Just Stand Still

I do not even want to begin to think about all the things I need to accomplish between now and the end of the semester.

So for now, I am going to just stand still and imagine I am somewhere else..... just so I can try to hold everything together

.....it could fall apart faster than you could possibly imagine

#SwiftiesforLife

If I could be any person in the world, I would be Taylor Swift.

I had the opportunity to see her in concert this past week, and it was the most amazing concert I have ever seen. Even though she was playing to over 14,000 people, it felt like a private concert.

We bought these tickets in February, that's right February. The show was originally scheduled for July, but Taylor ended up with bronchitis and the concert was rescheduled for this week, on a weeknight of course. It was supposed to be a birthday present for baby sister, and we kept it a secret all this time!

I surprised my sister at my aunt's house and told her that we were going somewhere and that I would give her a clue. I then showed her a 13 that was written on my hand, and she instantly knew. We were going to the Taylor Swift concert. 

Thirteen

Ticket!!!

For those of you who are not Taylor fans, 13 is her lucky number. She paints on her right hand for every concert and so naturally when my sister saw it she knew that is where we were going.  Taylor also writes song lyrics on her arm for each show, so my sister and I followed suit. 

I told you I'm not bulletproof, and now you know

Just like T. Swift

T. Swift performed 18 songs in a 2 1/2 hour period. The show was phenomenal, a perfect tribute to her fans and a perfect tribute to who she is as a person.

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

Isn't she beautiful?

Needless to say my sister and I are #swiftiesforlife 

Still not convinced she is awesome?

Watch this video, if you can make fun of yourself like this, you are perfect in my book

T. Swizzle and T. Pain

You are the best thing that's ever been mine

How Much Longer Until Christmas?

I always complain when people start celebrating too early, but this year I have caught the Christmas bug early. It is my favorite time of year, I get to sing in the Christmas choir on Christmas Eve and have a simple dinner of subs and macaroni salad with my parents and sister as we open presents....yes on Christmas Eve (benefit of being German).

Ever since the bug has hit me I have been playing this on repeat in the car. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs to sing. I cannot help myself, it is just beautiful. 

The best part about Christmas is our Christmas morning brunch in which my extended family comes over. We break out the good china and glasses and have the most AMAZING food. Cinnamon rolls, egg and sausage casserole, garlic cheese grits, mini chicken salad or pimento cheese croissants. The table is always decorated and of course we are by the beautifully lit tree.  Can you see why I can't wait?

Also getting me in the mood for Christmas is that the Lucky 7 has decided to do Secret Santa! I think I found my gift :) We are going to celebrate the end of finals by going out to dinner and exchanging gifts, what could be better?

The next few weeks are going to be awful in terms of school work. I am just 5 papers, 3 presentations and 2 finals away from vacation....scary right. I have to spend Thanksgiving in Columbia because I have so much to do, but it will be worth it because come December 8th, Rory and I will be road tripping back to Raleigh for a month off!

Trying to remain positive and keep myself happy with all the good things to look forward to! 

We said no Christmas, so I had no Christmas

You must have had a little Christmas

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Although Halloween was quite some time ago, I thought it would be nice to talk about the weekend I had with my mom and my sister and of course, our awesome Halloween.

Over Halloween weekend, my mom and my sister came down to Columbia to visit. They arrived on Friday night and we had pizza and wings, a tradition for fall in the our family since my dad goes to my high school's football games every Friday. We sat and talked (shock I know) and watched wedding shows (another shock).

Saturday was filled with a trip to the Riverbanks Zoo. It is a must if you ever find yourself in Columbia. The zoo is on the smaller side, but it is kept up very well and is perfect for going to for the day. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and although it was a little chilly with the wind, with a windbreaker there was not a problem. It has been YEARS since I have been to this zoo so it was like seeing it for the first time again :)

Here are some of my favorite exhibits:

Grizzly Bear, he was HUGE

Running Kangaroo

Elephant :)

Baby Giraffe

Up close and personal 

Baby sister and I were given the opportunity to feed the giraffes (for a small fee of course) but it was so worth it to see her face. Priceless!

Flamingos....they smelled awful

These monkeys were so LOUD!

The most memorable moment of the day was however when we went to go to the garden part of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. If you go, you will see that there is a sign that says "Riverbanks Botanical Gardens" and a bridge you need to cross in order to get to the gardens. No big deal right? So we walk across the bridge and found ourselves at the bottom of a HUGE hill. Looking at the map at the bottom of the hill, we realize we need to climb the hill to get to the gardens. It was a tough climb, steep and steady increase and no gardens to be found. When we finally made it to the top, we notice that there is a tram stop. That's right, we were suppose to ride a tram up to the top.....not walk.

So for future reference, there is a tram stop in the middle of the zoo that you can ride to take up to the gardens and back down which is what we did.

We had a GREAT day and ended it by making beef fajitas with chips and guacamole. Delish.

Note the festive chili pepper serving dishes!

 We spent the next day at Village of Sandhills and found some killer deals. I got 2 shirts, my mom got one, my sister got 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for a grand total of $50, crazy right! Even better, I now have a $30 off coupon that I can use when I spend $60. Old Navy, you make it so hard not to shop at you. Although my mom and sister were suppose to spend the night, Rory's hair was getting to my mom and she was having to take her inhaler to much. We decided it would be best if she and my sister went home that night. Good thing they did, I was up until 1am finishing my homework, which would have been harder to do if they were here.

After class on Halloween, I drove up to Charlotte to spend Halloween with my sister. We went over to my Aunt's house to trick or treat which was awesome, they have a lot more kids in their neighborhood then we do.

This year I decided to be Flo from Progressive. I borrowed an apron and a Progressive bag from one of my mom's coworkers, used a button down of my dad's and just wore my khakis. It was an awesome costume if I do say so myself....what do you think?

Printed them off the website, 

Had to have the Flo hair bump!

 Along the way there were things that got us in the Halloween mood:

OMG Phineus and Ferb Pumpkins!

My Aunt's Halloween table

It was a wonderful weekend, and it put me in such a good mood after having several projects and tests in the weeks leading up to it. I cannot wait for more fun weekends with the family.

You're missing the whole point of Halloween. Free candy?

Pintrest

For those of you who have not been exposed to it, consider yourself lucky, and for those of you who have,

"Hi, my name is Ginger, and I am a Pintrest addict"

I joined this website recently because I have been hearing all sorts of things about it from people on Facebook and Twitter.  Instead of explaining, perhaps it would be more appropriate to show you what it is like when you first find out about Pintrest:

That pretty much sums it up. Total and complete addiction.

Pintrest has its benefits of course. It gives you the ability to find things such as great recipes, clothing ideas, decorating ideas for the holidays or your house and lots of DIY crafts and projects.

But just as important to remember is that it is a complete time suck. I do not even want to imagine the amount of time I have spent on Pintrest, and I have only been on it for a week.

Have I convinced you to love it....or to hate it? I truly is a love hate relationship. If you are already a part of the addiction, please follow me. For those interested here is the link

Come on, you know you want to.....

This isn't a hobby or an addiction. Its inside you now. You're responsible for it.

You've Got Mail

Voicemail:

"Ginger, this is Hope from the office, you have a package that was delivered to your old apartment available for you to pick up here. Have a nice day"

Mail Chimp Plushie

 

Front

Cute Butt

Just for you Rory

Thanks for the gift Daddy!

Hockey puck rattlesnake monkey monkey underpants

November Me Crazy

Once again, this blogging thing is slipping out of my hands, but I currently should be writing a paper, so that means blogging has taken priority once again as my perfect distraction.
So much has happened in the last two weeks, I will try my best to catch you up and perhaps do some posts in more detail later.

The Wednesday before fall break, I had the girls in the program over for a girls night to watch silly movies and relax (we had a test that morning). It was the first time some of them saw my new apartment and it was nice to be all together and NOT talk about school.

Since I was having people over of course that meant something embarrassing had to happen....enter in the ants, yes ants. Ants and I have been acquainted before, in Tucker where they came in through a crack under my window. Fortunately I have learned how to do deal with them and I am here to tell you the secret...hot glue.

ewwww ants

secret weapon

Cassie tackling the ants

It worked in Tucker and my new place like a charm. Use hot glue to seal up the area they are coming in and you will be ant free :) Cheap, easy and clear so it blends in nicely...and chances are if you are a girl, you have one of these hanging around.



On October 15th,  Jared and I celebrated our four year anniversary, and by celebrated I mean Jared was on a motorcycle trip with friends and I was in Columbia....needless to say it was still a nice day. Darcy, John, Cassie and I went out for drinks at Wet Willie's where Niall works. It was nice to not be alone on such a special day.  But, Jared and I were reunited the following weekend and went to the NC State Fair, and of course out to dinner for our four year anniversary. Here is to many more years of happiness!

4 years :)

NC State Fair (look at what I have to deal with)

Procrastination accomplished, I think I will head to bed and try to be productive in the morning.  November is going to be a crazy month for me, I will try my best to update you along the way.

Well you can celebrate next year on the anniversary.