied with some people in my class.

Wednesday, November 6: I had two tests on Wednesday, in Astronomy and Anthropology.  But, I'm not complaining- one of my friends had four tests on Thursday!  And, I did pretty well on both of them.  I watched Pretty In Pink sometime this last week, and I think it might have been on Wednesday.  Or maybe not, but I watched it.  It was pretty good, but i don't like it as much as Sara (it's her favorite movie).  The best thing that happened to me all week was that I got to go to a John Legend concert with Kristynn on Wednesday!  I guess I'll have to post some of the pictures later, but here is a shitty ones I took with my phone.

Temar Braxron opened for him.  I don't really know who she is, but apparently she has a show on We.  John Legend was amazing though.  I had heard of him before, but had never really heard any of his songs.  He has an amazing voice and the sound quality in Bass was outstanding.  His voice sounded so pure, even in the very back row of the second balcony, which is where my student tickets had us sitting, but I'm not complaining.  If you haven't listened to "All of Me," you should probably do that this instant.  I've been listening to it on repeat.!

Afterwards Kristynn, Sara and me went to Kerbey Lane, and I actually tried something new!  I got French Toast, but I like the pancakes better.

Thursday, November 7: I finished The Painted Bird, which I was reading for Banned Books.  DO NOT READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Don't do it!  It is so disturbing.  There are so many images from this book that I will never forget.  EVER.  And I want to forget them so badly.  Honestly, the 15th chapter of this book ruined my entire day.  A whole day ruined from about 11:00 a.m.  DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.  Please, you really don't need this book to feel bad about the Jewish people or the "gypsies" that were persecuted in the Holocaust.  This fictional narrative (that could be the autobiography of Jerzy Kozinski) is just too much.  DO NOT READ IT!

If you see a book that looks like this,
leave it where it is and DO NOT READ IT!

Thursday afternoon I went to Whole Earth with Isaiah, and afterwards we went to Dirty's :)

Friday, November 8:  Worst day of my life.  Maybe not really, but it was close.  I hate to follow a rant with a depressing story, but here it goes.  The fish tank exploded.  It didn't actually explode (obviously), but it did turn into a waterfall when the pump malfunctioned.  We didn't keep the receipt, of course, so there was really nothing we could do to fix it, and I didn't really care to risk replacing it just so we could have another tragedy (this also happened on Wednesday).  On Wednesday, my drawers were open and my clothes, which had all been washed, folded and put away, got wet and had to be washed again.  This time, however, it was my shoes that got soaked.  Even my Clark's Originals, which combined with the magnitude of the mess made me cry.  There was water everywhere (even on the rug) and I just stood in the middle of the room crying.  So, we put the fish up for adoption and ended up giving them to a friend (who will remain unnamed) that lives on our hall and went to Chuy's, because I had never been to the one on Barton Springs Road and had been wanting to try it and I had to get away from the dorm.  Later that night, my favorite coffee mug broke, and my fish died.  We had the funeral in a community bathroom.  Classy, huh.  "Poor Mr. Darcy."

Present Day Again:

Goodnight, everybody.  Thanks to everyone who is still reading my blog.  Sorry for the break, but I'm back on the blog train (what a lame term...not sure what I was thinking when I typed that, but it is too weird to omit).

P.S. I would like to dedicate this post to Sara's mom.  I'm blogging for you tonight, Mom Northcutt.  Don't worry, I'm gong to start blogging again, and I still love you!

It's a Jungle Out There

I absolutely love the holidays, so I'm spending this week watching all of my favorite Halloween movies.  I've already finished Beetlejuice, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, and most of Monster Mash.

If you haven't watched the animated Monster Mash from 2000, you need to do so...unless you don't like animated, kids movies or Halloween.  But, if you do like animated kids movies, it's great.  I watched it as a kid and haven't been able to watch it again until last night, because it's only on VHS (and you know how that goes).  However, I found it on YouTube last night, and it's just as good as it used to be.  Here's the link.  You should watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KaqKrV8nP0&list=UUje3KWsWfCsakoJaOsYWUfA

I can't share pictures yet, but I worked all last night decorating our hall for Halloween with Kristynn and some of the other girls on our wing.  It's jungle-themed and I think it looks spectacular, and I really hope it wins the contest!

Confession: I don't think I'm going to have time to train for the half-marathon :(  I don't necessarily mean that I don't have time, I'm too tired, I have homework, blah blah blah.  But, I have been a slacker, and I pretty much don't have enough weeks between today and the race to train properly- so next year, I guess.  However, I'm going to try to work in several 5Ks, starting with the Turkey Trot!

Mr. Darcy loves Elizabeth, but he likes Ariel, too.

I've been working on a paper for Banned Books and Novel Ideas, so I haven't been able to blog since Friday.  But, a lot has happened since then!  To begin, Isla has started walking and I finally got to see it for myself when I woke up Saturday morning- a great start to what turned out to be a fantastic day!

After feeding Isla breakfast, Isidro and I went to drop her off with my aunt (her nani), Ann.  I have hardly seen Ann since I moved in, so it was great getting to see her.  After dropping Isla off, we went to meet Hallie at the salon and went to get lunch at Dirty's, which never fails to impress.

Later in the afternoon, I met Elly at the Texas Book Festival.  We sat went to a couple of the discussions: "For Your Next Book Club" and "Families in Crisis."  The second discussion was much more interesting.  It featured three authors, who wrote books about families in different situations.  There were two that I was kind of interested in reading.  One, Man Alive by Mary Kay Zuravleff, was about a neurological pathologist who gets stuck by lightning and starts acting like his teenage patients.  The other, At the Bottom of Everything by Ben Dolnick, was about two best friends who have grown apart.

 After I got back to the dorm, I saw Karen and we decided to go to the pumpkin patch :)  We drove over to the Tarrytown United Methodist Church and found a pumpkin for mine and Sara's room and two little ones for Madlin and Elly.

My Man, The Scarecrow

Afterwards, I introduced Karen to my favorite cafe, Mozart's.

I drove home that night, since the game kept getting delayed, and saw my family.  The next morning, I worked in the nursery at church, but I didn't have any kids.  Afterwards I babysat for a family that I babysat for all summer, the McDavids.  I got to watch Josie and another girl, Ellen, that I watched when I worked at the preschool.  It was fun getting to work with kids again, and I got to watch The Incredibles again.  It's Josie's favorite, so I've seen it at least six times since last June.

I didn't think I was going to get to see Christina, but she texted me just before I was going to head home.  I got to see her and Mallory :)

Then of course, I got to see Sara when I got back to the dorm.  We both went home this weekend, so I hadn't seen her since Friday afternoon.

I had a registration advising appointment first thing this morning.  My advisor is super nice and helpful! I already had most of my classes picked out, but she gave me some advise for picking my first upper-division English course.  Then I pretty much worked on finishing my essay all day.

Once I submitted it, I fell asleep on the floor in our dorm.  My bed was unusually cluttered, and I was super tired.  When I woke up from my nap, I went with Sara and Kristynn to HEB to get groceries, and Sara and I got fishies!!!  We each picked out one of the big-eyed goldfish.  Mine is the yellow one.  I named him Mr. Darcy.  Sara's is tentatively named Ariel.  Aren't they cute!?

Figuring out those directions!

#teamwork

Thanks for the plants, Kristynn

Freeing the fishes

Mine is the yellow/white one and Sara's is the orange

Karen and Kristynn helped us to set up the tank and get the fishies "moved in."  Then we sat down for another classy dorm dinner.  We were finally able to have a centerpiece since our plants looking lively.

With the addition of the fishies, I think our room is finally complete.  Garden, fish, TV, microwave, fridge, Keurig, a stack of books, coffee mugs, owls, fall decorations, a picture of Mallory and me, another picture of Sara's best friend's dog, artwork by Isla and Monet, and an African mask- yep, it's complete and I love it!  It really feels like home.

Well, goodnight everybody.  I'm glad to be back on Blogger!

P.S.  I'm obsessing over the song, "Meet Virginia" right now, so you guys should give it a listen.  Really, I'm obsessed with all of Train's songs at the moment!

It's a Big Place, But We Live in a Small World

UT had a sort of garage sale today.  Lots of clothes and all of them for one dollar!  I got two pairs of shorts that I liked enough to spend a dollar on them.

I took my study break on the balcony between Batts and Mezes today.  It was really nice up there- very quiet with a great view of the South Mall.  And the weather was perfect, so there was a nice breeze.

I feel like people are always talking about what a big place UT is, and how you are just one person among over 50,000, but that hasn't been my experience so far.  I hardly go anywhere without seeing someone I know.  And, it isn't just people from my FIG; I see people I went to high school with (a small high school), people I met at orientation, people that live on my hall, and lots of other people that I know.  In fact, there is a girl that graduated from Burnet a year before me in Astronomical Observations, a random class with less than 20 people!  Anyway, when I was leaving Mezes today, a guy opened the door for me.  When I went to say thank you, I noticed that it was a guy that I went to high school with...crazy!  Because we were both on our way to class, we only had a couple minutes to catch up, but it was good to see him.

It's my weekend to go home, so I'm at Hallie's tonight!  I always look forward to seeing Hallie, Isidro and Isla, and was very happy that Isla was still awake when I got home.  She is so adorable!  I also look forward to the home-cooked meals at Hallie's, and tonight Isidro made lasagna.  I don't usually like lasagna because of the melted cheese (I hate stringy, melted cheese), but this lasagna was really good!

I hope y'all enjoy your weekend.  I don't think I'm going to be going to the pumpkin patch, but I think it's still going to be a good weekend :)

"Life Is But a Dream." No, a Cartoon.

I had to watch an episode of American Horror Story for my class, Banned Books and Novel Ideas.  So, Isaiah and I watched the pilot episode after he got out of class this morning.  I don't usually like horror films and scary movies.  I don't typically have nightmares, but I get positively terrified thinking about all the creepy things that could be lurking in the corners every time I find myself in the dark.  So, I don't watch them.  However, since it was required for my class, I figured I could sit through fifty minutes of an episode.  Ha!  The first time I started the episode, Sara was napping, so I paused in the first scary scene thinking that I would probably scream and wake her up.  So, the next time I tried to watch it, I wanted it to be with a friend.

Even with Isaiah, I didn't focus entirely on the show at first.  I busied myself with making/eating breakfast, washing the consequential dishes, and reading The Daily Texan, but I finally sat down and watched the show.  It wasn't too bad.  With the abundance of horror motifs the show presents in each episode, it's actually kind of funny sometimes.  I'm usually on the edge of my seat, yelling at the screen when victims enter the basement or ignore all of the secrets surrounding the haunted houses they move into; but this time, I was yelling "Bitch, they warned you!"  There certainly were several scary moments when I felt like I couldn't even look at the screen, but most of the time I felt like I could handle the scary scenes.  I was even tempted to watch the next episode when it was over, and I think I am going to at least watch the first season.

After class, I went to the cardio room and ran a mile.  It's the first time I've ran in I have no clue how many weeks, and it felt great!  I always feel so energized after working out, which may seem backwards, but if you work out, you probably know what I mean!  It just makes me want to get stuff done.  So, I came back to the dorm and watered the plants, scheduled a few appointments for registration, and started on my response paper for Anthropology.  Then I started watching Chasing Mavericks.  A professor I met at the Reading Roundup recommended it for me due to it's similarity to the book we read, and I finally started it today.  It's pretty good so far, but I'm nervous that it might be sad.

Sara and I also made a cartoon versions of ourselves.  Check it out (the captions were prewritten)!

I'm going home this weekend, or at least Sunday morning, to work in the nursery at church, but I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the rest of my weekend.  Sara is going home, but I did see Madlin for the first time all week.  It was nice to know she's still alive, and I'm hoping we can go to a pumpkin patch this weekend.  I've heard great things about the one in Tarrytown.  I'm also considering going to the Texas Book Festival, which is happening in Austin this weekend.  Lemony Snicket is going to be there, and The Series of Unfortunate Events books were among my favorites as a child.  Other than that I have to write a paper over the horror genre for Banned Books.  I think I'm going to write about Coraline, which is one of the creepiest films I've ever seen.

Goodnight, and I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

P.S.  The pajamas were amazing- best night of sleep ever!

P.P.S.  I don't think I'm going to be getting Starbuck's on Fridays from now on.  Since I bought the Keurig, it's really just a waste of money, even if Starbuck's coffee is much more delightful.  However, I will still be looking for a new place to study tomorrow.

Slam Poetry at the Poetry Slam

I'm doing okay this week with my goal to "be healthy."  I decided to do some yoga when I woke up yesterday morning.  It was very refreshing, but I have to admit that I was a little sore afterward.

I had heard a lot of great things about the Austin Poetry Slam at Spider House Cafe & Ballroom, and I finally convinced Sara to go with me last night.  She was a little skeptical, but I think she really enjoyed it.  One of my friends from my FIG, Katarina, also came with us.  It was so great!  The atmosphere was really neat.  You walk into the ballroom, which is like a small theater.  There is a disco ball and a DJ playing.  The stage has a red curtain behind it and two cupid statues hanging from the ceiling in the corners of the stage.  Altogether, it felt like we found a treasure.  The slam poetry was great, too!  Everyone was so talented and had something different to offer than everyone else who performed.

Afterwards, we went to Dirty's.  Oh my goodness, I love that place!  Quick story- I went there with my dad and sister when I was maybe ten, and thought that they had the best hamburgers I had ever had.  Later, I asked my dad where we had eaten the last time we went to Austin, "you know, that place with the great hamburgers????"  But, he couldn't remember.  I never quit thinking about the great burgers and the white-washed walls of Dirty's, and I asked my dad if he remembered where we ate that one time we went to Austin just about every time we had hamburgers for the next 8 or so years.  Then, earlier this year when we were leaving Explore UT, we passed Dirty's.  I just knew that was the place I had been keeping my eye out for since I was a kid.  And when I asked him if we had been there before, he confirmed my theory as if he had known the entire time.

I love this place!

Today was a good day, too.  I slept in this morning on accident.  When my alarm went off, I thought it was Thursday for some reason, so I thought, "I don't have to get up.  I get to sleep as late as I want!"  Wrong.  It was Wednesday and I was only supposed to sleep until 8:00, because I had classes at 10:00 and 11:00 and a quiz in my 12:00.  So, I didn't wake up until 11:00 and studied for the quiz instead of going to Expressive Culture.  I made a 100 on my quiz though :)  I also had a pop quiz in Astronomy, which I think went okay.

After class, Isaiah helped me carry my computer back to the campus computer store, and then we hung out with Sara and Karen.  Isaiah and Sara spent pretty much the entire afternoon/evening talking to weirdos on this video chatting site, Omegle.  Then after dinner, Isaiah, Sara and I went to Rita's...yummm!  It's one of the few places where I try something new every time I go.  This time I got green apple and lemonade.

Tonight will be my first night sleeping in the silk pajama set that I splurged on.  It came in today, and it is the my comfortable thing I've ever put on.  I love it!  Sooo, I tell you goodnight!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Sara saved my life tonight.  Not really, but she did save me from dropping a box of Tupperware on my head.  Thanks Sara!

Eat Clean to Get Lean

I hit 1500 pageviews today!  Shout out to Sara, the best roommate ever, for getting the 1500th view!  And, thank you to everyone else that reads my blog for all of your views and support!  I didn't really do much today, and since I haven't addressed my goals in a while, I thought I would write about how I'm doing on my goals.

Pretend it says "pageviews" instead of "followers"

1) Be nice to everyone- Not doing so bad on this one.  I always try not to let little things get to me.  I was going to post a picture for this one, but I found this wikiHow when I googled it- it's actually very helpful!

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Nice-to-People

2) Be healthy and environmentally conscious- I've been slacking a little bit on my recycling, but I will do better.  I feel like I'm slacking a lot on the healthy eating, too :(  This week I'm going to "eat clean to get lean."  This includes working out too, which I haven't been doing much (gee, I'm doing terrible with this goal!).  Hopefully I will be going at least twice a week with Elly, and I'm going to try to mix in some games of frisbee, soccer, volleyball and things like that too have fun while getting fit.  I might even start doing yoga a couple nights a week with one of my friends.  Tonight I started gathering pictures to make a fitness motivation section on my bulletin board.  I'm not sure if I'm going to do the half-marathon in February, because I haven't trained at all :(  But I'm really proud of my friend, Jennifer, who I used to work out with.  She is 50 years-old, and she posted on Facebook this weekend that she finished her 5 miler in 40:55!  She was my inspiration to work out when I used to be super fit, and hopefully this will motivate me to get fit again!  One of these days, I'll have a body like Jessica Alba (except I'll be a little shorter and not so tan).

That's gonna be me!

Jennifer, Me, and Shay

3) Know a little bit about everything- I've ordered a ton of new books on opera, bird watching, and classical music.  They haven't come in yet, but I am going to try to work through them as soon as they get here.  Also, Isaiah and I decided to start taking dance classes together.  There is a beginner's class for the Argentine Tango that we are thinking about taking, as well as the classes offered by Texas Ballroom.  They are starting to offer the Foxtrot on Wednesday, and I think that would be really fun to learn- dancing Great Gatsby style!

4) Have a garden and a clothesline- I added "have an African Spurred Tortoise" to this one today.  I've wanted one for a while.  I really like turtles and tortoises and have had a couple of pet turtles before, but it never works out.  I never really thought of having a tortoise until I saw Maura's on Rizzoli & Isles, or rather the little one she gave Jane to show her what an amazing transformation they go through.  Maura's is "partial to British strawberries."  Anyway, I thought that I might be better at raising a tortoise since they don't live in the water, which I had to clean regularly.  I want to get it when it's just a hatching, so I can watch it grow!  They are the some of the largest tortoises, so they get huge!  As for the garden, it's doing fabulous.  And, my cousin, Hallie, said I could make a clothesline at her house, so I'm going to have to get that started.

5) Read everything!- Still working on Jacob's Room.  I'm going to try to finish it before the end of next week.  We've been reading a lot of Poe short stories in Banned Books and Novel Ideas, and I'm starting  the play, Angels in America, soon for Intro to Theatre.

6) Explore new places- Still exploring campus every Friday.  Check out some of my other blogs to see where I've been going on campus.  As far as rest of the world (or even just Austin), I haven't really been anywhere new in a while, but I really want to go hike Mount Bonnell with my friends before it gets too chilly.

7) Be a successful publisher (in the future)- Still going to college.  That's a start!  I decided, though, that I want to be a children's book publisher, or I'm really thinking about it, anyway.

So, that's how I'm doing on my goals!

I absolutely love the holidays (can you tell by all of our fall decorating?), so I'm hoping to go to a pumpkin patch sometime this week and pick out a pumpkin with Sara.  And, I need to start watching all my favorite Halloween movies to get in the Halloween spirit!  I don't like scary movies (AT ALL!), but I love all the classic Halloween movies that are mostly for kids.

Some of my favorite Halloween movies:

Halloweentown

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman

I guess I should also try to write my paper that's due Friday in Banned Books...  But right now, I'm gonna watch some RIZZOLI & ISLES!

Goodnight, everyone.  Thanks again for supporting my blog; you guys are great!