panera time

I've had a quiet day thus far and I'm getting a bit restless, so I think I will hit up the gym in a little bit to run out my energy. I spent the morning watching a few episodes of the second season of Weeds, doing a little bit of shopping and cleaning. I eventually got tired of sitting at home alone so I decided to get out in public to avoid getting down in the dumps.

So here I am at Panera, drinking coffee and updating my blog...both of which I can do at home, but sometimes I just need to get out and use my voice and interact with people...otherwise I start to dwell on being alone and it is all downhill from there.
I just made a new playlist for working out, time to go give it a listen! Hope everyone has a lovely night!

Thanksgiving recap

Thanksgiving in Troy went ok. I'm just going to leave it at that. I did take some pictures of my tofurky, which out of the five people who ate it and two of those people being vegetarian, my dad enjoyed it the most. He is having some health problems and was told to eat better, so perhaps the tofurky showed him the way. On to pictures!!!

Driving up to Troy-my Mom was not happy I took pictures while driving.

My parent's house in Troy, OH

My Dad

My lovely tofurky.

The insides of the tofurky.

Family-Toby, Bruce, Monty, Newbie, Helen

Yesterday was much better, Stephanie and I SKYPED for an hour or so doing online shopping and then decided to brave the stores. They were not crazy at all and we actually ended up going out twice, because we had to get something to wear for an Ugly Sweater Party we're attending on Sunday. We both got hilarious holiday shirts from the little girls section in Old Navy because they were only $5 and we did not want to spend a lot on something we'd never wear again.

After all that we decided to go to the grand illumination in downtown Dayton, but it was over by the time we got there. Instead we went to Starbucks and then to the show Ravi and Matt were running. we sat in the car being silly and to rush the boys to kick all the kids out of the venue once the show was over so we could go play Scene It on the xbox. Scene It was just ok....kind of stressful. I hadn't seen so many of the movies that it mentioned so I didn't do too well.

I wasn't going to decorate for Christmas since I am moving at the end of December, but now want to. Perhaps I will go get some decorations and get my mini tree from Troy...maybe that will help keep me in the good mood I have been in since Wednesday.

I have the best friends ever. hands down.

YAY!! I GRADUATED!!!!

As of yesterday at 11:15 I officially became a college graduate. My goodness it took a long time, I went through taking a quarter off, to dropping out and moving to California, to moving back to Ohio and going part time for a year, to finally getting my act together and going back full time with no winter or summer breaks and getting finished as fast as I could. It has been a crazy, stressful, confusing experience and even though I am still confused about what is next, after spending time with my amazing friends at a little surprise graduation dinner they put together...I don't know that I care that much anymore about the confusion. They make me happy and that is what I want the most right now, to just be happy. So I am going to focus on that for the time being and put myself out there for new job and living experiences and see what I can find or what comes my way.

Did I mention how great my friends are? Stephanie and I went to f21 (like every other day), went to DLM to get Tofurkey's, drank coffee and ate peach pie and had some girl talk. Some friends are in town from out of state, so we got a nice group of people together and went to La Fiesta to eat some AMAZING mexican food. Little did I know Ravi told them I graduated, so all the workers came to our table with a huge sombrero that I had to wear while they sang to me, took a picture and presented me with fried ice cream...I'm sure I looked silly in the sombrero but it was still fun! Ravi and Stephanie got me a super sweet card that I started to read at the table, but couldn't finish because I was starting to tear up and they got me the cutest little owl figurine!!!

Ugh!! It's soo freaking cute...it is an owl made out of an apple!!! I love it. We stayed till closing at La Fiesta and then hung out at Ravi and Stephanie's till almost 4:00 in the morning!! I haven't stayed up that late in sooo long, but we spent almost the whole time laughing so it was well worth it.

Erik, being Erik. We hadn't seen him in almost two months!! That is too long of a time to go without seeing your friends!!!

Ravi playing MW2. It's blurry, but I like it.

This morning my mom called and told me all this stuff she was making for today and stuff that I like to eat that she bought...even though yesterday I told her I probably wasn't coming up because they were going to the American Legion for dinner. So because she was nice and bought stuff for me, I decided not to stay in Dayton alone and instead got up and made my way up to Troy. It is feeling pretty chilly today and the forecast calls for snow this evening, I'm thinking it may actually happen!!! My tofurkey is smelly pretty delish, time to check on it!!!

my last final at SInclair!!!

I have ONE final left. I am about to leave to go take it...it is in math and despite the fact that I am horrible at math, I have been doing rather well in this particular class. On all previous tests I have received B's, so I am hoping for the same on this one. I pumped myself up while getting ready this morning by listening to The Gaslight Anthem and dancing with Monty, now it is time to get coffee to give me that extra little boost!! Here I go!!! Whoohoo!!!

saturday

Today has been a nice day so far! I woke up at 7:30 and decided to sort through all my clothes and take what I don't wear anymore to Goodwill. After getting back from Goodwill, Stephanie and I went to Half Price Books  and then went on a cardigan search. I got Flowers for Algernon for .48!!!! And The Kite Runner.

I am excited to start reading it and am planning on it keeping me busy once I am done with classes next week and I have way too much free time to think about things and be blue. We did find cardigans, but I talked myself out of getting one because I haven't looked everywhere yet, gah...and of course now I wish I would have gotten one because I'm silly like that. I'll just have to go back tomorrow.
After the mall we went to Starbucks and got our iced coffees, they raised the price of soy milk to .50!! Craziness. My tummy is growling so it is time to get some food and then watch the newest episode of Destination Truth.

The weekend is finally here! YAY!!! Next week is my last week of school, I have my interpersonal communications final on monday and my math final on wednesday!! I can't believe that I am finally going to be done at Sinclair. I just wish that graduation wasn't in June so that I could participate. At first I didn't want to do it, but after thinking about I kind of wanted to...then I found out the date. Boo. Oh wells.
Last night I looked at an apartment because my lease at my current apartment is almost up and the other tenants in my building are crazy-screaming, fighting, kicking the dog crazy- and I do not feel comfortable staying here. The apartment was nice, but it was small...the bathroom was super tiny and in the bedroom and the kitchen was big enough for one person to be in...I like to cook so this was not a selling point for me. It did however have cute pineapple wall paper in the kitchen and a carport, but I just don't think it is big enough for me, Monty and all my stuff. So the search continues, or I move back to Troy...or just move away. I don't really know.
After the apartment I went downtown and sold some of my textbooks and got around $300!!! Whoohoo!! I still have two more to sell but need them to study this weekend. Then with my new found money I hit up F21 and the gym. I looked up a few new exercises to add to my workout and it ended up paying off, I was exhausted when I left and I'm a bit sore today...I love it.
Now it is time to clean the apartment a bit, get ready and run some errands and find a new book to read!

this isn't the way we planned

I have been having a rough couple of weeks. I am beginning to feel emotionally drained again. I feel alone most days, but the things that have been happening this week and last have made me feel more alone than usual. I know things could be worse, but I have been working so hard, so hard, so hard to make things better and I just keep getting knocked on my ass.  I wish I knew what to do.

book club

I should be doing my Social Psychology homework but I'm going to do an update instead. My weekend was nice, I did some shopping, some hanging out with friends and some hanging out with family. The weather was sooo amazing and I'm glad I got to spend a lot of time outside. The beautiful weather is suppose to continue on this week, which makes me excited to wear some of the new things I got on my shopping trip to Columbus.
Stephanie and I started a book club with ten of our friends and each person was assigned a month and gets to pick the book to read for that month. Ravi picked the first book, The Alchemist. I'm already done with it and I wish I had not finished it so quickly. I enjoyed the book, but the subject matter of it really got to me...it made me feel bad about myself and my life. I have not stuck to fulfilling my "Personal Legend" and with school coming to an end in just two and a half weeks I am feeling so confused on what to do, where to go and who I am. It just really got me thinking about life and how we can be our own worst enemy. There are so many things I am aching for...companionship, love, stability, a home...but none of it seems to be happening for me, no matter the effort I put forth.
A couple posts back I mentioned a second chance I wanted to give a guy I dated, I guess I was wrong in the sense that it was I giving him a second chance...it was more like I wanted him to give me a second chance. Turns out that he must not want to and it has sort of got me down. I am doing my best to keep my word and remain positive and keep putting myself out there, but sometimes I feel like it is taking quit a toll on my confidence as nothing has really turned out with the results I hope for.
Ha, this book club has made me more emotional and girly than I usually am.

bum bum bum bum

I'm lonely. Blah.

Halloween Fun!!

Stephanie and Ravi had their yearly Halloween party and despite everything not working out as planned, it was still a lot of fun and I was happy to be with friends. We started out the party by going to Windmill Farms for the hayride...soooo much fun!!! It has smelly mud, big bumps, steep hills and DINOSAURS!!!!!

After the farm/hayride we went back to Ravi and Stephanie's and she made us awesome pasta, salad and cake and another friend brought vegan mac and cheese...so much yummy food!!! We hung out for a bit and then someone brought the drama so we never made it to a haunted trail, bus or maze. Oh wells. It was still fun and we found other things to do...we looked at old photos, talked about fun times we've all had together, tried to play catch phrase and took food to a friend who was at work and not able to make it to the party.

Sunday was a slow day for me, they usually are. I did laundry at my parents and then went to Stephanie's for coffee and cake. Yesterday was class and doing some errands. I got my math test back and I got a B!!!! YAY!!! I'm actually doing good in math this quarter and it feels good...I'm not stressing out as much about it and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All of my other classes are going good as well and with only a few weeks left in the quarter I am just focusing on staying on top of everything and making sure I am prepared for my finals.
Monty is snoring next to me and it is making me sleepy, I guess 9:30 isn't too early for bed seeing as it is a school night. Goodnight all!!

Mr. Moo

I am heading to the gym soon, but just finished editing some photos from the weekend and there is one of Monty that I love. Ugh...its super cute so I thought I would share!