seven things

these glorious things are those that will be getting me through this spring semestser. i have several starbucks mapped out that i will be frequenting throughout the next four months. vitamin D (yes, the gummy ones) will keep me healthy, scoutmob dates with sarit will keep my sanity in check, and my iphone for phone dates with my hubs and family will keep me happy.  my rainboots will be put to good use (and already have been) by walking through the rivers that develop on campus in even the slightest drizzle.  i obviously need something to fuel my OCD tendencies, of which my planner satisfies. and when i need a little pick-me-up, i have bravo TV.  so yes, i love these seven items. and with them, i will survive semester two of grad school.

green-inating

today, i plan to (finally - after a week of staring at it) part with my preservative filled foods.

goodbye reduced fat creamy jif peanut butter, filled with magnesium and zinc oxide, ferric orthophosphate, and copper sulfate. goodbye deliciously salted pita chips, with your absorbic acid and thiamin mononitrate. goodbye glorious Christmas candy, filled with who knows what.

it is a sad day, but hopefully a day of permanent change and awareness. and grocery shopping :)

life is flying

i am back in atlanta after a busy three weeks at home. i loved my time there, but as always, it went by so quickly. i enjoyed my time with the best husband ever, my time with my family and jared's (which is now also my family - love it), and the short amount of time i had with a few close friends (although i would have loved more). i'm hoping to tweak and organize some pictures from my break here shortly, and post them later.

at the moment, i am enjoying snow day number TWO! it is gloriously white outside. since i have no schoolwork to catch up on yet, i spent yesterday sledding with a few friends, and truly loved it. it was one of my best and most memorable days at georgia tech so far. but i am so sore today from the miles of walking through snow and the sledding down hills and walking back up them to sled again, that today i plan to relax and rest.

ah yes, 2011. i suppose that since it is a new year, it's time for some goal making:

start "eating green"
i am not participating in the full Daniel Fast as i did last year with my church, but i still am hoping to challenge myself so i rely more on God. my goal is to eliminate artificial preservatives, chemicals, and additives from my diet. this is so much more difficult than you would think, especially when life is busy and you need something quick and convenient. almost every canned good (which i LOVE to use) has some sort of preservative or chemical in it. so i started checking labels this sunday on my grocery trip, and i'm easing my way into eating green. i'm hoping for this to become a permanent change for me in my life, and to rely on God every step of the way in making this change.

show His love in all i do
i always fear i am just "going through the motions" in my reading and prayer. i want to truly learn from His word and apply it in my life. i also want to be in communication with Him more often. i want to live for God every minute and have His love shown through my every word and action.

survive grad school
i worked harder than i ever have in my life last semester, and i want to continue that discipline and determination this semester and next, so i can graduate with a good gpa in august :)

so here we go, 2011!

thankful

i never did get to blog about my incredible thanksgiving break, so i've decided to take a little break from studying to do so. i actually was able to start my break a little earlier than planned, and flew home the tuesday before thanksgiving. i spent the day with mom, and went Christmas decorations shopping, and spent WAY too much money at pier one. i am pretty sure they made one section of their store entirely for me. i then got to see my husband (and break to him the damage i did to our bank account at pier one), and go on a double date with him and my parents to the global grill, which has become one of my very most favorite restaurants. after eating so much food, we went to the saenger theatre and saw my all time favorite Christmas group perform, Mannheim Steamroller. they were incredible. every single sound that is in their songs is produced entirely by them, no computer synthesizing anything. such a perfect start to the Christmas season.

and that was just my first day back home! the next few days i had tons of family time and puppy time, and decorated our house for Christmas and baked lots of cookies. it was so good to be home, but jared and i cut my home time a little short, and came back to atlanta with brad and donna to see the green bay packers play the atlanta falcons. we ate so much good food, played in atlantic station, and watched an incredible football game.

although i recapped my thanksgiving break in a few short paragraphs, i can say it has been one of my best so far, and that i am so thankful and blessed to have such an incredible family. and now, i'm just three short days and three finals away from another break.

so, back to studying, but first, a few pictures :)

first married Christmas tree

global grill deliciousness

the damage from pier one :)

outside of the falcons stadium

and inside the stadium

silly men playing at atlantic station

my lovely cousin 

and more playing in atlantic station

:)



to-do's

within the next two weeks, i must:

-study for 4 tests
-write a report for my radar project (because i thankfully finished the project quickly)
-start and finish an image processing project (not going to be good, or quick)
-and do a few more homeworks

i literally do not see myself having enough hours or energy to complete all of this work. so here's where i go into 'work as hard as i can and pray way harder' mode.

sweet tooth

i am battling some serious munchies at the moment. thankfully, i just finished off the last of my delicious, made from scratch, sugar AND chocolate chip cookies. but i have leftover chocolate chips, and my sweet tooth is making me seriously contemplate just eating them out of the bag. yikes!

for just having had a fall break, it's amazing how exhausted i am tonight, and how badly i'm longing for another break. here at georgia tech, i'm in survival mode. i'm doing everything i can to do the best i can in my classes. so i'm just hoping that in the end, this hard work pays off, and i find favor with the teachers when they decide to curve the grades.

i have a full weeked of school, but it starts tomorrow. so tonight? time to reward myself! my recent addiction is real housewives of atlanta. oh my goodness. it's my mental break in the day, and i seriously, in an unhealthy way, love it. i want to hang out with these females. i go to atlantic station for starbucks and groceries all the time (a place i've heard they frequent), and every time i go, i secretly look for them, hoping i just might run into them and happen to have put on makeup that day. it's bad, i know. but i can't help it!

so that's my life as of right now. mostly school and wishing i could be a real housewife of atlanta, or at least friends with one of them :)

honeymoon dreaming

i'm surrounded by honeymoons, and it makes me long for mine again! when i'm stressed, my honeymoon with my wonderful husband is my happy place. it was incredible, and i wish we were rich so we could go on at least three a year.

heavenly, lake tahoe, combined with jared lee fair, have my heart.