The Perfect Trifecta

This past weekend was full of twists, turns, and roundabouts!  It was especially SPECTACULAR because we had three days off!!!

Thursday

Tara & I decided to kick off the weekend early with some classmates at  Taco Mac's... which oddly enough doesn't serve tacos, but sure knows how to serve up some AMAZING wings!

(L-R: Drew, Rihanna, Marty, Allen, John, Tatum, Me)

Saturday

Tara and I headed off to Virginia Highland so I could run the O'Highland Jig & Jog. We left about 6 am and hit some pretty rough weather on I-75. It wasn't until I finished the race that I discovered that downtown ATL was hit by a tornado... I thought it was pretty odd that so few people showed up for the race. Other than that, the race was fantastic! I ran it in the time expected and got to see a new part of the neighborhood.

(Look at all those bananas!)

(After the Storm)

Later that day, I got my hairs cut... It's a bit Carol Brady, but there is quite the story behind it and I appreciate what I ended up with!!!

Sunday

Lazy, but oh so BEAUTIFUL. I sat on the porch and studied until this enormous bee started a buzzin' his way towards me. 

Away to the Blue Ridge (Foothills) Mountains

Up Up and Away... our trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. We encountered a bit of snow, what a wonderful treat for a weekend retreat!  

As promised here are some pictures:

(The Car Ride... Really, are you surprised?)

(The Cabin)

(L-R: Michele, Erica, me)

Now it's time to hunker down and study like a mad woman for what will be the most trying finals week thus far. 8 exams in 4 days...truly "oh my!"

March 1st Madness

The BIG 26 & All it's Glory!

My oh My...What a great way to ring in 26... yet another even year!

25 brought many new life changing events, I'm excited to see what 26 has to offer...I'm sure it will be Equally if not more SPECTACULAR!

I must say this Birthday was pretty Awesome, top notch, in fact! I received so many wonderful birthday messages/gifts/wishes from the friends & the fam. It was so great to chat with some of my favorite people in the world on my birthday! What great people I have in my life, really couldn't ask for much more!!!

The Evening: Dinner & Drinks(which I realized I'm getting a bit too old for) in Virginia Highlands with Great Friends!!!

The Gang

(R to L: Kyle (Erica's BF), Alex, Me, Tara, Erica, Sean)

The Cool Kids!

(R to L: Sean, Patrick, Alex)

All Smiles!!!

Erica

Me & Taritta

Trip Up the Mountain

This weekend was a resting one...!!! It was so nice to hang out and only study 1/5 of the time instead of every waking moment!

Today Tara and I took a walk up Kennesaw Battlefield National Park. Here are some pics from the walk:

Cha Ching!

I am so excited that Midterms are over!!! My initial hypothesis proved to be correct, Midterms do not cause physical, mental or emotional harm... 

What they do cause are the following:

headaches, bloodshot eyes, coughing, sneezing, petty arguments with your roommate and the desire to want to forget all that you have learned in the past 6 weeks as soon as you pass your exam so you can make room in your brain for the next BIG exam!

Top 5 things I'm looking forward to in the coming weeks: Drum roll, please...

1.) A few more hours of shut eye

2.) Celebration of several Birthdays 

(hhhhuh hmmm... I accept gifts in all forms,  I will be 26 after all!!...Just Kidding of course;)

3.) Retreat to the Blue Ridge Mountains!!! Excited to leave the Apt for more than 24 hours

4.) My Australian Friend Max's visit to Atlanta... he's not really coming to see me, but I at least get to see him!

5.) The O'Highland's Jig & Jog ...  pub crawl to follow!!! ... that's right, I'll be jiggin! 

*All of which I hope to provide plenty of pictures for ya'll to see ... excluding the sleep part, of course!*

Close Call!

Yesterday was a very exciting day! It was my first tornado scare!... Go figure it kicked off midterms week.  A group of us were studying at the apt and heard a loud train-like whistle coming from outside.  Our friend Erica - who is from Florida and has lived through plenty of hurricanes, but not yet a tornado - informed us that this was what a tornado apparently sounds like.... Our immediate thought:   

"Jump into the bathtub, Desperate Housewives style and cover ourselves with a mattress." One major flaw in our plan...  We don't have mattresses!!!

We turned on the tv and found out the sound was an alarm generated by the City of Marietta, for no apparent reason ... but I must say, it was quite alarming to think of a tornado a comin'. I felt a bit like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Except my plan is to take the aerobed and float on down the river with my bottle of Coppola in hand! I realize this isn't a joking matter, it was quite scary to think of what could have happened after seeing the tornado damage in N.C.! Life is full of surprises, none of which we can control. I'm just thankful everyone here is safe and sound!

Sleepless in Marietta

I am seeing more of 5 am - 12 am days (5 hrs of sleep, oh my)! But, I'm undeniably lovin'  the experience despite the long days and intense work load! We keep passing 2nd quarter students who not so subtly mumble "you think this is tough, just wait!"  Of course, I pay them no mind!

Interesting factoid I found out about myself yesterday... I'm Amiable! My entire life I have thought of myself as purely analytical when low and behold I'm really an amiable driver... don't know how that works! I don't know if it's all that accurate, but that's what Meyer's Brigg assessed;) I'm sure most of you are laughing right now because you have always known this about me, but I was truly convinced that I was entirely analytical!  

I'm fixin' to post pictures for ya'll real soon! "Southern Speak," as Dr. B phrased it, is so charming, I can't help but want to incorporate it into my vocabulary! 

Word of the Week: INTEGRITY ... Do you live with it or without it?