A foggy morning run on a country road.

When I walked outside the cabin this morning, I could barely see ten feet in front of me. Kate, Dad and I went on a run down South Creek Road, which we have deemed the "England road," because of how much it looks like it belongs in the Yorkshire Dales.

It's a gravel road surrounded by fields, and it definitely has a certain mystique. The fog this morning added to that, and the run was an adventure in itself.

First, we saw the cows. They always stop and look at us when we run by. Next are the old barns. Around the curve in the road and up the hill a really pretty horse and will come to stare at us.

At the end of South Creek Road, we took a right onto a paved road that I can't remember the name of. It was there that we picked up our fourth running companion, a little dog that I named Tiger, Kate named Rufus, and Dad named Bobo (It liked "Tiger" the best.) I won't lie, I was afraid of it at first. While running in Golden Valley, there is a 97.55 chance you will get chased or barked at by dogs. I always think they are going to bite my heels, even though they never have. Anyways, Tiger starts running alongside us. After a while we told him (him?) to go home. But, he ended up running the next two miles with us! That's pretty far for such a small dog. I could tell he was getting tired toward the end -- he kept stopping to drink from puddles in the road. When we ran by his house again, his owner came outside and said he was about to go for a walk himself. He seemed surprised the dog had run that far with us, and he said he was about seven months old. He's kind of hard to see in the picture (to the right) but it's because he's so cute and lit-tle!

Hopefully tomorrow's run will be as exciting as today's.

In other news,

This Christmas break is flying/has flown by. Since we've been in Rutherford County, we've watched six movies (over two days). So far, we've watched White Christmas, Elf, The Holiday, Mrs. Miniver, Napoleon Dynamite and Stardust. I'm sure we'll watch at least three more before I go home on Monday.

Speaking of that, I'm really excited about driving home on Monday. It will be the longest drive I've ever done alone. I've made play lists enough for the entire trip. And I'm stopping to see (chipmunk) Helen! Driving is pretty much my favorite.

Lastly, I'm getting a new phone. It's green and it's a flipper and I'm really excited about it!!

See you all soon,
Love, love, love!

My top ten favorite things about Christmas:

1. Visiting people
2. Wrapping gifts
3. Giving gifts
4. Opening gifts
5. Christmas lights
6. Luminaries
7. Candles in church
8. Singing Christmas carols
9. "A Christmas Story" playing on repeat
10. The fact that I still have a hard time falling asleep because I get so excited

Ode to the bison, and to freedom.

I have freedom for three whole weeks! I am planning to maximize that time doing lots of interesting things. In fact, in the 11 hours since I finished my criminology exam, I have been doing just that! I sold my book for $43.50 (yess!) so I went straight to Crossroads to spend it. I bought some more Christmas gifts and craft supplies to make Christmas gifts. I watched Gilmore Girls (hooray!) then, I spent the evening eating bison meat (I swear I was never an adventurous eater before college) and hanging out with Helen and Alison. I followed Helen halfway home and we drove down this windy road with lots of stars and pretty pine trees and I felt like I was somewhere else; somewhere nicer.


I hope all of my days off are this exciting. Here are some things I am planning to do:

-More crafts!! I got SO close to finishing this pretty yellow scarf last year but got sick of knitting. I need to re-learn and finish that.

-Read lots of books -- that I haven't already read. Every time I go to the library, I see books like The Giver and The Chronicles of Narnia and remember how great they were back in elementary and middle school so I check them out again. I swear there is a magnet pulling me to the juvenile/young adult section. Someone needs to go with me and pull me away from there!

-Plan/go on an exciting road trip. This will be to Durham if no where else. Alison and I will go to visit chipmunk Helen when she gets her wisdom teeth out and we will turn it in to an adventure. If my car magically fills itself up with gas I will drive to the beach, but that isn't likely. Maybe I can make Julia go with me to the Haw River again. Forced trips are fun, too!

-Visit with people. So many times during the semester I see people and barely have time to say hello to them. The same goes with people that don't go to State. I want to hang out with you. For more than five minutes.

-Start running/exercising. I need to stop being a lazy ass. Really.

-Clean out my closet. Literally. I need to be realistic. If there are clothes in there that I haven't worn since high school, I'm probably not going ever wear them again. If you are high-school-Maggie-size, you can look through them and see if you want anything.

That's a pretty good list I think. More to come!

This is unneccessary.

A few things I observed today:

• A Wolf Line bus! In MY neighborhood! Okay, it was a C-Tran bus. But I THOUGHT it was a Wolf Line bus. Wishful thinking.
• I can study so much better in the Cary Public Library than in D.H. Hill. How can that be, you ask? I'm not sure, but it might be the fact that it lacks a Hill of Beans coffee shop, hundreds of my friends and computers with iChat.
  
• High school students kind of skulk around after school and look super emo. Did I do that? I hope not.
  
• I woke up with red hair this morning. What?
  
• Some cookies I try to make turn out like soggy pancakes instead.
  
• I can listen to the same three songs for hours on end without getting sick of them.
• I can't drive anywhere without my gas light coming on. How fun.
  
• It's weird taking showers without shoes on.
• I'm going to get bored of Cary quite quickly, I think.
  

The various places I would rather be & things I would rather be doing

Even with two exams tomorrow, it's hard to focus. Maybe I have a death wish, but studying just isn't all it's cracked up to be. I really will study though... soon.

There are tons of places I'd rather be right now, so let's take some mental vacations:

1. At some point in my life, I'd like to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Alaska. Ever since we studied them in Astronomy last year, I've been dying to go. Plus, I've always had a fascination with Alaska. If I have a daughter, I'm planning to name her Alaska Jane. (No, I'm not joking).

2. I will go to Peru at some point. If I am on my deathbed a haven't gone, somebody please pick me up and carry me to thend I airport. I'm planning to join the Peace Corps when I graduate, and I would love to spend that time there. Machu Picchu looks AMAZING!

3. Freeport, Maine is my future home. Since high school I've planned on moving there. I'm not really sure why, maybe it's the L.L. Bean store. I want a house on the coast and I want it to be cold in the winter. With snow. None of these 78 degree days in December. I don't want to break a sweat two weeks before Christmas.

Things I'd rather be doing:

Playing Quidditch
For those of you who haven't read it yet, check out the link above. I'm so excited about this. I'm seriously considering trying to get a team started here. Who's interested?

Cleaning toilets at Trailwest
I never thought I would say that. The summer I spent doing that, though, was the best ever. I miss it so much, and the people there. I was so lucky to have lived in Colorado that summer!

Shopping at H and M
I just know that someday, God will bless Raleigh with and H and M store. I'm waiting. Impatiently.

Ok, I think I've procrastinated enough.

Fall semester 2007: The highlights

Thinking back to August, I don't really remember much about it. This semester has been a blur of colors, sounds, and 70 point test scores in every class.

Let's go back in time and look at some of the highlights of the semester (or, at least the ones I can remember.)

Remember that time... When I decided to Study Abroad? And I filled out all the applications? And I changed my mind eight times about where I wanted to go? I'm not exaggerating -- I literally changed my mind that many times. Here's the list in chronological order: Ireland, Whales, Northern England, Ghana (what?), Spain, Mexico, London, and finally, Costa Rica. I feel like I'm missing one. Anyways, I one day decided not to do it at all. I sure am glad I stayed here, because what could be more exciting?


Remember that time... I went to Wilmington with the Howies for the cross country meet? I didn't wake up until Julia called me to tell me her parents were five minutes from campus. I almost ran out the door without pants on. It was a fun trip, as always, though!

Remember that time... My family drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the mountains and the leaves changing, but it was so foggy we couldn't see two feet in front of us? Great vacation, guys!

Remember that time... Tabitha, Helen and I went to see my friend's show and a little 15 year old mosher full of anger ran smack into Helen and almost knocked her over? I'll never forget leaving the Berkley Cafe with Helen shouting "He should have respected his elders!! I'm OLDER than him! He didn't even apologize!!"

Remember that time... Alison and I put marshmallows in the microwave, put chocolate syrup on them, and gave them out pretending they were "Japanese delicacies?" We almost fooled them. Almost.

Remember that time... I decided I wanted to run a 5k road race and didn't train for it? But I ran it and pretended I had?

Remember that time... That same day when I spilled 1.5 boxes worth of Strawberry Burst Cheerios on my keyboard and all over my room? Then, the Cheerio parts stayed in my keyboard and I couldn't use my space bar? Then, I decided it would be a good idea to use my hairdryer and blow them out of there and I melted my keys together? So this sketchy Dell guy meets me in the Bragaw parking lot to fix them and asks if it stopped working on it's own and I say "No..." and stare off into space?

Remember that time... I was the only one left in Bragaw the night Thanksgiving break started and I wanted some ice cream so I went to the C Store? And since those lazy bitchez won't ever help me bag things I always try to with my free hand and struggle for five minutes while an impatient person waits behind me? And this time I accidentally grabbed all the bags (there were at least ten) and I got embarrassed, wrapped the icecream inside the bags, and left with all of them?

Remember that time... That I had a Spanish exam on Friday and a paper due tomorrow and I spent my evening writing this blog instead? Oh yeah, I remember that.

A blog-worthy day:

When I woke up this morning, I thought it would be a normal Tuesday. Granted, Tuesday is my least favorite day of the week, but that's beside the point.

My alarm went off at 8:05 a.m. as usual. At this point each day, I make the decision whether to get up and exercise (this rarely happens) or to sleep until 8:55 a.m. (this almost always happens.) I always feel more energized and awake when I get up and work out, but no matter. I chose to sleep in today.

I caught the Greek Court bus at around 10:05 a.m. and managed to get to my first class before the professor did. We had a conversation about a campus-wide cigarette ban that turned into a discussion about re-instating prohibition. Interesting.

Public speaking was fine, but criminology was dismal as usual. My instructor has it in for us, basically. She asked if anyone had questions about the final paper, so a girl raised her hand and asked if she would explain it more thoroughly. The instructor tells her to stay after class. Then four other people chime in and say they would like an explanation, as well. The instructor then tells them to stay after class, too. Excuse me, but what was the point of asking for questions?

Ok, here's where the day gets super fun. I walk to my car in the Bragaw lot and drive to Crossroads. I go in to apply for a job, go out to get something for my car, then lock my keys in my car. I've done that a total of four times in three years, and it's the worst thing ever. I can see the keys on the seat, but I can't get to them. TORTURE.

Here were my options:

1. Walk back to campus (I don't like to walk, so that was immediately discarded.)
2. Phone a friend.
3. My mom, dad or sister bring me a spare key.
4. I walk to my house and look for a spare and walk back. (Suggested by Kate, and as said before, I don't like to walk.)

So, I called eight people (sorry, everyone that I called. I probably sounded super desperate.) before Josh promised to come rescue me. Then, he passed the duty on to loyal Saja. So, she came to get me, then we went to my house in Cary to look for a spare key. There were keys to EVERY OTHER CAR we own, but not mine. Blah blah blah.

My parents took me back to get the car later, and luckily, no one had bashed in the window and stolen it. I'm so paranoid, I kept thinking that was going to happen. I even wondered if I had imagined the doors were locked and that they were really open and someone was going to get in and drive away. Poor Janie.

Now, I'm in my office, with Christmas lights on. I'm glad tomorrow is Wednesday and not Tuesday. Let's erase Tuesdays for good.

Oh, the places you (won't) go...

On this dreary day, I'm sitting in my room, chatting with Jennifer Blue and procrastinating. Somehow, we started talking about cat ladies, which brought us to the topic of a great book/cinematic classic: Harriet the Spy. I had completely forgotten how awesome Harriet was and how much I wanted to be like her! I remember riding around in the Tucker's light blue Astrovan that summer with our black and white marble composition notebooks pretending to be like her. I think I asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas that year. I'm going to hunt for that when I go home for Thanksgiving. And I'm probably going to buy another composition book. Oh, nostalgia.

This trip down memory lane has gotten me thinking about all the other exciting careers I hoped to have growing up. Funny how your parents and teachers always tell you you can "be anything you want to be!" Liars. Let's start with the first one: a watermelon seed planter. I realize this is not normal. Notice the terminology -- not a grower, not a farmer, but a PLANTER. Not sure where I came up with that, but I distinctly remember receiving a watermelon T-shirt for Christmas that came with a pack of seeds. I tried planting them in the backyard and to my disgust, they didn't grow. Can you believe it? There really CAN'T be any better place to grow them other than a cold backyard in a shady spot, can there?

I guess the spy/detective phase came next, heavily influenced by aforesaid spy, as well as my homegirl Nancy Drew. I think I read every single one of those books multiple times. She always managed to get out of tight spots at the last second, and man, did I want to be her. My attempt to find a secret passageway in the old house where my grandfather worked for a while was only rewarded with mouse poop, but maybe I shouldn't have given up the dream!

After I decided a career of chasing mysteries wasn't realistic, I decided on a more practical field: architecture. It didn't matter that I was (and still am) God-awful at anything that has to do with math. I was going to design some spectacular buildings. Then, with the Trading Spaces craze, I decided it would be more fun to just decorate the inside of buildings. And wah-la, I am a future interior designer, and I'm going to tell everyone and their mother.

Don't worry, we are nearing the end of my long line of career goals. In high school, I decided I was going to be a lawyer. This may have been influenced (but I hope it wasn't) by seeing Legally Blonde? I blame Luke Wilson. Then I took it to the next level: I wasn't going to be a lawyer, I was going to be a JUDGE. And, not just anywhere. I was going to be joining the mothereffing Supreme Court. So there. (Notice the young woman in the front row ^^^)

After all of this, I settled on doing something I actually have the skills to do: write. Journalism is the bomb dot com.. but then again.. so are the Supreme Court, watermelons, and Harriet the Spy. Maybe I'll never be satisfied with my career choice.

It's a wonder they don't scramble their brains...

My Christmas list: (feel free to select more than one item)

1. I've decided it is imperative that I get a golf cart or gator. No more of this walking to and from the library in the dark or hiking miles and miles back from class. I know all the tricks and paths from driving the gator last summer, so it really wouldn't be a big deal.

2. Designer jeans. I want them. Lots of them. Give them to me.

3. A camera. A really nice one. Something like 40 D. Or one of those cool cameras the photographers talk about. I want lenses, too. And an attractive National Geographic photographer to teach me how to use it. And I want to keep him.

4. A Blackberry. Or two. Silver, or red, or both. Or black. Surprise me!

5. A black Burberry coat. Delivered to me by Prince Harry.

6. Some really amazing boots. You all remember that episode of Friends. I want some like that, only more comfortable.

7. A Mac book would be nice. Plus a desktop for home use.

8. Lastly, I would like a personal trainer, chef, and stylist.

You still have a month and 11 days! Let's make it happen, people! Thanks in advance, and happy shopping!

I've done the unthinkable.

I've started wearing black and brown...together. I know I have committed a cardinal sin, but that's something I can accept. And I haven't gone overboard with this decision -- I've worn black tights with brown boots, and a black scarf with brown boots. Basically it's these boots that are causing me to make rash decisions.

One thing I do regret, however, is wearing said boots to walk to Cameron Village today when I went to apply for a job and to the library. It wasn't very far at all to walk there from Withers, but walking back to Bragaw about killed me.

On a lighter note, I am in love with Woodburn Drive off of Hillsborough Street. The houses on that road are the effing cutest I've ever seen and I've vowed to live there someday. Seriously, it's like, out of a movie or something.

I survived the week!!

I wasn't sure that I would, so I thought the fact that I did warranted a blog post. I don't know what made this week so crappy, but I think it was the fact that I didn't get back from D.C. until midnight on Sunday, so I didn't have time to prepare for it. I just felt sort of behind for the rest of the week. I've been running off of a few hours of sleep per night, I had a big criminology test, I wrote a few stories, etc. Nothing too extremely stressful, it was just a combination of everything I guess. I was in a decidedly grumpy mood, and I'm sorry to everyone who felt the wrath of Maggie grumpypants. But, it's over. And now I am sitting in my clean (thanks, T.D.E.) warm, peaceful room. It's really great. Ever since I can remember, I've always enjoyed time by myself to just sit quietly. It helps me keep going. This weekend isn't going to be too busy, which will give me some time to catch up on assignments and do some planning for the rest of the month. I am happy to report to those of you who have forgotten that after this week, we will have a two day week, then we will stuff our faces with turkey and mashed potatoes. Mmm.. the joy of Thanksgiving.
Speaking of food, I've been noticing that all of my meals consist of sugars and starches. It's getting pretty bad. I just don't have time to eat nutritious meals, or the money! It's so much cheaper to be a dollar menuaire at McDonald's than to buy fruits and vegetables and cook something! I'm rapidly depleting my immune system with the lack of vitamins, but I blame my job. And my empty bank account. sigh.

On a final note, I found out this week that my proposal for the Self-Design major was approved! I am now an International Journalism major -- my third in a year and half. I plan to keep this one -- I put too much work into the proposal to switch again.

A.S.S. -- a tribute.

This is a well-deserved tribute to the women of the Tucker Hall third floor long hall who resided there in its heyday -- the five founding sisters of A.S.S. Here's to the lounge parties, the Pokey Stix orders, the trips to Fountain. And, to the late night Ihop runs, the water balloon fight turned bad, the spontaneous haircuts. Although we are separated by distance, the fish purchases, runs on the secret trail and discussions on the bridge will not be forgotten.

From the District...

The ACP/CMA conference in D.C. has been great. There are people here from college papers, yearbooks, radio stations, etc. from all over the place. I've been to some interesting sessions -- some are better than others, but I've been able to take at least something away from each of them. One of the best has been a session on profile-writing by an ESPN reporter. I really enjoy writing profiles and wouldn't mind doing that sort of writing at a metro daily or magazine. It finally stopped raining after 48 straight hours of downpour. I was really upset that I left my umbrella in the taxi to hell, but I guess it worked out. It was a cute umbrella though.

Anyways, I'll be returning soon to North Carolina-land. I'm hoping it's as nice and cool there as it is here!

P.S. If you are ever in D.C. and want to eat at a restaurant no where near anything that is sketchy-as-hell, please take a $35 taxi to Generous George. There you'll find a great atmosphere complete with scary clown statues and Pepto-Bismal pink splatter painted walls, as well as an inch of grease on the floors. Mmmmm... delicious.

Freshman year vs. sophomore year: a reflection:

There has been a specific request for a post on this topic, so I will oblige.

After completing nearly two months of Sophomore year, I realize that this is a whole different ball game than my freshman year of innocence.

First, what happened to all of that free time? Oh, I know, it was probably getting a job. I remember sitting around, making trips to the gym and the dining hall just for fun, watching season after season of the O.C. Now when I have free time, I feel guilty/weird and I just don't know what to do. I end up doing things like writing in this blog.

Second, meal times are completely different. I'm not exactly sure what I eat these days. Somehow, I eat three meals a day, I just don't know where they come from. Freshman year, however, each meal was a huge social outing. Step one: check the dining web site to find out what's being served and where. Step two: round up at least 25 of your closest friends (otherwise known as your posse). Step three: walk in a ridiculous pack to the dining location of choice -- usually Fountain. Make sure to wear your red lanyard from orientation for quick identification in case you get separated. Step four: eat things like 3 bowls of Lucky Charms or a huge plate of curly fries. Step five: stop by the C-Store on the way back to the room. You'll probably get hungry again soon.

And, another thing I left behind with my promotion to sophomore status was my notion that every single person in my classes were older than me. Somehow, I even thought my classmates in English 101 were like, seniors. This was/is not the case. I see these people and they are not juniors or seniors but MY AGE. I guess I just thought everyone was wiser than I was, because they were probably less clumsy/didn't fidget as much in class. People like Alison Harman -- really mature and smart. I guess those weren't age differences.

Lastly, a big difference in my sophomore life is Matt Walton. I see him. All the time.

Tabitha Earp on why dolphins are foes and not friends:

"It was really scary to watch it! These dolphins would just come up behind these girl [dolphin]s and just rape them!"

"The media has made them into these adorable creatures, but they just aren't!!"

I can see what she means -- these animals look pretty fierce.

Request granted!

I've had several requests for photos in the blog (SAJA). I had no idea this blog was going to be so popular and I'm hoping that I can keep up with the demands!

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Here I am at the Great Wall of China, Summer 2007

And myself with President George W. Bush at the Republican Party Convention last year.

Enjoy!

My second post.

Due to popular demand, I figured it was time for another post.

I mean, so much has happened since midnight last night, I thought it would be a good idea to fill you guys in.

To start with, I have a serious problem with the sporadic bathroom breaks the Wolf Line drivers like to take. Especially when I'm on the bus, in a hurry to get somewhere. Today was the fourth time this has happened. I caught the South East Loop around 9:20 to get to my 9:30 appointment in Tompkins. All was good, I was jamming to some music, avoiding awkward eye contact with the sole other passenger who happened to be sitting straight across from me. Then, we pull up to Kilgore Hall. Busfriend departs the bus. New busfriend boards. Here's the maddening part: EXIT BUS DRIVER. I check the clock. 9:24. Yikes!! Ok, quick bathroom break, I can handle that. Ok, quick bathroom break becomes long bathroom break + cigarette break. That turns into me running to Tompkins and arriving for my meeting 4 minutes late.

Enough griping. I got to draw some awesome cupcakes for tomorrow's paper. And tomorrow happens to be Friday.

Happy weekend!

Coming back from Fall Break is tough.

So instead of focusing on school, I'm focusing on spending my $25 iTunes giftcard ASAP. It's funny that when I actually have money to spend on songs, I can't for the life of me decide what to download. So far, I've got a good mix -- Queen, Coolio, Riloy Kiley, Timbaland. I still have 10 songs left and I'm taking suggestions.

Also, I'm looking for another job. I'm thinking something in Cameron Village? I really don't want to work at a restaurant. I can really only work on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings. Maybe someone will hire me? I promise I'm reliable.

Lastly, internships are stressing me out!!! The process is so long. I'm trying to decide where to apply, if it's worth it to apply to far-away places, etc. The News and Observer would be awesome, but I know several other people that are applying from State. I guess I could work at the Cary News and get another job? ARGH I don't even want to think about it. Why are the deadlines so freaking early.

Love!