No More Class!

AHH! My summer class is officially done! Woohoo! This is the first time all summer that I haven't had any classes, so it's basically like the start of my summer break. Kinda depressing when you realize that I had 4 months off of GV and only 3 weeks off of class. Oh well. At least now I have more of my gen eds done and can move on to more interesting and important classes at GV.

I'm working on HP - I'm only at the part where Harry sees Sirius at Grimauld place for the first time, so not very far, really. Hopefully I'll have a little more time to read now that I don't have class. My goal is to get through the rest of the HP series in 2 weeks. It shouldn't be hard - when I'm not working, I'll probably be at home doing nothing.

After I post this, I'm going to make strawberry cupcakes. It's not nearly as cool as it sounds, as it's from a box mix, but I'm sure they'll taste pretty good. I'm going to take some to Nate and then have some here for this weekend.

So I'm working really hard to get my finances under control. I don't have a lot of debt, but I don't have a lot of money either, so I'm just trying to ensure that I will never not be able to pay for something important, like rent or utilities. I figure that being organized about this now will really benefit me when I'm struggling later on in the semester. It's gonna be hard to get hours and everything, so hopefully I'll be able to get everything sorted out before then.

Nate's birthday is coming up, and I still need to get him a gift. I'm waiting until after I pay tuition and buy books to get him anything, but I know exactly what to get: Seasons 1 and 2 of Good Eats with Alton Brown and a new skillet. Nate really likes Good Eats, and since he doesn't have cable at all, I figured that getting him the dvds would be a good idea. I really hope he likes it!

Well, time to get baking!

Done with Four and on to Five

So just really quickly before I go to class...I finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! I started reading it out loud to myself since there was no one in my apartment and it went by so quickly! Ah, that one is my favorite in the series. Now I'm on to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Whew. The series looks much shorter from this side of GoF.




Tomorrow is my last day of class! Well, technically, today is the last real day, since we're review for the exam and then taking it tomorrow. I then get 3 weeks off of class in which I will be working my butt off to make a lot of money. We shall see how it goes. I'm happy, though, that I now get to do what feels like essentially nothing for the rest of the month. Ah, sleeping in!

Back for a Bit

So since Nate got back, I've basically been there every day, which is why my posts are so sporadic. Sorry. BUT I found out that he isn't going away for any more band camps because the other school that he teaches at has their camp at their school (lame). It works for me, though, because I get to see Nate on a much more regular basis than I first thought.

So I finished Better than Beauty, and to be honest, I was slightly disappointed in it. At first it had good tips and everything, but then it just became a bit snobby and kinda obvious, like, for example, saying not to speak ill of people while speaking ill of a hypothetical person for speaking ill of someone else. It had a few good pointers, but it got to the point that I kept putting off reading it because it was really tedious.



I'm almost done with HP (I'm just after the 2nd task), and it shouldn't take me long to finish it. I plan on spending some good quality reading time today. I'm actually really disappointed in my reading list progress. I've only gotten through 1 full series (10 books), half of another (3.5 books) 2 novels, and 4 tip books, which don't even really count. I'm not even halfway through my reading list, which is a lot more reasonable (i.e. shorter) than last year's. Oh well. I'm gonna finish HP and then borrow a bunch of novels from the library. Hopefully I'll be able to do a lot of reading in the next 3 weeks.

So two of my friends from home, Katie (not the one I'll be living with) and Kari (who I'm kinda not too fond of, but whatever), are coming to visit me this weekend. I'm really excited to see them, since I haven't really talked to anyone other than Nate, Megan, and Stefanie in the past few weeks. Well, that's a lie, I had a texting conversation with Amanda (a former roommate that I still like) this morning, which was nice. But I'd like to do things with people, like walk around downtown or go to the beach. They'll be staying at my apartment, so I'm doing my best to clean it up and make it smell nicer...not that it's disgusting, I just want them to be blown away by the awesomeness of my place. That probably wouldn't happen if it stunk.

Good Movies with Cute Boys

Today after class I went and saw Inception with my friend Stephanie (the non-roommate). It was kinda ridiculous, but not in a bad way. It was good, but it was one of those movies that takes a little bit of effort to stick with. It had Joseph Gordon Levitt in it, which surprised me. I like him a lot, and of course Leo DiCaprio is a great actor. It was kinda long, but I would definitely suggest it.

I'm kinda bored, so right now I'm watching Cruel Intentions. I own this one, and as a general rule I don't own movies unless I love them, so it obviously ranks high on my list. I am in love with young Ryan Phillippe - he's so gorgeous! I usually don't go for men with curly hair, but he's an exception. And...well, I'm not into guys who cheat on their wives with the nanny. BUT prior to all of that, he was quite attractive. I don't know, it just has a really great storyline and it's got the unexpected ending...I love it.

I got a bit further in HP today while I was waiting at the theatre for Steph. Sigh. It's not that it feels like a chore to read it, I just wish I could get to the better parts.

So I'm trying to make myself healthier. You know, eat better, exercise, stuff like that. I'm trying to drink more green tea and do my yoga video more often. When school starts up again, I want to take an actual yoga class if I have time. I don't know, I figure if I start with little things like flossing regularly and eating more fruits and veggies, maybe I'll start feeling better inside and it will help me feel better outside. Hopefully.

Not Super Lonely Yet

So today has been fairly decent. I had work until 4:30, am currently doing laundry, and am going to the local planetarium with my friend and her astronomy class later. I'm kind excited about the last one - I took an astronomy class in high school and have always enjoyed looking up at the night time sky. So what if it's projected? It's still cool.

In my misery yesterday I completely forgot something that I was going to talk about: Glee. I had always heard it was good, but had never watched it because there are very few shows I actually follow on cable (the two exceptions being The Soup and What Not to Wear). But my friend had season 1 volume 1 on DVD and let me borrow it. All I can say is WOW. I wish I had been watching it this whole time. It's so good and addictive. I watched the first 2 DVDs straight through because I didn't want to stop. After that, I went to Nate's and we watched the rest together (I'm so lucky to have a boyfriend who can appreciate musicals). We both agreed: it's addictive. He said he thought it would be pretty "gay," but was pleasantly surprised. We're both waiting impatiently for volume 2 to come out so we can watch the rest!



I'm really not much further in HP or in Better than Beauty. I'll let you know when I am.

So my friend Megan (the only one out here, really) has mentioned a couple of times that she's kinda getting into anime, which is fine by me. I'm going to lend her Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club tonight. Hopefully she'll like them so we'll have something new to talk about.


Tomorrow I'm going to have a cleaning spree. Now that all of the clothes are off my floor, I can see just how dirty it is. I mean, it's not filthy since I cleaned it a little more than a week ago, but there are papers and things everywhere. I'm kind happy to have time to do it - I actually like cleaning sometimes.

Staring Down a Difficult Week

I've found that I have a really hard time updating this sometimes. It'll get better though.

I haven't finished Better than Beauty yet, but I have started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I worked an 8 hour shift today, so I read a bit on my lunch break. They're not at the Quidditch Cup yet, but they will be soon. Reading the books really makes me want to watch the movies!

So starting this week, Nate will be away doing band camps pretty much non-stop until the end of August. I knew it was coming, but I have a habit of forgetting things that aren't constantly in my face. So basically, he mentioned leaving two days ago, and I was like, "Wait, what?" I'm really going to miss him. We've been spending so much time together lately that even though we both have work and stuff, I've basically seen him every day. To go from that to seeing him maybe for a day a week just makes me feel sad and lonely. I love spending time with him, and now, since band camp is so exhausting, I will probably be lucky to hear from him once every few days. Jeez, I'm depressing myself. This month will just be tough, I suppose.

Speaking of it being almost August...it's almost August! Where did summer go? I guess working and taking multiple classes really does make the summer go by much faster. Last year I stopped working in late June and I only had class 1 night a week starting in July, but since I'm working 20+ hours a week and have class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, summer's just flying by! I'm getting ready to do my back-to-school shopping and am starting to get all of my school stuff together. But more than that...I have 1 month to save up as much money as physically possible. When classes start on the 30th, I'll probably be lucky to get 15 hours a week. I can live on that, but I'd love to be able to save up $400 this month so that I don't have to worry about being able to pay rent for awhile. I really hope I can do it. At least my increased work ethic will help me get through this month without Nate. It'll help my take my mind off things, hopefully.

So yeah. I'm just hoping that reading HP and working will help me deal with my loneliness.

And Out Pops Another One (Posts, I Mean)

I finished PoA. Whew, what a roller coaster! I forgot how intense the ending is. It really makes you sit up straight and read faster, even if you know how it's going to end. It's interesting now, looking back and seeing all of the little hints that point to things in future books. Very good.

I also finished Crazy Busy Beautiful. It actually had some pretty good tips, but most of them were covered in Get Positively Beautiful. There were a couple good new ones too, though, so it was helpful.

Before I start Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I'm reading another little advice book called Better than Beauty: A Guide to Charm by Helen Valentine and Alice Thompson. It was originally published in 1938 but was revived due to its rather timeless advice. It's actually got some good points already, like, for example, how cleanliness includes not just your hair and makeup, but also the shape of your clothing, fingernails, and feet. I'm a bit eager to read about the actual charm part - it'll definitely come in handy at some point. It says in the book that not many people are remembered for their charm. I think I'd like to be someone who is.

I'm in a pretty good mood right now for some reason. I'm not really sure why, but whatever. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.