Bye Bye Betsy

It took awhile for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year (well, technically last year now) because I had A LOT going on!


Unfortunately the week before Christmas, I was in a car accident. =[ My precious baby, Betsy was totaled! Luckily, I didn't suffer any injuries (other than some soreness in my wrist, which was probably bruised), except the whole being-afraid-to-drive-again thing.


The accident wasn't my fault as the other drive lane changed into my car. Thank goodness, he had insurance.

I'm really sad because I figured Betsy and I had a few more good years together. Especially since we just did such expensive repairs to her back in August. (Remember?) I've been driving her since I got my license in 2007 (if you're doing the math right now and laughing at me, shut up!). 

How many of you have lost your first love car? How did it happen? (Want to sell me your cars?)

Top 11 of 2011

I would say that it seemed like it was just yesterday that we were ringing in 2011, but in reality it seems like it was a long time ago!


I decided to make a couple of lists to commemorate 2011.

Top 11 Books I Read During 2011 (in no particular order)

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Read it now if you haven't already.
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay by Suzanna Collins
4. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - One of the best classic novels I've ever read
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
6. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
7. Something Blue by Emily Giffin
8. Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee by Hoda Kotb
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10. Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow
11. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Top 11 Roadtrips of 2011 (in no particular order)

1. Maine (July) - By far this was the best roadtrip ever! I am so grateful to Patti and her family for taking me. I got to spend a week with one of my most favorite families that treat me as if I am their own!
2. Harrisonburg (April) - I had the opportunity to meet one of my tumblr friends and tour the new performing arts center. I gotto attend two of Beau's baseball games and hang out with some of my absolute favorite JMU/Harrisonburg loves.
3. Charlotte (April/May) - Though I was down there for a job interview, I got to spend time with my old roomie, my birthday twin, and my boys! And I actually got to stay in the city this time and see more of Charlotte.
4. Arlington (January) - I brought in the new year with my roomies and got to go to Tyson's, which reminds me - I need to go back there.
5. Harrisonburg (August) - I always love going to Harrisonburg for fantasy football weekend. On this particular weekend, I got to catch up with one of my MCCs, go to the book fair, and go dance like a crazy fool at The Blue Nile, which was the absolute highlight of my weekend!
6. Norfolk (May) - I traveled down to Old Dominion University, a place I always feel at home, to celebrate my little cousin's graduation! A good time as always!
7. Arlington (August) - It was my first time in Northern Virginia during the warm months in years! I had a blast walking around D.C. in the heat and visiting museums and monuments!
8. Arlington (September) - I went to D.C. for some job interviews and it was the first time I rode the metro by myself and I did it correctly!
9. Harrisonburg (October) - Homecoming 2011 was amazing! I got to surprise my favorites! And watching the game with Jim in the brand new stadium was AMAZING!
10. Arlington (February) - This trip happened so long ago that I can't remember what I did. But I do remember not having to spend Valentine's weekend alone and I got to see my Bea! I think I also went to Potomac Mills and IKEA for the first time ever!
11. Blacksburg (August) - Moving my sister into college was fun because it brought back memories of my 4 wonderful years at JMU! And I got to spend time with my Little Duke turned Hokie, Tori. 

Top 11 Moments of 2011 (In no particular order)

1. My little sister being crowned Miss DHS in March.
2. My little sister graduating as valedictorian of her high school class.
3. My cousin graduating from Old Dominion University.
4. Watching my JMU Dukes beat those Richmond Spiders as my first game in new stadium for Homecoming 2011.
5. Watching the Dinwiddie Girls Cross Country team become regular season district champs and win the district championship. And I was there every step of the way!
6. The birth of my niece, Raina...but maybe not the part where I was actually in the room for it.
7. Being invited to vacation in Maine with Patti and her family! I swear the whole week before I went I was so excited, I'd just say Maine and smile like a goober because I could not wait!
8. The Earthquake of 2011
9. Seeing Wicked at the Landmark Theater
10. Having two articles and photos published in The Progress-Index
11. That moment when they announced that there was actually was going to be football this year, which led to me drafting not one, but two fantasy football teams!

Tis the Season for Baking

WARNING: This post will make you drool. You will see many photos of sweets and then you will be hungry! Don't say I didn't warn you. 


Or so it seems in my house! I'm packing on the winter weight. =/

It started on the Friday before the busiest Saturday in my life in awhile. Seriously I never do anything on the weekends and all of a sudden I'm invited to two parties on the same Saturday! 

The first party that I was invited to was a graduation party for Santana, who has been my cousin's roommate and best friend at ODU for forever! The 3 of us have celebrated all of our graduations (all at 3 separate times) together!

The second party was cause for all the baking. I was getting together with a couple of my Dinwiddie Girls for a Tacky Sweater/Cookie Swap party. 


Which led to baking all Friday night! Thank goodness I had the help of my youngest sister because I certainly know how to make a mess while baking!


Leave it to me to choose something I'd never baked before, something that required strange ingredients like light corn syrup and kosher salt. 


I chose Mini Black and White Cookies. 

I was baking until 11:15 p.m. And that icing is super messy!

Ever since that night, the baking has not ceased in this house since. Aspen and Lynn made a ton of chocolate cookies on Saturday night. And I brought home so many sweets from the party!

Then my mom's boyfriend is a track coach and Aspen is an architecture major and this is what happens when you add those two together and the fact that the store didn't have the cookie cutter they wanted. 

Yes, they made that themselves. They used this cookie cutter and several others for a couple of batches of gingerbread cookies. 

Then Dani made peanut butter cookies with chocolate Kisses and Aspen made more sugar cookies!

Needless to say, we haven't been at a loss for dessert at all this week!

What are you favorite holiday desserts?

Virginia Tech

I wish that the cliche, "Lightning never strikes the same place twice," was true. 

I know everyone affiliated with Virginia Tech feels the same way. 

Unfortunately yesterday, Virginia Tech was struck again with tragedy, and the feeling was very reminiscent of the tragedy that occurred back in 2007. While the outcome did not compare to that of 2007's incident, any loss of innocent human life is tragic. 

I was a freshman at James Madison University when the 2007 shooting occurred, a close two hours away from Virginia Tech. As a college student, it felt as if my way of life had been threatened. I couldn't imagine a tragedy hitting any closer to home. 

Until yesterday, that is. I was working at the middle school yesterday in Dinwiddie when I found out what was going on in Blacksburg. I had received a text message from my little sister. She is a freshman at Virginia Tech. 

I must say it felt much better hearing about the events from my sister first than hearing it from another source. She kept us updated about the ordeal. I also began following Virginia Tech on Twitter when my sister started attending. 

My sister was thankfully in the architecture studio with some classmates when the shootings occurred. I was thankful for this because where the police office lost his life is a short walk from my sister's dormitory. Neither she nor her roommate were in the dorm or the area at the time. 

It seems VT did a great job of getting the word out to students and I'm grateful that the situation did not escalate into any further violence. 

As you go about your day, please keep the students, faculty, staff of Virginia Tech, and the family of the slain police officer in your thoughts and prayers. This university has endured too much pain but has a spirit that will never be defeated. 

VT<3

Fall and Winter Blues

My birthday is in April. I am a spring baby. And I love the summer with everything that is in me. 


So when fall and winter roll around every year, it makes me a little sad. I don't like the cold weather (even though I did 4 years of really cold weather at JMU!), the lack of sunlight, the stress, etc. I miss the lighthearted atmosphere of spring and summer. There are more people to hang out with. Those seasons just aren't as lonely as fall and winter seem to me. 


This year on top of fall arriving, I was working as a long term substitute for an 8th and 9th grade business class. Which added to my fall blues even more because it was very stressful and the kids weren't always nice to me. I'm not going to lie; I was excited when their teacher returned on Thursday. It was good money, though.


So now that my days are a little less stressful, I'm gonna try to kick the fall and winter blues with a list of things that makes the fall and winter not so bad after all!

• Thanksgiving! - I'm a fan of food, family, and football. 

• Skinny jeans and jeggings tucked into boots. Okay so even though I'm more of a flip flop or slip-on Sperry's kind of girl, I am totally getting into this pairing tall boots with skinny jeans and jeggings for fall and winter. I just need more boots and more jeggings (so comfy! - Those pictured I purchased from Aeropostale for $10) 

• Matching scarves with long sleeved shirts. I am addicted to Old Navy scarves! Especially since most of them I bought for $1 back in my JMU days with my roomies, Patti and Natasha. I like to try out different shirt/scarf color combinations.

You can never go wrong with purple and yellow!

• Pea coats! I love the way a pea coat really completes an outfit. No matter what you are wearing, you look a little more formal while wearing a pea coat!

Old photo, still have that pea coat though!

• Even though I absolutely hate cold weather because I would rather be warm than cold any day, I love that I have a legit reason to live in my Snuggie (like I don't already).
• Christmas, of course! I love getting presents and when I have money, I love buying gifts for my family! 

What's your favorite season? What do you like most about fall and winter? And hey, while we're at it, what do you hate about fall and winter? 

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Thanksgiving comes with several traditions. This year I woke up super early (no idea why!) and showered! Then I got ready while I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

 I kept getting on my mom's nerves because every time they showed Macy's, I'd say, "I've been to the Macy's" or "I've stood in Herald Square." I can't help it! Every time I watch the parade, it makes me want to go back to New York City. Also, it makes me think of the time that my roomies were in the parade with the James Madison Marching Royal Dukes, back in 2008. That was definitely my favorite time watching the parade!

Anyway after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, my family always watches the dog show! We always root for the West Highland Terrier since that's what kind of dog Rascal is. The Westie came in third in the terrier group! I also learned that the dog show is pre-recorded. Who knew?


Then began the stress of Thanksgiving. This year we were having Thanksgiving at our house, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Advantage: I don't have to go anywhere. Disadvantages: We have to clean the house in anticipation for our guests that never notice the vacuuming or dusting.


Other disadvantage is that our house is like Bangladesh in relation to population density. I think that's why my family is so close 0r gets annoyed with each other so easily. We practically sit on top of each other at family events.


Thanksgiving this year included my immediate family: Mom, Dad, Dani, Aspen, and Raina (Did you note that? Mom and Dad...that's a first since...well let's just say I don't remember the last time!). We were joined by Hollie, Dylan, Uncle Charles, Travis, Uncle Dale, Uncle Steve, Granny, and David. 


We had to sit in the 2 different rooms as well as setting up a table outside! But the food was great, the company was superb and I got to watch some good football!


Now for the fotos of my gringo Thanksgiving, most of which I took for my guatemalteca, Candace, because the day before Thanksgiving she was tweeting about not understanding cranberry sauce!

Cranberry Sauce right out of the can!

Sliced and ready to eat!

We had an assortment of food at our Thanksgiving! Let me tell you about! Turkey (of course), country ham (my personal preference), stuffing, mashed red potatoes, gravy, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, potato salad, green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin cake, coconut pie, and lots of sweet tea!

My plate!



The copious amount of sweet tea that is brought to a Southern Thanksgiving!



The cake my sister made!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful! What kind of Thanksgiving traditions does your family have? What did you eat on Thanksgiving?

I'm coming home, I'm coming home...tell the world that I'm coming home

So due to my poorness, I was planning on doing an extremely unbearable thing a couple of weekends ago.  I was going to miss JMU Homecoming for the first time since my freshman year of college. Anyonewho knows me (and some that don't) know that I love JMU and JMU Football almost more than anything in the world.


So Monday, the 26 (of September), my uncle offered to buy me a JMU Homecoming ticket. So we get online on JMUsports.com and low and behold they are all sold out. I saw a couple of overpriced ones on Stubhub and Craig's List, but not being crazy about sitting by myself, I decided that I would simply live JMU Homecoming vicariously through all of my friends.


Fast forward to Wednesday. I'm eating pizza at Giuseppe's after the cross country meet when I get a text from Jim, who asks me if I'll be attending homecoming. I tell him about how I tried to buy a ticket but to no avail. However, Jim had found some homecoming tix and needed some to sit with! I quickly agreed and that was it; I was going to homecoming!


Except I decided to keep it on the down low because I wanted to surprise everyone (a decision that would later come back to kinda bite me in the butt). So Friday after I get off work, I start my trip to Harrisonburg. I talked to Matt Rummel on the way up there and he talked about how sad he was that I wasn't going to be able to make it up to homecoming. In my head, I'm thinking, "Yesssss this is going to work out so well!" 


I get to JMU say about 7:30 and I start texting one of my baby Dukes, Erica, while I am still texting Matt, trying to stealthily figure out where I can park on campus. As I am texting both of them, my phone cuts off. I walk from the baseball lot all the way to Showker, where I plug in my phone that I've been trying to restart for the entire walk over and nothing is working.


Here I am, very close to my baby Dukes' dorm (in the treehouses) and I have no way to get in touch with her.  What am I to do? I turn around and walk back to my car and head to the Verizon store. Which they moved! It totally was not where it was, the last time I went to it. And strange enough, as soon as I walk into Verizon, I run into people from Dinwiddie. They were up there because their son goes to Bridgewater. 


I wait for awhile in Verizon while I am silently freaking out on the inside. You see, no one knows I'm coming to Harrisonburg except Beau and Josh because I was planning on staying at their place. The problem is, I don't have either of their numbers and I don't know what time Beau gets off work. 


Finally a lady comes and asks me what's going on with my phone. She looks at me, frowns, and says, "This is the third time I've seen this problem with this phone in the last two days." Umm yeah, that's exactly what I want to hear.  She takes it into the back to see if she can get it to power on. 


Guess what...it doesn't turn back on. And I'm telling her that I am 3 hours from home, going to a football game the next day and I don't have my ticket or the number of the guy who has my ticket. So she's like, let me set you up with a sales associate if you want to get a new phone tonight. And I am trying not to cry. 


So the sales guy comes over and I start explaining to him how I need a phone ASAP. He gives me two options: I can use the upgrade on our account (which is my dad's) and pay $130 for the phone I already have (with a $50 mail-in rebate) or pay $99 and file an insurance claim on my phone and get a replacement mailed to where I am staying in Harrisonburg by 11 AM the next day.


Obviously the smarter decision of the two is to file the insurance claim, so after talking to my mom, my dad, and Jeremy (he was the only person in Harrisonburg whose number I had memorized), I called the insurance people. The first time I called (yes, I said first time), the person would not let me continue because I didn't know the billing address on our account  (um, my dad lives in a different state than I do so no, I do not have his address memorized). 


So I had to call back with my dad's address and then the insurance lady informed me that A) my phone was still under warranty because it had been less than a year since I got it and B) that there was no way that they could have mailed me a phone by the next day (the Verizon guy said she was lying).


Here I am, stuck again. The Verizon guy (his name was Mike by the way) goes into the back and comes back out with a phone. He tells me that it is his backup phone and tells me to use it this weekend and then ship it back to him. He tells me to come in the next day to file an extended warranty thing to get a new phone the next week. 


He programs my number into his phone. Then I finally leave the Verizon (btw it was technically already closed when I left). Luckily, when I turned this phone on, Josh had texted me so I had his number. Jeremy texted me Beau's number so I was semi-connected again.


Then by pure coincidence I had an address book in my car that I bought for Stephanie because she is always losing her phone and losing all her numbers (is this not ironic or what?). Well since Jim is her brother, I had his number. So I called him and filled him in on the situation. I told him that he had jinxed me because I had made fun of him hours earlier about not having a smart phone and here I was in the same boat. 


I finally get dinner, get to Beau's, and then Jessica, Josh, Beau, and I head downtown to meet Jeremy for a little while. The next morning, I get up and get all JMU-ed out and head to the store to do some last minute Homecoming shopping. All the while I am texting Patti (her number was in Steph's address book as well - it's convenient when all your friends are related), telling her that I am going to have to live vicariously through you. She was sad because Aunt Patti had mentioned that she thought I was coming to Homecoming. 


Then I stalked out P-Lot waiting for Patti and her family to arrive, which I thought they were never going to! But then they finally did and I kinda jumped out and surprised them. Kinda. Patti will tell you that she thought something was up. 

Patti and I
Photo credit: Ben

And then began the task of trying to see everyone (which is difficult when you have no one's phone numbers). I was really happy though because Natasha, Tony, and Matt Rummel were truly surprised to see me and that made my day!! 
 

                                               

                                                               Tony and I




Matt and I



Matt, me, and Natasha



3/4 of 13 I-know-you-want-to-be-us

 After a couple of hours of tailgating, we headed to the stadium, which was very exciting since neither Jim nor I had been to a game in the new stadium! Our seats were way up there but they were awesome. We could see the entire field and the scoreboard. It was like having that view you get to see when you watch NFL on tv! 

Jim and I ready to watch JMU beat the Richmond Spiders!

The game was awesome! JMU won, of course! It started raining about halfway through the 3rd quarter so Jim and I snuck a couple of rows up so we could be under the awning and stay mostly dry. We stayed for the post game show and went down to the field with the MRDs afterwards to watch the trumpets do their thing.

Our view of the game.

View of where Jim and I sat from the student section.
 MRDs taking the field for postgame show.

The Jumbo Jumbotron!

Then we headed back to the car, in the rain. Needless to say, we were pretty cold and wet at this point. We grabbed dinner at Sheetz and headed to Matt Rummel's to hang out with him, Natasha, and Tony for a bit. Then we headed to SouthView.

Sunday, I got up and headed to campus where I saw 3 of my baby Dukes (Erica, Josh, and Tricia). I had D-Hall breakfast! Yum! Then I went to Jeremy's where I watched some football and had some taco salad...which was always the highlight of my football seasons in Harrisonburg. 

Then I went to Richmond to watch some football with Jim. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings (yes, I was really well fed on this particular Sunday), where we couldn't decided what flavors of wings we wanted to try (there were two new flavors) so we got 24 wings between the two of us! Then we hang out for a bit before I finally headed back to Dinwiddie.