Finals Week

Finals week is stressful enough for any college student... when you have to add christmas shopping that needs to be finished that weekend when you get on a plane to different country things get even more rushed and intense.

So after my final in Theatre I decided I had enough time to do some christmas shopping before I went home to clean, write a paper, and study for my other finals. I drove to the store straight after I got out of my class. When I got to the store I started to notice a lot of women giving me strange looks... Some gave me the "Are you insane..." look... others gave me the "Wow... you are retarded" and others just gave me over enthusiastic smiles. It was strange... and while trying on shoes I looked at myself in a full length mirror... That is when I realized that my Princess Leia buns where still in place! I had totally forgotten to take them out after my final in theatre that was a play based off of Star Wars. I let out a little giggle and then held my bun-ed head high during the rest of my shopping smiling at everyone who noticed! 

I think I enjoyed pretending to be Princess Leia more then I really should have! :)

Good Luck to every student taking tests finals and exams! 

xxxx Sarah Emily

Nope! No problem here!

A couple weeks ago I walked out to my car to find that while I was away someone had backed out of the spot next to mine and had hit my car. My car was scratched and my drivers door had been dented in along with the door behind it. The person did not leave any phone number or information but they did leave red paint marks on my car.

To my dismay the police told me there was no way to catch the person and to go on with calling my insurance and all that jazz.

I did call my insurance telling them it was a hit and run, but I still look at every red cars front and back bumpers whenever I walk around my apartments parking lot.

Not that I want to make them pay or get revenge or anything like that, I actually assumed I would never find them so whenever I looked around I was never thinking about what I would do if I ever did find the car or the person who did it.

Today while walking back into my apartments... I saw a red car... correct height... and with damage on left back bumper...

I was on the phone with my friends kind of laughing! They came by to take a look at it too.

It all checked out even had the same number of scratches.

I took a picture of the bumper.

Kind of laughing and feeling a bit guilty for looking at this persons back bumper a bit too long. Considering that fact that even if this was the car that did it, there was nothing we could do, my friends and I started to turn to walk back inside to my apartment.

While turning away from the car a deep booming woman's voice announced her presence by asking, 

"Is there a problem 'ere or somethin'?" 

I look up to see a tall, broad shouldered, tough looking gal walking towards us with a grimace on her face and a slightly smaller friend at her side. She had that posture that men get whenever they are about to hit another guy in the face.

"Huh?" is all I said (how are you supposed to respond to an obvious attitude like that?)

"Is there a problem 'ere?"

"Uhhh...What? Huh? Nope! No problem here." is the only clever thing could come up with to say. I even gave her a smile to let her know I was not going fight fire with fire.

"I just saw you all standing by my car" She said as I watched her speak (and glare) I noticed she was wearing a high school hoodie frizzy brown hair and had lime green braces that made her spit when she would speak...

My friend went on a splurge of explaining how my car had gotten hit a couple days ago and etcetera etcetera...

The scary high school chick said she had hit a pole and then walked past us on the way to her car hitting my shoulder with hers as she passed... WOW if I had seen a girl like her in a movie I would have laughed at how unrealistic and over the top she was!

Some people need to take a breath of fresh air and just relax!

I could not imagine living my life that defensive and well... scary!

It just seems exhausting to be that defensive and tough all the time.

Then again she is a teenage girl in high school... That is never easy!

I hope I never take myself too seriously! :)

Have a great day and remember to breath!

xxxx - Sarah Emily

But it happens to everybody...Right?!

There has been countless stories of girls (and sometimes guys) getting crushes on their professors... I always found this absolutely ridiculous.

I saw it on a number of different movies (usually always ending in some bad way)

I also had a number of friends through high school always chatting about their "sexy" teachers.

I found this disgusting! I mean sure I could point out the attractive ones... but it felt like talking about which of my fathers work buddies were sexiest... It just felt wrong!

It made all my friends look like silly little school girls in my eyes.

I never wanted to be that silly little school girl fluttering her pretty little eyelashes at her history teacher.

All through high school this was never an issue for me. I never looked at any of my teachers that way, even the young, attractive, straight out of college ones.

I always had that clear line drawn out between teacher and student.

So when I caught myself daydreaming about my instructor the other day during lecture, I nearly jerked out of my chair! It was like when you have a nightmare and you wake up with a jerk! I was shocked at the thoughts going through my head!

Shocked by the way I was be hopelessly distracted that day because he wore a tight fitting shirt that showed off his (pretty impressive) muscular figure.

Shocked with myself as a pondered about what his snug shirt was hiding underneath!

SHOCKED at my fluttering eyelashes!

What happened?! 

This had never happened to me before!

I felt al light and giggly like the first ever crush you get on a boy!

I was bubbly and very embarrassed.

The more I tried to focus on what my instructor was lecturing the class on the harder it was to concentrate! 

So there I was... the silly little college girl.

Like so many other girls before me, I had caught a crush on my instructor.

It was like a virus or something. Could any girl finish going through school having never had a crush on a teacher? Who knows.

and why this one? His muscles were impressive.

Maybe it is that he spoke to the class as if we were equals...

Maybe it was the stories he shared, and how easy he found it to share embarrassing moments from his past.

Maybe my taste in boys is changing to my taste in men?

Maybe it was fate deciding that I needed an extra push to persuade me to try extra hard in the class! :)

what a silly little girl i am!

xxxx- Sarah Emily

Sleeping is for losers and dropouts!

I have always been a girl who enjoys her sleep!
Through high school I did have my late nights and early mornings but I always found time to make up for the sleep that I had missed.
The idea of sleep for the average person is very different to the way a college student looks at it.

Sleep is no longer something you simply get everynight but a privilage you get on special nights when you get your work done early and have nothing better to do.

(aka parties or just hanging out with friends till the early hours of the morning)

College is full of late nights running into early mornings that turn into late afternoons that turn into late nights... and you can see the cycle.

I myself have had nights where I woke up early went to class, got home cleaned did work, stayed up all night having a good time, then stayed up till the early morning finishing a paper that was due the next day, studied for an exam took a nap then went to class!

I just happened to get an 80 on the paper and a 105 on the exam! :D

This is not always the case though and not sleeping the night before an exam and just cramming can be one of the very worst things you can do before a big test.

When our bodies rest it is not only just to rest our bodies.

The main reason we sleep is to reorganize and store things into our memory.

(I always half thought it might have been a myth until I learned this in my psychology class)

Whenever I study for a big exam I always make sure that I take at the very least a ten minute nap after. Usually I study at night right before I go to sleep. I found that when I do this I really do remember more for my tests!

You could stay home all night study and never leave the house or you could go out party all the time, fail all your classes and waste all that tuition money and be a party animal stuck in college for the rest of their life...

Or you can find the balance that fits your best! ;)

Good luck and sweet dreams! 

XXXX- SarahEmily

How embarrassing for you!

In my student housing apartment complex our laundry room and mail room are connected.

For some reason right after my classes on wednesday the mailman and I seem the arrive at the same time. I usually just sit and wait while he divides up all the mail in to the boxes in the laundry room until the mail man is finished and goes on his way.

This past wednesday this happens and I sit down in the laundry room as usual, waiting.

As I looked around the laundry room there were a couple of other fellow students either standing also waiting to get their mail and a couple chatting while doing their laundry.

Nothing new or out of the ordinary until something caught my eye.

I bright red something on the top of the ceiling...

I looked closer and realized it was a little red thong.

I laughed to myself! Absent mindfully thinking of how sad that was for the person who must have dropped them and then someone had decided it would be a grand idea to hang them from the ceiling for this poor soul to come and find.

How embarrassing for them!

Out of curiosity and with a lack of nothing better to do I decided to walk over and take a better look at the abandoned pair of red underwear.

As I grew closer the more and more horrified I got...

Not that they were disgusting or anything they were well kept and quit cute!

No... i was horrified because the abandoned (and the apparently forgotten) pair of underwear looked all too familiar!

Yes! That is right! They were my forgotten underwear! Right there hanging like a proud little flag! There for everyone to see! 

I was the sad unfortunate person who must have dropped them only a couple days before while doing laundry!

The mail man finished up and left. I got my mail and walked home...

With a plan...

Later that day... or... late that night, when no one is around to see, I will then go rescue them! (when no one will see me!)

Then they will go back in the hamper to get cleaned again!

...and now for the rescue mission!

wish me luck!

xxxx Sarah Emily

Is there fat in this?

I live in an apartment that I share with a roommate. We have two separate bedrooms that connect to a small living room and kitchen. A lot of the time either my roommate or I will cook dinner. This keeps us from eating out which a lot of the time is unhealthy and very expensive. 

My roommate has a great figure! She is not too thin, she is just healthy. She always has fruits and veggies in the refrigerator, she has a work out class she goes to on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. She also tries to go running whenever it is possible!

The other day my roommate and I were having  lazy day and neither of us wanted to cook dinner so we decided to have some chinese food instead. I am a very slow eater, so when she finished eating before i was finished, she put her leftovers in the fridge and went to her room.

After a couple minutes go by my roommate bursts open her bedroom door with a panicked look of her face!

"Do you KNOW what I just realized was IN all that food I just ate?!"

"I don't know, what?!" I was taken by surprise! and by the look of horror on her face I thought she must have eaten something she was deathly allergic to or something! I was already trying to decide which would be faster, driving her to the closest hospital or to just call the ambulance when she said, 

"FAT!!! That stuff is full of FAT! I am going to get CELLULITE!! I am a young healthy girl! I do not need cellulite! I am NEVER eating fatty foods like that again! If you ever see me eating stuff like that just take it away from me!! Because I work out daily......" and on and on she went talking about it! She even took her leftovers out of the fridge and put it in the trash!

I had to try with all my might to not burst into laughter! Partially because I was so relieved she did not need any serious medical attention and also because of how overly horrified she was with herself for eating chinese food! My roommate is a very calm quiet composed person so it was VERY entertaining watching her storm around the apartment like a broody chicken after someone has taken their eggs away from them! She left the apartment in a bustle, off to go study at the library.

Now I am also a girl and I worry about figure and try to work out on a regular basis. But it does not need to be THAT extreme! It is all about balance.

  If you ask any college student, they most likely know about or have heard of the dreaded "Freshman Fifteen." The "freshman fifteen" is a term used to describe the weight gained by people in their freshman year of college. I have been around guys and girls when they first heard about "freshman fifteen"and many of them were automatically terrified that if they started college they were DOOMED to gain weight and lose their figures forever!

  But have faith! Because the truth is that we are not doomed!! There are reasons behind the "freshman fifteen" and there are ways to avoid gaining weight. 

The website www.freshman15.com says that the main reasons for freshman weight gain are...

-Lack of exercise

-Eating late at night

-Keeping unhealthy snacks on hand (in the dorm)

-Eating unhealthy cafeteria food

-Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol

So if you eat healthy and exercise like my roommate I really don't think you have much to worry about!

If you want anymore tips to eating well and avoiding the freshman fifteen go to http://www.freshman15.com/healthy-eating-guide.php they have all sorts of recipes and tips for healthy college eating!

I wish you health and happiness!

XXXX- SarahEmily

Making Dogs Howl!

Ever since I was little I have had super intense, extremely realistic dreams.

One night when I was still pretty young, I was taking a bath and I had had a dream the night before that I was a mermaid and that I could breath under water as long as I just focused.

So without warning anyone around me... because I fully believed that I could do this. 

I slowly submerged my head under the soapy water... and I breathed in!

I automatically popped up coughing and chocking and nearly gave my dad a heart attack!

But I always had dreams that I could do things. They felt so real! Even into my early teens I would be outside and wait till no one was looking and I would JUMP as hard as I could! Because I used to have these dreams where I would jump and right in between going up and coming down that was flying! And if you could jump high enough and focus hard enough then you could harness this and you could fly!

Well to say the least... I am so super hero... I never learned how to fly or breath under water.

I realized the other day that I have not had one of these dreams in years...

Even though they used to be a very common occurrence.

I think it is sad that growing up kills the dreamer in so many people.

It is like RIGHT when we get old enough to actually do all the things we used to DREAM about as kids that is right when all those dreams are shot down or just fade away!

But you know what? I refuse to just watch as my dreams drift away and become nothing be a memory. Because what is a memory of a dream? I think it is just a missed opportunity.

So many people are living there lives just fine... sometimes even very successful careers, and yet they are not happy doing their jobs.

My goal, starting now, is to never ever let my dreams waste into nothingness!

Although many adults and student advisors would tell me to do otherwise, I am going to strive to do WHAT EVER it is that makes ME happy! (besides how many student advisors do you think are truly happy doing their own job? right?!)

I hope this inspires. Don't get dreams shot down. Do what you love. Do what makes you happy.

Sometimes life gets you down and you get stuck. But if you love to sing, and the only way you can sing is in the shower, then you sing as loud and as much as you want in that shower! 

Let the neighbors dog bark and howl all it wants, who cares! If it makes you happy then it's all for the better! 

So go out there and make some dogs howl! I know I will! ;)

xxxx - Sarah Emily

I'll be wearing a purple dress...

The other night I discovered a part of dating that just never came up in high school, blind dates. For some reason blind dating just never happened in high school. Probably because you date within your friendship circles and usually that means you know them before you ever go out on a date. It is not hard to find people in high school. 

In college it is different. College kids have moved around and don't always know people in school or in the city. Everyone is too busy to actually meet and talk to people in their classes so blind dates just naturally happen. A person has two friends who don't know each other but are both single and looking. So hey! Why not, right? Just give them each the others phone number, tell them when and where, and set them up on a date!

So Friday night there I was getting dressed and texting my mysterious blind date. 

We did not exchange pictures, so we both gave each other general descriptions of what we look like and what we would be wearing...

Mystery Guy: I am 6 feet tall. I have brown hair, brown eyes, slender :) I'll probably have a lost look on my face. I'll be wearing a blue striped shirt and jeans.

Myself: I'm 5'8" thin. I have dirty blonde hair to my shoulders, and green eyes. I will be wearing a purple dress.

This purple dress is one of my favorites! I always feel great in it and I figured not many people have a purple dress, so it would be easy to pick me out of the crowd. 

While I was getting ready for my date, I made different variations of Mystery Guys very vague description of himself.... 6 foot... So no matter what he was a good height.

When he said slender... was he like one of those super scrawny boys that makes me feel like a marshmallow? Or was he just being modest and didn't wanna say "fit" or "super muscly" so he just said "slender" instead?

Or was he just plain average body shape on the slender side of the spectrum?

Who knows! At the time I could only guess!

Time passes my mind still wondering, and I am dressed! Ready to go, and running out the door! I get to the place where we are meeting and of course it is packed, and it takes me a couple minutes to find a parking spot and this makes me late. I ran from the parking garage to the movie theatre in a rush. The front of the theatre is mostly made of glass, so as I am walking up I look through the glass, but I did't see anyone in a blue stripped shirt. I walked in through the door. I was kind of out of breath from rushing and my hair a bit windblown. 

I looked around a little lost because I didn't see him and he had already sent me a text saying that he had arrived. I walk further in, and away from the door. 

Then I see him walking around the corner. I saw his blue stripped shirt and he looked nervous. (He is not a stick or a macho man) Right away he looked very familiar to me but I wasn't sure how exactly.

I gave him a big smile and walked up to him.

He asked if I was Sarah, I said yes and he gave me a side hug. Which at first I thought he was just trying to put his arm around me, which I thought was almost overly confident, but he quickly dropped his arm and we picked out a movie.

We got the tickets but there was so much time till the next showing that we decided to go to dinner before the movie.

We went to the restaurant, sat down, and started talking.

The conversation was going well, but I was distracted. I could not figure out what it is about this guy that seemed VERY familiar! I started drifting in thought while we spoke...

He acted A LOT like my ex boyfriend... which was strange but he didn't look like him at all...

and he definitely looked familiar...

We couldn't have known each other from school... cause he just moved here...

and we couldn't possibly be cousins, (I always worry about dating my cousins because I have over 30 first cousins alone) I know I have a lot of them, but no way do I have THAT many...

so I'm not related to him...

oh. my. goodness... relatives! That is IT!

He looks SO much like my brother! All of a sudden it clicked and I felt like I froze!

I was on a blind date with a guy who acts like my ex and looks like my brother!

I always got along with my ex well. (We dated when we were really young... He was my first kiss!) My ex and I are now great friends, and have been for years.

So conversation flows easily, but every time I would let myself relax I would notice something else... Like the way he did his hair was how my brother used to fix it.

I would completely freak out! I felt like I was on a date with my brother and it was the most awkward experience.

I started to shift my way of thinking to... We are just friends out having dinner.

It would work until he would say something like...

"You kind of look like Uma Thurman... I think she is very pretty"

Sweet... but felt so wrong!

Or like when he payed for my dinner... which was pretty expensive.

So I finished out the date. Watched the movie and everything, but to say the least I don't think I could ever go on a second date! I hope we can hang out again sometime under different circumstances!

But this date brought a lot of things to mind that I wish I had thought of or been told before I went on my first blind date...

Here are some tips to any girl or guy wanting to survive blind dating!

-Talk to your match maker. Ask them questions about your date. What they are like. Don't get too into specifics because there will be a lot of time to ask them yourself when you are on your date with them. Make sure your match maker is someone you trust and if you know they are a party animal and you are not into that, ask if your date is that way too.

-Do some internet investigation. If you can, add them on facebook or myspace. Or look on your mutual friends page. See if they have pictures with them both together. This may say A LOT about the person. Not only will you be able to recognize them more easily when you meet up, but you may find out a lot more about this person off of their facebook page then you ever would on a date!

-Pick a place you know well. If you are going to dinner, i suggest going someplace you both know so you know how to dress and how much money it will cost.

-Meet there. Make sure you don't have them pick you up or drop you off. This is purely for safety reasons. Girls or guys, you don't want to be in a car with a stranger. Plus if your date turns out to be a bad drunk, you would be stuck with no safe ride home.

OR if you are a bad drunk arrange before hand, a trusted friend that can give you a ride.

Having a friend give you a ride, is also a good idea if you don't have your own car, or for some reason can't drive.

-Bring Money! This is NOT just for guys! Girls, I know that if the guy is a gentleman and has the money, that he will usually pay. But, come on girls... Lets get serious, how often do we actually find guys like that? And guys, I know it is a tough world out there, and you can't always be a knight and shining armor and buy your date an amazing dinner. Just try to pick a place where you know you can pay for both of you if that is what it comes to. Never expect your date to pay for ANYTHING! Or else you might just get stuck doing the dishes for the rest of your night!

-Splitting the check. Like I mentioned before, it is kind of known that on a "good date" the guy usually pays all expenses. But this is not always set in stone. Some girls don't feel comfortable having the guy pay for everything. So guys, I suggest that you always offer to pay for it all, (and have the money to do so) but if she says no more than twice and is being very serious and not just being polite, don't push paying for things. Allow her to pay her half if that is what makes her comfortable. Something I have found it very effective to make a deal. "Okay, you can pay for dinner but I will pay for my movie ticket" Let this happen naturally though. No one wants to feel like they are making a business deal.

-Saying goodbye. Don't worry about getting each others numbers because you have a mutual friend you could always get it from. If you don't like them... try not to kiss them goodbye. (hopefully you have not already been kissing them all night) A lot of people take a kiss goodnight as a sign. It can be very misleading. 

After that it is all you!

So now that you have some tips, I wish you Good Luck! On any and all your blind and future dates!

xxxx- SarahEmily

Plays and Pads

For my theatre appreciation class we are required to go see a play, and then write a critique about it. Of course i wait until the weekend before the critique is due to go see the play!

I looked online at different plays and I picked the one that would allow me to buy the tickets online and I grabbed a friend and went to the show. The play I had picked out was, Vigils by Noah Haidle in the Kitchen Dog Theatre in Dallas.

We were running late so I grabbed my wallet keys phone through it in a bag and we ran out the door!

When we got to the theatre I remembered that I was on my period and I had not put any protection in my bag! After i realized this while kicking myself I was informed that the play would be 90 minutes long and with NO intermission! 

This means I would not be able to leave for the bathroom through the entire thing!

I quickly grab my bag and go to the restroom HOPING that there are one of those machines that has tampons in them! I rush in turn on the lights lock the door and there it is! 

Every girls shining glory when in one of these situations! That little silver box!

In high school they had them in every bathroom but they were always empty.

I quickly grab a quarter out of my purse and go to the tampon slot...

It is broken... The handle is turned somehow the completely wrong direction probably by some panicked women in trouble who freaked out and jammed it by twisting it the wrong way. 

I sit the for a second squirming and yanking on th

e handle it although with a couple CLANK CLANKS of the handle moving the right direction there was no way it was going to budge!

I reluctantly turned my head as i looked at my fate... The pads handle...

i slip my quarter in begging God to let there please be something coming out of there as long as it can help me! I twist the handle it goes smoothly and accurately and TUNK! There it was...

This box that looks like it just came out of a time machine more then just a tiny mettle box in a womens public bathroom! It was distinctly from the 80s. Something my Mom would have first started using. A picture of a woman with a mullet, pink frosted lipstick and a white suit with big black buttons, was looking down at matching pink roses. "Gards" it was labeled with Maxi-Pad written at the bottom and the top "compressed for comfort"

Wearing these felt like wearing a diaper! I happened to be wearing some particularly tight jeans that day and for a second I was scared that they wouldn't fit! After a good couple jumps they zipped up perfectly fine! I walked out slightly uncomfortable but with my head held high!

My friend and I sat down, the room was small and the audience was extremely close to the stage! the floor at the bottom of the stairs WAS the stage! They play started and it was clever and funny! Right away i heard a LOUD laugh that i recognized immediately that it was my Theatre teachers laugh! She was right upfront in the middle laughing as hard as she could! I then started to look around and saw several of my fellow procrastinating classmates! The show was great start to finish. My friend got confused during the middle of it and I can see how someone could get lost but I enjoyed it very much.

We drove home and I later went out with friends and got back home around 2 in the morning.

Just another day in my crazy life! Lots of memories are waiting to be made!

XXXX - SarahEmily

All about me!

Hi there! I'm Sarah, and I am 19 years old.

I am originally from Texas, but I have been living in London since I was 17.

Before I moved to London I was a typical 17 year old girl stuck on a guy who was no good for me, and getting lost in the world of a huge High School with about 1,000 students in my grade level.

Not only was I just lost in the crowd in school, but in my own life.

My whole life was being given away, i gave away my life away in pieces and consequently, my soul along with it. Everything I did with my life was to make my parents, boyfriend, and friends all happy. Somewhere along the way of making everyone happy, I had lost myself, I had lost touch with what made me truly happy.

So one day my Dad (worried about losing his job as usual) picked my Mom and I up in the car and he told us about a job offer he had gotten. It pays amazing and he would work less hours. "The catch is," he said. "The job is located in London England... Just think about it...."

Expecting we would need days and days to soak in this information and process it (as he would) he stopped at a gas station and left my Mom and I in the car alone for a minute.

By the time my Dad has returned to the car my Mom and I had already made the decision that we wanted to move to London!

So that was that! A couple months later it was Christmas and I was freezing cold in London!

My life has changed completely and in amazing ways!

I have discovered a new world!

I discovered real love, re-discovered old passions, discovered new passions as well!

and somewhere along the way i discovered my true self again!

My pure self, untampered by the outside world, and brought back to life!

Now I am moving on to a new part of my life.

Starting college and living on my own for the first time.

Looking back I wish that i had written down some of my experiences living in England! 

But now I am going to be writing on here all about my college experience and all of my adventures along the way!