Creating a Mess

I have decided that my new goal is to become more crafty! Which in my mind means baking more things, creating more things, sewing, etc. Recently our Hobby Lobby had tons of patterns on sale for just $.99, which is unbelievable right!? Not just winter patterns, but Spring ones as well! I decided now was the perfect time to finally get back into sewing, since each pattern was nearly $15 lower than face value. And of course all the fabric was on sale, as it always seems to be at Hobby Lobby.

Although I now have twelve patterns, I am starting off with two in particular. One I am really doing more out of practice than anything else. It will be nice to have a new dress, but I really need to work on my sewing skills as well. I won't be overly offended if this dress isn't perfect. However, dress two and three are important. The second dress will be for a Masquerade Ball coming up in February, for SAEA. The second dress will be worn to my cousin's September wedding. I was orignally planning on purchasing a dress for that event, but somehow I am now on the task of creating a close replica to the dress I wanted to purchase. Which will be very difficult. Each pattern is a little harder than the first, with fabrics a little harder to work with. I believe I won't start the dress for my cousin's wedding until this summer, which also means I could sew other things between now and then for more practice.

At the moment my baking skills have only consisted of adding or subtracting ingredients to recipices. I made a banana bread loaf yesterday and cinnamon and banana nut muffins. Both were really good, but for some reason I didn't do something quite right in the muffins. They want to stick to the sides of the paper without releasing, almost as if baked into place. I did leave them in longer than directed, but it was only due to the fact that they were still too moist in the center when my timer went off.

I have included pictures of the patterns I want to sew, and I will include more as I take them. I have also included a picture of the Christmas stocking I sewed my boyfriend, Garrett. While nothing is really original on the stocking, its a Brucilla pattern, I tried to personalize it a little. His name tag is missing, I guess he'll get it next Christmas- but I did remove the doll that should be in Santa's sack [I think he appreciated that], and I customized the mini stocking. It has the St. Louis Cardinals logo. =) Its his favorite team and all.

Until I have something else fun or interesting...

P.S. A resource I value: http://sewlikemymom.com/category/tutorials/page/2/

Halloween Season!

Halloween Season is here! For the most part it may have already passed for me. I guess this really should be titled, Halloween Season/ Oktoberfest. The pictures of me in the denim shirt are from this year's Oktoberfest in Birmingham. I was the DD, which was fine since I don't like beer. I'm really not a fan of alcoholic drinks. Watching the dancing, hearing the music, and getting some good German food was amazing though. I was quite pleased.

I had to include the Oktoberfest in this post because it was hosted by Rogue Tavern in Birmingham, who also hosted this year's Witch's Ball. I believe it was the 7th annual Witch's Ball. The Witch's Ball is mostly a Halloween party for adults, but they will let you bring your small children inside. If you aren't 21 but look close to it you get branded. If you are 7, well they just let you walk right through the doors. I don't believe anyone would be selling drinks to a seven-year-old. It was a little odd going to a Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. I guess they hold it the week before because people are more likely to come, there is no Halloween party competition. Garrett as you can see, went as V from Vendetta. His wig wasn't in yet so he didn't wear the mask to the party. He was actually going to wear the whole get-up at this other party we planned on going to tomorrow, but since this party was fun enough, we won't be doing a tw0-party this year. I went as a German Bar Maid. Or so the description of the costume reads online. =)

Halloween will end this year with a few small activities. For instance, at Formaggios in the southside area, they are having a party tonight. Its only $5 to get in, and its "free"pizza all night. And tomorrow after work I will go home to see everyone trick'0 treat. And carve pumpkins on Sunday. =)

Iron Buns

Iron buns doesn't actually refer to my own butt, it refers to the butt of Patrick Starfish. I was just watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, where Patrick saves the day with buns of iron. =) If life could really be fixed with a toned butt, I would definitely start toning up.

So I guess I haven't had time to really write since this summer. I think its the same for my friend Karla, whom I originally shared an interest in blogging with. School has been overly busy for the both of us this semester, so its not always easy to take time out to write a blog entry. And sometimes I feel like my brain is so fried that I couldn't write an entry even if I wanted to.

Today I am taking the time to write because I am alone at my parent's house, just sitting on the couch procrastinating the beginning of homework time. I have to review eight books today, which I love. The books I have to review are children books- however, reviewing them makes me nervous. This is actually for a grade, and anything due for a grade makes me nervous. I am always worried I will do the assignment wrong.

As a college student I believe my weekends should include an event, party, etc. However, my weekend actually was based upon going to my sister's cheerleading competition. She unfortunately didn't even get to compete, sort of. She got kicked in the face by a cartwheel just a few seconds into the routine, and then was off the floor. I really believe they should have won, but they ended up in second. We believe it may have been the fact that they felt we had an unsafe routine, or points were reducted for my little sis leaving the competition floor. It happens, and excuses can be made, but we will never really know. After watching the competition my family left for the mountains. My little sister has her fall break this weekend, so they had four days off to go vacationing. My fall break isn't until next weekend, and I work on Thursday and Friday.... so I am really only getting Saturday and Sunday off. I think Karla and I are going to go get massages. =D And then I might get to go to Frightfest.

Last weekend I went to Oktoberfest, though. It was fun. I enjoyed watching all of the German dancing, hearing the music, and trying the food. It wasn't exactly a hopping place, but it was a neat experience.

Well I believe I must actually start that homework, its about 9am. If I want to get to watch Boardwalk Empire tonight I need to get on the ball.

Love Mess

What a mess I am in. My heart literally feels torn into pieces right now, over none other than my boyfriend. As of November we will have been together for two years, peaking my longest relationship time. But this past year and eight months has not been an easy road. While all things started out smoothly, they quickly escalated into choppy waters.

We were going out just six months when we both went home for the summer during a break at college. The distance between us was an hour and a half. Because he felt like he wanted to join the Navy he made no plans to return to school in the fall, which stressed our relationship to the max. After only going out six months it was hard to imagine staying with someone who would be gone on and off for four to six years. It was hard enough being separated between May and August.

It ended up being between May and January that we were in separate places. It actually became worse in August, since our college and his home town are over two hours apart. While thirty minutes doesn't seem like such a big difference, the extra hour to the overall trip adds up in gas and time. We fought about him coming back, how often we spoke, etc. and it was decided in the end that it wasn't the right time for us if he went into the Navy. So he actually decided not to go into the Navy and to go back to school.

When he came back in January I was ecstatic. We were living in the same dorm building, and I got to see him every day. I didn't have to worry about splitting my two open weekends a month between him and my family, which can cause some sore toes. We had a great four and a half months before he went home for the summer and I stayed in our college town. I rented space with a friend in her apartment so I could stay close to my job. I thought that Garrett would be doing the same thing, but he gave me a last minute shock when he told me two weeks before school let out that his plans had changed and he was going home.

I made him promise then that he would come back in the fall. He easy breezy told me there would be no problem.

Once living with my roommate in an apartment, I saw I didn't want to go back to the dorms and started planning living in an apartment this fall. While the location of the apartments changed over the summer, as did who would be in the apartment, I knew I would have a place to stay this fall. During this time I urged Garrett to call the dorms, which I had heard were filling up, to reserve a spot for this upcoming semester. He blew it off until there was less than a month left until school started. The result? The dorms he felt acceptable, and that he could actually afford, were full.

So now his dad is angry with him. He doesn't want to really help Garrett go to this school so far from home and pay for it all. I believe it has something to do with the lack of motivation he views in him toward going back to school. Or it could be a number of other things. But the final message is the same: if Garrett wants to go back to school here this fall he will have to finance it himself.

His dad makes too much for him to receive FAFSA, or to get anything worth while from a federal loan. He also is lacking a steady job, a large bank account, etc. I doubt he gets any money from a bank loan if he applies.

So here is where my heart is torn. I worry he won't go back to school. I told him to just stay home if he has to, and to attend college out there. But that would still only be if he got some kind of loan. Without a loan I am unsure of how he would finance college at all. Part of me sees this as being his fault, and another part knows that sometimes procrastination- while it may seem harmless- can really bite you in the butt.

What will happen to us if we are still separated another several months by a two hour drive? Or if he isn't in school at all?

I love him.

My Oh My, Goodbye July

I LOOVVVEEEE July more than any other month. This is the month I usually get to go on some sort of nice vacation with my family, visit the lake often, and of course its my own personal Christmas in July thing. With my birthday on July 4th, my brother's on the 10th, and my sister's on the 12th, it's like we get to celebrate my second favorite holiday twice a year. Of course at my parent's expense. Which does indeed suck for them. =)

While my life is all-around boring, I do admit that I have fun. It may not be Hollywood Premiers, large parties, or lavishing vacations at the spa; but, it is still my time to relax and enjoy life. July started in New Orleans, Louisiana. Which I believe I already mentioned in a previous post. I was there for the National Education Association (NEA) Conference, which lasted from July 1st-July 6th. The actual conference consisted of sitting and voting verbally. Some of the issues brought up were definitely educationally focused, while others were not. Those were the ones that seemed to make the meetings last forever each day. I made some new friends at the conference, and I got to do a service project in one of the New Orleans high schools.

On July 2nd my family came out to New Orleans to visit over my birthday. Due to unforeseen events I actually turned twenty-one in the bathroom of Arby's. At least I like Arby's. The day of my birthday was full of conference meetings, which left me quite restless. But getting to celebrate with my family and new friends that night was a great bonus. We ate at Margaritaville, I got to try a few drinks, and then we watched fireworks. My cake was Toy Story 3 and my big gift was a real-life Woody doll with a working pull-string. This is why my life is boring and I want to teach Kindergartners.
My family left on July 5th and my boyfriend, Garrett, came down. I didn't get to see him much the day he came, because he got there so late at night, but I did see him a bit on the 6th after the convention was finally over.

So, even though I believe no one reads my posts, I am going to include some New Orleans Tips (maybe just reminders for myself if I ever go again.)
1.Bring a good bit of cash for transportation. The taxi services make you pay a minimum of $10 for any location. Most of our trips, which were just a few blocks, would cost us anywhere between $10 and $25. Even if you are bringing your car, the average parking cost is about $12. Most transportation venues only accept cash.
2. If you are taking a streetcar for transportation it is $1.25 each time you get on. One round trip will cost $2.50. They only accept cash or streetcar tickets which can be bought at most hotels. If you are going on a scenic route, don't go at night. You won't see anything after 8pm or so.
3. If you are anywhere Bourbon Street or Canal Street, watch out for people who are looking for easy cash. That means that women should make sure to hold the bottom of their bags, as cutting purse straps is common. The men mostly get hit up with "bets/wagers". This means that someone will come up to you and give you a rhyme or riddle while claiming to bet you, and then try to hit you up for money after you agree with them or shake their hand. The most common is, "Let me give you a shoe shine", "I can tell you where your hat/shoes/shirt/etc is from". They will harass you if you do not pay them.
4. Don't expect to take pictures with someone dressed up unless you want to pay them. There are no freebies in New Orleans.
5. Don't drink the Jester drink unless you have a strong stomach. Each person I knew, over six, who drank it on different nights, got sick off of the drink.
6. Riverwalk closes by 6pm most nights. This can be news to a traveler who assumes since the rest of New Orleans doesn't sleep that the Riverwalk will be open all night.
7. Watch where you get cash out at ATMs, where your cards or cash are at all times, and if new people want to come up and befriend you. One of my new friends lost nearly $400 dollars when someone, a random stranger who hung out with us, made off with his ATM and cell phone.
8. There are no Wachovias or Wells Fargos located in Louisiana. Other large branches are in the city, but this is not one of them. Its good to know this before hand because the ATM fees can be quite expensive once added up.
9. My last tip is to bring an umbrella or poncho that is easy to carry. It rains often there from what I have heard and witnessed.

So moving on to the rest of July...

I took the train both up to New Orleans, and back down from New Orleans. It was a new experience, cheap transportation, and pretty neat if you have never rode one for long distance before. Unfortunately I was one of the people who drank a Jester and became sick, so on my way back from New Orleans I was unable to take as much pleasure out of my seven hour train ride. I was actually unable to enjoy a lot for the next week.

We went to the Gulf Shores two days after I got back from New Orleans to celebrate my brother and sister's birthdays. The big treat for his 20th and her 10th birthday was to go see Jimmy Buffett live during his Gulf Coast Benefit Concert. Unfortunately, I was still feeling pretty under the weather come concert time. It was super hot outside, humid, and the thought of standing near alcohol covered beach-goers made my stomach turn. So I actually watched the concert on CMT from our room, and from the balcony of our beachfront condo. It was quite an experience to watch the concert live and on national TV at the same time. I probably had a better close up of Jimmy than my family did from the sands.

Since being back in Birmingham I have not done a whole lot. I believe the highlight of the past few weeks was my trip to Huntsville to see Garrett and watch the movie Inception in the VIP Lounge of the Monaco. By the way, I loved the movie. It was by far the best I have seen all year. Other highlights include my trip with my roommate to watch Despicable Me with a run to IHOP for cina-minions, and finding a new apartment to move into with my brother. I will actually be moving into the two bedroom, two bathroom apartment this Friday. My favorite part of the whole apartment thing is the fact that it has one HBO channel included in the cable package, so I will get to watch True Blood each Sunday night!

I believe that sums up my July. While no Disney trip was included (which usually occurs in July), at least I got to go to New Orleans and the beach. Goodbye to my favorite month, and welcome August.

August = Me finally in the Teaching Program!

Sad, sad, sad...

The top picture is me at Twenty. The bottom picture was me at Seventeen.

The Four Years Ago Survey from myspacefunsurveys.net
How old were you? 16 years old, about to be 17. =)
What school year were you in? It was the summer before my Senior year.
Where did you go to school? Curry High School
Where did you work? For my dad at Pine Valley Landscaping
Where did you live? Arley, AL
Where did you hang out? Jasper, AL
How was your hair style? Very, very short.
Did you wear braces? Nope
Did you wear glasses? No
Who was your best friend? Rachael Hambric
Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend? Dustin Cagle
Who was your celebrity crush? I don't remember. Possibly Orlando Bloom?
Who was your regular-person crush? My boyfriend at the time.
How many piercings did you have? My ears, just two each.
How many tattoos did you have? None
What was your favorite band? Barenaked Ladies
What was your worst fear? Not getting into college
Had you smoked a cigarette yet? No
Had you gotten drunk or high yet? No
Had you driven yet? Yes
...and now in 2010
How old are you? 20, less than a month until 21!!!
What school year are you in? Senior in college
Where do you go to school? UAB
where do you work? At a computer lab.
Where do you live? Around UAB
Where do you hang out? In the Education Building. =)
How is your hair style? Should length, minimal layers. Natural color.
Do you wear glasses? Not at the moment.
Who is your best friend? Lots of people. But especially my mom and Garrett.
Who is your boyfriend/girlfriend? Garrett Matthew Schrader
Who is your celebrity crush? Don't really have one right now.
Who is your regular-person crush? Garrett
How many tattoos do you have? One
How many piercings do you have? Just one in each ear now.
What is your favorite band? Train
What is your biggest fear? I won't get into TEP
Have you driven yet? Yes
Have you smoked a cigarette yet? No

The fact that I took time out of my day to fill this out saddens me. Where is my life??

The start of June

Boo!

Quite frankly, that is how I feel. And I assume that is how I will feel for a chunk of this month. Last month went quite well, or as well as the life of a boring college student can go.

I had class, I worked, I ate, and I slept, and then I repeated. I have found that living with Gabby, there is a three to four minute hot water limit. Not that she set it, that's just the amount of time you may or may not get hot water. If you get four minutes you are lucky. My hair needs deep conditioning, and four minutes does not cut that. I actually broke a comb in my hair because its gotten so rough.


The highlight of my month was going to the Gulf Shores over the weekend of May 16th. This was pre-BP blunder. My boyfriend and I went to celebrate our 1.5 Anniversary. It was the only way I knew I had a chance to see him for a long period of time this past month. Although we got lost on our way down to the beach (there is only one turn and we missed it by a lot), it was a nice and relaxing vacation. We had "date night" in which we both dressed up and went out for a nice dinner. Of course we also took the time to go see a movie, Iron Man 2, which really wasn't all that bad. I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was only an hour of beach time, however. Garrett burns easily, and is not a sun fan. Nor a sand fan. Nor a ocean fan. Soo...the trip to the beach seemed a bit silly after we established that information.

On the subject of Garrett, I have been a little stressed lately. Not only did I see him a sum total of twice in the past month, I fear I won't get to see him very much coming up as well. He has not had any sort of job since December of 2009. He was recently hired by a form of a temp agency, used by three different event planning companies. Yet he has not gone in to work for them yet. If he doesn't make any money its only me driving out to go see him, and I can only do that so many times over the summer. The last time I saw him I drove up to him. I stayed the night at his mother's house and we went out to watch Prince of Persia. (Also a decent movie.) The job thing has caused us a lot of stress. I am a nagger. Since I have nothing to do most days, I will call and complain to him about various things, most toply the job situation. Poor, poor Garrett.

In other news: I leave for New Orleans in 18 days, in which I will be gone 14 days after that. I am going there for a NEA Conference. NEA is the National Education Association, the largest teacher's union in the nation. Below the NEA is the AEA, our Alabama Education Association. For students they created the SAEA, Students of Alabama Education Association. I was one of eight people who ran for a NEA Student Delegate position through the SAEA, and to my great disbelief I recieved it. There are only six of us going. I thought I would be one of the two who did not recieve such an honor. The only issue is that this honor puts me in New Orleans for two weeks. Which would seem like a totally cool, interesting thing. Other than it is a teaching conference, and I will be supervised. Oh yeah, and my birthday is over Independence Day, and I will be turning 21. By myself. Fun.

It is actually a little bit of torture. I had wanted so badly to celebrate my 21st birthday in New Orleans, and I got my wish, just not to my specifications. I am a huge birthday person. I enjoy family and friends being around to party with me. And I am a huge Independence Day person, I need lots of fireworks. But I will be doing neither of those things. I will be in a conference room until 5pm, and I am supposed to stay in my hotel for the rest of the evening. How droll.

And for my conclusion of the start of June.

This past Thursday I left for the beach. I had work until 4:30pm, so I left right after that. It is a five hour drive to my parent's condo, so I arrived shortly after 10pm. Everything closes at 10pm, so I couldn't reall go out and do anything. I was tired anyhow, my bedtime is about 10pm. =) So Friday morning I get up at 6am, because my body is screwed up and doesn't understand what it means to sleep in. I go to a store to buy a hat to wear on the beach, so I can go layout, at around 9am. (I read my book from 6am to 9am and finished). I get to the store and my Wachovia card is denied. I pay with another card and move on. Curiousity strikes and I call about my account number. I had overdrawn, by a bit. Which of course is depressing, so I went back to the condo and sulked for the rest of the day while watching the French Open. I don't normally watch Tennis so I had no idea who those people were, or what was really going on. I had actually gone to the beach right after that, stepped onto the sand, felt stupid that I was by myself, and then gone to the condo. Loser, right?

So my parents get in that night with my brother and little sister. My dad and I went to eat at this place called the Shrimp Basket, and then did a tour of the local Wal-Mart. Am I sounding any more fun?

Saturday was spent in the rain. I did finally get to eat at the Hangover. I believe I was the absolute last person to do that out of the people I know. Always behind everyone for some reason. But we also went to the bookstore, and I got a new book. I have been meaning to read "I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell" and I was quite excited to pick it up. I have read many of the Tucker Max stories online already, but I always enjoy reading more. He lives the opposite of my life. Its like looking into a mirror of everything my life is not. Which is actually a good thing for most daily situations, but I would like to be a little more interesting.

Sunday I drove home by myself. They will be staying at the beach until Tuesday, but I had to be home for work today. On my way home I went to look at my watch, my new Bulova watch, and realized I didn't have it on. I stopped and looked in my car, it was no where. I tried not to panic, and assumed it would be at the apartment. Unfortunately it was not there either. I went through everything last night and this morning looking for it. I even went through my car again this morning. No watch. Its not at work, and my mom looked around the condo and said it was not there as well. Where have I placed that darned watch?

Ohhhh, how I dread the start of any month, but I especially have come to despise the start of June.