sbw update: everything i thought it would be. the weekend started off great with the spirit of state reception, where i got to meet and hang with several of my friends' parents..it is so weird to see us becoming so much like our parents, it scares me sometimes even! Friday night was Pig-Fest, a Starkville SBW tradition, and me and Rachael Kirk met my parents and some of our family friends for some BBQ and Bops at the tailgates before the baseball game...so good. The game was SO fun Friday night (not that i watched any of the ACTUAL game except for the very end...which I later found out was the only good part of the whole series) and I ended up running into Senator Cochran's DC staff, who were all in town on official visit. Brought back some summer memories, for sure. Me and Rachael turned bums after the game and decided to go home and eat pizza and talk for HOURS instead of going out. I felt like a freshman again, only without the buzz that usually led to a late-night pizza fest. There was more freshman-like behavior that followed on Saturday...I spent the ENTIRE day at the Kappa Sig house for South Seas...eating crawfish, dancing like a fool (again, without the buzz that I would have been sporting my freshman year), and hanging out in various rooms in the frat house listening to music and throwing water balloons out the windows at innocent people. WOW...seriously? Am I graduating in a month and still doing this?? Whatev. It was worth it for one last TRUE college experience before I hit the semi-real world in the fall. Being the senior that I am, I spent all of the energy that I had saved up all week on South Seas, and by the time everyone started hitting the bar, I was ready to hit the sack. I was worn out! Harris managed to get me out for about an hour that night, but after we had caught up on everything major in our lives...I jetted. Sunday was MUCH more relaxing...church, a picnic at the church property (a favorite past-time of mine from childhood that we have thankfully started back up again at my church), and a NAP that lasted ALL AFTERNOON. Forget the baseball game that I was originally planning on going to...as soon as my head hit my pillow, I was out. A perfect ending to a great weekend.

left field lounge..best place on earth
my south seas partners-in-crime

a SUPER bulldog weekend!

it's my favorite weekend of the year....SUPER BULLDOG WEEKEND! A weekend at MSU dedicated to baseball, cook-outs in left field lounge, tons of alumni and friends in town. This weekend truly embodies what makes Mississippi State so great. I have throughly enjoyed SBW every year since I was in seventh grade. (All through high school, cheerleader try-outs were the same time as this weekend, and relishing in the glory of being selected was what the weekend was known for....GAY, i know. The weekend also meant staying with sorority girls so that we could officially go to Frat parties...ALSO GAY.) As I got to college, it turned into a whole new experience for me...best friends from out of town coming for the big weekend, hanging out all weekend on the porches of my houses on 108 Raymond St. and A1..both PRIME locations for a big weekend such as this, and cooking out in left field lounge while watching my friends on the baseball team play. I am planning on spending the weekend getting as much hang-time as possible with as MANY friends as possible, and I am pretty freaking excited about HARRIS coming too!!!

I can't describe how good life is right now. My favorite time of the year in my favorite place in the world and (almost) all of my best friends in town to share it with. All i can say is...GO DAWGS!

VA is for Lovers??

Just got back from my trip to Virginia....it was GREAT. However, the 14+ hours spent in the car driving up there...not so great. It actually went by alot faster than I thought it would, and the drive was worth it to be able to have our car with us once we got to Virginia Beach. Now, first of all...I couldn't ever and still can't figure out why "Virginia is for Lovers." There was nothing extra-loving about the State or the people, and it's not like there are 24-hr. wedding joints all over the place, or even really nice honeymoon resorts or anything. Weird. Moving on. I did, however "fall in love" I guess you could say, with Virginia Beach for several reasons:

1. I LOVED the Law School. Regent's campus was beautiful...it looked like something out of a history book...the buildings were all brick and had huge white columns with manicured lawns and flower beds all over campus (kinda like State since Doc's arrival, actually). Everyone I met at the school was super friendly and helpful..once again, I felt like I was still in Mississippi...at State. I sat in on a Contracts class, and I learned more in that one class than I think I learned in a whole semester of Business Law in undergrad. SO much information...but it was actually really interesting. (If you need to know anything about entering into an independent or dependent agreement with another party, just ask me....next year.) All of the buildings are super nice and clean inside, and there are little hidden study spots all over campus, which will be great for all the studying i am going to be learning how to do next year!! One major difference between State's campus and Regent's....Regent still has DAFFODILS everywhere!! Being one of my favorite flowers(tied for first with tulips), this was definitely a good sign.

2. I found a Church! Not just any church either....It's a HILLSONG church!! The Church is called "The Wave" Church, and the pastor is from Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia...complete with a THICK aussie accent and all! The worship was AMAZING, of course. (I imagine this church to be a mini-version of what Margaret is at in Sydney?) It was exactly the kind of atmosphere I was looking for, and we even found some old friends RANDOMLY the morning we went to church there that used to go to New Covenant in Starkville (during their undergrad at MSU), which was totally a God-thing. (We call those meetings "divine appointments" in our family) They told me that they were really involved in the young-adult ministry at The Wave, and that there was a HUGE group of 18-30 year olds in the area that were in the church. potential new friends...SCORE.

3. It's on the BEACH! I was slightly disappointed to see not-s0-bluish green water on the East Coast like there is in Mexico or even Destin, which I have been used to my whole life, but nonetheless....it's the OCEAN, and who can complain about living near the Ocean!? I do especially like one thing about the East Coast that the gulf doesn't have, and that is the Boardwalks right on the beach. There are wooden walkways that line the beach (right off the sand) that you can walk, run, or bike down as far as you can see. I am pretty pumped about being able to ride my bike or take a jog down the beach without acutally having to be in the sand the whole time...and although it wasn't very busy while we were there (due to the FREEZING weather), I heard that in the summer, the beach has a really eclectic feel to it and there are people all over the place shopping, eating, walking around, etc. That's my kind of beach. I can't wait.

It's "Big", but not too big. I have always lived in Starkville, MS...population SMALL. (esp. in the summer when school is out), so I have wanted to move to a bigGER city after graduation. BUT...I am beyond horrible with directions, maps, etc. and I know that living in a big city could be disastrous for me in that aspect. HOWEVER, Virginia Beach just may solve all of my problems. I don't really know what to compare the size to, but maybe like the size of Jackson, MS? There are a LOT of people that live in VB, but for some reason, it doesn't feel THAT big. There are several different areas of the city and they are all pretty spread out so maybe that is why it doesn't feel too big. More lanes for driving than I am used to, but I can get over that. Another good thing is that the apartment (which is LEGIT) I found to live in is right on the campus of Regent, so at least for a little while when I first move, I won't have to stray TOO far from my new comfort zone!

I am so excited about the changes I am about to make, especially since this will really be the first time I will have moved away from Starkville, which has always been HOME. I am nervous about making friends and adjusting to a new school and a new city, but I know that God will be with me and will direct me towards encouraging people, just like he has done over and over for me in the past. I am so grateful for a good visit this weekend to the school and the area, because it was confirmation to me that God really has called me to Regent for school and he has a big plan for my life that includes my living in VB for at least 3 years. That's right..I officially ENROLLED while I was there! I can't wait...and I will definitely try to keep everyone updated via my blog about life in law school!

More Pics from the Trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109912&l=14d51&id=26501294

Spring Break Extended?

This week has been a joke. Seriously. Whoever planned Spring Break and Easter Weekend almost overlapping had to be smoking something. Not that I mind of course...I am loving the extended amount of time away from school, especially now that my seniorities/spring fever is kicking in full force. My teachers have been ridiculous this week (and by ridiculous i mean AWESOME). One teacher canceled all of our classes for the week...she's out with the "flu"....and the rest of the teachers have come to class fully expecting either no one to be there, or if they are, to not have read or done any of the assignments that were given out before the break. thank goodness, because I SURE didn't take any books with me on Spring Break! Tomorrow is our last day of school before Easter...and lucky me, I will be in Virginia Beach until NEXT WEDNESDAY! Am I even going to still enrolled in school when i get back?? This semester is becoming an all out joke. Not that I didn't plan on it being an easy one for my last semester, but it's just gotten unreal. I couldn't tell you anything that is going on in at least 2 of my classes. But the good news is that there is less than two months left of school, and I am extremely good at procrastination and then jamming a semester's worth of knowledge into a few days to study for finals..so I am not too worried, its almost become the norm for me...good ole' Political Science. gotta love it. But don't hate me too much if you are reading this and your major is kicking your butt...because I am almost 100% sure I will be beginning Law School in the fall and kicking MYSELF in the butt for not being more studious in college. Oh well, I gotta learn sometime!

Por Ejemple!

words cannot even really describe the past week. but you know me, i will try anyway and undoubtedly come up with a few.

My Spring Break began a little rocky...I realized Sunday afternoon that I needed but couldn't find my birth certificate (which I HAD to have to get on the boat) and we were supposed to be leaving from Jackson at 8:00 a.m. the next morning for the cruise. Not only that, but I tried to sign up for the Mayan Jungle Explorer excursion that all of the girls had already signed up for and found out that is was SOLD OUT. Great. Of course, story of my life, God has ALWAYS found favor on me through my mistakes, and this trip was no exception. Mom and Dad realized that my birth certificate was in the lock box at the bank in Starkville, so some of the girls offered to stay behind with me so we could get into the bank early Monday morning and get it out. DONE. Then, once I finally got on the boat, I went to the information desk to see what I could do to get on the excursion and they just "happened" to have ordered a few more tickets to that particular excursion. I mean, seriously?? The rest of the trip was more of the same...everywhere I turned, I could see ways that God was blessing me. The girls I went with were AMAZING and so much fun! I have never been with a more laid-back and agreeable group of girls...and it was so refreshing to be around people like that. We made up fake names...I was Peyton...which turned into Peyton Manning ("no relation" would always follow my introduction to people on the cruise) and we used them as if we didn't even know our real names even existed. It was great. The cruise actually lasted a day longer than I thought it was going to, but the last day (at sea all day) was a much needed day of relaxation after our 2 previous action-packed days in Mexico. Days "at sea" consisted of eating really good breakfasts in the dining room, laying out and reading ALL DAY, having my quiet time while watching the sunset and drinking coffee, then showering and getting dressed up for dinner in the dining room. Every night after dinner, we went to the Karaoke bar and danced like FOOLS to every ridiculous song possible until the "club" started playing good music (good meaning RAP) so we could continue our dancing through the night. Everyone on our boat thought we were WASTED....day and night. The funniest part of the whole trip was the fact that we never even got drunk the entire trip...we were that out of control SOBER. I loved it. Our day in Cozumel was fun...we spent the day at a beach with kayaks, water trampolines, volleyball, etc. and we met a bunch of cool kids from North Carolina. Who knew NC people were that cool? The next day was Calica, another island in Mexico, and this is where we did our excursion (the one I mentioned earlier). The excursion was called the Mayan Jungle Adventure, and it definitely lived up to its name. For anyone considering going on a cruise in the future, I HIGHLY recommend this particular stop/excursion. We began our day by being bused to a Mayan Village in Calica with Marlon, our super cool Mexican tour guide. Our first activity was the zip-line, which took us across the Mayan jungle on three seperate lines. SO FUN. Next, we took a bike ride through some trails in the jungle and then we came back to the village and went on a hike to some caverns, where we watched an ancient Mayan ceremony take place. Then we walked down into the caves, which had the CLEAREST water I have ever seen in my life, which we got to swim and snorkel in!! After snorkeling and swimming through the reefs, we went and laid in tubes in another really clear pool of water and relaxed while we waited on our Mayan lunch to be made. Good thing we had a super-active group, because the whole day was intense. We made a stop by Playa de Carmen after the excursion to take naps on the beach before we had to get back on the boat that afternoon. It was definitely a trip I will always remember...I am so grateful for the blessings that God has poured out on my life...not only go on trips like this, but also to go with so many amazing girls that I have become so close to.
Turns out, there are quite a few words for that week?!

And if a trip to DC and the Caribbean in back-to-back weeks weren't enough, I am going to Virginia Beach for Easter weekend and most of next week!

SBK '08!!

My Spring Break officially started yesterday morning. My classes for Thursday and Friday of this week were canceled (gotta love those political science professors) so I got a head start on the big break!! I forgot what it felt like to just "hang out" but it hasn't taken me very long at all to get the hang of it again, that's for sure. Bo (the older brother) is coming to Starkville today for the weekend and his girlfriend is coming too...I don't know that I have ever been this excited to see them!! Since Bo moved to Texas in December, he hasn't been back home at all, which has been weird since I was used to seeing him almost every weekend when he lived in Louisiana and Mississippi. I am getting pumped for some baseball games this weekend (LEFT FIELD LOUNGE, HERE I COME!), some good meals (my mom goes all out for Bo), and some quality family time.

On Monday...I leave for the Carribean!! Me and seven other girls are going on a cruise to Mexico and the Yucatan Islands for 5 days...I cannot WAIT! Laying out all day, eating massive amounts of food, dancing all night long, and being with some of my greatest college friends for a week...sounds like a good thing to me. Not only do I have a week in the ocean to look forward to, but CARLEY's BACHELORETTE PARTY is the weekend I get back!!! I am getting picked up at the boat the day I get off the cruise and heading straight for Destin, Florida to spend the weekend with my best friends (almost all who have graduated...so this is their "spring break") and celebrating with Carley. I get excited about it all just writing this post.

With all I have planned for the next week, I probably wont be back to blog...sad, I know....but I will be back next week with plenty of updates and pictures!! Bon Voyage!

and i'm back......again.

For the second time in my blogging career.....I have failed miserably at consistency. I have a semi-excuse in the fact that I was in DC all last week, but I cannot excuse myself for not having blogged since I have been back. I will attempt to make up for it by describing my DC experience over the past week.

First of all, the trip was WONDERFUL. Not only did we get out of 3 days of school (University- excused!) but I couldn't have picked a more fun and agreeable group to lead. As I explained in the previous post, I was responsible for planning and making sure our group of 30 got to all meetings and events (half of which had never been to DC before) that I had gotten set up for us that week. I should preface that I only lived in DC for one summer (most of which was spent following other people that actually knew what was going on around) and I am one of the most incompetent people on the face of the earth when it comes to maps/directions. Needless to say, I got stressed out a few times. Other than that, the trip couldn't have gone any better. I am truly amazed at how fast a group of college students can switch from professional-mode to fifth-grade-mode...in an instant. Let me explain. I don't know if anyone remembers playing this game as a kid (I didn't ever play it, but I unfortunately caught on really fast), but it is basically if you see someone hold out a circle with their hands anywhere below their waist, they automatically get to punch you in the arm. (it got brutal...see my bruise??) pretty immature huh? It gets better. Not only did we have a continuous game of "circle-punch" going all week, but we also played a game called "Blow Dart." The point of this game is even more ridiculous...if you make eye-contact with someone, they can PRETEND blow a dart at you and you are required to fall WHEREVER you happen to be at the time until someone comes over and "pulls the dart out." Try to imagine this game being played by 20 something college students in places like the Capitol, on the Metro, at receptions, etc. (see picture to the right for a visual) OUT OF CONTROL. but so fun...I honestly felt like I was on a fifth-grade field trip half the time. The other half of the time we spent talking politics and being very professional (we had to call immunity from the blow-dart game while in meetings) and meeting tons of important people in DC. As much as i LOVE DC and had so much fun, I was definitely glad to see that Starkville City Limits sign on Sunday...how am I going to leave this place in May?!?

Here are a few pictures from the weekend (as promised)



The Group at the Pentagon

at Buca our last night in DC Some of my favorites out on the Hill