I've gotten really bad about keeping this updated. The truth is, I haven't done much of anything to update about. Josh and I went up to Lake Jocassee on Sunday (pictured above) but it started pouring as soon as we got there. We couldn't swim because, even after the rain stopped, it continued to thunder the whole time we were there. It was a nice trip, but it would have been a lot nicer if the weather had been better.

Our thermostat on our AC broke two nights ago. It was literally like living in hell in this apartment. I put in a service request yesterday, but apparently they didn't get it. So the maintenance man didn't come until 4:00pm today. We were last on his list, even though it literally took him about one minute to fix it, and that includes the amount of time it took him to walk over to the office and get a new thermostat. When he put the new one up, it was reading 93 degrees. Ugh. It was awful. And I think our animals were more miserable than we were. But it's nice and cool now, and I am so thankful.

Josh filed for unemployment almost two months ago, and he still hasn't gotten a check because Clemson hasn't filled out the necessary paperwork. Gotta love em. By the time he gets his first check, we'll be back at work and won't be able to get it. I filed a couple of weeks ago, but same deal; I doubt I'll even get my check before we go back. But it was worth a try, I guess.

Other than that, there's really nothing going on. Just finishing up the summer, getting ready to go back to school and work. While I know I'll be wishing for a break as soon as it starts, right now I'd like it to hurry up cause I'm so bored!

book review: twilight

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Do I really need to give a description? I'll just give the Amazon one again because otherwise I'm just gonna tell you "It's about a girl who falls in love with a vampire."

Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.

So, obviously I'm really late to jump on the Twilight Saga bandwagon. My aunt suggested it to me when it first came out, but I never got around to reading it. Then it started to get really popular, and I was skeptical. (I was the same way about Harry Potter. I didn't start reading the books until I'd seen the first two movies.) I saw the movie, and I thought it was terrible, so I had no desire to read it. But then I saw Eclipse and loved it, so I decided to read the books, and Twilight was so good! I wish I had read it sooner. I thought with all of the hype that it would be a letdown, but that wasn't the case at all. It completely lived up to my expectations. So if you haven't read it yet, you definitely should.

it's time to try defying gravity

It's been awhile. I'd like to say that I've been busy, but I haven't. Not doing anything means not having anything to talk about.

I had wanted to go to the Pendleton fireworks on the fourth, but we ended up going to the lake instead. There were too many people, and the fireworks sucked. We could see Pendleton's fireworks over the trees, and they lasted about 20 minutes longer than Clemson's fireworks. It was lame. I probably won't go to the fireworks at the lake again, even though I've been doing it for half my life.


It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of fireworks when you're standing on a boat that's constantly rocking. Oh well.

Thursday was my birthday. It wasn't anything exciting. We went to Outback, and then we went to see Eclipse. I liked it a lot. Much better than the first two. Aside from the whole romance aspect of it. Bella drives me nuts, and I wish she'd just grow up and stop being an annoying little brat. I don't know. I haven't read the books, so I don't know if it's bad script writing, or if that's really the way Stephanie Meyer intended for her to be.

I'm reading Twilight right now, actually. I bought it last night, and I'm almost halfway through. That's the one thing I hate about books. If they're good, they consume me. It gets to the point where I don't even want to put the book down to get up and get a drink. I have to force myself to take breaks, or I'll just sit there and read the whole thing, no matter how long it is. Twilight has definitely consumed me. It's been a long time since I saw the movie, and I don't remember it well, so luckily my brain isn't trying to do much comparing.


Music: Wicked (Kristin Chenowith and Idina Menzel) - Defying Gravity

book review: looking for salvation at the dairy queen

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen - Susan Gregg Gilmore


It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and dying to escape her small-town life.

Every Saturday afternoon, she sits at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her getaway to Atlanta. And when, with the help of a family friend, the dream becomes a reality, she immediately packs her bags, leaving her family and the boy she loves to claim the life she’s always imagined. But before things have even begun to get off the ground in Atlanta, tragedy brings Catherine Grace back home. As a series of extraordinary events alter her perspective–and sweeping changes come to Ringgold itself–Catherine Grace begins to wonder if her place in the world may actually be, against all odds, right where she began.
*description from Amazon* (because I read it more than a week ago, and I wanted to be sure it was accurate)

I loved this book. It was a quick, easy read. It may not have been the most original story in the world. I mean, let's face it, there are hundreds (thousands?) of books about girls growing up in a small town in the south and trying to escape to a big city. It was also fairly predictable. Some surprises were easier to figure out than others, but it didn't make me like the book any less. This was Susan Gregg Gilmore's first book. I saw on Amazon that she has at least one other one out, and I'm definitely going to check it out.

book review: lullaby

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk


I started this book back in December. I took it out from the TCTC library, and I didn't finish it before school was out for Christmas break, so I had to return it without finishing it. I checked it out again this week and picked up where I thought I had left off. Forgive me if my summary is a little off since it's been several months since I read the beginning =P

Carl Streator, the main character/narrator, accidentally killed his wife and daughter by reading them a lullaby. It's actually not a lullaby at all, but a culling song. A culling song is meant to stop people from suffering and take them out of this world peacefully. Somehow this culling song ended up in a books of songs and poems from around the world, and he read it to his wife and daughter, and they died. So he meets Helen, who killed her son and husband the same way, and they set off to destroy all the copies of the book. Helen uses the culling song to kill rich people so that she can get gem stones from them. Carl never uses it to his benefit, that I can recall, but he uses it accidentally too often, every time someone upsets him. Anyway, they make a large dent in the population of that particular book, but their friends Mona and Oyster end up sabotaging them in the end.

I enjoyed it. Obviously it wasn't a can't-put-it-down book if I was able to let it go for six months. But I would recommend it. I haven't read any of Chuck Palahniuk's other books, so I can't really compare it to them. And I'm not really sure that I would read any of his other books after reading that one. I don't know. It just wasn't really my taste, but it was still a good book.

i figured all the memories were proof enough

Tonight was nice. We had homemade Taco Bell tacos (we bought the Taco Bell taco kit) and they were delicious. Better than if they had actually come from Taco Bell, for sure. Then we made chocolate covered pretzels and watched Planet 51. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. It was so boring! It got better toward the end, but I couldn't pay attention through the first half. At least we got it from Redbox so it was only a dollar.

I think our apartment is haunted. The cats have been acting strange ever since we moved in. They hide all the time, which is really unlike them, and they stare at nothing. I was in the bedroom the other day. They door was shut but not latched, and it flew open with a force that could not have been caused by any sort of moving air. Now we're sitting downstairs, and we're hearing all sorts of banging upstairs. We assumed it was the cats. Then I went in the kitchen, and they are all there. We don't have any upstairs neighbors, so...

Blogspot officially has me confused. I just got three random followers on my other blog. So I clicked on their names to find their blogs, but it doesn't tell me? Am I missing something? Can I not know their blogs unless they tell me? I don't get it. What good does having their names do?


Music: New Found Glory - Singled Out

fairy tales don't always have a happy ending, do they?

Karli arrived late Wednesday night, so I didn't get to see her until I got out of class yesterday. It wasn't as hot out as it's been, but it was still hot, so we stayed in the house for awhile. Eventually we went swimming, but then the Directv dude came, and I had to show him where my mom wanted her new dvr, so we got out for awhile. When the deck finally got covered by shade, Karli, Josh, and I went back in. It seems like we were in there for hours, but I really don't know if we were or not. We had fun though. I kept trying to pick blueberries cause the bush hangs over the pool, but I kept dropping them in the pool. >.< We had pizza for dinner and then spent the rest of the night just watching tv. Nothing super exciting, but I got to see my sister, so we had fun.

Last night I went to bed earlier than I had the night before, but I just could not get up for class this morning. I needed to leave by 9:30, and I didn't get up till 9:20. Didn't end up leaving till 9:40, and I walked into my class right at 10:00. So my prof goes, "I think they're gonna come in and take some pictures for publicity today, just so y'all know." Okay, whatever. About halfway through the class, a guy comes in with a video camera. He filmed for a few minutes and then left. My prof goes, "oh that's right, they were filming for a commercial." Of course. The day that I wake up late and don't take a shower and look like crap, I get filmed for a freaking Tri-County Tech commercial. Awesome, right? hah.


Music: Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry

i put your picture away, sat down and cried today

I got Elphie back in February. I missed having rats, and I decided it was time to get a new one. I would have gotten two, as rats are very social creatures, but they only had one. I kept going back to Petsmart, and they never had any. Finally, two months later, they had more. I got Galinda (pictured above). The day I brought her home, she was sweet at could be and much more social than Elphie.

Then one day, she escaped from her cage. When I went to put her back in, she bit me. Really hard. I left her alone. I came back about 30 minutes later and slowly stuck my hand out so she could sniff it. She bit me again. I have been afraid to put my hand near the cage for any reason since then. Then one night about a month ago, I was walking by the cage and saw that Elphie's face was covered in blood. Obviously Galinda had bit her too. They've been fighting a lot lately, so I decided to find Galinda a new home. I put her on Craigslist, and in less than 30 minutes, I had two responses, which was a huge surprise, especially considering the high rehoming fee I was asking. But I don't want her going to someone who's going to use her as snake food. So she'll be leaving on Saturday. Maybe then I'll be able to play with Elphie again.

Karli arrives tonight or tomorrow!! So excited.


Music: Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow - Picture

remember when you're talkin to the man upstairs

I wanted to keep up with putting a picture at the beginning of every post, but I'm already going to break that. Maybe I'll edit this later tonight and add one, but for now, I don't have one.

We've lived in this apartment for two weeks today, and we're still without tv. Of course it's not hurting us in any way, but it's just annoying. I can't break the habit of picking up the remote just to turn it on, whether it be to watch something in particular or not. Josh's parents had told us they would give us their converter box since they had gotten satellite and didn't need it anymore. Well, now they are cancelling their satellite, so I doubt that they're gonna give us the box. I heard from a couple different places that you could still just use rabbit ears, and it would work. So I went and bought some today...no go. I guess the reason they still work is because new tvs have the converter built in, and none of our tvs are new enough. I just don't feel like spending $50 on a converter box right now because there are a lot of other places that money would be better spent.

Two more days until Karli arrives for the summer! She may get here late tomorrow night, but either way, I probably won't see her till Wednesday. I'm pretty excited. I am not, however, excited about starting summer classes on Wednesday.


Music: Garth Brooks - Unanswered Prayers

simple lonely pathetic me, i cried

I wish I had a better picture of my dad and me when I was little, but I don't have any. I got this one off my aunt's facebook. I guess my dad has all of the pictures. I'm not really sure. There were a ton of them, but when my parents got divorced, I don't know where they ended up. I miss my dad a lot. I really wanted to be there for Father's Day, but it just didn't work out. I hope I get to spend a decent amount of time up there at the end of the summer since I haven't seen him since Christmas, but I don't know if that's going to work out either. Not having a job means not having money means being unable to travel. At least I know think he's having a good day. My aunt and her family are up there visiting, and they all went to Dorney Park today.

My mom and Hardy got home around 11 this morning, so we came shortly after that. I should've stayed for lunch and a swim, but I was in desperate need of a shower, and I wanted to get back to my cats because I was afraid they'd destroyed the apartment. They did not, but they did destroy one of my bras. A new one, too. Thanks, guys.

We may or may not be going to Josh's parents' this evening. I really don't want to because his father is anything but a dad. But we'll see.


Music: The Prize Fight - Playing the Part

here comes the sun

My mom and Hardy went camping this weekend, so Josh and I are dog/house sitting. These dogs are funny. They know their bedtime, and they let you know. They have their own room that's separate from the rest of the house. Last night Josh and I were sitting here watching tv, and Buddy (the yellow lab) got up and went to the door. I got up and opened it and he went right to his room and into his crate. Puddin (the black lab) was asleep when this happened, but shortly thereafter, she got up and did the same thing.

When we finally went to bed, we saw a car drive by and seem to turn into my mom's driveway. But you can't see the driveway from the bedroom, so we couldn't be sure. A few minutes later, we were both convinced that we heard someone walking around downstairs. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

This morning I went to work, and Josh went home to let the Directv guy in. They screwed us over again; big surprise. We decided to just cancel our order and rethink the whole thing because we've had three installation appointments now, and we still don't have tv. We came back here, to my mom's, after I got done working and watched The Parent Trap. (The Lindsay Lohan version.) Went for a short swim. Played some WoW. And now we're watching The Incredibles. I don't know what's in store for tomorrow, but I really hope we don't have any more shady cars driving by.


Music: The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun