hockey and dancing

hope you all had a great weekend and a sweet valentine's day. my valentine's day was very chill and the weather made it nice enough for me to actually enjoy the day a little. a very relaxing yogalaties class and watching the movie bride wars with my girlfriends helped too.

my weekend, however, was even more awesome. friday my friend taylor and i went back home for a night. our hockey team was playing at an away game so we took her little sister and went to cheer on our boys. there were only about 15 fans from the other team, and we were the only 3 from our school (minus the parents). to make up for the lack of fans, we decided to go crazy every time they scored a goal. this was supposed to be a super hard team that crushed us last time, but we ended up winning 7 to 4!! and everytime they scored a goal, taylor, her little sister madison, and i went totally crazy. screaming, waving our arms, everything. it got to the point where even the other team was complimenting our cheering skills. i personally would like to think they won because of all our cheering, but maybe i'm a little biased. either way, i totally loved cheering them on and being noticed, especially by one of the guys i'm crushing on. ;)

taylor and myself

our hockey team

saturday we came home and decided to go to a local club. it's gay-friendly, but tons of students (guys and girls alike) go and dance. i wasn't sure what it would be like but i got ready with a few girlfriends and we headed down to the club. we were a little nervous at first (well, except for my wild child friend erica), but once this weirdo kept trying to dance with us and we had to keep avoiding him, it made us loosen up. once we were chilled out we started having way more fun. it was just what i needed too. we danced, sang along, and laughed for over 2 hours. and when we left, i realized that i hadn't thought about stressing, school, guys, anything. i had so much fun just letting go and letting the music take over,and kinda feeling beautiful. i was so glad i got to share the experience with my girlfriends. by the time we got home at around 3am, i was exhausted and couldn't wait to fall into bed.

 my gorgeous girls

they marked up our hands to make sure we didn't drink

my weekend was so much fun. probably one of the best yet, although that's a hard call. what did your weekend bring?? xoxo, lauren

captian's ball!!

this past saturday was captian's ball. it's basically. prom for college kids. the dances i went to in high school weren't that great. i went to two homecomings and one prom, and although they were fun to dress up for, they weren't much else. this however, was totally different. my girlfriends and i had all planned to go together so i was really looking forward to it. being girls, we started getting ready really early. everyone was helping each other do hair and fix make-up. my friends gretchen helped with my hair (it looked amazing) and erica did my make-up. i wish they could do it everyday!! :)

of course, once we were all ready we had to take a million photos of everyone. i got photos with all my gorgeous girlfriends (from left to right they're taylor, erica, and kim), as well as the whole group together.

the rest of the night was spent dancing with my friends, cheering on my hallmates as they attempted karoke, munched on chocolate covered strawberries, pretzles, and marshmallows, and dancing more. one of the best parts was that for once in my life i didn't waste time worrying about guys. i simply flirted, laughed, and let myself enjoy feeling pretty and being silly. we sang and danced our hearts out in a big circle and it was hilarious. afterwards we all went to ihop (yes, at 12 something in the morning). apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea because everyone was eating there in their fancy dresses and suits. i loaded up on chocolate chip pancakes and didn't worry about the calories because i had probably burned them off from dancing. in case you can't tell, all of my friends had such an amazing time, and so did i. i can't wait till next year. and check back on friday because for "silly photo friday" i'll be posting a few more pictures from the ball. how was your weekend??

xoxo, Lauren

Silly Photo Friday!!

sorry for not posting all week. it's only the second week of school and already things are crazy busy. so i apologize times a million and i promise i will start posting aside from my new features. i'm actually 98% up to peed in all my classes so that's a good start at least. and it's friday (woah, already?? where did my week go?) but i'm super happy because i have another fun night planned with friends. and this time i'm going to try to take more photos. last night i was at my friend's dorm (i practically live there, i swear) and we all had a blast talking, hanging out, and being silly!!

it actually creates the perfect opportunity for me to introduce my newest feature. "silly photo friday" (or thursday, im still deciding) is going to be some fun pictures that i either a. had taken or b. am in. (maybe both??) i'm trying to take more photos this year (as if i didn't take a lot before) and this will be a fun way to show a few off. and finally...onto the photos. (warning: sorry for the quality this week. between the setting my camera was on and the awful lights in the hallway the pictures aren't 100% perfect, but they are 100% fun!!) :)

the always fun "let's jump up in the air and get a picture of us mid-jump". not easy but always makes for tons of laughs. (note my friend damian in the back...he almost knocked a tile out of the ceiling!!)

damian is one of my closest guy friends. one of the reasons we got so close was because we spent so much time practicing together for that huge dance competition this past november. and whenever ballroom kids and  performers get together, you get the constant need to dance and ham it up in front of the camera.

taylor is def one of my closest friends here. we actually went to opposing high schools but never knew each other. we have so much fun together, but that also leads to so much trouble. ;)

That's it for this "silly photo friday". feel free to tell me what you think about the newest feature. i'm off to go get ready for tonight!! can't wait. xoxo, Lauren

back to college-land!!

i got back to college on saturday and classes started on monday. as hard as it was to leave my family and my animals, i was so excited to get back. even after just one semester it already feels like home and i have a little "college family" that i love. one of my goals for my blog this year is to blog more about my life and my college adventures. this semester is going to be a little busier than last semester.

(my super awesome planner!!)

the first semester is one of the harder semesters because people are adjusting, finding themselves, meeting people, and learning to live on their own. my stats grade wasn't the greatest but i passed which is what matters most. i have one more math class this semester and once i'm done with that i'm freeeee of math. i'm also fundraising chair for the ballroom dance society, meaning i get to plan all the fun little events to build up funds. i'm already working on the first little event that should be held later this month. i'm also on the sketch comedy team, hanging out with friends, working on my etsy and blog, and getting ready for our huge formal event, the captian's ball, coming up later this month. more on that laaater... ;)

so far my classes seem okay. i had to switch one that doesn't start till next monday, but hopefully that one will be good as well. i'm in one of the easiest math classes and 2 of my ballroom friends are in there so i should be able to get by. my history class actually seems pretty cool. the professor was well-recommended by a friend who had him and he seems pretty rad so far. i'm in 2 psych classes, 201 and 202, and i have them back-to-back so tuseday and thursday evenings from 4 to 7 will be all psychology. the first professor seems amazing, but the second...not so much. during the first class he lectured for almost an hour without stopping. i'll try not to complain too much but i don't think i'll be praising the class much either. i do need to get my study habits in order, however. i have my binders (but i still need cover pages!!) for each day, my super colorful pens, planner (50% off at Barnes & Noble!!) and most of my books are in. Now all that's left is actually starting to study.

(supplies)

we had a "ballroom free dance" last night and it was sooo amazing to see everyone again and start dancing. i had so much fun dancing with all my friends that i've missed. damian, my cha cha partner, and i had an especially great time dancing together again. we were cha cha partners at the dance competition we went to in november, and missed advancing to the next level by one judge. our plan is to practice like crazy and take no prisoners at the competition next november.

tonight we have our first official ballroom lesson of the semester and rumor has it this guy i've been talking to a lot recently will be there. more on that later. ;)

xoxo, Lauren

2011!!

My first post of the new year!! How refreshing!! I love new beginnings. I think that people can always start over fresh and it doesn't matter how many times you do it, it's always fun, new, and a little scary. The best times to start these "new beginnings" are usually times when you're going through changes in your life. Starting school (like when I started at college in the fall) or a new year (like now!!), or maybe a new job, move, or anytime you feel like it. :)

My last few hours of 2010 were spent at a friend's house. It was a small get together but we still had a blast. We built a fort (totally silly but totally awesome too!!) and did a bunch of other fun stuff. Then my first day of the new year was spent with friends again. We got our nails done, went out to eat, then Allison (one of my fav people in the whole world) slept over. We stayed up talking about everything and laughing our heads off. It was much needed.

Sadly, my laptop still isn't connecting to the internet and my mom's laptop bit the dust over new year's. I'm posting this from the library right now. I can't wait till I can get back to college (i miss everyone so much) so one of my nerd friends can fix it for me. I promise once it's fixed i'll be back out with tons of fun posts but until then i thought i'd just let everyone know i'm still alive and hoping for the best in 2011.

xoxo, Lauren

A Small Revalation of Sorts

This week has not been the best week for me. I've had multiple assignments due which means a crazy amount of work and as mentioned previously, an issue with one of my closest friends here. We talked tonight, and it'll be okay, but we both need some time to get back to where we were. However, I was still pretty upset about it and the conversation ended with me going back up to my room and crying. I was texing Patrick (also known as Mystery Badger) and he was being so sweet about everything.

I decided I would spend the rest of my night in my room on my laptop trying to get homework done. About a half an hour in, no homework had even been started and I was still just as upset when my phone rang. It was Patrick, telling me that I was going to meet him and Molly, a good friend in the making, at Einsteins, our library's version of Starbucks and a favorite place for students, to do some homework. I didn't want to, but he was a little insistent so I figured after making him listen to me being all sad I could at least agree to meet him.

I'm so happy I did. I ended up running into a few other friends, talking with people, laughing, and even got a little homework done. By the time one am came around and they were kicking us out I was laughing and smiling and feeling much more like myself. I thanked Patrick for making me come out about 50 times, but he deserved it.

So here's the part where my revalation comes into play: As I've said before, this is my fresh new start. I'm still working through the past and that will take a long time but I'm working on it and I'm making sure to do things differently here. Yeah, bad things are still going to happen. Upsetting things too. But what I realized tonight is that it's already different. Had this been high school, none of my friends would have called to make me go out. They would have let me be in my room alone. Here, I have people who care enough about me to do something to make me feel better. I have people that I can trust. I have people that think I matter. Because I do. Things may not be perfect, nor do I want them to be, but I'm still a pretty lucky girl.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

The past few days have been kinda busy. I was up till 2:30am last night finishing up a paper, I still have another 8-12 page paper due Tuseday that I'm trying to finish earlier so I can skip class and head home for break early, and I have a couple of journal entries for my theater class due. On top of that I had a major fight over something stupid with someone I'm really close to. Although, I plan on blogging a little more about the people in my life and what's going on, we won't get into that because it's still being resolved, but I hate fighting with people I'm close to. Thankfully Patrick, probably one of my best friends here, was on fb to chat with me and cheer me up. Thank god for him. :)

Since I'm not one to be sad for often, I figured I'd blog about some of my favorite etsy finds that I really hope will make their way under the tree this Christmas. (As a side note, is anyone really excited for Christmas?? I can't wait!!)

I've been in love with these darling little hair clips for a while now. There's something about them that's just so darling. They'd def add a little dash of whimsy to your hair.

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Whenever I'm stressed I love to just stand in a hot shower and relax for a few. This body whip looks like it'd be amazing. The seller has new scents out for Christmas as well so I can't wait to see (or smell) what else they come up with!!
 

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Not going to lie, I'm crazy over this shop. She has all this amazing stuff I've never bought but always wanted. I love this piece in particular because I have a shiny pink, strapless dress that this would look great in. And I think CNU has something called the "Captian's Ball" in the spring. ;)

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This last one I'm going to leave you with is one of my favorite fine art prints. I love spring and summer for all the fresh fruit. There's something about a bowl of fruit, especially strawberries in my opinion, sitting on the counter freshly washed just waiting for someone to come along and take a bit.

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