Ahhhh!! T-minus 1 month until Sarah Stutsman --> Sarah Gillis

In honor of Sarah, and weddings, I thought I'd do a top ____! The blank is because I don't know how many things I'm going to consider my top ___ favorite things, but I have been inspired, because I know one thing for sure...weddings tops the list! Here we go...


FUN HAIR ACCESSORIES- I love them. I think they're great. Here's my newest one my mama just gave me!

VINTAGE THINGS- I also think these are great. I currently have a snazzy orange, velvet vintage chair, a sweet 2-headed "neck" lamp (if you will), an old bird cage, worn out blue suit case, and a reallyyyy old, little girl's ballet case! I think it's so fun to find old things and decorate a new room with them....it's so much more rewarding when you find something unique like that than just picking something up in a regular old store....{estate sales are my favorite}

DIET COKE- Sorry guys....I guess I don't have a picture. You'll just have to use your imagination. It's silver with black writing and a red coca-cola cup....but diet. I drink them like it's my job. If someone paid me for blogging and drinking diet coke................I could probably buy a life supply of peanut butter and diet coke.

PEANUT BUTTER- I don't care what anyone says, peanut butter is a food group. Especially the kind pictured below. It's from H-E-B..it's the grind-it-yourself, honey roasted kind .The other guys say they have the same kind at *cough(KrogerAlbertsonsTomThumb...etc)cough* I don't buy it....posers.
Hey H-E-B...sponsor me! [ANDMAKEMYBLOGFAMOUSSSSS!!! so people will send me free stuff]

DANCING- I love to dance. All forms. Ballet, jazz, contemporary........school dance...date party...dance party....go crazy

DOGS- Dogs are cool, but Moe is the coolest

CLOTHES- I just love them. The best part about my clothes right now is that they live in a closet that I could do a cartwheel in if I wanted to

PUTTING MY HAIR ON MY UPPER LIP- It feels good and it's not a nervous habbit. If you have been around me for longer than 5 minutes, you know that I do this.

BEACH- There is no better place on this earth than a beach. I don't even like getting in the water {on account of, it makes you sticky, salty, and stiff...the 3 s's} This is me and zami and audrey and sister at my favorite one {{Antigua}}

WRITING- {insert picture of this blog} because if we're going to be honest (and decidedly, I am)...it's always more fun to write about yourself. Is that too much to admit?

THE SOUND OF NEWSPAPER CRACKLING- This is weird. But I like it. If we're accepting weird answers, I can go ahead and add THE SMELL OF GASOLINE...and whiteout, and expo marker, and the nail salon

SOCKS- If my feet are cold, my whole body is cold. It takes me the longest time, at night, when I'm in bed to figure out why the HECK I can't fall asleep....when I realize it's because my feet are cold, and I put socks on.....I literally fall asleep in 5 minutes. It's the strangest thing. I also like to dance in them...and wear them to school.

WEDDINGS- SARAH'S GETTING MARRIED IN EXACTLY A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {That is Sarah, not me} Have fun, Campbell :)

Having a house

Having a house has proved to be much different than living in a house with my family all my life, living at kamp, or living in a dorm. In your own house, you can cook! I love to cook, and I love to watch the food network, so when one of my roommates brought home this "bagged meal", I was skeptical. But y'all, try it. VOILA! {(And for the record I have experimented with other bagged brands, and nothing beats Voila.) [you can ask me about my PINK sweet and sour chicken if you want to talk about it] ((Because I'm not a rat, I won't give out the mediocre brand's name and ruin them FOREVER once everyone in the world is reading my blog, I own your soul, and I've taken over the world!!!!!))}

(clearing throat) This particular one is Chicken Florentine with grilled chicken, penne pasta, diced tomatoes, spinach, and yellow squash in basil parmesan sauce :) yum. {I added a little flour to mine at the end to thicken up the sauce} All I have to do is put it on the stove and add 2 table spoons of water, heat the sauce, and mix it together.......it's like a 12 minute process. I would usually follow that statement up with something like, "-perfect for a busy college lifestyle!" But that brings me to my next subject.............(after the picture of my pasta's presentation- if you put it in a bowl/serving platter, you can add 3 minutes to your 12 minute process....but if you're time efficient like me, you just leave it in the pan.)

I took a photo shoot with my new favorite thing

Wafting the scent into my nostrils

A little more agressive...

My cooking show face. The one that says, "I realize how hungry my show is making you, but the dish I made down right delicious. It must make you incredibly frustrated with yourself, knowing that even though I gave you the step-by-step directions for making this...it will never taste as good as mine."...you know what I'm talking about.

Now, getting back to the whole "busy college lifestyle"...yeah that's a great reason to buy these, but on this particular Monday, I am the opposite of busy. I woke up at 11:19 today....folded some laundry....did some studying...did some facebooking...read my Bible...and made some gourmet bagged cuisine. *Sigh*.......I love the days when I have nothing planned, nothing on the schedule......

WAIT! I was supposed towakeupat8:00,goworkoutonthepilatesequipmentbeforeballetat9:30,takeballet, takemodern,gotopsychology,studyalittle,shower, gotomeeting, studyalittle, andgotoaccountabilitygroup. [the deletion of all my "spaces" was supposed to represent me reading this off like a speed demon, without breaths to emphasize the busy/jam-packedness of my day]......so... the fact that I woke up to my alarm at 11:19, having already slept through my pilates work out, ballet, and 10 minutes of modern has really freed up my schedule quite nicely. I was so mad at myself for doing that, and then I was like, wait....I really didn't DO anything. I set my alarm for 7:30, and it went off at 11:19...technology, though cutting edge and up to date, does fail us some times. And even though I'm only allowed to miss 2 dance classes a semester, (and have already planned to miss the friday before Sarah's wedding) and I am the most punctual person you'll meet....that doesn't take away the fact of the matter- I slept through my classes. 

So today I granted myself a day. Not any certain kind of day. I just gave myself a day. Because you know what? It was really nice to sleep in until 11:19! I'm not sure I would have been ready to wake up at 11:18, much less 7:30. So in celebration of this self-proclaimed, self-holiday, I made myself a fancy meal. (Now that I think about it, I really should have given myself a better presentation than just the pan I cooked it in) And you know what? I didn't go to psychology! (because Sharon said she'd take notes for me). And you know what else?! I'M NOT GOING TO MEETING TONIGHT! (We're allowed to miss 2 meetings a semester, and I really should study) 

Anyway, all this sticking it to the man is really exhausting, (not to mention the fact that it is reminding me how much I'm not doing, and really need to be doing) so I'm going to wrap it up, and offer this: next time you wake up late, against your own will and despite the fact that you set your alarm the night before, don't rewind time and go to class- it's impossible. You can't do it. How about you just realize that you slept through it. Why don't you just appreciate the extra sleep you got, and probably needed for that matter. I say, you grant yourself a day and make yourself a bagged meal ((because on "a day", it takes far too much effort than you're willing to give to make something from scratch)) [any why don't you do yourself up right and put it on a platter, too!] Take some pictures! Put them on facebook! (Wait, no I wouldn't do that...I realize I put my photo shoot on my blog, but y'all are cooler than me- don't stoop to my level) So dear readers, be empowered, be inspired, turn your frown upside down, un-furrow that brow...............cuz you slept through your classes, and you can't do NOTHIN about it! Bon appetite, dear readers! 

Nothin but love...

Bethany

Things that are sad about my life right now

FRIDAY (9-17-10)

1) I just got home from school and now my parents are at a dinner party

2) I'm about to shower. Not because I'm going out, just because I'm dirty

3) With this post, I'm celebrating my blog's 50th entry. The fact that I realized that is sad. 

4) I just finished watching America's Funniest Home Videos...and now I'm watching youtube videos...that I've seen before 

5) I wanted to hang out with my sister tonight since I'm in Dallas, but she couldn't....because she was at a PTA party...which means the shower she took for the PTA party was more justified than mine.

6) My car's cd player doesn't work. I started out the trip playing the girl's solo song that I'm choreographing to tomorrow....my computer died within 10 minutes of the trip, and 95.1 went out of range shortly after that so I spent an hour in silence before 106.1 saved me. No matter how quiet, I refuse to talk to myself. It weirds me out

7) There are 12 people on facebook chat right now

8) I think I'm going to study poli sci tonight. But that's not the sad part....the sad part is that my book came in the mail today, and if I hadn't opened it before I left town, I wouldn't even have studying to entertain me...and I studied poli sci last night. 

9) I was texting with one of my kampers and she told me that she would have to talk to me later because she was going on a date

It's really more like, "things that are ironically funny/pathetic about my life right now" but still.......I should get a life. That's all for now, dear readers :)

Nothin but love,

Bethany

Wish List '10: The direct product of not having anything worth while to blog about

K so I'm bored and want to blog, but since I don't have anything important to blog about, you get to see what's made my list. Now this list is composed of things that will make my birthday list. After my birthday, the remaining items will turn into my Christmas list...which will finally trickle to Valentine's day. The rest...well they'll be lost to, but remain forever, in my fantasies...*sigh*...I know- poor me right? I don't get EVERYTHING I ask for on my Birthday sometimes?! No, readers, you needn't worry. I usually do because I'm spoiled...but so is my list. I'll be the first to admit that it is both lengthy and....(what's a nice word for "I like expensive things"?) ((If you think of one please let me know so I can sound less bratty next year)) So here we go, (in no particular order) kicking things off with item #1!

1) Bobbi Brown Bronzer: So I have recently come to terms with the fact that I'm not as tan as I was in high school. For whatever reason, the sun (or the tanning bed) just doesn't hit me quite as hard anymore. For that reason, it is time for me to swallow my pride and take a step down on the shade latter. Let's be honest, I'm not fooling anyone into believing my skin is darker than it is if my face is the only part of my body that reflects that. So readers, we're going from brown to golden.

2) Classic RayBans: Because I'm tired of asking everyone I know who owns a pair if I can have the satisfaction of wearing them for 5 minutes. I love them. They top the list. Maybe I can find some on ebay....these are Jenna's...

3) Leotards. Ok they're not on my birthday list because I just ordered some. I need them for school...but they were on the list before I did that. My mom said they can go under the "school supply" category now because I have to have them for school. And my high school ones just aren't cuttin it anymore. Here's my favorite one from last year!...when we had to wear navy. That was annoying...

4) Eyelash Curler: So my eyelashes can touch the sky. Ok...THAT would be weird. But I had a really good one from Shu Uemeura.......but I think it got stolen in high school. Or at least saying it got stolen is easier than saying I lost it, but I really do think it might have been stolen. I mean, I went to Lake Highlands- It could happen. Here's a picture of me being like "OMG don't look at my eyelashes, they're not curly!!!!!!!" Haha ok, it's definitely not me doing that, and rest assured I have never done that........I just want an eyelash curler, ok?

Hm....maybe my list isn't as lengthy as I had made it out to be. Ya know what? If I was a really famous blogger, I bet all of you would just send me this stuff in the mail. Ok, note to self, become a world renowned blogger so that people send me stuff. But for now, I'm just a regular blogger, so if you think of anything else awesome I should add to my list, let me know. Can I leave you with this?...though this is the most shallow blog I have ever written, I am fully aware that these things on this list will not make me happy. I'm already happy! Thesethingswilljustmakememorehappy. Can you read that? Haha if you can't, sorry, I'm not translating :) later dear readers

Nothin but love,
Bethany

I'm not necessarily inspired, but highly bored

I don't usually like to blog when I don't have a subject I'm really intent on writing about, but then I think about how this blog started, and I feel a little more of a push to write down the things that don't matter. With that being said, I'll write about my weekend. (Side note to all the minions I spent my weekend with- the opening statement has nothing to do with the time I had with you people this weekend, nor is it an "in other words you people don't matter" line.  It does however, have everything to do with how excessively lazy I am feeling right now...but regardless.....I blog.)

(Clearing my throat) It was a good week, but when the weekend rolled around, it couldn't have been more needed! I finished up on Friday, having had the hardest day in dance classes YET, followed by an hour on the pilates equipment, and a psychology class that I attended in sweat. Friday night (and yes, I did have to think for 5 minutes about what I did on Friday night....(Heaven help me when I'm 80...)...anyway, on Friday night, BEN RECTOR did a personal concert inside the Theta house! It was bomb. Here's photo documentation....

After being serenaded by a married man...*sigh*....me and my comrades searched for our next destination (on account of we showered and looked cute, so movie night with the girls wasn't going to cut it)....photo documentation again...

 [I realize now, after posting this, that you, reader, may not think we look exceptionally cute and may infact contend that we would have been doing ourselves no injustice to have movie night with the girls. In which case...point taken...but still I will tell my tale] We found ourselves, in no time, sitting in my living room watching television and uploading pictures, while we exhausted our resources of friends trying to find our next social scene. After I had grown impatient, and facebook had no new information for me, I stood up and said, "I'm going to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard.....WHO'S WITH ME?" (of course it didn't go quite like that, I actually remember offering the idea, and then finally winning them over when I reminded them that Blizzards now came in a size more petite than small) We arrived at DQ and all admitted that, although it was the excessively small blizzard size that got us here, we would all be swallowing our pride and ordering a regular sized frozen treat. Long story short, and a lot of aimless driving in between, we ended up at one of our guys' friend's houses, now formally known as the "Monte Cristo", (as announced on Saturday) where we hung out for about 45 minutes to justify our showering before retreating to our designated homes for the night.

SATURDAY...probably one of my favorite days thus far, this semester. On Saturday, a group of 7 girls went to Heidi's house in Katy to lay out by her pool, enjoy some exceptional (and as far as we were concerned, gourmet) food, prepared by none other than Heidi's super mom, Wendy Thomson :) It was game day in College Station, but it was lazy day in Katy. It's always SO nice to get away from the fast-paced college town, and spend time with family (be it yours or your friend's). For lunch, Mrs. Thomson made us chicken salad sandwiches on croissants with fruit, chips, and raspberry lemonade (are you salivating?) and for dinner she made us (on account of my PERSONAL request)....tacos. Mrs. Thomson's are the best. They. Are. So. Good...and don't get me started on dessert...it was vanilla pudding with cool whip and a bit of cream cheese, on top of a crushed oreo crust, with quartered oreos decorating the top. None of us were hungry when we started dinner, but we couldn't stop it with that stuff. It was bad. It was bad, until I noted that we were going to be fine because after some careful investigation, I found the oreos were in fact NOT double stuffed. That would have just been too much.

Shortly after dinner, we drove our charred little behinds back to college station, where we played the "marry, kiss, or kill" game. Heidi assured us that it was a road trip classic. (So if you were thinking about judging us for that, you can stop because it wasn't an option- it's part of the experience.) When we returned to College Station, we all groomed ourselves a bit and then headed back over to the Monte Cristo for some good ol' "Apples to Apples" and some solid hang out time with friends. Have I mentioned that I love my friends? I guess that's a topic for another entry, but seriously, I don't know why y'all let me hang out wit you- you're all top notch.

I ended the weekend with a lazy Sunday that started with a message at Grace Bible that I so desperately needed to hear! Basically it was about rejoicing in suffering and the rewards we receive when we do. Can I just say that God absolutely met me where I am and proved Himself to me yet again? (I guess I can, because I make the rules on this blog). But seriously, it was unreal. After that I went to lunch with one of my besties, Blerina. We had a great conversation over a cheese pizza and my tortilla soup. I love spending time with her! Everything in me wanted to come home and do lots of reading, but I just had WAY too much facebooking to do...it's terribly unfortunate : / I am finishing up laundry, and sitting in a bed with fresh sheets and pillow cases! It's a good feeling :) I hear the Cowboys are playing....that's cool. I'm from Dallas. I'm gonna get back to...well I'm not sure, but I'm finished here for now. Until next time dear readers, I'll leave you with this...1 Peter 1:6-7 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than GOLD, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

My House just Shook

[This episode is sure to be scatter-brained.]

It's raining in College Station today. I love the rain in most situations. I like to watch it, listen to it, fall asleep to it, etc. My dad and I actually used to sit on the front porch sometimes while it was raining and watch it. It would sprinkle us a little when it was super rainy. So, as many storms as I've sat through, you'd think I was quite familiar with the surprises to...expect. Well dear readers, here's something that threw me for a loop- a few minutes ago, when the sky started falling, 602 Montclair shook. Seriously. I wish there was a better, more powerful word than "shook" because it doesn't do the action justice. This is what happened, I'm convinced: a medieval giant (in my head, he looks a lot like Shrek) was crouching behind my house, eating a turkey leg, I'm sure...laughing obnoxiously (that's the sound of thunder), and he just flicked my house and sent it a rockin'.
I killed him...
With a lasso.

Here's a list of things I justify doing when it's rainy
1) Not going to class. (No, mom, I haven't skipped due to rain)...but I have thought, and strongly considered it. And that, I won't apologize for. I did get entirely too excited yesterday, though, when there was a "code maroon" text about a tornado warning. Is it ignorant of me to not get an ounce of fear with tornado warnings because I know that meteorologists are always wrong?
2) Running errands. Elizabeth, my roommate, and I have planned to go to the grocery store today. I have quite a lengthy list. BUT...my first thought when it started raining, was "ahhh man! Now I can't go to the store!"...when did I decide that grocery shopping was up for being "rained out"? It's not an organized sport...no one's going to reschedule it. What WILL happen is I will finally run out of an item I can't get by without, and raining or not, I will be forced to grocery shop. Truth be told, I just don't really like doing it.
3) Homework. Again, just me tricking myself into being unreasonable, and convincing myself that I'm right.
4) Staying awake. I think this one's self-explanatory. Sleep is better when it's raining. Sleeping is better than being awake. Are you asking yourself the same question I'm asking myself? "If she's typing about the advantages of sleeping, and sleeping in the rain, no less....why is she awake?" Well..........it stopped raining.


Moving right along...my guilty pleasure of choice is peanuts and diet coke, what's yours?

Now, I'm still trying to decide if it's my go-to because I'm running low on pantry supplies, and Planter's dry roasted are the best lookin' option I've got, or if they just really are my favorite. My dad used to bring home a little styrofoam cup of them after he worked out at our country club, and I got hold of them one day and demolished them. The rest was history...my love affair with the little nuts flourished when I realized they weren't a gourmet nut, handcrafted at Royal Oaks Country Club. No, they were Planter's. Factory born and factory made. Available to the general public to enjoy for a price that I love, though it doesn't do the little buggers justice.

Last funny story before I go to the grocery store. A few weeks ago, during rush, I made a grocery list. I was going to go to the store after the week was over. When I picked up the list to go to the store I noticed that instead of "Bethany's Grocery List", like i meant to title it, it read, "Bethany's Pledge Class"...as in rush. As in, if that were accurate, I would have a sorority of cereal, milk, granola bars, and cotton balls. Solid. Ok, I'm off to the store, dear readers, gonna get the best PC 10 ever!!

Can we talk about happiness really quick?

Whether or not this post is "really quick" or not, I want to talk about being happy. I think it's terribly sad that I am nearly 20 years old, and it took about 19.75 of them to be truly happy. Happy was a temporary feeling until happy became my constant.

Can I tell you why I'm happy? It's definitely not because I get everything I want and everything goes my way. (Yes, for the most part, I'm a spoiled brat and get what I ask for at the mall)...but what makes me happiest, is being taken care of. Recently, certain occurings that could have been the depressment of the century, should they have gone "wrong", have been glorified wen I simply decided to admit that I do NOT know what I want. That brings me to the point that, for today at least, I don't believe in "wrong". Like...let's be honest, whether we get what we want or not, God's will is going to be done. And if God's will is the opposite of wrong, and God's will always is done...I don't see where "wrong" exists. The only time we get upset about things is when things go "wrong" according to us, but we only get upset about it because we just didn't ask God His thoughts were on the situation.

For the first time this summer, I closed my eyes and handed God one of my most cherished possessions. When I started giving the pieces of my life away to God that I wanted to hold on to more than anything in this world, He answered my prayers.  I stopped praying a LONG time ago that things would go the way I wanted them to. I not only prayed for God's will to be done in that area, but for the first time, I WANTED His plan to dominate mine. It's similar to when we were kids and mom was making dinner, and everything in us wanted to touch the hot stove because it looked cool. Well, duh! Mom was not about to let that happen, because SHE knew that if we got what we wanted and touched it, it would hurt us. In the same way, I'm cool, sophisticated, and 20 years old, sure, but I STILL want to touch the metaphorical stove all the time! I have to realize that there are stoves in disguise everywhere I turn and just pray that He would slap my hand away before I get hurt.

What's even cooler to realize is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with some of the things I think I want in this life. Some of the things I desire are great things. The cool part about that is that when God takes away GREAT things, that means that He has planned to fill that part of my life with something greater than what I was already happy with. When we are obedient in our walk and consistent with the faith, God is faithful by making hard things...happy :)

Goodness, I just get so fired up about it! You will not know true happiness until you rejoice in sufferings because you know that our God is a God of purpose and that He put trials there because He MEANT to!! Realizing that enables me to look back on the short journey of it all and see God's hand protecting me here, covering my eyes there, and ultimately picking me up and placing me EXACTLY where I needed to be when the end of the road came. Because in this life we need nothing more than Jesus, but it is His way of romancing us by filling our road with treats that He places right in front of us. Let's stop tripping on them!

Here's a picture of the bachelorette weekend...love you both :) I'm so excited for you, Sarah!

So...happiness, look it up, do whatever you want...but you don't need a dictionary for this one.

"Happiness" (noun)
pronunciation: happ-i-ness
definition: Jesus