Gobble Gobble!

Hello, everyone! So, I've been awful at updating every Friday. I'm disappointed in myself...maybe Friday's not the best day to do it? I will keep trying, but if it keeps getting ignored I will change the day.

Anyway, I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be home for a week for Thanksgiving! Yes, I got a week off because most of my classes were cancelled the day before Thanksgiving and I've never missed my other classes, so I thought 'what the heck?' It was well worth it!

We had so much family come to our house this year for Thanksgiving...about 27 people in total (give or take a few). I absolutely loved it!

Being away from home this semester has made me so much more thankful for the little things (and big ones, too!). I will try to compact my Thanksgiving break and all that I am thankful for below:

Amazing food! I actually think I lost some weight during Thanksgiving break because the food on campus is so crappy that it is hard to find something completely healthy. We had quite the array of food for everyone! I am also thankful for the luxury of going to the store to buy all this stuff. I'm the type of person who gets cabin fever quite easily that could be fixed by a simple drive up the road. Driving around town to pick up groceries for my parents was a privilege, let me tell you! 

Laughter. I really do love to laugh. I like to think of this Jane Austen quote from Pride and Prejudice, spoken by Elizabeth Bennet: "I dearly love a laugh." Simple, but I think it represents me well. A lot of people think I fake my laughter because I do it so often, but I promise it's real! But, I haven't been able to laugh fully in awhile, and my week with my crazy, quirky family really did make me laugh quite a few times! For example, my favorite dad, proud of his turkey, posed oh-so-humbly for this photo!

FAMILY ♥ In case I haven't said it enough...I was so glad to see all of my family! A small story: I used to be embarrassed to say "I love you" to my family on the phone or in public or even at home. The words just never came easily to me (I've never been the emotional type). Now I can't go a day without saying it to someone in my family and I don't care if anyone hears me...in fact, I revel in it! I've never received so much support especially with my experiences in college and this blog, than I have from my family. Honestly, even if you're mad, say "I love you" to someone because you never know when it will be your last (sorry to be morbid). 

Also, I was so psyched to take this recreation photo! It's spot-on! From left to right: cousin Cody (top), cousin Josh (bottom), cousin Lacy, me (on Lacy's lap--I don't fit quite like I used to), my mom (top), and my sister, Merritt (bottom). I love this so much! 

There are so many more things I am thankful for but I don't think they'd fit, to be honest! However, whoever is taking the time to read this, I want to thank you, as well! So, thank you...you have no idea how much your one little page view means to me. Just imagine me checking the page views every day and my face being very excited. 

Alexis

My Blushing Problem!

Sooo, I've been trying to be more lax on my school work recently because I don't feel like it's worth the stress. But, after years and years of going over and above the necessary amount of work on any assignment, I obviously have some things to learn about doing the minimal amount...

I had a presentation in my Linguistics class that included doing a PowerPoint. Apparently, three slides wasn't sufficient. I realized that mine was scarce in comparison after about two presentations.

Now, I should mention that I have a slight blushing problem. Slight as in my face turned red and I felt the heat in my cheeks even when I was loading my presentation before class began. I felt everyone's eyes on me, and I was sure my face was about 10 degrees hotter than the rest of me.

This made me realize how college presentations are very different than high school presentations. In high school, you tend to know everyone pretty well. Even if you didn't grow up with them throughout elementary and middle school, like I didn't entering my high school, you get to know everyone just from having class with them every day. At a big university, you're lucky if your class has less than 100 people in it. My particular class was small, but only because it was a Friday discussion group composed of about 30 students from the 300+ lecture. I think I had managed to talk to a total of two other people in my discussion class, however. Needless to say, I was shocked to see the faces of the other students staring back at me when I stood in front to give my presentation.

I probably looked like I had a blushing disorder, plus I ended up getting a shoddy round of applause and  a B-. Not my best effort.

Moral of the story is: as you enter your college career, don't be too lax but also don't stress so much. If you're like me and feel like you've never had a break throughout all your school years, I recommend taking the time in college to really figure yourself out and decide what you want to do. Get involved in your career choice, and if you decide it's not for you, then you wouldn't have wasted any time preparing for it. I know for myself, I've never devoted large amounts of time into writing, and now that I have, I can't go a day without it. I don't know what I would do if I ended up not enjoying it, but it would be better to find that out now than in four years time.

I've gone a bit deep, there, but I hope my embarrassing story has some sort of impact on you, whether you can relate to it or whether it makes you think twice about spending a little under an hour on your next project...not that that's what I did.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and I will be posting that (lethargic) Friday following!

Alexis

November.

I can't believe November is already here. I think time has gone so quickly because of all my big transitions throughout these past three months...something new has happened every week it seems that it just all goes so quickly. I'm not complaining by any means! I never realized how much I loved fall until my life started to kind of revolve around the internet (the result of school and also not having a TV to conveniently flip on). I have begun to realize how cool it is that so many people can communicate through social media; I think I've seen Fall touch everyone from the UK to San Francisco all from Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

I see November as a nice transition between spending time outside when it's sunny and bundling up for winter (although it's still too hot here to wear any cute fall outfits). Today is the first day that it feels remotely like Fall at a nice 75 degrees...I absolutely love it and it seems to give me so much more energy! 

I thought I would make this post a little more relaxed and fun. I have found that being here in college, it's always the little things that make me the happiest, especially when you are bound to be spending a lot of time on your own between classes and such! So below are some of the few things that I have loved as November finally becomes a little more Fall-like!

My Anthem (excuse the cuss words):

I don't know why I like it so much, but it's really different and fun!

My project:

www.nanowrimo.org (check it out!)

My Drink of Choice:

Twinnings Earl Grey Tea!

My Favorite Clothing Item:

Burberry Scarf (source: burberry.com)

My favorite quote: 

Source: http://middlechildcomplex.tumblr.com/post/14216469071

Have a lovely Veteran's Day weekend! 

Alexis