Officially an advocate of IKEA!!!!

Saturday Margaret and I ventured out to Charlotte to watch Michael race. By race we pretty much mean we saw him cross the finish line and took him to the gas station to get a protein bar, but never the less we saw our little brother race.

Then we went to IKEA!!! I had already done my research on what I wanted to buy so we were prepared when we got there. This adventure was amazing. I could spend hours in the store... The best part was how much I spent. I got: a measuring cup, measuring spoons, two curtains, two curtain rods (decorative very cute), two large picture frames, a coffee table, and an end table for my living room. All for the price of 103 dollars!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I am already to go back!!! :) Pictures to come on all this cuteness!!!!

Team Taylor

Kanye West just proved to the world that he is a bona-fide idiot.  No need to go into anymore detail about this, I would hope everyone would agree. Oh and Beyonce is a class A act. 

In other news: My life is officially boring.  I am pretty much counting down the days that I get to go visit my friends. I work, work, work and then go to class. My mouse is back, buying poison tomorrow. 

Till the next Hollywood drama...

Surprise Surprise!!!!!

So yes my posts have been lacking but that is because I lead a boring life... but I do have a good story from this weekend!!!!!

On Friday Brad texts me around 11 asking me where I work that night, I dont think anything of it and respond that I just work at the pool till nine. What is weird though is that we knew we were talking at 1 so why did this question have to be asked then... but again I did not think anything of it... Talk at 1 and he gives me some unsettling information and I pretty much hang up crying because I am not happy with the news.... We text back and forth and go through the issue and it is pretty much all cleared up... Around 2 he calls me and goes " So I have a surprise for you" and it took forever to get it out of him but he says " I am on 85 coming to Winston"... Needless to say I freak out- I make sure he is not coming because I am upset but rather he had this planned the whole week to surprise me

So based on this story one might ask did he propose?? No. But this weekend was wonderful and something I needed. Not that I ever questioned Brad's feelings for me but dont you always get a boost when someone surprise visits on the first weekend back at school. Instead of drinking and partying with his friends, he wanted to see me!! I was the happiest girl in the world! I still had to work and house sit for my parents and watch their dog but Brad was more than willing to help out with everything!!!

And I am so excited for my visit to clemson now, to see my best friends!!!! ( Just thought I would throw out that disclaimer)

Independent or Dependent????

Okay. I am mad. Very mad. Let me just tell you why.

When I decided to go to Salem College to pursue a MAT in Elementary Education my parents said I would be financially cut off. The only things my parents pay for me now are my car insurance, my cell phone, my gym membership, and my health insurance ( which I will soon lose anyway).

You must know in order to understand- My MAT program is seperated into 2 phases. Phase 1 is initial license. You can stop and go teach but will not have gotten your Masters and therefore no pay raises. Phase 2 is Master work. It takes about 12 more hours but the benefits are worth it. As of right now I am still in Phase 1.

So in order to pay for my master coursework I am having to apply for finanical aid. The first thing you do when you apply for financial aid is to decide if you are independent or dependent. There are three questions that make this decision. One- you have to be 24 in order to be independent. Two- you have to be married in order to be independent. Three- you have to be enrolled in graduate level course. Well one and two I have to say no to, but three I said yes to, which therefore makes me independent. Because I am independent I get around 10,000 dollars from the federal government to pay for my fall, jan. term, spring, and summer classes this year. With that money I figured I could take 8 classes between the fall to next summer and I would also have 3000 dollars left over for living expenses. Taking this many courses would allow me to student teach next fall and then finish my last three classes in the spring and graduate with my license and my masters. And then I could move on with my life.

Well yesterday I got a letter in the mail from Salem saying that my financial aid information was wrong and that I am dependent ( which means that the govt. thinks I still rely on my parents for money) because the course work I am doing is considered undergraduate work. The federal government considers Phase 1 undergraduate work and Phase 2 pure masters work (even though in Phase 1 my classes are considered masters level and my workload is more than the undergraduates in my class).

Well after a long talk with financial aid I will only be receiving at the maximum amount 7500 for fall, jan, spring and summer terms. Well if I decide to take all the classes that I have mapped out I will only have 500 dollars left over for living expenses. Pretty much I am screwed. Also because I am dependent on my parents, according to the federal govt., my parents will have to show their income levels and tax returns. My parents are well off according to these forms, so there is a large possibility that the government will not give me all 7500 because my parents should be able to help out with the remainder.

As of right now I am working two jobs in order to pay for rent, food, utilities, everything pretty much. I want to be able to visit my friends and have a good night out every once and a while but that will not be a possibility if I only get 500 dollars. Sure I could ask my parents for money but the whole point of my situation I put myself in is that I am independent of them. I will not ask for money.

So instead of taking 8 classes, I am only going to take 5 classes which will push back my student teaching to next May and thus put me almost a year behind. My whole thing was to get this over with but it is not working out how I want it to :(

Jeepers vs. Pacifica (aka Soccer Mom mobile)

Well it seems as though Jeepers really knows how to throw a good kink into my life. When I was driving to my apartment yesterday to change for the pool my engined overheated. Long story short my parents are forking out 600 dollars to pay for a new radiator and thermostat.. This has been the pattern this year- first it needed new tires, then a battery and multifunction switch, dont forget about the horrendous clutch situation in Clemson, and now this. All this totaled up my parents have paid around 5000 dollars on this year alone. 

So my parents threw me out this option- I can either A- Keep having the Jeep knowing that eventually something new will happen and thus depending on where I am in life pay for it or them.. and then hopefully when I get a good job ( in probably 2-3 years) get a new car but this one will be worth a whole lot less.... 

Or option B-  Give Jeepers back to my dad and take his Pacific ( aka soccer mom mobile)... Its a 2007 car and has barely any wear and tear ( minus of course the time my dad decided that he would reverse into the mailbox).. The benefits of this would be my parents would trade my car in or Michael's and get my dad the car he really wants.. And this car will last me a long time, has good gas mileage and overall in much better condition than Jeepers

Sadly I am leaning towards Option B because the inflow of money is lacking and therefore I will be needing a car that goes the distance. I am spending the night at my parents house because they are going out of town early in the morning, so everything will be finalized then....

just to put everything into persceptive here are the options:

Which one would you choose???

i get by with a little help from my friends.

Two of the best people in the world visited me on Saturday, Katie and Kelly! Their birthdays are both in July so they wanted to spend a day with me in Winston, which was so nice. We had a great time just sitting around and talking. We were able to catch up on all our lives and it was so amazing to know that they are just as good friends to me as they were before we left. Lately I have been in the dumps because I am starting this new phase of my life all by myself. It was reassuring that they were still wanting to talk me through things and help me during this process. I really hope to see them soon and a lot during football season. I need that sense of sanity in my life, when I feel like my world is spending around and around all by myself.

Being down in the dumps suck, hard core. I have been crying and getting upset for no apparent reason. Not knowing the future of my life scares the crap out of me, especially since before this new chapter in my life I knew everything that was going to happen. I think when everyone returns in Clemson I am going to loss it, because I will be one of the few that will not be going back.

I hate being a Debbie Downer so I am just going to stop before I get to caught into this state of mind. By the way- Rob Thomas' new album is amazing. Love it and buy it!

Seriously... pink eye round 2!

I have freaking pink eye again!!! This is driving me insane. It is not as bad as the first time but it is still a pest. I mean it would be fine if I didnt have to wear high presciption contacts that are not cheap. There goes another pair down the drain. Boo.

Margaret Anne turns TWENTY ONE tomorrow. Holy cow. I cannot wait for her to open my present, should get a good giggle out of her.

My life is boring... maybe more next time????

Fourth of July Shenanigans!

I started my Fourth of July weekend off amazingly!! I got my haircut at Aveda and then headed to Charlotte for lunch with my favorites! It was soooo good to see Kelly and Jess, the best part was that it was like we did not even skip a beat. From hearing about Kelly's life as an intern to Jess' family pets I could not ask for more. My goal in life is to always stay in touch with people that exude happiness and honesty. These two carry these qualities and so much more :) I cannot wait for our next visit, which I am going to need very soon. They keep me sane and also keep me in check, which I need only a daily basis. It is hard to believe that I cannot walk into Kelly's room and lay on her comfy bed or call Jess and tell her to meet me at Moes.. My favorite comment of the day was " we have to start weeding out the friends, and keeping only the good ones". These two will definitely not be weeded out of my life forever. 

After my two hour lunch stop I got back on the road and headed to Summerville. Overall this trip was wonderful and something I desperately needed. I have never once questioned my relationship with Brad but it is so reassuring that I am still that happy girl he makes me be even though we are going four weeks without seeing each other. Throughout the weekend we went to see Transformers II, went downtown Charleston, grilled out with the family and friends, and then vedged today before I left. Brad is the one person that can make me smile constantly, I can confide to about anything, and dork around with all day. I never thought leaving him was hard but when I drove back to Winston tonight I could not stop crying. I think it finally hit me, and it hit me hard, that we are really really long distance. I am used to the summer distance but I have come to realize that this is our life until we decide to make the next step ( and by we I mean him). It is hard to go from a weekend of pure happiness to back to reality of work and school. 

On a side note everyone must read Nicholas Sparks' book The Choice. Absolutely amazing and one that I could not put down.

Bragging once again!!!

So I stayed up till midnight because that is when grades get posted and.... in my first grad school class..... i got an A!!!!!

Okay off to bed :) love you all!!! Cannot wait to see three of my favorites this weekend :)

My life is boring

So I have been sitting in front of my computer for the past couple of minutes thinking about what I should enlighten people about my life. But really there is NOTHING. I mean other than my usual pest problems, working at the pool and mellow I have nothing. So I am for-warning my loyal readers ( which probably consists of five people) that I will not be hurt if they decide to ever stop reading my blog!

So I have a mouse in my apartment, specially my kitchen. Thus I eat out as much as possible. I am in the process of talking to the pest people but they said I could just put a trap out. Um noo... I do not want to walk into the kitchen to get my breakfast and see a dead mouse, and then have to deal with it. They said I could put poision out... again heck no... I am not dealing with a dead mouse in my woodwork that smells....

My trainer just got engaged. I am so happy for her, but secretly it makes me depressed. I know when Brad is ready he will ask but is it bad that I want it now??? I mean I already have started mentally planning the wedding, no deposits though :) As Abby says " Rose and Brad are engaged just without the ring and the whole shebang".... I want the SHEBANG please... It is a good thing Brad does not read my blog because I have a feeling he would flip his sh@# knowing I write about it. I already give him enough hell. ( In case anyone is wanting to plan their life I am getting married August 13, 2011 yes I am pscyho)

The only thing that is getting me through this week is seeing three of my favorites this weekend!! I am stopping at the Cheesecake Factory in Charlotte to have lunch with my future bridesmaids ( again wedding planned) Roomie and Big Sister!!! I am so excited to see people that are my age and know me so well. These two give the best advice and are always fun to be around. I cant wait to hear about their life and hear about their future plans!!! I really hope Big Sister gets job in Charleston, always a good place to visit!!! I love these girls way to much!!! And then it is off to Summerville for Fourth of July ( yes I got out of working at the pool this weekend go ME). Brad has the whole weekend planned out which is very strange ( according to my guards he is proposing and i know for a fact he is not doing that).

Maybe I will have an interesting life after this weekend :)

The Inspector came with all his gadgets!!!!!

As I drive into the pool parking lot at 10:20 I notice the scary City of Winston Salem truck. That could only mean one thing, the pool inspector is there. The pool inspector is my arch enemy, we never know when he is coming and it is my job as manager to make sure we pass inspection each day. My goal each summer is to get a perfect score, but that has yet to happen. Last year we were fortunate to not be inspected, because we have never failed but that also meant we would be one of the first pools inspected this year. Right when I walk into the guard room I see that he is already inspecting things before I even open the pool!! I just do not think that is right, you cant fail me for not having safety gear out when you havent even given me time to put it out. I suck it up and try not to be mean to this man, introduce myself and give him my keys so he can go in our pump and chemical room. The one thing that they can close a pool down for is having off chemicals, so I do my normal morning pH test and we are below the necessary number. I add the soda ash, freaking out the whole time that we are going to be closed. Our CPO ( certified pool operator) comes in and talks to him, signs some forms, tells me we pass but there are problems, and then they both leave.

How can they leave me hanging with " you passed but there are problems" and not tell me the problems???? What do you mean by problems, what have I done wrong is all running through my head.. About 4 hours later the CPO comes back to give me the inspection form and goes just kidding you do a great job, nothing was taken off that you have control over. We only got THREE things off ( which is amazing) and they were all nip-picky stuff.... So the pool lives to see another year under my reign.

Needing a breather...

So lately I have been running myself on empty. Everyday I somehow fit in two jobs, a work out, and classwork. I try my hardest to go to bed early, so the morning is easier for me, but I am still so wired at that time at night. I would love to stop and take a much needed breather but when you are practically financially cut off you have no option. I need money: my rent is 675, my car drinks gasoline like a college frat star and beer, and trying to make my place cute on a very slim budget. Pretty much I need to win the lottery like right now, perferrably the powerball.

I kind of got a breather this week but it also meant I did not get paid. The weather in Winston this week has been gross, raining on and off and not your typical 90 degree weather. The owner of the pool and my boss is very stingy when it comes to money. Though she has one of the nicest pool in the city, she pays her guards as little as possible. Any glimpse of bad weather the pool is closed. I understand closing the pool when there is severe weather, such as thunderstorms or lighting which directly affect the lives of our members. I do not understand why we close the pool for the day at 8:30 in the morning (we do not open till 10:30) because it is raining then and do not open again all day even though I know many 10 year old boys would still come to play.

And finally I am ready for this to start now... I cannot wait for September 5, 2009 at 6:00pm when we take on Middle Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!

So I have to brag....

I got a 99 on my first paper and then a 98 on my mid term in my first grad school class!!! What is even better is that I got the highest grade in the class.. only three more classes left and then I will be done with my class!!!!

In other news my aunt was in town today so we showed her my apartment, which I always love doing!!! I can honestly see myself there for at least two more years, which is so good to know. When Kelly visited, she asked if I ever got scared by myself and I do, but honestly weighing all the pros and cons I have decided that everyone must live by themselves once in there life!! There is definately a calming effect that comes with living on my own!!!!!!!

The Weekend of Visits!

This weekend turned out to be loads of fun with Brad and Kelly stopping by! Brad came up on Friday while I was at work to drop off a mattress for me and is staying till Monday. We were able to just relax, which I hardly ever do and all he does, and hangout with each other. It is weird going a month to a month and a half without seeing each other, but it is working out!!

Kelly texted me on Friday and said she was going to be in town, so I did some managerial magic and was able to have lunch with her on Saturday. It was SO NICE to see a familar face and just talk. It was like we didnt skip a beat, and that is such a good feeling knowing that your friend will never change. It was wonderful to hear about her life and hear what she has been up to. I showed her Wake's campus, and I hope that she gets in there. It would be so nice to have her around here for a couple years!!!!!!

My grandparents were in town, which meant a family cookout on Saturday. Brad and I went out to Davie to see everyone and Michael brought over his girlfriend. it is funny to see how it is for someone else to come into our family. We played ping pong all night and by the time we got back to my place I was dead tired.

Today- the highlight buying a new planner!!!!!!!!! Already put football season in, birthdays, when New Moon was coming out!!!!!

Waking up with pink eye...

This morning I had to get up at 6:30 to get ready for my day. Unfortunately my eyes were not cooperating this morning, they literally would not open because they decided getting pink eye was the perfect present for me. Since my eyesight is no-where near 20/20, more like blind, I am now having to wear my glasses ( that look like magnifying glasses) for the duration of this infection. Which means when I run, when I work out, when I am on the lifeguard stand I am wearing my glasses. Great, just great.

To add to my splendid day I was to go to Vienna Elementary to observe a classroom at 8:30. Well that sure didnt happen because again my car decided it did not want to start. It has already been to the shop once this week where they said they disconnected my fog lights. If they were disconnected they would have not turned on when my car was jumped now would they??? Needless to say 280 dollars later I will have a new battery ( all because I had to get it jumped so much) and a new multi function switch ( yea I have no clue) Jeepers will hopefully be a much happier car.

The only positive of the whole day was getting Scott's wedding invite, which of course made me start thinking of my wedding and my invite list.... Off to daydream the rest of my day away without a car and a bloodshot eye...

Oh Jeepers...

My car is getting on my last nerve, it has a mind of its own. It thinks keeping it's fog lights on while I am at work is funny (which I never use to begin with). Oh it is really funny when one of my old neighbors tells me they are on and then we take 30 minutes to jump the car. Then I go to Mellow for the night and get off around 11:30. All I want to do is crawl into my bed, but that is not happening. My battery is dead again, so I get some help from the manager and I am on the way home. This morning I went out there and my battery worked. I don't get it.

Bug Invasion, summer school, one piece tan lines, and hi, i am the owner's daughter

My apartment has bugs. It is gross, disqusting, tramatizing, and frightening all at the same time. I found one in my shower, while I was in the shower. Needless to say I screamed but no one heard. Right when I walk into my apartment I look everywhere for these things, the other day one was in my purse. Michael, my little brother, sprayed the whole place inside and outside Sunday... and they are already back. I am not a happy camper.

Luckily though, I am never here. A normal day would be to go to the pool in the morning (being manager- no sunbathing) and then heading to Mellow to host for the night. Throw in the twice a week four hour class and I am set. On the brightside of all this funness, I sleep so well.

Managing the pool is always nice. It keeps me connected to people from high school, kids I used to babysit who now look older than me, and to the one place that I get to think- the lifeguard stand. Even though, majority of the time, I do the same thing each and every day what makes me keep coming back is the kids. I remember when I was 10 years old being excited to learn how to do a back flip or playing four corners and jumping out of the water when I heard the music of the ice cream man. It is funny how the things you loved 10 years ago, people still love today.

Working for my parents puts me into a pickle. I am required to live up to their expectations, try my hardest to be friends with the staff, and then report if anything went bad. I hate being a tattle tell, but when it comes down to it this staff is my parents livelihood. It is definatly hard to earn someone's trust and friendship when they say " Hi who are you" and you have to respond with " Hi I am Rose Waters, my parents write your pay checks". The one positive out of all this restaurant has given my family is that it has without a doubt brought us closer as a family.

Grad school at Salem is so much different than undergrad at Clemson. Though I feel like I took 10 billion steps back from every aspect of Clemson, I still feel like I made the right decision. You can tell the teachers care and want to get to the level of education that schools like Clemson had. Sitting in the classroom for four hours can be boring, and it does get boring ( especially if I send you text messages) but I can see the end result, which is something Clemson did not always show me.

Being busy has helped me not think about Clemson, my best friends, Brad, or anything else that I left behind. I cannot wait for the opening football game, walking around the quad with my dress and tigerpaw cheering on ( hopefully WILLY) our boys with my best friends. And also trying to have Dabo leave his wife for me.

Four years ago

Four years ago I was a naive high school graduate ready to take Clemson University by storm. Well that kind of happened and now I can say I have done a lot of things I did not think I would do four years ago:
- Drove Roadie for a year... Four years ago I was thinking something a little more classy
- Ran for homecoming queen... Four years ago I couldnt walk in heels, I still cant
- Met my bridesmaids... Four years ago I would have had a different list
- Managed the Womens Basketball Team... Four years ago I thought I didnt need a job
- Ran for president of my sorority... Four years ago I didnt know if sorority life was for me
- Learned who Rose Waters is... Four years ago I thought I knew myself
I say I am not ready to leave Clemson but I think Clemson is ready for me to go. It will be up to me to stay in contact with people, up to me to visit this town, up to me to never loss the connection I created while I was here for four years.

I wonder what these next four years has in store for me.....