Mash-up of anything and everything...

Have you ever had one of those days where NOTHING, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, went your way? Yeah, that was my day yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that. For the last week or so things have just not been going my way. Yesterday was the tip of the iceberg (pardon the cliche). I'm naturally clumsy, but it was just ridiculous...I dropped a large camera on my foot (how it managed to hit BOTH of them, I have no idea), I ran into doorframes the whole lot of it. The end finally came when I went to Photography class. Our assignment this week was to take pictures that we thought captured romance then we would go into the Mac lab and merge a few of them in photoshop. Ok, the assignment I was fine with but I am not a fan of photoshop. Anyway, I took a few pictures of Mason and then some of Christine with roses and some of my ring. All of which to me exuded romance. In my opinion, there doesn't have to be two people in a photo, or even one for that matter, for a photo to be romantic. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and art is subjective. To make a long story short, my teacher basically told me that I didn't have anything that was romantic. He said that my final product was pretty interesting considering I didn't have anything to work with. Ouch. I don't cry that often and I was using all of my will power to completely stay stone-faced during the rest of class. He even said that I needed a guy in some of the photos of Christine. Ok, I'm not a feminist by any means, but I severely dislike being told I NEED a guy for anything. He never once said that we had to take pictures of couples or with more than one person in them. I'm sorry, but isn't it up to me as the photographer to decide how I want to approach this project? I'm standing by my photographs and will fight for them. He shouldn't be grading us on whether or not he LIKES our projects, he should be grading us on how the composition is and other technical aspects. After this whole fiasco, I had a lot of pent up energy and wanted to go for a run to get rid of it and blow off some steam. I got ready and then pulled my headphones out of my backpack and one of the earpieces just broke off. Seriously? That was it. I was finished. I called my mom and just started bawling. I couldn't hold it in anymore. The stress of this semester, plus the string of bad luck, and completely torn apart my spirit. I hate that feeling. The feeling of having no hope and just wanting to throw in the towel for the day or the week even. She humored me until I calmed down a bit and then snuck in the great question....what do you want for graduation? Ahhhh. Graduation. The light at the end of a very long tunnel. I hadn't even thought about it. I was under the impression that going to Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic last Spring Break was my "graduation present". So I honestly have no idea what I want/need. I'm moving back home so it's not as though I need dishes or furniture or something like that. I would like a job, or at least an inkling to what I want to do with my life. I still haven't figured that out, but that's ok. I can't wait to get out of Fulton. Sure, I'll miss my friends and learning, but I won't miss a lot of things. People always say that you'll miss it when you graduate or when you have a real job. I feel like I might be one of the fortunate few who is going to be doing a job that I LOVE to do...maybe enough that it won't feel like I'm slaving away and wasting my life on something that is draining and has no enjoyment. I will miss parts about college and, like I said, my friends most definitely but I'm ready to move on. My roommates are unbelievable and I have LOVED living with them this semester. They are enough to make me want to stay an extra extra semester, and then I think hard about it and...no. I'm ready to go home. Don't get me wrong, I love them. They definitely keep my life interesting, but I have things that I need to sort through and decide. Plus, plan a wedding. EEEEk. Speaking of which, let me get this out now....NO. We haven't set a date. No, I don't know my colors, where, what my dress is going to look like, flowers or anything else for that matter. So...when I do, I will let ya'll know. Alright? Good. Well, I'm off to Biology. Yuck. I seriously don't understand why I need this class but whatever. Then it's off to Shakespeare, Bio Lab, studying for my Comm Law and Ethics test and the GRE (which I'm taking on Saturday) and maybe a workout. Who knows? But it's looking like it's going to be a much better day....

Autumn in New York or April in Paris?

Like I've written before, I'm completely infatuated with travel. There's just something special about going out of your comfort zone and entering a world completely different than your own. I'm a small-town girl with big city dreams...and they go into hyperdrive this time of year. Autumn is my favorite season by far. It's magical. The changing of the leaves, the crisp air...everything. I saw a show on TV yesterday about Paris in the fall and became "homesick". I know it's not my home, but you know that feeling you get when you just want to go home so badly you can't stand it? Yeah...that one. That's the one I got. I saw Paris in the summer...Prague in the spring...now I want to see it in the fall. Forget the winter...it was WAY too cold and snowy in the spring, therefore the winter is completely out of the question. I've also added some more Ella Fitzgerald to my music library and one of the new songs is "Autumn in New York". It's an AMAZING song. I recommend it to anyone...just trust me.
School is starting to pick up a little (darn midterms) and I'm getting so antsy. While I'm ready for gradtuation, it's also really scary thinking that I don't really have a plan and I desperately need one. Oh well. Like I've always said, plans are highly overrated. :)

There's no place like home....

I recently started re-reading The Wizard of Oz again. I read it when I was younger, but had forgotten completely how much I loved it. The movie version is good, but the book (as usuaul) is ten times better! Dorothy has more adventures in the book and the characters are much more complex than the movie lets on. For example, Glinda (the good witch of the North) is not this normal, beautiful woman like she is portrayed in the movie. She's also a Munchkin and a rather elderly one at that. The book WICKED follows the original story better than the movie does and as a result, the musical is AMAZING! Now, what does this topic have to do with anything? It's how I've been feeling lately. To get home Dorothy clicks her heels three times and says, "There's no place like home." There really isn't.
Home for me is three hours southwest of Fulton. Down in the Ozark Mountains. Out in the country. It's amazing.
I wasn't too thrilled about it when we moved there about 8 years ago from Memphis, TN. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Memphis....and the South in general. The thing is Ozark is just so peaceful and wonderful. I hated it for the longest time. I grew up in Memphis, all of my friends were there...but moving allowed me to broaden my view and experience more things. If we had never moved to Missouri I probably wouldn't have started playing volleyball. I wouldn't have come to William Woods and I wouldn't have met the amazing people that are in my life today.
Home is also where my heart lies. I love the way it feels in Autumn and in winter and the traditions and festivals down there are unbelievable. It's just gorgeous and picturesque. This is my last semester of undergrad and I've found myself wanting to go home more and more. I'm a big city girl that loves the country. You can see my dilemma. As mentioned in previous posts, I'm absolutely in love with Paris, Prague, and New York. I know that I could be perfectly happy living there, but I also love the down-home feeling of small towns. I'm a citizen of the world, not just one country. I have dreams that involve me moving somewhere across the world (or even across the country) but I don't want to leave my friends and family.
Ask anyone, I'm a total momma and daddy's girl. I'm independent but my parents are my world. I don't know what I would do without them. They raised me to stand up for my beliefs, what I think is right, for other people (as well as myself) and how to act in any situation. I know this is a rather sentimental post, but I'm going home in a few weeks and am SO completely excited I can't even stand it. Then the next weekend one of my closest friends from high school is getting married. I can't believe it. First it's Jana and then Stephanie and then somewhere down the line...me. We were all the last ones that I ever expected to get married before some of the others. What can I say?? There really is no place like home.

You live, you learn...

I know it's been a while since I've written, but once the first of August rolled around my life became insanely busy. The second week in August brought the onslaught of fall athletes on campus and so began my first season of NOT playing a sport in over 18 years. It's a feeling that is so completely new to me that I still don't understand how to handle it. I'm still helping out with the volleyball team, but it's still odd not being the one doing the drills, playing and doing something that I was so passionate about for the longest time. For the past four years, my life has completely revolved around volleyball (and occasionally track). I was either playing volleyball all the time in late summer and fall, doing post-season workouts with Bobby J in the spring while also doing a few practices or killing myself to make my goals in the summertime. My body hasn't quite realized that my days of collegiate sports are over. I don't think my heart has either.
August was a rough month. Besides three-a-days, school was just around the corner and Greek recruitment was in full-swing. Another first? This was my first time in four years not being recruited or doing the recruiting. I had every intention of being there and helping out with recruitment this fall, but alas, God had another plan. I had to go home because my grandmother, my dad's mom, passed away. We went down to Little Rock, Arkansas and did the whole shabang. My grandmother was a remarkable woman and I miss her dearly, but there is no sense dwelling on the past.
School this semester is going to be rather interesting. I honestly don't have a single class that hasn't been fun thus far. I know, I know. And yes, even Biology has been entertaining. The only thing that I haven't been fond of is the fact that I feel like I didn't get a summer.
Well, this afternoon I'm heading home to the Ozarks! I saw my first "Branson in Autumn" commercial the other day and it made me incredibly homesick. I love it there in the fall. The leaves are changing colors, the weather gets cool and it just feels like home. The varsity volleyball team is playing in the College of the Ozarks tournament this weekend and after I get out of classes I'm heading down to help coach. I also get to see some of my friends that I haven't seen in a very long time! It's going to be a fabulous weekend.

A reward for enduring the other 51 weeks of the year...

That's exactly what most of the "Shark Week" commercials say. An escape from everyday and into something more adventurous. Sharks have always fascinated me. The way they move, work and just exist are marvelous. So as you probably guessed, shark week is my favorite week of the year. I count down to it and am completely engulfed in the programming for 7 days. For my birthday, Mason bought me shark week DVDs with over 26 hours of shows! Isn't he the best?? I've paced myself watching it all though, unlike what I did with GLEE and I Love Lucy and most other shows that I get on DVD. What can I say, once I get into it I'm done for.
I'm pretty much finished with work for the summer so I've started packing up my room to move into my apartment on Sunday. But first Mason and I are venturing down to Ozark on Thursday. Friday we are going to Silver Dollar City and Saturday we're going to a wedding. Hopefully I'll get a few ideas for wedding planning :) It's crazy to think that in one week all of the fall athletes will be back on campus. Next Tuesday is when practices start. I don't know how I'm going to handle not playing. I'll still be around volleyball, but this will be the first time since I was a freshman in high school that I won't be playing volleyball in the fall. Soon after, school will start and then in 4 short months I'll be graduating.
I need to figure out what I'm going to be doing next spring :/ Either get a job or go to grad school....I guess it's still up in the air.
I know that it's been a while since my last post, but I'm hoping to get back on top of it!

Mr. Darcy, Harry Potter and GLEE??

It is no secret. I absolutely love to read. I always have. Summertime is when I get to read the most because I'm not busy with school, sports and other things. Once I start a book it's hard for me to put it down. I devour them and I often times have to consciously tell myself to pull back. I don't care what genre it is (besides Harlequin novels) I will at least attempt to read it. And if I find one that I LOVE....i will re-read it over and over and over again. Example? To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I read this book for the first time in my Honors English class in 7th grade and have read it multiple time since.
Recently, I have discovered Beth Pattillo. I read her first novel, "Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart" in about 2 days. I haven't ever really been into the whole "romantic" thing (at least in novels) but I was sold in the first chapter. I am now reading "Jane Austen Ruined My Life". Jane Austen is one of my all-time favorite authors. She didn't sugar coat anything and threw the whole in your face damsel in distress prince to save the day thing out the window. I respect that about her. This is where Mr. Darcy comes in. I don't understand why everyone swoons over him. He was really just an arrogant, full of himself, holier than thou jerk who passed things up because he felt they were "beneath him". The ONLY reason I have even an ounce of interest in him is because of the PBS version. Colin Firth is just so endearing as Mr. Darcy and makes him a little less obnoxious.
Harry Potter is a guilty pleasure that I tried to ignore for the first few years the books came out. Once I gave in I was a goner. Yes, I was one of THOSE people that counted down the days until the final book hit the shelves. I was on vacation with my family in Orange Beach, AL and I made my parents drive 45 minutes to Foley to buy it. It took only a day for me to finish it. I re-read it again this summer and am still enchanted by it exactly like the first time.
Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself. How does GLEE connect with Mr. Darcy and Harry Potter? Good question. The show is an escape from real life. For an hour a week you can forget about homework, practices or whatever else and just enjoy the hilariousness (yes, I just said that) of the program. Not to mention the songs are AMAZING!
Escaping from real life is fun occasionally, but if you are constantly escaping you might miss things going on around you. I recently read a book called "How It Ends". The main character, Hanna, goes through the trials and tribulations of every other high school student (plus a few more). She finds herself continually reading while her boyfriend ignores her and plays his guitar for hours and hours during the afternoon. He says he's playing for her but she doesn't buy it. When she attempts to talk to him about something that went on in the books she's reading or in her life, he tells her "you don't live in a novel." While the way it is said, as well as the context, is rather uncalled for it makes you realize that you have to come back into reality occasionally. This is exceptionally hard for me because I have always been a dreamer. My mom makes fun of me and tells me that my head has always been in the clouds, I have delusions of grandeur (pardon the cliche) to the extreme. Dreaming is what makes life fun. It brought Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett to life, Harry Potter and the wizarding world into my lap and GLEE into my living room (and stereo).
"Go confidently in the directions of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined"
-Henry David Thoreau

I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls...

I've never been into the whole "blogging" craze, but I decided to finally try it. I entitled my blog Live. Laugh. Love. because those are the three words that I try to put into my everyday thoughts. The past few years have been trying but they've ultimately made me who I am today and I am incredibly happy with who that is.
This time last summer I was gallavanting across Europe. I had the time of my life. It was my first trip abroad and I absolutely fell in love with Venice, Italy. The city is beautiful and enchanting and the people are so welcoming. I traveled to Europe once again over spring break for a class (Woods Around the World) and ventured to Berlin, Germany; Krakow, Poland; Warsaw, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic. This time, the mood was much more somber as we were studying the Holocaust. The most sobering experience was when we went to Auschwitz. I'm usually pretty good about keeping together but the minute we stepped into the gas chambers and you could see the scratches on the wall from more than 50 years ago, I lost it. I'm not even Jewish, but the fact that humans were killing their fellow man (and women and children) because they were different is something I have never understood. I am a complete history nerd and have studied the Holocaust, as well as other tragedies in history, attempting to find something that redeems those who were in the wrong. Or at least somewhat justifies their pillaging and takeover. Hitler and the Holocaust is one of the few that have nothing. It was nice being able to see the beauty of Switzerland, Italy and France and having a light-hearted trip the first time around and then being able to see the unexpected beauty of Berlin, Poland and Prague.
I have always admired Paris. I've wanted to go since I was in the second grade. The culture, the people and the history is overwhelming. The language is THE single most beautiful language in my opinion and I had always wanted to test my skills. I found that Venice soon replaced Paris as my favorite city, closely followed by Verona, Italy and Nice, France. After my most recent trip across the pond, Prague has become number one on my list. I have never seen such a beautiful city. Like Paris, cities in Italy and even cities in Poland, Prague has an old-world charm. Most of the the streets look like they are straight out of a story book. Now that I am closer to graduating, I keep thinking that I should've taken the time and studied abroad for a semester instead of only going for two weeks at a time on two different occasions. My friend Barb went to Ireland for a semester and then traveled all over Europe. That experience is invaluable. Nothing can take away the experiences that you have and what you can discover about yourself. I am sort of on a path of self discovery. I have an idea of who I am, but I'm also trying to figure out what I'm going to do and who I want to be. I have so many dreams and aspirations and I don't want to let any opportunity pass me by.
In line with me being a complete history nerd, I'm graduating in December with a B.A. in History. I have an internship this summer at the National Winston Churchill Museum to try and test the waters and figure out what I want to go to graduate school for. I would love to work in the Smithsonian or at the Museum of Natural History. If I do the Museum Studies route, I would have to work at a bigger museum in a big city. I couldn't do the small time stuff. There is too much out there to discover in bigger museums. On the other hand, I would be perfectly happy teaching and coaching. Teaching would give me the opportunity to have summers and also travel.
I'm trying to figure out where my life is leading, but the adventure is the most fun.