Of Chaos and Ants

Some days are more chaotic than others, you can have a day which is relaxing, happy and carefree and then 24 hours later you're sitting at your kitchen table, surrounded by bills, taxes and a not so potty trained puppy while eating ants. Today was an ant eating day.

A few weeks ago we began renting a house, we moved in and discovered that there were some ants, the landlord sent out an exterminator and they began to die. All was well. More on the ants to come.

The week after we moved in, my sister rescued a puppy, he was only 9 weeks old, adorable and the scraggliest little thing I ever saw. He had been relocated from a high kill shelter here in Virginia up to New Jersey, so it was quite the little trip to bring him home. On the trip to pick him up, we learned that there are tolls that cost $8 on 95 and there are tolls that don't accept money but instead give you a ticket to take to the next toll. Also, it's illegal to pump your own gas in some states, I'm pretty sure Steph and I looked like owls when a random man came up to the window when we pulled up. In addition to the odd gas station situation, New Jersey is home to the "Blueberry Capitol of the World" and it's not a joke. Blueberry bushes or trees or whatever it is blueberries grow on, everywhere. And zero road maintenance. So there we were, lost in a world of blueberry bushes, with no cell service, massive holes in the road and roads named things like "Grape Lane." If you're ever bored, I highly recommend a trip to New Jersey.

Potty training a puppy, not so bad in theory, 12 accidents later reality hits. 25 accidents, the urge to throttle said puppy becomes stronger. It's a really good thing that he's cute.

Today I settled in to get organized, paperwork from the move, finishing up the apartment stuff, job hunting, drowning in misery over taxes, paying bills and other fun chores. About halfway through I got caught up and forgot to take Xander out, two accidents later I remembered that he needed to go out regularly. My bad, poor little guy. Then I realized that I had forgotten to eat all day, so I wandered into the kitchen to find food. I popped something into the microwave because, let's be fully honest here, that's about the extent of my cooking skills, and grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat while waiting. Halfway through the bowl I realized that the little black pieces were not actually part of the cereal but were, in fact, dead ants. Apparently when they invaded a few weeks ago they had made their way into the box of cereal and then had passed on after eating their fill of sugary goodness. In my distracted state I had consumed a decent amount of the deceased insects.

Moral of this story: Bills and taxes are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

If I die from eating poisoned ants, I'd like that left off of my tombstone.

Baby Xander's first day

The newest addition to our family

Combining college and life after

You'd think that after so many moves I'd come to terms with the fact that everything will either be packed or unfindable. Yet here I sit, determined to reduce the chaos caused by random house showings.

There are at least 5 storage bins under my bed, none of my drawers open because of the massive amount of clothes thrown in, my trash can holds a portion of my CD collection and is shoved in the back of my closet, you don't even want to know what the tv cabinet contains. Definitely not a tv. 

As I was sitting here, trying to determine when I began to accumulate so much stuff, it hit me. College. I've been graduated for nine months now and I still have not fully unpacked. The fact that I came down with mono the week I graduated can partially be blamed, but mostly I just don't want to deal with the headache of sorting through the stuff from my other home. 

Seriously, who wants to deal with the thousands of nail polish bottles that were bought during times of stress, the raingear that was used on a weekly basis in Drenchburg but hasn't been used since and the stack of falling apart textbooks that may never be used again but have earned a place of respect? 

Plus, you can't just pack away something that changed your life so much. If I'm going to spend the next 85 years paying back my student loans, I want to remember all the interesting things that happened over those years. 

The racing from class to class, helping freshmen get settled and find their way, and the people that you smile at in recognition as you pass them every day even though you don't know their names. The massive quantities of coffee that were consumed, the nights studying and the inevitable laptop crash that occurred nearly every single finals week.

I have coffee, Def Leppard, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi and several others are keeping me company and it's 23 degrees outside so I won't be tempted to go anywhere anytime soon. 

I will organize this stuff or die in the process, it could go either way at this point :) 

Amid the chaos of Christmas shopping and the world ending....

Christmas isn't the panicked shoppers racing around the mall, trying to find the perfect gift for a random friend they don't even really talk to. It's not the people diving into coffee shops for what they consider a much needed Quad Venti Gingerbread Latte, regardless of the fact that their eyes are already spinning in their heads from their last caffeine boost. Nor is it the massive tree hurdling down the highway, barely strapped onto the roof of tiny car. It's not the heated debate over whether employees should say "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" to customers.

Christmas is the boy standing with his trumpet in front of the grocery store, playing carols as he stands by a Salvation Army tin. It's the older man singing along with the trumpet as he loads groceries into his car, his deep voice never faltering, even when the trumpet player misses an occasional note. It's his wife, standing nearby and smiling softly and humming along in harmony as she watches him help her with the bags she can no longer lift. 

How many things do people miss as they barrel down the aisles at the store, trying to find the one ingredient they need that is no where to be found? 

Next time you're out, panicked and irritable because some moron almost ran you over while trying to race another driver for the last parking spot, take a second and look at everyone around you. Aside from the drivers who probably should never have been given a license in the first place. 

You might see twin five year old girls in matching pink fuzzy coats trying to decide what to get their older brother for Christmas. The frazzled woman who is running the check out counter at the store might be counting down the minutes until her son comes home from his deployment in Afghanistan, just in time to celebrate the holiday with the family. The couple waiting in line behind you for a table at the restaurant might be there to celebrate 61 years of marriage before their children and grandchildren come into town. 

Christmas only comes once a year, don't miss this one because you are too distracted by the lack of essential ingredients in your pantry or by the fact that your in-laws are coming into town for the first time in 12 years. Smile at the UPS guy as he drops your package off, ask the girl who is ringing up your 15 boxes of unsweeted baking chocolate how she's doing, drop a dollar in the tin at the door of the grocery store. 

My favorite part of Christmas is going with my family to take cookies to the firemen on Christmas Eve. Their looks of surprise and then the grins that appear when they realize it's for them is beyond priceless. Don't forget the people who work non-stop through the holidays to take care of the world around them.

Merry Christmas :) 

Things that make me happy

-Having my family all in one place at one time
-The Band Perry's new song "Better Dig Two"
-Traveling
-Red wine
-The dollar book shelf in the library
-The movies She's The Man and Van Helsing
-Trucks and Jeeps
-Newspapers
-My jeans with holes and paint all over them
-Huge sweatshirts
-Listening to someone play the guitar
-My old teddy bear
-The moment of panic and laughter when I almost run into someone coming around the corner in the restaurant kitchen
-My XI family
-My snuggly cat
-Grande Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with an extra shot
-Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Eric Church
-Road trips
-My calendar
-Summer
-My baby pillow pet penguin Scoobie
-Huge pink fluffy blankets
-Job interviews
-Backpacking
-Driving in the country
-Just Dance 3 with my family
-Walking into the restaurant at 10:45 every morning and seeing familiar faces
-My suitcase named Quinn who is currently in Barbados without me, along with my sister
-March Madness with KU
-Baking cookies
-Shirley Temple movies
-The Lord of the Rings
-Ballroom dancing
-Mint chocolate chip ice cream in a waffle cone
-The beach and the mountains
-Country boys and guys in the military
-Music people don't know about but should :Brothers by Dean Brody
-My candle that smells like strawberry shortcake that I've had for seven years
-Cindy Lou Who who was no more than two

A post of mono, discouragement and not burning the house down

Life after graduation....is not nearly as grand as I had hoped it would be. After submitting over 30 applications, I am no closer to finding a job than I was the day I graduated. But it's okay, I will continue to wipe tables at a restaurant with my diploma until I convince someone to give me an interview.

A lot has happened since I last posted, my desire to write decreased significantly after the first few rejections I got during my job hunt. Stupid Decision #2, the first one will be addressed later. After wallowing in discouragement for a good 5 weeks, I have decided to pick myself back up again and carry on :)

Finals week was exhausting, though the thought of being finished with exams pushed me to finish as best I could. Unfortunately, in the stress of finishing the semester, I decided to ignore the sore throat that I came down with about halfway through the last week of classes. This would be Stupid Decision Numero Uno.  The sore throat persisted for a week and continued to get worse so I dragged myself to the on campus doctors office. Those of you who know me well will understand what a drastic move this was on my part. Visiting a doctors office is about the equivalent of walking up to the gates of Mordor with a pocket knife on the courage scale for me. I was told that I had strep, given some sort of medication and told to come back in 3 days if I did not get better.

Three unfortunate days later, the over cheerful doctor announced that not only did I have a bad case of strep, but I had mono on top of it.

"Mononucleosis: an abnormal increase of mononuclear white blood cells in the blood." Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I'd prefer to describe it as the "can't walk up a flight of stairs without having to take a four hour nap when you reach the top" sickness.

Graduation dawned bright and early, dragging the exhausted participants out of bed at the unearthly hour of 4:30 a.m. Mr. Romney's presence at the ceremony required us to waltz our black robed selves through metal detectors and into the soccer field behind the new Welcome Center. I am convinced that we were put in that field for the sole purpose of saving the groundskeepers from having to aerate it. It was a very good plan as the high heels worn by the female graduates were probably more effective than the actual tools used for aeration.

Because I was feeling the effects of the sleepy medicine that the doctor put me on for mono, I do not remember much of the ceremony. I do, however, remember that the best part was when the founder of Chick-fil-a spoke. He is my hero and I am convinced that he is the sweetest person on the planet. Sadly for Mr. Romney, the only thing that I remember from his speech is that I won a bet with a friend regarding whether he would make a political statement during his speech or remain on topic. I am now $10 richer than I was on May 11th :)

I spent the rest of May and June sleeping. When people tell you that mono makes you tired, they aren't joking or exaggerating. I honestly slept about 20 hours in a row every couple days. I broke all of my previous "sleeping in" records.

July was spent on a three week missions trip to the Bahamas with the most incredible team I could ever ask for. The experiences ranged from roofing to washing hundreds of dishes. Our team became a close knit family and is a group of people that I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life :) I was able to set up a blog for the trip, it was really fun to be able keep the parents updated on what we were doing. Plus it was encouraging to hear parents asking which one was "the writer" when they picked their kids up. Apparently one doesn't need a job to be a writer :)

August was spent recovering from the missions trip, I wound up in the emergency room the day I came home. Let me tell you, there is nothing more interesting than sleeping three hours a night for three weeks in a row and then coming home to sleep, only to spend the time you were meaning to sleep hanging out in the ER. I have a new understanding of the words "mood swings." My poor family watched, with some amusement, me float around between struggling not to bawl my eyes out and roaring with laughter at something that really wasn't all that funny. There really is nothing more entertaining than absolutely nothing when you're over exhausted :)

Now I find myself in September already, still with no job but fully determined to enjoy where I am in life. Beck is at school in Lynchburg, Steph is at school in Barbados and Noah and I will be selling Boy Scout popcorn for the next few weeks. Nothing makes you feel like more of a creeper than sitting in your car and slowly following a 13 year old boy scout walking around a neighborhood. But the caramel popcorn makes it worth it :)

I'm reminded once again how wonderful life is, even when you're a college graduate who can't get an interview. Life is short and I really shouldn't be wasting the chance that I have to experience all that I can right now.

My goal for the next few months is to find a full time job, to learn how to cook without needing a fire extinguisher close by and to complete my Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. If you hear a loud explosion and see a mushroom cloud in the distance, please alert every cute fireman in the county and bring some marshmallows for s'mores. If I am unable to cook dinner, I can at least roast marshmallows over the ashes of my failure :)

Life is good :)

College....check!

My countdown has ended, I have officially graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication with a specialization in Journalism.

It's hard to believe that my time at Liberty is over. I've raced to my last bus stop, taken my last spill down the DeMoss stairs and sat in my last class with Deborah Huff.

I always assumed that when I finished college I would know exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. Now, I feel like I know even less than I thought I knew when I originally left for school. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but it's what I'm thinking right now.

As I sit here thinking about what an amazing experience I had at Liberty, another thought hits me. What on earth am I going to do with everything that came back from school with me? The unpacking process has begun, my room looks great! However, the hallway leading to my door has disappeared in a mound of crates, rugs, curtains, textbooks and portfolios.

What comes next? Well, as of right now, I'm focusing on recovering from the mono and strep that I came down with during finals week. I will be traveling to Mexico with my family after my little sister graduates from high school in a few weeks. Also in the plans is a mission trip with Xtreme Impact to an island in the Bahamas. I am looking forward to working with my small group of girls on this trip and interacting with the other Liberty student leaders and high school students that will be going on the trip as well.

After that, who knows what I will be doing! I am thoroughly excited about the fact that I have no serious commitments after August, no school to race off to and nothing I have to be. Except for the student loans that will be floating along in November, but that will come in its own time.

I am hoping to write for some sort of magazine or newspaper in the fall, if everything goes according to plan. But those of you who know me well are fully aware of how my plans usually work out. If you see someone living under a bridge, it might be me :)

But as of right now, I am a very content, very sleepy college graduate. I suppose this was a good time to come down with mono, rather than dealing with it during last semester. I don't think I have ever slept this much in my life. Apparently it is time for me to learn to slow down and relax some, at least that's what my boyfriend and family are telling me. We shall see how that goes :)

The CLAB

As I was sitting in the clab this evening, I realized that I don't have very many more nights that I'll be studying in a place like that.

I know I posted a list in my last post, but here's another one :)

Why I love the clab....
1. The wide diversity of the people in the clab. In less than a minute, I spotted people from India, Asia, Puerto Rico, Africa, Canada, Mexico and, of course, the States.
2. The shark-like movements of students as they circle the computers, looking for an open one.
3. The rush for an open couch when someone leaves.
4. The random guy wandering around, clicking off the number of students in the clab. I've always wondered what they do with those numbers...
5. The 3339 Coms Family, y'all know who you are :)
6. The one awkward couple that is clearly beyond twitterpated and well on their way to a ring by spring type of relationship.
7. The fact that there is a social and a study atmosphere at the same time.
8. Swiping your card at midnight, sounds nerdy but it's a fun to see everyone wandering in the direction of the front desk.
9. The vending machine that's never run out for as long as I've been here.
10. That moment when the lights go out as they start to close down for the night.
11. Seeing random friends throughout the night.
12. The random kid that's unconscious on the floor, papers floating all over the place.

I will definitely be missing the clab, nerdy as that may be :)