Cool Runnings

This vid makes me so happy on so many levels.



The obvious level?  All those Phi Mu ladies, of course.
But it doesn't end there.  This vid pumps me up for Mississippi State, and it makes my heart happy to see so many stellar Columbus folk (and a pretty good number of fellow Pats, as well) fanning the flame.
This little piece of work also makes me miss college something fierce, but I think that pretty much goes without saying.
Good luck, girls!
Phi Mu for life or die.
 

The State of Us

So, almost three weeks ago now (how did 3 weeks pass already??) I graduated from Mississippi State for the second time.  This time I've been deemed a Master, but, I must admit, I don't really feel like a master of anything!  Sometimes it just seems that I know a little bit about a lot of different stuff, when isn't it supposed to be the other way around??
I was more emotional about graduation than I expected to be.  Honestly, I was more emotional throughout the process of graduate school than I ever imagined I would be.  As many of you have read/heard me say before, it was a bit of a three-year rollercoaster ride, filled with such highs and lows as, say, gaining a whopping 60 pounds and, to date, losing 20 of that; helping my mom through 2 knee replacements; moving out of my mom's house only to move back in two years later; making the best grades I've ever made; making great friends in my program, unlike my undergraduate degree where I flew solo throughout much of my schoolwork; and, finally, working toward an actual profession:  school counselor (as opposed to an English major trying (often unsuccessfully) to rationalize how I fit into a certain role).
Although I remain wholly baffled by the oddity of the costume outfit uniform costume graduates are required to wear, here's a few pictures from graduation.  I mean, seriously, why is it necessary to wear such a ridiculous get-up for such a meaningful and heavily-photographed day?  And that hat?  Don't get me started.

In the three weeks since graduation, I've thought a lot about my time at Mississippi State and in Starkville and all that it means to me.  Yesterday I went to campus to have some final paperwork signed, and, when I realized it was very likely my last piece of business as a Mississippi State student, I was really overcome with how much the university has meant to me over the past eight years.  So, in my usual way, I've made a list of all the things I love most about Mississippi State and Starkville.
Here we go....
101 Things to Love about Mississippi State University and Starkville
1.  Roadrunner tours
2.  Having class in Lee Hall with the windows up
3.  The Reveille
4.  The view from the top of the stadium
5.  The night route
6.  Dancing with the band at Mugshots
7.  The Reflector
8.  Listening to the chimes at the Chapel of Memories
9.  Cowbells
10.  Taking a walk on campus
11.  Maroon bikes
12.  Concerts at the amphitheater
13.  Finding the perfect study nook at Mitchell Memorial Library
14.  Bumping into your favorite professor at dinner or the bar
15.  Reformed University Fellowship in Dorman Auditorium
16.  The view from the M-Club
17.  Basketball at the Hump
18.  The smell of University Florist
19.  University Drive
20.  Celebrating in the Junction after a home game win
21.  "Energy bars" at City Bagel Cafe
22.  Maroon Fridays
23.  Daffodils blooming on campus in the spring
24.  Drinking beer waiting to set up tailgates
25.  Left Field Lounge
26.  Buying McCarty pottery at University Florist
27.  The Presiden't house
28.  Being the only person walking across the Drill Field on a gorgeous afternoon
29.  Watching the sunset on the Drill Field
30.  Old Venice Pizza Company after a football game
31.  Reading on the Drill Field
32.  Sunday lunch at Perry Cafeteria
33.  Easter Egg Hunt at the President's house
34.  The very beginning of a home football game
35.  The winery
36.  Watching the seasons change on campus
37.  Tailgating in the Junction
38.  Bulldog Bash
39.  Super Bulldog Weekend
40.  Sorority row at Christmas
41.  Shipley's donut holes
42.  The Drill Field
43.  Studying at Barnes & Noble
44.  The stories and legends of the university's history
45.  The maroon and white game
46.  Mississippi State birthday party
47.  "The only prescription is more cowbell."
48.  Game day polos
49.  Finals week at Mitchell Memorial Library
50.  The Drill
51.  Hail State
52.  Crawfish at the fraternity houses on Super Bulldog Weekend
53.  The Dawg Pound Rock
54.  Drinking wine in the afternoon at Bin 612
55.  Sorority row
56.  Going to a play in McComas
57.  Playing the piano at the Chapel of Memories
58.  Senior Celebration
59.  Who Let the Dogs Out?
60.  Going to the movies on a Friday afternoon
61.  The rose garden
62.  Seeing a concert in Lee Hall
63.  Sitting on my back porch and listening to bands playing in the Cotton District
64.  "You guys ready to let the dogs out?"
65.  The Jumbotron
66.  Cotton District Arts Festival
67.  State Fountain Bakery
68.  Spending the afternoon reading/studying at City Bagel Cafe
69.  The Cotton District
70.  Boys Bid Day
71.  The Egg Bowl
72.  The balcony at Mugshots
73.  Starbucks in the Union
74.  Brown bag pasta dinners at City Bagel Cafe
75.  Pancake breakfasts on sorority row
76.  MSU Choir Christmas concert
77.  Walking to campus on a home football Saturday
78.  Brunch at Restaurant Tyler
79.  Alumni Delegate maroon blazers
80.  Sushi at Umi
81.  Running to the sorority house on Bid Day
82.  Maroon Alerts
83.  Homecoming Parade
84.  City Bagel Cafe
85.  True Maroon
86.  Finding the perfect gift at Aspen Bay
87.  Rounding up maroon clothing from all over creation
88.  Seeing Dan Mullen running on campus
89.  The State spell-out
90.  The Dawg Walk
91.  Famous Maroon Band
92.  The Christmas tree in the library
93.  Game day stickers
94.  "From Dixon with love"
95.  The real bulldogs
96.  Maroon and white
97.  Mississippi State choir
98.  The Christmas tree in the Junction
99.  Blue plate specials at The Veranda
100.  Football at Davis Wade Stadium
101.  Bully
Man, I love Mississippi State so much. 
In other news, I'm hoping my favorite favorite American Idol contestant makes it into the finals tomorrow night... Come on, Scotty!!
Also, I'm off to Tuscumbia, AL, tomorrow to celebrate the nuptials of these two crazy kids:

I'm pumped to some of my most favorite people in the entire world (one of whom I haven't seen in a year-and-a-half), and I know it's going to be a great time.  I'm sure we won't tell any embarrassing stories on each other, take a single picture, or laugh so hard we disturb other restaurant patrons/hotel guests/general bystanders.
Yeah... right.

What a Girl Wants

I wrote yesterday about the things I had hoped to accomplish in 2010.  As you may have seen, I came up a little short of completing everything I hoped to get done.  That didn't stop me, however, from coming up with a few things I'd like to get done this year (11, in fact... 11 things for 2011... you know I love the cheese factor).  This year, I'm trying to get back to basics and get some of the essentials taken care of once and for all.
Please allow me to clarify...
11 Things I Want in 2011:
(in no particular order.  well, actually in alphabetical order... but no particular order of importance, I suppose)
11.  Travel somewhere I've never been
10.  Save some money
9.  Move out of the Golden Triangle
8.  Lose weight
7.  Graduate
6.  Go on a date (seriously, not looking for a marriage proposal, just maybe dinner and a movie?)
5.  Get back to church regularly
4.  Get a job
3.  Find a cute house/apartment
2.  Develop a personal style and wear great (and great fitting!) clothes
1.  Buy a new car
So there you have it; I have high hopes for the year to come, and, if today was any indication, it's going to be a great year.  I started off the day with a wonderful New Year's brunch, watched the Bulldogs demolish those pesky Wolverines, and saw a movie.  Now, I'm stretched out blabbering to you fine people and listening to some great tunes.  Shuffle has certainly not let me down tonight, as every song that's crossed my 'Pod has made me want to turn the volume up just a little higher.  I think I like 2011.
Happy New Year, my friends!



Dazed and Confused

Ok, so I don't really get Halloween anymore.
I understood Halloween when it was like this:

And I understood Halloween when it was like this:

I still understood it when it was like this, too:

But somewhere between this:

and this:

I got lost.  Baffled.  Confounded.  Muddled.  Perplexed.  Puzzled.  I just don't get it.
When did Halloween become so inappropriate?  So tasteless?  So... slutty?

When did the goal of Halloween become to show as much skin as humanly possible without being naked?  What happened to good old-fashioned creativity and a little homegrown ingenuity? 

I haven't dressed up for Halloween since college, and, being that I was never a big Halloween fanatic anyway, I haven't really missed donning a thrown-together costume and swilling down hunch-punch at some equally thrown-together house party.  Call me old-fashioned (or just old, if you like), but I've moved on.  (Let's be quite honest, the part of Halloween that gets me is this:)

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I just don't understand.  In all honesty, I just don't get it.
I mean, honestly, do nurses really dress like this:

Does a police officer go out in her cruiser dressed like this:

I work in a school.  How often do I see anyone dressed like this:

And, seriously, could Pochahontas have canoed all over creation (not to mention painted with all the colors of the wind) wearing only this:

It baffles me.
And not to mention the message it's sending to younger kids, who want to look grown up and dress like they see older people dressing.  (My job now creeps into every facet of my life... it's a knee-jerk reaction I have no control over.)

What's so wrong with dressing like this:

Or even this:

I know, I know... I'm 100 years old.  I can't help it.  It'd be fine with me if everyone created their Halloween costumes from objects lying around their houses--creating masterpieces out of cardboard boxes and pipe-cleaners, but I know (sadly) that's not the way of the world these days.

On a happier note, I'm so excited to see the Bulldogs play today!  I can't wait to see them take on Kentucky tonight, and I cannot believe how pumped up everyone is.  I'll leave you with this video someone put together in preparation for the game tonight.  Go Dogs!!



Happy Halloween!  (I'm not really sour, you know, just an old soul.)

Weekend Update

So, before you say anything...
I know I've been slacking big time lately in the blog department. 
Can I blame the insanity that is work and school 100%?  I hope so... because I am.
Work is absolutely nuts most days and every day is a new adventure, but I really like what I'm doing, and I love the people I'm doing it with.  I'm beyond blessed by all of the wonderful people who have entered my life during the past thirteen weeks (thirteen weeks... how nuts is that?!), and I'm so thankful for their guidance, wisdom, and influence.
This past Friday I took my master's comp exam.  I'm not going to pretend I aced it; I'm not even going to pretend it was remotely easy.  It was quite the opposite, actually.  In other words, it was really, really hard.  In fact, it might have been the hardest test I've ever taken to date, but, you know what?  Lord willing I passed, and it's over.
Friday night Lindsey and I went to downtown Columbus' Ghosts & Legends tour.  It was admittedly cheesy, but it was a good time and a new and different look at my hometown (which is not easy to come by in a place I've lived for almost twenty-six years).  It was great to get to hang out with Lindsey and a fun night all around.

Saturday I spent the day/night in Starkville tailgating and cheering on the Bulldogs.  Did I hear someone say bowl eligible??  I couldn't be more excited about our postseason possiblities, and, although Saturday night's game wasn't pretty, I'm always excited to add another 'W'.  I had the greatest, most relaxing day, and it was so great to be able to enjoy such a leisurely Saturday in one of my most favorite places in the world.

I've got another busy week this week, but I'm excited to be back in Starkville Saturday to see the Bulldogs take on Kentucky.  I'm hoping we can keep this winning streak going, and I'm excited to hang out with so many of my favorites again, too.
Oh, and how could I forget to mention my favorite new thing in my life...

Fro-yo has arrived in Starkville!!  As you may know, I have been a little obsessed with the frozen yogurt phenom since my Spring Break trip to Dallas.  Therefore, ever since I first heard of Starkville's very own yogurt store opening, I couldn't wait for that great day.  And now it's come!  Local Culture opened Thursday, I've already been twice, and I love it so much already.  I'm so thrilled that fro-yo is making a comeback.

Have a Nice Weekend

This past weekend was Super Bulldog Weekend, a spring tradition in Starkville/at Mississippi State that I truly adore.  There's baseball games, the spring football game, the Cotton District Arts Festival, great music, tons of crawfish and cold beer, and, best of all, tons of friends in town.  Add in some gorgeous weather like we had this year, and you've got the makings of a truly super weekend.
I started off Friday morning by getting my apartment all cleaned up for my company, who would start arriving that afternoon.  The finishing touch was, of course, some beautiful flowers, for y'all know I always think fresh flowers do wonders for any occasion.  I also watered my flowers I've been taking so much care of outside, for I wanted them to look their best for our company, too.

Megan got into town early afternoon, and we headed for the Cotton District to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.  We hung out for awhile, Becca and Wex came and met up with us, and before long Meg, Wex, and I headed home to get ready for an amazing dinner at Anthony's.  And an amazing dinner, it was.  After dinner we went out downtown, where all the bars were packed with SBW merriment.  I will go ahead and say now that I took no pictures from the weekend.  I know you're disappointed; I'm disappointed in myself, as well.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful, and Wex and I started off the morning with breakfast at City Bagel.  We met up with Meg after breakfast and headed for the Cotton District Arts Festival, one of my favorite springtime events.

After walking around the festival for awhile, we met up with Becca, Paige and Lauren for lunch at the new Grill, which, aside from the miserable service, was wonderful.  After lunch we headed back to the Cotton District, where the remainder of the afternoon was spent hanging out people-watching at the Bin.  The night was again spent downtown, although this fossil drank ice water at the bar and called it a night relatively early.  I was sooooo exhausted.  As I said, I took no pics, but I managed to steal a couple that Becca snapped Saturday.

Sunday we did something I've been wanting to do since football season, but for some reason never could manage to pull together--brunch at Restaurant Tyler.  It was seriously worth it, and we were all glad we finally got ourselves together.  That afternoon, I went to see Death at a Funeral and spent the rest of the day lounging on my couch watching movies.  Well, honestly, I only made it through about a movie and a half before I was snoozing the day away.  Seriously, I am old and cannot hang like I used to.  How pitiful.

Today it was back to the grind.  Carrot sticks and turkey sandwiches, school work and class.  If you can believe it, the semster will be over this time next week.  Isn't that insane?  April 26 is my last final, and then I'm done for the semester.  Whoop whoop for that!!

Finally, I have to leave you with a few pictures of one the cutest kids on this planet.  My little cousin Frances is the most precious little doll-baby ever.  And J. Caraway is a seriously amazing photographer.  Put the two together and you have these gorgeous pictures.

Are these not seriously beautiful?  I am so jealous of J. Caraway's work.  Seriously, if I had half the talent that she has in her pinky finger, you wouldn't be able to wrench my camera from my hand.

Anyway, hope your week is off to a great start, and I hope you're finding some little way to enjoy this amazing weather.  Seriously, is God unbelievably great, or what?!