mandak26

The last few days have really been a blur for me. I wasn't looking forward to spring break ending, but I had a great weekend. I woke up early on Friday and packed my car full of all the stuff I brought home (I think I brought more crap back to my dorm then I came with in the first place) and all the camping essentials my dad thought I needed. I picked my boyfriend, Jose, up from the airport, where he informed me it was REALLY green here. haha We spent the day driving around Knoxville, running errands and I showed him the house I grew up in and other significant places around town. When my friend Deidre finally finished at work, we picked her and her boyfriend Patrick up and made our long journey to the mountains. We made the mistake of driving through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, so we didn't get to our camping site until 6 pm. Cades Cove was pretty full for it being March. We had two tents to put up, so we raced to see who could put theirs up first. Of course, Jose and I won. :) Everyone at the campsite was really nice to us. We were offered free stew and things to help us make a better fire. We roasted hot dogs and made smores. It was extremely cold and windy that night, the low was supposed to be 17 degrees, and I'm sure it was colder. When we all finally woke up, and decided off brand pop tarts weren't the best way to start our morning, we left the mountains. We drove to Pigeon Forge and ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel, which Jose had never been to. He ate his first biscuits and gravy and grits. We ended the day with mini golf and arcade games. I'm so glad I've gotten to show him around Tennessee, I can tell he likes being here.

 So my spring break did not start out like I thought it would. lol I stayed in the dorms Thursday night and all of Friday because my best friend wasn't leaving till Saturday, and she didn't want to be alone. I spent Friday cleaning my room, it is unbelievably clean now, and running errands. My boss messaged me on facebook *he's in his early 20s so it’s not completely weird that he has one lol* that he had some shifts available for this weekend. I packed up my car and drove to my grandma's house in Powell since my house is a good 40 minutes away from the Convention Center. I worked the Women's Expo concession stand from 7am-6pm. I was completely exhausted. The only good that came out of the day was that my Nana bought me a wallet and one of my friend came and visited me (and my supervisor gave me a 40 min break to hang out with her). I fell asleep during the UT game, which was probably for the best since they lost. :( I then went on to work the next day from 11am-4pm at the expo and 4pm-9pm at a banquet. I definitely made a lot of money this weekend :). And! I met a food network celebrity on my break! Her name was Ingrid Hoffman and she hosts a Hispanic food themed show. She was there to do a demo. All I could muster was an "I love your show!" I also found out that once I take a special class, I'm being promoted at work and getting my pay wage increased by 2 dollars! After work I drove to my mom's house and talked to her until I went to sleep. I have a great mom, in that she lets me sleep till noon and then takes me shopping for clothes. I'm so excited for this weekend because my boyfriend is coming to visit me from Las Vegas (we've been off and on since I met him during my senior year of high school) and we're going camping and to Gatlinburg with a bunch of my friends! 

I was really thinking that my spring break was going to suck because I wasn't going out of town or anything, but it really has been great so far! :)

I had one of the best weekends in a long time. I usually have to work so I mostly stay in the dorms on weekends, but this past weekend I took a trip to Memphis. My best friend Lisa is from there and she had a dance competition to go to so she invited me along. I've driven through Memphis a couple times, but never stopped and seen the actual city. We left Friday after her last class. It was still raining so we didn't get into Memphis till around 9 pm. Lisa drove us around her neighborhood area and we ended up just crashing at her house because we were so tired from the drive. The next day we got up and went to the mall for a while, and on our way back to her house, we kept seeing all her old friends. I've always lived in a big city so it was funny to see she knew all the people we would pass on the road. It was really exciting to meet all the people she talks about back home. Saturday night one of her friends drove us downtown and I got to see Beale St. and we ate at this seafood restaurant called The Flying Fish. On Sunday we spent most of the day at her completion where she won Top First! I was very excited for her, especially since I'd never seen her dance and she was really good. We finally got on the road and got back to Knoxville around 9 pm. We decided we definitely need to take more little trips. We had fun just riding in the car talking and listening to music. I love a good road trip :)

 Here's the link to the video I talked about in class today. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26asyGKDo&feature=related

There's lots of different versions of all kinds of people.

I hate when weekends don't turn out the way you want them to. I had it all planned out, hang out with friends, work, then study. And then the worst thing happened, my cat died.

I've had my cat, Snuggles, since I was about 6 years old. We were living in Knoxville at the time, because my dad was stationed in Turkey. My aunt's cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens, so my mom took me to pick one out. I remember they were all in a box, and the one that caught my eye was the all black. I picked her up, and my aunt told me that she was too little, but I didn't care. She was all mine.

Snuggles would sleep at the end of my bed every night since I can remember. Everyone knew her for her loud meow. Anytime someone would come over the first thing they would note was how loud she was. The one thing I'll always remember about her is when I was little, any time I would cry, she would climb up into my lap and lick my tears away. Over the summer, my family and I drove across from Las Vegas to Knoxville. I have my own car, so I was responsible for driving it. So it was just me and my cat, riding around, all day for a week. She would get cranky a lot from having to be in a small space, but most of the time I would have the music on and she would sit in the passenger seat, laying down, almost like she was listening too.

I'm really going to miss her. It just happened way too fast. I had only found out she was sick this past Thursday. We took her to the vet Saturday, where we found out her red blood cell count was so low, that the vet was surprised she was even alive. There wasn't anything we could do for the long run, so we took her home. The rest of day and night she laid by me in my bed, sometimes letting out a meow that I'd never heard before. Finally, she woke me up at 5 am this morning, and she meowed, while I watched, she slowly fell asleep, but didn't wake up. My mom made me feel a little better. She wasn't in any pain anymore.

This is her this past Christmas.

It seems like everyone on this blog was happy that the Giants won. lol me included. One thing I realized while watching the game with two friends, I'm really not as into sports as I was in high school. I would wake up every morning to Sports Center, discuss at school, and usually end my day with the sports section of the newspaper and sometimes my dad hashing it out about whatever sport was in season. But ever since I moved into the dorm, I've yet to get back to my routine. Sometimes I miss all that, but I think I'm just too busy these days. Its probably also because my dad and I had that in common, and since I hardly ever see him, I'm less inclined to watch.

One thing I did enjoy about the super bowl was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performance. I'm such an 80s music fan. That's the only type of music I heard growing up. I probably know most of the words to all the U2 and Journey songs. And Tom Petty definitely has a place in my heart. My friend Deidre have already started planning a trip to see them in cocnert this summer. :).

Now I'm off to find a new job. When did it get so hard to get hired? haha

This is one of my favorite Tom Petty songs and music videos...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5H0wUo37RY ;

I finally celebrated my 19th birthday on Saturday. :) It seemed like I was the last one out of all my friends to turn 19. I'm definitely the baby of my little group, but I always get bombarded with everyone’s problems and taking care of people who have had way too much fun. Anyways, the weekend was great, I pretty much have great birthdays every year. My family and my best friend Lisa took me out to dinner on Friday night. There was 10 of us in all, so we had to wait for over an hour at some Asian restaurant in Turkey Creek. I did get a free dessert so that was awesome. Bananas and ice cream are definitely meant for each other.

On Saturday, I actually woke up happy. I mean, I don't wake up sad or anything every day, but I usually wake up grumpy or just tired. I guess birthdays will do that to you. My roommate and two of my friends piled into my car and we drove to IHOP. We all ate way too much, but had a really fun time. Then we drove up to the mall and walked around. We had to stop at the pet store, Lisa and I have pretty much a relationship with the people who work there since we go there way too much. The best part was that they had the dog I've been wanting for a few years. A puggle. :) *its a pug-beagle mix* Of course I would never pay the outlandish prices they put up at the pet store, but I did get to hold it! Too bad dorms don't allow puppies. That would definitely be interesting. On our way back to the dorm we decided to go ice skating. I haven't been ice skating since elementary school, so it was quite an experience. Saturday is not really the best time to go with all the people there. We kept getting almost run over by little kids. I really want to go again, but on a weekday when no one is there.

I finished my night at my friend Rob's house. All of my friends were there and we had a little too much fun. But what can I say, it was my birthday. I can't wait till next year :)

Wha'ts everyone else's favorite birthday experience?

I started thinking about the concept of home over the weekend. Every time I moved somewhere different, I always saw Knoxville as my "home." That's where I was born and partially grew up, and where pretty much all my family lived. I had my own room at my grandparents' house. But ever since they sold that house and my family moved back here, it doesn't feel the same. I mean, my parents haven't bought a house yet, they're just renting, so I guess that makes since. But every time I go home for breaks or long weekends, I feel like I'm just at a hotel, or staying at someone else's house. I don't feel like I'm at home. I think I'm finally starting to part ways and begin my own life. Hopefully next year I'll have my own place and can start my own concept of home. 
Another thing I realized was that life has gone on without me at home now. When I first moved out, everyone would be excited to see me when I came home, but now they've gotten used to it. Even my cat, that I've had since I was in 2nd grade, ignores me when I get home. I know it sounds stupid, but I used to get annoyed all the time because she'd follow me around the house, but now she's latched on to my little brother. My family has finally worked around the fact that I'm not around to clean up after everyone and cook anymore. I was mom #2 to my brothers, helping them with their homework and driving them around to their friends house. I was happy not to have those responsibilities in the beginning, but now I actually miss it. But the one thing I do enjoy now is all the freedom I have, I definitly do not want to give that up.