Drummer in the Making

This week I have been trying to get ahead in my online classes. That means a lot of studying, a lot of homework, and many essay questions. Sounds fun doesn't it? Hopefully my hard work will pay of when the warmer weather comes for more than a couple of days!

I recently discovered that my neighbors have Rock Band. For those of you who don't know... Rock Band (according to wikipedia because I don't feel like finding the words to explain it) is a music video game that allows players to perform in a virtual band by providing up to four players with the ability to play four different peripherals modeled after music instruments; a guitar and bass guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. You match the rhythm and the notes on the TV with the ones on your drums or on the guitars. If you sing, the words run across the top of the screen.

This game is very entertaining. At first, I was horrible. I could not match a note to save my life. I found that the guitar was out of the question, but the drums had potential. I started getting the hang of it and improved my skills. I have yet to make it passed the easy difficulty and get to the advanced songs... But since I have been going over there every few hours for study breaks, I am determined to gain the skills of a rock star ;)

Did you know...

I love shopping!! ...whether it is shopping for clothes, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, and etc. I love it! I could spend hours in a store trying on clothes or comparing prices and nutritional facts at a grocery store.

I hate being alone more than anything. Enough said.

My favorite toppings for ice cream are strawberries and Oreos.

I weirdly eat chicken fried rice for breakfast when I made it the night before. I love it that much!

I still sleep with my baby blanket (which happens to be a Christmas blanket) and two stuffed animals... Puppy and Pengy. I plan to continue doing so until I can give them to my kids.

I was a dancer for about 10 years.

I am a sucker for celebrity magazines, news, and gossip.

I hate sitting in the car for more than an hour. I always force my parents to fly when we go on vacation. I will, however, enjoy an occasional evening drive around town.

My favorite movies of all time are "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "Pretty Women".

After working at Forever 21, my clothes are strategically folded and my closet is color coded and separated by sleeve length.

I'm scared of the dark.

I hate to be in the sun if I don't have a bathing suit on.

My favorite colors are shades of blue.

I hate it when the bottom of my pants get wet when it rains. I either wear rain boots or role my pant legs up when I go outside.

My beverage of choice is milk.

I love to do little kid activities... Like coloring, going to the zoo, watching animated movies.

I am a huge scaredy cat when it comes to scary movies, thrillers, or action movies... sometimes even movies that just have a scene where something out of the ordinary happens. I hide, cover my eyes, plug my ears, or mute it if I feel like something scary is about to happen.

I love to cook... even if it is something that I don't like.

I love to play games, whether it is board games, a card game, strategy games, or sports.

My favorite thing to do in Columbus is to go to Goodale Park in the afternoon and watch all the puppies play.

I have an extreme annoyance for people who drag their feet, bite there finger nails, or use their teeth instead of their lips when eating food off a fork.

I am a big people watcher.

I watch TV religiously. I never miss an episode of Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Dancing With the Stars, One Tree Hill, or Private Practice. I pretty much anything on ABC Primetime. When those shows aren't on... E! or Bravo is always on.

I have an obsession with looking presentable in appearance before I go out in public.

I hate surprises, but I love to be surprised.

Bittersweet Ending

I have never been to a more exciting game than the Blue Jackets playoff game tonight! The Jackets were down 1 to 3 after the first period. They came out the 2nd period and completely flipped a switch. They played and so much intensity, they scored 4 goals in that one period to tie the game at 5 to 5with so much drive at the end of the 2nd period. During the period, my throat became raw because of my insane screaming and my calves got a workout from all my jumping up and down. I never sat down the whole rest of the game. They were in it to win it.

Then with under 2 minutes left in the game, the refs made a ridiculous call for 'too many men on the ice'. It was a pretty iffy call, especially with the time left and the stakes of the game... but who am I to say, I'm a girl right? After the call, the game was delayed for about 5 minutes so they could clean off the ice because of the fans throwing beer cans, water bottles, and cups at the refs. You can only imagine the amount of boo-ing and obscene language being used. No one was more hated in Columbus than those refs at the game.

The Wings ended up scoring on the power play knocking the Jackets out of the playoffs. After the final buzzer, the crowd still cheered on, chanting "Let's Go Jackets" for a solid few minutes to congratulate them on there outstanding performance. After the teams shook hands, the Jackets stayed out on the ice and raised the sticks to thank all the fans. They were truly appreciative as the skated around the ice. If it wasn't for the refs call, in my opinion, I believe the Jackets could have very well won that game... But what are you going to do. There's always next year!

On a sad note, this will be (maybe) my last post on the Jackets for awhile... I know you all love my hockey insight ;-)

Excitement, Heartbreak, And Inconsiderate Fans

As you know from my previous posts, the Jackets made the playoffs. It is a long awaited accomplishment, since the CBJ had yet to make the playoffs after they became a franchise in 2000. Travis and I were lucky enough to snatch tickets to the first ever Stanley Cup playoff game at Nationwide Arena.

Tickets were not easy to get and prices were high. Travis (a long-time devoted fan of CBJ) waited in line at the ticket office from 11:30 a.m. 6 p.m. to get discounted Rush CBJ tickets... a.k.a. 250 tickets that are sold an hour before game time and are a little cheaper with a school i.d. I had class and an exam, otherwise I would have waited with him ;-) ;-)

The Arena District was absolutely crazy! Fans started gathering at the bars, restaurants and tents at about 2:30 p.m. Inside the arena, everyone was full of energy and anticipation in waiting for the puck to drop. There was constant cheering and loud pump up music during the pregame. It was definitely a fun atmosphere to be a part of.

My one pet peeve about sporting events is the loud mouth, inconsiderate, drunk 'fans'. They make themselves look like idiots and start verbal fights with fans of the opposing teams. I get the excitement of being at the game, but it is not necessary to interrupt the experience of others. Most of the time, it happens in the upper bowl seats which is exactly where we were.

Even though the Jackets are not playing to their potential and falling short of a win, I still have hopes for a victory in game 4. Thanks to Trav's Dad and Step Mom, we get to experience the 2nd playoff game just rows from the ice. Let's go Jackets!

A Light Days Rain and a Time for Firsts

I love the sound of a light morning rain. I'm sitting here in my living room, suffering from boredom and a dislike of doing my school work. The weather has been getting better, so I have been keeping my windows open to let the cool air in, even though we have had a span of rainy days in Columbus. For a brief moment, I could hear nothing but the sounds of the trickling rain hit the pavement. I heard no cars, no sirens, no people... Just the sound of a light rain and birds chirping. I felt so relaxed and so peaceful. I thought, what a good time to take a break from essays and textbooks. So here I am!

Yesterday was my birthday... The big 19! At least to me, because it's my last year of being a teenager. I feel like 20 is such a big jump, I'm not just a kid anymore. I thought I'd share some of my birthday presents I received. Most of them were things that I had never had before, but always thought about getting...

Number One : An iPod Nano. After all these years of iPods being around and everyone wanting one... I never was really interested in one until recently. I started rollerblading and "running" (if you can call it that) outside and wanted something to listen to besides the cars going by me. And, just because I wanted one! So, my wonderful boyfriend got me the latest version of the iPod Nano in my favorite color... Blue!

Number Two: Coach Sneakers. I know, I know... I'm crazy! Who would wear Coach shoes... Well me! I have had this unrealistic fetish for Coach for quite some time now. We were at the airport, heading to Orlando, and my Dad pointed at a girl wearing a pair of Coach tennis shoes. He said that he was surprised that I hadn't wanted a pair! Just so happens that Orlando has wonderful outlet stores that included a Coach Factory Outlet! Even though I already knew that they had one from my previous trips. With my birthday in mind, I took a stroll through the store, like always, and found that they had shoes for $50 less than the regular price! How could I pass that up ;-) Happy birthday to me... From my Mommy and Daddy!

Number Three: A Maxi Dress. For those of you who don't know, A maxi dress is a floor length, very casual, summer dress. I have always thought they were cute, but never had the courage to buy one. I never go home without taking a trip to my Forever 21 and of course I bought myself a little birthday present! I know people will make fun of me in it (a.k.a. my brothers and Travis!), especially for the colors. But who cares... I like it!

Let's Go Jackets!!!

Finally... The Columbus Blue Jackets have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs! First match up is tonight vs. the Detriot Red Wings in Detriot. Game time is at 7 p.m. on FSOhio!

Birthday Wishes!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!! Love you!!

Good old Zooba's and the holey sweatshirt that will never go away even though I bought him a new one for Christmas!

No matter what he says... He loves that dog!

Booo!

I sometimes find a humor in scaring, or startling people. Just a little practical joke to get a emotional rise out of someone. Their reactions and facial expressions are priceless. Most of the time you end up laughing about it anyway.

I hardly ever watch videos on youtube, unless someone shows me them. Travis recently showed me a video of the Houston Rockets Mascot scaring the living daylights out of random people. You must watch it all the way to the end. I guarantee that you will find humor in the people's reactions.

The Modern Jelly Bean

I recently discovered a new type of jelly bean... Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans.

I first was introduced to these bursts of flavor at KC's house. I was never a fan of jelly beans, but always a fan of Nerds. Never knowing they even existed, I tried one and absolutely fell in love! After my first bumpy bean... They started showing up everywhere. I went to the grocery with my Mom over spring break and saw them in the season's aisle. I picked up a bag, in hopes I would have them all to myself. After bringing them home, my Mom, Dad, Travis and I managed to finish the whole bag in a few hours time. In that time, they were all hooked to this magnificent bean. Yesterday, Easter, I got a triple dose of the new bumpy beans. My Mom gave all of us kids (brothers, sister-in-laws, and boyfriend) 2 bags of the beans. Just more people to add to the obsession. Then, we went to dinner at Trav's Dad's house. The bottom of the Easter basket was filled with bumpies. My entire Easter Sunday was filled with the consumption of Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans and I loved it!

I also must tell you of the jelly bean pooping bunny. Trav's Dad gave this to him as part of his Easter basket. Just a funny toy I thought I would share. You wind him up and he starts walking. A little flap opens on his butt... Out comes a jelly bean! We put the bumpy beans in there, but there size caused a bit of a problem.

Sunshine and Dolphins

WARNING... This is going to be long and filled with pictures :)

I had so much fun in Orlando, Florida with my Mom and Dad. Even though they forced me to go to bed every night at 9 (10 if i was lucky) and wake up at 8:30 every morning I still had a blast! We started out our trip by going to Discovery Cove, which is a sister park to Sea World that specifically is designed for an experience with dolphins. My dad and I got up close and personal with a dolphin named Maraya. My mom is not a fan of the water and sea creatures, so she slept in and visited a view outlet stores. The day began with about 30 minutes of pure, pouring rain and a thunderstorm. I was getting nervous... I had been waiting so long to swim with the dolphins. Luckily, it stopped raining and the sun started peaking through the clouds. Discovery Cove is an all day event; We arrived at 9am and left at about 5pm. It is set up so beautifully, it's filled with tropical flowers and trees and mock sandy beaches. There is plenty to do to keep you occupied all day. We snorkeled in a large coral reef that was filled with colorful fish and giant eagle rays. We stood in a lagoon filled with slimy stingrays swimming around us... you could touch them and feed them... I barely got a finger on one! We also floated around in a long, relaxing lazy river. We were served a very delicious breakfast and a gourmet lunch and had unlimited access to desserts, snacks and drinks. In the middle of our day, we learned all about Maraya. We played with her, fed her, learned tricks and had a few photo shoots! Overall, it was an awesome day! Here are pictures pictures of me and Maraya...

The next 2 days we relaxed by the pool, did some shopping, and ate at a few fun restaurants. One night we explored the City Walk, ate Margaritaville, and went to see the Blue Man Group. If you have never seen them, I would highly recommend it! They are blue, they never say a word, they make cool music, and are hilarious! Here's some pictures from the show, the ones with the Blue Man picture behind us, we were trying to imitate his face....

We played a round of mini-golf at a place called Pirate's Cove. Of course my dad dominated me... Even when I tried to cheat. I tried to get him to act like a pirate but that didn't work...

On our final day, we spent the entire day at Sea World. It was by far the coldest temperatures I have ever felt in Florida. When you are going to Florida, you really don't pack winter clothes! Compared to the high 80s low 90 temperatures we had the rest of the trip... 57 was freezing! The wind didn't help at all, except making it 10 degrees colder! The park was packed, but we still managed to see all the shows. My personal favorite is Clyde and Seamore... The sea lions! Here are a few of my favorite pics...

I came back with an amazing experience with dolphins, a nice tan, a few birthday gifts and amazing memories with my Mom and Dad! Thanks for taking me...Love you guys!

Now back to reality!

I'm back from Florida... Unfortunately. After a wonderful week of warm weather and sunshine, I'm back to the up and down weather in good old Columbus, Ohio. Back to school, homework, tests, and quizzes! As soon as I find the time, I will post some pictures and stories about my trip! Have a wonderful Easter weekend!