SBXI

You know how it isn't over until the fat lady sings?  Well, I say spring break isn't over until I blog about it!

Let me begin by saying it's strange to be typing on a real keyboard again.  I used my iPhone a good amount throughout the week, but I haven't been on a computer since last Saturday morning.  I feel absolutely refreshed after my technology cleanse!  (Speaking of which, I definitely took zero pictures this week and need my friends to post theirs. :D)

I also feel refreshed because, for the past 8 or 9 days, I let myself escape Tuscaloosa and all the stress that comes from being at school.  I did some schoolwork the Thursday and Friday before I left, but I literally did not think about school from the moment I rolled out of Tuscaloosa.  It. Was. Glorious.

I was extra excited because this was my first real spring break at the beach.  Freshman year I went to Vegas with my bff Amanda.  Sophomore year I went home to San Diego with Mom, Kenny, and Scotty.  Last year, I'm pretty sure I went home and slept.  (To clarify, I was taking 18 hours of classes last spring.)  I had to cram super amounts of fun into this spring break to make up for my lack of cliche spring break adventures for past 3 years.

Here's a quick rundown of the main part of SBXI... because there's no way you would read (or that I could remember) details of the past week.  Actually, looking at my twitter would probably give me some pretty good reminders.

Location: Gulf Shores, AL in an awesome duplex very close to the beach.  We were thankful for everybody's sake that nobody stayed in the other unit in our building!

Ride Down: Provided by my big brother Kenny, who was conveniently staying right down the road, and his friend Bryce.

Housemates: Laura, Erica, Chase, Chris, Ryan, Joey, Colin, Krista, Kenneth, Marissa, Matt, Sarah, John, and me.

Songs:  There were quite a few theme songs of our SBXI.  OF COURSE, the official one was "Friday" by Rebecca Black.  I think we can credit Colin with introducing that masterpiece to the house a couple days into the week.  Another very popular one was "What the Hell" by Avril Lavigne.  Every single song by Ke$ha and Lady Gaga. "F**k You" by Cee Lo Green.  "Firework" by Katy Perry.  There were probably many more, including every one from our lip-synching competition, but I'm blanking right now.

Activities: Beaching, getting sunburned, imbibing, lip-synching for our lives, almost getting PIs the first night, partying with strangers, sleeping, looking hot, walking the beach at night, "the game," causing drama, bonding, eating entirely too much (and usually, ahem, late at night), outlet shopping, Flora-Bama-ing on St. Patty's Day, etc.  This week was so much more than any of those things, but we'll just say the sum was greater than the parts.  And it was pretty freaking great.

After exhausting amounts of fun with my friends, it was family time!

I felt very fortunate that my mom was willing to drive up from Destin to Gulf Shores to retrieve me for a few days with the family at the end of the break.  She picked me up after a hellish drive on Friday morning and drove me to the condos in Destin where my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Ethel (actually great uncle and great aunt, and also my godparents) stay during the winter to escape the cold of Chicago.

Mom and Grandpa had been staying in another condo in the same building since last Sunday, while Uncle Chuck and Aunt Ethel's daughter Marla and grandson Ty (neither of whom I had met before Kenny and I had lunch with the fam at McGuire's in Pensacola on Wednesday) stayed in the condo with them.  I stayed with Mom and G-Pa, and Uncle Tommy picked up Scotty from PCB and joined us later that evening.

We swam Friday and Saturday nights in the heated pool, went to the beach, ate out a few times, talked a good bit, played Paper Jams with Ty and taught him to say, "Roll Tide!", and just had a good time.  I was sad to miss the end of SBXI with my friends, but family is very important to me.

My mom drove Scotty and me back to Tuscaloosa after a huge breakfast at Golden Corral with the fam.  We got home around 4, and I have been unpacking, doing laundry, etc. since then.  I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for the next 6 weeks before graduation!

Overall, I have to say this was the best spring break I have ever had.  I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend quality time with my friends (who I don't get to see anywhere near as much as I want to) and my family (ditto).

Thanks to everybody who made this week possible.  And fun, fun, fun, fun!

Mardi Gras!

As you all can probably guess, I should be doing something other than writing a blog post (and watching Titanic).  Tonight, I should instead be writing a statement of purpose for grad school (Don't ask... yet.); but my spring break started at 12:15 today, and I just can't bring myself to be overly productive so early in my break.  I do plan to finish it by tomorrow, though, so that I can avoid thinking about school for the next week while I'm at the BEACH!

I can't complain that this week was too difficult.  Usually the last week before spring break is filled with midterms and misery, but I finished most of my tests the two weeks before this one.  I must say, it was very considerate of my professors to schedule my tests around...

*MARDI GRAS*


And what a lovely Mardi Gras it was!  This was my second year in a row getting to experience the holiday with one of my best friends, Lauren.  Making a friend from New Orleans was definitely one of the best decisions I made in college (as my Grandma told me last year).

Anybody can go see Mardi Gras from a tourist's perspective, but having a friend from New Orleans has afforded me the opportunity to experience it essentially as a native.  I get to see the parades uptown on St. Charles rather than downtown.  The only time we went downtown (to Bourbon Street) last year was much less enjoyable; we didn't even attempt it this year except for the Endymion Extravaganza, and I can't say I missed it.

I had planned to head down to Nawlins on Thursday, but if you remember from my last post I decided to sleep instead.  Good decision since I definitely didn't sleep much this extended weekend!

I finished packing and drove to New Orleans on Friday instead, and I didn't return to Tuscaloosa until Tuesday evening (only a little more than a day after I intended to).  Roll Tide?

It was great getting to see Lauren for the first time in months and to catch up with Sara, who neither Lauren or I has seen since May.  Wowzas.

I don't want to bore you with all the details, so let me sum it up for you.  We went to tons of parades, caught bajllions of beads, ate pounds and pounds of king cake, drank a few sips of alcohol, experienced minor flooding, went to the Endymion Extravaganza/ball (with Anderson Cooper, Kelly Ripa, Pat Benatar, and Train), met a Saints player (Darren Sharper), ate crawfish (my first meat in over 3 years), avoided knocking children off of ladders, slept on occasion, skipped four classes (Oh wait, that was just me.), made new friends, illegally used port-a-potties, and had more fun than should be legal.

That about sums it up!  I need to write a more detailed summary for myself to remember everything, but I'll just leave you all with some pictures of my very much needed weekend in Nawlins!  (Credit to Sara for some of these pictures... I didn't take nearly enough!)

Our first night after being reunited! :)

This gave me a great reference to explain where I am from.

Ian and I decided to try something new.  We split this bottle (over the course of a couple days), and it was delicious!  I love New Orleans.

Me, Sara, and Lauren at the Endymion Extravaganza.  Lauren and I were appear much taller than usual due to our heels and Sara's flats!

The king cake I bought after I got the baby the first night.  Yum.

That's Darren Sharper on the right!  (I'm a Cowboys fan, but I still appreciate that the man is a Super Bowl champion.)

Yes, I ate a few of these.  It was a strange experience after being a vegetarian for over three years.

Me eating one of the poor crawfish pictured above.

And on that note, I'm calling it a night.

The Art of the Nap

My inspiration for this post is the amazing three hour nap (or perhaps I should say temporary coma) I just took.  It's been a long week with too little sleep, and my afternoon nap was an outstanding way to recover.

Some people think it's a shame that human beings spend about one-third of their lives sleeping.  I think it's a blessing.  It would certainly be a blessing if I slept anywhere near 8 hours a night as a college student!

Some people say they have much better things they could do with those nighttime hours than spend them asleep.  And perhaps that's the case... in theory.  But in reality, what is more important is than letting your body and your brain rest and recharge?  I'm barely functional on 6-7 hours of sleep a night; I can't imagine running on empty.

Some people claim they can get by on very little sleep.  Sleep is both a necessity and a privilege for me.  It is near the top of my priority list, and I hate when I have to sacrifice sleep for other things (like schoolwork).  I think teachers should understand that sleep is generally more important to me than class, but somehow they expect me to sleep less rather than study less.  I think they need to reevaluate their priorities.

It's not technically my major, but one subject that I have become an expert in during my college years is napping.  I hated napping when I was younger.  I chose Taekwondo over naptime during a summer daycare program when I was 7 or so years old, and that set a precedent for the rest of my young life.  I always preferred activity to napping.  Even through high school, I rarely napped.  If I was tired, I just went to bed early.

But things changed when I got to college.  Going to bed early wasn't an option, and dumb little freshman me had 8 o'clock classes.  Some afternoons or early evenings (right after MDB practice) when I was especially tired, I would set my alarm for an hour or two in the future and just sleep.  It was GLORIOUS.  I had discovered my passion (and, conveniently, a great way to get around not sleeping enough at night).

Second semester, I utilized my newfound free time from 3:30-5:30 PM to nap even more often.  Almost every day, in fact.  It was a beautiful thing.  I took full advantage with my patented epic naps of 2 hours or more.

I now gauge my semesters based partially on whether or not I have enough time to nap.  It is a major determinant of my happiness, after all.  Based on available nap time, I can't say this semester is a great one.  I've been so busy that today's nap was the first one I've taken in at least a month.

Obviously the next subject I need to master is power napping!