Finals

Can finals just cease to exist? Like who ever thought this was a good idea? "Hey, let's give them tests all in the same week and in all of their classes and see if they make it out alive." The studying that is required for a week such as exam week is not physically, mentally, or emotionally healthy. Even if you're the most non-procrastinating person ever, you can't say exam week is easy. I had the bright idea of taking 17 hours this semester. Five 3 hour classes and two 1 hour classes. It's been... interesting, to say the least. All I've got left is to finish Klein's methods paper, one presentation to give, two online exams, Coleman's "exam," and four finals that I actually need to worry about and do well on. Praying next Friday comes soon. Rant over.

Happy finals! Good luck y'all, we're almost done!

Curling My Hair

I don't know about y'all, but I just can't curl my own hair. I don't know why, but out of all the things I have the ability to do, curling hair is not one of them. Wands don't work on my hair (I'm pretty sure a wand would be easier to do?) because my hair is kind of naturally frizzy. So I need my hair to be heated on both sides, which only works with a good-quality clamp curling iron. There's a lot of technique to it that I don't understand. My friend, Leah, curls my hair all the time and I love it when it's curly. But put that thing in my hand and it's not gonna turn out well. She tries to work with me, but I just think it's a lost cause. I even bought a pretty expensive curling iron to practice with over the summer and hopefully I'll get the hang of it. Leah is even a "real blogger" and actually just posted a video today of how to curl your hair. Of course though, with exams on the horizon I have no time to practice. Maybe over the summer I'll watch her blog video about 47389747389732 times. Pray for me. 

Concussion

So, this past weekend at tryouts I got a concussion. An inexperienced flyer fell out of a stunt and when I went to catch her I got a shoulder to the left side of my head. I felt a sharp pain and then saw nothing but white for about 10 seconds afterwards. I knew that it was a bad hit to my head, but at first I honestly thought I was fine.... Until later that night when I had all the symptoms of a concussion: headache, dizziness, sensitivity to light and sound, inability to focus my eyes, and a foggy feeling. I kind of brushed it off and told myself I would be fine, but then Monday in class I realized that I was certainly not fine. On Tuesday I went to my trainer and he made me take the concussion test. Sure enough, I have a pretty bad one and so this past week has been hard. My head constantly hurts, I have a hard time focusing, my eyes are always blurry, and I am constantly tired. With this being the busiest time of the school year, I've felt so stressed and helpless. I'm hoping my symptoms go away soon, but with all this schoolwork and staring at the computer, I'm basically not healing at all, but I feel like I have no choice. I really wish there was something I could do to fix this, but my head hurts now just from looking at the computer to do this blog. Ugh.  

My sister's birthday

So this past Tuesday my sister, Lidi, turned EIGHT. How did she get so big? I have no idea. Every time I see her I am shocked by how grown up she looks and how incredibly beautiful and smart she is. This is the first year that she has not wanted a "real" birthday party and I'm honestly kind of glad. Don't get me wrong, I want her to have the birthday party that she wants. But I have never enjoyed dealing with 30 screaming kids running around the rock climbing place, the indoor pool, our house, or the park (to name a few past birthday party venues). This year she wanted to take her very best friend, Natalie, to the American Girl Cafe. It's the restaurant that's inside the new American Girl Doll store in Southpark Mall in Charlotte. She absolutely loves that store and the restaurant is a three course meal, fine dining experience where she and her friend get to pick out a gift and will receive goody bags. Then, Natalie is staying the night for a sleepover, which will be filled with giggles, popcorn, and candy. I wish I could go back to being eight sometimes. She's so excited, which makes me happy. Lidi's family birthday is on Sunday afternoon and I really want to be there to see my whole family, but I have my first team practice on Sunday at two. This means I need to head for the mountain at about 10:30am on Sunday morning. ): 

Well, y'all pray for me because even though Lidi isn't having a crazy hectic birthday party with 30 screaming little girls, the American Girl Doll store is chalk full of them. Have a good weekend everyone!  

My New Apartment

As the end of the school year is coming quickly I am realizing that in just a little over two weeks, I will be moved OUT of my current apartment for forever. I am so excited. I have lived in that apartment for two long years and it's safe to say that I am 100% over it. My situation with my roommates has been... rough, to say the very least. Early last semester I came to the conclusion that I am done living with people and that I will not live with another person until I am married. I know that makes me sound so stuck up and antisocial, but it's true (sorry). I hate other people's messes, loud noises, and dirtiness. Maybe my current living situation has just left me with a bad taste in my mouth, but oh well. I am moving out on May 9th and a girl is subleasing my room for the summer while I'm at home working my butt off. On August 1st I am moving into a cute and cozy one bedroom apartment with a deck that has a breathtaking view of the mountains. I am so excited to sit out on my porch in the mornings and just relax with my coffee. Most importantly, I am excited to have my own space that is clean and quiet. It will be perfect for the stressful senior classes, GRE preparation, and grad school applications that I will be dealing with by then. I can't wait!

April = birthdays

So I'm not exactly sure why, but about 75% of my friends and family have birthdays that fall in the month of April. My aunt has six kids and five of them have April birthdays! Not to mention they're all old enough to begin procreating and now they're having children whose birthdays are, of course, in April. I also have one other cousin with an April birthday. Then, it's my sister Lidia's birthday tomorrow actually (she'll be 8!). Three of my best friends also have April birthdays. How does this happen???

I don't know, but I need a little more time in between all these birthday's to afford presents and birthday celebrations. I'm going broke! Of course though, my friends and family are 100% worth it and they can't help when they were born. I should really just start saving up in advance. Maybe I'll start saving in January to budget for April? I don't know. There's also the problem of what I should even get them all. My cousins are easier because their mom gives me ideas. But my friends are always "I don't need anything, don't worry about it." But I'm not going to get them nothing so I search high and low on King Street for a unique, reasonably priced gift that is different for each of them. I just really hope they all like their gifts and that I financially get through the month of April!

I must just have a thing for people who were born in April?

Cheer Tryouts: Update

This weekend was absolutely exhausting because of tryouts. I am so sore, bruised, and tired that it's crazy. However, I think we've got a really talented team for next year and I'm so excited! It's somewhat small-- 25 people. But honestly, I would rather have a small, hard working, talented team, than a big, lazy, and inadequate team. Today was also pretty nostalgic for me. This was my last cheerleading tryout ever, and that's so hard to believe. Cheerleading has been such a huge part of my life for my three years in college! It wasn't as exciting to see my number on the final cut list this year as it was three years ago. But I was with a few rising freshman who saw their numbers on the list and were so happy they were crying, jumping up and down, and hugging. I remember that feeling like it was yesterday and I wish I could go back to that moment-- truly one of the best feelings in the world. It's awesome to know that something you've worked so hard for has paid off and that you have finally reached your goals. 

I'm excited to get to know my new teammates in the upcoming season and to build a close-knit bond that my team really needs. I'm now looking forward to a summer filled with six weekend practices (Saturday and Sunday), one five-day UCA college camp, and one "hell week" which is the week right before school starts. (Oh and working two jobs and taking one summer class, plus the GRE and all the necessary preparation). We've got a lot of work to do, but I can't wait!  

Rainy Daze

It's been raining for three days straight in Boone so far and it's expected to continue raining until Sunday. I am all for snuggling up to a movie and a hot cup of coffee on a cold rainy day. But the rain really sucks when it's all week long, nonstop, and you need to be productive all week. The rain makes me tired and really does affect my mood--I feel more tired and pessimistic. So clearly this week is going to go well for me just based on the weather (I'm actually not that superstitious, I just know how rain affects my mood and how my mood affects my life). 

One thing I do love about rain though is thunderstorms. Where I live it storms everyday during the summer. Literally, every day. The storms move through quickly but they will come, no matter what. My dad and I used to go sit out on our screened-in back porch and watch the storms. I always thought they were so amazing yet scary, which made me not want to look away. When it storms at night I love how the lightning lights up the sky, and for a split second it almost looks like it's daytime again. You can see everything that the night is trying to hide, if you look closely enough. I used to personify the sky and wonder what it was so mad at or what it was crying about. To me, storms are beautiful. 

However, during the school year it rarely storms in Boone and I don't have a porch to sit on or my dad to keep me company. I can maybe count on one hand the number of times I've seen it storm in Boone with actual thunder and lightning. Otherwise, it's just regular rain or snow. Ew. 

In conclusion, please go away rain. Thank you. 

Tryouts

I know exactly what April means: cheerleading tryouts. This year's tryouts are next weekend. On our team, we have to try out every year (regardless of the fact that I'll be a senior next year and I've cheered for the past three years). I don't get too nervous anymore, but try outs are still nerve racking. I still, of course, have to work hard and impress the judges. My spot is not 100% secured and I know that I am not entitled to a position on the team. I still get nervous doing the actual try out. The hardest part about it all is wondering which of your friends may not make it this year, or which of the new people will walk away crying because they don't see their numbers on the call-back list. 

Tryouts are two days long and there are three cuts. The first cut is the most general cut-- like the people who absolutely do not need to be there and don't have the most basic skill requirements. That cut is made after the lunch break on the first day. The second cut is for those who could have what it takes, but we do not see fit for them to be on the team right now, or they may still need to improve on their skills. That cut is made at the conclusion of the first day. If you make it past the second cut, then you are invited back for the second day of tryouts, which involves stunting, an interview, and the formal tryout-- the most nerve racking part.  

Clearly it's an intensive process that makes for a long, tiring, stressful weekend. I hope everything goes smoothly and that we will get a well-rounded, talented, and dedicated team for next year! 

My Saturday

I had an awesome day yesterday and soo I'm going to blog about it! First of all, I actually got to sleep in! It's been soo long since I got to do that. Sleeping in for me is sleeping in until 8:30 and it felt amazing. Then, I spent the morning being lazy and I finished the book that I've been reading (Insurgent). After that, I picked three of my friends up and we went up on the parkway to go hiking. We never found the hike that we were actually looking for, so we did the basic Rough Ridge hike. I've done it at least 5 times now, but somehow I don't get tired of it. The mountains are beautiful and the infamous rock is cool, even though it's no where near as high as it seems in all the pictures. The weather was perfect: sunny, not too hot, not too cold, with a slight breeze. We sat up on the rock and just talked and laughed for an hour or so. After that, we hiked back down and went to Town Tavern in Blowing Rock. We weren't that hungry so we got a bunch of yummy appetizers to share and we sat out on the deck. Then we got Kilwin's and walked around the little shops in Blowing Rock. 

It was honestly one of the best days I've had in a while and it was exactly what I needed. Sunshine, good friends, and good food might actually be the cure for just about anything. I realized that those are the days that I will cherish the most when I think back someday about being in undergrad at App State.  

Study study study

It's starting to hit me that this semester is coming to a close and that I'm getting busier and busier. This means stress, stress, stress. This week seems like it would be easy since it's only a three day week, right? Wrong. In this three day week, I've got two tests, a short paper, three online quizzes, and a week's worth of work for my online class. I'm trying to plan everything out really well, so I'm using my planner like a Bible. I'm telling myself that if I just stay on task and stay focused, I will get everything done and then I can have fun this weekend. For now, I'm going to be studying my life away for political science (today) and physics (friday). Can we talk about how boring those two subjects are?? My mom majored in political science so that she could go to law school...... what a horrible, horrible undergrad degree. I have my opinions about things, but I am just not into politics at all. And physics. I mean I guess it's interesting but it's wayyyyy more information about the world around me than I even want to know. Plus I hate all forms of math. Different strokes for different folks, I guess! 

*If y'all are feeling anything like me, good luck! Just drink some coffee, tell yourself you can do it, and reward yourself when you do!