Lasts

I drove up the mountain for the last time as an Appalachian student today.

I changed the sheets on my twin bed for the last time today.

I have written my last rent check...for now anyways.

I have begun my last two weeks in Boone.

My car has entered its last days. I just hope those last days last longer than a few weeks.

I am working on my last college assignment.

I am doing my own laundry for the last time for a while. (The joys of moving back home...Mom does laundry...No worries, I'll help.)

This is my last weekend in Boone.

I will pack my college things for the last time next week.

Next week is my last week as Steph's roommate. (Unless she comes to Durham with me...hopeful wishing)

I have officially finished my last college class.

The naps I take the next two weeks will be my last naps on Lasandra. (Okay, maybe not really, but naps on Lasandra after these two weeks will be far and few between.)

Here's to making the most of these last two weeks in Boone!

A Blast From the Past

Just a few fun pictures I found tonight while procrastinating...
(If you click on the pics, you can see them bigger)

Puss 'n' Boots

Going White Water Rafting...Me and Stevo long before we started dating


So Many Youth Trips with Teddy K!


Best Summer Ever...Son Power...Water Fight...It looks like Kel lost, but from the looks of David's shirt, I think she actually won.


Kenny Chesney Concert


Fun Times at the Beach!


Ame, The Beached Whale...haha (for those of you who don't know Ame, this was all her idea...I wouldn't actually call one of my friends a beached whale)


EKA!


Love these guys!


Days On the Farm with Kel


Days as a Day Camp Counselor...If only pictures could represent all the fun we had!


Taking Northerners to the State Fair...Indescribable.


10 Minute Abs in M202...Never a Dull Moment


M202 Christmas

Lasandra

As promised...I will now introduce you to Lasandra:

This is me and my good friend, Lasandra.
When Rachael and Stephanie and I were getting ready to move in together four years ago, we needed some furniture because we were renting an unfurnished apartment. We had the majority of our stuff except for a couch. Then, Steph remembered her brother Jay had an old couch at their old office that he wasn't using. She said, "It isn't the prettiest thing you ever saw, but it is comfortable." So, she and Rach went and checked it out and decided it would work for a college apartment. We had no idea the love affair that was about to begin.

You see, Lasandra was old when we got her. One of her back legs was missing. After a long debate on our move in day, we decided to take her other back leg off and leave the front two on. So, now we have an overstuffed, well-worn, green couch with a hole or two that is now reclined. We had no idea what we had done. She quickly became the most comfortable couch we had ever sat on! We told everyone about how awesome she was!

Most people were excited for us, but didn't really care to hear about our couch. Then, one weekend, Michael Wilson and Stephen came up for a visit. When Michael first sat on her, I believe his exact words were, "Oh. My. Gosh. This couch is Ahhhhmazzzing!" After he obsessed over our amazing couch for a while, he decided she needed a name. After some thought, because not just any name would do, he decided she needed a very voluptuous name. His first suggestion was Lasandra and it has stuck ever since. That was one of our very first weekends in our new apartment together. So, she has lovingly been known as Lasandra ever since.

Most of our friends have either met or heard of Lasandra. Word travels fast about a comfortable, named couch. Now when people come to our apartment to meet her, most have to pulled away because she sucks them in with her magic. However, there are the rare people who have not had the joy of meeting Lasandra, yet. You can imagine the confusion when we start talking about sitting on or taking a nap on Lasandra. It gets some good reactions from people as they try to figure out who Lasandra is and why we are laying on her.

The majority of the time spent on Lasandra involves sleeping and cuddling. Her magic relies all in the reclining. She is so large and overstuffed that when you sit on her, she sucks you in and quickly puts you to sleep. She is a good snuggler and will allow you to sleep for hours on her!

This year Lasandra, and Stephanie, and I made a move to a new apartment. We decided we had had enough of the green and wanted to dress her up a bit. So, we bought a cover for her. Now, slip covers are expensive and I don't even know that they make ones large enough to fit someone as big as Lasandra. So, we bought a king size sheet for her dress and used the pillow cases to cover her arms. She looks like a completely different couch.
However, since her dress is not fitted, (no one likes to be in a tight dress all the time) it sometimes comes off. Now, the pictures here are not of her completely de-clothed because I would not want to expose her that way on the internet. But, from time to time, she gets pretty rough looking. However, we try to take good care of her and help her get dressed and do her laundry from on a regular basis, especially when guests are coming over.
There is some sad news though, Lasandra is old and getting saggy. She has a hard time staying fluffed up. Her back pillows fall down and get sat on a lot. Her bottom pillows get flat and lumpy. So, we had to admit her to ICU earlier this year and amputate her back two legs. The reclining just made it too hard for her to stay fluffed up. Although, she is not as good as new, she is doing much better. The good news is, she is still very comfy to sit and sleep on. She was losing her comfortableness before she had to go into the hospital and we were afraid the amputation would take that quality away forever. However, she made a full recovery and is still open for long naps and snuggle fests!

Please feel free to come meet, visit, and/or snuggle with Lasandra anytime. She loves meeting new people!

Not Me Monday

I did not have candy for breakfast almost everyday last week. No, not me. I always get up on time to start my day with a healthy breakfast that will energize me for the rest of the day.

I do not shove my tupperwear in the cabinet and slam it shut before it all falls back out. I am an organization freak! I make sure everything has a place and stays in its place.

I did not bake a dessert for Stephen this weekend and then eat part of it before he even got to Boone on Friday. I would never mess up a perfectly baked creation just because it smelled so good that I couldn't resist having a taste. I can always control my sweet tooth cravings.

I Realized This Week That...

...I am a little bit of a dork...okay maybe a lot a bit.

I completed two more hours of grad school this week with a math class. I took a MELT course, which stands for Math Education Leadership Training. And, the one I was in this week was all about how to teach algebra.

I did math everyday, all day from 8:30-4:30 and loved it! It was a long, intense week, but I got a lot of great ideas for the math classroom if/when I teach math. I have always been a fan of a good, challenging math problem. Later in the week, we got into some concepts that wouldn't really be taught at the middle school level. So, they were concepts that I had not thought about or done since high school. It was fun to get my brain thinking about these problems and figuring them out again. My note card quizzes from high school came in handy this week when I had to quickly recall the distance formula, slope formula, and quadratic equation. Ms. Mabe, Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Snyder, and Mrs. Browning would have been proud!

Although I am exhausted from sitting in one class all day for five days, I was blessed each morning as my alarm went off around 6am with the sun rise shinning through my windows. Each morning my room was lit with a warm, refreshing glow of orange from the sun. It was like the Lord was saying, "Good morning!" I loved it. And now, I am ending the week sitting on my back porch watching the sun set. The sunset last night was B-E-A-utiful and I am hoping for the same again today.

It is strange to think that just a few months ago there were several feet of snow on the ground and I was avoiding being outside as much as possible. Now, it's sunny all the time and hot! Amazing how that works.

Remember how I said I had 3 major projects due today because I am also enrolled in 2 other classes right now while I am taking these week long courses? Well, my group and I realized Wednesday afternoon that one of those projects was due Wednesday. This is where the fun of working in groups with friends comes in. We cranked that project out like we had been working on it for months and I was in bed by 11pm that night. Impressive if you ask me. However, Steph and I were delirious by the end of that night and sent an email to Ricky, our other group member, quoting, in APA format, This We Believe. Yes, we were cool enough to look quotes up and site them in an email. It was only funny because it was 11pm and we were exhausted from the intense week of class. But, it was a nice end to a crazy day.

I'm surprised that there have not been more wrecks on 421 with all the construction going on. I have found myself getting distracted by the work they are doing on several occasions. It is so cool to watch them move a pile of dirt or dig through the pavement and put a median in. How do they know how to do that? I wouldn't know where to begin!

My kitchen is clean! Steph and Morgan spent some time on it Thursday night and I finished it this afternoon. It feels so good to have a clean kitchen. The fridge even smells better! And, Lasandra has her clothes on again. The apartment looks like normal again...until next week, when another crazy week starts.

22 Years Old

Happy Birthday, Stephen Edward!

I love you!

* note * I was going to put 22 pictures up, but decided to go with a few of my favorites from this year!

22 Ways That You Make Me Smile:
1) You have silly nicknames for me
2) You take random pictures of yourself, me, anything that catches your attention
3) You're passionate about soccer now
4) You haven't overslept one time for your internship this summer
5) You wear ugly shoes...and don't care what others think
6) You don't like to share your food
7) I am better at sock wrestling than you
8) You have cool friends
9) You get cranky sometimes
10) You learned how to be cranky from me
11) You play with my hair
12) You wear cool t-shirts
13) You like watching Friends now
14) You like the Notebook (ha! Your secret is out!)
15) You play silly games with me
16) I can tell when you're distracted on the phone
17) You're coming to see me this weekend
18) You have cool roommates
19) You think I'm cute
20) You're my favorite
21) You're worth staying up late for to list a few of the reasons I love you
22) You love Jesus more than anything.

This Week (and next for what's it worth)

Class Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30
On top of two other classes...who's idea was that??

My fridge smells REALLY bad! I can smell it in my room whenever one of my roommates opens the door.
None of us have time to clean it right now.
You know what that means? The kitchen is also a mess.
I wish I had the energy and time to clean it, but I'm taking my few "free" moments aka moments of procrastination to blog instead.

Three major projects due on Friday (and next Friday).
So thankful I did that paper due July 2nd last week.

I didn't take a shower Monday morning because I was too tired.
My alarm clock is set for 6am. Not. Okay. With. Me.
My alarm clock went off at 5:30 am this morning.
How am I ever going to be a teacher?
Will I ever be a "morning person?"

It's hot in Boone.
The morning walks to class are refreshing...before it's hot and there are very few people on campus.
I thought summers in Boone were not supposed to be hot and humid.
I bought a tanning bed package...at a place that doesn't have AC.
Who's idea was that??
Remember how I said it's hot in Boone? Well, that makes a tanning bed place that has no AC even hotter. But, I'm still getting a tan, which I'm excited about!

I miss day camp.
I'm trying to clean out my pantry shelf before I go grocery shopping, but I really do need to go grocery shopping.
We're having roommate dinner tomorrow night! Yay for all three of us being here!
I had a nail in my tire today...Glad I have friends and random neighbors I can call on for help!

Stephen's coming to Boone on Friday!
And, he's bringing my mom's vacuum cleaner because ours is broken...yay for clean floors! :)

Lasandra (our couch...explanation to come in a later blog post) doesn't have her clothes on.
I've only watched 2 Friends episodes so far this week.
Steph and I haven't played Friends Scene It yet this week. We're pretty good...you should be proud of our skills.
I haven't even seen Savva this week and it's almost Wednesday. I could use a rampage, monkey imitation, or temper tantrum. :)

It's past my bed time.
2.5 more days this week...

Dear busy weeks, I'll be glad when you're over!

At the end of the day, I am thankful that I am blessed enough to live through these crazy days and am trying to cherish every moment and be thankful through it all! We serve a great and mighty God! He is faithful to provide even through the crazy times!