happy new years eve!

what are you lovelies doing for new years eve?
richard and i are hanging out with my sister
and lots of people at our friends jaime & ben's house.
all i want is cupcakes and champagne!
so excited!

in the past decade, i celebrated three
big birthdays,
graduated from high school,
fell in & out of love,
started college at
missouri state university & university of arkansas,
moved from arkansas to texas to alabama to missouri and back to arkansas,
became an aunt (twice!),
met and became best friends with the funniest people in the world,
and experienced a million other beautiful things.
it was a decade of struggles, too,
and definite growth.
i'm so excited to see what 2010 and a new decade
have in store for me.

i hope you all have a lovely new years eve!
be safe! have fun! kiss somebody!

count your blessings.

i've been in a funk. its just been one of those months
when everything seems to be going all wrong.

i didn't get the grades i wanted.
(it's odd that the classes i completely blew off,
i got a's in,
and the ones in which i worked my little tail off,
i got quite the opposite of an a)
i've been unbelievably busy.
i've not worn real clothes in weeks,
and i've never been one to go out in sweats.
i've lived in this apartment for over a month,
and it is still not completely unpacked nor clean.
i've parted ways with one person in particular.
someone who i swore would be in my life forever..
i've been grumpy. sad. worn out. stressed.
i could keep going, but i think you get the point.

i've been having a hard time, and it's been a constant struggle
to be aware of all the wonderful things present all around me.
i've been absurdly blessed, far beyond what i deserve.
and here are just a few things i'm so happy to have in my life:

my crazy, huge, lovely family, especially momma and those beautiful girls called my sisters. my hilarious, loud, supportive friends. this boy named richard; he is perfect. my health. my apartment. a closet full of clothes and shoes and purses. books and movies and records and iphone and ipod. faith. cupcakes! having a strong sense of what i want to do with my future. beautiful memories. forgiveness. nights that are spent with coffee, music, and collage making. trips to alabama to see spice. meaningful phone calls and cards and words. christmas. & really, just my life.


(pssst! i have a new hair color. it was supposed to turn out dark brown, but it is totally BLACK.)

i adore these beautiful little sisters. you can call them candlyfloss and babycakes.

cold/FUN day of riding roller coasters.

sisters at build-a-bear. we visit this place far too often.

thanksgiving re-cap.

i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!
my break was full of beautiful family and friends,
great food, and lots of rest.

i went black friday shopping with richard and my cousin brianna.
it was stressful, painful,
and i wasn't a fan of the 3:30 am wake-up call.
people are RUDE on black friday!
i forgot how one silly day brings out such ugliness in people.

on a different note, there are only seven more days of school!
SEVEN. count 'em, people!
i could not be more excited,
but i've got four tests and three papers this week. boo.

how was your thanksgiving? are you having a nice monday?

p.s. the polas are sights from around town. love this time of year!

happy thanksgiving!

i've been a very, very, VERY busy girl.
and as always, i have neglected this little thing.

i've been sick. moved into new apartment with sister (while sick. boo). end of semester=school is crazy. papers, papers, & more papers. unpacking, decorating, cleaning, cooking, etc.

but i'm leaving in just a few minutes to visit
my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandma, friends,
and my "favorite sister."

words cannot express how excited i am to see them,
and how much i need this break from school
and all the things that go along with my life here.

i truly hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving,
surrounded by the people you love the most.

nawlins

hello, lovelies!
it has been a while.
school, road trips, and (most importantly) finding my new APARTMENT
have kept me an extremely busy girl.

last weekend i flew down to
new orleans/nawlins/nola/la nouvelle orleans
to hang out with richard.
umm, it has got to be the most diverse city in the country.
the french quarter is beautiful,
but it literally stinks. like really bad.

my weekend was full of cupcakes (!),
food that i did not like (oysters/mussels/clams, ew),
walking and driving those scary streets,
visiting historical buildings and cemeteries,
seeing the ninth ward (the area hit hardest by hurricane katrina),
speaking to real french people (!!! i was unbelievably excited),
and lots of fun!



photos: st. louis cathedral, st. louis cathedral, french quarter home, st. louis cemetery

halloween.

halloween is probably my least favorite holiday,

but each year i try to make the best of it.

this was the first year in so long that i didn't go to a showing of

the rocky horror picture show

or go to a party with friends.

instead, i dressed up as dorothy from the wizard of oz

(complete with toto in a basket!)

and played with my little sisters and their friends!

it was so fun.

we went to a carnival at church and played games,

went trick-or-treating under a beautiful orange sunset

(seriously, it could not have been more halloween-ish),

and stuffed ourselves full of candy.

my sister maci was a birthday girl,

and hali was perry the platypus from one of her favorite cartoons.

they made their own little costumes!

i don't know how they came up with either of those ideas,

but are they not just adorable?!

i also had some spooky fun with my dad, rachel, and my dad's now wife becky.

ghost hunts scare me. i swore i'd never go on another,

and this time i really won't.

how was your halloween? what was your costume?
i heard about lots of lady gagas!

billy mays and bob ross were also pretty popular. hilarious!

jenny lewis!

One of my favorite summer memories would have to be

finally seeing my absolute favorite artist,

Jenny Lewis,

in concert at George's Majestic Lounge

with Richard and my friends Jaime and Ben.

I've been a little more than obsessed with this woman since I was 16,

and her show was honestly even better than I could have imagined.
I don't know how I made it all these years without seeing her live,

but this Jenny show definitely will not be my last.

Jenny's openers were Morgan Nagler from The Whispertown 2000

and Heartless Bastards,

both of which I absolutely loved.

By the time we left, we were all pretty exhausted and sweaty,

so we went over to Common Grounds

for some late night iced coffee and Greek pizza.