Last Blog

So, this is my last blog. As happy as I am about it, it is almost sad. I have gotten used to writing about nothing of much importance day after day. Maybe I'll blog again some day... we'll see... but in the mean time...

Swine flu is getting on my nerves. I understand it is spreading, but we are taking precautions and getting ready to battle this mother, so I am not too worried about it. I hope no one else becomes sick or dies, but that is a false hope. That cannot and will not happen. I am praying that as many people as possible do stay safe and healthy though.

Tonight has been a good night. I got my speech down and I feel like tomoro will be a good day to get on top and get prepared for the upcoming weeks. While I am not all that confident about finals right now, I have faith that I will be ready and do well.

Thanks to all who read my blogs. I know they were not all that entertaining or fun haha but I hope it wasnt too bad. Had a great semester with all you crazies and wish you luck in your upcoming years and ambitions. God bless us, every one.

Julie Graham

Almost done!

So this is almost my last blog!! Not that writing these hasnt been an absolute blast, but I'm just not really the blogging type. Just when I thought school was gonna be real calm and not have much going on, I feel like I have a lot of work to do. I got a review for one of my finals that is incredibly long, and I have my speech on Thursday, and I have to read for some classes. I guess it just never ends! Ha, it is not that bad though.

I went on a somewhat legit run today for the first time in a while. My knee actually felt pretty good towards the beginning of my run and when I was making my way back started hurting a good bit, so I had to slow down and eventually walk. But, it was good. Getting back into shape is gonna suck! I have to do it though, because I have to be able to beat these boys at basketball next semester since I have been talking alot of smack haha.

... and.. right now my new favorite song is "please dont leave me" by pink.. check it out :)

This past weekend

This past weekend was really good. I went to the knee doctor and he said I am almost ready to start getting back into sports. 1 1/2 more months and I cant start working my way back in! woo! it has been a long 4 1/2 months to this point though, no doubt. I also got fitted for my brace which is exciting for me because it kind of symbolizes being normal and able again. Able to run and jump and play sports. Woot!

I am a little upset I did not get to see my brother or sister-in-law though. They were supposed to come see us on Friday night but bailed. And I love them both, but they always make up some excuse and bail on us. It gets old and I miss them :/ Not to mention Kassy, my sister-in-law, is gonna be givin birth to a little baby girl, Lilli, very soon! I wanted to see her before because she will probably have the baby in the next week or two. But, all in all it was a great weekend!

Registration

Ah, the joys of being a freshman. I registered today, the last group to get to register. I understand the way it works, big dogs get to go first and us little fish have to go last. I can agree with that thinking, but it still sucks. This morning I went to register and 2 of my classes I wanted to take were already full. I can't tell you how frustrated I was. One of the classes was being taught by one of my favorite professors and I was really looking forward to having her again and the class really just interested me, so I was upset when I couldnt get it. Another class also sounded like a fun class and that was full. Guess I'll just have to suck it up and try to get it for the spring semester.

I am however, very glad to have gotten a majority of my classes. I am so relieved now that I have taken care of it and am set for next year. I cannot believe I am about to be a sophomore in college. It is mind blowing to me. I am excited but nervous at the same time. I am going to be extermely busy next school year because I will have alot of stuff like observation and interacting with little kids outside of class time. I cant wait.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

WOOOOOOOW!! It is April 21st. This month has absolutely flown by at an incredible speed. With only about two weeks of school left, I feel as though there is nothing left to do but wait for finals to creep up on me. Everything is winding down and many of my professors have stopped doing some much lecturing and have started focusing on what we will need to know for the final.

A whole lot of excitement has come with the end of April. Kassy, my sister-in-law is now dialated 1 cm and is effaced 30%. Now, I don't know what effaced means, haha but it means she is getting close to poppin Lilli on out of there. I am soooooo excited to be an aunt and I hope I get a summer full of little miss Lilli. Also, the end of this month means I can get a new phone! woo!!! haha I love getting new phones so this is gonna be amazing.

All is Love

So I'm sitting here at 8 til 3 in the morning and I am not happy about it. But, that is the lovely part of procrastinating. You stay up late and are sleepy the next morning. I am working on my second speech for comm and to be honest I'm not as confident about this one as I was the last one.

But, its all good. I am chillin, jammin out to Emily Elbert. She is amazing and you should check her out. Very chill and not to mention an amazing guitar player. My favorite song of hers is called All is Love. It is pretty much amazing and puts me in a great mood. Annnnd, to make things better, I'm chillin with my buddy Jameson :) super cool dude. But anywho, it's late and I would like to get a little sleep so I'm out like shout. Yes, I just said that and I can get away with that becuase I'm awesome.. haha.. until next time...

School

School is good. School is almost over. School has flown by very quickly. This semester has been a great semester. I have made some really good friends and have lost contact with some people I was close to last semester. I would say that the friends I made this semester are probably better and more real friends than the ones I made last semester though. I'm going to miss them over the summer.

School is never gonna end. School feels like it will be a part of my life forever. I am taking summer school this summer and I;m not all that excited. It isnt going to be that bad, but it's still school. I guess it's just a couple more hours to the end of my school career though. Bring it on.

yup yup

This week has flown by, which is a GREAT thing. One less week of school after tomorrow! woo!! It has also been a bit of a nervous week. My sister-in-law had a little pregnancy problem scare. She went for a reagular baby check up and they found her amniotic fluid was low and that if it wasnt back up to normal in a few days they were going to induce labor. They put her on bedrest for a couple days and at her check up yesterday they said it was back up. My grandma also found out she has a left bundle branch block. It is a heart condition where a part of the left part of her heart is blocked and wont let the electiricty through to make the left ventricle contract. It is a pretty serious condition because it is making the right side work harder to send signals to the right as well as the left ventricle. And, on top of that today she had total knee replacement surgery. She's an old little lady, but she sure is a tough little blue haired woman.

Other than that, everything is good. Made a 94 on my history test and a 91 on my speech in comm. I was hoping for a few points higher on the speech, but thats a good grade. I'll just have to kill the next speech fa sho. Oh!! I ordered some Toms and I'm super siked!! cant wait for them to come in!!

Bliss

School is slowly coming to an end and I am super excited. I am trying to get a job at the humane society in Fort Worth and on Wednesday I sign up for summer classes and sign my summer away. It shouldn't be too bad though since I am only taking 2 classes per summer session.

The past two weeks have in a way sealed up all the stress and work for my classes until finals. I have no more tests or anything until finals with the exception of one more speech in my communication class. That won't be a big deal though, I'm confident.

Another great thing about the school year winding down is that I will soon be an aunt!!!! My sister-in-law is due just about the time school ends, assuming the baby does not come early. I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited and cannot wait for baby Lilli to be here. I am just really looking forward to the summer and all the highs and lows it will bring!

This weekend

Friday afternooon I will be hitting the road for good ol Crowley!! Woo! Can you say, "exciting!"? haha. I actually do have a pretty fun weekend lined up, not sure of all the exact details, but definitly going to have a good time. I am going to see my best friend which is always a blast, see some friends from high school I havent seen in a while (hopefully) and chill with my mom which is my favorite and hang with my dad a little. I really hope I actually get to see my brother. He always punks out and him and my sister in law make excuses all the time of why they cant come. So hopefully, they actually do what they say cuz I miss that guy.

I also get to mow the law. But its cool because its a riding mower!!! haha.. it is the first riding mower we have ever have and I'm not gonna lie, I'm like a little kid on that thing. I also get to see my two big beautiful baby girls. I miss my dogs so much when I am away for a long time. They alsways seem so excited to see me when I get back and I love it!

I wish...

The one thing I really wish I could change about myself is the fact that I am so shy. I always wish I would talk to people who I feel are pretty cool people. I always meet people in my classes that I think would be good friends and who seem like really unique and fun individuals. Every now and then I will make some small talk with the people I am drawn to, but I never follow it up with more or deeper conversations. I dont know what I am so scared of.

The fact that I do this makes me feel like I miss out on people. So many people in this world have so much to offer and are very fun individuals. I feel like I miss out on knowing them and like I'm missing out on possible friends. I dont know what is so stinking had about saying, "hey how's it going? How was your day?" and going from there. I find it ridiculous that I cant do that. Hopefully, this will change one day. We'll see...

WOO!!!

This week has been CRAZY stressful and busy. Luckily, it is almost over and my responisibilities for the week are just about done. Instead of writing my Hamlet paper, I decided to take a blog break. I did not really feel all that stress, but I felt like I should be stressed if that makes sense hah. I think I killed on my history test. I was all over those short answer AND the essay. Four pages and I legitimately knew what I was talkin about. It's amazing how much easier it is when you read what you are supposed to. I felt like I did really well on my speech today and I made a 90 on my CJ test!!! I'm sooooooo pumped.

This weekend should be very relaxing and is without a doubt much needed. I have a friend coming to visit me from Tech and I'm going to take her to my favorite resturant, my favorite places, and to San Antonio. It is gonna be a blast!

Love 'em

I love finding new quotes that I like so I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes...



"Find out who you are and do it on purpose." - Dolly Parton

"If you want the rainbow you have to put up with the rain." - Dolly Parton

"Be the change you wish to see."

"Your smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight."

"Life is like a hot bath. It feels good while you're in it, but the longer you stay in, the more wrinkled you get." -Robbert Oustin

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one. - Dolly Parton

"Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace." - Amelia Earhart

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece... but to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out and defiantly shouting "Wow! What a Ride!"


And my favorite Winnie the Pooh quotes.. that little bear was a crazy smart little dude and new the importance of accepting people and not worrying about things you cant change.

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?" - Winnie the Pooh

"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.” - Winnie the Pooh

"A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.” - Winnie the Pooh

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” - Winnie the Pooh

“"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit. "No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."”

“When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish.”

Feeling good

I have been working out on a regular basis for about 2 weeks now. After I got the go-ahead from my physical therapist to start doing some more strenuous workouts, I have been going 5 days a week and loving every minute of it. I find that I am happier and feel significantly more energized after I work out. Endorphins are a great thing :)

With the revamping of working out, I also have to suffer through being out of shape. Three months of not being able to do any real cardio or workouts took a major toll on me. But, the athlete in me takes over and helps me to push myself just a little bit further when I want to quit. I feel blessed to have now 4 working and almost completely healthy limbs a healthy heart and the ability to do what I want.

Muy Caliente

I am just about sick of not having hot water. I have taken 4 showers since thursday and three of them have been freezing cold showers. I mean it is great motivation to get myself to the rec, but the days I dont feel like working out, I dont want to have to walk 10 min to the rec just to shower.

Not having hot water also made me realize how blessed I am. I havent had hot water for what, 5 days? There are people who dont have hot water not to mention clean water ever. They have to go get water from miles away and bring it back, boil it to purify it, then use it. How lucky am I that I have running and clean water at the twist of a dial? This whole situation just reminds me how lucky I am to have the things I have and to be thankful for everything, no matter how big or small, for what its worth.

Spring Break! 5

After we finished up at the Country Music hall of Fame, we headed over to the Ryman Theatre, original home of The Grand Ole Opry. We did a self guided tour where we walked around in the theater and read the history of the place and what all it used to be. Before it was a performing center, it was a place for religious revivals, political meetings, and other various activities. After the self-guided tour, we went on a guided tour and got to go behind the scenes and see the dressing rooms.

Each room had a theme, one was the "Carter Cash" dressing room in honor of johnny cash and June Carter cash. Another room was designated as the "Women of Country Music" dressing room filled with timeless photos of stars from the past. It was a really cool feeling to know that countless skilled and famous artist, young and old, had stood in the very room we were in. After that we had an opprotunity to stand on the stage itself which was pretty cool.

The Ryman Theatre was the original home of the GOO, but several years ago they opened up a new place for the GOO to be held. In the winter and fall seasons, the GOO is held at the Ryman. In the summer and spring seasons it is held at the new place. They still have performers come and perform at the Ryman on a regular basis and many performers love it because it has the second best acoustics int he world second the the mormon tabernacle, or something like that.

To be continued...

Spring Break! 4

After we finished at Studio B, we headed over to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was incredible. Right now, they are having a special exhibit for Kitty Wells and the Hank Williams family. It is incredible the things that the Hall of Fame is filled with. Old artifacts, outfits, and instruments used by the old school artists fill the rooms. It was neat to see how tall, skinny, large, short, round, and what size shoe various artists were.

It was a very interactive place with buttons to push for information about what you were seeing, persoal tours, and activities to do. One of the coolest things about the place was that it had its walls filled from floor to ceiling with gold and platinum records of singers from all time periods. But, perhaps the coolest part was the actually Hall of Fame. They had a room filled with famous chisseled faces on plaques of those that had been inducted to the hall of fame.

To be continued...

Spring Break! 3

So, the next day me and my mom decided to venture downtown to take in some of the cool sights and places Nashville had to offer. We first went to Studio B. Studio B is a very famous recording studio that opened up in 1957 and closed in 1977. While it was open it was the favorite recording studio of many famous singers such as Elvis and Dolly Parton, two of my personal favorites. They recording countless songs and numerous hits there.

It was Elvis' preffered place to record and ironically the owners decided to shut it down a week after Elvis died.

It was shut down because it did not have the new and improved technology of the day. It was less efficient than a studio with up to date equipment. Today tho, it is still managed by the Country Music Hall of Fame. They do tours daily and it is actually used as a classroom for the college in that area as some kind of recording technology class.

To be continued...

Spring Break! 2

On Monday, my mom and I flew out to Tennessee to visit a friend of hers and our family. She used to work with this woman named Karen. Karen moved to TN about 8 months ago so my mom wanted to go visit her. Having no other options, no money, and the fact that me and my mom have a blast no matter what we're doing, I went with her. We got in early in the evening and drove to Karen's place. We all talked and caught up on what was going on and then decided to venture off for some fun.

We went to this place where you pick out a piece of clay and paint it, they then glaze and fire it for you and a week later, viola! you have a bowl or cup or plate or whatever you painted. It was sooooo much fun. I dont feel like I am a very creative person, but I love doing artsy and creative stuff. And over all, the cup I made turned out to be really cute. Just waiting on that package from Tennessee...

To be continued...

Spring Break! 1

This past week was full of exciting travels and sights. It was a very much needed break and went by much too quickly. To be honest, I did not want to come back to San Marcos today. I was enjoying being home and moving into our new house and was getting in a routine that I enjoyed. I got to sleep in late, watch movies, chill with friends, be lazy, and not have to worry about school. It was amazing.

My week off started with two days spent with my best friend. She stayed the night Friday and Saturday. We had a blast like always and enjoyed each others company. She brought over some new movies and we watched them for about 13 minutes before we both fell asleep. That is usually how it goes hehe. Sunday we took my dad to the airport to catch a flight to Germany for his work. Later, my mom and I ate some dinner watched some tv and caught up on what was going on.

To be continued....

WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

So, today, yes today!, I went and worked out. Actually worked out!! It was amazing! My physical therapist told me to start riding the bike at a pretty good pace for at least 15 min 3 times a week and said if i rode for 30 min that would be ideal. So, I dide the arm bike machine for 13 min, did some shoulder work, then went to the bike for 30 min and then did a little over 3000 meters on the rowing machine (which is my new favorite machine).

My knee hurt at first on the bike, but started feeling better the longer I went. I did not do too much resistance at first and kind of just warmed my legs up. Eventually I started riding pretty hard and stood to pedal and really started getting my blood pumping. My knee couldnt take too much of it, but it felt good to get back to a somewhat normal routine.

P.S. Our guys rugby team won the state championship game today for the second year in a row. Back to back champs baby!!

This Weekend

This weekend was a great weekend. My mom came down to San Marvelous to co-sign on the lease for my apartment next year. I love when my mom comes to visit. She is my best friend and I miss her a lot when I go a while without seeing her. So, she came down and signed and after, my new roommates and I, with all our parents, went to Pluckers to grab lunch. I had never been there before. It was really good minus the freakin fan blowing hard right on top of our table.

So, last night we chilled in her hotel room and watched Austrailia. It is a great, but super long movie. Not to mention, Hugh Jackman is INCREDIBLY SEXY. Wow. That is all I can say. That is one fine Austrailian. But anywho, this morning we went to starbucks and then to the outlet mall. We went to Carters which is a baby clothing store and bought a ton of stuff for my sister-in-law. She is due in May. Way cute stuff man. Then we went to the rugby game and our guys won!! Back to back state champs!!! way cool. Not to mention the team they beat was my ex-boyfriends team. Kind of a sweet victory.

Anyways, that was my weekend and it was wonderful!

ahh.. roomie love :)

So, I just might have the best roommate ever. Tonight we laughed so much, it was so much fun. I think the late night starbucks was a bad idea because we had an extreme amount of energy and were basically in the early stages of insanity. We were laughing at nothing and were having a hard time fitting in breaths between all the loud burst of laughter.

I'm pretty sure our conversation while we were in the bathroom was getting us some pretty crazy looks. We were laughing in weird ways and talking about crazy, random stuff. It was so much fun. I'm really glad I chose her as my roommate. We get along so well and she does not care that I am crazy and sometimes a little much to handle. I cannot wait until next year when we get our apartment with our other friends and have static fights... the carpet is crazy staticy (is that a word??) and it is really easy to shock people. Lots of fun. Cant wait!

Fight or Flight

The autonomic nervous system, more specifically the sympathetic and parasympathetic sytems are amazing things. With Sympathetic, we learn this refers to the Fight or Flight phenomenon. Fight- save yourself by going after the stimulus
Flight- save yourself by running away from the stimulus
But what I wanna know is... what if you aren't alone? What do you choose to do? You are walking along NYC with a friend, crossing the street and a car is coming.. what do you do? I guess we never know til we are in that situation

MIDDLE CLASS Catastrophe

With the economy going downhill and prices going up, the American middle class is struggling to keep up. They can't afford weekly tanning sessions, gym memberships, cell phone bills, family vacations, and all the extras they are used to.Here's my opinion on the middle class catastrophe. If you just HAVE to have those extras.. here's what you have to do. Sell that stuff you don't use on ebay. Make your own coffee instead of buying Starbucks every morning. Make your kids lunches instead of eating in the caf. In fact, make your own lunch instead of eating fast food or out with the coworkers. Watch your money. Jog around the neighborhood. Take the kids to the park. find cheap fun entertainment, rather than renting movies every weekend, go to the $5 bin at wal-mart and watch it over and over again. Your kid doesnt need the latest gizmos and gadgets.. and neither do you.

Let's embrace the life of simplicity. If you have clothes in your closet you havent worn in the last year, get rid of it. They aren't yours. If you have shoes in the closet you havent worn in the past 6 months, get rid of them, they arent yours. Sell your used books and movies or better yet trade them for the "to buy" list that you have sticky noted to your desk. Collect change, then treat yourself to that starbucks you've been holding out on once you earn enough. And most importantly, Trust in God. You'll be alright without TiVo and purified water. Trust me, you will.

What to do, what to do..

I do not know what exactly I want to do when I grow up and graduate college. There are so many different paths I could take in my life and I do not know which one I should choose. I love so many things in life that it is difficult to choose which one passion I should follow. I could keep on with my degree and become a child life specialist or follow my love of music and go into music recording or follow my love of the outdoors and open a kayak/surf shop on a beach somewhere. Right now the most enticing of the options is the surf shop route.

I know nothing is set in stone and you can always, always change your career later on down the road. Heck, I believe that if you pick a career and you are unhappy, then you almost owe it to yourself to quit and do something that makes you happy. Life is too short to be unhappy, but I know that I will have to provide and make a life for myself also. I know that I have a couple years to decide what I want to do but I am really struggling with not knowing right now. I wish that I felt called to do something and could put my heart into it 100%. I just know that whatever I do in life, I want to love it whole-heartedly. I don't know what plans life has for me, but I am sure going to try and enjoy the ride.

After the Storm

This weekend was an amazing weekend. I have been feeling so overwhelmed by school and the other aspects of life that have been pulling on me, that this weekend was exactly what I needed. I had 4 tests and 2 papers due all in the last 6 school days. I felt so stressed and thought that the weekend could not come fast enough. This weekend has felt extra long and I love it.

On Friday, I went to the river with the rest of TSU, went to Canyon Lake, and then went to dinner with friends. Saturday me and three of my friends went and looked for apartments from about 10 in the morning till about 2 in the afternoon. After that we ate and went up to Austin to go to PetLand. We played with the cutest puppies for a little over an hour. Later, we went to Hastings and bought movies. I bought The Strangers and we watched that last night. All in all it was a great and much needed weekend.

Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake is my new getaway. It is the most gorgeous place I have been to in a long time. It is about 30 miles South West of San Marcos and it is my new favorite place. I got lost one day and kept driving and eventually found this haven.

I went there yesterday for about 4 hours. I sat and did my work and enjoyed the beauty of the day. The waves rolled up on the beach and the children in the distance were laughing and screaming at how cold the water was. Being out there refreshed me and brought me a sense of peace and serenity and it was an amazing feeling. After I had had enough of my studies I went and explored the rest of the coast line. It went on for about a mile before I stopped. My love for climbing things was satisfied when I found a part on the cliff where I could climb with difficulty but not too much difficulty for my bum knee. I climbed it and felt accomplished. It sounds silly, but it is the first time I've felt capable of physical activity in a long time. The view was gorgeous and I cannot even describe to you the joy I was feeling.

I highly recommend you wander out to Canyon Lake and to the dam sometime. It is an amazing sight and if you are looking for a beautiful relaxing place, it is the place to go.

Ugh, Frustration...

So, I tore my ACL in November playing rugby. I thought that the hard part was going to be getting around before the surgery. I could not have been more wrong. My knee did not constantly hurt before I had surgery. Now, every morning it is incredibly stiff and hurts and takes me a while to get going.

My doctor told me the first week or so after surgery was more or less going to suck... and it did. But, after that, the way I felt was much better. Then I started physical therapy. I swear in that first week and a half of pt I got way better and was making incredible process and slowly it has started to slow down into what seems to be a stand still. I am not able to straighten my knee yet and I have to do painful exercises to try and gain back the last few degrees of extention that I am lacking and it is so incredibly frustrating. I do not think I have ever been as frustrated in my life as I have been these past 2 1/2 weeks. It seems like nothing I do works and my knee is not getting much better. It is so hard not to be able to run or jump or skip or play sports or swim or do any of the things I love to do. Frustration is slowly starting to be a part of my every day life and I am not a huge fan of it.

Comin' Home

I came home today, Friday, and I realized that everytime I come home and get very happy. I don't think there is anything quite like coming home. I know that as soon as I see my mom I am going to see a huge, welcoming smile, get a big ol bear hug and have a good meal. Seeing my family is definately my favorite part of coming home. I miss them soooo much when I am at school, and even if I don't notice while at school, when I come home I realize just how much I miss them when I am gone.

Seeing my best friend is also another HUGE reason I love coming home. We laugh so much when we are together and it is one of my favorite things. She is really like the sister I never had and I love that we stay so close even though we are far away.

Another great thing about going home is that I get to jam with my dad. He rocks on the piano and I try to rock on the guitar, so we usually get a little jam session in when I come home. Music is such a big part of my life and I love it so much that those sessions are a great time for me and my dad to hang out.

I love school and being in San Marvelous, but coming home, you just cant beat it.

Roomie Birthday FUN!!

So, today was my roommates birthday and we had a blast!! Wednesday night a friend and I surprised her with cupcakes and balloons with the help of Jameson and Stanley. We had a good time and enjoyed the cupcakes and the company of our friends. Then, tonight, the 5th, a couple of us went out to dinner and laughed it up, then went to get dessert and laughed it up some more. It was a blast and I can't wait till the next birthday comes along!

I haven't gotten her a gift yet, but I mean, what else would she want when she has me as a roommate? I have to say I AM pretty amazing and she should not ask for anything else. Of course I am just being a smart alec. I have some ideas, I just have to decide what to get.

Overall, it has been a great past couple of days and it was so much fun hanging out with my roommate and helping her 19th birthday be a blast.

The Awkward Years

The other day, my roommate and I were looking through some of her pictures. There were pictures of her in high school and as a baby. But, when I came across some pictures of her from middle school I started cracking up. One reason was because I don't remember her looking that way, and another reason was because she just didn't look like herself. Now, obviously people change and mature and grow up. I get that. But what I mean is, she just had that awkward appearance that I believe everyone goes through, usually in middle school.

So, I don't know about anyone else, but personally, middle school was a very awkward time in my life. I was a chubby kid, had braces, the chunky highlights, wore what I thought were cool clothes, and was going through a number a changes. Truth is is that I was a goofy little kid. I'm sure I said things at times that now if I heard I would laugh at myself and be a little embarrassed. I thought I was so cool in middle school. I was friend with people in all of the different "cliques," and most everyone knew who I was. But it was probably just because I was class clown and slightly the dreaded "Teacher's Pet!!!" NOOOOOO!!! But, truth be told, I would not change those years for anything. They were the most awkward and changing times in my life, but I feel that I also grew and learned alot about people I wanted to know and who I wanted to be. Good ol' middle school.

Lot Full

Last night I went for a long walk. It was not on purpose. I had been visiting a friend and got back to campus at about 10:20 last night. I drove around for 30 minutes looking for a parking spot and after circling the parking garage and every parking lot on campus for the 27th time, I resorted to parking in Strahan Parking Lot. Although it was a very nice night, I was not in the mood to walk 10 minutes to get back to my dorm. And, I was a little more ticked off since I still can't walk very well from having my knee surgery and it was killing me last night.

I understand that there is only so much room for Texas State to build and expand, but honestly the parking situation is really starting to get on my nerves. I think it would be freaking amazing if they could build at least one or two more FREE parking garages. I don't know about anyone else, but I am the typical college student who gets excited when I find $3 in my pocket so I can do laundry this week. I don't have the money to be forking out $8 or $9 dollars every time I NEED to park somewhere. Normally I am not so negative about the parking situation. I do not mind parking on campus and walking 5 minutes to get back to my dorm, but last night really just got to me and frustrated me.