Counting Down the Days...

This wonderful Kate Spade sun hat pretty much sums up what I want my Spring Break to be like.

Sprawled out in the sun, tanning (fingers crossed, this usually doesn't happen), with a giant limonada from Tropical Island.

Driving around with my brother singing along to Taylor Swift with a stop at a Walgreens for a couple of cans of Arizona Green Tea.

Wearing shorts and flip flops and giant sunglasses in the backyard while my dad barbecues.

Driving over to my favorite bakery, walking down the street to surprise my friends working at the library, and then running across to Happy Dayz for some ice cream.

Meeting my grandparents for lunch at Junction or Taco Fiesta and running in to everyone and their mother, and probably their grandmother too.

I cannot wait to be home!

Making a Move

I've just moved my previous posts from my wordpress blog over to this one. This just seems to be an easier site to navigate and I think this layout is prettier. I started this blog my senior year in high school but never kept up with it. It's strange to see how much has changed since then and yet my writing style is pretty much the same. I'm really looking forward to giving this blog new life and keeping my resolution from September to write more.

The Little Things

(and some big things) that are currently making me happy.

1. The sight of sunshine in Providence.

2. Beebens! Hearing their giggles, squeaky shoes, and general noisiness in the background when I talk to my mom on the phone.

3. Wonderful, caring, loving friends.

4. Brother being a Gates Millennium Finalist!

5. My new electric toothbrush. (Yes, I know I am a child.)

I have so much to be happy about and so much to be thankful for. As long as I remember that, the good will always manage to outweigh the bad.

Ash Wednesday Reflections

For Lent this year I've decided not to give anything up, but to add things to my life to help me grow in my faith and become closer to God. I hope that these things will help me focus more on my spiritual health during the next forty days and make me a stronger and better Catholic.

I will...

pray the rosary weekly.

remember to place my whole-hearted trust in God and his plan for me.

receive communion every week (which means going to Mass and to confession).

make my faith a focus of my life, rather than merely an aspect of it.

Oh, To Be British and Quippy

I went through a phase in middle school (that continued into high school, and possibly still exists today...) where I was obsessed with reading the Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison.

It all started with

...which was recommended to me by a boy of all people! And from then on I couldn't get enough of the sassy humor and endless ridiculous scrapes of Georgia and her friends.

Now that I'm an adult and whatnot (or at least, I try to be) I've upgraded to reading Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding. I love, love, LOVED the movie (which I saw for the first time this weekend) and so far the book is every bit as enjoyable. It's charming and funny...even though it does feed my slight fear of being single well into my thirties...and it's a nice fluffy before-bedtime read.

I've already made my recommendation to Kelly, who promptly downloaded an e-book version for herself--you should too!

Dad Knows Best

This weekend my mom called and told me my dad had deposited money in my bank account for me. Heck. Yes. That's awesome enough news on it's own. Then she went on to say that he'd given specific instructions for me to use some of it to go out and buy cupcakes with my friends at "The Frog and Rabbit".

It was such a sweet move, and so typical of my dad. Right down to the fact that he paid enough attention to know that my friends and I have a favorite cupcake place, but he's still enough of a man to not know that it's really called The Duck and Bunny. He knew I was having a stressful week, and he knew exactly what would lift my spirits.

I'm not really the "daddy's girl" type, but I definitely appreciate how lucky I am to have such a great father. He's funny and sweet and he works incredibly hard, plus he's got ninja skills.

Thanks for being awesome, Dad. I love you!

Get Those Thoughts Out

I'm in a mood. I haven't kept a journal seriously since middle school, but my pretty pink cupcake notebook has been a lifesaver lately. It's a good way to get all the things that worry and trouble me off my mind and onto paper so that I can sleep.

I don't date my entries, I don't want to look back and dwell on specific days or events. Once I get these thoughts and feelings out, I try to let them go and move on. Most of my entries actually take the form of letters, it's easy to write when I feel I'm directly addressing someone.

It's a handy little process, and I'd like to thank my best friend for suggesting it. I'm glad she has such good insight into my particular kind of crazy.