Stressed is an understatement

Short post because I have no actual free time-

I'm stressed. Words honestly cannot express how stressed I am. I can't even try. It's that bad. I'm missing mandatory things for other mandatory things. I have tests and homework that are being backseated because I literally don't have the time. LA GEAR UP is driving me nuts. Sigma Kappa is being backseated because of this. So I guess if SK is being backseated, school is being thrown in the trunk. I'm stressed so I take it out on others (aka Chris) and in turn ticks him off which stressed me out even more. I had to skip class to go to this GEAR UP thing on Friday that ended an hour and a half later than I thought it would. Then tomorrow, I'm going to be with them from 8-5. Then study or something if I have time. Then I have formal which I'm going to because A- I paid for it and for my date. B- Chris stayed in town instead of driving to help some people move into an apartment from Mississippi. C- I'm DDing. D- I already have a dress. I plan on making an appearance and leaving to try to get homework in. But alas, on Sunday, I have church from 9-12, nursing home at 2 (which I want to go to but probably won't) mandatory street cleaning at 4, mandatory Rush clothes trying on at 5, and mandatory meeting at 6. Oh look, then Monday rolls around and I have a test. I'm sorry Dr. Sellers, I didn't have time to study. *FAIL*.

And, not her fault nor am I mad at her in any way, shape, or form, but Liz went to the ER today because she's been really sick. So I stayed with her at her apartment for a while instead of studying because I felt she was more important. When her kicked in and she was almost as high as a kite and ready to watch a movie until she passed out, I left. But I only left to duke it out with Chris some more. Now I'm too exhausted from the long day to really focus on school. But I'm about to try.

So this post wasn't as short as I thought. I guess that's what happens when you need to vent. And Chris and I are fine. I just get mean when I'm stressed.

I highlighted all the mandatory things because it made me feel better somehow. And while "church" is not technically mandatory, it kinda is in my book, but there's a chance I might not make it this week. And "formal" is highlighted for the reasons listed.

-Annie

My wonderful April 7

Wednesday, April 7, was pretty great day over all!

It all started when I bolted awake in bed, jumped up, and opened my bedroom door 45 minutes before my alarm because I heard my roommate say to someone on the phone, "the bathroom ceiling is leaking." I ran to the bathroom and sure enough, the flood had returned. It was way better than last time, but still obnoxious. Within minutes, a maintenance man shows up to check it out. After looking at our bathroom, he goes upstairs to our neighbors. About 10 minutes later, he comes back and the leak has stopped. He mutters something to my roommate about water on the floor upstairs and leaves. I learn later from my RA that the toilet upstairs had overflowed the night before and they didn't know what to do about it. So they turned the water off and left it. It soaked through in the floor and into our bathroom. Sick.

After that incident, I continued on my morning about getting ready. It was my anniversary and I wanted to look cute! So I shower, put on a day-dress, dry and straighten my hair, do my makeup and head over to the student center to meet the boyfriend for lunch. The walk there involved a lot of mist. It reminded me of those misting machines at Six Flags that cool you down without getting you soaked. That's what the weather was like. I looked dumb using an umbrella so I put it away. However, I forgot I was blessed with my Mom's hair's natural ability to frizz like crazy. So when I found the boyfriend, he told me I looked nice, and asked me if I straightened my hair this morning. "The weather took care of that." NOO!!!! I flipped out but I knew it wasn't worth it. My hair was a goner.

The next few hours involved class, more class, and then an outdoor biodiversity lab excursion with a friend to collect plant samples. After we finished that, I called the boyfriend to chat about our evening plans. We decided on seeing Clash of the Titans at 4:55. Seeing as it was 4:18, we went ahead and went to the movies. Clash of the Titans was really good, especially if you like mythology.

Then it was dinner time! I had chosen where to eat. We went to a local steakhouse where they preferred you get dressed up. I wore a dress I had gotten for a great price at a local boutique a while back and he wore khakis and a new shirt. Needless to say, we looked GOOD! lol

At dinner, we split a 20oz steak, some fried crawfish tails, and some steak fries. The steak, being massive, took a while to cook so we spent some time just talking. Suddenly, Chris (boyfriend)'s face goes white and then instantly red. He gives me this look... a look I know all too well. A look that says "I just made a mistake and it's embarrassing and funny all at the same time." That "oh crap" look. I reply with "What...?" He smiles and blushes as he says, "I forgot my wallet." I burst into laughter remembering the last time this happened. We were at a local Italian place and he didn't realize he left his wallet until it was time to pay. I was left as "collateral" while he ran back to his dorm. I had to explain it to the waitress who was highly amused.

But last night, he remembered before the food came out. I offered to just pay and he pay me back, but he didn't want to do that. So he went "to the bathroom" and drove back to his apartment to grab the wallet that was left in his jeans from earlier. About 2 minutes after he left, the food arrived. So I ate alone for the next 5ish minutes. It was kinda sad, but I was more worried about him. It was weather outside and I knew he was in a hurry to get back. I prayed pretty much the entire time he was gone and couldn't eat very much since I was so nervous. He came back about 8 minutes after he left with a smile on his face and a wallet in his pocket (and money in the wallet!). The rest of the dinner ran smoothly.

I called Liz (my big) and asked if she could take a picture for me. I wanted a picture of me and Chris all dressed up and nice looking on our anniversary. Of course, she helped me out! And so, to end the night, here are 2 of the pictures.

-Annie

4-year-anniversary

My goodness has it really been 4 years?? Yep, I remember it clearly. April 7, 2006, sometime in the evening on my couch in my old house, my boyfriend asked me out. It hasn't been 4 years "solid" due to a few rough patches along the way, but we're past that. But for the most part, it has been 4 whole years. Ups, downs, and everything in between, and somehow we still end the day with an "I love you too". The worst times were when he was in college and I was in high school. It was just difficult to say the least. He didn't know much about what I was talking about (especially by my senior year) and I had no CLUE what he was talking about in college. But we made it through. He's been with me when I'm in the hospital as much as he could. And when he couldn't be there I'd still hear from him. Things got way better when I got to college. We could finally spend time together swimming, working out, etc. and not have to worry about how to pay for these things. We eat most meals together and I see him almost every day, if even for only a minute. We study together, play games together, watch movies together, go to church together, cook (and do dishes) together. He takes out my trash, he changes my car tire, and drives me to Walmart when I don't want to go but need to. I can be myself around him, no matter how goofy that may be (and he's just as goofy when he's just with me). He works so he can have money to take me out. He goes to college to afford me. And most important, he loves me. :]

4 years holds a lot of memories. I've written a lot of them down over the years on blogs, in journals, and other places and I'm thankful I'll be able to go back later and read them. We've both changed a lot since my freshman year and definitely for the better. I hope everyone has a great day because I will. I'll post about it in the next few days.

-Annie

Easter!!

Easter! The real celebration for Christians! "Anyone can be merry at Christmas" as my pastor says. "But Easter is the real deal." I sang at my church in the choir for both services today and had so much fun. What a fantastic service! Mom drove over to watch me sing and my Big Sis and her boyfriend came too.

So driving back to college-town yesterday to get to choir rehearsal, Dora (my car) had a tire blow-out. 14 miles from my college, the tire decided to give out. So I puttered at ~40 miles the rest of the way after calling Dad. I checked the tired and didn't see anything wrong with them at the time, so I thought it was mechanical. However today after church, my Mom and I pulled into the apartment parking lot to find the tire completely flat. On the plus side, it's way better than we anticipated. A tire is way easier to replace (and cheaper) than the engine or the tire rods and such. Not cheap, but better than we could have hoped for. So Dora lives on.

Mom brought me back home after the amazing church service and my puppy and I took a nap on the couch for a while. Then, I watched a movie I LOVE but haven't seen in ages: The Brave Little Toaster. Such a great movie. :] One thing I noticed today watching it, I didn't notice when I was younger, was the line "Of course he's graduating! He's a hard worker!" One of those underlying messages that's just barely touched on, but still important. So there, children! Work hard and graduate! Anyway, it's a great movie that's so cute and still makes me laugh even after all these years. Those early Disney movies have a way of doing that.

Tomorrow I go back to college-town, riding with the boyfriend, and get Dora to the Walmart car repair center thing. Hopefully Wally World will take good care of her and get her fixed soon!

I spent time with the rents this evening playing Rummikub and Mastermind (with Mom) and really enjoyed it. Good bonding time before I head back to school.

Ok, this post would be longer but I'm starting TOBI again tonight and don't like to use my laptop with TOBI. Makes everything gross. Instead, I'll be continuing reading a book by Betsy I bought the other day.... OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I left it in my apartment because I was reading it last night.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........... Ugh I have to wait until I can keep reading it. Boy that's frustrating. Now I have to find another way to entertain myself for 30 minutes... I guess I'll pick up another book for the time being.

ANYWAY, I was going to say that it's such a good book already (a few chapters in) and I'll give a baby-review on it when I'm done. The link to her blog is on the side --->

and on my last post.

Night and Happy Easter!

-Annie

I'm Home I'm Home! (Until tomorrow)

Thank GOODNESS my hectic week is over with. 3 tests and an interview... I'm all tuckered out. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great week for tests or interviews, but that's ok I guess. I didn't do terrible on any of them, but not as great as I had hoped/expected. I went through the interview process for Union Board but did not get on it. It was an interview experience unlike any other I've ever had before, so it was a great experience. I also learned from several people on UB that most people don't get on it the first time they apply. It takes 2 or sometimes 3 tries so I'm encouraged to apply again in the fall. (The current VP of UB had to apply twice, for example.) So while I would have rather just gotten on this time instead of having to go through this again, I'm not really upset about it. I'll simply apply/interview again in the fall. It was a good experience too.

So Monday morning at 6:00am, I had a tapping on my window as I was pulling my hair into a ponytail. It was the boyfriend saying "hurry up!!!" We had agreed to start running on MWF at 6am together on the track. And on Monday, boy was it COLD!! But I ran it anyway. And went back to bed. lol. I didn't run it on Wednesday because he "let me off the hook" because I helped him tremendously with his lab report. He ran a mile and then did a lot of sprints at 3 that morning (after pulling an all-nighter). He didn't sleep until the following afternoon when he slept for 14 hours straight. This was also after swimming a ton of laps. Boys are crazy. I needed the sleep too.

OH. However! I'm not getting much sleep because 1- the people upstairs are still insane and keep me awake and 2- we now have a construction crew working on the apartment I'm LIVING IN at 7am! There's no hope for sleep I suppose.

I had mentioned recently that I've been feeling sick all the time. Well it hasn't really changed much, no surprise there. My mom ran into one of my nurses from my clinic and mentioned my problem. My nurse said that they have new enzymes out with really great results and has made some chronically ill-feeling people feel better! I've never been a friend to change, but this one might be worth trying. Also involves fewer pill numbers....

It feels so good to be home. My weekend is going to be spent with family and with the highway. I drove home yesterday, spending today here, and then driving back tomorrow. Then, on Sunday, my mom is coming to my church to watch me sing in the Easter service. Then I'm riding back home with her to spend more time with family. THEN on Monday, I'm riding BACK to college with the boyfriend. Got all that? So that's a total of 4 trips. Lol! 4 trips in 5 days. Whew!

Happy Birthday to the Reasoner twins!!! They turned 1 year old today! Keep fighting Brett!

Tonight is the Good Friday service at my home church. After that, I'm going to Barnes & Noble to visit a friend, Betsy, who is having a book signing for her latest book that was released yesterday! Read about it here!

Recently, I sat through and I read a large chunk of my first posts. It was really interesting to me because this is somewhat like a diary. My passion for soccer drove my enthusiasm to stay well, even when I rocked a PICC. Sometimes I feel like that passion has drained out of me. That is very frustrating to me. Sometimes it's hard to fight for something you don't even know if you'll get. So lately I've been trying to fight not only for my future, but for the present and my friends and family. These are the people who will be with me for the rest of my life and I don't want to hurt them. So I must stay strong if not for myself, for them.

To all my Catholic friends (and others who gave up things for Lent), you've almost made it!!! Don't give up!!

Alright, time to finish getting ready for the day. My brother, sis-in-law, and nephew are coming over soon. Can't wait! I love seeing family!!!

-Annie