last post ever?

this could be my last posting... not so sure if i'm going to keep this up while i'm in mizzou. we'll have to see...

tomorrow i'm leaving for missouri with my mom and sam. we'll spend a few days in columbia having fun then they'll help me move in on saturday. then i begin the soul-sucking training lol.

i'm sad to leave friends/family here, but i'm excited to start my second year at mizzou!! so long for now~

oh i forgot! here's a picture where you can sort of see how my hair is darker.

so you know how sometimes you plan stuff with people and you think it's going to be a lot of fun but then it turns out to be kind of a disappointment? but then other times it's just as much fun as you expected?! (sorry- just wanted to freak these guys out)

last night i got together with rach, sarah, niraj and kalani--- it was for some reason the first time all 5 of us had gotten together all summer to really hang out. so they all came over and then we left.

we planned a progressive dinner: first we went to puffabelly's for appetizers. usually we get fried green tomatoes and pickles, but the waiter told us they were OUT of the tomatoes! unfortunate...but rach and i were like "just bring us fried things"-- so we got the sampler platter~ fried pickes, onion rings, fried onion strips, fried jalapeno strips and jalapeno peppers. it was amazing and we all ate soooo much. after that, we were like "hmm.. do we really need to keep going? we're so full." but of course the answer was yes and we were off.

next was carabba's. we were so full, so we just ordered the mezzaluna (special raviolis that are wayyy yummy) and chicken marsala. our waitress seemed to be a little confused, so we told her what we were doing and she thought it was really fun.

finally we were off to grotto for dessert- this was wonderful because we went to a grotto for prom, so it was sort of like a mini prom reunion, minus a lot the people that had originally gone with us that we didn't really like (coughcoughcoughtequiladancoughcoughcough). kalani insisted that we order 3 desserts, so we did and they were amazing. it was so much fun! i think we should do this sometime in columbia- it's fun because you can get the best from each place you go to.

we came back to my house and then we drove all around spring playing car hide and go seek, just like we played in clarksville. each team had an instance of forgetting out boundary rules (oops! lol) but it was still lots of fun. regardless of what the boys said, us girls definitely won. we had much better clues, which is what matters.

so that was my last big hurrah before i leave, although i think i might see a few of them again before i leave. it was definitely a wonderful send off...

today i finished psych!!! well, i finished the lessons and the quizzes~ one final test left go go, but i'm going to take it in columbia.

i also got a haircut/color! very exciting~ i love having my hair a little darker. one of my mom's friends told me it was "stunning," so that made me happy about it.

tomorrow night i'm going to finally get together with my 4 closest friends from home. i've seen them each over the summer, but the 5 of us have yet to get all together!! of course i'm the "planner" so it took me to get us together lol. we're going to do a progressive dinner~ appetizers @ one restaurant, dinner @ another, dessert @ one more. then hopefully a rousing game of car hide and go seek. how fun are we? so much.

later dudes/dudettes~~~~

Hotel Gozlin

this weekend my grandma was supposed to take me, sam and my cousin ben who i get to see about twice a year if i'm lucky to galveston, but on tuesday she called to tell us that her leg has been bothering her a lot, so she wasn't really up to going to galveston. however, she did want us to come and stay the weekend with her downtown. she assured us that it would be like staying in a hotel-- she wouldn't cook at all lol. so we agreed~

i won't spare you all with some the boring details... but we pretty much had a really good time. the best part was getting to spend time with ben- he can make me laugh so hard i cry. i <3 that~ i love laughing so hard it hurts over something so inane and childish. whoa-- i think i slipped into kimmer's writing style there for a sec... lol j/k-- <3 ya Wife! ben is so fun- and i would love to be able to spend more time with him. he's going to be a senior this year, so he and i were talking a little about where he is looking at, college wise. he mentioned wash u and i got so excited, because then he would be sooo close! i doubt he'd actually go- he's an east coast kid- but it'd be amazing.

we did do some fun things~ we went to the galleria because they were having a showing of the artwork of john lennon. he did some really great pieces-- little tooooo much of yoko though for my taste. especially this one, "exotic #6," which featured a masturbating yoko. so enjoyable when you're hanging out with your grandma...

we also went to see "mad, hot ballroom." if you haven't heard of this movie, look it up and go see it! it's a documentary about these 5th graders living in poorer parts of new york that learn to ball room dance and compete in it! soooooo excellent. i bet they play it at the ragtag. i would totally see it again- the kids are so inspirational, and adorable.

also this weekend i finished the harry potter book [NOTE-- SPOILERS TO FOLLOW] i just cannot even believe that dumbledore is dead-- it is just too unfortunate for words. and wow i am just so pumped for the last book, even though i know it will not come for years probably. i was also quite sad when harry broke up with ginny. i understand why he did it- and i'm hoping they'll get back together when harry vanquishing voldemort, which i'm pretty positive will happen. i mean, wouldn't it be a giant letdown if it didn't? i think so.

anyway... i can't even believe this is my last week at home! i'm almost done with "enough" and with my psych course, so that's good. i am SO ready for this year-- while it will be SO busy, it is going to be SO much fun. i am psyched to start my job and to see all my friendsssss!!!! kisses to you all...

Fort Worth & TCU

so at the beginning of the summer my friend sarah and i talked about going to fort worth together for a weekend so that she could show me where she goes to school and to meet some of her friends. this past weekend we went- the following is the very interesting, but very fun account of what we did:

thursday: sarah picked me up and we left. we left at about 4:45 and the drive was supposed to take about 4 hours. we stopped for dinner around 6:30 at dairy queen and then kept going. around 8:00 was when the trouble started... we were driving on the highway and it started to pour- i think it was the heaviest rain i've ever seen in my entire life. it was just blasting us to the point where sarah could not see at all in front of her and so we pulled over to the shoulder. now, normally in spring/houston it rains heavily for a short period of time, but this happened to be a unique experience. it was torrential downpour for about 45 minutes. it was scary! we were pulled over, but the wind was blasting her car- it even started to shake! it also started to hail-- quel terrifying. finally we were able to keep driving, and got to her friend boy adam's apartment a little after 10.

[so adam and sarah had agreed that they were "dating." he didn't want for them to be exclusive for some reason, even though at one point he told sarah he might love her. there is a really long story behind their whole history (he was her TA first semester, not a grad student though)- but anyway, the point being, is that he was going to let us stay in his living room for 3 nights.]

we get there, and adam isn't by himself. there is a girl named jackie over with him, and it was quite obvious that they were pretty drunk. sarah sort of knew this girl a little bit, but she didn't know that she was friends with adam. apparently she had been over since 4 in the afternoon...she was a complete ditz. she was one of those girls that says "OH MY GAW" when something surprises her. i caught this and told sarah about it later, and it kind of became a fun little joke. but anyway...

they were obnoxiosly drunk, and jackie kept throwing herself all over adam! sarah was getting upset... we didn't end up going out that night, but couldn't go to sleep until about 3 because people wouldn't leave the living room which was where we were sleeping. sarah was mad...

the next morning we woke up around 10:30 or so, got ready and left around noon. sarah talked to adam about the night before, and he apologized- so before we left he actually talked with us and i decided i liked him ok. i had heard a lot about him from sarah, and he was finally starting to live up to what she had told me. so we left and then drove to TCU's campus. we met up with sarah's friend kristi- who was really, really nice. the 3 of us went for lunch and tcu's bookstore, and then they took me on a tour of campus. it's small, but beautiful. different from mizzou, definitely, but super nice. after that sarah and i went to the zoo. we had a fun time there, but only stayed for about 2 hours since it was SO hot. after that we went back to adam's apartment and after a while went to dinner (mexican food-- very yummy. plus, sarah and i ate for free since kristi dared me $20 to eat an entire jalapeno pepper, which of course i did) and then we all went to the movies to see "wedding crashers." this movie is HILARIOUS! i was not expecting much, but it was sooooooooo funny. only problem was...jackie joined us all again. at this point sarah was getting pretty annoyed. he was completely ignoring her when jackie was around and it was just getting a little weird. so that night (actually, way early saturday morning) sarah talked with him, and he randomly told her that he has decided that he isn't up for dating anyone, since he's going to be a senior this year and then he'll go to med school the next year. so... it's pretty much over between them. UGH boys. sarah thinks they were maybe just a little too different, socially speaking.

she was surprisingly calm and rational, which i completely admire. saturday we woke up around 10:30 again and went to central market to grab some lunch. we took it to the botanical gardens and ate there, and then we went to these 2 awesome museums- the kimbell and the modern. they were both pretty amazing- i <3 modern art. after the museums we went back to adam's again, and sarah decided that it might be a good idea to go and stay with kristi our last night. so we did that-- after we took our stuff to kristi's, we went to pick up sarah's friends allison and robert and we all went to dinner and a drive in movie!!!!! omg- drive in movies are so awesome. we saw charlie and chocolate factory, and i'm sad to say that i was a little disappointed. the ending was so shmaltzy... i just didn't enjoy it. and hello- tim burton is supposed to make creepy movies, not corny ones. it was still amazing being at the drive in though, so i had a great time with them.

we left this morning around noon, and it's nice to be home again but the heavy reading/planning for the fig will comence tomorrow. i had a really good time, even though at times things were a little awkward, but i met some really nice people and i'm happy to see that sarah has such a great campus and great friends. it was also so nice to spend a bunch of time with sarah, since she's been so busy this summer.

wow this could be the longest blog ever! sorry if it's a little random- i've been watching degrassi while typing.

i'm leaving for fort worth (aka-- T.C.U.) in a few hours to spend the weekend there with sarah. we are staying at her friend boy's apartment. i'm sure interesting stories are to follow...

i'm back!

hello friends~ i have returned.

i actually got back yesterday- but i didn't really feel like posting last night. i hope that doesn't offend anyone...

the trip was amazing for the most part. is it strange that i love being on a cruise ship, but i hate being on a ship? ughhh... the last day we were at sea all day (no excursions that day) and i stayed in bed all day because it was so rocky that if i had gotten up i would have been sick.

now that i got the complaining out of my system~ alaska is gorgeous! and the weather- my goodness. it was definitely 40 degrees cooler there than here in houston. i had tons of fun with mi familia, and i even had a creepi experience with this creepi kid that hit on me! wow it was the weirdest thing ever. if anyone is interested, i'll tell you the story sometime...

it's a very luxurious experience, being on a cruise. we did this fun-ness thing called "freestyle dining" which basically means they have a few restaurants/buffets, and you can just walk in and eat whenever you want to, and then you walk out without paying! i mean, they add it on your bill (duh) but it's the funnest thing walking into a restaurant, ordering, eating and then just walking out. tivoli deck was my fav spot-- a beautiful pool and 4 hot tubs. it's a strange feeling being in an uncovered deck, sitting in a hot tub when it's about 50 degrees and sprinkling rain. i adored it.

i also got to gamble for the first time! slot machines, baby. didn't win much, but it was a fun time.

we took fun excursions- typical alaskan things: lumberjack show, glacier gardens- you know. the usual... lol. if you want details/pictures, i can tell you/show you sometime.

after the cruise was over we spent 2 days in seattle. i think i could see myself living there someday. it's seriously so much fun, and they have a beautiful downtown which is a new thing for me. also they have the pike place market which is so amazing, a crazy beautiful farmers market that started in 1907 and has become humongous. i also enjoyed the "experience music project"-- it's pretty much a music museum! so much fun-- and who would have known, it was built by paul allen. anyway, music fans would enjoy this place a great deal.

fabulous trip~ now it's time to work. today i read a huge big chapter of psychology and the first 30 pages of "enough," in addition to sending about a million emails trying to get things organized and together for my return to como. so psyched!