Daniel's (21st) Birthday Weekend

So, I spent Friday night in town with my friend Daniel where we celebrated his 21st birthday. Due to the fact that this does not need to be a long complicated story, here's a list of straightforward facts/events that took place:
1. Daniel left his ID in a town an hour away.
2. We went to a restaurant that doesn't card.
3. A bunch of people showed up then left.
4. Fucking wind storm from hell.
5. The power went out several different times, then finally stayed off.
6. We walked about 14-17 blocks to a house that was about 7 block away from where we started.
7. The house smelled like wet dog and had quite a few frat boys in it.
8. Daniel ripped his shirt off, just to see if he could.
9. We walked the 4 blocks to 7-11 and back. It took 35 minutes.
10. The party continued to suck.
11. We went back to his apartment (~1:30am).
12. About an hour later, the rest of the people from the restaurant showed up.
13. Everyone had about .75 beers a piece then left.
14. I got a call from Coleman at 8:30 this morning informing me that approximately half the state of West Virginia doesn't have power, nor does a decent portion of Virginia. Fucking wind storms.

I hope you enjoyed that lack luster list. Until next time.

Youtube Treasure Chest #1

So I've decided to do a weekly segment called the Youtube Treasure Chest. Basically, this will consist of one (or possibly two) videos on Youtube that I think you need to see.

Here's the first video (it's a throwback):

Blog Import Complete

I think the title says plenty. I'm currently in the middle of one of my summer classes so I might not post until that's over, but here's a post I wrote on May 26th after I scheduled all my other posts to magically appear at 5:00am PST every day!

Okay, well, just in case you haven't noticed this yet, I'm not an interesting person. At all. Seriously, except for the feelings of unresolved, overwhelming sadness, I sort of look like I have depression. I spent a great deal of my time inside, on a computer, and typically forgot to turn lights on when it gets dark. Thank God I have Coleman or I might spend several days on end without social interaction (and for some reason, that doesn't really bother me). Also, if you looked around my apartment at the various projects I have left undone, it may look like I have ADD. Just saying. I'm also really bad about getting sidetracked with things and abruptly stopping, occasionally mid-sentence.

Umm.... Yeah. That's about all I've got. Please enjoy this wonderful video about Harry Potter because Harry Potter things never get old!

With Love,
Elli

Welcome 2012

Well, it's a new year (only according to the Mayans, it's the last year). Sorry to have dropped off the face of the Earth over the past... 4 months? Grad school has been pretty cool. The only thing I've learned thus far that I could use in therapy is Systems Theory, but next semester should be better. I'm really looking forward to my classes. Apparently I was doing something right, though, because I got all A's. Woot woot! Done now. Sorry.

I've found a couple websites that I like that I felt like sharing with you all. You may pick up a theme.

Miss Make

That's So Michelle

Craft Gawker

I was also having a good year financially until my mother opted not to pay our cell phone bill and I stopped getting GA pay right around the same time. So, of course, like any other normal human being, I flipped out and went a little crazy. As a result, I've being a little of a whore for money lately. Please enjoy this new contribution to my rather sad, shameless acts: I've also gone so far as to sign up for Publisher's Clearinghouse. Again, don't judge me.

I hope everyone is off to a great start. I have not made a New Year's resolution, but I hope to some changes to this coming year and make it a great one.

With Love,

Elli

Reasons Why I Hate North Carolina

Hello Dear Readers,

You are about to embark a journey into the very core of my rage-infected soul. Today's topic is North Carolina. As you may know, I'll be attending Appstate (starting Wednesday) for grad school. Well that's all fine and dandy, except Appstate happens to be located in scenic North Carolina. Here is a list of things I have discovered I hate about the area:

1. Almost every single driver I have encountered does not use their turn signal.

2. Almost every driver will get within 3 feet of your bumper while driving at speeds of 50 mph or greater.

3. The layout here is atrocious. For about 3 miles, there is nothing but chain restaurants and stores, and then suddenly, you're in the middle of nowhere. Oh, you needed to turn left into one of those chain stores/restaurants? Too bad. You're shit out of a luck.

4. Blowing Rock, for some ungodly reason, is a tourist trap.

5. It's 2 hours to any city (city being defined by: having a Target, Barnes & Noble, and/or Victoria's Secret).

6. I don't know anyone here.

7. There's a Goodwill. Fuck if I know where THAT is.

8. Faux-hippies everywhere!

9. You get judged for shopping at Walmart and you get judged for shopping locally. Hypocrit central.

10. I drive a small car. No 4WD+snow and ice=death.

11. The only way to get internet that wasn't dial-up was to get a Verizon mobile broadband wireless modem. 5.0 GB for $50 a month. I refused to get cable because I had Netflix. But 5.0 GB a month?! I'm fucked.

12. Coleman is in Texas.

13. (This one is not against the state) My neighbor mows his lawn DAILY. Who does that?

And there you have it. I'm sure the list will expand. I've only been here a week. Until then.

With Love,

Elli

West Virginia Update

Hey all! Long time, no post! Well, here's a update on my life over the past 2-3 months (I really can't remember how long, and I'm too lazy to look it up).

First of all, I'll update you on my beloved roommate, Amber. She got custody of her little sister (age 11) AND she's knocked up. She and Tim were already going to be sharing a 2-bedroom apartment with some serious crack-head (for real, is on crack), but now throw in 2 other CHILDREN into that bedroom and you have yourself a real Dub-T clusterfuck. Food stamp verification and welfare information to come (just kidding!).

Hmm... Let's start with the real meat of the update. Coleman and I moved to West Virginia about 2 weeks into May. He has since then got a job in Houston, Texas as a mudlogger on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm not going to explain what he does as his job, so you if you want to know, Google it. He has been gone since June 8th. I have no seen him since. I will not see him until roughly September 10th or so. I stayed in West Virginia, so I've finally gotten the full raft-camp experience being here alone, but for fuck's sake... This place blows without him.

BUT... WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!! I do adore him, so this event made me incredibly happy! My mother did not take it well because he did not ask her permission first (my anger regarding that topic deserves its own post), but she was the first person to know, which she should be happy about. 

I officially have an apartment for grad school, which he is (remarkably!) still paying for half of. I've also received a GA position, an Out-of-State Scholarship (which basically makes it so that I pay In-State tuition), and am working on finding a job. I only plan on working part-time, to accommodate the fact that I'll be starting grad school, but I still need money to freaking survive. Yes, there will still be more posts of me complaining about money to come... Brace yourself.

I hate my job.

I think that about covers it. Now that it's mostly written down, I realize how ridiculously lame my life must seem to you. Oh well.

With Love,

Elli

The Wonders of TV

Well, today I watched the series finale of Boy Meets World. I bawled, and like most people (I suspect), I bawled the hardest when they said their goodbyes to Mr. Feeney. Throughout the series finale, there were many flashbacks to the moments they have shared. While looking at all the flashbacks, I realized that I'm a rather lucky person. Now my relationship isn't picture perfect like Corey and Topanga's, but it's real and it works, I guess. I've always wanted someone who playfully makes fun of me for crying during movies/TV shows, etc., but doesn't care that they don't understand why. And someone who never expects me to do things for them, such as laundry, but always appreciates it when I do. Someone generous and kind and pushes me to become a better, more developed person (I resist sometimes, but he keeps pushing and I'm thankful for it). And, of course, someone who loves me. I think I'm exceptionally lucky to have found someone like that. I really, truly love him and I hope it lasts.

I'm clearly having a very emotional day, but whatever. I'm a girl.

With Love,

Elli

Graduation

Sorry to have left you all hanging recently. A lot has been going in my life. Please enjoy the following stress-explanation/bitching/ranting paragraph/list (sorry for the excessive use of slashes):

I have officially heard back from all the grad programs I applied to (3 acceptances, 2 rejections, and 1 waitlist). I have made a decision about where I am going to grad school (Appstate, here I come!). My boyfriend and I just celebrated our two year anniversary, and by celebrated, I mean he slept on me while I watched When Harry Met Sally for the first time. I have been working on my 2.6 different research projects (2 projects are using the same data set so... it's a little iffy). I have recently created my own scale of technology use for one such project. I have run approximately 87 different analyses on these projects, collectively, of course. I had training for my summer job (out of state, again, of course). My boyfriend has recently become more independent, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am hovering right around "moderately codepedent." I have to create 2 different posters by the end of next week on two different completed projects that are far from complete at this moment. I am almost completely out of money (I owe my loan program of choice, Coleman,  about$400). I just found out I have to start repaying one of my loans in about 6 months because it is private and doesn't defer. It's my turn to buy groceries and we're almost out of milk. However, as I mentioned earlier, I have no money. I cannot do anything fun for the next GOD KNOWS HOW LONG because I can barely afford to feed myself (let alone him). To add to that, it is now time to look for an apartment. Guess what? Almost every freaking place in Boone is like $400+/month and that is NOT in my budget. And the one place I like that is definitely in my budget requires an application and reservation fee, totaling $235. Luckily Coleman will be paying half, but still... MONEY IS THE DEVIL!

The best news in the world, though is...(drumroll, please)...I'M GRADUATING IN 32 DAYS! That means my stress explanation will look like this:

Boyfriend, boyfriend, money, boyfriend, apartment.

GAH! I cannot wait for that! And over the summer I will be working at a rafting company, doing canopy tours, mud obstacle course, kid's camp, and (my full-time job) reservations.

Thanks to you if you read all of my bitching. If you didn't, that was probably smart. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my site and my work.

With Love,
Elli

Stress Sex

Yes, you read that right. Stress sex. It is quite possibly the greatest thing in existence. This week, I released my two research projects I have been working so diligently on only to have one of them get mega fucked up for about 2 days. Much of my time this past week as be devoted to fixing that. Considering it is online, it was strikingly more time-consuming than I had anticipated originally. Also, it was a bad time of the month, thus adding additional stress to my life. The ultimate relaxer? Orgasm. Mine came in the form of post-period, moment-of-relief, vigorous sex. It's like an added rush to the original "O." Now I know that taking a break when you have a shit-ton to do goes against the hardworking/diligent persona, but trust me when I say this: it will give you new motivation on whatever you are working on AND it will relax you completely and give you a fresh start. I'm sure this is not news to you, but as a woman, I realize that women can forget how completely and utterly amazing sex is. So next time you're stressed about an exam/project at work/etc., you have two options: 1)grab your partner and do your favorite horizontal dance, or 2)play with yourself. You'll thank yourself for it later.

With Love,

Elli

BANFF

To those of you out there that are nature/sport/culture enthuists, you need to attend the BANFF Film Festival World Tour. I don't care where you live. Find somewhere close that is a stop along the way and watching the 2-2.5 hours of epic footage. They have climbing movies, whitewater sport movies, skiing, caving, rowing, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of. So what real BANFF is... It is a film/photography competition that takes place in Canada every year. It is a 9 day experience of watching films, meeting the most adventurous and inspiring people in existance, being inspired, and mingling with fellow outdoorsmen/women. Now, I have never been to real BANFF, only the World Tour in my local area, but I want to go more than anything. The mini-selection they play is always enough to inspire me. I can only imagine what would happen if I went to the real thing (which I will, one day). Anyways, here's a link that will take you to information about the world tour: http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival/worldtour/. You should definitely check it out.

With Love,

Elli

Surprise!

Well, it is the week after Spring Break, which I used to go to Oregon and spent the rest of it (if you remember reading it) doing absolutely nothing. Mind you, this doing nothing thing is very important to my sanity, because without it, my schedule would pretty much guarantee a nervous breakdown in approximately 2 weeks. Anyways, upon to returning to class, I realized that I had a test on Thursday (yes, today) which I hadn't read for, at all. When I realized it (Tuesday morning) was when I had the most available time to read for it. However, I did not have my book. This test was on 9 chapters, for a total of 287 pages. Guess what? This is also the week that I had events planned for several evenings of the week (namely Tuesday and Wednesday). Guess who only read 3 random chapters? That's right-this girl. Now I realize it is my own fault for not using my time more wisely, but seriously? Who has a test the week after Spring Break? Any even worse, in an 8am class! Ugh. I hate suprise tests. They're like surprise sex (aka "rape") but for your brain.

Well, honestly that was about all I had to rant about for this first half of the week. Hmm... I'll have to come up with something better for the second half.

With Love,

Elli

Oregon: The Interview

Good morning world! It is Monday at approximately 8:25am EST (well, it was when I started this). I have survived the hectic flight out to Oregon and back, including a total of 7 different flights and about 17 hours of air time. WOOHOO! Now, back to the actual point of this post... the INTERVIEW (dun-dun-DUN).

There were about 50 people there, but only about 24 will make the cut. We arrived at 8:30 promptly, where we were welcomed by the 3 core faculty and one highly prized off-campus supervisor. From there, we were separated into 4 different groups to begin the group interviews. That portion did not go well for me. There was a girl in my small group that immediately answered with a highly in-depth answer on every question, leaving the rest of us with very little to add, if anything. As a result, I was rather concise and probably did not add anything. One thing I particularly did not enjoy about this was that I had the supervisor. She is a very intimidating woman. I did not finish explaining why I wanted to attend the school, but after she said, "Thank you," in her angry/curmudgeon-y voice, I knew I better stop talking.

Anyways, after this point, we were divided into two large groups: the campus tour group and the dyad interview group. I happened to be in the dyad interview group. (For those of you who, like myself, do not know what a dyad interview is, it is an interview performed simaltaneously with another candidate in the room. In more simple terms, they interviewed us in pairs.) Within the dyad interview group, we were split further into 4 smaller groups which determined who you would be interviewing with. I interviewed the permanent male faculty (the other male was only visiting) and I think it went particularly well. My partner, a charming girl named Kristen, was very much a team player, and for that I am thankful. We played well off of each other and were able to create a pretty substantial dialogue between the facult and ourselves. I hope that this portion is weighted heavier than the group interview. If not, I might be screwed.

After the dyad interviews/campus tours ended, we went back to the common room and were again separated into two groups (we got to pick which group though) and went to lunch. I went for pizza because there was a girl (Brittni) who was from my general area and I wanted to talk to her about the transition. Our group walked while Brittni drove a girl was was on crutches. I got the sense that parking was a nightmare based on the fact that we walked and managed to arrive about 15 minutes before Brittni did. Anyways... So we talked about the transition and school and home and all that crazy stuff. During this portion, I did get hit on by one of the 3 guys interviewing which was quite lovely. **I received my admission decision prior to finishing this post, so if you notice a shift in mood, that would be why.**

After lunch, the half of the group I was in did our campus tour. It was raining so we briefly saw the 5 major buildings: Financial Aid, the Gym, the Wellness Center, the Library, and the bookstore. Afterwards we returned to the common room, waited for the other group to finish interviews and said goodbye. Before we left, we were told it would take about 2 weeks to hear from the University (yeah, I've heard that before...fuckers). Well, here it is, Monday afternoon/evening, only 2 business days since I interviewed, and I have officially been rejected from the University of Oregon. That's right. Rejected. R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D. I feel about as depressed as you would imagine, as well as angry, hungry, and again, depressed. On the plus side, I still have Appstate, which I am realizing more and more that is most likely my place of attendance come August... Fuck, I really want to go to Oregon. It's beautiful and wonderful and all things I want to surround me.

Well fuck Mondays and especially fuck the Monday after Spring Break.

As always:

With Love,

Elli

Oregon

Honestly, I neve would have thought that flying was exhausting until I tried it. Arriving at the airport at 3:30am EST, we (friend Daniel and I) began our long trek across the country to Oregon. We had 4 flights, totaling about 8.5 hours in the air, and about 7.5 hours in airports. That is the cost of being cheap. Seeing as how the last time I flew anywhere was 13 years ago, I forgot how cool airports were. We went through 4 international airports, all with gadget stores and gift shops and restaurants a plenty. That was kind of a blast. We slept (since we hadn't at all yet) on ou longest flight (about 4.5 hours), though I only managed to sleep for about 3 hours. That was better than nothing at all. I haven't slept since, though Daniel slept on the 2.5 hour trip, as well. Oddly, I'm fairly wide awake, which is concerning me due to the fact that in the last 30 hours, I've had about 3-4 hours of sleep (I may have nodded off again and forgot). God, it's been a long trip. It's even been kind of emotional. Daniel and I have been a little aggitated with each other and apparently I've been exceptionally bitchy towards him because he went off on me before our last flight. I felt terrible because what he said was true, though the reasoning was a little flawed. I cried for a little bit, primarily because it was true, then I think we made up. I still think it feels kind of awkward, but he's acting like everything is fine, and he mentioned that the reason for my behavior (though stupid and bitchy) was out of love/caring. The final flight was only 30 minutes long and I thought our interaction was better than on any previous flight... well, maybe not the first one. He did let me squeeze the shit out of his hand when we took off because I kind of forgot I was terrified of flying. Lucky day for me! Now time to rehearse grad school questions and answers before a much deserved sleep.

With Love,

Elli

Days 1-4 Without Coleman

Hello again.

Thursday: I built a shelf and organized some stuff.

Friday: I went to the bank, clean out my car, got my stuff out of his car, cleaned out room, moved ALL of our furniture, watched the rest of Season 2 of That '70s Show, and caught up on Teen Mom 2 (I'd rather not talk about that one).

Saturday: I went to my volunteer job, had lunch with my mom, went to a Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball (where my best friend and I-also a wallflower-sat downstairs, ate ice cream, and had the most epic talk I've had in...forever).

Sunday: Eh, fuck it. I watched all of Season 3 of That '70s Show.

With Love,

Elli

Codependency

I think I have a problem with codependency. Coleman left for a week and a half on Thursday. Now, first I went through that phase where I was overly productive in order to not think about it. And I've hung out with people since he left and all that jazz but... it's not the same. I spent time with my best friend from high school last night and we talked about a whole bunch of stuff. I started to really think about it and I really only spend time with Coleman for the most part. I tend to only spend time with other people (obviously other than my roommates) when he isn't around, and that makes me sad. Now in reality, that isn't so much of a big deal. I have plenty of friends that I make small talk with when I see them and all that, and I have a like 3 really close friends, but I feel like I spend the bulk of my time with him. Not that I'm complaining because he is really great. But when it leaves, it becomes really evident and I don't know what to do with myself.

Though this does not help but to point out our intense differences when it comes to other people. He is a social butterfly and I am very much an awkward wallflower. Anyway, point being: I plan on spending the remainder of my undergrad (sadly only 2 months) to attempting to hang out with other people. I love him and I love spending time with him, but I think we (or really me) need to see other people from time to time.

I realize that is kind of dull in conparison to my other work, but I needed to get it out there.

With Love,

Elli

P.S. I haven't hit the "sad" stage of missing him yet, though, but I am DEFINITELY starting to miss the physical aspect of our relationship.

Addicting Game

There are a few games I play from time to time that encompass my life for about 4 days and then I move on. There are quite of few of these games, but the one I am currently playing is called Mushroom Farm Revolution. I know it sounds stupid, and it kind of is, but I like tower defense games and the mushroom things are kind of cute. It's definitely a good way to kill time, which is probably what I'll be doing for most of Spring Break (my life is really rather boring, honestly). You guys should check it out! Enjoy!

With Love,

Elli

Horrible Professors

Hello and welcome to my rant about this horrible bitch professor that takes over my work study room for several hours during my shift. First I want to point out that I do not have to stay while she is in there, but:

(a) I am super poor

(b) she's in here for 3 out of my 5 hour shift

(c) all the work studies in my position are capped at 12 hours a week

She typically only comes in on Thursday, but this week she came in on Tuesday (and will come in today). Now, honestly I'd be thankful for more Tuesdays because I have a meeting in the middle of my shift and I hate kicking everyone out of the room so I can go to the meeting (the guy that works during my meeting is ALWAYS late). Unfortunately, the first I saw him this semester (he finally showed up on time) was the Tuesday she was in here, so he left (fucker). Anyways, back on track... I have 3 research projects I am putting together and I have a shit-ton of work to do with them. With 4 hours in a work-study room, you can get a lot done if there are no interruptions. Normally, she lectures and I listen to music and do my work. She does have this horrible tendency to get done to my eye level and wave furiously to get my attention. I take out my headphone and she tells me something completely irrelevent or something I already know, like she is coming with in her two classes today (she puts a damn sign on the door- I can read). However, that's about the only contact we have and I like it that way. Her waving and irrelevence already made me dislike her, but I can overlook that.

Before proceeding on, I want to make a statement: In EVERY SINGLE ROOM ON THIS CAMPUS, there is a projector. EVERY FREAKING ROOM!

Tuesday, she reserved my work study room to watch a movie on the projector. WHATEVER ROOM SHE CAME FROM HAD A DAMN PROJECTOR!!! IT FUCKING HAS TO!!! But NO! She had to reserve my room to watch her stupid movie. That in and of itself isn't so bad. But she had to turned up super loud so I turned my music up to try to cover it. And immediately afterwards, she comes over to me and tells me to turn down my music because she thinks she can hear it. First of all, what the hell? She doesn't even actually reserve the room, she just puts a sign on the door. Second, did she even consider I might be doing something important and scholastic? Third, I'm supposed to be there, not her. Fourth, she can fuck off because the movie she was showing her class was about Facebook. She's a fucking English teacher! How relevant can that possibly be? I feel like she is intruding on my place and shoving out of my job. I do not stand for that shit. Anyways, in order to keep myself from screaming at her, I left.

Moral of the story: She's a stupid bitch who needs attention.

With Love,

Elli

Spring Break

You all remember my wonderful roommates Amber and Tim. Guess who is going to be stuck in our apartment with only Amber and Tim, and possibly their very large, white-trashy family? That's right! This girl. And I most definitely not looking forward to it.

Here's a list of the reasons why:

1. They both recently got tattoos (thank God they don't match, but I wouldn't put it past them)

2. They both owe me money right now, which I know they have and just won't give to me

3. When I tell them I'm sick and am going to sleep, they are quiet and shut the door for approximately 5 minutes and then run from the kitchen to their room back and forth, as well as have conversations from the two rooms for about 45 minutes

4. They annoy the fuck out of me

5. I hate them

You should expect updates on this subject later on in the week. Luckily, I will be escaping for 3 days for my interview in... OREGON!!!! Super pumped!

With Love,

Elli

My Mother

Here's a topic I haven't prepared you for. My mother is a little bit... insane. She has this lovely idea that despite the fact that I am 21, she can still control my life. And I'm sure you or your friends have a mother like this, but I think my mother has a very interesting approach to it. 

The following story takes place on Saturday, February 26th...

Okay, so I got mail from two of the grad schools I applied to, and because my mom works on campus, it's pretty easy for me to go see if in this case. While collecting my mail from her, I noted that I needed to make a decision about my acceptance the day before I leave to go to Oregon (which is next Wednesday). Now, keep in mind she was DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME during this conversation (around 2pm). Interestingly though, she decided to text me around 6pm saying we needed to "sit down and talk." Having lived with this woman for 21 years, I'm fairly good at predicting exactly how situations like this play out. So I automatically assumed it was one of the 3 F's: finances, fornication (Coleman), or fall (grad school). Typically, she is the type of person likes to make me stew over shit that she says for days on end. Luckily, she told me it was about grad school. That I could handle for a few days.

Monday rolls around and I go to see her. Apparently, I had that look on my face that said "Let's have this talk now or I will explode" so we had our little heart-to-heart. Here's how I predicted the conversation would go:

Mom: You are my only child, my little girl. I love you. If you go away to Oregon, we'll never see you and you'll stop loving me.

Me: No, I won't, Mom. I love you. Oregon is where I want to go and what will make me happy. It is nothing against you and has nothing to do with you.

Mom: But... You are my only child, my little girl. I love you. If you go away to Oregon, we'll never see you and you'll stop loving me.

Mom: Okay, Mom. I love you. Don't worry. I'll be okay.

Now here is what really went down:

Me: Mom, I'm not going to stop loving you because I go to grad school. And it's not like I'll never see you...

Mom: Now hold on. You don't know what I'm going to say. Let me say what I need to say first! (Momentary pause) Now think about it this way: you're going to be working in West Virginia all summer. And it's not like you can just take a day to go look at apartments in Oregon. You'd have to take a week off and it would cost about half of your summer pay to fly out there, look and pay a deposit, stay in a hotel while there, etc. And when it comes time to go, you have to figure how you're getting there. If you drive, you have to think about gas, hotels, etc. It'll take you another week to get there, and there goes the rest of your summer wages. Just think about it.

Me: Okay, Mom. That makes sense, I guess.

Mom: See? You don't always know what I'm going to say.

One thing you need to be aware of is the fact that I am a pathological liar to my mother and my mother alone. To her I am still a virgin, her charming little entirely Christian daughter whom has never participated in any vaguely sexual act ever. Nor have I ever had an alcoholic beverage in my life. Back on track... I am a chronic car camper now that I have my huge as fuck boyfriend who is my protector against all, so that whole hotel thing she mentioned...fuck that. Second, the internet is a marvelous invention that allows me to peruse the available housing oppportunities before arriving in the beautiful state, thus narrowing down my search. Also, my plane ticket cost $500. I make like $5000 in a summer. That is so not half of my wages. And finally, I am cheap. I do not need the fanciest place available. I need something with a bathroom and a microwave that costs like $250 a month (preferably less). My mother doesn't really know me, but I really know her. She had her speech prepared and when I flanked her, so had to reconfigure and find a new attack. Mission failed.

Moral of the story: my mother is insane, and yet, I still love her. I would think there was something seriously wrong with me, but you just got introduced to my mother. You know it was inherited.

With Love,

Elli

Roommate Rant, Part 2

Hello again. Sorry for the delay. I was unable to log in for about 4 days. Problem solved, though. Or at least, I hope.

You all should remember my adorable roommate, Amber. Well, her charming, broken family members have made yet another unnotified drop in. Her stepfather (God knows from where or what marriage) has been staying with us for 2 days at this point. Seriously, how fucking hard is it to say "Hey. My stepdad's going to stay with us for a few days?" First of all, it's fucking weird that it was a Tuesday and Wednesday. Second, no one, and I mean NO ONE, likes to walk towards the door of the apartment only to be startled by a very large, loudly snoring man wearing flannel. Seriously, imagine Al Borland from Home Improvement, but with fewer teeth and not cuddly. That was my experience Tuesday morning.

Now, for most people, that wouldn't be too bad. But I startled relatively easily and I tend to react somewhat strongly. I did the gasp-heart pound. I fucking hate that she doesn't tell us when people are staying. It drives me nuts. And no matter how many times I tell her, it never changes anything. I have almost given up on attempting to get her to let us know. I doubt she ever will. Or maybe I'll threaten to not pay utilities. That sounds like a better plan.

Whatever. Fuck it.

With Love,

Elli

Grad School Interview

ARRG! My lovely laptop decided that "backspace" meant "go back one page in the internet" rather than the traditional "erase the previously typed character" and my newest blog has since been temporarily eradicated. Here's round 2.

Friday morning I woke up at 4am to get ready for my interview at Appstate. I left at 5am to begin the two and a half hour drive to Appstate. I arrived a half hour early for my interview, which then started at approximately 9am. It was a group interview that went moderately well, but I felt that the other girls had much better interview skills than I did. The interview ended an hour earlier than expected (11am rather than noon) and I began my drive home. Along the way, my mom and I stopped at her best friend's house. At this point, I turned my phone back on to find that I had received a voicemail. Within an hour of leaving the interview (which ended with "from here, expect to wait to hear our decision"), I had heard the word that I had been accepted into the MFT Program at Appstate and that I should be expecting a letter soon. At this point, I began to think that I had woken up at 4am for a formality. My interview itself did not actually matter at all-only the fact that I had to complete one in order to meet all 5 of the admission requirements. Now honestly, I find this to be quite flattering and an excellent sign of my candidacy of their program. However, given my intense love of sleep and hatred of unnecessary activity, waking up at 4am to drive a total of 5 hours roundtrip seems like a bit much just to finalize my acceptance.

Either way, I have officially been accepted into two grad school programs (one I am considering, one I will be declining soon).  I have yet to hear from my top choice school (which is making me increasingly on-edge). I have to fly across the country for my third interview in the beginning of March (which I am nervous about) and I am hoping to get an interview at my top choice (also in Oregon) during this time to cut down on costs and travel time. I should be hearing from Colorado State early this week to see where I stand in comparison to the other candidates who attended the interview which I was unable to make due to previous acceptance of the Appstate interview. I'm a little torn as to the desired grad school at the moment and anxious about hearing from my last two schools.

Please send positive vibes my way in regards to my top choice.

With Love,

Elli

Gmail Forwarding, Part 2

This a a short update, I promise.

Well, my Gmail account stopped forwarding mail around 11pm on Tuesday, and now all of my old email are now nestled into my new account, sorted into their proper place. Yay!

With Love,

Elli

PMS of Why a Girl Can Be Hell-On-Earth

I'm PMSing. Most of the time I can't tell, but occasionally (about 3 months out of a given year), I become very much aware of it. Tonight, my boyfriend is going to a concert a city-thing over from where we live. That was totally fine with me last Friday when he originally told me about it. Well, this morning I talked to him and he told me the following:

1. they were leaving at 6:30 tonight (concert starts at 9 and it takes 30 minutes to get there)
2. they were pre-gaming until the concert (he's under-age and this city-thing has a much high incidence of crime and underage drinking reports)
3. they were staying in said city-thing all night (I just honestly hate it when he doesn't come home. Also, I have an interview tomorrow and I am crazy nervous about it, and damn it he is my instant calmer)

Okay, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't like this, but I wouldn't freak out about it. However, thanks to our wonderful friends known as hormones, I experienced the following emotions, almost simaltaneously:

1. anger, but not the normal anger, this was definitely somewhere in the range of blind fury and rage.
2. sadness, much like my world was falling apart
3. jealousy
4. more anger

Now, since this is not my typically reaction, around the time that I realized about I was about to break up with him and/or burst into tears, I realized that is was not me and that I needed to calm down. So, I thought about it and thought about it, and thought about it... and finally we went to go talk about it, like adults.

Now, I really don't have a reason for this, but I have a bizarre theory that he does not tell me things right away if he knows I will not like them or they will upset me. Now, I have no reason to believe this, yet I do, to the fullest. So this was what we first talked about. All he said in response was "I'm telling you now. I only found out like 15 minutes ago." I'm sure he said some other things, but that was the main idea. Unfortunately, when he is at work, he is definitely at work. So, we talked about that for like a minute, then he started organized some forms and basically put me off and the whole thing (it really isn't a big deal, but through the hormone lens, this is definitely a call for war).

Now, like every other female on Earth, I was not done there. Fuck no. I still needed to talk about what was happening, if I'd see him before he left, etc. We didn't really talk about anything after that and I spent much of the following 5 minutes trying not to cry. Then I decided I needed to leave, so we hugged and squeezed in a few "I'm sorry"'s and a "It's really not a big deal." Then I told him that I would see him before he left.

Well, because work in not somewhere I can talk to him about pretty much anything, he currently has much of my feeling sitting in the bulk of his inbox. Keep in mind I wrote when still in super fury mode-not necessarily at him but just kind of in general. Anyways, the bulk of the email are apologies for my overreaction and that I think hormones make me crazy.

So, I thought just for fun, I'd throw in the non-PMS version of the story (which probably would have happened if this came up any day before today):

Coleman: "So, we're meeting here at 6:30 and heading over. We're pre-gaming from 7 until like 8:30, then we're heading to the concert. Yeah, and we're staying with *******'s friend tonight and driving back in the morning."

Me: "Ugh. Do you have to? I don't like it when you don't come home."

Coleman: "Maybe. But we're riding together so there isn't much of an option there."
Me: "...Okay, fine. Have fun and don't die."

That's definitely how it should have gone. Hormones are definitely the enemy. I hope he doesn't hate me. Oh well. We'll see how tonight goes.

With Love,

Elli