Could I Have More Clothes?!?

Ok, so I know I blogged yesterday about my new cheap finds, but I'm also trying to down size my closet right now because I have to move home at the end of July. I quickly realized what a clothes horse I've become after four years of college! I might be buying on sale, but I guess I also need to make a trip to Goodwill! This is only about HALF of my winter wardrobe. The other half was taken home months ago after it broke 65 degrees in Athens. You might be confused from the gigantic pile of winter clothes I have, but I don't actually like to wear or buy winter items and therefore I have about twice as many summer clothes (just look what's left in that closet and I actually have two closets)! Fortunately I'm not really into buying shoes or else I would definately be in BIG trouble. It's amazing how many things have accumulated during the two years I have lived in this apartment and now I have to pack it all up and take it home every weekend to avoid a big move out with the rest of the tenants at The Summit!

Weekend Rewind

Whew! What a busy weekend! Fortunately for me, my English professor only wants to have class four days a week instead of five (love him) so all that was standing between me and the weekend was an hour of Spanish. A lovely three hour drive in the car awaited me at 2:00 and to make matters worse, my seat recently broke and I now have to make the drive sitting straight up.

Friday night, I pulled up to Lance's house and said hello to my puppy before being wisked away to Kyle and Kayla's house. Kyle is one of Lance's coworkers and we really enjoy spending time with them. They've been married for three years and since they only moved to Tifton a few years ago, they still don't really have many friends there. They made some delicious steak and chicken fajitas, but I ate mine with just veggies. We left there house around 10 to go home and let the baby dog inside so he could watch a movie with us. Lance chose Walk The Line and I forgot just how sweet that movie is!

Saturday was even more crazy than Friday! After the backache I got from my car seat on Friday I decided to get a mechanic to take a look at it. If only they had been open...hmmm...just my luck! We decided it was about time to break in Lance's new house with a party and after inviting a few friends over, we went to the grocery store to pick up some supplies. My old roommate, Alisabeth, came over with her lab, Ophelia, to play while Lance grilled us some burgers. Eventually Josh Barnes, one of our friends from high school, came to hang out and eat and then one of my best friends, Meg, and her boyfriend, Mark, drifted in.

This weekend reminded me why I love summer so much! Grilling and hanging out with new and old friends is always the best form of entertainment, especially in a small town! Now, if only I didn't have to start studying for my Spanish test tomorrow, then this weekend would be perfectly relaxing!

Hope To Become a Sharp Smopper 1101

Everyone knows that I'm a total thrift shopper. I can't stand to spend more than about $15 on one item of clothing and if I can get it cheaper, I always do! Considering the fact that I am about to graduate from college a be a real adult means that I really have to become a sharp smopper (or smart shopper). Recently, I've been finding what I consider to be some really cute and really cheap finds at our local discount stores (K-Mart and Wal-Mart).

I got these really cute sandals from K-Mart for a mere $16 (they were originally $22). I've been eyeing them for a few weeks and when I saw them on sale, I had to have them! Any girl out there knows how expensive clothes can get and I for one refuse to pay the big bucks for two scraps of waterproof fabric. I frequently make trips to Wal-Mart and when I saw this cute suit for a $7.50 apiece, I bought the red one immediately and later when back to get another color. Apparently I'm not the only girl who likes a sale though, they were almost all gone a few days later!

I'm the queen of cheap shopping and I get some pretty cute things, if I do say so myself! The key is to look at cheaper stores and to keep your eye out for discounts. I'm pretty determined to get things onsale and I usually won't breakdown and by something unless it's onsale or I absolutely have to have it and it's already pretty cheap. Some of my favorite cheaper stores are Forever 21, H & M, Target, Wal-Mart, Old Navy, and K-Mart. Now it's your turn to go out there and find the deals!

I'm Like a Bird

Sick, sick, sick. I'm so sick of school. I absolutely LOVE physically being in a classroom and listening to a professor explain the deep intellectual aspects of literature in a profound and life altering way, but I absolutely HATE studying, doing homework, and taking tests! If I were a truly smart person, I would have looked into taking a study abroad for my final section of Spanish, but apparently I'm not! Right this very minute I could be taking in all the beautiful scenery of Spain or Costa Rica and actually being graded on sightseeing! Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful that my final classes at UGA are going well (so far), but I am also dying to travel! I haven't been anywhere I couldn't drive to in such a long time. Last summer, Lance and I drove down to Key West with some friends. Although we had the time of our lives, I want to go somewhere farther. If you can believe it, Lance has never actually flown on a big commercial airline. The first time he flew on a plane was about two years ago for forty-five minutes on one of Sonny's friend's private planes. He needs to go somewhere far far away! Hopefully this time next year I will be touring Europe and having the time of my life, but for now, it looks like I'm stuck in Athens for just a little longer!

No Me Gusta Hablar Espanol!

Even though I participated in the UGA 2009 graduation in May, I don’t technically graduate from college until I have passed my final two classes. I had one last English elective to fill and that gave me the freedom to choose which genre I’m interested in opposed to being forced to fill a pre 1800 requirement! No Beowulf or Chaucer for me this summer! Thank goodness! Instead, I choose a class focusing on the writing of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, taught by one of my favorite professors at UGA. Dr. Vance’s classes focus more on the small details of the works and then tests rather than numerous papers! Even though this class starts at 9 am four days (it’s supposed to be five days per week but he informed us today he doesn’t want to meet 5 days a week) a week, I’m still really really excited about taking this class!
Anyone who knows me is aware that I am petrified of taking foreign language classes at UGA. My first Spanish class was a combination of level 1 and level 2 that I had four days a week Spring ’08. Fortunately, I had a great experience with my professor and other class members and passed it with a B+. Spanish 3 gave me even more anxiety! Once again, I was so fortunate to have one of the most AMAZING professors I have ever had for any area in college courses. Having a great professor makes a class so much more enjoyable and I was able to get a B+ in this course also. When signing up for Spanish 4, I didn’t get so lucky! I stupidly thought that because I was taking the fourth class immediately after taking Spanish 3, I would be absolutely fine! Boy was I WRONG! Technology provides us with so much information but unfortunately I didn’t use that to my advantage the first time I signed up for Spanish 4. Instead of checking my professor grading scale online and looking up other students comments on him, I just walked blindly into a classroom with the worst professor ever. Trying to be brave, I stuck it out in that Spanish for about a month. Slowly slipping behind, I just gritted my teeth and tried to keep my head above water. The breaking point came when I took my first test for the course. Normally I’m a pretty speedy test taker (if I don’t know it the first time I read the question, then I’m probably not going to know the answer if I stare at it for another 20 minutes) but on that day I ended up staying 10 minutes after class was supposed to be over. I hesitantly handed my test to my professor, made it to my car, waited all the way until I got back to my apartment and then I burst into tears! The entire weekend I was anxious and upset just waiting for my professor to post the grades like he promised he would do before Monday’s class. Being the horrible teacher he was though, he failed to post the grades and waited until we were all in class together before letting me know that my intuition was correct in assuming I had failed the test. Never in my life have I made below a C- on a test, but I managed to make a 69 on this test. Once again I went home and burst into tears and then sent my professor an email basically begging him to let me drop his class with a W instead of a WF (withdraw/ withdraw failing). The only kind and helpful thing he did for me the entire class was allow me to drop his class while I was considered passing!
All of that debacle left me extremely nervous about signing up yet again for Spanish; however, I went at 1 o’clock today for my first class and was relieved to discover that my teacher seems to be a very nice man AND I was actually able to understand almost everything he said (you’ll know that this is an extremely huge deal if you’ve ever taking a foreign language)! Whew! What a stressful day of anticipation! I’m so thankful today is Friday and I don’t have to go back to classes for another 3 days!

Surprises!

Today has been an extremely exciting and tiring day for me. It started about seven this morning when I woke up and decided to make blueberry pancakes for my last breakfast in Mom's house before going back to lonely Athens! After Mom and I finished our delicious breakfast we got ready and loaded down our cars with stuff! Our family got some VERY exciting news yesterday! Lauren and Eddie found out their baby is a BOY and our family couldn't be more excited! Mom and I decided we just HAD to go see Lauren. We picked out some cute baby boy items that represented our favorite things and gave them to her today. Mom is always wearing a robe and slippers around our house and felt it would be fitting to give the baby something she loves to wear in a miniature size. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love blankets. I have special blankets that I sleep with every night in my bed up in Athens and some for my bed at Mom's house. I found an extremely soft blue baby blanket and decided it would be the first of many I would give to the new baby!

After giving our fun presents to the baby we decided to go for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Eddie met the three of us there and we had the most delicious pizza! Unfortunately, I had to be back up in Athens before five in order to extend my parking permit. I had no desire to be back up here so early, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. Fortunately, one of my very good friends, Anna Chestnutwood, invited me over to her house to keep me company. Her roommate Lauren is hysterical and I always get a kick out of hanging out with the two of them! They always know how to cheer me up when I'm sad about leaving Lance and my family to come back to school! Lauren's boyfriend, Chance, works at Long Horn in Athens and he invited us to come down and keep him company tonight while he worked! Hanging out with old friends is always a hoot!

Wish me luck on my first day of classes tomorrow! My first one starts at 9:15 and the second one starts at 1. I'm so nervous about taking Spanish 4 but Lance was so wonderful and encouraging before I left. He always knows how to calm me down! The plan is for him to bring Finn up to Athens tomorrow so we can spend the weekend together up here, but his truck has been acting up! Hopefully they won't break down on the side of the road!

Growing, Growing, Growing

Our baby boy is growing up SO fast! Finn turned six months old last weekend and he's growing like a weed! He can wipe out a forty pound bag of food in about 2 months! His adult teeth have come all the way in and although he does still have a nasty habit of bitting our hands, he has gotten tremendously more obedient. He knows how to fetch a ball and drop it at our feet afer bringing it back. We are working on teaching him to shake (sometimes he puts his hand up immediately and other times he's just more interested in getting a treat). Much like his aunt Dixie; Finn LOVES to be brushed!

Recently Finn's best friend, a boxer named Bama, moved back to Alabama with his mom, Jen (one of Lance's co-workers). We were all so sad to see them go because the puppies played so well together. Bama is about 5 months older than Finn and when they were together they would wrestle and chase each other for hours!

In other news, Mom and I are leaving on Thursday morning and driving to Lauren's house to see her baby video! After we spend some time with her, I have to drive back to Athens. I am extremely nervous about starting Spanish 4 considering it has been exactly one year since I took Spanish 3! Hopefully everything will turn out well and then I will officially be a college graduate!

I'm so excited about being an aunt to a new baby boy! I can't wait to meet him in October!