reunited

i am so excited about my weekend....i am heading to DC after class today to spend the weekend with one of my all time BEST friends, Natalie! It's her birthday this weekend, and our other bff, Baleigh, is flying up for the festivities. I cant wait to see the girls and catch up on life. Some of my favorite college memories were made with these two girls, and my life has definitely been changed-for the better-by having them in my life. Happy Bday, Nat! Can't wait to see you!

bag check.

so yeah, i officially hate long distance. you all know this. however, i have found the key to long-distance dating: seeing each other...A LOT. i really don't understand how people can date long distance for long periods of time and only see each other like once a month (or even less)...i would be so depressed! i already get so sad when erik is not around, and we at least get to see each other almost every other weekend. in attempts to make our relationship "easier", we sat down the other night (via skype) and planned out every single weekend from now until next December. talk about a task. let's just say i am going to need a sturdier suitcase than the one i currently own if my clothes are going to make it back and forth to/from texas every month.

no but seriously...i am on the lookout for a new one. mine is literally tearing apart from all the traveling/flying i have done in the past seven months. it's been a trusty companion, but i am about to have to send it to its final resting place. it was a good one too--burnt orange....easy to spot at baggage claim. so, i am starting my search for a new, cute, spacious, and TOUGH suitcase. let me know if you have any suggestions.

oh, and i really really want this bag:

jon hart: carry-on tote bag

I just feel like it would make traveling so much easier if i had this cute bag to carry through the airport (not necessarily in red, although i do like the color). and all jon hart luggage is monogrammed, so unless there happens to be another "LAH" out there with a knack for stealthy purse-snatching, I should feel pretty safe about leaving it alone in the overhead bins. 

bangs

so, i got bangs yesterday. i cant decide if i love them or hate them. i mean, i think they look cute...but as you know, i have VERY curly hair and i haven't worn them curly yet. could be a distaster. and i just want to touch them all the time, so that makes my hair more greasy when it's straight. i think they are just going to take some getting used to, but i am glad i did it- i was in a MAJOR hair funk...i needed something different to give me some encouragement to actually fix my hair in the morning. we'll see how long that lasts...

(ps i HATE self portraits...but i wanted to show them to you!)

the in-between

I feel like I am living a double life lately. well, in a sense. My life seems to be taking two directions simultaneously. one headed straight for Texas, and the other firmly planted right here in Virginia. For instance, I will be spending the first two months of this coming summer working in Houston....and the other two months working in Virginia Beach. I will be staying in VB for the first part of my 3L year and then finishing it out in San Antonio. I feel like i spend all of my free time planning/daydreaming about my future plans (all in Texas) and the other half actually getting stuff done in school, work, and Younglife (in Virginia). As much as I am ready to be with Erik in Texas, a part of me is not quite ready to leave the amazing friends I have made here. I have loved Regent since the first time I stepped foot on its campus...and as much as I am ready to be done with school in general, I really would prefer to stay in this little bubble as long as possible! I feel torn almost everyday about this, but I know that God has a plan for me HERE right now and THERE a little bit later....and I guess that really is what is getting me through this little funk I'm in lately.

"I woke up this morning, with Texas on my mind" -Pat Green

and.....breathe.

well, to say i had an eventful spring break would be pretty accurate. i am finally back in Virginia (not happy about it either) from my jet-setter week across the continental United States. My flight pattern went something like this: Virginia-(ATL)-Mississippi-Texas (Dallas, Austin, & Houston!)-California-Texas-(Florida)-Virginia. Luckily, I got to do most of those flights with Erik, so those were more of an adventure than a hassle. I lost my bags once (on my very first flight, ugh!), almost missed our flight back to Texas, and had two planes delayed. Considering all the flights we were on throughout the week, I guess those problems were fairly minimal!

erik, during our flight from MS to TX. poor thing, he was worn out.

Mississippi was wonderful in every way. The weather was awesome the entire weekend, so we spent most of it outside. We did go skeet shooting--no one tried to shoot each other, so that was good. Erik did REALLY good....and of course I sucked. whatever, Im a girl. We went to see Carley/Cole and Harris/Louis in Left Field Lounge later that day....I was so excited about taking E there, and he loved it- esp. since Cole had cooked some bacon-wrapped deer meat for us! we didnt watch ANY of the game...but catching up with the girls was way more important at the moment. :)

my bests. 

We went out that night and saw *almost* ALL of my high school friends, which was so much fun! We flew to Texas the next day and spent a couple of days in Austin with Erik's family (Erik was sick and we both had to study the whole time- not an ideal situation, but we somehow managed to make it enjoyable)

Then I flew to Houston and spent a couple of days with Bo and Emily...I pretty much just played with Maverick (their ADORABLE dog) the entire time- we went on a lot of walks together. I almost killed him at one point when I "accidentally" let him off his leash and he ran full speed around a corner and straight up to a Doberman Pincher. Imagine the scene: me, sprinting after this tiny dog and screaming the whole way, him yapping at this HUGE dog that is literally trying to eat him for lunch, and the Doberman's owner- who weighed MAYBE 115 pounds- trying to choke her dog by pulling him off of Mav, and me trying to keep Mav out of his mouth while also trying not to get MY hand bitten off by the killer-dog. Lesson learned: NEVER let a dog off his leash, no matter how cute or "good" he appears to be. 

yeah, he LOOKS cute...

The night before we left for California, Erik drove into Houston and we went out with some of our friends from Camp. I say "our" because although we were originally supposed to meet up with some of MY friends, a bunch of HIS good friends ended up showing up to this random bar we were at...and everyone in our groups already knew each other!! I feel like mine and Erik's worlds get smaller and smaller everyday with the amount of mutual friends we have that we usually don't even realize until something like that happens! i love it. 

and these are the reasons why i now want to live in H-town.

We left EARLY the next morning for California- let's just say it took some patience and a lot of love for each other-on both of our parts-to be in a good mood traveling so early. Everyone tells me that one of the biggest "tests" of a relationship is how well you travel together. I was happy that we passed that test..for the most part, i loved traveling with him- he is way more patient than I am and doesnt get stressed as quickly as I do about flights, bags, etc.  AND he let me sleep in his lap during every flight. What's not to love? I will post about our Cali trip later (it's WAY too much to explain in this already too-long post!) but it was a weekend I will never forget. I will include one pic from the weekend....but don't judge my no-makeup face. 

our beautiful view of the Sacramento River on the bridge in Redding

Overall, a VERY successful Spring Break! Now it's back to school- my friend Katie reminded me this morning that we only have FIVE more weeks until finals. I almost puked when she told me that. Looks like it is time to start paying REALLY CLOSE attention in class and craming my outlines into my brain!  ugh!