La La La

I am so Daria sometimes.  Do y'all remember Daria?  I wasn't really allowed to watch this show when it came on MTV, but, being the "rebellious" high schooler that I was, I would sneakily watch Daria and totally obviously nonchalantly flip the channel when my mom would pop into the room.

Even then I knew I had some definite Daria-isms in me.  In college, I pitched this persona to my friends, and the few who had a clue what I was talking about totally saw the resemblance.  In fact, I was Daria for Halloween a few years ago, but most people just thought I was wearing some bizarro ensemble instead of an actual costume.  Thinking back, the irony in that situation is so Daria.

"People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute."

Anyway, Tuesday was a definite Daria day.  I woke up late; I got scolded at work and sat at my desk with my jaw clenched while tears rolled down my face; it was freezing cold outside and looked like the middle of January; I was on campus from before 8 AM until after 9 PM; I had to miss So You Think You Can Dance (only my favorite show) because of stupid class; I had a hole in my sock and water in my shoe.

That, however, was Tuesday, and yesterday was a whole different story, for yesterday looked something like this:

Green with envy yet?  Sorry, sorry don't mean to rub it in.

Just know that, until Sunday when I have to leave beautiful Destin, Florida, I'll be living the good life and wishing you were all here to share it with me.  Today was about 80 degrees, gorgeous sun, great breeze blowing--in other words, perfection.

I've already taken about six hundred so many pictures, so you'll feel like you were right here with me, don't you worry about that.  I hope everyone's getting excited about a fun Halloween weekend.  I know it will be a different kind of holiday here on the shore, but I couldn't imagine being anywhere better.

Daria days?  Not in Destin, that's for sure.

Bright New Morning

My house is clean.  My tailgate food is prepared.  My laundry is done.  I'm ready for another great football weekend with some of my favorite house guests set to start rolling in within a few hours. 
With the pep rally, tailgating, the game, and seeing so many special people, I know it's sure to be a jam-packed, fabulous weekend.  I hope all of you have something fun planned for this beautiful fall weekend, and I'm really hoping the Bulldogs can pull out a huge upset over Florida tomorrow.
I mean, who is Tim Tebow anyway??
Here's a few pics I snapped this morning after I got through cleaning; the fall sunshine looked so pretty streaming through the window I just couldn't resist!

Pictures to Prove It

Ah... what a good weekend.  Just the mix I needed, and it was pretty wonderful.  I went home Friday afternoon and spent that night hanging out and talking with my mom.  Saturday was spent doing some errands around Columbus, and I took a trip out to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon.  That night we had Suzy and Tyler's fun stock the bar fiesta, and it was sooooo much fun!  I think everybody had a great time, the food was wonderful, and we (of course) we laughed for hours.  Finally, today was spent talking with my mom, going to a great tea/shower for Suzy, and, after getting back from Columbus, passing the afternoon reading in the sunshine outside of the bookstore. 
Great, great weekend, indeed. 

You don't have to take my word for it, though; I've got the pictures to prove it.

Down in a Hole

So, for the last ten days or so, I've believe I've been a real pain in the ass bit hard to deal with.  I've felt kind of like this:

like I was down in some dark hole without a clue how to hoist myself out.  I don't really know what's been the problem exactly, but I've been in a serious funk, that I know for sure.  I haven't been able to pinpoint this nasty mood to any one problem, but I can narrow it down to a few factors, I think.
First, I have found myself eating practically everything in sight.  For no apparent reason.  I would arrive home from class or work ravenously hungry and begin pilfering through my cabinets and refrigerator like a madwoman.  I would eat like my arm was being controlled by some sort of machinery, and I was apparently powerless to stop it.  I was shoving in food like this:

mindlessly picking at food like this:

and, all of a sudden, it felt like my kitchen looked like this:

I don't know how it happened, but it wasn't pretty.  And it felt miserable.

Besides eating enough to hibernate for the winter, I was having a pretty tough time schoolwork wise.  I felt like my teachers were speaking foreign languages or like I had somehow wandered into the wrong classroom.  I would sit in my chair staring at the powerpoint in front of me with a glazed expression on my face, maniacally checking my phone to see how many minutes of torture were left.  The more my teachers droned on, the more I felt like this:

 

and I just couldn't seem to get on track, which was not good considering that these last two weeks have most definitely been midterms. 

Duh duh duhhhhhhhhhh...

In addition to the eating and the general lunacy that was class, I felt like I couldn't get a decent night's sleep to save my life.  I would fall asleep feeling like I had been knocked out, like somebody had punched me in the face with this:

but, after a few hours, I would wake up and that would be it.  No more sleepy time.  Therefore, sleep, having to come sometime, would come at the most inopportune time.  It tended to look something like this:

and it was ugly.

Finally, as ridiculous as this may sound, I think the weather has played a big part in my dark cloud over the past days.  My sweet, sleepy little Starkville has ceased looking like this:

and has started to rather eerily resemble this:

It rains all the time these days, and I, for one, have had enough of it.  I never thought I would hear myself say that, for rainy days are usually some of my favorites, but, seriously, enough.  It's not fun rain like this: 

or pretty rain like this:

or even purple rain like this:

It's just rain.  Torrential rain.  Humid rain.  Messy, blowing, muddy, neverending rain.  I think today was the first time in what feels like years that it didn't rain, and it was so great; if it had kept up much longer, I'll would have had to go to school in this:

and walking across the Drill Field would look like this:

Today, however, the clouds started to part, both literally and figuratively, and life started to look like this:

I no longer feel like I want to eat forever, sleep for days, trip people I walk past, throw my professors laptops off a roof, or pull the covers over my head, shutting out the world for an unspecified period of time.  Things are so, so much better, and I'm sure that is making life more pleasant for everyone I come into contact with, as well. 

Finally, in one last happy note, Wex got engaged Friday!  This summer, she and Kyle (who I haven't met yet, but I trust is as wonderful as she says) are going to look like this:

and I can't wait!  Wex, I'm so happy for you and love you sooooo much!  Can't wait to hear all the details as they unfold; the months to come are going to be so much fun!!

As for me, I'm so glad it's Wednesday, as classes are over for the week, work week ends tomorrow, and the weekend will be spent with my favorite hometown crew.  Nothing like wedding festivities to bring the Pats together.

Hope you're all having a great week!!

ABC

My sweet Meg turned 24 on Saturday, but celebrating her birthday and school work ever since have kept me from promptly posting her birthday tribute.  (I should actually be studying at this moment, but I cannot delay this any further.)  So, happy 24th, Mega... love you sooooo much!!

A

Across the Universe.  Accident on the Phi Mu floor.  Anthony's.  All Sig Day.  "Amanda, are you cooking, or just banging all the pots together?"  Aunt Meg.

B

Beer.  Beatles.  Blog.  Bargain shopper.  Blackberry Messenger.  Bin 612.  Beer Olympics.  Bitching and moaning (our favorite pasttime).  Birthday week.  Baby Pearce.  Bachelorette party. 

C

California.  "Cheese Nips or Cheese-Its?"  Costumes.  Corn dog bites/mac and cheese.

D

Drunk voice.  David Yurman.  Disney World.  Dollar night.  Dessert with your Daughter debacle.  Dirty rush.

E

Eighties queen.  Editing pictures.  Easely Amused.

F

Fall decorations.  Football season.  Facebook.  FML.  Future Phi Mu, Sarah.

G

Girls weekend.  Girl Talk.  Germany (and Brandon's other family).  Game day. 

H

Halloween.  Harry Potter.  Hated Bid Day.  Hangovers.  Husband in Germany.  Huge heart.

I

"I lost my life last night."  "I am a full cup; you're cup is empty."

J

Jewelry.  Just laying on the couch watching Lifetime movies.

K

Kramer.  Katie's softball jersey.

L

Life in the Phi Mu house.  Lifetime.  Late night.  Laying in bed ALL DAY.

M

Mannequin.  Mugshots.  Movies.  Mani/pedi.  My Humps.  Mickey D's.  Making people repeat everything.

N

Nightmare Before Christmas.  Night route.

O

Overserved.  Old Venice RIP.  

P

Peg.  Phi Mu.  Patrick Swayze.  Proofreading your papers.  Pizza.  Pitiful (when you don't get your way).

Q

Quilt of t-shirts.

R

Ringlets (Fall for Phi Mu '06...).  Ray Bans.  Richard Simmons.

S

Sigma Chi.  Sushi.  Swaps.  Smoking cigs.  Shots.  Standards.  Scratchy hangover voice.  SoCo and Lime.  "Shut up, Scott."  Sensitive.

T

Throwing beer bottles (and ashtrays).  Talking about everybody.  Taco Bell.

U

Umi.  Upset stomach in the Dominican.

V

Vegas the bulldog.  VP.

W

West Point.  Waverly.  Wine.  Wedding planning.  Work sucks.  "What are you talking about?"  Worldpeace.  Wearing heels to the games.  "Who's Kyla?"

X

X-mas (aka Boys Bid Day).

Y

Your "twin" brother, Brooks.  Your one crazy summer.

Z

Zoo (aka living in the Phi Mu House).

Happy late birthday, Meg!  So glad we were together to celebrate!  Love you soooooooooo much!

Photographs and Memories: Part Deux

And... we're back.  Let's pick back up at my year between college and grad school.  I usually refer to this one as my...

Sabbatical Year

Alex and me, Old Venice Pizza Company, August 2007.  Everything about this picture is pretty much the epitome of our relationship.

Megan, Katie, and me, Bin 612, September 2007.

Alex and me, Old Venice Pizza Company, November 2007.

Josh and me, Phi Delta Theta Riverboat, November 2007.

Becca, Ben, and me, New York City, December 2007.  I can't really explain why exactly I'm dressed like a German school marm...

Katie and me, Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee, December 2007.

Katie, Amanda, and me, Memphis, Tennessee, December 2007.

Summer and me, Zachary's, April 2008.

Tori, Kate, Bailey, and me, Lindsey's wedding, Destin, Florida, April 2008.

Ben, Katie, and me, Mughots, June 2008.

Alicia, Florence, Emily, Becca, and me, Washington, D.C., June 2008.

Alicia, Becca, and me, Washington, D.C., June 2008.

Alicia, Becca, and me, Washington, D.C., June 2008. 

Grad School I

Megan, Brandon, and me, Barrister's, August 2008.

Becca and me, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 2008.

Hope and me, Hope's wedding, January 2009.

Phillip, Amanda, and me, Barrister's, spring 2009.

Megan, Katie, and me, Megan's engagement party, March 2009.

Maggie and me, Megan's bachelorette party in Destin, Florida, March 2009.

Tori and me, Barrister's, spring 2009.

Collin and me, Megan's Sip and Sing, May 2009.

Megan and me, Megan's wedding, May 2009.

Katie, Lindsey, Adair, Alison, Caroline, Bailey, Mary, and me, Bailey's wedding, June 2009.

Summer and me, Gulf Shores, Alabama, July 2009.

Becca and me, Gulf Shores, Alabama, July 2009.

And that brings us up to now... Grad School II.  If you've been reading, you've seen all of my recent adventures, and if not, well, help yourself to my archives.  The last six years (really?  six years?) have been more fun, more meaningful, and more amazing than I could ever imagine.  Many of the people who matter most to me have shown up in these pictures, and I can't imagine my life without them.  I do miss college (and, let's be honest, grad school isn't really college... who was I kidding?), but these people and these memories will keep college alive forever.