home sweet home

fall break= complete bliss.

apparently, it had been raining for like six weeks straight in mississippi before i came home. however, the day i flew in, it was a beautiful day (a little colder than i would have preferred, but still nice)...and the weather stayed that way the entire week. i must be a weather good luck charm, because the awesome weather followed me back to virginia this week. the leaves were changing colors all over the place in the South- it was beautiful!! i spent the week sleeping in, going for runs on campus, lunch, dinner, and cofee dates every day with some old friends, attending wedding showers, and maybe a half of a day of studying. if that. I have always loved Mississippi as my home, but i don't think i have ever REALLY realized how much I've missed it until this past week. Being on campus for several days made me miss State and being in college so much- seeing so many students walking across the drill field, sitting beside groups of students doing bible studies in the Union, driving by the Cotton District and seeing people hanging out at the Bin in the afternoon....ahhhh, i miss it so much! I love love love where I am in my life right now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, I just hope that kids in school still aren't taking all of that freedom and community for granted. I know I did for a few years of college, and I am so thankful that God allowed me to realize how much I was blessed in college before I left for good.

In more exciting news from the weekend, Erik made his big Mississippi debut over the weekend! It could not have gone any better. He met the family-even suffered through several sibling squabbles- and everyone really enjoyed being around him. We had a big brunch with the whole fam (everyone and their significant others) on Saturday morning then all laid around and watched football for a while....then I took him to Bops (he loved it of course) and we went to the co-op and bought him some carhart overalls. He looked so Southern in them- i was so proud. :) He put on his maroon bowtie and suspenders while we were getting ready for the game, and although he looked adorable, I wouldnt let him wear them to the game. Maybe next time. We did take some pictures before he took them off, mainly just because i was so proud of the fact that I tied his bowtie all by myself! (we had to watch a youtube video to figure it out- it was an event to say the least) We tailgaited literally ALL day-i think he met everyone i've ever known, and their dog, in that one afternoon. poor thing...but he was a trooper. We were worn out by the time the game started, so we decided to go back to the house and watch the game on TV and rest for a little while. good idea- i probably wouldnt have made it all the way through the game if we would have gone in- although it was an AMAZING game- go dawgs!! i know we didn't win, but the atmosphere the entire day on campus was unlike anything i have seen in Starkville in a VERY long time...SO much excitement and support! Dan truly is the MAN.

do i have the cutest boyfriend or what?! (oh yeah- we're official now.)

I drove back to Virginia with Natalie on Sunday...yes, drove. Natalie's car has been in MS since she moved to DC, and she wanted to bring it back with her when someone could ride with her. This ended up being the perfect weekend to do it. We dropped Erik off in Bham at the airport early Sunday morning and just kept on driving the whole day- made it to Va Beach about 11pm that night....it was actually a REALLY fun drive- we sang, we talked, we danced, we looked at the pretty trees, we danced some more...it was a great bonding time since we dont ever get to see each other anymore. Of course I did not want to start back to school on Monday, but this week has flown by! Maybe it's because Halloween is this weekend so everyone has been so excited about that all week. My costume is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I cant wait to tell you about it. But for now it is a surprise, so you will just have to wait in suspense until after the weekend!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and eats lots of candy!! I made peanut butter cookies with candy corn pumpkins in the middle the other day, and they both tasted AND looked delicious! I highly recommend making them for any fall event you have coming up. (just dont eat too many of the pumpkins at once- i made that mistake the other night. not good) anyway, Happy Halloween!

meet erik.

and the update i know you have all been on the edge of your seat waiting for.....

my main squeeze.

he loves God. he loves people. he is ridiculously funny.

he has great hair. he is super smart. he is a Texan. and he really likes me.

need i say more?

we will be in Mississippi for the State/Florida game. i can't wait to introduce him to the awesomeness of the junction and starkville. he wants to wear a bowtie to the game. like, he bought a maroon one the other day just for that weekend. not sure my thoughts on that just yet, but he doesn't seem to care what i think about it. i cant wait. i have TONS of stuff due next week before i fly home for fall break, but i will see you all in a few weeks!

hello, fall!

it's finally october! this is probably my favorite month of the year. the weather is finally cooling off a little bit on the beach, so i am starting to pull out all of my sweaters again and finally putting the summer dresses away. the good thing about living on the beach, though, is that if the weather warms up randomly one day, the flip flops are still sitting by the door ready to go! but for now, i am breaking out all of the boots again since it's been about 68 degrees (on average) every day this week. glorious. i hate cold weather, but fall weather is JUST PERFECT. hopefully, it will stay around a while. It's just so COZY-my favorite feeling in the world!

i also love october because it is FALL BREAK month! i am going home for an entire week towards the end of the month- i will be in town for the MSU/Florida game, and I cannot wait to see everyone! I have been missing my family a lot lately, so I am anxious to get home and spend some time with them. And then of course, there's Halloween at the end of the month- and although i dont get nearly as excited as HK and Carley do about the holiday, i DO love a good costume party! I haven't thought of anything yet, but me and Sarah want to be a duo of something....any ideas?

And lastly, I love October because the leaves start to change colors, the air feels crisp, the grocery store has CANDY CORN (my favorite candy!), and i get to start burning my "fall" candles in my room. Talk about sensory overload. I love it. (oh, and it's only one month

until my birthday- which of course i wait for ALL year).

so happy fall, y'all! i hope you enjoy yours as much as i plan to!

get ready.

i have an update to make. most of you don't know anything about this news...but hopefully you will soon.

unfortunately, i have too much to do this week to go into all the details right now, but check back after the weekend and hopefully i will have had time to post.

(i just made that really dramatic. it's really not THAT big of a deal at all. but i'm still excited to post about it.)

a change of pace...and hook 'em.

it's around 10 pm on friday night. i just got home from a day full of classes, meetings, the gym, and errands. a very typical day for me.

immediately after putting away groceries and books, i poured a glass of wine, put my old polo t-shirt on and layed down on my big comfy bed. I am now sitting here smelling my pumpkin candle burning, listening john mayer playing on my itunes, and all of the windows in my room are open so i can hear the waves....my kind of night. LONG gone are the days of impatiently waiting for the weekend so that i could put on a cute new outfit, go out to dinner and pre-game with friends and then hit the bar to dance and party the night away. (and take as many pictures as possible so that i could post them immediately on facebook the next day) How the heck did i have the energy for that EVERY weekend!? I used to think people who wanted to stay in on the weekend and just watch movies, etc. were so lame. Oh, how the tables have turned. Now I live for the weekend so that I can actually get in the bed at a decent hour, sleep later than 7 am in the morning, and spend some time catching up with friends- both on the phone and in person. (Oh yeah, and for a extended period of time to study. yay.) I guess there is no going back to that old weekend-mentality I used to have in undergrad. Thank goodness...I dont think I could do that now even if someone paid me. Well, i guess i could for the right price. But you get the point. Life has changed, and I am totally okay with it.

In other news, I have been missing Texas a lot lately. I think it's because I have had issues lately with people at school questioning my "Texan-ness," and I recently had to come to grips with the fact that I am not actually from Texas. The thing is, I should totally be okay with that, because i really do LOVE that I am from Mississippi- the true South. Maybe it's because my friends in school from Texas are sooo proud of their Texan residency, and it rubs off on me a little. (okay maybe a lot.) I try to justify it by stating that I did live there for a whole summer, but I just can't compete with the passion my Texas friends have about their state. Nonetheless, I still think about my summer in the Lone Star State a lot, especially as I pray about where to take the bar in a couple of years. So I've decided to make a list of some things I love/miss about Texas:

* The Mexican Food. i have yet to find any mexican restaurant that can compete with Maudie's, Trudy's or Chuy's. yuuuuum. Esp. their queso. Apparently, Virginia doesnt know what queso is. (nor does MS, but at least we have the yummy white cheese dip there)

*The people: my Austin friends (wes, bonnie, summer roommates, my community group at Stone, and so many other great people I met this summer), and of course Caitlin and Erica- my Texas Soulmates. And all my other camp friends, most of whom I missed seeing this summer b/c of camp, but are all now back for the year (now that I am gone!)

* The music. I love country music in general, but the stations here don't play the Texas Country that I love. In Texas, Pat Green, Cory Morrow, Willie Nelson, etc. are pretty much the only artists playing on the radio. (K-Bet, what what.)

* H-E-B. I love those grocery stores...I even used my HEB recyclable UT grocery bag at the grocery store tonight in honor of my allegiance. And Bo loves the HEB even more than I do, so it must be a Texas thing.

*Frozen Yogurt. Apparently, there is like one store in VB, but i have yet to find/try it. Besides, I discovered fro-yo bars in Texas, and i would just feel weird eating it anywhere else.

*The Austin Stone. don't get me wrong, i LOVE my church here. But i loved the Stone and the people there so much, and i just miss it/them.

*The Peach Pit. what a great house. and so conveniently located in Austin. The company wasn't too bad either.

* The water activities. I think me and Wes hit up every body of water in the Austin area this summer...each place was uniquely awesome. (I realize I live ON a body of water here, but there is something about a still body of water on a very hot day that I just love.)

Anyway, tomorrow is the UT/Tech game, and I am wearing burnt orange and my cowboy boots to Jam's house to watch the game. I wish I could actually be in Austin for the game, but such is life. Who really knows if I will ever actually live in Texas, but regardless, I will always love that state. Until further notice....Hook 'em, Horns.

and good night!

big news.

several BIG updates:

** I started Young Life last week-with First Colonial High School, one of the many high schools in Virginia Beach. I went to Campaigners last week, this morning (at 6 am...these kids are dedicated!), and then again tonight for club at the Beach. Normally, club will be at FC, but tonight was a kind of a kick-off for the year, so we just met down at the Oceanfront and played volleyball, soccer, and other games...it felt like Camp Ozark Opening Day Games, only the weather was ALOT cooler and the kids already knew how to play all the games. I am so excited about getting to know the girls, most of which are freshman and sophomores in high school. I get so nervous every time i go to hang out, but they are all really sweet and God has been helping me be "cool" around them- i love it when He does that! I definitely feel like this is the group/school God has been calling me to get involved with, and I can't wait to see what all is in store for this semester with the girls.

** I GOT AN INTERNSHIP for this semester! I have been praying about it for forever....it's with an awesome law firm in Virginia Beach...I will be working for one of the Partners in the firm- who happens to be my (young adult) pastor's Dad AND my Wills, Trusts, and Estates professor! small world, huh. We will definitely have alot to talk about, and he is one of the friendliest and most Godly men I have ever been around. I cant wait to learn from him. I will be doing mostly Family Estate Planning work for him, which I think is what I want to practice after law school, so this will be invaluable experience for me. God is so unbelievable to have set this opportunity in front of me.

** On top of all that, I have all of the symptoms of....yep, MONO. Like I said in my last post, I sleep all the time, and when I am not sleeping, I am wishing I was. Not good at all for my crazy schedule, but I was told the more rest I get now, the quicker I will be over it. I still haven't been running because of it, which is really killing me...but I am going to start slowly getting back into it once I start feeling a little better- hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

** Other than all that, I am still loving my house, my roommates, and learning how to COOK! Five of the roommates rotate one night a week cooking a big meal for everyone, and the other nights we just get to enjoy each other's cooking! It has been fun- my night is actually tomorrow night and I haven't even thought about what to cook yet...I should probably get on that before I doze off again....

i'm on a boat...

and not just any boat. the VERY sail boat used in Wedding Crashers. but more on that in a minute.

i spent the weekend in DC visiting Natalie...she's been living there since March and this was the first free weekend since then that I've had to go up and see her. It was a great weekend to go since it was the first MSU football game (which we WON whoop whoop!) and no one else in Virginia seems to get excited about State or SEC sports like I do. Besides watching the game at a sports bar in DC with a few other State alumni Saturday afternoon, the rest of the weekend was pretty lazy- which was great. Me, Nat, and her roommates all drove up to Annapolis on Sunday morning to check out the town- which was awesome- and went on a sail boat ride in the afternoon. It was such a fun day- we were total tourists (which i normally cannot stand), but it seemed like the entire town was made up of tourists so we kinda just blended in. The sail boat ride was legit- we sailed around the harbour and out into the bay for a few hours, and I even got to drive it for a little while! The boat had more sails than I was used to, but it was fun to learn about the different masts and types of sails, and to learn to steer a boat that big. Like I said earlier, it was the same boat that Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams sailed on in Wedding Crashers...Im pretty sure I didnt look as cool as they did on it, but I sure felt as cool.

It was a great weekend overall. I wore my seersucker and linen outfits all weekend and then packed them all away tonight. I was tempted to just forget the stupid fashion rules, but then I remembered I am a Southern girl living in a Southern state (even if Va Beach doesn't embrace it like they should) and it is my Southern duty to abide by those rules. So away the linen goes. I am already looking forward to Easter so I can get them all out again.

In other news, I started YoungLife tonight! I LOVE the group I am going to be leading with, and the kids all seem super cool. But more on all that when I start actually leading; tonight was just the bible study meeting where I met everyone. Oh, and I am pretty sure I am sick with something. I sleep ALL the time and when I am not sleeping, I am thinking about sleeping and trying to find places to nap until I can get back in my bed. I have been really short of breath lately too- I haven't even been able to run, which has actually bummed me out alot and further decreased my energy level. I'm going to the doctor in the next couple of days to get it checked out- say a little prayer for me in the meantime if you don't mind! And now I'm off to bed. My favorite part of the day.