Christmas break

Though I promised myself I would meticulously document my 10 days of Thanksgiving break, these are the only pics I managed to take.

 Aww.  They're just so cute. :)

And now...I am finally on break!!!!!

Everyone just join with me for a moment of enthusiastic rejoicing.  After having 10 days off for Thanksgiving, the last thing in the entire world I wanted to do was go back for 10 measly days, take finals, and then come home again.  But I decided maybe taking my finals would be a good idea and headed back to NMSU.

Those 10 days honestly felt like the longest of my entire life.  Anticipation is really horrible because it makes time drag by.  Plus my finals weren't really that hard so I was bored out of my mind.  Here's some of what happened.

 

I took a bunch of selfies, and my hair sort of went crazy.  Seriously, where did all this curl come from all of a sudden?

I painted my nails a lot.  And then made myself sick off the fumes because the ventilation in my dorm room is not great.

 

I read a lot.

Some actual studying did happen in the middle of all that.  I also went out to lunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, who I haven't seen in awhile.  It was great to spend time with them!  Then I went to dinner with my grandparents.  And finally, I took care of finals, packed up, and came home.

Yesterday Rachel and I went to the graduation of a close friend of ours that we've known for eleven years now.  And today I reread a book that I used to love when I was about ten.

It was still just as good. :)

And now I'm so glad to be home for an entire month!  I'm going to try and get a ton done--hopefully lots of reading, I have an insane idea to try and teach myself to knit (again), and also enjoying Christmas, New Year's, and Chloe's 8th birthday (how did she get so old?!).  It's so nice to be home, both with my family and church family.  I forget how awesome they all are until I go away for awhile. :)

There will possibly be more updating on this dusty old blog while I'm on break, but I'm not promising anything.  At the very least I'll put up my resolutions for 2014 and maybe go over some of my favorite books that I read this year. :)

Merry Christmas!

I could call this a "life update"...

...but really I just don't want to study for my exam tomorrow. ;)

Hello!

For starters, I got my nose pierced!  This exciting event happened about two and a half weeks ago, and of course I got a cold a couple days after the piercing. Haha.  I really like it though. :)

Classes are going really well.  I have to give a persuasive speech in just over a week, and I still don't have a topic chosen, but hey.  I'm living on the edge. ;) Hopefully it'll come to me soonish.

My astronomy class is super interesting--just learning about all there is in space and just how big it is!  It's hard to comprehend.  My communication class is okay; it's my least favorite class mostly because I just feel like it's a waste of time.  Oh well.

My intro to special ed class is fascinating.  The amount of information being given to me to learn and memorize is kind of overwhelming, but at least it's interesting.  I joined a group called SNEA (Student National Education Association) mostly because I just needed something that said "I'm involved on campus" for my application to the College of Ed, but it's actually a pretty interesting group.  Tonight we went to help out at a fall festival at one of the elementary schools.  It was awesome to just be at a school and be working with kids!  I've missed that.

Nerd that I am, my math class is definitely tied with intro to special ed as being my favorite class.  I have an awesome teacher and am really enjoying the class (even if we're all roasting together in the tiny, stuffy classroom).  I had my second exam today and it went super well, which is awesome!

And that's about it!  Still working on getting to know people, both through Bible studies and classes.  It's a slow process, but God is so good and faithful!  He has given me far more than I ever expected.

See you in another two months. ;)

Aggie Football : : NMSU vs. Minnesota

So last night was my first NMSU football game.  Apparently our team isn't that great?  Not that I really care...I was so lost it wasn't even funny.  But amidst blinding sun, hundreds of loud sweaty people, and more profanities being carelessly slung around than I'd ever experienced before, it was actually pretty fun.  I didn't get a ton of great pics because the sun was shining right into my lens, but here's a couple from yesterday.

I put my hair up immediately after taking this pic because it was about 10,000 degrees outside and i just could not deal with my hair down.  I was still miserable.

I thought this was our team, but it actually turned out to be Minnesota.  Their team colors are apparently about the same as ours, so I was totally confused.

It's Pistol Pete!  He's apparently sort of our mascot...I think.  Gah, I'm so not wholly into this college experience yet.  But Minnesota's mascot was "The Golden Gopher", so pretty much anything is better than that. ;)

There's our team!

And the band.

And then Pistol Pete galloped around the stadium on a horse.  I was sure he was going to fall and kill himself.

Everyone booed Minnesota heartily when they came out.  I felt really bad for them...obviously not all into this school spirit thing yet. ;)

Go Team!!!

The...kickoff?  Is that even what it's called?  I'm so clueless...  I actually completely missed the start of the game because I was busy looking at the cheerleaders throwing themselves into the air and then, all of a sudden people were already cheering and shouting.  I was so lost...  But anyway, I took this picture just to pretend I'd actually been paying attention before. ;)

I left right before halftime because I was just bored to tears, so that's my first lesson--come after halftime so that I can actually see the end of the game.  But apparently we lost anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal.

So...football.  Not all it's cracked up to be, in my limited experience.  Those quarters last forever!  And I pretty much melted into the bleachers.  Still fun though.  We'll see what the next game is like! :)

50 random questions

Hey guys!  So I just got back from my first ever NMSU football game!  I took some pics that I'll probably put up tomorrow or Monday, but I found this list of random questions and thought they'd be fun to post about for now.  Yay for randomness!

1. Where were you three hours ago? Three hours ago I was being roasted alive in the hot Las Cruces sun, all for school spirit.  Thank goodness I actually remembered to put on sunscreen.

2. What are you looking forward to in the next week? Probably going to the new Bible study I've been attending hear at NMSU.  I really enjoy the teaching and music, and the people are nice too.  I also have to give a speech, but I'm definitely not looking forward to that.

3. Is there anything pink within ten feet of you? Almost everything my roommate, Monica, has is pink.  So yes, there's a lot of it nearby.

4. When's the last time you went to the mall? Monica and I went to see a movie at the theater attached to the mall last Saturday, but the last time I was actually in a mall was probably two weeks ago when I ran in to get some lunch from Chick-fil-a.  The mall here is awful, so I hardly ever go there.

5. Are you wearing socks right now? Please, I'm in the middle of the desert on the tail-end of summer.  Socks are not even an option.

6. When was the last time you drove out of town? Last Saturday I went to the Hatch Chile Festival, which is about an hour from here.  It was so disappointing, but at least I can say I've been there.

7. Are you hot? Psh, obviously. ;) But seriously, temperature-wise I usually am but the air conditioning in my room is amazing, so it's nice and cool in here.

8. What's the last thing you had to drink? Water.  I can't afford anything but water anymore, so I honestly haven't drunk anything but that in about two weeks.

9. What are you wearing right now? Pretty much the comfiest clothes I own--sweats and a tank top--because after almost dying of sunstroke at the football game I deserve to be comfortable.

10. Do you wash your car, or let the carwash do it? Neither.  Firstly because I'm too lazy, and also because one of the windows won't roll up or down and is stuck just a little bit down, so the interior would get wet.

11. What was the last food that you ate? Some cereal.

12. Where were you last week at this exact time? Walmart.

13. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? Yes!  Today I bought my first Aggie shirt. :)

14. When was the last time you ran? I sort of ran down a steep hill yesterday...does that count?

15. What's your favorite animal? Turtle.

16. What's your dream vacation? Kind of lame, but I've always wanted to go to Niagara Falls.

17. Last person's house you were in? My aunt and uncle's last Friday.

18. Have you ever been in love? No.

19. Do you miss anyone right now? Definitely my family.

20. What are your plans for tonight? Finish reading a chapter for my special ed class.

21. Do you wear the hood on your hoodie? Only if it's raining, otherwise I look too ghetto. ;)

22. What's the next trip you're going to take? I'm planning on going home either this weekend, or next, so that'll probably be it!

23. Worst injury you've ever had? Umm...once I sort of sprained my ankle. Or maybe the time when I fell on my elbow while I was ice skating?  I almost never get hurt.

24. What do you want to know about the future? Should I move out of the U.S.?

25. Do you have tan lines? Yes, but nothing too definite.

26. Favorite artist right now? I love Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker lately, but otherwise it's just kind of the same old.

27. Do you collect anything? I used to collect everything, but that phase has thankfully passed.

28. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? There've been a few close calls, but I've never actually been pulled over.

29. Have you ever drunk soda from a straw? Yes?  Who hasn't?

30. What does your last text message say? I asked Rachel if she'd mailed some books for me.

31. Do you like hot sauce? Usually I can't handle it, but sometimes it's okay.

32. Last time you took a shower? Yesterday.

33. Do you need to do laundry? I did all my laundry today actually!

34. What is your heritage? Part French and...I don't know what else.  I'm really bad about actually caring about stuff like that.

35. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? Trying to fall asleep.

36. How much money is in your bank account? Not enough, that's for sure. ;)

37. What's your favorite number? 19.  I thought my 19th year of life was going to be really exciting, too, but it was actually pretty boring.

38. What's the weather like right now? Yesterday we got some rain, but today it's just been sunny and hot.

39. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Probably height.

40. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom.

41. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?  Totally cliche, but probably shapeshifting because then you'd basically have all other powers too.

42. Favorite TV show? I love NCIS: Los Angeles, but I also like Criminal Minds, The Walking Dead, and Once Upon a Time.

43. Do you wear contacts? Right now my vision's perfect, but I'll probably end up with glasses since both my parents have to wear them.

44. What's your favorite month? October.  I don't know why, but I just love October.

45. What was the last movie you watched? 'Speed' with Keanu Reeves.

46. Chocolate or vanilla? What kind of question is that...chocolate!

47. Choose one: Youtube, Redit, or Facebook. I like Youtube because you can get pretty much anything on it, but the way I actually stay connected to people is through Facebook so I'd have to go with that.

48. Something you look for in a friend? Someone who actually cares about getting to know me; isn't just hanging around me because I'm good at asking questions and remembering stuff about people.

49. Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex? No.

50. How many pillows do you sleep with? Just one.  Last time I slept with two I woke up holding one of them and decided it'd be kind of awkward if someone were to see me sleeping like that, so now I just stick to one.

taking the leap

After much deliberation, a decision has been made.

I'll be heading to NMSU this fall!

I might post something soon.  A lot of stuff has been happening, but nothing really post-worthy.  I'm trying to just figure out what I'm doing for now--blogging is taking a back seat!