It's My Party...

I'm 22 today...I don't feel any different. I'm more focused on passing my math exam than being a birthday girl. I guess this is the age where your birthday doesn't matter as much anymore.

New Year's Wrap-up so to speak...

Now that I'm back in Cincinnati from all the "Bowling" and Family festivities, I can sit down and write my end of the year post. I used to be very good about writing end of the semester posts so I'd do a wrap-up every few months, but alas and lackaday, I am in a blogging funk the last few months after leaving Xanga. But, the mood hath struck me to write my 2007 post a few days before the New Year because when you have the itch, you scratch it...and I may not itch again. I enjoy these posts because I get to read back on all the old posts from the past year and remember good stories...:-)


Quick update before I begin: Ftown was wonderful, I made out like a bandit on Christmas, opened presents with The Boy last night and was quite pleased, my sister is coming down this weekend, we're having our annual New Years Par-tay, and then I spend next week concentrating on getting organized for school.

New Years Resolutions you ask? -Be more financially responsible -Be more health conscious
-Learn to control my anxiety
General enough to hopefully not screw-up too badly and enough room to be creative.


SO. How was 2007? Up's and down's per usual. Overall I rate the year as fairly successful in most avenues of my life.

Here is the month play-by-play with my favorite blog quotes...


January- I opened 2007 at my apartment with a small New Years Party of close friends. We ate a massive amount of jello shots and I ended up throwing up all over my nice shoes at the bar across the street. A few days later, the marching band went to the International Bowl in Toronto, Canada which was probably one of my favorite trips of all time. I had two of the best littles from the sorority and fraternity I could have asked for: Rachel and Max. It was a difficult month schoolwork-wise and I spent a majority of it doing massive projects and papers. A close friend of the band's died from breast cancer and we all mourned her passing.

"Life is TOO short. It's too short for holding grudges. It's too short for not telling your friends and family how you feel about them. Too short to complain, to not work as hard as you can, to not be successful. I know this weekend will be emotional on multiple levels as I laugh, cry, and try not to break down on the rollercoaster ride of it all, but I can't help wondering if these emotions make us feel alive? That we can find life and purpose in the passing of another. We could be inspired to live as hard as we can in case our time is cut short as Julie's was. "

February- The beginning of February was a complete disaster. My best friend and I came to a crossing I had dreaded for some time, knowing that when one or the other entered a real relationship, our reality we created for ourselves would crumble. And, as only Nate and I could do, we handled the fall-out as ungracefully, unprofessionally, and really as poorly as humanly possible. And that was that. I spent this month trying to embrace the pain of the situation and just thanking God that I knew how to feel. And, the release of emotional pain and stress from the prior month landed me in the hospital. I thought I was having a heart attack and Anna took me to the ER where I spent 6 hours to learn I had Cardiac Neurosis which is a type of panic Disorder that causes you to feel as if you are having a heart attack. Enter: Meds and more psych help which I was used to at this point. These two huge events would have probably succeeded in knocking me down but thanks to such events as sledding on cardboard boxes, the winter dance with Crunch, and the Daytona 500, I survived this bleak month.

"It was horrible and wonderful and everything in between while it lasted...but we shake and bake no more..."


March- The month of possibilities for sure. Old friends from High School were on tour with their collegiate men's chorus and they came through Cincinnati. This night made Top 10 Craziest Nights list...my 21st birthday was also this month. It was everything I hoped it to be and enjoyed pretty much every minute of this month. Started "seeing" my old friend from high school which blew my mind. He was my Puerto Rican savior, teaching me that I COULD move on from the old that still haunted me. I even got my nose pierced which was a totally freeing experience for me.

"...instant grits. It's like God opened up the sky and sayeth, "And I shall create instant grits for those so un-blacketh they can not make them themselves...and they shall pour water into a bowl and create grits for all." And it was good.


April- It was a chill month thank goodness...I celebrated Easter with Sarah's family, decided to buy some ferrets, bought my first car: Stormtrooper. It was a good, relaxing month. I love the beginning of spring, it promises new things. :-)

"Spring Football Game: We won. And we lost. How paradoxical."


May- After the chill month of April, May was ushered in chaotically. My mentor and favorite teacher from high school had a brain aneurysm. So, I immediately took off for Toledo and then Cleveland, OH driving 600 miles in one weekend to see him in case...well, just in case. And as PSR always does, he surprised us all by making a full recovery. But, at the time, things were all up in the air. But I went and told him how much I loved him and held his hand. It was one of the harder things to witness in my life. On a sorority note, after much debating and concern, I decided to run for President and won. I had such shoes to fill and it seemed like such a huge under-taking...I was pretty nervous. I surprised my Mom for Mother's Day/her birthday by calling her from outside my Grandparents house to wish her a good day from Cincinnati...hehe. She almost peed herself when I walked into the door a few minutes later. It was awesome! I also went to my first NASCAR race with my step-dad. We drove down to Charlotte, NC for the Coca-Cola 600 and it was the best weekend of my life.

"I'm pissed at myself for not writing more life-changing and cataclysmic-ly deep posts like Brooke. Maybe nothing life-changing has happened lately and those lack of experiences has numbed my writing a bit...not that I'm not thankful for the calm and simple things in life. I spent the better part of my first half of college (I'm half-way WHAA?) in total and complete chaos and there seems to be nothing wrong with a little calm seas now and again. I did simple things and enjoyed them this weekend...so that's ok.


June- Saw PSR for the first time since the hospital. He was alive. That was all I could think about as I hugged him because to be honest, I didn't think I would ever hug him again. So there were lots of tears. But it was good. My 3rd year of school was over and I was ready for the summer. I went to Las Vegas with my best friend and her partner...who was cheating on her. Of course this all came to light in the middle of the trip and it made for one of the most awkward situations ever. But even in light of this, LOVED the trip. Wouldn't want to live there, but it was pretty sweet.
"I've fallen into this rut of work, nap, dinner, tv, bed, work, nap...etc. I sleep and eat. And "work". I feel bored because I have nothing worth working towards, even my knitting has fallen to the wayside because those damn socks are frusterating beyond all sense of reason. I like the peace, but I get bored so easily. "

July- Two words to sum up the ENTIRE month: Harry. Potter.
"I'm 21 years old and can't bare to part with a story that has been my friend through every rough patch I can remember. I will sit up and read the book through the night with my friends by my side and Lord knows, I will cry when it's over. "

August- Elary August our air conditioner broke for a week. It literally felt like hell on Earth. I have never been so hot in my entire life. Band Camp starts for the LAST year of marching band for me. Switched from my old Xanga to a new blog on this here site. Started a job at the new Bdubs on campus as a bartender which I promtly quit after I realized what a catastrophic mess the restaurant would be...and I was right. We still drive 20 minutes away to go get wings because the one on campus is so slow and ardous to eat at. Becca and Kristen moved into the house as Mike and Evan moved out. The Latin Rockstar and I called it quits...long-distance dating is a pain in the ass but we're thankfully still friends.

And after that...busy and lack of posting has lead me to sum it up quite easily for the rest of the year:
School started.
Band killed me.
Theta wore on me but I'm still standing.
Spent copious amounts of time getting over my fear of commitment.
Finally committed. :-)
Loving the commitment.
READY to move on with my life.


My quote for 2007 courtesy of me blawg:


"Life IS good. I've seen so much drama in my life that I could write a lifetime movie and you know what? All those dramatic moments were actually exciting! I've been to Disney World, held a baby tiger, studied theater, danced in a fountain, been to Broadway, made music, and fed a manatee with a hose. I've made enemies, best friends, and acquaintances. I've had a one night stand, hiked 6 miles to see a waterfall, fell in love and back out again, and rode to prom on a fire truck. My mom is my best friend. I knit and cook. I fall in love with books and people. I have danced in my underwear. I've played jazz. I met crazy Croatians in Canada. I've been sledding on cookie sheets and cardboard. I've kissed a stranger. I've stayed up all night to read Harry Potter. Even the absolute WORST parts of my life have been a story to tell and an experience to share. They've made my life ridiculously exciting and I'm only 20 years old!"

Happy Thanksgiving all!

A day late, but between the amount of food consumed that could feed a small army JUST by me and the copious amounts of alcohol festive beverages I ingested, any sort of commentary on the start of my holiday season was unthinkable.

But here I am, in the good ole hometown of Fremont staying with my parents and visiting good people. Wednesday night was the staple trip to Denny's where I was able to hang out with a bit of the younger crowd including Nicole who I heart dearly. I spent part of the evening agonizing over whether the boy drove home safely (my girlfriendly instincts lay dorment for so long, I forgot I even had them...I've spent most of my time looking out for numero uno so I was like, "What the hell is this feeling? Worry? ANGST?? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?? I have to get used to this again...But, I digress...) and enjoyed a lot of unhealthy foodstuffs.

Thanksgiving dawned not-so-early with me getting out of bed at 11:00 and eating Mom's Thanksgiving breakfast. Lazy was the word of the day, we did manage to make it to Uncle Steve's on time for another dysFUNctional family get-together. My mom and her brother and sister picked and bickered with each other, I watched two whole football games with my older cousins, managed to torture, tickle, and cuddle with the younger ones, drank my Uncle's expensive German schnapps, drank four beers, tried everyone elses drinks, and managed not to throw up the heaping mound of food I ate. Good times were had by all.

Gotta love 'em!

Watched Grey's Anatomy (I realize I haven't obsessed about my TV habits on here...later post my friends) and gasped along side my equally addicted family.

I realize I'm thankful for things every day, and don't see the need to harp on them any particular day of the year...family, friends, my sense of humor, my (semi) good health, my education, it's all good!

So Happy Thanksgiving, I'm going to go to my Dad's and be as lazy as humanly possible for the next two days because next week...well, next week starts two weeks of educational hell. Failure and keeping my sanity is NOT an option.

Halloween Week of Awesomeness

Anyone that knows me well, knows that my all-time favorite holiday is Halloween. Every year, there are multiple parties that involve multiple costumes and probably more money than I should be allowed to spend as a broke college kid. But the theatrical, makeup side of me gets giddy and extravagant. :-) Some awesomeness from the past...

Now, it's a challenge for me to one-up myself ever year for EVERY party...usually there are 3, the band practice halloween party on the Tuesday before Halloween, the unofficial drunken band party called Hallobuff (Halloween + Hairy Buffalo) which was thrown by our apartment last year and we also took it this year. This takes place the Saturday after Halloween or on the Saturday of Halloween depending on the year. The last party is thrown by the Tuba Section the night after Hallobuff called P&P (Pimps and Prostitutes) which is pretty self-explanatory in costuming. As you can see, the UC Marching Band takes their Halloween festivities very seriously. It becomes a week-long celebration of our awesome crassness and ridiculousness. This year, I have added a fourth and fifth party to my schedule, my non-band friend Jen is throwing a Hairy Buffalo party as well tomorrow night as well as my friends across the street who are throwing an 80's party which will make my Halloween celebration last from Saturday-Saturday. I could not ask for more. :-)

This year, my costumes required the upmost creativity and budget-planning.

For Party #1, I am recycling my old Pirate costume from my freshmen year which surprisingly still fits rather well and have conceded to wearing it to the 80's party as well because I'm sure there were Pirate Hookers in the 80's! Maybe...

Party #2 is the band party in the band room and I will be going as a Guitar Hero. Basically, I'm dressing as cliche 80's rock star and carrying around my plastic controller to look like a character that might be in the game. This one is going to be my pride and joy because I created the look out of pretty much everything I owned and only had to buy some ridiculous earrings.

Party #3 is Hallobuff and I'm going as a creepy doll. This costume was inspired from my love of The Nightmare Before Christmas, my fear of dolls coming to life, and the fact that I was dying to try out some new make-up techniques. I've already practiced this costume (I practice new make-up at least twice before it's unveiling hehe) and I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Party #4 is P&P which required a bit of recycling as well...I'm taking old slut clothes worn years past and just dressing them up like a devil with devil horns and a pitchfork.

Pictures of course will be posted after it's all said and done. Sorry I rambled about this for a ridiculously long time. I'm just that excited.

Christmas Break Recap

Christmas break in Fremont was quite nostalgic. I spent a lot of time with relatives, re-hashing stories of old, and drinking a hell of a lot of coffee at the local Denny's until the wee hours of the morning. 10 Days of Fremontness was not half-bad.
I was able to visit Fremont Ross to see a few favorite teachers and had my usual dinner date with Mr. Reed and visited Scotty's family. I spent most of my days visiting, and hanging out with friends and family. I spent a lot of time with my mom and was also productive in making a scarf for my sis and my mom.
The night before Christmas Eve, Erika, Cindy, Justin, Kenton, and I went Christmas Caroling! It was probably one of the more hilarious schemes we've ever concocted. It was a lot of awkward singing to a boombox of random Christmas music but I think everyone we sang for was amused and we even spent some time talking to the Burroughs.
Christmas Eve was awkward as always with my Dad's family because we only see each other once a year on this night. I enjoyed catching up with some of the cousins though and I got to watch the Bengals play in my Uncle's pimped out sports garage. Christmas day I spent with Mom's side, saw my step-family, grandparents, and Ashley's boyfriend came to spend the day. I received some very nice gifts, my Dad upgraded my computer to 1 G of ram instead of my old 512 and managed to fix all the problems with it. I received a Homedic massage chair, knitting supplies, a make-up mirror I've wanted for EVER, new make-up (I was geekin'), some books, some clothes, and ate my weight in horse-do-overs. Christmas night was spent at where else, but Denny's with Erika, Cindy, Drea, Jessica, and Jasmine drinking coffee and eating more unhealthy things I didn't need in my system.
The Annual After-Christmas party was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed The Group all being together again. We played a few games, ate MORE food and spent the rest of the evening being all nostalgic-like. What I absolutly love about The Group is that even though a majority of us don't even speak over the course of a year, whenever we see each other, it is like no time has passed. We are each able to lead our own lives with minimal contact, but still be very close friends. I hadn't seen Kenton since last Christmas and we had only talked on the phone a few times in the past year, but it was just like old times. Tyler, Cindy, Erika and I ended up spending the night at Justin's and even though I had to leave early in the morning, I loved all the time I spent with these kids over the past 10 days and when we all get together next Christmas, it will feel just the same.
Poor Nate was subjected to all that is the glory of F-town when he came yesterday morning to visit and take me back to the 'Nati. I showed him all the "hotspots" and we saw my family to say goodbye and even ate at Grate's because their wings? Amazing. We rolled in early last evening and I was surprised to find my Christmas present from him which was Guitar Hero I and II already in my room so we stayed up with the roomies late into the night rocking out. Good to be home.
Overall it was GOOD.
New Years post shortly to follow!!!

Update of Life

Dear God I am A POSTING SLACKER. My apologies. But, with the Christmas season upon us, things have been nothing short of a zoo around here. So before I get around to my end-of-the-quarter post, I'll get my crap together and update a bit on the going-ons so I don't feel so guilty for not pouring my heart out on this page every day like I used to.
This past weekend was a bit crazy...Friday night was the fraternity/sorority outing to see the lights at the zoo. Despite the frigid temp, it was actually quite fun and I enjoyed embarressing Sarah in front of the talking tiger. We also watched a zebra-like gazelle lick his pee off the floor and then proceed to whip himself in the face with his overly-large tongue. That was sort of gross...but interesting none the less.
Saturday I cleaned all day and dealt with the bathroom problem Mike and I have been encountering...our bathroom sink has been ridiculously clogged but at least would drain after awhile and after two bottles of Drain-O, I lost it. My family was coming in a few hours and the water WOULD NOT GO DOWN. So I attacked it Xenia-style with a plunger. Luckily, Mike came to rescue me from the insanity and plunged while I scooped stagnet water out of the sink into a bowl...we ended up taking the pipes apart under the sink and after an hour of this madness, finally buckled down and called the landlord. Sink update? Fixed. My dad, step-mom, and sister came down for my dad's 50th birthday and it was ACTUALLY ENJOYABLE. No problems...no whining, no complaining, no incidents. We went to the Hofbrauhaus to surprise my dad because of his love of German food and he LOVED it. You know the man is in good spirits when he shares his stine of beer with me. We had the polka band play happy birthday...then we came back to my CLEAN apartment and had a cake and presents waiting. It was just a fun time. They left Sunday morning after we had lunch at Panera.
Yesterday was my big Christmas shopping day with Shannon and Sarah...we power-shopped for three hours and let me tell you how hilarious it is to watch those two. I'm an ok shopper, but don't pride myself in any special shopping skills...those two however. Insane. We went to Macy's to find informal dresses and I swear they have radar. Two minutes later they hand me a dress and say "hereitistryitonitsyoursize". Looking at it, I would have SWORN it would have looked like complete poo on me. But, I buckled down and put it on for them...and it looked good? Wow. It DID look good. It was actually perfect. And marked down TWICE from it's original price making it 1/2 off. Then of course, we went to almost every store in the mall and it was like magic. We would walk into a store and they would immediately walk to the clearance rack reach their arms in and come out with about 5 shirts that I wouldn't have found on that damn rack if I had tried. It was truly an art form. I had been shopping with both of them before for one or two things, but never an all-out power shop. Needless to say, we had a blast and bought some pretty awesome stuff. They crack me up so much. And thanks to them, my informal dress is off the hook. I wish our lives weren't so busy that the three of us could hang out more often...when we're together, we're an unstoppable force. I love those ladies.
In addition to all those goings-ons...we decorated our apartment for Christmas. Anna's aunt gave us a tinsel-green Charlie Brown tree. We put that up with as much bling as we could fit, some lights around our entertainment center, and the stockings my mom made for us with all our names. We also hung a wreath in the window and door. It's quite cute.
We have been having an on-going battle with the neighbors upstairs. They have spent the last few months blasting their music at ridiculous hours of the day and night, one party they threw, someone threw a full beer can at Michael's head in the parking lot below, they were playing football in the house and started making our light in the living room blink uncontrollably. Just ridiculous shenanigans...we have spoken to them several times about it with promises of them keeping it down then doing the same thing the next day...we've banged on their door, they've banged on our floor. They had been fairly quiet through exams and most of the week before but two nights ago, it started up again...we were hanging a wreath on our front door and pounding a nail into it when they went CRAZY and started jumping around on their floor/our ceiling to get us to stop...so we stopped but were pretty pissed that they would get mad at US? So the next night, they were blaring the music again, so we went outside and rang their doorbell as much as possible...don't think they heard it. So we took the hammer and let loose on the door until they finally quit. But this morning? Blaring the music. At 9:30 in the morning on Christmas break. And if they're going to blast that music that loud? At least blast something that isn't Christina Aguliara? I don't even know how to spell her last name, that's how much I DON'T LIKE HER. Those guys could have such better music tastes. I probably wouldn't have such a beef if say, "Stairway to Heaven" was being blasted. That I could handle.
We added a new member to our house...my new hammie, Rigby. He's a Syrian Bear hamster and probably the most sweet-tempered hamster I have ever seen. He's a big fat black and white guy and he's such a sweet-heart. I pimped him out with fun toys and chewies and such. He loves to run in his ball and instead of freaking out at the change of habitat, he took to our apartment right away...hasn't bitten or pooped on anyone yet, so thats major points. He's the new love of my life and as my mom said, "I am so glad you have a friend - one that won't turn on you or give you grief." True dat.
This weekend is Rent at the Aronoff with Nate and then I head home Sunday for about 10 days. I hadn't planned on going home so long orginially, but with my grandfather really sick and the lack of seeing my old friends as often as I would like, I think this "vacation" is in order. It will probably consist of a lot of card games with the grandparents, Denny's trips every night, and trying not to be too allergic to the cat...so good times indeed.
Mostly been working and playing with my friends...we were going to go ice skating last night but it was too warm and rainy so we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner in celebration of Anna's birthday.
Working on my write-up for the quarter and the end of the year. Gotta work at the band office, and then Cross-town Shoot-out against Xavier then hanging out with Julie.
THERE IS AN UPDATE FOR YA!

Don't Make Me Throw Twink Sprite at You

What can I say about last night other than it was amazing? Hallo-buff was a success, no MAJOR incidents (there will always be minor ones) and no major destruction of the house. Everyone looked awesome and I just had a frickin good time. I also did some "social house-cleaning" by once and for all getting rid of some trash that needed to be taken out. And when I woke up this morning, I felt GREAT about it. Went to Jimmy John's around 2 and literally crammed a whole sub in my mouth it was that delicious. Met some good people, enjoyed the Hairy Buffalo which turned out perfectly and it was grand. I got to catch up with some old Fremont friends *coughcoughjencoughcough* which was awesome. I am now, however, faced with the daunting task of cleaning this mess up, getting my head straight because TONIGHT is P&P help us all and then my Moozie and Mike and the rat-dog are coming tomorrow for a visit. Like I said...this weekend is legendary.Today, props go to my Star Wand because not only did it make a good beating rod (and I hit EVERYONE with that thing) but it also lit up when you pressed the button.Flames to last nights underpants because they were persistant in giving me countless wedgies

Hallo-Buff Prep

It should prove to be a legendary weekend indeed. On a somber note. I hate math. A lot. It can kiss me butt.On a neutral note? I officially switched out of the CCM into CECH. Bye bye theater...time for Secondary Education. Whee! I know I was meant to teach...but that doesn't mean I won't look back and wonder "what if..." I say that too much. I don't regret anything I've done because each decision has rendered some sort of positive outcome regardless of the orginial intention. But I always think "what if....????" I did the same thing by giving up music education at BGSU. But God has a plan, everything happens for a reason and I can only give it up to Him and trust that things will be as they should in the end. "Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith." ~Author UnknownYou know was completely under-rated? Will Smith. He was cute, talented, and rapped about something other than drugs and scantly-clad women. He is a good actor and a family guy and did I mention CUTE? So yeah. Props today to Will Smith because he never got enough.And on the opposite side of props, we shall give flames tooooooooo....black licorice because it is disgusting. It is the worst flavor in the entire world and some medicine even tastes like it making it guilty by association. Sorry black licorice but you suck. On to Hallo-Buff!!!!

Had a cathartic talk with my friends Sunday night, it was great. My roommates and friends sat around reminicing about a few years ago and the fun things we remember about our classes and told stories that made us laugh pretty damn hard. We then talked about more serious memories and things that happened in the past...Z turned to me and said, "I wouldn't wish all the things that have happened to you on anybody...when it rains for you it pours." How incredibly right he is. I just am glad that I didn't follow through when I promised to give up everything like band and my friends for him because he never even came close to deserving that sort of treatment from me. I still love my friends and I still am all about band because its a family. My family. Even when there are days I want to divorce THEM ALL. Oh well...some people just aren't worth my time.
On a lighter note...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN MAN!!! My favorite holiday is upon us and I have once again successfully produced three glorious costumes for tonight and this weekend. I outdo myself every year and this year is definitely the best. Pictures will of course ALWAYS follow. I've done several trial runs of my makeup and this week I've been doing trial runs of my friend's makeup...Nate got done last night and I'm working on Amanda tomorrow night. Tonight is the band halloween party and I'm going as a cat from the musical Cats. Nate's coming over at four so I can do his makeup and then I have to meet Kurt at the band room at 6:00 to do his costume. This is the one time of the year that my talent and hobby doesn't go to waste. I make the best of it.
So the Daily Show is doing their Midwest Midterm Midtacular this week and I was SO happy because it is all about Ohio. And of course is hilarious not only because its the Daily Show, but because all the jokes are about Ohio. Much love to Jon Stewart.