Long Time, No Blog

Like I said yesterday, I have fallen off the blogging horse. I was doing so well at the beginning of the semester but things just start to pile up as the weeks go by. Here is my first step toward getting back on that horse.

Geez, I have so much to tell you all! I'll spend the next couple of entries catching up on whatever the heck I've been up to. Then I promise it's back to the random blurbs. :)

I'll begin with biggest news in my life right now...

I'm studying abroad in SPAIN next semester!

I didn't want to get ahead of myself by mentioning it earlier. But the trip is officially on! And here are a few details about the program:

-It's in Malaga, which is in the Costa del Sol region. It is also where Picasso was born so they have a bunch of really cool cultural and artsy museums. The weather should be absolutely gorgeous in the spring.
-I'll be taking 12 credits in Spanish-related courses such as Spanish Language, Spanish Culture, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Art History: Greco to Picasso. Seriously, how cool does that sound?!
-It's a relatively short program, which is awesome for two reasons. First, I don't need a visa which is A LOT of work. Second, I will be back in time to see J's high school graduation in May!
-I will be living with a Spanish family who will provide 3 meals a day and laundry once a week (score!). They are also supposed to help us assimilate by speaking only in Spanish, preparing typical Spanish food, and just being Spanish in general.
-We get out of classes for one whole week for La Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Malaga is known for its week of festivities including parades, dances, and overall celebration. I can't wait!
-The program includes a ton of excursions all over Spain such as Madrid, Sevilla, and even Morocco.

I will obvi be blogging about the whole thing while I'm there. I plan to take a kajillion pictures and buy a million knickknacks for you all. So holler if you have any requests.

I can't believe it's all finally happening. I always thought it would be nice to study abroad but I never thought I would actually do something about it. And I never thought it would involve this much freaking paper work! Seriously, this whole process has really opened my eyes to the lack of communication between the different departments at our school. With technology today, everything has the potential to be streamlined by working electronically between departments. I had to hike all over campus with a billion forms to complete for just the preliminary applications. The thing that keeps it going is knowing the end result of all of this work will be an AMAZING time in another country.

I suck at blogging

Be back soon :)

Small Things

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past week. A lot of stuff is happening in Gainesvegas right now. But I promise I will be back up and running after my 3 exams this week. :)

Here are a few links to keep you occupied until then. I hope everyone has a fabulous week and GO GATORS!

Fab Footwear

19th Century Color Motion Picture

Nothing says love like...

Awesome vandalism

Harmonica? If you appreciate Sandra Bullock's talent in Miss Congeniality, you will appreciate this guy.

Experiment

Maybe a new layout will remind Mother Nature that it is in fact fall and not the middle of summer.

My B

I take back what I said about October.

Not all of it. It's still my favorite month. It still possesses all of those wonderful qualities, such as lovely weather and awesome athletics.

But, like most things in life, the month of October is flawed. From my perspective at least. Some people might disagree completely and argue that this unfortunate coincidence makes October better, if you can even imagine such a thing.

Let me preface my argument with a little history. To do so, we will need to go back in time.

It was around 1998. As you know, JJ and I used to watch LOTS of Nickelodeon back in the day. During this Golden Age, there was a show called "Are You Scared of the Dark?" It involved a group a tweens getting together at twilight in the middle of the woods, sitting around, throwing magic glitter into the campfire and telling quasi-scary stories. No matter how corny or poorly depicted, it still kept me up at night. JJ actually enjoyed the show so she was pissed when our parents banned us from watching it for the rest of forever. And so began my repulsion for scary things.

Fast forward to 2002. The Sixth Sense was all the rage with my 6th-grade friends and I was not about to be left out After much begging and pleading and promising to clean our rooms, our parents reluctantly rented it and agreed to watch it as a family.

Big mistake. I couldn't sleep alone for a good 6 months after watching that friggin' movie.

I know, I know. It's really not scary at all. But I'm a big baby and anything remotely abnormal scares me.

Fast forward to 2008. PDubbs makes me watch Saw IVXM. I don't know exactly which one it was. But I do know that a) there are far too many of them and b) they are all exactly the same anyways.

As you can see, I am terribly frightened but scary/ gory/ psychological movies. And, as you can imagine, October is not the best month to be a scaredy cat considering all of the scary movies coming out around Halloween. Even the previews for Halloween Horror Nights give me the heebie-jeebies.

Now if you'll excuse me, a preview for Zombieland just came on. I love you. You love me. We're a happy family...

Small Things 2

Just some cool links. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)

Hair Hat

Awesome Playgrounds

Museum of Bad Art

Paper Cities

October

A couple of years ago I had an intense convo with a good friend of mine. After much discussion, we concluded that October is the best month of the year. Think about it for a sec.

First of all, the weather is not just "tolerable" like it is in September. The weather is actually freaking gorgeous. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to do something spontaneous. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to drive around with the windows down and the sunroof open. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to lay out in the sun and soak up all of the world's beauty. It's the kind of weather that puts a smile on your face.

Secondly, October has sports galore. It means weekends full of football. Bandstands blaring on a balmy Friday night. Crowded college campuses celebrating Saturday's big win. Sundays spent sitting around the television set yelling at the refs. Exploring every expanse to encourage any soccer team.

(Maybe the last one is just my family.)

October is also beautifully simple. Kids are back in school and routines have been established. There are no holidays to clutter the weeks (Halloween is basically the first night of November). Christmas is close enough to get excited about, but it's far enough away where it's not at the forefront of your thoughts. It is a time of stability in an otherwise crazy life.

Hair stays calm in the less humid weather.

It sounds cool in Spanish: octubre.

An end to summer movies as Oscar season begins.

I could go on all day about the pros of October. And I really can't think of any cons. Believe me, I've tried.

That night we created a great playlist that elicits happy feelings that remind us of October. Here is a sample:

• "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night
• "Cabron" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Mexico" by James Taylor
• "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall

Just to name a few. I can listen to these songs anytime if I need a little pick-me-up. And the best part is that they are infinitely better when listened to during October.

So Happy October!

What is your favorite month?