I hate winter.

So two days ago I leaving my house to get to work and I slipped on ice, and fell down four steps. At first, my butt, my left elbow (which I apparently slammed on the steps...) and my lower back hurt.

Today? My hips hurt. My ribcage hurts. My neck hurts. My back hurts. My shoulder blades hurt. My elbow is swollen and painful. It hurts to sit. It hurts to stand. It hurts to move around.  I feel like an old lady; I keep moaning and groaning everytime I have to move. 

I hate winter. I can't wait until it's over and NO MORE ICE. I hate ice :-(

Last night Corey and I went out to the Fireplace, where we met up with Corinne  and Ron and a few of their friends. The Fireplace, in Brookline, was holding a Harpoon Brewery dinner, where they paired some of their beers with a 4 course meal. It was good, and cheap too - $40 for soup, salad, dinner, dessert, and 4 different beers. I only finished the Hefeweizen, so everyone else finished the rest of my beers for me :-P.

Also last night, we got some worrying news about Kathy, Corey's mom. Shooting pains up her neck, a warning sign, bad test results... I hope everything will be okay, Corey's taking her to the doctors for more tests on Friday. I'm worried :-(

She tells me not to, but I'm such a worrywart anyway.

Filomena and I are also planning a NYC trip in the near future. We don't know when, but we've already found a cheap bus that will take us there. We just need to save and figure out what we're doing... Plus, I really hope Corey and I can work out an affordable way to go to DC for a couple days on my Spring Break...

Filomena and I also might go to Britney Spears on the 16th... That should be fun, but we both feel bad about possibly taking the tickets from my sister. Her friend might not be up to going after surgery, and my sister promised Kristie that she wouldn't go to Britney without her... The ideal situation is that my sister gets to go with her best friend, so I'm hoping for that. 

Bah, I need to shower now and get ready and go to my Precalc class. I hope I heal up soon, this whole elbow thing is the newest and most painful addition to this body sore thing. I have to work tomorrow as well... Ugh.

Valentine's Day and Other Updates.

First off, Valentine's Day pictures!!

My super gorgeous roses...

Sleepy me posing with said roses

Talking to Uncle Ken on my brand new bean bag at Kathy's house

Oh jeez, it's been a while since I updated at all and for that I apologize. I've been super busy, but I have some time in between classes now so I can post.

My birthday was pretty awesome, and I was just so grateful to everyone that was able to share it with me... I've never had a party that big and it was a ton of fun. We all went to Feng Shui (about 20 of us) and had a hibachi party. Hibachi is a type of Japanese cuisine that is cooked in front of you, and I was very pleased with how well it turned out. When the bill came around, we ended up being $50 short which was upsetting. Kristen Costa decided to be a major sweetheart and put in $50 of her own money to cover the shortage. I later found out who didn't pay their fair share and all I can say is I'm really upset with them as they should know better, but hey, let bygones be bygones I suppose. No use in discussing it now, you know? But perhaps they should be more conscious of how expensive the drinks were and should bring more money next time...

I was incredibly surprised that people even brought gifts! I wasn't expecting it in the least, I was just happy to have them come and celebrate with me, but Garrette was super sweet with his FYE $30 gift card (which we'll be spending in Boston, when we get the chance to get down there)... I was also extra happy when Liz, her boyfriend Victor, Jess and her boyfriend Jared all pitched together and gave me money and a cute card :-).

After my birthday, I spent time with Keri and I have to tell you, she's so cute. I had SO much fun together... Everytime we hang out we just get closer and closer as friends. I also accepted her offer to be temporary day care from the end of May to end of June- I love her son Sage, we have a blast! It was so cute when he went to bed and he wanted a kiss from me too :-). I plan on seeing her ASAP, but I wish I had more time...

Valentine's Day was wonderful. I was a little upset I had to close that night, but Corey made me feel 100x better when he took me up to Parker's Maple Barn for our "romantic" Valentine's breakfast. He also went over the TOP with his gifts - I guess he got me the "Ultimate Package" at a local shop. A dozen gorgeous red roses, a bottle of champagne and DELICIOUS chocolate covered strawberries. I made him two photo albums and got him too little corny stuffed animals, but he liked them anyway! His card was so cute - he even drew me a rose and ended it with "Love You Soulmate". Awwwww!

I'm pretty tired - I was up till 4 am talking with my sister/planning Boston with Filomena, but not at the same time. Filomena and I have narrowed down our plans to this:

Noon: Take the commuter rail to Boston

1: Take the green line to the Prudential Center. Go to Barnes and Noble, shop, and take a duck tour. Have a blast, eat lunch somewhere in there. Also do the Sky Walk, which I loved last time I went with Corey.

Whenever afterwards: Take the green line to the blue line, head to the aquarium where we visit Sally the 200lb sea turtle and go to Faneuil Hall. Filomena knows of a deal where if you call Pollard Library, they can get us a pass to the Aquarium for $7 each, instead of $20. 

She wants to go on a swan boat and go to the Cambridgeside Galleria, so I promised her we'd go in April for that.

My sister and I started talking at 1am... I spoke with her the other day because I was a little concerned and wanted to make sure she was ok - she shaved her head. She said she was fine, just didn't want to be so vain anymore, and wanted a fresh start. Hey, it's her head, let her have fun with it right? My sister and I had a wicked fun conversation though, very light hearted and humorous. It was good to get to know my sister again :-)

I'm very excited to be getting closer to my grandmother. We never were close when I was younger because of the animosity between my mother and her, as well as the messy and dramatic divorce between my parents. When I moved in with my dad, we didn't form a bond, she was closer with Katie at the time. Well after Katie had continually stolen money and items from my grandmother, she realized that I'm actually a pretty good kid, very respectful and sweet. I promised her a girls night with her and my Aunt Nancy soon!

I'm wicked tired so I might as well get the heavy stuff over with before I take my Precalc quiz...

I'm very upset with my cousins Katie and Jonathan. Katie threatened to kill her father and wielded a knife, just because they got in an argument about how she refused to get a job and clean the house. My Uncle John decided to get restraining orders against both his children as they both are dangerous, and kicked Katie out. Not to be outdone, while my Uncle John was away for the weekend, Jonathan broke into his grandfather's house (where my Uncle lives now) and trashed the place. He broke 8 doors and poured laundry detergent on the stove, causing many thousands in damage. What awful people, they should be ASHAMED of themselves. You can point out that they have had tough and awful lives, but you know what? I have had an equally tough life and I turned out fine because I wanted better for myself and worked hard for it. You may have had a tough life, but how you deal with it is how you will be judged - they have a loving family who tried to help them multiple times, only to have them refuse it. Laziness is no excuse. Jonathan may think his life sucks, but that's only his fault because he's the one who skips school to smoke weed all day with his "thug buddies". Katie could have done better for herself, my grandma paid for her college,  but she stopped going and now her goal is to be a welfare queen who keeps going in and out of mental hospitals because she refuses to get real treatment for her bipolar disorder. She alienates all those around her who care about her with her brash and nasty, ungrateful attitude, and spends all day not working and posing in "sexy" pictures for her myspace pervs. Ugh.

My dad is spending his nights and weekends installing and fixing the house because of some thug kid who thinks he's tough... I hope I never see them again, I'm not going to lie. I don't envy them, I pity them because they are too stupid to realize the hole they have dug themselves in. This time, grandma won't bail either of them out. I honestly hope they grow up then and realize the oppurtunities they were given and they can make positive changes in their lives.

I've gotten myself all distracted on what else I was going to say, haha. I'll post more later, maybe tomorrow on other stuff when I'm not so frustrated anymore. Time for precalc!

Birthday :-)

Heavy on the pictures, but here are my birthday pictures as promised! Click them for bigger :-)

The first arrivals: Garrette and Corey

Kristen and Jim (who both ended up saving the night... details in the next post)

Love her!

Me, Meghan, Anna, and Krystle

Corey and I looking very cute

Liz, Jess, me, and Corey - The booth girls plus I guess an honorary one? 

My other favorite booth girl Kayla <3

We're missing two corners of the hibachi table, but mostly everyone

Corey and me, I'm all lasered up

I look like my Aunt Renee here I think. Funny how genetics work, I look nothing like my dad or my mom, just my aunt :-P

Eryn, Bethany, Corey, meeeeeee

The girls again :-D

I know, we're attractive.

Chynna and I celebrating my birthday afterwards

Anna and I, again being incredibly attractive

Being the birthday princess, I insisted on all 22 candles. Corey nearly singed his eyebrows off.

Took me three times to blow them all out!

So picture post is done. Another post to follow shortly!

Just real quick because I'm WICKED excited:

Thursday March 18th:

Filomena and I are going to Boston (no boys allowed!) for some Duckboating, Faneuil Halling, and Aquariuming.

Ing.

HURRAY!

Time to sleep!

Hey everyone!

Post tomorrow (this time I mean it, k? :-P) - LOTS of updates... Some good, a couple bad, but c'est la vie

For now, I'm going to do homework and relax on my amazing new pillows and sheet set, perhaps some relaxing on my new beanbag chair as well.

Sorry... =/

I just wanted to apologize for my last post, it's now edited. I said things that are too personal to have on a public blog that can really hurt my dad. I should know better...

My cousin? I don't care if I hurt her or not, as callous as that is. She made her bed and she needs to lie in it. I don't respect people who lie, steal, and are ungrateful, simple as that.

I sometimes just get really depressed about my financial situation and get extremely jealous of those who have it far easier than me. I have always grown up working twice as hard as anyone else to get where I need to be. So many obstacles to conquer, but I've conquered them all. In times of extreme exhaustion I can crack and breakdown and wish for things to be easier for me. As a result, I whine and complain that I want a handout too once in awhile, and it just comes off as childish.

I got stuck at an awful community college because it was what I could afford to pay every month and because of various family/life issues. I spent 2-3 years building my credit so I could get to a position where I can get hefty student loans that come with being in a better school on my own without a cosigner, and I'm very proud of this. As a result of working full-time and going to school part-time, I am 2 years behind and am doing my best to play catchup so I can move on with my life.

There have been many people who have helped me in key ways throughout my life and I am incredibly grateful for them. Because of my struggles, I have turned out as well as I have... I'm especially grateful to my dad. I'm very glad we're at a better point in our lives where we can have a great relationship and I try to be as supportive as I can of him...

I'm rambling and exhausted and need to finish English homework before 5pm. Then I'm working 6 - 9:30. I just want to sleep :-(

A day in pictures.

My life is never boring, and yesterday was no exception. Lucky you, I have documented the day in pictures (click for big, probably REALLY big, as always).

I started the day off normal, went to Financial Accounting, the whole deal. Snapped this picture of Spike kneading my bed. Cute kitty :-). She was just purring away and digging her claws into my comforter, but hey if she's happy, I'm happy.

I had to work at 6pm at MB, so I took the bus, and on the dispatch I heard about a fire on Thorndike and Highland, right near the bus station. Being the inqusitive detective that I am, I rushed to the scene. I didn't have my usual Nikon Coolpix S560, so I had to make do with my cameraphone. Luckily it's 3 megapixels, so it came out pretty good. 

The third floor looked to be on fire, and there was a hole in the roof with smoke pouring out. I figured it would be easily contained because of the quick response.

Just because I'm a curious person, does not mean I'm particularly very bright. Mind you it was 8 degrees outside and I did not wear my gloves, hat, or scarf. My hands and feet were quite pink and painful when I got back inside. Notice my $3 pants, nice comfy corduroy courtesy of half-off on Old Navy Clearance.

Back at the bus station, I waited patiently for my 5:40 Chelmford St bus, talking to a few people here and there about the fire. I found out by one woman that Paul Tsongas lived in that house! I started talking to this guy Nick about the fire. He was pretty nice.

Someone comes in and points out that the fire got worse, and many of the roads were closed off. Traffic was going through the bus station at that point, and buses were 45+ minutes late. I called my work, and spoke with Jess W., letting her know I was going to be late because of a massive housefire. Sat around some more. Nick apparently ran outside to go see the fire.

He came back, talked about 10 foot flames coming out of the roof. How could I NOT see what was going on? We wandered outside, spoke to a cop that was patrolling outside of the train station. I offered to buy him coffee because it was so cold out, but he declined saying he was used to it. He told me I should have dressed better and I agreed :-P. Because we were so nice, he let us get closer to the fire, but told us to just stay to the right and not interefere.

It was a bad fire alright :-(. Various people told me the house was collapsing and that it was a 5 alarm fire. However, the news article seems to refute this: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_11637523?source=rss_viewed

Another article: http://www.lowellsun.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=2302640

Nick and I stood out there trying to get the best pictures, freezing in even colder temperatures. I couldn't take it anymore, and had to head back inside and wait for my bus. My hands hurt so bad, and my thumbs didn't even thaw for at least 15 minutes. Nick and I talked a bit more, and I mentioned I had to call Corey, so Corey and I discussed the fire a bit. I decided I should call work again and let them know the bus still wasn't here, so Liz picked me up from the station.

I said goodbye to Nick and said I'd see him around. And went off to work.

And then decided I was a pirate.

So, last night before Corey and I went to bed at an ungodly hour I received this Facebook message:

hey, yeah.. so i don't even know if i got the correct person... but i think i do. and yes, i do realize this seems pretty darn sketchy..but i figured i'd give it a shot.

so yeah. hey. i might have met you tonight at the bus station, and you may or may not have made a decent impression on me.. and if you're who i think you are, i think you're pretty awesome.

here's hoping i dind't message some random girl.. lol

~Nick

Oh. My. Goodness. I truly have no idea to react... 

How do I get myself into these things? My poor boyfriend, I'm too friendly for my own good :-P.

After that message, Corey and I had a really good discussion. He brought up how I joke about my "work boyfriends" or the guys that hit on me to his co-workers or friends and they are all horrified or worried. He mentioned that he knows how devoted to him I am and that he trusts me completely, so he has no fear or worry. I mentioned that I tell him everything because I know that he trusts me and I trust him. I joke about his "girlfriends" all the time, because I'm comfortable with him and trust him.

That's when you know you've hit the best part of your relationship. Full trust, no jealousy. No drama, just making it work and making it better. We're at different parts of our lives, with me in school and him working full-time, us making sacrifices to make us work. But we're worth it to each other.

I love him :-)

Speaking of school, I'm so screwed next year. I have to re-file the FAFSA for Fall 2009 once my dad is done his taxes... My part will be much better, because I only made $8k last year. But my dad? Well, with his regular wages and a inheritance that equaled his yearly pay... Loans are going to be harder to get this year, and I'll be getting zero financial aid. Not even federal subsidized loans I bet. 

My dad has it really good, and in a lot of ways I'm jealous. With his inheritance, he paid off his house, his truck, his motorcycle, and has a lot of discretional income. He never got much of a party life when he was younger, and he recently admitted he spends $300+ a week at the bars.

With my college education, I just hope I can live much more comfortably than I am now...

I saw my grandma on Wednesday, and it was wonderful to see her! Next time I see her, she wants me to get all dolled up so she can get a really nice picture of me. She thinks I'm gorgeous :-).

Speaking of grandma, my cousin Katie got kicked out of her house by her dad last week. He also has a restraining order out against her because she threatened to kill him. I hate her, I'm not going to lie. This girl got handed EVERYTHING because she had an awful childhood. Abusive or neglectful parents messed her up bad. My grandmother bought her a car, college education, clothes... Katie just squandered and stole it all away. Her goal in life is to live on welfare and not have to work... I can't feel pity for her, because she doesn't have a grateful bone in her body. I just feel badly for my grandma, who tried everything she could to give her a better life...

Walk For Hunger 2009!

I'm so excited! Registration was just opened for the 41st Walk For Hunger, which will be on May 3rd! This will be me and my partner-in-crime Corey's third time walking all 20 miles all through Boston and surrounding cities and I'm so pumped :-)

What is the Walk for Hunger? It's run by Project Bread, and helps hungry families in Massachusetts get access to quality meals. More info? Project Bread's Website

My goal this year for the Walk For Hunger:

• Get corporate funding. In late March/early April, sending out letters reaching out to businesses in my community. I don't know how it will go, but I'm excited and hopeful that they will support me.
• Raise $1200 and remain a Heart and Sole Walker (raise over $500). Last year, I raised $1000 in two weeks, thanks to incredibly generous family, coworkers, and friends. My first Walk, I raised $600 in just four days. I know that in this recession, money will be harder to come by, so my goal is big and may be impossible. I will feel satisfied if I raise over $500, because I will remain a Heart and Sole Walker for my third year in a row.
• Bring a poncho to the Walk For Hunger, be prepared! Last year, Corey and I got downpoured on badly. From miles 2-7 I believe we were DRENCHED!

The Walk For Hunger means a lot to me, and it's my favorite charity to participate in. I don't like to go hungry (and I don't look like I do either :-P) and I don't want anyone else to either. Every year, no matter how tough it is, I walk all 20 miles. Last year, I nearly quit at mile 10, freaked out, started crying, but I was there at the end, thanks to Corey... I intend to do all 20 miles again :-)

Just to get myself pumped, here are some pictures from last year's Walk (click for big):

I decorated my backpack for the occasion :-)

We were SOAKED, right after the downpour

I have happy feet, guys

Corey looking thrilled at the mile 7 marker. Another goal of mine? Get more pictures of us doing the walk

I take pictures of all the Heart and Sole signs, I'm super proud to be in the Heart and Sole Circle :-)

This year, it's going to be my biggest, most dedicated year yet. However, I can't do this without you guys, so now is my plea to start thinking of me and my cause. Start saving if you can, so come April and May when I start requesting donations, we can all help in getting rid of hunger in Massachusetts!

<3

So excited!

One week!!

Guys, it's my birthday next week :-)

I'm sooooo excited about my birthday dinner, it's gonna be a blast!

What is Marketing?

I really can't believe how hard it was to find and utilize two marketing journal sources that defined marketing.

5 hours of research total. For two sources, with each ONE line defining marketing. I couldn't use the official AMA (American Marketing Association) definition either. I could find that definition in 30 seconds, and now I impart that knowledge to you:

New Definition of Marketing (est. in 2007)

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Previous Definition (est. in 2004)

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

You learn something new everyday, eh?

Not. Fair. Now to write my ONE PAGE paper.

P.S. Superbowl today! Not that I care because the Pats' aren't in it, but Kayla and I are gonna have a Superbowl homework party are work (4-7:30) since it's going to be dead after 5:45 pm (very scientific estimation, I know).  

P.P.S My diet has gone down the tubes, boo to that. I went grocery shopping yesterday so I can at least eat better and actually bring my lunch instead of wasting $8 I dont have everyday at Southwick cafe on North Campus. 

P.P.P.S. Maybe someday I'll find time to run too, because this whole 7 classes thing is exhausting! Haha, I always bite off more than I can chew, but you know what? I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make sure I finish all 7 (ok 6 and a half, because the lab is like a half class) and do WELL. Wish me luck!

P.P.P.P.S. 9 more days until my 22nd anniversary of my birth, a joyous occasion, I know.