Habit

You know, they say it takes 3 weeks to make something a habit. I have heard this from doctors when discussing adapting new diet plans. I have heard it when used during cessation ads. I have heard it from numerous individuals after New Years when they're putting their New Year's resolutions into place. Well, dear captivated audience, I'm sure you've noticed that I have not blogged everyday for the past 3 weeks. It hasn't become a habit. This is merely a form of expression in an effort to keep you all aware of the happenings in my oh-so-exciting life in the great college town of Starkville. I am enjoying sharing events with you thus far, and I hope you are enjoying reading them. Sometimes I have to be super creative when documenting the happenings of the day, because to be quite honest, I lead a very average life.

What am I doing currently? Cooking. No, I don't have the laptop in the kitchen with me. I'm sure some of you would've been super impressed by that ability to multitask. Some of you probably freaked out at the thought of combining technology with food and drink since that leads to potential damages in most cases. Some of you, the ones like me, understand that cooking doesn't require a whole lot of man power unless you're making a 5 course meal for an army. Once the prep work is done, it's pretty much all about watching the oven, stove, microwave, etc. I currently have a pork tenderloin and mac-n-cheese in the oven, green beans on the stove, and squash in the microwave. You should all be stunned by this menu if you read my "College Grocery List" post. I would like to give credit where credit is due. Thank you Mamaw for preparing the mac-n-cheese from scratch ahead of time and sending it to me via my mama. Also thank you Mamaw for giving me the pork tenderloin last time I was home. I was excited to cook both of these together today. 350 degrees until golden bubbly = best directions in the world.

Speaking of making things from scratch, I would like to say how excited I am for Easter break. This marks the 24th year that my mother has locked herself away in the kitchen to prepare a vast array of yumminess. Mandy and I documented the entire celebration from last year. Here's what each of you are missing out on...I know you'll be jealous and I apologize in advance:

You'd think 6 eyes on the stove would be enough until you start cooking for 40 people.

Easter tradition: decorate desserts

Table 1 about 1/3 of the way full of food.

Table 2: casseroles, meats, rolls

Table 3: veggies, veggies, and more turkey

The chef. Complete with Easter apron. She's my role model, y'all.

Everybody is happy on Easter. Even the 3-year-olds.

Table 4: Desserts

Spring means love's in the air. Mandy and Ben before changing into casual clothes for the Egg Hunt.

Nom-Noming on some Easter candy on the porch after the Egg Hunt.

What Easter would be complete without a visit from the Easter Bunny herself???

The Bunny even gives out goodies to the kids!

So, as you can tell, the Collins family does Easter right. I know I said that mama was my role model earlier, but I am not sure that the Easter Bunny legacy will live on after her. No one can do it up to her standards. Y'all tell me one other person y'all know that gets so much pleasure out of dressing like holiday figures? Yeah, I didn't think so. If you'd like to witness this event firsthand, the Collins doors are always open. Come see us. Loosen your belt. Fill your stomach. Have a laugh. Have a piece of pie or some banana pudding. Watch a game on the TV. Pull up a rocking chair. Hide Easter eggs. Search for Easter eggs. Take a nap on the front porch. Break out the softball bat and the frisbee and have competitions. And after all of this, give thanks to God for blessing you with such a wonderful support system. This is the story of my life. May you all have as enjoyable of a time as I do.

-BC

Hostess With the Mostest

Good Morning to my captivated audience. I know it has been several days since I have posted, but I have good reasons believe me. Some weeks are busier than others. There are some days that I would rather spend in the company of friends instead of on the computer. But, since I have left y'all in the dark about the happenings of this week, I will use this blog to try and give you a quick recap of how I have spent this week. Prepare yourselves. Here we go.

As y'all know, I did make it safely back from Phoenix, AZ last week. I spent the weekend at home with my family. In true fashion, Pearl (my mama) and I went on a mini shopping spree. 4 dresses, 4 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of pants, and countless shirts later, Bill (my dad) picked us up and took us out for a nice Mexican dinner. It's always a fun adventure when you get Pearl and Bill together out on "the town." For those who don't know, I am technically from "the county" so it's always a special time when we pile into the car to make the 15-20 minute excursion into "town." Best of both worlds.

After an eventful night with the parentals in town, I returned to Starkvegas aka God's Country aka Home Away from Home. I had a paper due for my Legal class Monday evening, so I spent most of my time Sunday night/wee hours of the morning on Monday getting it started/finished. I was so glad to turn that 15 pages of misery over to my teacher that night.

Moving onto Tuesday. Worked from 9-2, had class from 2-5, had movie night after. Tuesdays mark the end of my classes for the week so I always look forward to boosting my social calendar from Wednesday-Saturday. It is my philosophy that I put off as much schoolwork until Sundays in an effort to enjoy the rest of the week and the weekend. Procrastinators unite!

Wednesday I worked 9-4. It was an eventful day in the office. I have assumed new responsibilities at work, and this was the first week I exercised them. I met with nearly 10 families this week in the Office of Admissions. *pats self on back* For lunch on Wednesday, I feasted on Restaurant Tyler's Blue Plate. If you haven't tried it yet and you're in the greater Starkville area, it's time. Might I recommend the fried chicken with a side of cheese grits. Trust me. Wednesday night I had movie night again at my apartment. Wedding Crashers was the choice of the evening. This was followed by several episodes of "Man Woman Wild." Semi-addicted to that now. I want to be Ruth so badly. She cries over the thought of killing an animal to survive. She is so tender...just like me.

This was the turtle she cried over when she found out they were going to eat it. She ended up letting it go. Tender.

Ok so we've made it to Thursday. I worked all day. What made work easier to get through? The fact that THE Margaret Claire Walker was visiting. She has been recently moved to Houston, TX and it has been an entirely different office without her. After work, we met for dinner at Bin 612. I accompanied MCW to her Starkville house and chatted it up for a few hours before leaving.

TGIF. I worked 9-2 (lunch break to McCalister's included) on Friday. Later that afternoon, I hopped in the truck to ride the Refuge with Greg. If you haven't done this at least once in your lifetime, then I urge you to pick a day when the sun is high and bright in the sky, roll down the windows, blast the radio, and hit the gravel. It was the most relaxing part of my entire week. I used to drive out to the Refuge alone to blow off steam or get away from the college scene for a few hours. It's so peaceful. So therapeutic. But...be prepared to wash the gravel dust and mud off of your vehicle if you take an unpaved route. After about 2 hours, Greg and I ended up in Macon. We hit Hwy 45 and returned to God's Country by 6:30pm.  My parents were in town for the baseball game so we met up with them at La Terraza for dinner. Fun fun times. There's never a dull moment when you're around my family. They're a hoot.

Now we are almost caught up, but if you've seen the title of this blog post, then you're probably wondering where that comes in. Well, on Saturday I helped host a bridal shower for one of the most wonderful people I know, Angela Aldridge. As to be expected, she looked beautiful, and she had some precious friends. We hosted the shower at Marianne's house in Jackson. It was the perfect venue for such a dainty event. There's nothing better than reuniting with friends in one setting for the purposes of celebrating achievements and catching up on major life events. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, my friends and I cherish wedding season simply because we get to reunite and act foolish or remember the "good ole days." I can't wait to have another mini-reunion at Angela's wedding in May. It's going to be so much fun to pick up our hen party right where it's been left off.

Here's a little documentation of Saturday's shower. Sorry for the clarity. Stupid iPhone lens is pitiful.

Tea, Punch, Dessert table

Part of the spread. 

Some of the presents. Kitchen/Bring your favorite recipe shower.

For those of you who don't know...this is what a "hen party" looks like

I loved this picture. Casey's face.

Reunited. L-R: Marianne, Casey, Yours Truly, Angela, Sara Beth, Ashlin, Becca

Catching Up

Hostesses with the beautiful Bride front and center.

I've been giving some thought to the phrase "hostess with the mostest." I was truly the hostess with the mostest this weekend. I have the best friends in the entire world. They are always so supportive of me and my life events. Every time we get together, we have the chance to compare and contrast our lives since our last meeting. Whether life is grand or in the slumps, my friends are always there. I love them so very much and I will forever continue to play the hostess in their lives. I will always be there whenever they need something...much like a hostess. (Like what I did there?) 

I hope each of you take some time out of the day to reconnect with a friend. We only get one shot at this life, and how big of a blessing it has been to share my life with wonderful people like the girls pictured above. 

Have a great Sunday Funday everybody!

-BC

Back to the Grind

Happy Manic Monday to my captivated audience! I hope this blog finds you sitting down on the couch watching reruns of your favorite show or enjoying a meal with someone you love or wrapped tight under your sheets because it's 85 degrees outside and that means you have to keep you apartment a frigid 65 degrees. I know y'all understand this, but do you know what I do not understand? My electricity bill. I think it's a conspiracy against the common folk that electric companies can charge so much just for a little circulation of God-made air. I'll start the petition against this. Feel free to sign it.

Today was the first day back on the grind now that Spring Break has come to an end. I spent the morning at East Mississippi Community College (Mayhew Campus) recruiting potential students and answering any questions about MSU that they may have had. Our office called today "Community College Blitz". Nearly every Admissions Counselor was stationed at a different community college around the state. EMCC, Northeast, Holmes-Goodman, etc. If you have never spent 3 hours of your day posted up in the hall of an educational institution, I highly recommend it. Just don't do like I did and set up your table by the boy's bathroom. P U. Foul. Needless to say, I learned my lesson.

GO LIONS!

After my joyous morning of recruiting/working on my Legal Issues midterm, it was off to lunch at the Veranda. Nothing makes my day better than leaving campus at lunchtime. It breaks up the day. You get a mental break from the crazy world and get to enjoy good food and the company of someone else non-work-related. If anybody needs a lunch date this week, I'm available at noon everyday. Just saying...

At 1:00pm I promptly returned to the office to begin answering the remaining 15 e-mails that I couldn't answer while at EMCC-Mayhew. I knocked those out pretty quickly and was able to catch back up on my work. I spent the last hour of my day shadowing Admissions Counselors during their meetings with families. It's amazing how much I don't know, but it's equally amazing at the amount of random information that I can spit out at any given time. How many Vet schools are there in the nation? 28. What percentage of campus is Greek? Around 18%. Where can I look up possible classes to take? www.catalog.msstate.edu. BOOM. I could keep going and going and going, but what's the point. You get the gist.

Click here for more fun facts on MSU

After my long, but eventful day recruiting, I turned in my midterm, returned to my apartment and FINALLY unpacked from the break. I had 5 bags to unpack and one of them was my big suitcase that weighed a whopping 50.0 lbs. How do I know this? It was weighed at the airport. Shameful. Since y'all know by now how I like to dote on myself when it comes to housekeeping, it will come as no surprise to you that I am about to brag for a second. I cleaned upstairs, downstairs, the kitchen, and placed dirty clothes in the laundry room. I even vacuumed AND cloroxed my bathroom (so long nail polish that I just put on my fingernails yesterday). I'm becoming quite domestic. Should make somebody a pretty good wife in 100 years when I'm ready to get married.

So those were all of the highs of the day. The low of the day? Well, I got diagnosed with Shingles yesterday so that's been zero fun to deal with. Especially since it is around my eye. I'm looking super hot these days. I'm sure I'll have gentlemen callers coming my way in fleets and flocks. I better get the stick out to be ready to knock them back.

What I'm looking forward to this week: movie night, MSU v. Arkansas baseball game Friday night, and a bridal shower for Angela Aldridge on Saturday in Jackson. This is will such a fun reunion with my long lost friends who are off in the real world being amazing people and doing amazing things. I am so excited to be in their presence as we help celebrate Angela's future marriage! (Y'all know how I LOVE wedding season, and if you don't, it's ok. Just go back and read one of my earlier posts. You'll understand after that.)

I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday after this Manic Monday. I know I will!

-BC

Slacking

I know I've been slacking on my blog posts the past several days. I figured that if people were displaying their disappointment in me verbally then it was time to update my captivated audience in an effort to quit getting ridiculed in public. The last time I posted I was in Charlotte, NC for the SROW conference. From there, I flew to Phoenix, AZ to present at the NASPA conference. This took place from Monday-Wednesday. My reason for not updating you all every night? Wireless costs 12.99 PER NIGHT at the hotel. Needless to say, I just wasn't going to pay that. And it didn't help that I could get 3 free hours of wireless in the lobby aka the busiest part of the entire venue. I wouldn't have been able to effectively blog and I thought it would've been an injustice to you all. Thank me later.

So, Phoenix. I have never been that far west before and I have to say that I loved it. The dirt, the cacti (look at me being all grammatically correct), no humidity (thank the Lord), and hardly any traffic in the downtown area. The entire trip was a breeze. Travel wasn't bad from Charlotte to AZ other than the initial security check in the NC airport. Thanks to Lindsey, Director of Orientation at MSU, we were held up at security for over 20 minutes. Apparently you can't bring 3 gallon bags full of toiletries. Who knew? We made friends with our TSA guy. He laughed when he pulled out various types of deodorant. I laughed when he asked which ones could stay and which ones would go because Linz said "I want to keep them all". She wasn't being very cooperative. But eventually she negotiated several toiletries and ditched some others. We were able to head to our gate to board our flight. Just in time.

Fun fact: Did you know that Nerf guns are illegal at airports now? Yeah. Sorry 3-year-old who is getting on the plane after spending Christmas elsewhere, but that brand new Nerf gun that you got from Jolly Old Saint Nicholas will not be going home with you this season. Also, if you happen to be a lacrosse or golf aficionado then make sure you don't plan on bringing any of your equipment with you on the plane. It ain't happening. And heaven forbid that you're thirsty. No water bottles either. And sorry girls, but that perfume is going to have to stay on the other side of the metal detector. 

Ok, we've made it through security and safely land in Phoenix. We pick up the rental car and head to the hotel. We go to check in and there's yet another glitch with Lindsey. Her room isn't ready. Awesome. Dejanae and I were planning on seeing John Legend speak, but the stupid hotel didn't have the room ready so we had to cancel our plans. We ended up taking the elevator to the 7th floor where Dejanae and my room was only to find out that we have a corner suite complete with a dining table, a 6-person sectional, 2 queen beds, a kitchenette, and a full bathroom. Lucky for us. We were shocked when we opened the door. Dr. Phil (our boss' boss) was even more shocked since he ended up in a room with 2 double beds and a TV. That was it. He wasn't happy about getting the shaft while his pion GAs lived in the lap of luxury for a few nights. We got a good laugh out of it.

Linz finally gets checked into her room at 5:30pm. Then she goes and picks up Dr. Phil from the airport. Then we meet John and John Michael for dinner at Hanny's. We enjoyed a few adult beverages (minus Linz) and some really good pizza. It was a swanky little place right across from the hotel. I highly recommend it if you're not in a hurry.

After our enjoyable evening with a few of my cohort favorites, we hit the hay to get ready for our big day: Monday. We decided to do ourselves a favor and sleep in; hoping that this would rejuvenate us and allow us to be on our A game for our presentation. We went to an educational session at 11:45, then ate lunch at Majerles Sports Grill, then headed to our presentation that started at 2:45pm. The presentation went SO well!!!! 5 months of hard work and anticipation paid off, and we were all smiles when 3:45pm came. At 6:00ish we met up with Dr. H (our advisor/professor) to set up our booth at the Graduate Prep Fair. This was a GREAT experience for me and Dejanae. We shook a lot of hands, got a lot of business cards, and came back with a plethora of information regarding Doctoral programs and Practicum opportunities. We celebrated that evening by joining Dr. Phil and Lindsey at The Arrogant Butcher. The food was AMAZING. This restaurant was on the corner right across from the U.S. Airways Arena (where the Phoenix Suns play) and there happened to be a game. We chose to sit outside. People watching was as great as the food was. That night we crashed. We woke up the next morning early in order to attend more educational sessions. We left the hotel at 8:15am (we were super sleepy). The night before we had all decided that we wanted to spend Tuesday afternoon sightseeing. We devised a plan to peruse  the Apache' Trail via our rental Impala. (Thank you Budget car rentals. Keepin it classy.) The great thing about the "Trail" was that we were able to see mountains, desert, lakes, and canyons within 2 hours of each other. We spent the day driving and stopping and taking pictures and doing the touristy thing. The photos below are documentation of this entire paragraph. Words cannot do this experience justice. See below for tourist evidence:

Nom Nom Nom. Jambalaya. 

Conference Program

All the "goodies" I came home with after the Grad Prep Fair

Our 10 page detailed map and history guide for the Apache Trail

Ready to ride far away from the Convention Center!

Canyon Lake. BEAUTIFUL. Pictures don't do it justice, I assure you.

Showing our Klassier side at Tortilla Flat tourist shops off the Trail.

First stop of the day trip before really getting onto the "Trail"

Superstition Mountain

Tourist Trap, but yummyyyy

The "Berry Soup" dessert that Linz just HAD to have.

They're in love. Enjoyed having this old prospector join our table to propose to Lindsey.

This canyon was our last stop before turning around and heading back. What a wonderful way to end a day. Look at God!

Ok, so now that you've seen a few photos from the trip (feel free to check out my Facebook page for more), I will continue to the end. We flew out of AZ at 11:00 am on Wednesday. I would like to insert a special "Thank You" to the people of Delta that plan the seating arrangements. I'm sure they thought it would be funny for me to sit in the window seat and right next to a man triple my size. For those of you who know me, I'm not exactly the smallest person in the world. So imagine my disdain when I see that I will not have any personal space whatsoever for 4 hours. It was interesting. As he would lean back to read his book off his iPad knock-off, I would lean forward to delve deeper into my Chelsea Handler book. I tried listening to music. I tried sleeping. I tried reading Sky Mall magazine for the fifth time. Notice that "tried" is the operative word in this case. I was unsuccessful at all of them. The man was nice, but let's face it, it doesn't change the fact that his entire left shoulder was overlapping my right shoulder. Real funny Delta Airlines. Real funny. We're all laughing.

We make it to ATL airport in 4 hours (ish) and have about a 90 minute layover. Just enough time for me to grab my first meal of the day. It's 5pm. I haven't eaten. That probably didn't help matters with my large and in charge airplane friend. I'm sure I was ornery. But whatever. By this time my body had no earthly idea what time it was. It didn't know if it was time for lunch or dinner or neither or a nap or a 7 hour sleep. Jet lag is an understatement. I went from Eastern time zone to Pacific time zone (figure in Daylight Savings Time with that) then back to Eastern and then finally to Central. I'm all kinds of messed up.

So we land at GTR at 7:30pm Central Time. We are greeted with a thunderstorm as we exit the plan. Light rain and lightening. Home sweet home. Oh how I had missed the smell of grass and rain. Oh how I hadn't missed the humidity and the heat.

I am so thankful for all of the learning experiences that I had over this Spring "Break". Am I looking forward to working on schoolwork in the next 48 hours? Um, heck no. Am I looking forward to 6 weeks from now it all being over for the semester? Um, heck yes. Do I need another break to recover from this one? Well of course. Do I regret not being at Destin with the entire state of Mississippi? Negative chief. Do I love the fact that I'm in my bed at home safe and sound? Oh yeah babe. Do I hope all of you are having an equally amazing week? Why yes. I love you all.

-BC

The Melting Pot

Before tonight, I was a Melting Pot virgin. I cannot believe I had never experienced it until now. At 8:00 pm all of the OL's and chaperones loaded the bus to head to the restaurant for 8:30 reservations. We had a custom menu:

VIP Status

As you can see from the menu, we had 4 full courses. Course 1: bread, veggies, chips with fiesta, spinach, and cheddar pots (3 pots per table). Course 2: salad. Course 3: entree sampler--salmon, filet mignon, shrimp, chicken, teriyaki steak. Veggies and a variety of dipping sauces. Course 4: DESSERT--s'mores, dark and white mix, and chocolate pots. Graham crackers, strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, marshmallows, pieces of cake, and a crowd favorite...RICE KRISPIE TREATS.

Entree Sampler (Each person got this portion)

Our Yin-Yang White-Dark Chocolate Pot. It didn't stay this pretty very long.

I have 3 words to describe tonight: NOM NOM NOM.

For those of you who have had the privilege of dining at one of these venues, then I know you understand. It's euphoric. We got there at 8:30pm and didn't leave until a quarter til midnight. We ate constantly for over 3 hours. Crazy. Thank you Mississippi State for allowing me to reap the benefits of chaperoning. I will continue to volunteer. I promise.

Before Dinner. Happy to be done with our presentation.

At Dinner. Happy to be with our baby OLs.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the company of all the OL's this week. There are times when I have to play the maternal role then there are other times when I feel like one of them. Just a 24-year-old version of them. Oh how I'd give anything to go back to my days as an OL. SHOUTOUT TO 2008 OL TEAM! Miss y'all!

Swalm elevator. Don't hate me, guys.

Our first late-night SROW practice. Circa Spring 2008

OL Summer Retreat

Love and Memories,

BC

Taking a Break

Today has been eventful to say the very least. Woke up this morning at 6:45am in order to board the bus by 8:00am fully clothed, bathed, and feminine (hair, makeup, perfume, deodorant, etc.) Let me just say that I would give anything to roll out of the bed and head to the bus without having to do all of the grooming. It's excessive. Boys don't have to do it. Ever heard of Title IX or Equal Rights? If y'all are socially acceptable during your nastiest days, then it should be fine for me to leave the house without my "face" on. Just saying.

Dejanae and I at 7:45am this morning. Awesome.

Dejanae and I at 7:45am this morning. Not Awesome.

Ok, so I woke up, bathed, put my lipstick on (it was poppin), added a spritz of perfume and out the door I went. Took the bus to SROW for our "State Meeting" aka the time set aside for you to introduce yourself to all people from Mississippi. We did the usual spill: Where are you from? What year are you in school? What's your favorite thing about Orientation?  After the State Meeting, we attended an educational session. Dejanae and I chose to go to "Ready, Set, Intern" hosted by 2 people from GA Tech. They did a great job. When we left Dejanae said "Do you feel like we just left church? Like, they were talking straight to us." She was right. I never lost interest in the meeting at all. We asked questions, learned a lot about the process, and got to meet some pretty incredible people from around the South.

Once the session was over, our team met up at the bus and went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. We had a BLAST. (I know that sounds really cheesy, but it's true.) This was many of our first racing experiences. The best thing was that they actually had cars on the track since there is a race soon. They were test driving. We also got to witness amateur drag racing. I've never been the biggest NASCAR fan. Quite honestly, the only opinion I had of NASCAR was that I really enjoy sleeping through the races on Sunday afternoons. The tour of the speedway was intriguing, and I may actually have to watch a race. I doubt I'll own a complete set of NASCAR commemorative plates or post my favorite driver's number on my license plate, but I wouldn't be opposed to viewing a race. I did see a good handle-bar mustache today. Regret of the day: not getting a photo of this. Sorry readers.

Ok, so we leave the speedway and go back to the outlet mall for Firehouse Subs-round 2. Their staff was elated to see all 24 of us back in line again. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up there again tomorrow. Seriously.

After lunch it was time for the T-shirt Swap back at UNC-Charlotte. T-shirt Swap = mad craziness. Check out this photo footage.

I know all of you are supremely jealous of this experience. I walked away from the swap with 3 t-shirts. Alabama, Dalton State, and Southern Miss. It was hard work. But that's what I get for trying to channel my inner-OL. My tale should've been on top of the steps with the rest of the professional staff, but no. I just HAD to be in the middle of the madness. It was worth it.

After the swap we went to another educational session. The next one was put on my Southern Mississippi and was about keeping your fiery passion for students lit and not hitting a burn-out phase. This was a great testimony given by USM's Orientation Director. She did a great job.

So now it was time for mine and Dejanae's presentation/educational session. AHHHH. We get to the room and it is, no lie, 88 degrees in there. The air doesn't work, the door doesn't have a stopper, and we have a packed room. Body heat added another 10 degrees to the room. Once we got into the presentation, time seemed to fly by. We had a lot of great questions and positive feedback from schools. It was an excellent learning experience. NODA/SROW is down. NASPA to go on Monday. Say another prayer that it goes as smoothly as today's did. And pray for air conditioning. We'd greatly appreciate that, and I'm sure our participants would as well.

Block F = Our Presentation Slot

We are now back at the hotel taking a break until dinner reservations at the Melting Pot. I will be sure to blog about our dinner experience, but I wanted to take time to update my readers on our day so far. I'm so looking forward to taking a shower and putting on girly clothes. We have been doing the uniform thing all week. It will be refreshing to be able to put on my heels tonight.

I'll be back to update later tonight!

-BC