I love a lil thing called Winter Break!

The best part of college is.... You've guessed it, BREAK! I do truly love being on the go all the time (I get it from my mama) but there is nothing like being in your PJs all day and lounging around of course after doing all my chores that mom has left me. Yesterday was my cousin Jason's birthday, so Jodi and I made him supper for his birthday. After that we messed around on the computer with ringtones and funny emails. Its nice to get to be with both of them at the same time.
Tomorrow I plan on getting my Christmas shopping done; a task which I'm not looking that forward to, but oh well TIS THE SEASON!

It's Almost Over!

Today is the first day of finals week!!!! WOOO HOOO. It is a bitter sweet ending really. It is the last finals I will ever have to take because next semester I'll be student teaching and only have to give a presentation. So when Friday comes, I will have taken my last college test EVER... until grad. school that is :) I am so excited to start teaching full time, but a little scared as well. I can't wait to have my own classroom! Anyways... I have two presentations this morning for finals, so off to school I go.

Forgot to Post Pics

I'm Back!

Well the past 2 weeks I have been traveling the United States! I have been "jet setting" if you will from the Southwest to the East coast of BAWSTIN! (That's how to say Boston with the accent of course) Two weeks ago, Trav, my two cousins, and myself fly out to Las Vegas for a long weekend! It was absolutely awesome! The city is insanely busy and the lights don't stop. While we were out there we saw the UFC fight which was incredible as well as sat FRONT ROW to Kathy Griffin Live. Both were awesome and was so glad to be at both places. Other than that we gamble and enjoyed the strips of Vegas. Once we got back on Sunday, I went back to school for two short days and then turned around and flew from Chicago to Boston. I went with the IC Womens basketball team as an assistant coach. Boston was fun, but the weather there is SOOO much colder than here in IL. I enjoyed some FRESH seafood since we were bout 2 miles from the ocean. We also went to Salem, Mass where the infamous Salem Witch Trials took place. The next night we headed to downtown Boston and it was 8 degress outside!!!! We went to the actual Cheers bar and then headed to Quincy Marketplace and Fennial Hall (Spelling on that is wrong) There were tons of restaurants and shops. We couldn't do any of the real toursists sites because everything was out of season and closed by 4 pm. But overall, it was an alright trip, but needless to say I WAS PUMPED TO BE HOME!!!! There definitely is nothing like home! I hope everyone has a great Holiday and enjoys family, food, and fun tomorrow!!! I know I have a lot to be thankful for. I have great friends, a WONDERFUL family, and have been blesses with many opportunities that have shaped me into the person I am today so I thank God for all those wonderful things!

I don't have time to give you the full explanation of Vegas, but we had a BLAST!!! Here a few photos. Frank Stallione, Fremont with the other Okawvillians, and the Bellagio ceiling with my camera effects are the photos above. I will try to give a break down of what we did each day at a later date, but now I am busy packing for BOSTON, which I leave tomorrow for with the Womens IC bball team. I am going as an assistant coach. Off to class!!!

HOLY COW.... I'm the Worse Blogger ever!

So I just want apologize now for not updating this for 29 days!!! YIKES! It really is hard to believe its been that long, but I am making a pact to myself to update this at least twice a week. So let's fast forward a month and begin fresh! I have been busy teaching, doing homework, and planning my trip to VEGAS!!! I leave tomorrow with my brother and two cousins! It is going to be so much fun! The best part about the whole thing is that last Thursday I got a call from Jason, my cousin, to see what I was doing on Nov. 13. I was like I don't know let me look at my schedule, 30 seconds later, I was asked to go to Las Vegas and couldn't turn down the opportunity!!!! So we leave tomorrow evening and get back Sunday night!! I am so excited because I have never been and who doesn't love shopping, booze, and gambling :) SORRY MOM Anyways.... I am going to start my OGT like Miss Heather does. My ONE GOOD THING for today is last night I got to spend the night with my mama!!! She came up to IC to talk to my honor society about Pampered Chef. We got to have dinner and just talked for awhile. I'm ready for a few days at home just to lounge and drink some wine with my favorite people!

Also, I have posted a few pictures from Halloween. I was a WHOOPIE CUSHION.

CRAZY WEEKEND is finally over!

Well it has been a crazy week here!!! So I'm glad that today is Monday and we are off to starting a new week! Thursday was my 22nd birthday (as well as Heather's bday... I think she's 24 :) ) Thursday was celebrated with me, Andrew, and 12 girls going to dinner at the Toad for some pizza and drinks. The night ended up being a blast but I'll let you fill in the blank with what we all did! Friday was Follies here on campus. Follies is the all school talent and variety show and anyone can sign up and they pay out for the top 3 places. Well myself and a friend did a SNL skit with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. I played Mrs. Clinton and we rocked it out. We ended up winning 2nd place for 50 bucks! So that was fun. I'm going to try and post some of the video online so you can see it. Everyone loved it and laughed their butts off so that was our main goal.
Saturday was a busy day! Mom came up for the football game and homecoming parade. After the game, Mom and I went to Andy's for dinner with his family and his roommates families. After that we went to the Homecoming Dance. The dance was a blast and the first two pics are from the dance.
I hate to end this blog so quickly without any details, but life is so crazy and I'm going to be late for work this morning. I'll be sure to update tomorrow or Thursday when things settle down!

Lots of Stuff... So Little Time

Well I spent last Wed. - Sun. in Grinnell, Iowa. You think the corn fields of IL are boring, well I've got news for you!!! Iowa beats our ass! hahaha The reason I was in Iowa for so long was because of our conference golf tourney!! We are 6 PEAT Champions!!! Which is extremely exciting because not only have we set school records, we get an automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament in Florida in May. While in Iowa, a few exciting things happened. 1- One of my teammates, Nicole, shot a hole in one! First in school history so that was exciting! 2- I got to see Coop and Pat. I was in the wedding in June and it was so wonderful to catch up and see them. Coop was really excited that we visited, so we went shopping at an outlet mall and then went to dinner. After being with them for a few short hours, I realized how much I miss Coop and Pat! 3- FEVER BLISTERS!! Wednesday I had a fever blister when we got to Iowa. Thursday it had gotten worse. Friday and Saturday the pain had persisted into my face and I knew then that I didn't just have a fever blister. Sunday I spent crying a lot because of the pain and then Monday I finally went to the doc. I had spent Monday morning and Sunday night just crying because of the execuiating pain. Well after a doc visit, I have neuralgia. It is basically the damage/infection of the nerves on the left side of my face. I'm really lucky it didn't hit my facial nerve because then I'd have paralaysis. So basically I'm doped up on seriously nerve pain meds and so far they have worked. This pain is seriously one of the worst I've had in my life. This is all caused by stress, so basically I'm just trying to de-stress!!! Just ask MOM, lol she knows how awful its been.
Next on the list! Yesterday started Homecoming Week!!! The theme is Hollywood on the IC Hilltop. Tonight and tomorrow we have powderpuff games. We are the defending champs and got real football jerseys this year, so I'm excited about that. I play quarterback and we have to play the juniors. Our game tonight should be the championship game, but the luck of the draw didn't make it that way! The rest of the week we have fun activities going on with a semi-formal dance on Saturday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Travis today! I can't believe my little brother is 21! Insane how it seems like last week when we were 5 and 6 and he cut my hair while Dad was napping on the couch!!
Well I hope everyone has a great week and another Congrats to Erin Shubert for getting engaged over the weekend. I got a text from her that read "I was the first to drive, the first to drink, so I might as well be the first to get engaged!" CONGRATS ERIN

October ALREADY????

Well this post will be quick since I am sitting here drinking my coffee, reading the paper online, studying for a test I have in 2 hours, and attempting to update my blog. Today I leave for Grinnell, Iowa for the MWC golf tourney. This is our conference tourney and the winner of this gets to go to the National Golf Tourney which is in Florida this year. This following link is to our Midwest Conference Website. http://www.midwestconference.org/wgolf/2008/9_30_08.pdf You can see when we tee off and what each player shots and so forth. Also, I was named Player of the Week, so right now there's an AWFUL picture of me up on their website. This week has been crazy with trying to get everything caught up for all the classes I am missing the next 2 days. Last night, my junior high team had a game against one of my best friends, Fatty! So it was great to get to see her and her family who came to the game. After an ugly 24 minutes, we came out victorious!! It was a blast getting to coach vs her. Well I hate to get off so quickly, but time is money!!!
Also, there was a tragic death in our small town this past week with a farming accident. Please keep Nick's family in your thoughts and prayers.

Saturday in a Hotel

Well as the title of today's blog reads, I'm sitting in our hotel room after a days worth of 18 holes on the Links. Today was a pretty good day as I shot a 78. I am currently tied for 2nd with 5 other girls. So tomorrow is a big day and hopefully I'm up for the challenge of kicking some butt!! Earlier this week, I got to coach my first jr. high game and we WON!!! Believe me, it is nothing like watching 7th and 8th grade ball at home, but we are learning and getting better and that's all that matters. We are currently 2-1 and play on Tuesday vs. my best friend's team (Fatty's team). They unfortunately aren't the greatest either, so it should be interesting to say the least. Well nothing else exciting has been going on, other than busy days full of classes, meetings, practices, and doing homework. I am soooo ready to be a real teacher :)

Teeing it up!

Well I'm sure you can tell that my weekend was spent golfing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! And I got even luckier on Sunday!!! There were 120 golfers in the two day tourney in Bloomington. My team, Illinois College, and Tiff's team, U of I Springfield, did not play with each other on day 1. However, on day 2, the teams are paired up with how you finished the 1st day. Well my team was in 13th place and Tiff's was in 16th place. Since four schools play together our schools got too!!! Then to make it even better, we both were playing the same position on the team that day!!! CRAZY, LUCKY, or just a plain Okawville thing?? So on Sunday, just like old high school days, Tiff and I got to play a round of golf together!!! It was such a blast to have Mom, Dad, Dave, and Karen watch us play together.

Even though I had an excitement weekend, Andy did too!! He had a football game up in Lake Forest, IL and at the end of the game he got tackled hard. When he was laying down he was having trouble breathing, so he just thought he got the wind knocked out of him really hard! Well after our trainer looked at him he said either a bruised rib or broken rib! So at 1 am and an X-ray and Cat Scan later, Andy broke his 9th rib!! He goes to the doc today to find out just how long he'll be out!

This week gets crazier and crazier. I'm not sure I've let anyone know yet, but I am assistant coaching the 7th and 8th grade girls basketball team here at the Jr. High in town. I LOVE IT!!! I'm so excited to get to coach. It's way different than O-town because most of these girls don't play until they get into 6th grade, so fundamentals are lacking! But the girls listen and we have a few athletes, so it makes for interesting practices. We have our first game this week, but I have class, so I can't attend! I'll keep you updated on that.

Well I need to get off and head to school, but I just wanted to wish my mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! She's 46 years young!! I LOVE YOU MOM!!

Boring Day!

Today has been just a normal routine day. Nothing exciting except work, classes, practice, and off to open gym. So instead of posting just my boring day, I'm going to post some pictures from the weekend and from Andy and I being bored this afternoon. We always make fun of those people who take like 3000 pictures of themselves, so we decided to do just that!

The pic of the left is our fight picture!! And the one of the right, well I guess it's just kind of normal!

WONDERFUL WEEKEND AT HOME!

Sorry I'm a little behind on updating, but I didn't bring my computer home for the weekend. This past weekend was the biggest weekend in my community, the Wheat Festival!! Even though I'm not a young kid anymore, I still love the Wheat Fest. It was so nice to get to see all my friends and girls whom I haven't seen in awhile. On Friday, I went to the Miss Okawville Fair Pageant to watch my beautiful godchild Kaidyn and my SISTA SUE Zoe. Zoe was the retiring Jr. Miss! After a long and HOT night, Kaidyn was crowned 1st runner up and she didn't cry (which I think was a biggere defeat!) Saturday was another hot and humid day! In the morning I got my dyed to a brunette! Everyone seems to like it except my family! Imagine that! Saturday night was filled with remincing about high school days with all of my classmates. After a few drinks, we got the bright idea to start a flippy cup game in the middle of the park. It was a blast and many of us felt like crap the next day. Sunday was my favorite day, PARADE day! After a crappy morning of weather, Sunday turned out to be the nicest day of the weekend! Later on in the night, my friends Christine, Allison, and Carrie all enjoyed 2 of the carnival rides! (One ride in which we didn't even pay for because those GOOD LOOKING carnies thought we were HOT!) We all laughed and screamed on both rides and felt like we were in Jr. High all over again.

It was great to go home once again. Now I won't be home for at least a month or until Thanksgiving depending on when basketball all starts up.

Pleasant SURPRISES!!!

Today was a GREAT day!! Last night when Andy came to my house he had something behind his back. Of course, because I know he's Mr. Predictible, I said why in the world did you buy me flowers!!! He gave me a dozen of red and pink roses. The occassion?? There wasn't one. The card said Just Because! I am very lucky! Then today when I got home from my classes and practice, I had a card laying on my bed from Heather! In it was a great surprise as well, a giftcard to Subway! It's perfect because I usually eat Subway before our basketball games. (THANKS AGAIN HEATHER) Also, I let Andy know what I got from Heather and I let Heather know what Andy got me, and they have decided to out do each other! I'm glad to be in the middle of that arguement! :) Anyways.... tonight Andy and I made homemade lasgana! It is fantastic. I'm eating as I type. Other than that, it was a good day!

Unexpected Drive Home

This past weekend was filled with golf, gallons of gas, and good times! Friday we had a golf tourney at Knox and it was UGLY!!! I played awful and my team did the same thing. It was not a good day, but I did get to eat a 30 dollar steak on IC's tab. So that was good! On Saturday, we played at Monmouth and after a few rough holes, I got my head out of my butt and played some pretty good golf. I ended up tying for 4th place, but got 5th due to a scorecard playoff. After the tourney, we drove back to school and got back early enough that I decided to come home for a good friend's wedding. It was so nice to see everyone and dance the night away. The night ended with me and enough wine to just go to bed as soon as I could! Sunday was much of a loafing day! Dad and I watched football all day while Mom and I cooked and baked all day. I was going to head back to school after a delicious steak dinner, but there's just something about being at home that I couldn't pull myself away from. Today, after an early morning wake up call (right Mom) I headed back to school. I had to go to my placement at the High School again today and this time my outlook on high schoolers isn't as harsh, but I still don't think I like it that much yet.

Better Late than Never!

Well I feel like I am a little behind on updating (thanks to a certain someone), but I'm back. This week has been absolutely crazy. I started my on campus job this week in the Education Dept. It's kind of nice to work in the same department as my major because I get to see my teachers as actual humans. And I've discovered that most of them aren't as organized as they seem to be! Tuesday was just another day of classes, practice, and HOT weather. It was awful outside! The heat index was 98 and the high humidity just made it an unpleasant day. So needless to say, golf practice was yucky! Yesterday was my first day of being with my future student teacher. I am placed at the local High School here in town and after 5 minutes of being in the hallway with those students it made me realize 1- I'm freakin old, 2- High school kids are little smart asses, and 3- I really think I want to teach middle school or elementary. When I told a few of my teachers here at IC, they all said that with my personality they could see that coming. Going into this, I really thought I wanted to teach HS, but now I'm thinking younger kids is my thing. Last night I had my ungodly LONG nightclass from 6:30 to 10. I'm not sure how many powerpoint lectures and videos I can sit through in one semester. But like Heather said, it'll be over before I even know it.
The past few days it has poured here! We've been in a flash flood warning for the last 2 days. Tomorrow morning I leave at 8 am for two golf tourneys this weekend. I hope the weather isn't as bad 2 hours north of here or else that will make for a long weekend of golf. Well I don't think there's been anything else exciting going on.
Today's quote is from the movie School of Rock! It makes me laugh everytime.
"My name is Dewey Finn. And, no, I'm not a licensed teacher, but I have been touched by your kids. And I'm pretty sure I've touched them."

Busy Busy Weekend

Well I'm a few days behind (right, Heather) but I had an extremely busy weekend. Friday, my Dad and Travis came up in the afternoon so we could all play golf. After we played 9 holes, we came back to the house and relaxed and enjoyed stories with each other. Once Mom got here, we all went out to dinner at the Applebee's in town. Once we got back, it was like 9:45pm and I was ready for bed! Travis went out with a couple of my friends while Mom and Dad watched some TV and hit the sack. Saturday morning came way too early. I had to be up before 6am to be at the course by 6:30. I woke up to the wonderful smell of breakfast. Mom had gotten up early to make breakfast for my roomies and me. It was delicious! We began the IC Invitational Tourney at 8am on Saturday. After a long day of the heat, I had shot an 81. After the first day of the tourney, my family and I hosted a golf team BBQ at our college house. Mom made homemade mac and cheese and Dad grilled some brats and burgers. All the girls brought something and everything was great. After everyone left, Mom, Dad, and I went to a friend's house to say hello and have a birthday drink with her and then we went to our favorite local establishment for a beverage. Two of my good friends were bartending, so it was nice for my parents to talk to them. Not a late night, because we were all exhausted.
Sunday morning it was the same routine of getting up way too early. On Sunday I shot a 79. I was happy with this score, but I could have played at least 3 strokes better!! At the end of the tourney they gave out awards. My team got 3rd place overall and lost by 3 strokes to the 2nd place team. I was tied for 5th place individually with 3 other girls. Once they did a scorecard playoff (they take your back 9 score and who ever has the best, gets the better place) I ended up getting 7th place. I was pretty pumped about this because it was our first tourney of the year and I had never placed in this tourney in the two years previous.

After the tourney, Mom and Dad came back to the house and got all their stuff. It was tough saying goodbye this time. I think we all had tears in our eyes at some point. Moments like those make me realize I may not be able to ever move too far away from home :) Today I have a busy day of classes, work, and meeting tonight for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
Today's quote: Golf is like a love affair. If you don't take it seriously, it's no fun; if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart. ~Arthur Daley

VERY VERY PuMpEd!!!

This morning I could barely wait to get outta bed I was sooo excited and relieved all at the same time. My dad finally has a JOB!!! WHOOOO HOOOOO I found out last night during one of my night classes and I could barely contain myself. He will begin working at Lee's Sports as an assistant sales rep. Hopefully he'll move up the ladder quickly! Last night I had my first night class that lasted from 6:30 pm to 9:50 pm and he got out at 9:43pm!! It was awful! Its a alcohol and addiction pysch class which sounds great, but it was terrible. The teacher lectured for an hour and 20 mins and then we watched an addiction video for 2 hours and then class was over. I'm not sure, but I don't know many people who can sit in a room for 3 hours and 20 mins and not a say word!!!!!! This morning I have to go work for one of my ex-teachers Mrs. Cockerill. I've had her every semester until now since I've been at IC. She moved into a new office and building on campus so she asked if I could come and help file some stuff for her. Of course, I couldn't say NO!! (I think I get that quality from my mother) Today I have class from noon til 4, then playing 9 holes, then working out, and then I believe me and a few friends are going to head to downtown J-ville for a few drinks.
Today I'm not throwing out a quote, but a piece of info. One of my former teammates, Kristin, was in a car accident 2 days ago. The person who hit her died, but she is in stable condition now. She has a shattered femur and ankle in one of her legs. She's had surgery and they think everything will be ok!! Keep her in your thoughts!

HUMP Day!

It's finally Wednesday and we are about to jump over the "hump" of the week. Yesterday was the 1st day of classes and nothing really exciting there. I already had homework in the two classes I had yesterday and along with the homework came a fever blister! I guess seeing all the projects that are due throughout this semester was a little overwhelming. So I had to exercise it all off last night. One of my teachers, Amy, and I took a 2 mile walk. It was nice catching up with her again and just talking about life. For those of you who don't know, Amy is the teacher who I kept in contact with over the summer. Today is my first day of my pyschology night class. NOT EXCITED ABOUT IT! The class starts at 6:30pm and ends at 9:50pm. I have no clue what I'm going to do for that long!! Anyways... in 3 days we have our first golf tourney here at school. I can't wait to see my mom and dad!! Off to shower and get ready for my classes this afternoon and this evening.
Today's quote: When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass! Bobby Knight

Back to School

Today is the first day of classes! It is so hard to believe that in 4 months I'll be student teaching and in 9 I'll be a part of the "real world"!!! I don't have class til noon everday of the week. Most of would be pumped to have this schedule but not me. I'm so much more of a morning person. So I've promised to get myself up at 7:45 am each day and begin working out at 8. So far, so good! I can't wait to see all the professors and fellow classmates. Tonight I think I'm going to grill out. Gotta use up some of the meat Mom and Dad sent with me! There is not much going on today other than class. Yesterday I had a basketball meeting. I was excited to see all the girls and the meeting ended up being more a catching up session with everyone. It seems that everyone is pretty excited about the upcoming season.
Today's quote: "If you aren't living on the edge, then you are taking up way too much space!"

Exciting Weekend

Yesterday was a great day! I woke up way too early but that's alright. Yesterday morning I ran some errands in Jacksonville and then decided to stop in on the IC girls soccer game. There I saw a few of my friends who hadn't seen all summer long. It's so nice to catch up with everyone. The token question always seems to be "How was your summer?". At about 3 pm Joe and Fatty made their way to my house. Andy, Mere, Joe, Ash, and Me all sat around in our living room listening to music, enjoying a few beverages, and catching up. It was so great to see them and they are sooooo happy! They got 5 sets of wine glasses from their wedding and couldn't take one of them back. So guess who got it? ME. Joe said it was my early birthday present! I hope he wasn't that serious! At about 5:30 all five of us went out to dinner at CR's. A little dive diner with great greasy burgers and 1.75 beer! After CR's, we went to the Toad for a mixed drink or two and then headed to one our other friend's house. At about 11, I was pooped and so were they. So they headed home and I hit the sack. Today should be an exciting day. It's a friend of mine's birthday today. They are having a tequilla themed birthday party! Who knows how crazy that'll get. I think Renae may make a trip to my house and then we will head to that party. Tiff may even come up too!! Well that's all for today. I hope my mom, Heather, and friends had a great time at the concert last night. They went to see The Boss himself. From the voicemails, it sounded like a good good time.
Today's quote was given to me by Heather: Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.

Just Another Friday

Today I woke up bright and early to get up for a wonderful golf practice. Nothing too exciting there. We had to play 9 holes and chip and putt. I shot a 40, which I am not extremely happy with. This afternoon I am reorganzing for the upcoming school year. Today is campus is crazy. The incoming freshmen and transfer students are all moving in. Tomorrow and Sunday most of the returning students will be coming back. I can't wait to see so many familiar faces. Tonight I believe Andy and I are going out to dinner. He finally has a free night away from all the football meetings. This weekend will be exciting with lots of celebrating of the new school year. I think even the newly married Joe and Fatty may make an appearance and stay at my house tomorrow night!
Today's quote is from John Ray: Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.

BORED BORED BORED

Well I have officially moved back to school for the year and right now I'm bored stiff!!! My days usually consist of getting up for golf practice, coming home after 5 hours of golf to eat and lay down, then off to Family Video for another movie! I can't wait til everyone gets back on Saturday. Our first day of classes begin on Tuesday and I couldn't be more ready. It is hard to believe that in 9 months I'll be in the real world trying to find a job. Tonight my boyfriend, Andy, is coming over after his football meeting to watch one of the four movies I rented today. And since this is my first blog, I decided that I want to leave a random quote at the end of each post.
So here goes the first one, Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.