Back to the Bachelor

I joined the Bachelor fan group last night.  I usually start watching around this time in the season... before now I think it's too difficult to follow.  This is when it's easier to start picking favorites.
After last night, Courtney is definitely one of my least favorites... I hope the preview for next week means what I think it means... SEND HER HOME BEN! And the stuff she says... who does that? "Wonder if he's ever skinny dipped with a model before?" And I'm sure the 'connection' they have isn't based at all on the skinny dipping and her fakeness (HA HA).
I definitely understood why he sent Elyse home... does she not realize that she says 'like' at least twice a sentence?  That drove me insane. I would kill to have her abs though... (guess I'll just keep working out and praying.)
I couldn't believe he kept Emily... it sounded for sure like he was sending her home. Props to her for telling him how she feels about Courtney, but she should know that there's no way he'll believe her.  Guys just expect the best of girls for some reason... Beats me.
I'm personally hoping that he picks Courtney and then dumps now that they've started airing ... (:

 And just as a side note, I really don't think he's that hot.. They've had waaay hotter on past seasons...

 And also.. she's not that pretty either. Who cares if she's a model?

Sorry, I've found myself being more cynical about this than normal. But, all these girls 'love' him? You've known him for a few months, maybe, and for the most part, you've only bonded with him in the company of other girls. You don't love him.  And how can he pick one when he's making out with all of them and telling them all that he could spend the rest of his life with them? I mean really, no wonder almost all the couples from this show break up. (I was sad about Ali and Roberto, Roberto was much sexier than Ben.)

The Shining....

Last night I finished reading The Shining.  It was good amazing.  I was hooked from the first chapter; then, Saturday night I stayed up until 1:30 so I could figure out how it ended.  Didn't feel so great when I got up for church the next morning but it was well worth it. 

"One of the advantages of reading books is that you get to play with someone else's imaginary friends, at all hours of the night."  ~Dr. SunWolf

The book focuses on the Torrance family.  Jack, the father, loses his job after losing his temper.  His previous alcoholism complicates the matter.  Because the money situation becomes desperate, his friend Al sets him up with a job interview at the Overlook hotel.  He takes the job as winter caretaker.  Because the hotel is situated high in the Rockies, it's unreachable during winter.  Jack's job is to stay there all winter, heating and caring for the building and ensuring it isn't robbed.  His family understands the importance of the job but isn't thrilled.  His son, Danny, who has psychic visions, knows that the place is haunted.  However, Danny doesn't want to ruin the opportunity for his father.  Once they are locked in for the winter, they discover the hotel's bloody history and encounter angry spirits.  The terrors of the hotel continue to the very end of the book. 
Although I'd read some of Steven King's short stories, this was the first time that I'd read one of his novels.  He is a truly talented writer; the imagery was amazing.  The surprises of the story never stopped and I could easily picture everything he wrote.  His ideas were chilling.  During the especially scary parts I could feel my heart racing as I worried about the characters whom I had become so attached to.

"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it."  ~William Styron
 After contemplating all the scary movies I've watched, I've become almost positive that horror novels affect me much more than horror movies... I think I've found a new addiction.

"Never judge a book by its movie."  ~J.W. Eagan

"To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting."  ~Edmund Burke

"A house without books is like a room without windows."  ~Heinrich Mann

"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life."  ~W. Somerset Maugham

"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts."  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." ~Groucho Marx

Happy Monday (:

 (hahaha)

These are a few of my favorite things... (:

Since it's Saturday and I'm happy to be out of school, I decided I'd post about some other things that make me happy too (:

• Hoodies and long sleeve t-shirts
• Uggs
• Unseasonably warm weather
• Popcorn, pizza, cookies, CINNABONS, and all the other foods that are terrible for me.

 (Daddy brought some home for us.. (: )

• A really good book that hooks you from the first chapter:

  This is what I'm reading right now... (Review to come later)

• Smoothies, my new addiction of the moment (:
• E-mails from colleges complimenting my PSAT scores. They give me hope that I'll eventually figure out what I want to do with my life.
• When those old songs I love come on the iPod or the radio.
• Those times when you laugh so hard your stomach hurts.
• That exhausted but wonderful feeling after a really good workout (I took an extreme core class today)
• Exercising first thing in the morning... It sucks waking up but I feel really accomplished and confident for the rest of the day.
• Yoga

Photo Friday SHOES

I'm trying to keep up with photo friday (: I didn't really get around to taking any pictures, but I did get back on weheartit.com for the first time in a while and realized that most of my 'hearts' are of shoes.  I figured I'd post some of my faves. (:

I LOVE cowboy boots, (:

Heels are addicting... I love being taller than people (:

 

Just one pair of Louboutins, please, please, that's all I ask... Well, maybe more like 6... OPTIMISM (:

 Bows <3

For some reason, I'm really liking blue shoes..

Well, I know that was kind of a lot, but you try picking from an album of over 50 pairs of gorgeous shoes... (:

Life Lessons...

Welll, I'm sitting here and my eyes won't stay open; it's awesome. But it was worth it to catch up on my Glee and Pretty Little Liars. Pretty Little Liars was amazing, as always. It was one of the best episodes of Glee in a while, too. I feel like the only thing on my mind and anyone else's anymore is the future. What with junior year registrations and emails from colleges and discussions with the parents,  I feel like it's all I ever think about; it's kind of depressing. All the future thoughts got me thinking about life lessons. There are some I've learned and some that I probably still need to learn. I decided to post about them so hopefully my followers can learn from them, too.
Lessons I've learned:

• Don't change for anyone. If a friend or boyfriend encourages you to do things that don't feel right or don't feel like you, don't do it. Stay who you are; if a person makes you change, they aren't worth it. I changed, and afterwards, when I realized it, I regretted that I'd let myself be changed instead of following my instincts.
• Listen to your friends and family. If the majority of your friends disagree with what you're doing, listen to them. I learned this the hard way. In the end, I realized that my friends were right. So, learn from my mistakes and listen to your friends.
• Know who your true friends are... There are the few friends who will always be there for you, no matter what. Cherish them, and again.. listen to them.

Lessons I need to learn:

• I'm not always right.  I tend to get offended when people correct me. I know that I"m right. And I usually am, but I know that won't always be true..
• Work for what you want. I normally don't have to work very hard to be good at school; I'm trying not to get used to it because I know that that won't always be the case in life.
• Trust completely in God. I usually try and do things on my own without asking for help. I need to remember more often that God and friends and family are there for me.
• Don't be afraid to express emotion. I like to hide my feelings; I'm not big on relying on other people when I'm hurt. It's probably not good to keep it all inside. I need to work on showing it when I'm upset. And also showing pity when other people are upset... I cry more in dog movies than anything else and I think that might be a bad sign... ha

 This one really got to me...
 This one too... such an amazing movie
But, other than those, I really just don't cry, and especially not in front of people.
 I'm hoping this one turns out to be a really good one, if it is, I'm pretty sure I'll tear up a bit...
I also cry more from books than movies... is that sad?
Get's me every single time. (Literally 20 times)
 Love this series
 Really depressing ending to a good series
 Best series ever; the best part of my childhood
 Again, another dog movie...

Midweek Confessions

Time to link up to E, Myself, and I for Midweek Confessions (:

• I'm going to be so screwed if I ever have to take a class that's actually hard. I literally never pay attention in chemistry, except during tests. But yet I have an A? At least I do my homework...
• I eat out waaaaay to much, but my family can't help it. We all love food too much. And I'm always hungry, why is that?
• I actually enjoy watching Jeopardy.. that probably definitely makes me a nerd. I just love that feeling of answering a question right; it makes me feel so smart. (:
• I've already had Taco Bell twice this week; it's wednesday...
• Although I'm not exactly scared of the dark, I am scared when that dark happens to be outside, especially last night. My mom thought she saw a bobcat or some "large cat" running across the road pretty close to our house. Needless to say, I couldn't get inside soon enough, and I really didn't want her to let the dog out. Maybe I overreacted, but I don't think so...
• This morning was my third day using the alarm on my new phone; I just now figured out how to use the snooze. In a way, I am proud of this...mostly because there were two whole days when I got out of bed on time. This is an accomplishment for me.
• It took everything I had to not wear a sweatshirt today. I can't help it; they're just so comfy.
• I have waay too many #hashtagmoments (moments when your mind uses hashtags for statements, posts, texts, etc. somewhere other than twitter).
• I'm pretty sure my mind is incapable of keeping up with more than one social networking site at a time... Once I developed a love for twitter, I all but gave up on Facebook; now that I'm blogging, I rarely tweet or use facebook.

Some Goals...

If you're wondering why I didn't do this more towards the beginning of January, I guess it'd be because I'm a procrastinator. I'm excellent at saying "Oh, I'll do that when... well, maybe after that..." So I've pretty much talked myself into waiting until basketball season ends to follow through on these goals. (And while I'm on that topic, I'm going to say that the ending of the season is bittersweet. I love basketball and I'm just recently starting to enjoy it even more. I don't want it to end but I also miss having a life and time to sleep/do homework/see friends. I'm just going to throw myself into it until then.) But, back to the goals... Once I have time again, these are a few things I hope to accomplish:

• On Sunday, I was at the gym, taking yoga and running a bit with a friend when we got on the topic of running. Both of us agreed that we hate running since it's boring, but we also agreed that it would be good for us. I saw a blog post about the app 'Couch25K' on First Time Wife... And so, Nicole and I decided to train for a 5k together once our winter sports end... Hopefully, doing this with each other will give us some motivation and accountability (I could not think of that word to save my life and just had to google "word for someone to answer to"...). Hopefully the blog is going to give me some accountability, too. If it hits March and I haven't mentioned it again, I'm counting on my followers to remind me :p
• And, since we're going to be running, I hope we can keep up with yoga too... I feel like I'm losing all my flexibility with basketball and I don't like it...

  This is going to be me, hopefully on the beach (:

• And again, on the topic of exercise, I'm going to try and get back to cycling class, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE as much as someone can love exercise, when I'm not running or doing yoga... I know, this sounds really optimistic, but I think I can do it. I'm always in fantastic shape during basketball season, but by summer it turns into just okay shape. This year, I'm hoping that I'll still be in basketball season shape during summer so that I'll look amazing in that bikini (:
• I just signed up for my junior year classes, and it's stressing me out a bit. Junior year means I'm one year closer to college; it means I'm going to be devoting a year to SAT's and hopefully early decision college apps... unfortunately, I really have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do with my life. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm smart and I'll have no problem getting into college, but that's not the problem. The problem is deciding what to do in college. Nothing really jumps out at me, and the money thing is stressful too. I'm hoping that this year I can finally decide what I want to do with my life.

 Columbia University; as of now it's my top college choice. I mean, why wouldn't it be? It's gorgeous and on Manhattan Island... Unfortunately, it's Ivy, and expensive. I know my parents will help out, but is it really worth it if I just want a Bachelor's degree in engineering? I'm trying to tell myself I should wait for grad school. But then, I have to decide where to  get my bachelor's and what to get it in. Oh, and I have to decide what to get a master's in... decisions decisions. I hate them...

• I'm taking my first AP class this year; World History. Can't say it's too fun or interesting, but I think I'll be continuing with AP's.... the AP test is in a few months now and I'm starting to get stressed. I'm afraid that I don't remember anything from the first half of the year; so, I'm going to try and start studying next week. Yay, yay, yay, exciting right? HA.
• Back to the college thing, I'm kind of worried about the SAT's. I know it's not until the end of next year, but I feel like my entire life depends on it. I know I shouldn't be worried since I did really well on the PSAT's but I can't help it. I'm really tempted to start studying, is it too early?

Mad Mondays

After doing my Angry Angry Angry post, I realized it was kind of refreshing, almost like therapy. I decided it would be fun to try it once a week (: So here goess... things that have made me angry this week:

• For some reason this morning, traffic was ridiculously backed up. I got up early so I could get Starbucks; too bad no one else did. We left five minutes later than planned, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but there was the traffic. It took probably twenty minutes longer than normal to get to school. And of course I realized I didn't eat breakfast and so I settled for Bojanges instead of Starbucks.
• And this brings me to the topic of drinks and drive-throughs. Why why why why do they put so much ice and so little tea in the cup? I'd really like more than three sips of tea to brighten my morning, but no.. that's too much to ask it seems.
• US Cellular refuses to carry the iPhone and my mom refuses to switch to Verizon... hello people, I'm reading Antigone, you all should know that this stubborness will be your downfall.
• My neck still hurts, a lot. It's weird. I iced it last night for probably an hour, then I put the heating pad on it. The neck is a terrible place to be sore because whatever temperature you put on your neck spreads to the rest of the body. And, if you're trying to do history homework while lying on a heating pad, it will make you really sleepy...
• My hiccups keep coming back randomly.
• I'm at school; I hate school. It just seems so pointless; I mean, am I really going to fail in life because I can't tell you the difference between the Mughal, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires? No. But yet, we still have to learn it. Can someone explain this to me?
• I hate when people post those stupid pictures of animals or kids that have been beaten. Someone posted a picture of a dog that had firecrackers explode in its mouth. I DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT PEOPLE. It's stupid; sure you can tell the story, with words, not pictures. Some of us have hearts that break everytime we see pictures like that. So, just as a warning, if you post pictures like that, I will unfriend you.
• I hate when the internet takes forever to load ... and I hate those random pains I'm always getting everywhere ...

And I think that's it for today... that definitely was refreshing. I'm going to try and do that every week. If you like the idea, post a link in the comments and if everyone likes it I might try and do the linky thing (if I can figure it out...) (:

Random

Well, I know I said I'd try to be less random, but I'm not feeling it today. Instead, I'm going to warn you ahead of time and be completely random... There's just so much to say and nothing to connect it all.

• I had terrible hiccups the other night; I ate a spoonful of peanut butter and they went away. For some reason, this always works. Weird, right?
• While we're talking about peanut butter, I guess I should mention that I can eat peanut butter with absolutely everything... I've had it on a cheeseburger once.
• Although I usually try to avoid fast food whenever possible, there are a few foods that I actually crave from fast food restaurants.
• McDonald's french fries and sweet tea; but who doesn't?
• Taco Bell chicken quesadilla. Those things are amazing; I ate one tonight. This summer at basketball camp, there was a Taco Bell on campus and I'm pretty sure I had a chicken quesadilla every night that week.
• Chick Fil A chicken biscuit... I've been craving this for like two weeks and have yet to get it.
• Bojangles' Bo rounds are pure heaven. Friday morning I literally begged my mom to take me because I wanted them so bad; she finally gave in.  She called them my "reward" for straight A's and told me I would have to pay her back if I didn't actually get straight A's. (luckily I did, because I'm broke.)
• My fingers get so swollen when I sleep; I feel like I shouldn't sleep in rings because I'm afraid I'll end up cutting off my circulation...
• This is feeling like Midweek confessions... but I swear it's not.
• I got a new phone yesterday and I'm sooo excited (: it's not an iPhone, but it's growing on me. I picked the best android the store had; and I've heard some of the new androids are supposed to be even bettter than the iPhone. (Or at least that's what I keep telling myself to lessen the dissapointment; thanks again Mom for refusing to switch to Verizon.)
• I'm freezing right now; probably because I'm icing my neck... It randomly started feeling sore last night and it didn't go away, in fact, I think it's gotten worse.
• I'm almost positive I'm using this blog post as an excuse to not do my history homework. I know it's a bad habit, but I'm just really not feeling "Chapter 22: Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change." Sounds fascinating right? NO, it sounds dry, boring, rambling, and hard to read/memorize because of all the freaking Asian names. I.e. Zhu Yuangzhang, Hongwu, Yunglo, Chongzhen, Nobunaga, Tokugaya Ieyasu. I mean really, how are we supposed to memorize those?

Oh, and check back in tomorrow for my new idea: Mad Mondays. I'm pretty excited for it. (:

Funny Photo Friday

Well, I saw the idea for "Photo Friday" on A Day in the Life and after looking through some pics on my phone, I decided I'd give it a try. I noticed that I had several funny pictures from over the years that I'd forgotten about and never shown to anyone. I figured now's my chance (:

Not the best quality, but I figured they were pretty funny...

I love my little brother (:

 This picture ruined my childhood just a bit...

Who says you can't have fun at Sam's club?

Denim Younglife! Mom Jeans are sexy right?

My Baby

I've been told that my blog is random... I guess I'd agree.  My main problem with writing has always been 'staying on topic.' But today, I'm going to try my hardest to stay on the same topic:  My dog, Levi.  It's probably unnatural how much my family and I love this dog. I definitely cried harder when Levi get really sick than I did when I broke up with my boyfriend of over a year (although that was actually a good thing so I'm not sure that counts...). But, our love of Levi is definitely understandable.  I mean, he and I grew up together for one thing. For another thing, he is the sweetest, most loving, cutest dog I have ever seen. I'm a dog person, and I've never met a dog I didn't like, but I've never met a dog that was anywhere near as cute or sweet as mine.

I mean look at that...

Although he is adorable and sweet, he is far from brilliant. Have you ever seen a dog who chased the butterfly's shadow instead of the actual butterfly? But even his cluelessness makes us love him even more...

He is definitely the most spoiled dog on the planet. If he comes inside and doens't get a treat immediately, he barks. If someone walks in the house and doesn't immediately say hi and pet him, he barks. He is a forty pound lap dog; if he's not in someone's lap, he gets first choice of the chairs.

(sorry about the bad quality)

This was at the beach; yes we brought him...

This dog is like my best friend. It's amazing to have someone who's always happy when you're in a bad mood. If I'm sad, all I have to do is look at him wagging his tail (constantly) and it makes me a bit happier. If I give him a hug and talk to him like he can hear me, everything's better. The best part is that no matter what I tell him, he won't judge. And, even when I'm not sad, I still like to talk to him. A few of his pet names: cutie, sweetie, baby, hon, showdog, puppy. These are all used when telling him how cute he is, telling him that he's the best dog ever, telling him I love him, etc. (On a side note:  if in doubt of how to talk to animals, see Jenna Marbles' "How to Talk to Animals" on Youtube).

Yeah, I LOVE my dog. (:

Midweek Confessions

Yay, favorite day of the week (: Let's get started, shall we?

• I rented the entire first season of Gossip Girl from the library.. I'm loving it. But, I'm not sure how I convinced myself I could watch 18 episodes in 4 days... Needless to say I've been donating all my free time to laying in bed and watching Gossip Girl, unfortunately, I've only watched 6 so far and they're due today :(

         
Can't decide which one I like more. Although I have always loved Penn Badgely... Marry me Please <3

• I got lazy with my Words With Friends and spent almost half an hour last night catching up instead of sleeping.
• I've been craving a chicken biscuit ever since I didn't get one this saturday...
• Although I'm complaining about my schedule next year, I'm secretly kind of excited to torture myself with 4 AP classes.. Yes, I know I'm crazy.
• I still have yet to wake up at 6:30 like my goal... instead, I woke up at 7 yesterday.
• I'm way too focused on college to be a sophomore. I'm just ready to get out of here. Columbia here I come (hopefully).

Angry Angry Angry

It's definitely been a few days since I've blogged... sorry followers, I just didn't have time during my jam-packed weekend. Too bad I didn't cross anything off my list; I guess I made my own. My modified list of things I did this weekend:

• Got a haircut and ate at Moe's. yumm (:

• Saw Beauty and the Beast 3D with my best friendss (: yes I am 16 and probably too old for that movie, but who cares. It was amazing and almost made me cry, no joke. Those moments when you realize childhood is over just kinda suck sometimes. And then there's the moment when one of your best childhood friends drives you home from the movie. It's weird, I really can't get used to all of this.

• Rewatched Silence of the Lambs. I think it was creepier the second time.

• Went bowling.  Apparently I'm not very good at it. But I was sore..
• Went to Cracker Barrel... my brother's obsessed.

And now that that's out of the way, I'd like to discuss some things that make me extremely angry about the world. This weekend, I had a terrible experience with the world's shortcomings. And so, here's a list of problems with the world/ pet peeves:

• This story begins a few weeks ago when I had a huge craving for McDonald's french fries. Since it's all the way on the other side of town, I settled for Burger King. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. If Burger King is reading this right now, just know: your new fries SUCK. I absolutely hate how fast food restaurants are making their fries healthier just because certain people can't control themselves and end up with high cholestorol, diabetes, obesity, etc. If healthy people want the occasional good, unhealthy french fry, they should be able to get it! NO ONE LIKES HEALTHY FRENCH FRIES!
• Then, this weekend, another fast food disappointment. After practice, I decided I really wanted a chicken biscuit from Chick Fil A... instead, Mom suggested Hardees since she didn't want to walk upstairs in the mall. Being the accomodating wonderful daughter that I am, I agreed to this. We get in the car and it hits me. It's 11:30. No breakfast :( and who wants Hardees' normal food? yeah, not me. As I just mentioned, I'm not a fan of the thicker, maybe healthier fries. Anyways, can I just say. If I want breakfast at 11:30 on a Saturday, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET IT somewhere other than Bojangles.
• Still, the fast food restaurants weren't done tearing apart my happiness. Sunday night, my friends and I wanted a milk shake. We decided to go to McDonalds. Guess who wasn't serving milkshakes because they were cleaning the machine? Yep, McDonalds. I mean seriously? But at least I finally got my fries...
• I hate when people make stupid grammar errors on facebook. I mean do these people sit in English class, put their fingers in their ears and scream to avoid learning these simple rules? A typical status: "Im glad that your going their and excepting the news about life bcuz its 2 sad that there dog gone home." Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's more of a combination of all of the mistakes I've seen. No joke.
• Mirror pics and "opinions"? pics on facebook. You look just like you do in all your other pictures; we all know you just want guys to tell you that you have nice boobs.
• It makes me insanely angry when people stop or walk slowly in the hallway. Especially when it's to hug a friend that the person hasn't seen since YESTERDAY. I mean, it's been so long since you two have seen each other. NOT. It's really not worth stopping all the hallway traffic so you can hug.
• And on the subject of traffic, WHY DON'T PEOPLE GO AT LEAST THE SPEED LIMIT? Going 5 mph underneath is stupid and ruins the fun for the rest of us.
• I hate when you have all these fantastic pet peeves to put on your blog and then you forget them...

Waiting for today to end...

I've just taken two exams, my day is done, at least in my mind. I spent last period taking a 70 question math test, shaking the entire time. Wish I could explain that one? It's not like I was actually nervous; maybe it was the coffee this morning. But I doubt that, too. My unnatural caffeine tolerance makes that pretty unlikely. I guess it could be the lack of sleep. I mean, obviously I had to stay up and watch more of the Only Way is Essex. And once, just once, I wish I could make myself go to bed without catching up on 6-10 games of Words with Friends... oh well. At least I restrained myself from checking twitter, which is rare. All I can say, is thank God for four day weekends. Even if they'll be spent waking up early for basketball; it's still better than school.
A few things I hope to do over the weekend:

• Watch Devil Inside with the girlss... Let's hope it doens't suck as much as the ratings say...

• Go for a long overdue sushi lunch; tempura calling my namee <3

• Go get the best donuts in the world with Daddy

• Take a trip to Richmond and go shopping (too bad this one's unlikely)