Monday, January 16, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
a dreamer.
a writer.
a student.
a future lawyer. 
a future roommate.

someone with one of the biggest hearts i have ever met.
someone who is never afraid of a spontaneous adventure.
someone who speaks her mind.
someone who always has something positive and nice to say.

someone who possesses drive,
who has incredible talent,
& who laughs at all my stupid jokes just as much as i do.
someone who can go with the flow,
and who doesn't care what others think about her.
someone who appreciates the little things; the things 
that most people never notice.
someone who looks at the world differently.
someone who gives great advice.

a listener.
a music lover.
an awesome dancer ;)
a beautiful soul.

Happy Birthday Kaylie--
20 years old today!
Looking back on this last semester, I can't
even believe that we've only become friends.
You've helped make this the best semester yet!
I hope you have a great semester in Italy, and I'm
looking forward to all of the WONDERFUL memories
that we have yet to come! Thank you for being just
the way you are--don't ever change; because I know
how much all of us here at Pitt appreciate having
you as a friend. 
LIVE IT UP GIRL
because...
LIFE IS YOUR JAM!  ;)


I LOVE YOUUUU :)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

one week down.

my first full week of semester 2
of my sophomore year is complete!
and i think it's pretty safe to say that
it's going to be a busy, but splendid, semester.
i've already turned in one paper and completed a
20 minute presentation! (and they both went well might
i add). and now i am welcoming in this wonderful
five-day-weekend i've got going on here...
thanks MLKJR; you da man! ;)

i hope everyone has a nice 
little holiday weekend! i'm
planning on spending it with 
some of my very best friends :)
  

Sunday, January 8, 2012

starting 2012 off the right way!

hey all! what do you think about my new blog header?? the lovely rachael designed it for me! she's going to be a wonderful graphic designer, isn't she?? thanks rach; you rock ;)

so this past weekend marked the first official weekend of the second semester, and my friends and i decided to take COMPLETE advantage of that fact! i haven't even slept in my own bed since wednesday night! but you know what? busy weekends are always always always the best weekends.
future roommates!
since the beautiful miss kaylie springer is leaving us to go study abroad this semester in italy (i'm going to miss her so much!!!), she decided to come visit us this weekend! or rather...come to pitt to pick us up and take us back to her house in mt. pleasant! what a pleasant little town :) see what i did there?? sooo...since everyone has decided to take my lead this semester and NOT schedule any friday classes (woohoo!), she picked us up on thursday and we made our way to seven springs for some snow tubing! it was a blast!! i had never been snow tubing before! and we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves! we also made friends with the one other family that was there through their extremely-energized little boy, michael. it was awesome...we raced! we went down in groups! we crashed against the wall! we laughed! we screamed! we tumbled! and the weather was just grand! i loved it. and i hope that we can somehow turn this into a tradition maybe!? 
rebecca.lauren.steph.kaylie.daniela.maggie.myself.
we also got to experience the famous pizza of mt. pleasant: jioio's! it was the biggest pizza that i have ever seen! and it was delicious! it had a sort of sweeter sauce to it...yummm. and of course we chowed down on some yummy cookies too. it was really fun having a slumber party with some of my very best friends :) oh, and i'm pretty sure that she has the most adorable dog i have ever seen! and we were even treated to a yummy breakfast in the morning! french toast and sausage and bacon...thank you mrs. springer!!! 
we couldn't even get past the fact that it was only friday! we decided to spend the night at the dawson residence and have some friends over to celebrate being reunited again! and the start to a new year and a new semester of course! it was even more awesome because two of my friends from home--suds and brian--were here to visit too!!! it was one big reunion! i have a feeling that this weekend is going to be hard to top....
 kaylie. myself. maggie.
 lauren x2
 DAVID!!!
 kimmy. kim. ruben. marissa. myself. 
me and rube!
yayayay!!! brian and suds came to visit!! :)
we all awoke bright and early on saturday morning craving a hearty breakfast...so we decided to venture on over to the strip district for delucas' famous breakfast! i just love this place--i want to take anyone and everyone who comes to visit me there!! i got an apple cinnamon crepe and it was amazing. it definitely paid to call ahead and reserve a table, there being 11 of us! but i just love when friends from home and friends from school hit it off so well :) laughs all around!!
apple cinnamon crepe 
after our stomachs were completelyyyy stuffed, we took advantage of the (once again) beautiful weather by walking around to see all of the cool things that the strip district had to offer. (i would be extremely happy if the winter season stayed like this!) all of you steelers and pens fans would go CRAZY there...just about every vendor has soooome sort of pittsburgh apparel...and it's all pretty much one-of-a-kind or just plain hilarious. i love it!

we had dinner in the good ole cafeteria that night and made our way down to dawson for slumber #3! we concluded our busy weekend with a movie night and card games until 4 in the morning! (well--the three of us who managed to stay awake that is!) we just were having way too much fun to even THINK about sleeping. and it seems as if nights like those are really easy to come by lately, and i'm so grateful for that.

blessed to have all these people in my life :)
sundays, of course mean homework. but you won't find me complaining, because i've had too good of a weekend to be unhappy about ANYTHING. i know it's sappy, but i'm so so so thankful for the people that have been put in my life. they all make me laugh in different ways and they keep me going each and every day. it's weekends like this one that make me want to work harder during the week.

thank you to all of my beautiful beautiful friends--you teach me something new about myself every single day, and you've made me certain that pittsburgh is exactly where i belong :)
  

Thursday, January 5, 2012

my 2012 mantra:


STAY POSITIVE & DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. BECAUSE TOMORROW
IS A NEW DAY WITH A NEW OUTLOOK AND YOUR LIFE IS PRETTY DAMN
GOOD. SO START APPRECIATING IT!! AND REALLY, THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS
AS CRUMMY AS THEY SEEM. SMILE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AND LAUGH MORE
THAN YOU SMILE, AND I PROMISE YOU THAT IT WILL BE A GOOD DAY, A 
GOOD YEAR, A GOOD LIFE.

My Winter Break: In Pictures


well, it went insaaaanely fast, and i'm already back in da burgh...and i know that i really started slackin' on keeping you all well-informed of my wonderful times back home...but i just got so busy!!! so here are a few things that i really really loved about being home this christmas:

baking with mom-peppermint bark! a lunch date with brittany who just so happened to be home from CA-she's doing so well out there too and just started a new job! hooray for good news!! dinner at red robin with colleen and daniela and with the most beautiful waitress in the entire place--the lovely lauren! making loads and loads of popcorn at the reegz! seeing new years eve (the movie) with my out of this world mom ;) hot chocolate on christmas. being reunited after 5 and a half months with my WONDERFUL and AMAZING boyfriend alex lewis! and doing tons of awesome things with him, like playing hockey on an empty rink at the Hershey Arena and skating at Twin Ponds. Making buffalo chicken dip and having our very favorite Stromboli and bacon cheddar cheese fries from YP! i also got to spend new years with him and eat some more of Lewistown's infamous bread and ranch! and even had dinner with his parents. it felt so good to be back together :)  early morning frost and dentist appointments. laughing on the phone with jim and mom til i cried! gift swaps with my best friends--nothing is cooler than seeing someone smile so big after opening a giant poster of taylor lautner ;) hahahaha. getting SICKKK t-shirts with ashley's face on them!! (no, seriously..aren't they awesome??) attempting to get breakfast at mcdonalds with jimbo-who knew they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30? doesn't that seem super early to anybody else??? watching syfy movies with my dad :) late night mcflurries. tons of sheetz coffee (soso good). a diner trip filled with cheesecake and coffee with alex. visits from all my friends while working! lots of scrumptious food. and spending lots of awesome time with my brothers :)

i love christmas. i love when the whole family is home and we all spend those solid three days together--cus i know that i'll be eating well and i'll be laughing often. and really, nothing at all can beat that :)

i took the train back into Pittsburgh (what a beautiful ride--i recommend it to anyone!) and already had my first day of classes..and if it is any sign of how the rest of the semester is going to be...then it's going to be a BUSY one! i already have a paper due monday and a presentation due wednesday! ahhh!!
but that's not gonna stop me from having a good weekend--tonight kaylie is picking us up and we're going snow tubing! and having a delicious home-cooked meal! (i can't wait!!!) and my friends brian and suds are here for the weekend too! woohoo!

i hope everyone else has an action-packed weekend as well!
xoxo