Holidays, here and gone…

Christmas always seems to get here so quickly and end so quickly…but regardless, it was really nice :) I stayed super busy all last week…last minute shopping, wrapping presents, painting my wine glasses, baking cookies, and going to holiday parties. Saw some old HS friends last Monday, which was nice. Reallllly pushed it with last minute shopping on Tuesday, but I got my mom a really pretty Dooney & Bourke bag! Wednesday, I finished the wine glasses that I had been painting in UVA & VT colors. They turned out really good! On Christmas Eve, we went to church for the annual candlelight service and then my dad bought us coffee and we drove around and saw pretty Christmas lights…and baked up a storm when I got home that night, too!

Christmas morning, I went to my boyfriend’s family for breakfast and opening presents with them. It was really nice and everyone got nice gifts :) Afterwards, my boyfriend went back to my house with me to open presents with my family…it was still only 10am at this point. Soooo early! Saw my neighbors for a few minutes and then we watched the Christmas parade on TV and opened our gifts. I got lots of running things, which is basically all I asked for. I got the iFitness belt which “Chic Runner” Danica reviews here. It’s really great and I highly recommend it for runners! I think everyone in my family knew all I wanted was running things, because I got a lot of nice running gear from all my family members. Can’t wait until its cold(er) here so I can use some of the things!

Even though Christmas is over, the parties are obviously not. Last night, I went with my boyfriend to another of his family’s parties, and we have my dad’s family party here on Sunday…so its like Christmas/New Years party in one! Speaking of New Years, I can hardly wait to watch the Chic-Fil-A Bowl game…really want to see my Hokies beat Tennessee! So no matter what the NYE plans are, I will be somewhere there is a TV with the big game on it!!!

-xoxo

Winter Wonderland :)

It’s soooo nice to say that the semester is completely over with! And I just found out I have a 3.8 GPA, which means Dean’s List AND the fact that I’ve never had a GPA that high in college is just exciting! I have truly been discouraged by grades in college up until this semester, as I came from high school were I had a 4.3 GPA to barely making a 3.0 each semester. But now I beat my goal :) Just means I have to keep that up for my next & LAST semester in college!!!

The holiday parties started this past weekend, as I went to my boyfriend’s sister’s Annual Christmas party on Friday. It was a great time and got to spend time with some of my favorites :) Saturday, I went shopping with my Mama…we’re sooo behind on shopping, and still have a little to do! The day was perfect…not to mention, we even got a dusting of snow…even though the rest of VA got like two FEET of snow. But hey, you take what you can get! Sunday, my family went to Greenville, NC to my aunt’s house for our annual Christmas party with my Mama’s fam. It was really nice and it’s always fun spending time with family & friends.

I can hardly believe that Christmas is in 4 more days! This month has gone by so quickly, and I feel like there is still so much to do! Today has already been productive, though…I have started painting the wine glasses for my fav Hokies & Wahoo fans and they’re turning out great! I also baked three batches of sugar cookies…now we get to frost them…my favorite part :) Still have a lot of baking to do, but I’m about to get in a good, long run since its a nice 45 degrees…perfect running weather. Need to get back on the marathon training plan…I’ve been doing a lot of cross-training (Spinning, elliptical,etc.) because my right Quad has been hurting. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it a long ways today…need to get ready and go since today is the shortest day of the year!

-xoxo

Lovely weekend :)

This past weekend was really great…and I got so much done too! :) Friday evening, my boyfriend & I went to his aunt’s 50th Surprise Party…I’m beginning to think those 50th suprises are a trend! ;) After that, I went home and started preparing for my three Finals. No breaks for me!

Saturday, I got to spend some time with my Mama while we went shopping for Christmas cards, things to make Cinnamon ornaments (which turned out great!), and of course, a stop at Starbucks! I think its becoming an unhealthy (i.e. expensive) habit, but its one I am not willing to give up! Later, my boyfriend & I met up for dinner with one of our really good friends and her boyfriend. It was so nice to see each other, and I think the night was great :)

Sunday is usually always my day to devote to schoolwork, but since the semester is over except for exams, I didn’t really have to dedicate the whole day to doing work for once! I helped make the Cinnamon ornaments for the tree (the recipe can be found here), signed the family Christmas cards (I always get this task for some reason…haha), and got to watch “Christmas Vacation” with the fam! If you know my family, you know that is THE movie of the holidays! :)

One exam out of the way as of Mondayyyyy, and two more to go…I wrote 4.5 pages of an 8-page paper that is due Friday, so I’m not feeling too stressed…yet! Looks like Wednesday is going to be shopping day (yes, a little behind on that…haha)! Can’t wait :)

Pretty ornaments that are super easy to make :)

-xoxo

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas ;)

My dad and I went to pick out a fresh Christmas tree Thursday night to put in the formal dining room, which really makes the house smell Christmassy (is that a word?)! Of course, my boyfriend proceeded to tell me that my family is crazy because we have…well, more than one Christmas tree in our house. Since when is that crazy? All my life I’ve grown up hoping to have Christmases like the ones portrayed in Southern Living, and decorating every room of the house just makes the holidays that much more exciting to me. So…there are actually two big Christmas trees: one in the family room and one in the dining room, which happens to be a gorgeous view to people walking in the front door! And there are two small trees upstairs, as well as one on each side of the front door. Sooo that makes 6? Okay. I don’t consider that too crazy, it’s just…festive :) Christmas just happens to be my favorite holiday, so I get a little carried away at being creative!  In fact, I have the “brilliant” idea to etch the official VT and UVA symbols into wine glasses and beer mugs for some of my favorite people ;) The glass etching kit is available at Michael’s which can be found here, and you can buy plain wine/beer glasses anywhere. I have seen them at Garden Ridge and Walmart, and I’m sure Michael’s has those too. My only issue is finding a way to cut the VT and UVA symbols into a stencil without screwing it up! I wish you could buy die cuts with the official symbols but I have yet to see those! We’ll see….that’s my plan for the next week, along with baking lots of cookies :)

-xoxo

The end is in sight :)

As I was driving to Norfolk on Monday for classes, I realized that it was the last Monday morning I’ll drive to ODU for classes. It’s bittersweet actually. I started out the semester out of my comfort zone, commuting to a new university, away from my home of Virginia Tech. It was very different. For one, living at home. And driving 45 minutes to class (on a GOOD day with no traffic…however, it was more like 60 minutes when there was traffic). But regardless, I believe I grew up a lot this semester. I treated school more like a career, rather than dragging myself to class just because. I truly enjoyed every one of my classes, and I feel like my professors were so knowledgeable and personable, much more so than professors I had while at Tech. Granted, I still know many Tech professors who are excellent people. While it was always supposed to be for only one semester, I would probably have considered staying at ODU if it were not for me graduating early from Tech in May 2010. I knew that if I remained at ODU, I would have to go to school for one more year in order to complete all of their “core classes” before graduating. So, I will be back at Tech in the Spring…hopefully it will be a good semester and I’ll be able to fully enjoy my last few months in Blacksburg!

So I’m nearing the end of my ODU career, and I truly believe that it was one of my favorite semesters of college, if not the favorite. My grades have reflected how much I enjoyed all of my classes, as well as how focused I was during the semester. Okay, okay…I know most of my friends think that I enjoyed ODU because my boyfriend also attends there, but actually we did not see each other that often around school. Okay, maybe once or twice a day…haha. Yes, I was very blessed to be able to see him on a regular basis, unlike last year being at Tech. We only saw each other a few weekends during the semesters, and it was a challenging long-distance relationship. However, we  learned that it is possible and it makes each time we’re together that much more special! Now, just one more semester apart…then summer…and then probably even FARTHER apart while I’m in law school…but it’s going to be fine :)

Now…Christmas is almost hereeeee! :) That is enough to make my life seem perfect right about now, even with all the papers I’ve been writing lately. I think I’ll be sooo tired of my laptop by the time this semester ends! On Sunday, I went with my family and my boyfriend to Williamsburg, VA for the Grand Illumination. It is a tradition in my family, and its such a wonderful night to get everyone in the Christmas spirit! First off, I am a sucker for colonial history, and since we live nearby Williamburg, I’ve been there more times than I can count. By the way, they have AWESOME outlet stores if you’re ever in the area! :) Anyways, the Grand Illumination is so great and its old-fashioned, so you get to enjoy the hot cider, fresh gingerbread, and the warm fires burning in front of the historic buildings. All at once, the “lighting” of the town occurs, which is basically candles that are lit in all the windows downtown. Right after, there is a magnificent fireworks show that is better than any other I’ve seen. They have some of the most unique fireworks, too. This year did not disappoint, either. The weather was perfect and just cold enough…it felt like the holidays were finally upon us! People were walking around singing Christmas carols, and had it not been for the abundance of cell phones attached to people’s ears(!), it would have seemed like we were living in the past. I highly recommend making a trip to see it next year! :)

Speaking of Christmas…I’ve done NO shopping!!! I feel like December is already going by so quickly, and I’m still sitting home doing work pretty much all the time. Ahhh…just til Friday. Have to keep reminding myself! I cannot wait until the holiday parties begin…two of them are only a week and a half away, so that’s exciting! Shopping and cookie-baking are definitely in order very soon…can’t wait! :)

-xoxo

End of semester, holidays, and free stuff! :)

Finally December, and well it feels like the work is never-ending! But there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel…on December 18th! I just finished a 10-page Environmental Politics term paper, and now I’m about to start a 15-page paper on The Right-to-Life campaign…I LOVE political science all the time, EXCEPT at the end of the semester! That’s when all the term papers and other assignments are crammed into the last two weeks of classes. I just keep telling myself it’s almost over! One more semester to go, then I’m a graduate…still seems weird to me!

Right now I’m sooo high on Christmas that its difficult to focus on anything other than the holidays…and shopping…but I’m trying! After this weekend, I should have more time to spend on fun things, like my mom and I’s annual Christmas cookie baking and watching Christmas movies and other fun things :)

By the way, speaking of shopping…did anyone see the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show?! I live for that every year…it always makes me want to go shopping soooo much! I LOVE VS…it seems like they always have great deals, and the more you shop there, the more coupons you get in the mail! Definitely worthwhile :) There’s actually a deal going on now, if you’re a member of PINK Nation, which is totally free and you get special deals pretty often from it. If you login, you can print out a coupon for a free VS PINK panty between Dec 2-Dec 7th…a model was wearing a pair of them in the show to advertise the special. Here is the link: Click here to join PINK Nation…get free VS holiday panties!

Just thought I’d share that…it’s like a Christmas gift to yourself, but completely FREE :)

-xoxo

Wonderful weekend in the city

The trip to Charlotte, NC was amazing…a long drive though!!! 5 hours plus dealing with traffic…but we made it fun :) We got to the city around 2pm on Saturday, and after checking into the Hilton, went walking around. Strangely enough, the city was pretty much deserted! I’m not used to that…every big city I’ve been to ALWAYS has people walking around and lots of stores and restaurants open. So after wandering around and finding pretty much every store closed, we decided to watch the VT/UVA game in a nearby sports bar. That turned out to be really fun…every wall was covered with TVs so we kept up with multiple games at once and I got to see my Hokies win :) After the game, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. The arena was only a few blocks from our hotel, so the walk wasn’t bad and it wasn’t too cold outside either. The concert was really nice, but suprisingly, not as good as I expected. Last year it was actually better…don’t quote me on this, but it seemed as though they used the EXACT same playlist for the first half of the show as they did last year. A little disappointing, but overall still a good show!

Sunday, after checking out of the hotel (by the way, this is the first hotel where I’ve seen a NOON checkout time!), we stopped at Starbucks, which always makes me happy to know that I found a guy who loves Starbucks as much as I do :) On the way home, we stopped in Concord Mills, NC…which if you don’t know, is a WONDERFUL shopping area. I highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area! We spent wayyy too much time and money there, but had lots of fun. I think Sunday was actually a better day than Saturday overall :) We got home super late for a Sunday night, and I did not want to go to class the next day. So I slept late, and went to 4 out of 5 classes. Can’t believe there are only 5 more days of classes to go…where did the semester go?! On that note, I should get back to my three 10-12 page papers due within a week…yikes!

-xoxo

Pretty lights in Charlotte

Hotel room at the Hilton

Super huge Bass Pro Shops and Outdoor World :)