I've recently rediscovered my supply of Regina Spektor musica, and I think I'm likin' it. Granted, some of her songs are a little too odd for me, but her latest CD ain't. too. shabby.

I've been listening to her song "Laughing With" a bit recently (especially during this most recent personal-statement-writing-session), and it's made me realize that I really need to plug back into my faith. I wouldn't go as far to say that I lost it by any means, but I certainly have not been as in touch with God as I should (and want to) be. I welcome any and all prayers for my path to getting back into His arms : )

-African proverb

mindful mondays (on a thoughtful tuesday)

By now you've probably realized that this blog is a little more M than Z, but come on, who didn't expect that from the get-go? Anyway, yesterday was a little bit overwhelming for a Monday, so I have decided to embark on an endeavor to keep me focused on the important things. Obviously I didn't get to it yesterday, but from here on out I intend to write these introspective posts each Monday. Get excited, readers! (all 2.5 of you...)  I might delve into an issue I've been struggling with, or I might just mention a nice quote I've come across that encouraged, inspired, or simply entertained me (well, quotes are likely to also show up on days besides Mondays (or in this case, Tuesdays); consider yourself warned).

Only the fourth day into the semester and I've already realized that it will be a busy one. The clock is ticking on my Rhodes application deadline, which is both increasingly daunting and frustrating. I only have the personal statement left (aka the most important part...), and i pretty much need to finish it in the next day or two so I can have it proofread. Fun stuff.

To ease this pressure, I regularly remind myself of a quote I discovered on a sticker on my roommate's wall. It's by Pres. Teddy Roosevelt, and I'm pretty certain I'm even going to work it into my Rhodes essay. It is quite straightforward, but somehow seeing it with quotations around it makes it seem much more empowering. I'll leave you with it so you can go and do great things as well...

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Simple as that folks. Happy Monday (er...Tuesday).

first day of school!

College is a funny thing, huh? There's freedom, and fun, and intellectual stimulation...and this morning when I had my last first day of undergraduate classes, there was no one making sure I got there on time (and, of course, I almost didn't-- luckily the traffic gods were with me as I raced to class on my bicycle).

Lessons learned on this last-first:
1. Whenever you think, Ehh, I probably won't need that, grab it anyway. Trust me. This morning (at 5:45am!) I was moving pretty slow getting ready to head to practice. I remembered to grab my bicycle lights today (I have forgotten the past couple of days, which is slightly illegal and potentially dangerous), but upon arrival to my locked-up bicycle couldn't manage to locate the front light buried in my bag. As it was 5:58 and practice starts at 6, my hurried self thought, Well, I mostly just need the back light anyway. I'll be able to see the cars in front of me on the opposite side of the road...So I attached that little blinking red light and set off.
Wrong. Decision.
     About a minute into the ride, a car starts heading towards me, in reverse(!), on my side of the road! they totally didn't see me pedaling as fast as my sleepy lil body could go, so i had to hop the curb and dash out of the way. Yikes.
     THEN, once back on track, there were these two women running [toward me] in my lane (which is fine-- I always recommend running against traffic). They might not have seen me, but I wasn't worried since I could easily maneuver around them. That presumption, unfortunately, was made without considering the possibility of a giant monster of a dog running out from a house on the left to assail the runners. The barking, shrieking, and screeching brakes that ensued woke up all of Central Florida, without a doubt. Needless to say, my heart rate was sufficiently raised by the time I arrived to practice. On time.
     Use your bicycle lights, folks.

2. Auditing a class is awesome. Today during my first Immunology class, the professor took a few minutes to outline the grading policy. 2% off for every absence; a research paper and presentation worth 20% of the total grade; 6 pop quizzes based on the reading...and I don't have to worry about a single one of those. Just learning for the sake of learning. I love it.

3. Sleep is necessary. The past few nights of ~5-6hrs are starting to make their presence known. So this is a good realization, yes, but unfortunately I don't see myself really keeping to my plan of ≥7.5hrs this semester. Shucks.

4. Family is good. No explanation necessary.

rain, rain, go away...

So I'm pretty close to certain that I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (appropriately abbreviated  SAD). Okay, not really, but this central FL rain [everyday!] is really throwing off my productivity groooove. I'm down to four applications (Duke, UVA, VCU, and Rhodes), yet I just. can't. get. them. done. I just pull up the page and draw a blank. Shucks.

In OTHER, better news, I'm all settled in! Well, mostly. None of my other roommates have moved in so our living room is still a little drab, but no matter. My room and desk areas are all home-ified, and I love it! Turns out I'm quite the bulletin board fan.

i spy a cute camper and his now-22-yr-old uncle...

more pics and scraps + my new FAVE piece for holdin all ma jewwry

hmm...maybe these walls seem blank? Naaah...I promise it at least looks a little better "in real life"

I'm not really into scrapbooking as most people think of it (with the wavy-boardered-pictures, cute stickers, and clever captions), but I always seem to cling to scraps in the real sense of the word--concert tickets, baby announcements, old pictures, etc. Anyone know of where I could buy a book/binder/whatever to organize these, without all the fancy glue and paper?