I am a happy girl.

I go home in less than a week for Thanksgiving break! AND, Daniel is coming home with me! I really can't wait.

One of my best friends is making taco salad for a few of us for dinner tonight.

My nails are really long and beautiful. (I promise I'm not being cocky - they really never get this way.)

I am in love.

I have room check this afternoon, so my apartment will be spotless in a few hours. (Even if it is against my will.)

There is a Christmas tree up in our lobby.

I just bought some Pantene Pro-V shampoo and conditioner the other day, and even though my hairdresser begs me not to use it, I am so excited about it and can't stop making people smell my hair.

There are 11 days of school left in this semester.

♥ ♥ ♥

Christmas Survey!

Welcome to the Christmas Edition of Getting To Know Your Family and Friends!
You know the drill. Get to bloggin'.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? mostly wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? definitely real - love the smell!

3. When do you put up the tree? thanksgiving weekend

4. When do you take the tree down? before new year's

5. Do you like eggnog? absolutely not

6. Favorite gift received as a child? either a polaroid camera or an easy-bake oven

7. Hardest person to buy for? my parents

8. Easiest person to buy for? sisters

9. Do you have a nativity scene? not me personally, my parents do

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? definitely mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? can't think of any off the top of my head

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? the santa clause

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? around thanksgiving

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? probably

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? stuffing!

16. Lights on the tree? always white

17. Favorite Christmas song? baby it's cold outside or the christmas song

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? travel is fine as long as it's to family, but not for vacation

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? nope

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? we have an angel i think, but i like either

21. Presents on Christmas Eve or morning? tradition to open one on christmas eve

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? it all builds up for so long and then it's over so suddenly

23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? i guess silver

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? turkey and stuffing

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? to be with everyone i love....and a new phone :)

Merry Christmas friends!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everybody! I hope you're all dressing up and being as crazy as Kelli. Haha

I'm really excited for tonight - I'm going to a party at my friend Cate's house, who graduated from Lee last semester. Then a group of my friends and I are heading over to Applebee's for half-priced appetizers late tonight. Yes, half-priced appetizers are a huge deal for poor, struggling college students...

I'll definitely be taking tons of pictures and posting them in the next few days. I started thinking about my Halloween last year, and I realized that time is flying by way too fast! It feels like it was just a few months ago or something. A few of my girlfriends and I went trick-or-treating in one of the guys' dorms on campus, which was so much fun! They were pretty much willing to give anything away, and we got tons of goodies...

Here's a pic of me and a couple of my friends from last Halloween. I can't believe how much we've all changed, just from one year. Ashley was a gypsy, maybe? I was a prep (I know, I know - how original...) And my old roommate, Carmen, was the devil....I'm not even going to say anything about that one...

This is me and one of my best guy friends here at Lee, Josh. He also happens to be Daniel's roommate. I think he was going for the "homeless guy" look:


So I haven't really figured out for sure what I'm going to be, which is sort of bad because I really only have a few hours to decide. But looking at my closet, I think my best bet right now is to be like a secretary/business woman. I don't know...

Thanks to all of you who gave me ideas for a birthday present for Daniel! I loved them all. Right now I think I'm leaning towards like a framed picture of us (is this cheesy or good?) and maybe like a new shirt or something. I think I'm also going to write a long list of all the things I love about him and print it out and make it look all nice. Haha, I hate that this is so hard to do! Anyway, I'm still wide open for suggestions...

And big news - I voted yesterday for the first time! I sent in my absentee ballot back to VA and I felt very official and important. Lol

Friends and Fun

I am so excited right now. I was talking to Beth yesterday and we were both saying we felt a little homesick and we needed some sort of pick-me-up. So Beth, being the best friend that she is, is coming to TN to visit this weekend! I really can't wait. Daniel and Beth have met briefly when he came to VA this summer, but I'm also really excited for them to get to know each other a little better. Whenever Beth and I get together, it's constant laughing at anything and everything. I've tried to warn Daniel, but I don't think he really understands that he's never fully seen this side of me. Haha...

Ok, now let me tell you why I am the best girlfriend in the world.

Dan's birthday is the 10th, so it's 2 weekends from now. And I am going to throw him a surprise party! I talked to his brother about it, and he says he doesn't think he's ever had one before, so I'm very excited! I love doing this kind of thing and I think Daniel is going to love it. I think it's going to be Indiana Jones theme (it's his fav., haha) and invite all of our friends to his apartment. Now I just have to figure out how to get him away for a while and get everything together. Yay!

I'm also at a bit of a loss for what to get him as a gift. He told me I don't have to get him anything, but of course I want to. He's so picky about stuff he buys that I'm sort of afraid to pick something, and I really don't want to just give a gift certificate. Help! I need ideas...Any suggestions??

Now let's talk about something crazy- I have pretty much one month of school left, with Thanksgiving Break thrown in there. I can't believe it's going by so fast. I'm excited about it, but a little stressed at the same time. This is always the hardest part of the semester. But I'm REALLY looking forward to the holidays this year! ♥

So I have been super busy these last few weeks -- sorry for the lack of bloggage lately!

Last week I went on Fall Break and had a few days at home. It was lots of fun and a much needed break from schoolwork. It was great to see family and friends from home. Probably my favorite part of the trip was carving pumpkins with Beth! It was so much fun - I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin and it turned out so cute! I gave it buck teeth. I also named it Daniel, not that there is any correlation between the two.


I also spent some time in the great outdoors at Beth's house. Her family just got a new baby donkey named Jerry. He's the cutest thing in the world!! It was pretty much love at first "hee-haw." Here are also some pics of her lovely horse...

Who knew animals and I were so in touch?

<3

Well, my computer decided to sort of crash a few days ago. The bad news is that it's very hard to do homework without it. But fortunately, Daniel just happens to be somewhat of a genius and a Computer Information Systems major, and he fixed it for me....yay :)

Last weekend was the first major event that I helped to plan for my job at Life Care. We threw a fall carnival to celebrate the work we are going to do with Operation Christmas Child. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. In addition to making sure things were running smoothly, I ran the face-painting and colored hair spray booth. It turns out, I'm not very good at face-painting...but we didn't have a mirror at the booth, so luckily the kids were not aware of what they looked like until they got home.

One little boy kept asking me to draw Iron Man on his cheek. After a long discussion about the fact that I CANNOT draw people, I talked him into letting me just write the words "Iron Man" across his forehead. He wasn't very pleased, but I thought it turned out pretty good.

My Fall Break is coming up, thank goodness. It will be really nice to get away from classes and school for a while and go home for a few days. I'm leaving on Wednesday and coming back to Lee on Sunday. It's a short trip, but it is greatly needed.

I'm trying to come up with a fun plan for this weekend, but I have no ideas. My brain is dead. If anybody has any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Happy Friday!

"Questions People Never Ask" Survey

When's the last time you ran?
Umm, P.E. class? I don't run for fun...

What are you dreading right now?
Waking up for 8am classes in a matter of hours :(

Who last grabbed your ass?
Daniel

Do you eat raw cookie dough?
Yes! It's better raw than cooked.

Have you ever kicked a vending machine?
I'm not a very aggressive person...

How do you eat oreos?
In 4 bites. Every now and then I split them apart though.

Are you cocky?
Not really.

Could you live without a computer?
No, sir.

Do you wear your shoes in the house?
Nope - I like barefeet and socks.

Who or what sleeps with you?
Ellie - my little purple elephant from Dad, and one of Daniel's sweatshirts.

At what age did you find out that Santa wasn't real?
Around 7? I don't really remember...I was always skeptical about the whole deal.

How many phones, house phones and cell phones are in your house?
1 cell phone

What do you do when you're sad?
Cry, go for a drive, be alone, call a friend.

Who would you call first if you won the lottery?
My parents.

What jewelry are you wearing?
Three rings that I wear every day.

What's the first thing you do when you get online?
Check my yahoo email.

How do most people spell your name?
"Kate" with an occasional "Cate" thrown in.

Where do you work?
For the Activities Department at Life Care Centers of America at East Ridge. (It's a nursing home/rehab center)

What are you doing tomorrow?
Classes at 8, 9, and 10, then work until 5, and then hanging out with Daniel <3

Is Justin Timberlake becoming the next Michael Jackson?
They're both freaks...I don't know.

Favorite name for a girl?
Elle or Emma or Jane or Addison

Favorite name for a boy?
Aiden or Addison

When was the last time you left your house?
Tonight - went to Walmart and Rite Aid.

Do you return your cart?
Always. I hate when people just leave them all over the parking lot.

Would you survive in prison?
I think so. I would like to try it, I think. Just one night.

If all of your friends were going on a road trip, who would most likely overpack?
Honestly, it would probably be me. And then maybe my best friend Beth.

Do you know anyone with the same name as you?
Yep, a few actually.

What's the last thing you purchased?
Eye liner.

Do your siblings ever pay for stuff for you?
No - cheapskates...haha

What brand are your pants right now?
American Eagle.

What irritates you most on the internet?
Advertisements.

Do you own expensive perfume/cologne?
Perfume is my best friend - love it!

Do you get your hair cut every month?
No, every 6 weeks or so.

Do you go online everyday?
Yes.

Reunion :)

Well, everything went perfectly with my dinner. And maybe it is because it's young love that he's so impressed - haha, but that's fine with me! The good thing about cooking for him is that he's easily impressed and he thinks I'm amazing. But the bad thing about cooking Daniel a meal is the fact that I have to send him out of the kitchen or make sure he's distracted by his computer or a movie because he hovers around me and scrutinizes my every move. He kept asking me if I was sure this is how to do everything and adjusting the temperatures on the stove. My personal favorite was when he instructed me to keep the chicken in the oven for ten more minutes, even though I was the one who had been checking it and slicing it open to see if it was done and he had not looked at it once since it had gone in the oven.



So I was nice enough let him do the dishes so that he could control one aspect of the dinner.


My friend Katie made her way down from Kentucky to visit this weekend, and we had a really great time! I had not seen her since Fall semester last year, and it was great to catch up on everything and reminisce about memories. We remembered all of the silly things we used to do as Freshman, like dressing up in 80's clothes for no reason other than walking around our hall and taking pictures; coming up with codenames for guys that we liked and pointing out all the cute ones in the cafeteria; interviewing people in Walmart for an English project we had to do and accidentally asking a blind person who we had to read the whole survey to outloud; going to Applebee's after 10pm for half-priced appetizers; and just laughing at anything and everything. It was so great to see her again and it really made me wish she still came to Lee. :(


I didn't really get any good pics from her visit, but here we are at her hotel while we were hanging out until the early hours of the morning. (Hence the fatigued looks and lack of makeup) -

We took this one on accident, but I liked it.

Our 3 "Monthiversary"

Today is mine and Daniel's 3-month anniversary!

I know, I know...3 months doesn't sound like a huge deal. But I choose to look at it as though it's a quarter of a year. And a year is a long time. So, that means that 3 months is pretty good.

I asked Daniel last night if he knew what tomorrow was, and he got that sort of worried look on his face, and then calmly replied, "Yeah - it's our monthiversary." He's weird in that he comes up with words and uses them nonchalantly. I'm weird in that it always makes me laugh and I think he's just that much cuter.

I'm cooking his favorite meal for him at his apartment tonight. And when I say favorite meal, I just mean his favorite out of the 3 or 4 meals I've ever made for him. It's super easy, but he thinks I'm a culinary genius, so I make it and act like it's no big deal so that he stays impressed with me and thinks that I'm really good in the kitchen. I'll let you know how it turns out.

xoxo

I Love Fall

I'm officially a junior in college. It seems really weird to think that way. I feel like I just started college, and now I'm over half-way done with it. Time is really flying by...



This year has been great so far. I'm living in an on-campus apartment with three other girls who I had never met before move-in day. Luckily, they're all really fun and sweet and it has been a nice change. This is the first time that I haven't known my roommates beforehand, and so far everything is going really smoothly. Being in an apartment = living room and kitchen, which has been amazing! I haven't been to the cafeteria once this semester, and I'm really hoping to keep it that way!



This is also the first time that I have had a boyfriend that goes to the same college as me, and that has been wonderful! Daniel and I have had some really fun times, and I'm SO glad he decided to come back this year. A couple weekends ago, he surprised me after classes and we went on a nice drive into the country. We went pretty far up a mountain, and it was just beautiful. There was a huge lake and lookout points all along the way. Apparently, there's a mile-long walk that leads to a waterfall somewhere in there, and I'm going to make Daniel take me there one of these weekends coming up.

Speaking of Daniel, his mother was in town this weekend for a visit from Ohio. It was really great to see her again, and I was as sweet and lovely as I could be to keep up her good impression of me. haha...

Here's Daniel and I after dinner on Saturday...

What else is new? My friend Katie is coming down this weekend for a visit from Kentucky. She lived on my hall the first semester of Freshman year, and we became really good friends. She moved back home after the first year, but we've stayed in contact and I'm really excited to see her and have a fun weekend catching up on everything!

Here is a really bad/old picture of my group of close friends from Freshman year. This was our Christmas gift exchange at Tres Hermanos. Yay for mexican food!...hopefully we will take some good ones this weekend to refresh my collection! (Katie is on the far right.)

I am one with nature...

Well, my summer is almost over. :(

I'm headed back to school on Sunday, so that gives me 5 days to put my whole life in a few boxes and strategically pack my car so that it all fits in my little Civic. I just started stressing out today about everything I have to do...which just makes me not want to start packing even more - so it's not good.

On a mission to end the summer on the right foot, my best friend Beth and I drove down to Virginia Beach for a day trip on Saturday for her birthday. It was so much fun! That was the first time I had ever been there, and it was great. We made some great memories and got nice and sun-burned!

And, of course, something psychotic happened to us, because that's just the way life is when we're together. We were traveling up the ramp of a parking garage, trying to find a parking spot among the hundreds of cars already parked there. (And I have to add in here that Beth is really afraid of birds. - haha, sound familiar, Cassidy?) So she's driving, and suddenly she ducks and starts screaming, so I look at her to see what's wrong, and a bird was flying in her window! I figured it was just going to fly in close and then swoop away or something, but no - it literally came into the car, landed on Beth's leg, and flapped it's wings all over her. It was all in her face and her lap - it was the freakiest thing I've ever seen! So being the great friend that I am, I just opened the car door and literally jumped out of it. We almost ran into another car and a wall because she had her eyes closed the whole time and forgot to put on the break with all the excitement. I'm not going to lie - it was my favorite part of the whole trip...and I really did pee a little from laughing so hard right afterwards. I'm still cracking up about it as we speek...Oh, and the icing on the cake - it pooped on the steering wheel. "Happy Birthday, Beth!"