Last Friday of Spring Semester

Once again, the week has come and gone, and this time it's taking school with it. Today marks the last day of my faux-senior year of college (even though I'm SO thankful I have one more semester left). I'm feeling a little nostalgic about it but ready to continue moving forward (for the time being). I know I say this every week, but time is flying faster than I can cope with right now and everything around me is changing at a rapid pace. Yikes.

1. A song: This song is the perfect combination of one of my favorite singers and one of my favorite poems in the entire world. I'm so happy that this magic happened (this video is junk, but the song rocks).



2. A quote: "Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won’t do that." -Walt Disney

3. 5 things I learned this week:
-Flash is not as scary as I initially made it out to be.
-My family will be officially moving to Vegas this summer.
-Putting money in a vending machine is risky business. I'm never doing it again.
-The royal wedding is the biggest event this country has seen in years...and it's not even in this country!
-I will no longer have to go 3 months without cuddling with my precious kitty, Mooney (whew).

4. A picture/memory: Just reminiscing today about some of my favorite memories from my freshman year of college. It seems so close yet so far away now. I miss these girls every day. It's hard to believe I've already been at CU for as long as I was at KU.


5. A takeaway: Today on campus, I saw an old friend from middle school and high school walking off in the distance. I don't know if he saw me or not, but I could see him smiling and walking across campus, just kind of taking everything in. He's graduating next week, so this really is his last day. It got me thinking about how fast time goes and how short each experience is. It's already been 4 years since I started this college journey, and although it's not entirely over for me yet, for some it is. My high school's graduating class is now graduating from college. It still feels like just last year that I left high school. It's scary and weird and makes me so nervous. 4 years is such a short while which is why we all need to be like my friend on campus and take in every possible second of this time before we enter "the real world." I'm going to spend my last free summer and my last semester making everything count and making this time exactly how I want to remember college.

If today was your last day of college, congratulations. Wherever you plan (or don't plan) on going next, good luck. You can go anywhere you want starting now.

The End of an Era is Nearing.

I got some news today that I have very mixed emotions about. Our house has been on the market for a whole year now, and today it finally went into contract with a buyer. There's obviously a million things that could cause this to fall through at any point, but for the most part it looks like it's going to work out just fine.

On the one hand I am super happy for my mom who's been living in that house by herself for a year now. It's time for her to get out and move to Vegas with my dad and not have to keep an entire house together all by herself with 3 animals that shit and barf everywhere, every morning, in the middle of the carpet, on schedule. It's just long overdue.

On the other hand, I'm deeply sad. I've had almost 2 years to prepare myself for this day. I've known it was coming for a while, and I've even already packed up my childhood neatly into 4 boxes so that when the move finally happened, I'd be *almost* ready. However, emotionally I'm not there, nor do I think I'll ever be. My family has only moved one time in my life and it was one of the hardest trials I've ever been tested with. I had to basically start my life over in the middle of growing up and although it taught me a lot and ended up being a good thing in the long run, it's taken me 10 years to admit that.

This time around, it's a completely different situation. I'm nearing the end of college and in December will have to figure out what to do and where to go. Without my family here, I have no real secure place to be in case plans don't work out in my favor. In a way, this makes me feel slightly homeless. The house in Vegas won't technically be mine, and I'll have pretty much nothing keeping me in Colorado unless I get a job here after graduation. It's a nasty pickle I'm falling into.

I'm very happy that my family is becoming more stable. My sister just moved from LA to Vegas, making this the first time in 10 years we have lived even remotely close to her, my mom's about to head out there, and it's a lot closer to California than Colorado which means the entire family will be closer together once more, which is a really great thing that I've always wished would happen again in my life. But Colorado has become my home so I can't help but feel sad that once again I'll have to probably leave everything I know behind and start anew.

I know I can do this, and I'll be a hell-of-a-lot more ready this time around, but it's still not an easy thing to do. It's hard to say goodbye to something you've loved so much for so long. It's hard to pack up your home and give it to someone else. It's hard to make a new house somewhere you can grow into, and even harder than that is starting a home of your own - without your parents. My childhood era is ending, and that's the hardest thing to come to terms with.

Uh-oh....

Now is the time when I start freaking out about everything I have to get done before I leave for my internship.


I finish school on May 5th and start work on May 9th. Before all this even happens I still have to:

-Submit tons of paperwork for the company AND the school
-Take finals
-Pack
-Find time to get home to Parker to pick up some things
-Figure out what I'm doing with my car
-Shut off my electricity and internet
-And somehow get myself emotionally ready to leave for an entire summer (something I've never done before)

And on top of all this, I just realized I wont be seeing my precious kitty, Mooney for 3 months! What am I supposed to do without his cuddles and sweet meows of love? That will probably be the most painful part about leaving.

On the other hand, I am absolutely stoked for this upcoming experience. I'm going to learn so much while being able to spend time all summer with my dad, sister, and some really awesome god-siblings. I'm a total mix of emotions, sad to be leaving for the summer but so excited to get going. Less than 2 weeks now - it's insane how fast time is going.

Exciting News!

I have some VERY exciting news to share with you all!

Yesterday in my Friday post I had a takeaway about giving yourself more credit and knowing that you're better than you give yourself credit for. It was sparked by this experience I recently had that I touched on without really giving too much away, but now I'm ready to reveal it.

I had an interview on Tuesday with UFC (the Ultimate Fighting Championship) for a summer internship in their New Media department. I had also applied for an internship with them in Public Relations, but figured I had a better shot with New Media because of how competitive PR usually is. Anyways, it was my first interview ever and I was really nervous (although I'm very good at acting like I'm not) so for days I've been replaying in my head all the things I forgot to mention, all the things I'd say if I could re-do it, and each day that went by my confidence in myself started to slowly diminish.

Well, today I got a call saying that I didn't get the internship in New Media. But I DID get the internship in PUBLIC RELATIONS!! I was so excited I could barely stand so I sat down on my kitchen floor for the rest of the phone call just beaming from ear to ear. I didn't really think I had any sort of chance for that position, especially because I hadn't even interviewed for it. But I guess sometimes good things happen and I could not be more excited to start working there and gaining some real-life corporate experience. I know it's going to be a great summer - and it's in VEGAS so how could it not be?!

I didn't tell many people before hand because I didn't want to jinx myself, but I still want to say thank you to everyone who has encouraged me or sent positive vibes my way or done a happy jumpy huggy dance of excitement with me. I am floating on cloud 9 right now and I can't wait to share all of my experiences this summer with you. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm going to work hard and make the absolute most of it!

Good Friday

Happy Earth day, everyone! Besides the 40 mph winds outside in Boulder it could not be a more beautiful day. We are closing in on the last week of the semester (typing that just kinda freaked me out, I still feel like it's February!) and that means LOTS of work and projects and papers and tests. I tend to get stressed out and frantic around this time of the year but somehow I am kind of relaxed at this very moment. Other than planning on spending my Friday night working on a project on campus, I'd say I'm in a good place. For now. This weekend will be pretty busy - Bridal shower on Saturday, Easter on Sunday, and then work, work, work any spare moment I get. Hope you all are planning on a glorious weekend with lots of good Easter food, and family.

1. A song: Obviously this would be my song this week. Not only because of last night, but because it's earth day what better song could portray the beauty of Colorado than this?



2. A quote: "Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." - Groucho Marx

3. 5 things I learned this week:
-When I'm nervous I have a hard time answering questions in a coherent way.
-I'm not above giving out horrible FCQ's.
-My DVD player is above playing brand new DVD's.
-John Denver was also an actor?
-The westboro baptist church is going to be protesting my old high school's graduation because a student there wrote a letter to the Denver post about them that got published (out of all the hate mail and horrible things people say about them on a daily basis, they choose this to react to? I think I hate them more every day).

4. A picture/memory: Since it's Earth day, I must say there is very little that is more beautiful than the Rocky Mountains.

5. A takeaway: I was going to do a takeaway about Earth Day but I felt it was a little redundant so I'll just say this and then move on: do something nice for the earth this week. There's only one day a year we even acknowledge the planet we live on so let's be aware of it and try to help out in some small way, even for just one day. Now, onto the takeaway. I often feel like I don't give myself enough credit for the things I do. I had an experience this week (which I'll talk about in the near future) that I've been playing over and over in my head for days. I've replayed everything that went wrong, everything I could have done better, and played out all the "what if's" in my head. What I've been failing to remind myself of is that even if this situation doesn't work out in my favor, it doesn't mean there's a problem with me as a person. If you ever feel like you blame yourself for too much or you have negative thoughts about yourself, remember this: You are always better and more than you give yourself credit for. And I'm a firm believer that everything will work out in the end.

Hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend and enjoy the upcoming last week of school!
[And one more time, happy Earth Day :)]

John Denver

Tonight John Denver was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame [as their first member] and I got to go watch it happen! Let me explain...

My aunt Glenna and her friend Jill had to pass on these glorious tickets because the show was in Colorado and they both live in California and ended up not being able to make it. Luckily, they offered them up to my mom and I. There was a bunch of awesome people there all singing John Denver's best songs and well, let's just say I may or may not have *almost* ended up in tears several times.

I grew up listening to John Denver, long before I even moved to Colorado. Something about his music has always touched my heart and half of his songs make me tear up for no reason while the other half make me want to jump around and belt out louder than I ever have before. Bottom line is, I'm sad I was never able to see him perform live because that would have been such a dream come true. I've always said, if I ever had the chance to record again I would make an album of all John Denver covers. My parent's even had "Annie's Song" as their wedding song so he's pretty much part of the family by now (figuratively, of course). I could go on and on about my love for him but that could probably fill up another 7 pages...

[had to get a cheesy screen shot]

They chose this night to induct him because it's the eve of "Earth Day" and JD was so passionate about the earth (if that wasn't blatantly obvious in ALL of his songs). Hearing people talk about his love of nature and all the wonders of the world was so inspiring to me. He found beauty in everything. And on top of all the John Denvery goodness of the night, the whole event was hosted by Olivia Newton John (you know, Grease?) and THAT was really awesome. She's just as adorable now and in person as she was back then on the big screen.

[Olivia Newton John and John Oates]

There were some other really cool appearances too. John Oates (^^) from "Hall & Oates" (who lives in Aspen, by the way) was there, Lee Ann Womack was there (with her voice of an angel), and Annie Denver, John's wife (as in "Annie's Song") came on stage in tears. It was just one of those moments you never thought you'd be experiencing with so many different, random people. But that's what made the night so cool.

You have to love John Denver. His music is just so ridiculously epic and inspiring. Having a random experience to celebrate his life and work is the closest I'll ever get to seeing him live and I won't soon forget it. He makes me appreciate Colorado and being able to live and go to school in such a beautiful place.

Mid-Week Inspiration

[Via: tumblr - theycallmeMELLOWyellow]

Happy Days

It's another new week, lovers and Monday started off [surprisingly] on the right foot. I just came off of a fantastic weekend with some besties and bachelorettes and my first class was canceled so I got to sleep in! Let's hope this awesomeness continues all through the last two weeks of school. I mean, it's going to because I ran out and got THIS today! (the rest of my week will be dedicated to learning every line and dreaming about part 2).

[hope this photobooth picture isn't too mainstream for you, Ryan...]

A happy birthday is definitely in order for my good friend, Amburli! We celebrated her 21st this weekend with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver on Friday night. It was so much fun to finally be able to grab a drink with this lady. She sure does make me smile!

[ready with our froofy girly drinks in hand]

On Saturday night I celebrated another special lady, Gretchen who is marrying my friend Erin's brother next month! Her bachelorette party was so much fun - I wish I could re-live the whole day again from the relaxing pedicures by day to the crazy clubbing by night. It was one hell of a way to celebrate her last few weeks as a single lady. Can't wait for her bridal shower next weekend!

[sadly, the only picture I got with the beautiful bachelorette]

Here's hoping your weekend was as fabulous as mine and that the awesome momentum from beginning of the week keeps up! 2 weeks until summer, make em count!

Got Friday On My Mind

Hello Friday lovers! This week was a mixture of rough and awesome. It was one of those weeks where you just had to take the bad with the good, and the good with the bad. Had some ups, had some downs, but overall I'd say it was pretty solid and productive. I have LOTS to look forward to this weekend: friend Amburli's 21st birthday tonight, and friend Gretchen's bachelorette party on Saturday night. It's going to be pretty eventful! Oh yeah, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows comes out tomorrow so I'm sure that will take up at LEAST half of my Sunday. Oh how I love having things to look forward to.

1. A song: As if I didn't already love this song to begin with, Elton John blew me away with his live version on Wednesday night. Can't get enough. Ps. Please note Justin Timberlake playing Elton in the background video.



2. A quote: "If I find in myself desires which nothing is this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis

3. 5 things I learned this week:
-Some people don't like to let other people have fun at concerts.
-Parking illegally at an apartment complex is apparently grounds for car vandalism.
-Repeatedly watching Cats as a child was actually beneficial to my college career. Who knew?
-Waking up to snow after it's been 70 degrees pisses me off probably more than anything else in the morning.
-I have a lot of respect for Buffalo Wild Wings - they boldly support some great causes.

4. A picture/memory: I thought this turned out quite nicely and is actually one of my favorite pictures from the night. Had to snap a vintage polaroid pic of Sir Elton.


5. A takeaway: Sparked by a few events from this week, I want my takeaway to be this: accept people for who they are, don't judge, listen, and don't put people down. It's something I've noticed happening quite a bit this week in my own life as well as in the lives of others around me. There's so much negativity in the world and I think it's really important to do your part to be a positive change. I know I'm not perfect and I lose my cool with people sometimes, but for the most part I try pretty damn hard to be kind to everyone. It's like that age old philosophy by Plato, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." You never know how your comments or actions might make someone feel, and simply being kind could really change someone's life around.

Have a fun, positive, and eventful weekend!

Someone [Changed] My Life Tonight

One of my life-long dreams came true last night:

I got to see Sir Elton John in concert!

I can't even begin to describe the amazingness that was this concert. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I feel so lucky to have been able to see one of my all time favorite artists performing live (and for the record, he sounds just as brilliant live as he does on his albums - pretty rare for this day and age). The fact that all the proceeds of this concert went to such a great cause - the Matthew Shepard Foundation - just made it all the more worth it to be there. He also spoke some really inspiring and encouraging words about respect and celebrating each others differences instead of hating people for them. Needless to say, my admiration for him as an artist grew to admiration of him as a person as well. Totally inspiring night.

[Getting excited for the show to start!]

[bestie Emily - biggest Elton John fan I know!]

[Tiny Dancer]

Lappy Heaven

BIG news, people! (Well, for me it is.) I got a brand new LAPTOP! I said goodbye to the three shitty PC's I've had since graduating high school and hello to a brand new MacBook. So far the switch has been totally worth it. I'm still figuring out some little things, but it's fun and it runs really smooth and the hinges close without me having to snap them in place and it's super quiet and it doesn't burn my legs off when I'm watching a video - all things I'm not used to but already loving. Oh, and of course I had to play around with the sweet Photo Booth (why don't all computers have this?!). I'm basically in laptop heaven.

[Would you still love me if I looked like this?]

[Clearly I take the cake for nerd of the year. It's fine.]

Gettin' Down on Friday.

I feel like I JUST did last week's Friday post. That must mean time is flying faster than I expected! I had a pretty stressful week with millions of school things so I'm super glad to have the weekend to catch up on all the craziness I'm so far behind on. How will you spend your weekend? Only like, 3 more of these until it's summer and the weekend EVERY DAY! (for some of us at least....)

1. A song: This is my study song. Whenever I get in the zone with studying (which I did a LOT of this week) I always listen to Angels & Airwaves. Something about them just motivates me. Especially this song - one of my favs by them.



2. A quote: "You cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young." - J.K. Rowling

3. 5 things I learned this week:
-It doesn't matter how much you try to NOT procrastinate, you'll either end up doing it anyways or something will go wrong and you'll be stuck fixing it at the last possible minute.
-Although I have a really busy few weeks coming up, I realized have so many things to look forward to.
-I actually LIKE salads. I've had like 6 this week.
-Learning to say no is a valuable skill.
-A bunch of anthropology stuff that went in one ear and promptly out the other when my test was finished.

4. A picture: Every time I'm walking across campus I just want to take a million pictures because I can't get over how beautiful it is no matter what season we're in.

5. A takeaway: Stressful weeks suck. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to stay on top of things while getting farther and farther behind. But if you can manage to get through the week without dying, then I'd say you're doing a pretty good job. Only a few weeks left to make this semester a great one, so let's get to it!

Have a happy weekend lovers.

An Exercise in Sleep Delirium

After running on about 4 hours of sleep two times this week, I'm finally to the point where I can't keep my eyes open for one more second. (But I will. For you.) The good news is, this day of hell is over and it was slightly better than I was envisioning. I had a big test bright and early in the morning followed by a mini freak out session over a paper I did only halfway wrong, followed by the submission of that paper in which I apparently plagiarized 26% of (and then removed one quote - which was cited, I might add, and it went down to 19%...how?), followed by learning that my speeding ticket from December is going to cost $170 (pocket change, right?). All in all, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

There always seems to be (at least) one day each semester (aside from the day you enroll for classes which automatically takes the win for worst day of the year) that you have multiple tests or papers due and it seems like no matter how much preparation you do, it's just going to suck. This semester's hell day is officially over and I can proudly say I got out of it alive and in much better shape than I predicted. But now it's time to pop in a movie, lay my head down for longer than the length of a nap, and close these bloodshot eyes while drifting into dreamland. If you're lucky, maybe I'll even send you one of my famous sleepy time texts with made up words which is guaranteed to make you laugh and wonder "what the frig is wrong with her?"

My point dear friends, is that this post is clearly an exercise in writing in a delirious state. Kind of fun, yet kind of awkward. Just like this picture of me and my siblings having happysleepy time in the car. It perfectly encapsulates my current state of being (that being, sleep anywhere, right this second). Plus, I love 'em.

[Good night.]

Monday Thankfulness

Amidst all the stress of finishing up the semester, finding a summer internship, and everything else life has a way of throwing at you, it's good to be reminded of the things you're truly thankful for. Sometimes friends let you down or annoy the living daylights out of you or aren't there when you really need them, but when you find the ones who are...don't ever let them go. These are just a couple of the ones I am so very thankful for.

[The three best friends that anyone could have]

It's Friday, I'm in Love.

Does anyone else feel like this week FLEW by? Usually the week after break is about as slow as the entire winter season but it actually went by REALLY fast. And to make it even better, it's ending with an absolutely beautiful day with 75 degree weather and sunshine. I am soooo ready for it to be summer.

1. A song: Please teach me how to play this on the piano. And then teach me how to play all the rest of her songs too.



2. A quote: “The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.” — Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

3. 5 things I learned this week:
-No one has original April fools jokes anymore, and some of them are becoming quite offensive (just learned this today).
-Shonda Rhimes has officially run out of ideas for Grey's Anatomy. The musical episode last night was so junky I couldn't even get through it.
-Sometimes you grow out of friendships, and there's a lot to be said for those who stick around.
-I'm addicted to burritos.
-I'm kind of an awkward person.

4. A picture/memory: Well, because it's opening day and I love baseball season. This picture was taken about a year ago this weekend, it was the very first warm day of the year and I got FRIED like a lobster all over my arms and in one giant spot on my leg where there was a hole in my jeans. And PS. I still have a scar from the leg burn. Hooray, Baseball! (And go Dodgers. And Rockies, I suppose.)


5. A takeaway: It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that the phrase "this too, shall pass" is something important to always keep in mind. When I was told this, I kind of shrugged it off as useless information, but this week it's become very relevant to me and I'm starting to appreciate it. If you think about it, everything good and bad comes and goes. Nothing stays the same forever. That's why it's best to enjoy the good moments in life before they're gone, and know that when something bad happens, it will also be gone soon. It's just a good reminder that I've been trying to keep in the back of my mind to help me enjoy and appreciate, or not get too stressed or upset with each situation I'm in. The phrase might be cliche, but it's a wise one! I hope it can help you, too.

Have a lovely weekend.