Nostalgia.

Alright this post is about to get kinda mushy. You have been warned.

While there are so many nice things about being a college graduate, alumni, grown-up, and old person, I seriously miss college some days. I was more than ready to be done when it came to an end. I was fed up with studying and felt like I had been so dedicated to academia that I had sometimes missed out on life. But now, I've reached this goal I've had for myself for so long, and all I'm thinking is what next? And where are all my friends? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Why can't I be content?

I have countless things and people to be thankful for, but I miss my people being in one of two places, home or school. I miss being done with my day and having tons of my favorites ready to hang out at the drop of a hat. I miss the random, little things like horsepool, enormous piles of dishes in the sink at The Ocho, watching scary movies in the middle of the day with Mrs. J(that's your new name, old roomz), and the constant flow of people in and out of our old apartment, to which way too many people had a key. College was an awesome blur. I'm really wishing I had taken more pictures so I could remember all the hilarious and exciting and dorky things we used to do on a regular basis, but here are a few of my favorite pics from the past four years (in semi-chronological order)...

Freshman year. Whoa.

The party where I dropped the delicious cake on the floor before anyone could eat it.

ATO formal bathroom pic. Yates, I forgot how much I loved your dress.

STUART!!! May he live on forever at his new home/pond. (HE IS NOT DEAD.)

Group shot in motion in Nola.

Anna, we are domestic goddesses.

First and most epic/dirty farm trip.

Pretty old roomz.

The day HE touched my sweaty back. (No, not my boyfriend, the other guy, in the hat.)

Freezing cold Braves game in May where I attempted to open a credit card just to get a free blanket to prevent Catherine and I from getting frostbite.

20th bday party with amazing cookie dough cake!

Rush. There are no words. But I do really love this picture!

One of my most favorite pics ever with my new rooms.

Short hair and Aross. Follow her man's new blog by clicking over here----->

Kmac's 21st bday scavenger hunt. By the time we graduated that Kinko's guy knew all our names, well, at least mine.

NEW YORK. Trip of a lifetime.

A 21st purple extravaganza. My friends are models. Especially Shane and JT. And Katie K, you look fierce.

SB '10. Only Melissa...

We are the champions!

I'm starting to get really sad at this point in the picture timeline.
Graduation!

Oh hey Mrs. J. So glad your wedding could be our last friend hoorah!!! (For the next few months at least...)



I love each and every single one of you, and I miss seeing you all the time. Between Kmac and I, don't worry there will be some kind of awesome, huge, reunion trip for everybody in the future, and sooner rather than later!

For now, I'm trying to learn and pray to be content where I am, never settling but appreciating each day and learning tons throughout this new phase of life. I love my job and feel so blessed to be living in such a great city in an amazing apartment, I'm just glad I have all these wonderful pictures to go back to when I'm missing my people.

That's all the emotion I can handle for one post. If you made it this far, thanks for your dedication and look forward to a more lighthearted post soon!

P.S. So sorry for all the blog changes recently. I was bored with old layout so I'm trying out some new ones, but I think this blue-themed one might stick. Let me know what you think in da comments!

A-party-ment

After reading Yates's "Top ten things I didn't realize I missed about home, but I did" list, I was inspired to use a similar method to inform the blogosphere of Kate's "Top ten things I just really love about my new apartment." So, without hesitation and in no particular order...

#1. my bed.


It is purple, soft, and awesome. The bedskirt is not as gold as it looks in the pic either. That may or may not become a burlap bedskirt one day, just no time now and this color works for the moment! I'm OBSESSED with my bedspread. Just seeing it everyday when I come home from work makes me happy. And the risers beneath my bed, genius! My storage space tripled, easy. And my favorite awesome pillow. Here's a close up...


It's an unexpected pop of color designed in such a pretty, vivid way. Mom found this one, I think it ties everything in my room together perfectly and breaks up the purple a little bit.


#2. shoe rack


Don't laugh. I mean this in all seriousness. I love shoes so much, and this rack holds 36 PAIRS! Not just 36 shoes. That means all my everyday shoes can be displayed while leaving room in my closet for a smaller, more protected rack for my more expensive shoes. Who cares if my closet door won't ever be able to close? YA'LL. It may as well be artwork as far as I'm concerned.


#3. pictures

Kmac and I both LOVE pictures. Everywhere, all over the place, in all kinds of frames. Hence, pictures cover our apartment, and we haven't even gone into kmac's camera of unveiled pics yet. Here's a taste...




And this one, which refused to photograph well due to glare and reflection, is my favorite! Hill gave this to me and set it up for me because technology doesn't like me most of the time. He even set it to come on from 3-6PM. How cool is that?! So for three hours I see this wonderful little loop of some of my favorite pics. Oh, and it has a remote!




#4. chest o' drawers


My one and only successfully completed craft project. I will probably do a whole post on it once I get better knobs. But still! It started out a heinous shade of way too bright a blue, and now it is a pretty gray, hooray!


#5. mirror to be placed above chest o' drawers


My latest find. This mirror just ties my room together so nicely! There is a lot of dark wood and things, so a lighter mirror that still brings in the dark was just what I needed! I debated it for weeks because it was a little out of my budgest, but in the end I knew I had to have it. Now hanging it could be a little more of a task, since it weighs 20+ lbs, but it will be worth it!
A closer look at the trim...




#6. pup


Here she is! All grown up, well, mostly. Lyla weighs 30 lbs now and she just loves our apartment. Mostly because every time we go outside there is a new dog to play with. Hopefully, they will have a good influence on her because she can be quite the rambunctious little one. All in all, though, she's really been pretty great so far at adjusting to a new place, and dare I say she has yet to have her first accident here (Knock on wood!). The blue/green thing in the corner of the pic is her carpet. She drags it around and lays on it all the time. She refuses to just lay down on hardwood. Apparently she is a texture freak, but a really stinkin cute texture freak!


#7. my roommate's awesome dvd collection


I couldn't even fit all her seasons in one picture! It would take me ten years to watch all the seasons of all the shows Kmac has brought to our apartment. I'm starting with Dawson's Creek because I love love love that show, and then I plan to conquer Gilmore Girls, then Everwood, and finally One Tree Hill. If ya'll don't see me out for a while, please call me and make me stop watching tv.


#8. spice rack


Cooking is next on my domestic agenda. I'm going to have to take classes or something because I have no clue where to even start. But! I have a spice rack, a really cool one that spins, and I plan to use it!


#9. trunk


So instead of spending my extra money on jeans or shoes or something, I now spend it on trunks. With this particular trunk, it was pretty much love at first sight. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it will be something I plan on keeping forever and ever. It has such character, and I really just enjoy looking at it.


#10. lamp


Thanks to an extraordinarily nice graduation gift from the bf's family, I was able to buy this lamp that is really more like a sculpture. Again, the picture doesn't make it look near as good as it does in real life. It is my favorite thing in our den at the moment, well it and the trunk!



Overall, I feel incredibly blessed to be living in this wonderful, cozy little apartment with a great roommate/bff. Thanks for letting me photograph a few of your things Kmac!

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peak! (Anna, yours better follow. BRING BACK THE BLERG!)