Happy New Year!

I am getting married THIS YEAR! Yay!

I think the Christmas season should last until New Year's Day. It seems so sad to have all the build-up just for one day. I'm doing my part to fight this by continuing to wear Christmas socks and not taking down my Christmas decorations. (Okay, really, I can't take them down because I'm not in Abilene right now. But even if I were in Abilene, I wouldn't take them down). So for me, today is the last day of Christmas, which is sad. But I'm happy because I let it slowly die out rather than having it all be over on the 26th.

Last night, Darby and I went over to Jessica's house with some other people from church. We learned how to play 42, which is really fun. If anyone knows how to play, please play with me and Darby sometime in Abilene!

The Perks

Here's what I have gotten for free since I started working for Campus Life:

- a coffee thermos filled with purple and white M&Ms
- an ACU coffee mug
- an ACU candy jar filled with peppermints
- an ACU decal
- an ACU sticky pad
- two free movie tickets
- tons of desserts at the Christmas party

I love this job :)

I went to see The Holiday with some friends last night. It was soo cute! The perfect chick flick - two gorgeous leading ladies, adorable little girls, and a cute old man. The leading men I don't care about so much. Surprisingly, I found Jack Black believable as a love interest. He was so sweet and funny without being too over-the-top. I actually like him better than Jude Law. Jude looks like an elf: those pointy ears, effeminate features, and diminuitive stature are just too much. Elf-boy excepted, it was a great movie. And even I'll admit Jude's character was pretty endearing.

I'm finished!

No more homework! (At least for a year and a half). Graduation was on Friday. A bunch of my family came out. We had a yummy dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse, and afterwards everyone came over to my house for dessert. It was so fun. Here are some pictures:


Darby and me at Spaghetti Warehouse before the ceremony.


Mom, Dad, and Me. Dad hooded me, which was really fun.


Me - happy to be a graduate! (That folder doesn't really have my diploma in it, though)


Hannah, Matt, and Me at the Graduation party Darby's mom threw for me.

A Long, Somewhat Sappy Reflection

Okay, in my last post, I said I wasn't sad about graduating at all. I think I am now. Thursday night, I was driving by Morris Hall (where Brittany, Kalyn, and I lived sophomore year), and I started crying. It really surprised me because I hadn't been feeling sad at all. I just thought about how much fun we had there and how it really seems like that was just yesterday. I can't believe it was two years ago. College went by so fast! I know I still have a lot to look forward to in life, but I get sad thinking about how quickly it all goes by. Each year in college has been so different, but there have been great things about each year.

Freshman year was probably the most purely fun year. Classes were easy, and it was incredible living in Gardner and getting to know Brittany, Kalyn, Em, Carolyn, John, and Will. We were a really weird group, but I loved it: learning how to two-step, throwing Valentine's Day parties, playing Taboo, midnight Starbucks runs, and eating, eating, eating. I had been so sad when I left all my girlfriends from church in Waco. I didn't think I would ever find a group of friends like that again. But God blessed me with great friends in Abilene. We could talk about anything (and did!)

Sophomore year Kalyn, Britt, and I lived together in Morris. It was, at times, stressful. Good friends do not always make the best roommates, and I was as much to blame as anyone. But there were a lot of good times, too. Dancing around in Kalyn's old hats, my sleeptalking, practically knocking Em over when she got off the plane from Oxford. And, of course, Darby had come to ACU, and we were awkwardly navigating the rebuilding of our relationship. We both finally realized what our relationship could be, and it was wonderful and exciting and scary all at once.

Junior year Brittany I moved into a little house together. Although our first night was horrible (no air conditioning, an extremely dirty house, and slashed tires), we turned that tiny house into an amazing home. We came to embrace its quirks. Who else has an upside-down house with three front doors? And of course, junior year was the beginning of Fat Tuesdays, which has been the highlight of my week for the past year and a half. I discovered my love for cooking and entertaining and even cleaning, but don't worry, I'm still a feminist. I cook because I want to! : ) Our plan sophomore year had been for me, Kalyn, Brittany, and Em to all live in a house together. That didn't work out, and I'm so glad it didn't. It probably would have killed our friendship. We don't see each other as much, but the time we do spend together is relaxed, not strained.

This year (well, just one semester, actually) has been a transition period. I only took 11 hours, so I spent more time working. All of my friends stayed here for the summer, so I've really started to see Abilene as my home (which is good since I'll be here another year and a half). Darby and I have really gotten plugged in with the college group at Westgate. I actually feel like the people there are my friends, not just people I see at church. I'm glad that, because I am graduating in December, I can sort of ease out of the college experience. All my friends will still be around at least another semester. I get to enjoy five more months of living with Brittany and hanging out with the Fat Tuesday girls! Plus, I'll still go to campus every day for work.

Freshman year, I thought, "This is as good as it gets." And I think that probably was the most fun year of my life. But I wouldn't say it was the best. Since then, I have been challenged intellectually, relationally, and spiritually. There have been tough times, but I don't think I'd change any of them. (Well, except maybe the journalism classes).

I am overwhelmed by what God has blessed me with in college. I really do feel like I grew up in my three and a half years here. When I look back on freshman and sophomore year, I can't believe some of the things I said and did. Fortunately, God blessed me with understanding, forgiving friends. I know I still have more maturing to do, but I feel more confident and secure about who I am than ever. I learned a lot about language and literature in college, but I think the relationships I developed at ACU taught me much more important lessons.

Procrastinating

Today I will have my first last class. At 4:20, I will be done with American Lit! (Well, I still have the final, but you know...) Right now, I am supposed to be finishing my paper for that class, but how can I when Blogger is calling my name? How did people procrastinate before the Internet? Seriously, I don't think I would waste so much time if I didn't have the Internet. But when you're at the computer, and you have your paper pulled up on Word, suddenly you just think of all the people's blogs you should read and all the e-mails you should send. I guess I would probably still find other stuff to do, like reading or cleaning. But it is a lot easier when you don't even have to move to procrastinate. You just have to click.

I'm graduating in 9 days! Woo-hoo! After I finish this paper, I just have one more paper and two finals. Then, my undergraduate career will be done. I'm sure I'll be a little bit sad about it later, but right now I'm just ready to be done.

Snow Day!

School was cancelled today! We heard that it was supposed to snow last night. I was doubtful, though, since there have been so many fake-outs before. When I woke up this morning, I didn't want to look outside because I was afraid it wouldn't have snowed at all, and my hopes would be dashed. But when I looked out the window, the ground was covered with snow, and it was still coming down!!! At first only 8:00 classes were canceled. I don't have an 8:00, so I wasn't that excited. Pretty soon we heard that AISD had closed, so we figured ACU would close, but they never did. So at 9:20, we headed to school. When we got there, no one was there. Evidently, they had sent out an e-mail at 9:30, saying school was canceled. I was mad that they waited so long. But at least we got to go home! Here's some pictures:


Don't worry. This isn't mine and Brittany's slide. It belongs to our landlords.


Me and Brittany enjoying the snow!

I bought a Christmas tree for Brittany and me. We put it up on Sunday. Here it is:



Our house looks so festive now! I took a picture of the front of our house today with all the snow on the roof. I decided not to post it, though. I didn't want random people who might stumble on this blog to know where I live. So, take my word for it, our house looked very Christmasy with snow on the roof.

I got a job!!! I will be the Administrative Coordinator for Campus Life at ACU. Woo-hoo! I am so happy that I can relax over the break knowing that I have a job. A lot of people were praying about this for me, and I appreciate that so much. I think it will be a very fun office environment, and I still get to be on campus every day! I am so excited to start!

The end is in sight!

This weekend was awesome! I did absolutely no homework. I did take the GRE on Saturday, but after that, I did not use my brain at all. On Saturday afternoon, Brittany, Darby, and I spent 4 hours watching the ACU football game on T.V. We lost in overtime : ( But it was still fun making fun of the low-budget camerawork and commentary.

Saturday night, Darby and I went on a "real" date for the first time in I don't know how long. Our definition of a real date is just the two of us going out somewhere and not working on homework. We saw The Prestige, which was really good. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks and sat and talked. Usually, we go to Starbucks to study, so it was wonderful to just get to talk to each other. I am so blessed to have him in my life, and it's wonderful to be reminded of that in little ways every day.

On Sunday, I took a three-hour nap. I probably could have slept several more hours, but I made myself get up. It felt so good. This weekend was a little taste of my post-college life, and I'm liking it a lot!

I Love Books!

I found this little blog activity on my friend Kalyn's wedding photographer's blog. Random, huh? But I love thinking about books almost as much as I love reading them, so it looked like fun.

A book that didn't change my life: Moby Dick; I know it's supposed to be some masterpiece of American literature, but I just couldn't get into it. All the technical descriptions of ships and whaling...aahhh! I guess if I liked blood and guts parts of it would have been cool. I think a whale spontaneously combusted or something...obviously I wasn't paying that much attention.

A book I’ve read more than once: I try not to re-read books because I can't feel okay about reading a book again while I still own books I haven't read once. But occasionally for school I re-read. I read The Scarlet Letter twice. I read it for the first time in high school. I definitely got more out of it in college. I really want to re-read Possession by A.S. Byatt. I hated it the first time, but everyone says it's wonderful. I think I just wasn't in the right frame of mind.

A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island: Hmmm...this is a difficult one. I'd probably take the dictionary or an encyclopedia. (Can you take more than one volume?) At least, those would keep me busy for a while.

A book that made me laugh: A Series of Unfortunate Events; they're kids' books, but they are so clever. I read a few of them over Christmas break freshman year, and I kept reading the funny parts out loud to my mom. She wasn't as amused as I was.

A book that made me cry: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This is one of my favorite books ever. It has a weird premise, but if you get past the first few chapters, it is an amazing love story. And it avoids being cheesy by its sheer weirdness. The male protagonist has a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel spontaneously, so he's always a different age when he sees the woman he knows he will eventually marry. I can't really even explain it, but it's awesome. Plus, he's a librarian, which means that he's nerdy hot :) I cried several times throughout the book. It talks very candidly about the experience of a miscarriage, which was difficult. But I also cried happy tears because of the strength of the characters' love for each other, in spite of the strange circumstances. I feel like it's kind of an intellectual response to Nicholas Sparks. It still makes you feel mushy inside, but you don't feel dumber after reading it.

A book that I wish I had written: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Although the story itself is wonderful, it is really her language I wish I could imitate. She writes from a child's perspective, without making the book childish. She also feeds you just enough hints about what is going to happen to make you keep reading. I finished the second half of the book in one sitting because I just could not stop. I knew I was being propelled towards catastrophe, but I couldn't slow myself down. When I finished, I felt like I had to lie down for a while and process everything. But I recovered quickly. It wasn't one of those books that makes you feel horrible for days; I don't like those that much.

A book that I wish had never been written: This is tough. I've never really read a book I didn't like or couldn't at least somehow appreciate the value of. Probably I wish Ann Coulter's books had never been written. I've never read them, but on talk shows she makes me so angry. She is so judgmental and divisive. I'm sure there are others like her, but she's the first one who pops into my mind.

A book I’ve been meaning to read: Oh, gosh. I could go on forever. Here's the ones that are on my shelf in Abilene that I haven't read yet: Memoirs of a Geisha, Daughter of Fortune, Everything is Illuminated, Gilead. There are about 5o more in Waco that I own but haven't read yet. I make myself limit my Amazon wish list to 20 at any one time. Otherwise it's too depressing. Hopefully, I'll knock a few out over Thanksgiving and Christmas. And now that I'm about to be a college graduate, I imagine I'll have a lot more pleasure reading time.

I’m currently reading: The Kite Runner, barely. I'm on page 5.

Lauren Winner...

is coming to ACU tomorrow! Woo-hoo! I have loved her ever since I read Girl Meets God freshman year. I threw out the idea of having her come speak to the W-Club last year, and it actually all came together! If you have not read her books, Girl Meets God and Real Sex, you should. Especially Real Sex. It sounds like some kind of sex manual, but it's really about chastity, and it's one of the most honest Christian perspectives on sex and chastity I've ever read. She addresses the lies that both our culture and the church tell us about sex, and urges Christians to view sex in a new way. It's a rare book about relationships that's actually helpful to married, single, and dating people of either gender. I would try to explain it more, but I probably wouldn't be able to do it justice. Just read it. And then come to the Chapel forum tomorrow in Moody at 7. I think it'll be really good.

Here's a belated Halloween picture. Darby and I dressed up as the King and Queen of Hearts for Westgate's Trunk or Treat on Sunday. I made the costumes for us last year; they took a lot of time, so we had to get some more use out of them. Aren't we cute?

Happy Halloween!

I really like Halloween! The candy corn, the happy ghosts, the pumpkins. I do miss trick-or-treating, though. It's just not as fun to go to the store, buy the candy yourself, then eat it. "Oh, wow! Another box of DOTS! I'm so surprised!"

I got into the spirit today by wearing my orange sweater and Halloween socks today. I really should be an elementary school teacher. I'd be the one who wore all the crazy vests that the kids make fun of.

I just saw a guy getting arrested! For real! It was at Abilene Muffler Shop on North 1st. (I was driving by). I saw the cop put the handcuffs on him, spread his legs apart and pat him down, and put him in the cop car. It was awesome! I've only seen that on T.V. I wonder what he was getting arrested for?

The Real World

Well, I had my first "real" job interview, and my first "real" rejection : ( I interviewed to be an administrative assitant at ACU. I would have been working for the guy in charge of the Campus Store, University Purchasing, and Dining Services. My interview went really well, but they needed someone who could start right away. It was pretty disappointing. I had tried not to get my hopes up, but it's really hard not to start thinking about what it would be like if you got the job. But at least I got some real interview experience. My interviewer told me I did really well and that I definitely would have moved to the next stage had I been able to start right away, so that made me feel good.

I just saw that the Abilene Reporter-News is hiring a full-time copy editor. I e-mailed my resume to the managing editor, so hopefully I'll hear from him soon. I think I would really enjoy doing that. Plus, it's actually relevant to the field I want to eventually go into (publishing).

Anyway, it's pretty exciting thinking about having a real job and NO HOMEWORK! Plus, I got to buy a business suit for my interview. I look so professional : )

Wedding Cakes

Darby and I picked out our wedding cakes this weekend! Mine is a combination of these two:






It's going to be a hexagonal cake, like the top one, with four layers. The first and third layer are going to have little icing pearls, like the top cake. The second and fourth layer are going to have icing bows, like the second cake. The pearls and bows are all going to be aqua, the color of my bridesmaid dresses.

Darby's cake looks somewhat like this, except it's also going to be hexagonal, and it's going to have a few tuxedo strawberries on the top:

Picking out cakes has probably been the most fun part of our wedding planning so far. There are so many choices. Plus, it's something that Darby can be involved in also. And we got free cupcakes, which is always a good thing : )

Busy Weekend!

My parents and brother came up for Homecoming this weekend. It was so fun! I haven't stayed in Abilene for the whole weekend for about a month. Friday afternoon I cleaned house and made little pretzel/Hershey Hugs/M&M's dessert things. Then Darby and I ate at Rosa's and went to the art show and JamFest. My parents got in around 9:00. My aunt, uncle, and cousins from Seattle were also in town for Homecoming, so they came over to my house and we talked for a while. Then, Brittany's mom took me, Britt, and Carolyn to 3rd Rock. Yum! On Saturday, Brittany and I got up early and went to the W-Club breakfast. Then I met my whole family at the parade. We watched Hannah and the rest of the Squigs, who were really cute. We went to the game that afternoon (ACU won!), and afterwards ate dinner at Cracker Barrel. They left right after dinner. It was kind of a crazy weekend, but it was so nice to spend time with my family, especially my cousins.

Last night, I applied for 3 full-time jobs at ACU. Aaaaaaahhh! It's so weird to actually be applying for real jobs. I don't know if I'll hear anything about them. I think I have a pretty strong application, though. I have had jobs at 3 different departments at ACU, and I have 3 ACU references. None of them pays very much, but I don't really have any hope of finding a well-paying job in Abilene (or ever, for that matter; English majors just don't make that much). I hope I at least get an interview, so I can get some practice.

Tonight, my friend Em is getting married. (On a Monday...weird, huh?) I'm the "wedding-day coordinator." I have to make sure everyone is in the right spot at the right time and that all the food gets served at the reception. I get to boss people around...yay! Last night was the rehearsal dinner at Cypress Street Station. I had risotto for the first time. It's some kind of deep-fried rice mixture. It tasted like a hush puppy to me. Yummy! And tonight, we get to eat Kalyn's dad's barbeque at the reception! Brittany and I have to defend our titles we won at Kalyn's rehearsal dinner as the only girls to go back for seconds. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it : )

Yay, Westgate!

I love my church! Especially the college group. This weekend, a bunch of us got together at Korbin's house. He grilled steaks for us, which were excellent, and the rest of us helped make the rest of the dinner. It was delicious. We had so much fun just sitting around talking (and watching Vince almost molest Eric, but that's another story). The boys watched sports on TV, while the girls went outside to "play Frisbee." We threw it around for a little while, but then we ended up just talking. It was some pretty meaningful girl talk, though. God really encouraged me through those girls. On Sunday, the college group was invited over to a couple's house for lunch. More free food! Woo-hoo! Then a bunch of us girls went to the bridal show. I was the only engaged one of the group; 2 were already married, and 2 others are soon to be engaged. The ones who weren't officially engaged were embarrassed, but I don't think it's ever too early to start getting ideas. (I've had my wedding planned for at least five years : ) They didn't have cake-testing at the show, which was disappointing, but it was still pretty fun looking at all the pictures of weddings. It's only been recently that we've really started doing things as a college group outside of church. I love it. And it's nice to know that after all my other friends leave in May I'll still have some good relationships in Abilene.

Celebrity Look-Alikes?

According to myheritage.com, these are my celebrity look-alikes. In the words of Carolyn, "I am soooo pretty!" : )



I do think it's a little scary that my best match is a member of the Spears family. That means one day I could end up looking like this:




But, hey, Petra Nemcova is a supermodel, so I think I'm all right.

Well, I have three papers due in the next nine days. So, what should I do? Actually work on them? Nah. Waste time on the Internet!

Here are my top 5 favorite things about the fall:

1. Candy corn! I love this stuff (especially the big pumpkins), and since I only eat it one month out of the year, it always feels like such a treat.
2. Sweatshirts. I have only worn one once this season, but I think the fact that I've needed to wear a sweatshirt one time before Halloween is pretty good for Texas.
3. ACU football (this year, at least.) We are 4-0 for the first time in like 20 years or something. It's so weird to actually see school spirit at ACU. (Well, school spirit that is unrelated to the Centennial).
4. The new T.V. season. I only watch two shows: The Office and Desperate Housewives, but I enjoy them so much! Darby and I watch The Office together; we just got season two on DVD, so we've been going crazy. And Britt and I watch Desperate together. It's so nice to have a scheduled time every week to spend together. I don't care what people say about T.V.; it's good bonding.
5. Fall back. It's so cool to get a whole extra hour. I know it technically all evens out with the whole spring forward thing, but it's nice to pretend.

Engagement Photos!

Sunday, my friend Emerald took engagement pictures for Darby and me at Hardin-Simmons. She is an amazing photographer. There were so many great pictures! Here's one of my favorites:
You can see the rest on Emerald's blog. Thank you so much, Em!