ahh to New Beginnings . . .

How do I even begin to update everyone on the amazing things that have been going on in my life?!

On Thursday, I got up to complete the second part of my trip to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl. I didn't have much of a drive left, and my friend that I was staying with wasn't arriving in Phoenix until almost 9 p.m. I decided to make a pit stop in Tombstone, AZ. If you know nothing about Tombstone, you should look it up and watch the movie "Tombstone." It's a really neat little town that is a lot of fun! Unfortunately, I got there just after they started their last carriage tour, so I didn't get to do that. I basically just walked around for a couple hours after I ate lunch at Big Nose Kate's Saloon. I then went and visited Boothill Cemetery. It's famous for burying a lot of outlaws from Tombstone in it. Again, a really neat little thing.

However, on  my way to Tombstone, I hit a little bout of bad weather. I am completely safe, but at the time it was so freaking scary. I was going about 30 mph under the speed limit because the snow was falling pretty heavily, so naturally I was in the right lane. An 18-wheeler sped past me going probably the speed limit and shot a whole bunch of snow onto my windshield. Because my vision was blocked so badly, I hit a slick spot and started to slide all over the interstate. I ended up doing a couple circles over the left lane and onto the median. Naturally, I was completely freaked out and crying, but I am safe, the car is safe, and I am alive :)

With that aside, once I started making my way to Phoenix from Tombstone again, it was all sunshine the whole way in. I typed Erika's address into my GPS, and it took me to an apartment complex that definitely was not her apartment. SO WEIRD. But once I finally found my way to the correct apartment, I got to hang out with one of Erika's friends because her flight was delayed about an hour. This friend graduated from The University of Connecticut, and we watched the end of the UConn/Stanford game. Needless to say, she wasn't happy about the end of that game. Congrats to the Huskies for having such a great run though. Phenomenal.

I can't even begin to describe the epic-ness of New Year's Eve. I spent the entire evening with my big and best friend. We drank, we danced, we rang in the new year, we lost each other, we had a DAMN good time.  I wish I could tell you EVERYTHING, but some things are better left as a memory :) I will let you know that while we were dancing, a beautiful man kissed me. But it was only a kiss, gotta keep it classy!

Then last night, I got to cheer on my Sooners for their first BCS Bowl victory to snap a 5 bowl losing streak. I had probably some of THE MOST amazing seats you could imagine. I sat in the Connecticut end zone ON THE THIRD ROW. I had SO MUCH FUN. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the game was! I also realized today that every Sooner game I went to for the 2010 season was a Sooner victory. So thank you to my Sooners, and a shout-out to Demarco Murray for winning the Fiesta Bowl like he told me he would :D

I just love new beginnings, and what better way to start 2011 off than with old/best (Erika) and new friends AND a Sooner victory? Sounds like 2011 is going to be even more epic than 2010 was, and I thought 2010 was pretty intense!

I'm obsessed. It's a problem.

I'm obsessed with Love Actually. This is seriously like my 6th time to watch it since it was returned to me last Thursday. Yes, that's almost a once per day average. It's a problem. I can't help it. It's a damn good Christmas movie, and a good movie to watch in general. I think Natalie is one of my favorite characters, and I think it's because her first line is "Hello David, I mean sir. Shit I can't believe I just said that. And now I've said shit. Twice." That's the best ever first line for a character if I do say so myself.

So the reason why I am able to blog today is that I have now completed 2 of 5 finals, and my next one is not until Monday at 1:30. So I have quite a bit of free time! Last weekend was completely insane. Friday I went out with my little and grand little to a fraternity date party. That's right, the two fraternity date parties I've been to, my dates have been my family and one of their boyfriends. I like to think I'm a balla like that. We spent the evening dancing and drinking and having such a fun time! It was a Christmas themed party, and here is a picture of me and my three dates:

Then Saturday morning I drove to Dallas to watch my Sooners beat up on some Cornhuskers. See ya later Nebraska, enjoy the Big Ten.

Sunday I had sorority meetings all day, and since Sunday I have been doing homework, projects, reports, and studying for finals. Wish me luck on the remaining finals I have!

SOONERS ARE BIG XII CHAMPS!

So just in case you don't follow college football (and you should), The University of Oklahoma beat The University of Nebraska Saturday night 23-20. I was there for it. I have a picture of it on my phone but I'm still trying to figure out how to blog from my phone. (I may go in later and edit this post to add the picture of my view. It was a great view!) I stayed in Flower Mound, TX with my friend Janelle and got to cheer on the Sooners. It was fantastic.

I'm thoroughly exhausted from little sleep tonight, so I just wanted to give a quick update about how much fun I had, and to leave you with this picture that I got from Sam at Love Never Fails from when I finished my half. I was so excited about it and I wanted to share how great I felt after I finished! I cannot express to you how grateful I was to have her there to be able to see a familiar face when I crossed the finish line.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

bloggers, I'm afraid I'm stuck in a horrible rut.

Ok, so I know that I don't have many followers so I'm hoping to get some random stumbles for this one. During finals week, I typically like to have a book to read for pleasure to help me keep my wits about me. I love reading for pleasure, and a lot of times this little mental escape at the end of the day just before I fall asleep is what calms me down and quiets my mental static. However, being the creature of habit that I am, I find it difficult to just pick up a random book without first hearing others' opinions on them. Currently, I am reading this book for my book report/final project in my Human Sexuality class:

Now, this book was very interesting, but it was slightly redundant in the information. I mean, how many times can an author say that girls mature so much faster than they did in the 1700's? Anyways, finals week is in two weeks, and I am afraid that if I don't find a new book that is something other than out of this series,:

this series,:or this series:

then I might possibly go stark raving mad. So I am begging you bloggers, please save my from my pre-teen novel misery and give me something that I might possibly enjoy reading during my mental health breaks. Not saying that I don't thoroughly enjoy all three of these series, but there are only so many times I can read each of these books without looking like an obsessed freak.

Another thing that I would LOVE for you to help me out with is finding where I can update my blog layout! The template I have on it now is a nice change from the boring black I had before, but I want to expand my blogging look even more. I may not have the time to completely update the layout now, but I'm open to new suggestions to tinker with it over the upcoming Christmas break.

To my fellow bloggers, I hope you have a fantastic weekend! Sit back, curl up on the couch, pop in my personal favorite Christmas movie (seen below), have a cup of hot tea (/hot cocoa/hot coffee), and ENJOY THE WEEKEND! I will try to update some more this weekend, but again, I can't really guarantee much because I will be going to the Big XII Championship tomorrow evening to watch my SOONERS take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers for what will most likely be the last Big XII Championship in history. BOOMER SOONER!

And again, pop in this favorite Christmas movie of mine and think of me when you do!:

longest post ever!

I sincerely apologize for not blogging before now. I know my two readers may find this hard to believe, but I missed it so much this week! UNFORTUNATELY, the woes of being a 5th year college student HAD to come before writing down everything that has gone on in the past week. I neglected to take a book home that I had to write a report over, so my Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were filled with that. Then the end of Tuesday and yesterday were all about a very difficult personal training project that I had to complete by 7 p.m. yesterday. Needless to say, I got little social networking in since I returned to Norman on Sunday evening.

I'll start with my fantastical Thanksgiving break. Since I was going to the Bedlam game on Saturday, I drove straight from here (Norman) to Poteau, OK to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with the fam! My great aunt and I met up with our family friend for a very nice steak dinner at a place called Warehouse Willy's (I believe I already blogged about it). Then the family started to arrive on Wednesday afternoon, and we all spent the day hanging out and watching TV and movies. I went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 for the second time with my uncle and female cousins. It was just as fantastic the second time around.

Thursday was filled with fantastic food and wine, and card games. Then, Thursday night, I embarked on my first ever Black Friday shopping experience with my three aunts (Annya, Jessica, and Margie) and my uncle Ryan. We were going to go to Toys 'R Us at 10, but when we got there, the line wrapped all the way around the little strip mall. NO THANK YOU. So instead we went to another little strip mall where there was an Old Navy and a Best Buy. I volunteered to wait in line at Best Buy while they went and shopped at Old Navy when it opened at midnight. We were in line at Best Buy for a total of seven hours before the store opened at 5 a.m.! I was in line by myself until about 1, and then me, Ryan, and Jessica took one-hour shifts until it opened. We didn't get everything we wanted, but we still got some amazing deals. I got my brothers' Christmas presents for an amazing price.

After Best Buy, we met up with my mom, great aunt, Mimi, and MacKenzie for breakfast, then we headed to the mall. It's been a long time since I have pulled an all-nighter, so I threw in the towel and went and took a nap. After all the mall shopping, we went and ate at a Japanese steak house, and since it was the day before my birthday, I guess you can say it was kind of my birthday lunch. We then returned to Linda's house, where I took like a 5 hour long nap and then headed to Stillwater.

Once I arrived in Stillwater on Friday evening, Zach, Megan (his girlfriend) and I went to a laid-back bar called Stonewall, where the drinks are cheap and strong. Needless to say, I didn't need very many drinks. Once midnight hit, I went around the entire bar telling everyone it was my birthday. It was slightly ridiculous. After the bar, Zach took Megan and I to Mickey D's because he didn't want us getting sick, where we got McGang Bang's. Ever had one? Me neither. But when you are intoxicated it's quite possibly the best thing ever. And it was ridiculously cheap. It is a double cheeseburger with a McChicken patty between the two beef patties. Heart attack in a bag.

Saturday we napped all day while watching football, then went to the OU/OSU bedlam game. Fantastic game. Would have been a hell of a game even if OU had lost, but OU winning was a pretty legit birthday present for me. Because of being out in the cold so much during black Friday and the bedlam game, after the game I did not celebrate. Instead, I ate and then passed out. Sunday I drove back to Norman, whoopee.

Like I said before, I have been doing school work the entire week. HOWEVER, tonight will be a fun-filled night. It will be amazingly fantastic. Our annual alumnae tree trim is tonight, and then after my plaid family is having our 4th annual Plaid Christmas party. This isn't your typical holiday party included with dirty Santa. No no, instead, we get dirty gifts, and play dirty Santa. We also include adult beverages for the legals, and spend the hour or so bonding and getting to know each plaid a little better. We are the mafia, and we are very loyal to each other, and we love each other a lot.

I can't believe how close Christmas break is! I'm so ready for the holidays, it's unreal.

What a Weekend!

SO. Thursday evening I went out to celebrate being what I thought was the end of testing and papers. But as I explained in my last post, I was mistaken. But still, I went and hung out with our coaches from FIJI after we WON Tug-of-War in FIJI Olympics! I also realized that I may have possibly pulled or strained on of my quads. This is fantastic seeing as how I am in the half marathon next Sunday....awesome. Anyways, after all the fun-ness that was hanging out with our amazing coaches plus FINALLY getting to hang out with PC X, I had to take care of someone who had a bit too much. That was slightly depressing, but she's safe and sound :)

After all the celebrating, I went to class on Friday, which TOTALLY cramped my style. We are no longer being tested over any of the material in the class so it made it COMPLETELY difficult to stay awake (I had gotten about 4 hours of sleep!)

Friday night was probably one of the best times I've ever had! My pledge class through Panhellenic sorority decided to go on a pub crawl on campus corner! It was seriously probably one of the best times we've had as a pledge class, and there was no drama! SO much fun!:


Saturday morning, I got up a little early to help entertain some alumnae members from the '98-'00 pledge classes, and got to meet quite a few of my sisters. Then I realized that I was about to experience my last home game as an undergrad, and it made me kind of sad . . . so to fix this, I sat with my little/roommate and enjoyed the game with her, one of her brothers, and her father. It was a very sentimental moment for me, but I was so glad that my Sooners won my final home game!

Later that night after the game, a group of us sisters went to a pizza joint that is really close to our house. While at the pizza place, we decided that we all wanted ice cream, but none of us could decide on one together. So what did we do? We decided to do an ice cream crawl! The six of us went to three different ice cream places in Norman! It was slightly ridiculous.

Sunday seemed like the longest day ever, but it was such an amazing day! At noon, I went to have a brotherhood event for APO, and we played games that were silly and entertaining. Then I came back home to get all prettied up and ready for APO initiation. We had a fellowship before, where we all ate together while waiting to be initiated. Initiation was like, MAYBE 20 minutes long, I didn't quite know what to do with myself! Afterwards we took pictures together . . . here's one of my pledge class:

I AM OFFICIALLY A BROTHER OF ALPHA PHI OMEGA! It's pretty freakin' excitin'!
After I took care of some elections stuff with Alpha Gam, we had a post-initiation pledge fellowship at our pledgemaster's apartment. EVERYONE was ridiculous. I got home from that at about 2 a.m.

Today, I have been a good student: I went to all my classes, read some of the chapter that I need to use for my paper that is due on Friday, looked up questions for College Bowl, did a group project, WENT to my College Bowl meeting, and I also attended the men's basketball game (for like 20 minutes).

I am ONE BUSY PERSON.

This week/weekend will be too much for me to handle, hopefully it doesn't get too crazy and fly by too fast!

Hope you all had a happy Monday!

Another Friday come and gone!

First of all, can I just say that I'm so glad that Sam ended up joining my sorority. We had such a great time talking the whole way home to watch some Friday night football. I'm sure she learned more about me than she ever wanted to know (and more about a mutual friend too), but I appreciated the listening ear.

We then went straight to the football game (we were a little late, so I didn't get to see my brother announced before the game). At the end of the first, the score was 0-0, but it didn't last that long. At half time, the Pirates trailed 10-0 and never recovered. It irritated me because the stands DIED after half time. NO ONE was cheering anymore. Me, being the amazing sister that I am, stood up and cheered and cheered and cheered. By the way, my Pirates are the #2 team in 3A, and the team we played was the #1 team. They went on to score, and the game finished at Cascia 17, Sperry 6, but not without a fight. It was heartbreaking to see my brother's good friend BJ have to stand on the sideline during it all. He's our star running back, and he injured his knee in the game two weeks ago.

After the game, I showed off my class ring (I'm really really proud of it) and then had some damn good barbecue bologna. Heaven on a bun. I then went to Sean's/Sam's house, where 6 of us along with Seansie's parents hung out and laughed and embarrassed each other and wrestled and everything. I love Sean so much! He is my best friend and I don't know what it was about this week but I REALLY missed him. I forgot how much fun it is to hang out with him outside of work, and I also kinda forgot how much fun wrestling with friends is too.

Today was just flat out amazing. Nothing to big to report, just made me soooooo happy. I truly love my life, and those closest to me in it. I don't think there is anyone else on this earth that is as happy as I am. Can't wait for tomorrow! Family alllllllllllllll day + OU football = perfection.

Good night readers!