HOME tomorrow!!

It is home sweet home in less than 48 hours :) and it could not have come at a more perfect time! Spring break officially starts at 4pm today and I am looking forward to a week of nothing. Although the Tacoma forcast isn't exactly calling my name... the clouds are not stopping me from be so so so excited to sleep in my own bed, eat homecooked food, and watch family movies :)

This week was a little stressful, and if anyone had any doubts I'm here to tell you that PMS is real, and I was struggling. Ha. BUT all better. My family is lucky they didn't have to deal with me as of a few days ago. Blahh.

I did some laundry yesterday and am only carrying-on so I don't really even need to pack until tomorrow. Ahhhhh I'm getting so excited!!! I haven't really let myself get excited about it until this morning because I've just had so much to do but I'm only a class away from a much needed BREAK.

two kiddos I'm very excited to see... ♥

Turning over a new leaf...

...A TEA LEAF!

Ok, I just thought of that witty title on the walk home so forgive the cheesy pun, I personally thought it was hilarious. But I may just be a little overly exhausted from 3+ study hours in Barnes&Noble and a meeting that went from 6:45-9:30... yeah....

But going back to my title, I'm all about tea these days. Currently I have three types on my shelf and I will take the opportunity to describe each now.

STASH Peppermint Tea

*perks: caffeine free, smells like candy canes

TAZO Organic Chai Tea

*perks: extremely flavorful, cinnamon-y, don't leave it to steep too long!

GOOD EARTH Tea

*perks: just call it Christmas in a Cup! caffeine free, spicy & delicious (shout out to Lizzie for turning me onto this treat)

I'm also going to throw in my new secret love for Lipton Hot Spiced Cider. I steel packets of it from the commons daily and don't feel bad because the food there is way over priced. Anyways, it's kinda strange how much I loveeee this cider because I detest apple juice (the cider is very apple'y) BUT some loves you just can't explain.

Little packets of heaven....

I know spring might be nearing but I'm clinging to these hot steamy cups and don't know if a change in season can part us :)

And with that, I say goodnight... ♥

TGIF!

Thank. God. It's. Friday.

This week flew and I woke up thinking it was Saturday and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't.. it's Friday!! Tonight we have a function with the football team, "Delta Bowl" it's jersey themed and there will be lots of games... should be fun. Hilary and I were just talking about how we never see the footballers out anymore so it will be nice to hang out with them.

Today was my supposed "productive day" and while it was a little less productive than I had hoped, I did get some things done!

Today is also special because JENNA! is visiting!!! She is all grown up now and living in San Diego so it was a special treat to see her. We realized we hadn't see each other since MAY and that is just NOT okay. She's coming to the function tonight so I will even get more of her soon :)

It is not too sunny today but there is no rain so I'm okay with it. The sunny days we definitely took advantage of and made it to the pool on Wednesday :) ahhh SO nice.

One thing I am not enjoying about Southern California these days? Earthquakes. These past few days we have had a ton of (although minor) earthquakes. And of course no one likes earthquakes, I hate them. After a scary one when I was 12, they have always freaked me out to no end. We had 3 in about the span of 10 minutes and it felt like there was a stamped upstairs. To make matters worse, the school sent out an email today addressing the abundance of earth shaking activity and told us to take all the necessary precautions... first aid kits, flashlights, whistles, and videos to watch. Not to freak anyone out though right? WRONG. I am panicked.

Other than tonight, this weekend is going to be relatively laid back. I have lots of work to finish before next week.

This time next week I will be boarding a plane HOME for SPRING BREAK!! 9 nights at home doesn't sound too bad to me...

OH ALSO: Happy belated birthday, Nana! ♥ I hope dinner was fun!

BiG SiS Reveal!

it's pretty early but I'm all smiles!

surprise!!!♥

grandma, little, and BiG!

me with Molly's shirt :)

more crafting...

There is not enough time in the day!

I feel like I am moving a million miles an hour and my updates are falling by the wayside...

Lots of things on my mind so here we gooo.....

1. My little officially knows who I am (Big SiS reveal was this morning... 6am...) and we had a fabulous breakfast together and she is incredible.

2. My real little sis is at THE 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS! Helloo..... jealous. I have gotten a few picture messages... of the opening torch and a clip of the curling games. Go USA!

3. That chem test I had last week we got back yesterday and I got a 99%. Umm yeah. It was new to me to. I told my mom I've never gotten higher than an 85% on any science related test and I was beyond excited!

4. As Community Service chair I am heading Body Image Awareness Week (March 29-Apr 2) and this year the President of LUST contacted me about collaborating on some new ideas. In the past, this week has been promoted with the same ideas year after year. Having a nutritionist talk, showing a movie like Miss Congeniality, some sort of activity like Self Defense, etc. Sarah (the head of LUST... Learning & Understanding Sexuality Together) and I met on Monday and had an amazing talk about what we want out of the week. What did I want to communicate to my peers about body image?

These were some things we discussed...

How brainwashing and influential the media is. How young girls cannot pick up a magazine like US Weekly or Glamour without "Tips for a better butt!" and "New ways to lose weight in 5 days!" splashed across every inch of every cover.

When really, truly analyzing and dissecting media influence in our country today, this is a disgusting reality to be hit with this:

The thinner you are, the better girlfriend you are, the better friend you are, the better wife you are, the better daughter you are, the better person you are. Your friends will envy you, guys will want to date you, younger girls will look up to you, and everything will be perfect.

It makes me sick to see my friends and sisters equate how good of a person they are to a number. Their self-esteem hangs on compliments, mirrors, and never being quite good enough. Since when did women become society's canvas? There is always room for improvement, write down what you eat (it helps), sugar and carbs... beware. In other words, drop a jeans size, obsess over every calorie, and deprive yourself to the point of insanity. All I see is bullshit.

Ok, quite a rant, and now I'm all worked up... I apologize. I'll finish my list (with pictures hopefully!!) :) tomorrow.

I'm calling it a night...

Busy busy bee!

It has been a busy last few days and a busy few upcoming days, but things are getting crossed off checklists and progress is being made!

CURRENT HAPPENINGS:

- CHEM exam today (blah blah blah)

- Fiction workshop piece due to hand out tomorrow

- In my Child Development class today we are being visiting by Keira, a 1 1/2 yr old cutie who we get to observe :)

- ♥Valentine's Date Night♥ tomorrow night... our social chairs rented canopy tents and it's going to be catered by a local restaurant.. yum!

- (hopefully) a little premature spring cleaning

- Valentine crafts of sorts!

- Vagina Monologues tonight at 8pm... it is a student run performance that focuses on sexual awareness and women empowerment. One of my roomies is reading in it -- supposed to be very powerful

- coffee date with MY little on friday!!! =) ahhh so excited, she asked me yesterday and obviously has no idea yet that I am her BiG so it was super cute. yayaya

Movies on my list:

Valentine's Day,

It's Complicated,

The Blind Side (i know, i haven't seen it yet!!)

~ hopefully I can get some of the girls together this weekend and go see Valentines Day... looks SO cute ;)

I had to publish my (actual) little sister's hard work... miss SAC head decided to re-instate "Val-grams" this lovely mushy season and got SLAMMED with a million requests... here are some cupcakes she made with love. Just call her Paula Deen...

Where I want to be on Valentines Day...

I gave birth... and have a little sis!!! :)

This was taken right before the new girls walked through the door on BID DAY. Holly sent me this picture and I love it because it captures exactly what I was doing at the time... FREAKING OUT! My big sis, Alyssa is on my left and Abbie is being creepy on the right. We got 17!!!! amazing new babies on Saturday and I couldn't be more excited!!!! My little sis name is Molly and I am OBSESSED with her!!!! She doesn't know who I am yet but she will in a few weeks.... I am so creepy and basically stalk her but thats only because I love her so much. She is a freshman and lives in Williams (like I did!) and is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. Here is picture Holly sent me of Molly on scream night...

♥

This is a picture of me and my angelette... they get "angels" who help them through the first two weeks before they find out who their big sis is. Holly asked me to be her little's angel... her name is Katie and she is the sweetest thing :)

our 17 newbies! (Molly's in the middle ;) )

It was a crazy, busy, exhausting weekend but an amazing one at that! We had a delta ritual at 6am this morning so I've been up since 5:30am and after two classes I'm feeling it...

happy monday! :)

January in pictures...

January flew by but I did make sure to take a few pictures to document my fun. Classes are going well (well, maybe besides chemistry… haha) and I’m falling right back into the college routine. Its February and I cannot believe it. I decided late last week to go home for spring break which I am so so looking forward to. I only got 4 days at home between abroad and heading back to school so 9 nights of absolutely nothing is just what the doctor ordered!

Enjoy J