Hugs, Lungs, and Animal Crackers

I love hugs. LOVE THEM. I grew up in a big, loving family that likes to hug a lot. Bad day! Hug. You made an A, yay! Hug. You just brushed your teeth! Hug. Are you catching what I'm throwing, peeps? The Van Ackers/Cacibaudas are all about hugging it out. Maybe it's because we like each other, or maybe it's just because it makes it easier to secretly stick something to someone's back. Who knows, but due to this hugging obsession, hugs play a vital role in my life. They are #3 on my list of life's necessities, right under oxygen and pickles. When I lived at home, I was too lazy to walk downstairs for food/water/school binder/anything, but I would go down there just to hug my mom without even thinking about it.

Anyway, the point of this ridiculous tangent is that hugs are different when you get to college. I don't always hug people goodbye, because I'm probably going to see them in a few hours! You get hugs at church, but they are just the quick .253 second hugs. You don't get a really awesome hug often, and you certainly don't get any mommy hugs. But I can always count on my Critz girls for a good hug. It's normal for me to walk across the hall into Stephanie's room, hold out my arms, and say, "Hold meeee!" I think I need to start hugging people all the time again. Did you know you need 4 hugs a day to survive, 8 to function, and 12 to grow? Eat your veggies and get your hugs, people!

Remember that list of life's necessities I mentioned earlier? Well, I'm short on hugs, there aren't pickles in my fridge, and my lungs are crapping out on me this week. It's only a matter of time before my short little life ends! So tragic. The cold I caught from my infected friends has worked its way up to a nice little upper respiratory infection, just like I figured it would. I'm such a pro at being sick. I go to the doctor and tell them what's wrong with me, what I have, and the medicine I need. If only I could write my own prescriptions. Just think of all the money I could save!

Due to my mama llama lung drama, I never feel like walking up the steep hill to get to the Union/Perry to eat dinner, so lately my dinner has consisted of a nice, healthy bowl of animal crackers and peanut butter. Tonight I might even spice it up and throw in a fruit cup and Capri Sun! You're jealous. You would much rather eat my dinner than your nice, home-cooked meal. I know.

If you need to get your good deed out of the way for this week, I'm looking for a new pair of lungs. I'll even buy you dinner first! No old, black, smoker lungs, please.

Reunions and Rain

Well. I've been here for a little over a month now. I haven't been arrested or kicked out, and I've managed to avoid being raped/attacked/stabbed/kidnapped, so these are all good things.. right?

Things have been quite eventful around here lately. I like keeping myself busy, but lately I've just felt like being lazy. Too bad I never have time to be lazy! I should start putting "be super lazy" on my to-do list every day. I had three tests last week, so being lazy wasn't really an option. I have my physics test this Thursday. Gag. I will gladly accept prayers, chocolate, and/or a noose.

Anyway! Last weekend, Jen and I took a road trip to Auburn for the Auburn/State game! We left State at 5 am, and met up with two of my friends from home, Sebastian and Jill. Then we drove back later that night after the game. It was a LONG day, but it was so much fun! Seeing Sebastian and Jill made me so happy. :)

Then it was test week. :( I survived my geography and psychology tests on Monday, and aced (read: I MADE A FREAKING 100!!!) my math test on Wednesday. We had Cowbell Yell (a pep rally thingy) on Wednesday night to get everyone pumped for our first home game on Thursday. I went with my sweet little Critz family! Have I mentioned how much I love them?

Stephanie, Audra, and myself at Cowbell Yell! They live on my hall. :)

Ready to hear the best part? Since ESPN and LSU fans invaded Starkville on Thursday for the game, classes were cancelled. Terrible Thursday was NONEXISTENT! The weather was super nice, and college football games are really fun! It was weird being at a football game and not being in a band uniform. I had lots of good times in band, but this was so different! I loved every second of it. Also, I don't care what kind of jokes are made about our cowbells, ringing those things are FUN. And painful. But still fun. :) Along with getting to watch a football game and make lots of noise with a cowbell, there are a few bonuses that are thrown in there that no one mentions. You know, like being slammed into by obnoxious boys and getting alcoholic drinks spilled on my clothes.

My roomie :)

Drue :) She lives on my hall and is Stephanie's roommate!

   
 














Then, the very best thing happened on Friday! I was reunited with two of my very bestest friends from home! We hadn't all been together since summer, so saying we were excited is an understatement! Courtney came up Wednesday night, and Ashley got here Friday. Ridiculous things always happen when we're together. I don't know how, it just happens! I'm pretty sure my mom was saying a prayer for every person in Starkville when she found out the three of us would be together all weekend.

But you know what they say, all good things must come to an end. I don't really like the person that came up with that. I started my Monday with wet hair, no coffee in my system, running on less than two hours of sleep. After my two classes I did some homework in the library, made a careless mistake on my easy cheesy math quiz, and realized I have no idea what I did with my physical science lab work that's due this week. Then I got to walk all the way across campus to my dorm in the pouring rain. And since my sweet mother was nice enough to share her TERRIBLE luck with me (thanks, Mom!), I was walking down what is probably the biggest hill on campus and slipped. And fell. While carrying a 10,000 pound backpack and holding food, a drink, and my keys. Yep. That happened.

If you're gonna do it, do it big.. right?

Fig Newtons and Mass Watchers

I hate Tuesdays and Thursdays. I usually refer to them as Terrible Tuesdays and Terrible Thursdays simply because I despise them so much. I secretly hope it hurts their feelings. (The ONLY good thing about Tuesdays is the CSA $2 Tuesday Night Dinner. Real, delicious food? Yes, please.) Anyway, I start my Tuesdays and Thursdays with an 8 am physical science class that is in the middle of NO WHERE and takes 10-15 minutes to walk to. The best part? The entire walk is uphill. Lucky me! Every Tuesday and Thursday, as I am literally falling out of my lifted bed, I ask myself, "Self, why the HELL would you schedule an 8 am class that's located in East Jesus?" The only response I can think to give myself is, "Because, Self, you are the DUMBEST PERSON EVER." But I will admit that on the days I get up on time, have 3 cups of coffee, and the weather is nice, the walk is somewhat enjoyable. It was 58 degrees when I left my dorm at 7:40 this morning, so I had a nice 15 minutes of coffee/Benjy Davis bonding time on my way to class.

I got to class on time, I didn't have to run, AND my hair was dry because I actually had enough time to use that awesome invention known as the hair dryer. I was feeling pretty accomplished. My naive, sleep deprived self even thought You know what? This Terrible Tuesday might not be so terrible after all. (Did you just laugh, shake your head, and call me stupid? I did, too.) Then my (really cute) teacher started talking and my dreams of a good Terrible Tuesday went down the drain. The same drain my Physical Science grade (and sanity) is going to end up going down.

Physical science is nothing but physics. I don't even know why they call it physical science! On the first day of class my teacher said, "They call this class physical science, but it's basically a physics class. All we are going to do in this class is physics, so I hope you like math." So, being a person with a geeky, intense love for math, I was excited! I LOVE math. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread and the New York Yankees! Sometimes when I'm bored in class or laying in bed at night, I make up equations in my head and solve them. It's something/one of the only things I'm good at. Obviously when Josh Winter said, "I hope you like math," he REALLY meant, "I hope you like a bunch of stupid crap that I'm going to call math, but when I teach it to you it's really going to sound like someone is talking to you in German." I don't understand it. What's even worse is that I don't understand why I don't understand. It just makes NO SENSE!

There are so many stupid words like velocity, inertia, net force, mass, and weight. Then there are confusing things like the fact that mass and weight aren't the same thing. My teacher went on a hilarious rant about the fact that Weight Watchers should be called Mass Watchers, because you're actually trying to lose mass, not weight. Wanna know what mass and weight are to me? Mass is where I go to praise Jesus every Sunday, and weight is what I gain when I go home for Labor Day weekend during a tropical storm and my mom has nothing to do but cook and bake! Also, I hate that stupid Newton guy. The only kind of newton I like is the fig kind. Sigh.

So, there's that. I know this particular post isn't very convincing, but I still love college. A LOT. I love that I love it so much! My other classes are fine, my physical science lab starts this week (gag), and I have my first test in every class next week. Terrified doesn't even begin to explain how I feel about that. But thankfully I have my wonderful friends and my awesome Critz 1st floor girls. We have become a legit little family and I LOVE it! I have no idea what I would do without them. I have to study and do most of my homework in the library, because it's impossible to get anything done at my dorm. We all like each other too much, so it's easy to get distracted. Jen and I are taking a road trip to Auburn this weekend to meet up with our friends Sebastian and Jill for the MSU/Auburn game! I'm so excited. I love road trips!

I can hear my physics homework calling my name, trying to suck my soul. Hanging myself with my computer cord sounds more enjoyable, but I was told it's illegal to tie a noose. Who knew. Do you think eating Fig Newtons while dealing with this physics nonsense will help? :)

PS- This is just one example of the many amusing things that come with community bathrooms. Those RA's are so clever ;)