Update!

I uploaded all the pictures I'm gonna upload from my spring break trip. Check them out by clicking the link on the side bar!

Spring Break! Yay!

Ok. Here's the deal. I'm gonna try and get the rest of my spring break story out, right here, right now. Otherwise I'm never gonna do it. Ok? Ok. I'll try and hit the high lights. So. When I last left you, we had just finished up at Honeymoon Island yes? Here are the major events after that:

~ After Honeymoon, we went to the Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar at Channelside with Laura's friend Heather. Mike had to get the big X's on his hands so he was depressed. Awww!

The rest of us had a great time singing, drinking and cursing. Yay for us. I had a lot of fun, but I overindulged and ended up having a similar experience to the one Melvin had after he ate all the cookies...


~ On Friday all I wanted to do was lay around for most of the day. We went to breakfast (well, it was more like lunchtime) at a place called Nikkis where you get really greasy food. I had the biscuit debris, which is, as Laura describes it, "a big pile of crap on a plate." That's true, and I'm sure it's really good when you are capable of eating food.


~ After that I took a nap, and everyone else went to the secret beach. (See Katie's Blog)

~ Next we all (minus Michael) went swimming in the pool at Laura's apartments. We found a crab in the hot tub! Laura and I reminisced about all the pool games we used to play. Also, Laura grew a mustache!





~ That night we headed out to Ybor City, which is basically the party central of Tampa. We had dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse which is super tasty. An interesting fact about Spaghetti Warehouse: I used to always get green spaghetti there when I was little. I think. Michael ate a giant plate of lasagne. Actually, it kind of reminded me of the biscuit debris, only instead of a big pile of crap on a plate, it was a big pile of Italian crap on a plate. Also, Katie had the brilliant idea of ordering half meat, half cheese ravioli instead of picking just one. Apparently no one had ever tried ordering it that way before because the waitress didn't really know how to handle that request. We all thought it was a great idea though, and very practical! Go Katie! After that we went into a cool shop with lots of imports. Katie got chopsticks! Last stop of the evening was Gameworks, which is like a super arcade! We played a great game of ocean hunter, and I totally cleaned up at ski ball (I got one in the 50,000 hole and then on my next ball i got it in the 100,000 hole! YES!) We also played a horse racing game, and a bowling game, both of which really tired me out.

~ Saturday was Busch Gardens day. We saw lots of great animals and rode lots of fun roller coasters. However, after riding the tiger side of Gwazi I started thinking "Maybe I'm getting too old for this..." It was a sad moment, but I got over it. My favorite animal was the donkey. He was the one that was in those Budwiser commercials a few years ago. I love donkeys! They are the cutest animal!


My favorite roller coaster was the Shiekra, which Laura had me convinced I was terrified of, until I realized that I wasn't just a little bit before we got on. It ended up being the best roller coaster I've ever been on! It takes you way up high and then tips you over so you're looking down at the ground, holds you there for a little bit, and then drops you straight down at a 90 degree angle. (When we were standing in line for a different ride the guy behind us was talking about it and said "Look at that! A 45 degree drop!" Stupid idiot! Too bad he was standing right behind a group of math people, otherwise he might have gotten away with it.)

~After Busch Gardens we went to visit my friend Theresa, who I have known since preschool. She was having a surprise birthday party for one of her dance teachers. It was fun, but we didn't have a lot to talk about with all the dancers. It was really great to see Theresa though!


~ After Theresa's we went out for St. Patrick's Day at World of Beer. It was fun, fun, fun! I had a Blue Moon and a Hoegaerten. They were both super tasty! Laura also had fun catching up with her friend Aaron from highschool. We were up all night and so we were really really tired for our plane ride at 6:45 the next morning. We got back ok though and had a nap at Katie's house before heading back to Waco!

THERE THAT'S MY SPRING BREAK! YAY!!!!!

Welcome to Honeymoon Island

On Thursday we decided to take another shot at getting to Honeymoon Island, the beach we were trying to find the other day when we got so lost. Well, it turned out to be super easy, but it also turns out it wasn't our fault because the directions we had told us to turn like 10 times when really you only had to make one turn the entire trip (Right on to Curlew off of Hillsborough, go straight forever and you just run into it. So easy!) Anyways we finally got there and the weather was very very nice and the beach wasn't that crowded. Yay! It was a little chillier and there were more clouds and some wind that kept you constantly covered in sand but I still think it was pretty great beach weather. I read some of my book for german class and laid out in the sun. Too bad I didn't do a great job with the sunscreen because I got a really bad sunburn on my lower back. Ouch! The water was still cold but we played in it more than we did at Clearwater. We found a lot of neat sea shells on the shore and we sent my brother to look for more. He likes to dive down and look for stuff on the bottom of the ocean so he was happy to help us out. Also, Mike dug a huge hole! It was so impressive. There were lots of layers of sand (a dark layer, a light layer, a layer full of sharp stuff, and a grey layer) We found some awesome rocks and shells in there too! Hooray for the big hole!

Things to write about:

This is just a little reminder for myself on what I need to talk about later:
-Honeymoon Island
-Howl at the Moon
-Swimming
-Centro Ybor
-Busch Gardens

Ok! Gotta go get ready for Busch Gardens!!

Who me? Yes you! Couldn't be. Then who?

Last night Heather, Laura's friend from work, came over and we had delicious fish tacos for dinner. Well, some of them were ground turkey, but they were all super tasty. Heather brought over a big tray of those frosted sugar cookies you get at the grocery store. Yum! She brought her dog Bella with her, who is super crazy, but very very nice! Melvin couldn't handle all the excitement though so he just sat around in the corner in his robe.
After dinner we went to Channelside in hopes of seeing the dueling pianos at the Howl at the Moon piano bar, but sadly, it was closed. Lucky for us there re lots of bars at Channelside so we just found somewhere else. We ended up at Margarita Mamas where Laura found her new favorite band. (Her new favorite cover band?) They played all the songs she likes! I had a tasty strawberry margarita, but Michael just had water because he is watching his figure. While we were there the four of us played trivia games on the TV, Team Melvin (Laura and Katie) against Team Baggy (Mike and me). Team Baggy was totally awesome! We won 3 out of 4 games! Yes! We're awesome. Michael specialized in the WWII questions and I was awesome at the food questions (It's very important to know that borcht is made out of beets. It comes up all the time! And I never had to look it up on the internet.) Anyways, after we left we went over by the water to take a picture (Channelside is right on the bay) and WOW! There was a real live wild dolphin swimming around out there. It was super awesome! Hooray for Florida wildlife!
Later when we got home, I was sitting at the table doing something on the computer when I noticed that the tray of cookies was entirely empty! THAT SNEAKY MELVIN ATE ALL OF OUR DELICIOUS COOKIES! Baghira isn't totally innocent though, I think she knocked them off of the table for him. Melvin had to spend the night in his kennel, where he whined and whined and whined all night. You naughty naughty anipals!

Oh Melvin!

Today all I did was play with Melvin! Oh Melvin! You are my one and only love!!! Well, that is a lie, of course, but he has been the only one willing to snuggle with me for the last few days. This is a picture of us packing a cooler for the beach yesterday. Too bad Melvin couldn't fit in there along with all the beers and Dr. Peppers.

So yesterday Katie, Mike and I all went to the beach. We got pretty lost going there (we were lost in a way that we were able to get back to where we needed to be relatively easily. We tried to go to Honeymoon Island, but got too lost and ended up just going to Clearwater Beach instead. We ended up getting an awesome parking spot though, and the weather was beautiful. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot, and the breeze was nice and cool. It may have been the most perfect beach weather there ever was. I will have to put some pictures as soon as I can get my hands on a USB cable that will accomodate my camera.

After the beach we all went to Laura's company kickball game. Even Melvin got to come. It was awesome! Mike scored the winning run and Laura batted him in (well, kicked him in). Ok, the truth is, they lost horribly, and Mike scored the only run, but it was still really fun. Laura caught the ball lots of times!

After kickball Katie and I joined some of the team for drinks at Elmers. It was good times. A friend of Laura's that went to high school with her joined us and we all heard an AWESOME joke. (If you want to hear it I'll have to get you in touch with my sister Becky). After the bar we came home and sang karaoke on Laura's TV. My best number was New York, New York, a performance that I dedicated to Melvin.

Today we got up pretty late, and hung around the house till... I don't know, one maybe? Then we went to Lettuce Lake Park, where we walked on all the boardwalks and Mike provided us with some very informative nature facts. ("Here is a bird house. This is significant because is shows us that birds have mastered the art of tool use." or "Here is a brown bird with white spots. This is signifcant because it suggests that birds and deer have a common ancestor.") I took some lovely nature photos!

Next we drove around Tampa and I showed Katie some of the highlights of my childhood (we drove past my old house, my middle school, etc.) Then we got some sandwiches at my favorite sub place and ate them at Lake Park, which is basically right across the street from my old house. We didn't see any alligators anywhere though, so it was a let down. I'm getting quite a lot of practice at driving a standard transmission though.

Now Katie and I are playing computers and my brother is playing playstation. Laura should be home soon though so the good times should start up again!

Down by the bay

Hello,
Katie and I made it to Florida! We got in last night around 11 PM eastern time. I was very happy to see Laura, Michael, and Melvin, but Bagheera is being antisocial. Now we are trying to decide what to do today. Perhaps we'll go to the beach!
Yesterday I spent the day in Houston with Katie. We mostly just hung around, and we also went shopping for a little while. Katie got some cute shoes! We had lunch at the Pheonicia Deli (Ok, so I'm just making up that spelling) which was super yummy. Hmm... it suddenly occurs to me that I'm hungry.
On our way out of town, Katie and I had some car trouble. It seemed like it was some problem with the battery, but it ended up just being a problem with the locks, the car thought we were trying to break in... Stephen fixed it though. Well... not really, he just figured out what was wrong. Then he made fun of us and I broke his glasses. Oops!

Kind of like the Twilight Zone...

Remember this snippet from yesterday's entry?
"I think I might try and see if my oldest friend Theresa is still in Tampa, because I'd like to see her too. Last I heard she still was. We've been friends since preschool so I think it would be really fun to catch up for a while. "
Well as I was walking back from Antropology class today I thought "I think I will email Theresa now." So I come home, get on the computer and open up my email and WOW! There's an email from Theresa waiting for me! We haven't written eachother for months (maybe even close to a year) and then she decides to write me just as I decide to write her. That's weird right? Especially since she specifically asked if I would be in town anytime soon. Um, yeah I will! Anyways, I think we will probably end up getting together for lunch or something. Yay! I'm excited!!! Now if only Lyssette would email me back. I'll be sad if I don't get to see her while I'm there.

My stomach feels better today, and has been feeling better the last few days. I guess I've been eating better stuff, or at least foods that are easier on my stomach. That stupid old Stephen (awww, you're not stupid!) wouldn't let me eat Taco Bell for dinner because he said it would make me sick again. I guess that was a nice thing to do but I really wanted some nachos!

I've got a sociology test today, but I don't think it will be too hard. I didn't skip any classes this test period (well, maybe I missed one) and I think that is one of the main reasons I didn't do as well as I'd hoped on my first test, and I also think I have a better grip on the fundamentalist, conflict and symbolic interactionist perspectives of sociology, so I will be able to answer those questions better.

Ok, that's it.

Spring Break!

I wish it was spring break already. I'm getting pretty excited. I'm glad we're going to fly there instead of drive, although I'm sure Katie and I could have made the drive fun. I've started making a packing list in my head, I really should write it down, but I never think to. Oh well, that's what Saturday is for. I'm super excited to get to see Laura, Mike, Melvin, and Baghira! I guess I'm more excited to see the people than the animals, but Melvin is really fun so I'm only a little less excited to see him. I wonder if he wants to go to the beach with us. I'm hoping I can get in touch with my good friend Lyssette before we leave so hopefully we can spend some time together. I sent her an email, but she hasn't responded yet and I'm not sure how else to contact her. I think I might try and see if my oldest friend Theresa is still in Tampa, because I'd like to see her too. Last I heard she still was. We've been friends since preschool so I think it would be really fun to catch up for a while. Laura said she was taking Friday off so we can party Thurday, Friday and Saturday nights! Woo! I think we'll go to Busch Gardens at least one day, and the beach as much as we can. And here I thought I didn't like the beach... silly me. It's one of the things I miss the most living in Texas. I'm going to have to get used to driving a manual again though, since we'll have Laura's car to get around in. I hope I don't get lost in Tampa! It's been such a long time since I've driven there. I can't wait till this week is over!!!!
In school news, I had an antropology test yesterday, which I think was easy, but of course I thought the first one was easy too, and I got a 68 on it. Yuck. I have a sociology test tomorrow, which should also be easy, just as long as I study tonight. I also had a meeting with Dr. Good yesterday about my German paper. I'm feeling pretty good about it now that she's given me some advice. I'm writing on the book and film versions of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum and she said if I felt like I had enough information I could do the introduction to the film with her when we watch it in class. That would be extra credit for me, which would probably be a good thing to have since I did so miserably on the midterm. (Well, it was a 70... which I guess is only pretty bad, not miserable). I think I'm going to write the paper in German, since we have the option of writing 6 of our film response papers in german, or 3 film responses and our big paper in german, and it just seems like a better idea to do the big paper in german since I have more time to work on it that way (I hate having to get a decent german draft of my response papers in the 2 days we have to write it!) I might be sending you a draft of it, Cleyera, if you don't mind! But that's still a little ways off.
In non-school related business, I've been having some stomach problems for the past few days. I think it's some sort of heartburn thing, but the result is I've been burping for days. Nice big, loud ones, like a big gross guy. Isn't that pleasant? The condition seems to have improved as of yesterday, and I hope it stays that way. I think I was just eating too many rich foods or something... It was bad enough that I was carrying Tums around with me in my purse though.
I bought a new pillow for my bed yesterday, since mine were pretty flat. Stephen cooked me dinner last night (fish and asparagus) and as usual when we cook dinner at his place, we don't get to eat till like 10 o'clock, so I was over there pretty late. I was really tired, too, so I ended up falling asleep on the couch while he cooked. It was a pretty good dinner once it was finally done though. Morgan invited Stephen and I to go to the rodeo in Houston tonight, but I had to say "No thanks" because of the Soc. test tomorrow. It would have been fun, but the timing was just no good.
That's all for now, I've got to see if I can get my discussion board postings in before I head off to work.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

I feel like I haven't really been doing much of anything worth mentioning lately, so why am I writing a blog entry? I don't know. I guess it's so Cleyera can know how much more fun and exciting her life is now that she's in Germany. Guess what Cleyera! It's still boring in Waco! I hope you are getting settled in, we'd all love to hear something from you, you know!

I didn't have math on Friday, which was awesome. They closed the science building for some big scientist party (well, I guess it's a convention, but I figure when you're a scientist, a convention is probably the best party you're ever going to get). I have two tests this week, Antropology and Sociology, and they shouldn't be hard just as long as I study, which I didn't for the last tests in these classes, and I've learned my lesson. YOU DO HAVE TO PUT AT LEAST SOME EFFORT INTO STUDYING FOR ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY! Anyways... I've also got a short little paper due for Soc. tomorrow, and a meeting with Dr. Good about my German paper. I think this week won't be too tough and then I'm off to Florida! Yay!

I went shopping with my mom yesterday for a new suitcase (I got 2, and they are purple and beautiful!) I also got 2 new shirts at gap outlet in hillsboro. I'm glad to have a decent sized suitcase for Florida. I'm pretty excited about the trip. I'm excited to see Laura and Mike, and I hope I'll get to get together with my old friend Lyssette. I hope I can get a decent tan at the beach but as we all know, it is far more likely that I will just get burned. Oh! That's something to put on the Florida list: sunscreen.

Well, I think I'm gonna finish my coffee and get a shower before I get back to reading my anthropology.