...It Was the Worst of Times

Life is like... death. It happens to everyone.

I woke up to some bad news this morning. My mother called to tell me that my great uncle is on life support after attempting to take his own life. He has been sick for some time and it seems the pain was just too great to bear. This is a hard time for the family. Personally, I was not extremely close to him, but my father and my cousins are taking it particularly hard. It pains me to think of the hurt they are experiencing right now. Please keep my family in your prayers.

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A Very Merry Christmas

Life is like... love. It happens whether you want it to or not.

Christmas was wonderful. I got a lot of clothes and about 5 gift cards to Barnes and Noble. I think I'm going to buy a nookcolor with them. 

It snowed! This is the first time I can remember it actually snowing on Christmas Day. It usually snows in February and March, but never in December. I'm so excited because maybe this means it will snow more later. 

I love my family so much. I just love being able to be home with them. I know I only live 30 minutes away from them, but I always have so much going on that I don't have a lot of time to come home. Being home for a couple of days is just what I needed. 

Though Christmas was great this year, I cannot wait for New Year's Eve and my trip to Glendale. 2010 was a pretty good year but I hope 2011 is amazing. .

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Christmas Cheer

Life is like... a snowflake. No two lives are the same.

Last night was my dad's family Christmas. I ate so much food that I won't be hungry for another week. Afterwards, Audrey and her little brother Trace, Brad, my cousin Rebecca and I went to see Easy A. It's a really cute and funny movie. I enjoyed it a lot. 

This week I'm working a ton of hours in order to make some money for Glendale. I'm starting to get super excited about the trip. I cannot wait to be there. It's going to be so much fun. 

I'm ready for Christmas to be here. I haven't really gotten into the Christmas spirit yet and I really want to. I guess I just haven't been around enough Christmas decorations and I've worked too much. 

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A Spirit That Is Not Afraid

Life is like... the Auburn Creed. No Explanation Needed. 

Cam Newton won the Heisman on Saturday night! Bringing it home to Auburn. 

They say Heisman Trophy Winners don't do well in their bowl games, but hopefully he can break that mold.

I'm so proud of the Auburn Family. New York City is over 950 miles and 16 1/2 hours from Auburn, but when Cam Newton walked into Best Buy Theater there were Auburn fans there to support him.

Last night was the Chick-Fil-A Christmas Party. It was ok. Not nearly as much fun as Last year, but not terrible. I took Audrey as my date. We matched in Orange and Blue. 

After the party we went to see Burlesque. It was great. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking of seeing it. 

I'm going to start working out more. When I came to college I worked out all the time because I was afraid of the freshman fifteen and because my boyfriend lived 800 miles away so I had a lot of extra time on my hands. Fall of sophomore year I continued to work out all the time because I didn't have class on Tuesday or Thursday but ever since then I have slowly started working out less and less. When I started dating Andrew I rarely worked out at all. Then I began drinking Cokes again because there was always one within reach, but now that I have more free time I'm going to get back on track. Maybe if I write about my progress it will hold me accountable. I hope so.

My grades this semester were pretty good. I made 3 A's, 1 B and 1 C. I know I probably shouldn't feel good about that C but that class was incredibly hard so I am proud of that grade. 

And JUSTIN TURNS 21 TODAY!!! YAY!!! He's finally old enough to go out on a night other than Wednesday. This greatly increases our chances of going out next semester.

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Counting Down the Days

Life is like... the lottery. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Congratulations!  You have been selected for the right to purchase one (1) Tostitos BCS National Championship Student Ticket.

Yay!!! I can't believe I won!! This is so awesome! It's a lower level seat too which means if Justin can win a seat in the next lottery then we can sit in the student section. But, if he doesn't win the lottery then I'll sell my student ticket. I'm so excited! Justin and I have booked our flights which means we have completed our travel plans. We are set and ready to go. 

I gave Kody his birthday present last night and he loved it. He drives back to Illinois tonight so I won't see him until we're in Arizona. I'm going to miss him.

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Just Because

The man himself. Cam Newton

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Headed to AZ!

Life is like... surgery. Sometimes things go well and sometimes they don't.

Auburn won the SEC Championship and we're head to Arizona!! Justin and I already bought our tickets to the game because we're so excited about it. I really hope we both win the student ticket lottery, but I never win anything so I'm not getting my hopes up. I'M SO EXCITED!!! We're probably going to fly out of Atlanta on Saturday or Sunday and fly back on Tuesday. This trip is going to be so expensive, but how many times do you have the chance to see your team play for the national title? While you're actually a student at the university? Oh man I'm so excited. 

I watched the game with Justin, Amber, Riley and Riley's friend Will over at Justin's apartment. After the game we went to Toomer's Corner to roll the tree and the place was packed.

This week is final's week and luckily I only have one final that I actually have to go take in a classroom. The other ones were either projects or papers. Sadly, the one final I do have is for the hardest class I'm taking this semester. I'm praying for a C in this class. The tests are ridiculously hard, but hopefully I'll make A's in all of my other classes to balance it out.

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The Beginning of the End

Life is like... school. You can't stay there forever.

I went to my last class of the semester today. I'm glad to be out of school for a couple of weeks, but I'm not excited about my looming graduation date. Sure I know it's not until next year, but it's really only two semesters away. If even that! What if I graduate in August? I am freaking out because that means I'll be leaving Auburn and all of my friends. I'll be going to law school away from my friends and family and that scares me a lot. 

Also, I have decided today that someone I once considered a friend is not who I thought they were. I am very much their friend but this person is not my friend. A friend cares about how you're doing and likes to talk to you occasionally. This person doesn't do that. I have tried to hold onto this friendship for as long as possible because it meant something very special to me, but I cannot keep ruining other relationships for a person that does not even care about me. It makes me very sad to have to do this, but I know I must. It will probably take some time to completely separate myself from this person, but chances are they won't even notice I'm gone.

On a happier note, Auburn plays for the SEC Championship tomorrow in Atlanta. I'm really sad that I'm not going, but I just keep telling myself that if Auburn makes it to the National Title game it will be money I have saved to put towards airplane tickets and tickets to the game. If we make it to the BCS National Championship Game I WILL be going. I don't care if I have to use some of the money I have in savings. 

I guess that's all for tonight. I hate to post stuff that is so depressing, but I had to get it off my chest. 

Here's hoping for a win tomorrow. WAR EAGLE!!

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Just Keep Going

Life is like.. being punched in the face. It hurts for a while but the pain will eventually go away.

The game on Friday was intense. I wanted to leave after the first quarter, but of course Andrew said no. Good thing he did. I would have been so mad at myself if we had left and then won the game. I'm really glad I was there to see that comeback. 

It took forever to get back to Auburn. Traffic in Tuscaloosa was horrible and then there was a wreck between Montgomery and Auburn that had traffic backed up for over an hour.

 But we we finally did get home we went to Toomer's and it was beautiful. 

The rest of the break wasn't bad. I should have been doing work instead of letting it pile up. My final proposal for Senior Thesis is due on Friday and I have to work my butt off to get it done. I'm going to try to get a majority of the work done before Wednesday because Justin wants to go out and I want to go as well. It's been a sad week and a half. I need some fun.

On Saturday Auburn plays in the SEC Championship against South Carolina and I really want to go, but I don't have $300 to spend on a tricket. Plus, Justin and I have decided that if Auburn makes it to the BCS National Championship game in Arizona then we are going and I need to save my money for that. But, back to Saturday, it's also Kody's 21st birthday. I'm really sad that I'm not going to be able to go out with him to celebrate, but I bought his gift yesterday and I'm pretty sure he's going to like it. It's a first edition, first printing of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. I'm super excited about giving it to him. I also give him a flag every year, but I haven't gotten it yet. I need to get on that. 

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Lots of Food and Fun

Life is like... watching a sad movie. There will be sad times but they won't last forever.

Thanksgiving was great. My family had dinner Wednesday night and today I went to eat lunch with Blake's family. My family and I put up Christmas decoration on Tuesday night because my mother won't have any days off between now and Christmas. It's a lot of work, but we always have fun. 

Tomorrow morning at 6:30 A.M. Andrew and I leave for Tuscaloosa. I'm really worried about the game and the drive up there, but hopefully everything goes well.

Justin sent me this picture and I felt like I had to share it. I love fall in Auburn. 

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Highs and Lows

Life is like... opening gifts. You never know what to expect. 

Thursday night Kody and I saw Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan in concert in Columbus. It was a whole lot of fun. 

After the concert we met up with Justin, Brad, Audrey, and Riley to see Harry Potter at midnight. It was so good. I can't wait for the last movie to come out. It sucks that it's so long from now. 

Friday wasn't a good day. I broke up with Andrew. We have been fighting constantly and I wasn't happy anymore. It breaks my heart because I really wanted it to work, but there comes a time when I have to do what's best for me and this was one of those time. I definitely want to be friends with him, but that's his call. 

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We're going to the SHIP!!

Life is like... an interview. You are constantly being judged by people that don't really know you.

Auburn beat Georgia yesterday and that means we're going to the SEC championship!! I'm so excited! I'm looking for tickets so Andrew and I can go. Hopefully Cam Newton will still be our quarterback when we get there. 

 The man of the hour.

In other news...

Sputnik is starting to develop more of a personality and that's really exciting.  I realized the other day that I never posted a picture of him so I decided to today. 

(side note: that is not my room)

On Thursday I'm going to see Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan in Columbus, Georgia with one of my good friends Kody. I'm excited to see them. We have floor seats so it should be a lot of fun.

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Things Are Looking Up

Life is like... potty training. You may make a a lot of mistakes but you'll eventually get the hang of it.

Sputnik is gaining more of a personality. The vet said he probably hasn't had much interaction with humans and that's why he's so afraid of everything. She said he should come out of his shell eventually though. 

Andrew and I are doing better. We had a really bad fight on Friday but we worked it out. 

This weekend I'm going to Tuscaloosa to visit one of my very best friends Blake. We may be driving to Mississippi State that night to see Eric Church in concert. I'm super pumped. 

Saturday I'm driving back to Auburn for the Auburn-Georgia game. This game could decide whether or not we go to the SEC Championship game. I'm kind of nervous. But on a happy note, Kody's mother and grandmother will be in town for the game and I'm excited to see them.

But I can't get ahead of myself. Thursday I present my final proposal for senior thesis. I really need an A in this class so I'm hoping it goes well. Wish me luck.  

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Rough Day

Life is like... a book. It is made up of many chapters and always has an end.

These past few days have been horrible.

I've been coughing so bad that it hurts to breathe. 

I got my dog Wednesday and it will not come out of its cage.

Andrew and I got into a huge fight that may end our relationship.

Let's hope it gets better.

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In It 2 Win It.

Life is like... a football game. In order to win, someone has to lose.

And speaking of football games... Auburn won!!

(You can't really tell but the other side of the scoreboard says 51)

Oxford is a beautiful city and Ole Miss has a really pretty campus. 

Justin and I really enjoyed this random boat. 

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On the road again...

Life is like... visiting a haunted house. It's always better with friends. 

  

Brad, Justin, Kody and I visited NetherWorld in Atlanta last night. Justin, Kody and I went last year, but it was Brad's first time going. Justin was in front, Brad was behind him, I was behind Brad and Kody was last. I thought since I was next to last I would see everything before it got to me, but little did I know that Brad would point to me when we got to a scary part so that the monster would wait until I had gotten to it before it jumped. I screamed so many times but it was so worth it. 

Tomorrow I travel to Oxford Mississippi to watch the Auburn Tigers take on the Ole Miss Rebels. I am quite nervous to say the least. I wish Auburn wasn't ranked #1 in the BCS rankings. I would be totally fine with #2 though. #1 just hasn't been treating other teams well this season. But I have faith in my Tigers and I know they'll play well tomorrow.   

I can't believe it's almost November. But I'm exited. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

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Still Going Strong

Life is like... a night out. Only you can decide how much fun you're going to have.

8 and 0!!!

I'm so glad we won. I can't stand LSU fans. While I know there has to be a couple nice LSU fans out there, they are the exception to the rule. 

I also went to Toomer's Corner for the first time in my college career after the game last night. It was packed, but then again I would have expected nothing less. 

In other news...

I'M GETTING A DOG!! 

Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited? I can't wait until he gets here. He's a 7 month old dachshund. he'll be here in about two weeks. Andrew and I will be taking care of him together. I'm so excited!!

This week I discovered I only have 21 credit hours left to take until I graduate. The closer it gets there more I freak out. Part of me wants to graduate a year early, but a bigger part of me doesn't. I don't really want to leave all of my friends just yet. While I know I have more school ahead of me I would kind of like to put it off a little bit longer. Oh well. We all have to grow up sometime. I guess I have to do it a little sooner than I anticipated...

Andrew and I carved pumpkins earlier today. He is 25 years old and has never carved a pumpkin before. CRAZY! I tried to carve Ariel on  mine. It didn't turn out so well so I carved WDE (War Damn Eagle) on the other side. Andrew carved an AU into his. He didn't like how it turned out but I thought it looked good. I'll take some pictures tonight and post them later.

Also, I have a pretty big test in archaeology tomorrow that I should really be studying for right now. On the off chance that someone does read this, and you're a praying person, say a little prayer for me please. I'm going to need it.  

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Good and bad

Life is like... a roller coaster. Your journey on this Earth will have many ups and downs. All you can do is hang on.

Last night were callouts for Camp War Eagle Counselor. My roommate Brad went out for it and he was extremely nervous on the way to Cater.

This is the only picture I have because my camera died. I was so mad.

BUT HE MADE IT!!

It's so exciting. I'm so happy for him. One of my best friends, Justin, is head camp counselor this year and he really wanted Brad to try out. Audrey and I went to callouts as Brad's support system and after he made it we came back to my apartment and decorated his room. We were kind of limited on resources so we had to resort to littering his bed with crinkled paper.

(All of the paper used in this picture will be recycled.)

YAY!!

On a less happy note...

If you've ever been to Washington D.C. chances are you have visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the Changing of the Guard. Well today on Auburn University's campus the Air Force ROTC was holding a mock ceremony. 

While the Changing of the Guard is taking place they ask that you stand and remain silent out of respect. Apparently these two girls didn't feel like it was necessary to show respect. They just sat where they were and carried on a conversation. Were they even whispering? NO. They were talking in their regular voices! It was so disrespectful. I wanted to go over to these girls and tell them that the men in front of them might one day die for this country and that they needed to show them respect, but I had to leave for class before the ceremony was over. I just don't understand why standing and remaining silent is so hard to do. These men and women deserve out respect. Please always remember that.

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Things I Love

Life is like... the Bible. When you don't understand it there are always people willing to help you try.

Since I changed my background I decided I should do a post about things I love.

I love the fall.

I wish all of the trees in Auburn looked like the one in my header but sadly the weather here is so weird that they probably won't start looking like that until much later. There are many things I love about fall.

1. The leaves changing (obviously). They are just so pretty.

2. Football. And since our football team is doing so well it just makes this fall so much better.

3. It starts to get cooler which means being able to wear jackets. I LOVE jackets. All lengths and colors. If you've seen a cute jacket in the last two years, chances are I have it in my closet.

I love traveling. 

When I was 7 my family took a trip to San Fransisco. I have been hooked on traveling ever since. I love everything there is about traveling. Going somewhere you've never been before, staying in hotels or B&Bs, not speaking the language (when applicable), learning about the culture, and so much more. I went to Italy with my mother and my best friend the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at Auburn and I want to go back so bad.

I love history and international relations.

(I don't have a picture for this section so just use your imagination.)

My father was a history teacher for over 25 years and he instilled in me a deep love for history. I don't really have a favorite time period. I would never be able to narrow it down to one point in time. It's all just so fascinating to study. My freshman year at Auburn I took a class called Contemporary History from the wonderful Professor Gerber. The class was about the Middle East and it was the reason I feel in love with international relations. IR is want I would like to make my career out of. My dream is to go to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Relations in Washington D.C. Sadly they only take around 200 student a year and tuition is over 50,000 a year for 3 years. Instead I am looking at getting a degree in International Law and then moving to D.C.   

 I love Washington D.C. 

I want to live there so badly. This past summer Andrew and I visited for 4 days and it was hard to get on the plane home. When I'm there I feel at home. I would love to work for the government and I plan on moving to D.C. after graduate school. When I'm in D.C. I feel like there's nothing I can't do.

 I love reading. 

 I read all kinds of books. My top 5 favorite books are (1) The Secret History (2) The Agony and the Ecstasy (3) Atlas Shrugged (4) Apollo 13 (5) The Dictators. Something I love about being a history major is the fact that we read so many books. I try to read at least 12 books a year. I've never understood why people hate to read. Even assigned books I don't particularly care for are not that bad. I like the fact that different books give me different things. Some books can put me in the middle of a diplomatic crisis and others can put me in the middle of a relationship crisis. I guess it ties into my love of traveling.

I also love many other things including slow songs, riding with the windows down, Michelangelo's sculptures, Jack Vettriano's paintings, Johnnie Walker Black Label, taking pictures, going on road trips with my friends, decorating for Christmas, the Tour de Fance, Kappa Alpha Theta, daschunds, and much more.

I'm going to end this post now because on the off chance that anyone actually reads this thing I don't want them to get bored while doing so.

Oh yeah, my professor liked my topics so I have the green light to start my final proposal. Yay!

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Still Undefeated

Life is like... a broken bone. Sometimes you'll be pushed to the point of breaking, but if you allow some time to heal, you can come back stronger.

I'm suppose to be working on my topic for Senior Thesis right now, but I'm procrastinating. I've narrowed my proposals down to 3, all of with pertain to the Cuban Missile Crisis. I'm meeting with my professor tomorrow after class to discuss my topics. Hopefully he won't go too hard on them. He seemed to like my primary research presentation so maybe he'll like my paper topics. 

This weekend Auburn played Arkansas. That makes us 7 and 0.

If you haven't seen highlights on ESPN then you need to youtube them. It was a great game. I was extremely nervous going into it because it seems like Arkansas always beats us even when they shouldn't. This coming up weekend we play LSU. I'm kind of worried about this game too, but I think if our offense does well then we should be ok. 

 I guess I should get another background. This one is kind of boring. That will be my next task. 

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I can't say I'm not pleased.

Life is like... a picture frame. You're never going to go anywhere if you're always on the inside looking out.

Alabama lost to South Carolina and Auburn beat Kentucky. Though I try to never bash another team, I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy about this. It's been a long time coming. But as an Auburn fan I know that this will mean nothing if Auburn doesn't stay strong. Just because they lost doesn't mean we can take it easy now. We have to continue improving and winning.

This weekend was also Andrew's birthday. He turned 25. I got him a cookie cake with icing in the shape of a football field. One end zone said  Happy Birthday and the other said War Eagle. He's a VERY big Auburn fan.

We're going to the Braves game tonight. I hope they can pull out a win. It will be my first game of the season (I'm not a very big major league baseball fan), but hopefully not the last.

I should really start putting up pictures. Maybe I can start doing that this week.

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Well this is new...

Life is like... washing clothes. You may have to give it a couple of scrubs but the little stains always come out. 

I'm Lauren. I'm a 21 year old student at Auburn University. I never thought I would really want to blog but lately I have wanted to give it a try. 

I'm a history major and intend on going to law school when I graduate. When I will graduate is still up in the air. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to graduate a year early. There are a lot of pros and cons to each decision. After law school I would like to move to Washington D.C. and work there. 

I have a wonderful boyfriend named Andrew. I don't know what I would do without him. He's a great guy.

I live with two guys. It's interesting. But most of my friends are guys so it's not too bad. 

I guess that's just a little bit about me. Let's hope I keep up with this.   

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