last night.

i spent my night last time with some good friends.

we danced a lot.

we laughed a lot.

i threw a tantrum for a while, because it was cold outside.

but i did not let it ruin my night.

we continued to have a good time until four am.

kelsey had to confiscate my cell phone at about three.

so far, winter term is a blast.

i can't wait for more great nights to come.

count your blessings.

i am an extremely fortunate person.

i go to a four year university using my uncle's money, and live in a house with three of my good friends, paying the rent with money my parents have saved for me.

sure, i work hard to afford the luxuries in my life, and to get food and pay for my utilities.

sometimes i think that this makes me a great person.

i work hard, i study hard, but the fact is, i have the ability to play hard as well.

i don't have the most extravagant lifestyle of the people i know, but it's also not even close to the roughest. i have backup, if necessary. it's stable.

i don't think that i take enough time out of my life to stop and think globally.

but last night i was texting my friend sephra and she was telling me about her recent trip to a human rights and anti-human and sex trafficking conference, and it got me thinking.

for all the beauty in my life, someone else is having a harrowing experience somewhere else.

although i am not educated on the subject, i'm trying to become more aware.

i looked around online today and i found this.

i hope to spend more time each day thinking positive thoughts for these people.

i will appreciate my own blessings even more.

"justice is what love looks like in public."

reunited.

today kara and kelsey finallyyyy got home from their arizona trip. it's probably not a good thing that we're so codependent that i swear i had withdrawals during the entire five days that they were gone. kara and i were on campus for approximately eight and a half hours, so we got home and were exhausted. of course, once we got some food in us we got a second wind. we made some "lists" and planned and instead of doing homework, we had an hour long photoshoot. much more productive. here are a few of my favorites.





so i realize that we're completely ridiculous, sitting around taking pictures of ourselves, but i don't remember the last time i laughed so hard. it was such a great break from all the school, work and stress (god, you would think it was week six instead of week two). and it was further proof of the saying "home is where the heart is". i mean, i know it's cliched, but earlier this week i was so sad to go home because i knew mostly i would be at the house by myself, and i would miss my mommy and daddy and brother and extended family... but as soon as kara and kelsey got back i felt so much better and at home. now all we need is jenna to get back from california and we'll all truly be reunited. :)

there's no place like home.

i went home yesterday to watch the duck game. let me tell you, there is nothing that i enjoy as much as being home. it's further proof that i am an old lady inside, but i love spending time with my family more than anything. we gathered at my cousin emily's and watched on her big screen tv and played with ayden. of course, it was a bittersweet evening, since the game didn't really go how i wanted (but i'm still sooo proud of my team for making it all the way to the national championship). anyway, ayden was so stinking cute it made me wanna puke. i love him.

and of course, my mom made sure scrappy got all the attention he deserved:

it was also really nice to hang out with emily and james. we got in some quality games of pictionary man (if you haven't played it yet, you need to) and of course, our favorite, yahtzee. it was kind of tough heading back to corvallis. i guess i haven't really gotten used to not going home every weekend like i used to last term. i miss my family a lot. but thankfully, aunt libby is learning to skype and hopefully the rest of the family will follow suit soon (ridiculous as that is going to be).
tomorrow my other roommates get back, which will be nice. i won't lie to you, i spent most of the weekend (the part that i wasn't working/babysitting, that is) laying in bed and watching re-runs of gilmore girls and chelsea lately. i love being lazy.
the disappointment of the game and not having as much time with the fam as i would like was slightly remedied this morning when i went on verizon and saw this:

yes, yes, the iphone is finally coming to verizon. shallow as it may be, i could barely breathe with excitement when i found that i am eligible for an upgrade on march twenty-eighth. it doesn't take rocket science to figure out what i'm going to do that day, but i got some saving up to do which means more working for me!

procrastinating.

i am the world's biggest procrastinator.
seriously.

it's week one of winter term and i am already so far behind.
i'm taking seventeen credits so the workload never ends.
and rather than use that as motivation, i use it as an excuse.
as in, "i'll never be able to keep up anyway, why try?"
and of course, i'm procrastinating right this very moment.
i went to work today and signed up to leave early.
why? TO DO MY MATH HOMEWORK.
has any math homework been done?
well, not really, unless you count copying some questions off of kara's assignment.
i did, however, grocery shop (which was unnecessary).
i got dinner at big town hero (delicious, if you were wondering).
i made cookies.
i watched the princess diaries.
i facebook surfed.
i organized my notebook (without doing any assignments).
i did some dishes.
the point is, i have a serious problem.
i'm working on solving it, but that's easier said than done.
for now, i'll just take my readings one day at a time.
i'll do my math right when i get out of class.
tonight, i will catch up AND go to bed at a decent hour.
but first, i think i'll clean my bathroom.

new year.

well, it's a new year.

2011.

i'm not all that into the whole new year thing, but it is an opportunity for a fresh start.

even though i feel like september feels more like a clean slate.

this year i want to write more.

i used to write all the time.

in my journal, short stories, "novels", and at school.

it was such a release.

but as i've gotten older and more social, i've been much more lazy about it.

there's always been something else to do.

but let's be real, watching gilmore girls reruns can wait 30 minutes.

so i've decided to try my hand at blogging.

i'm not sure i'll be good at it, so bear with me.

2010 was a tough year at the beginning, but it turned into something really amazing.

i started it off with my first real break-up, and it was brutal.

my friends were away at college and my grandma had just died.

i didn't feel like myself.

but i began to see some big changes come about.

my dear cousin emily and her husband james moved back home from 29 palms, ca.

i spent the summer working and having a great time with my friends all home from school.

on september 13, ayden clarence butson was born.

(emily and james' first son.)

and i am absolutely 100% in love with him.

the night he was born, i moved to corvallis to go to OSU and live with my best friends.

since then, it's been a blur of school, family, work, and friends.

it's been a big change, but i love it.

i did okay my fall term, but i'm hoping to do even better winter term.

which, incidentally, starts on my birthday.

which is on a monday this year.

typical luck.

my roommate is making me dinner and we're having friends over, so hopefully it'll still be a good one.

new year. new classes. new opportunities.

time to make the best of it.