This Is Halloween

( From: http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs12/i/2006/304/5/e/This_is_Halloween_by_mandi_chan.jpg )

Halloween is normally my favorite holiday. For one night, society encourages the children to embrace the weird, the scary, the fantastic. No one questions it. They tell the children to talk to strangers and eat the candy they give them while they are dressed up as all kinds of creatures. It's great! Unfortunately, I did not get to really celebrate it this year because I was working. I actually didn't get to watch any of the movies I would have normally been excited for or do any of the things that I normally would have done for Halloween because I was too busy. I did go to HoS, MNSSHP, and to HHN BUT those are new traditions. Oh well. Better luck next year right? At least I still get to celebrate it tomorrow with Catherine!

No Holds Barred

I CAME HOME FROM WORK AND I CHECKED TO SEE IF THE PEOPLE RECEIVED MY PAPERWORK FOR IMMUNIZATIONS AND THEY DID! THEY LIFTED MY HOLD! I AM NOW ENROLLED!!!!     !!!!!!!

Clearly I am excited. I miss school. I miss being challenged and learning things that I care about. My first semester I will be taking the recommended classes which include Introduction to Counseling, Theories of Counseling, and Educational Research. Have I established how much I hate research? Because I do. I can't stand it. THE OTHER CLASSES THOUGH JUST SOUND AMAZING! ALL THE COUNSELING!!

So Incredibly Done

You know, I am a pretty resilient and strong individual. I've been through quite a bit in my nearly 22 years and I've never really been a "quitter." (I really don't know if that . is supposed to be before or after the ") It takes a lot for me to want to leave something. So congratulations to the entity that made me want to give up on something today. Congratulations for making me have the thought process of "I'll just stop. I will just quit and be done because I clearly suck," that takes some serious effort. 

Sidenote to potential readers: Don't assume that you know or can figure out what this is about. Its vague for a reason because there are things I don't actually talk about on here. 

In other news, I was able to go shopping today at Wet Seal! They were having a sale on EVERYTHING so I was able to get 12 much needed items for 80 bucks which comes out to around 6.70 an item. I'll take that! I also got to help with Halloween decorations and watch American Horror Story. The show did a great job with Twisty's story.

 

Poor Sleep Desicions

I have been home for two hours after a pretty productive ( and busy) day but am I doing anything productive? Nope. I am alternative editing an essay (not mine but kind of productive) and playing the Sims. I have to be up at 8 and because I am a glutton for punishment I will probably not go to bed until 230. Why do I do this.

65 Days Left

When I originally sat down to write yesterday's post I was a little angry. I tried my best not the let the anger infuse into the post but it did and I ended up letting fear get the best of me today to go back and change the post. It sounds better now anyways. 

Today isn't the mark of a new month. It isn't like I have new goals to talk about considering every goal I have set out to achieve since I came howe I have either half complete or didn't start. This post is a big deal to me because it is day 300. 65 more days and then my year of every day posting is over. Do I continue after that? Do I chronicle my life through grad school? Will I even have time? It hasn't been quite what i wanted it to be but i learned that it is okay to change your intentions. And I have definitely cheated a little bit and changed my times a little bit (however I only did that on the days that I was physically too tired to write a post). These last two months will be very busy with work, planning for January, packing, cleaning, and who know's what else. I guess all that matters for these next 65 days is that I really try to make each day count.

For today's adventures, I started off kind of rocky. it was my day off and I was very excited to do nothing even though I had a whole to do list. Now, I didn't manage to clean my room today and I didn't find the time amidst the Sims and Facebook to scrub down my tub. I also did not wake up to drive which I really should have but my body said no and forced me back to sleep at 8:55AM. I did however explore the UCF website and figure out what it is I have to do to figure out the transfer of medical records. I called the my student loans place and talked to them about  grad school deferment. I also made my UCF email and emailed the residency people. It was all very reminiscent of when I was accepted in to FSU.

 I came from a pretty spectacular IB program and everyone was telling me I was going to get accepted, and I did. Twice. The process was easy. Applying to grad school I felt nervous and unsure. I wasn't positive that I would get in. But a little voice kept telling me "This is just like last time, this will be easy. Positive energy" and I finally started to listen. I'm lucky to have my graduate program admission. I am blessed by someone or something to have had such an easy process and to have felt like it was little to no effort on my part. Now to spread that energy with my sisters and hope that is helps them as well.

Do or Die

UPDATED 11/10  this post was about my education but just to quadruple check, I've gone through and added in that word some more.

"Life, finds a way" Dr. Ian Malcolm Jurassic Park 

Ever since my mom got sick I've been pretty self sustaining. Yes. I have lived with my sister and her husband and yes they helped out tons financially and in the care taking of my mother. However, when it comes to where I am educationally I feel like I can take credit for that. Of course they played a part and they were involved but I feel like I did the work to get in to college and then to do it again. I also feel like I would have found my way here even if they hadn't been in the picture. I would have found a way. They would both strongly disagree with that and back up their disagreeance with anecdotes and they are allowed. They have done quite a bit and I don't deny that. I am grateful that they have been there if I needed them. I'm grateful for all the help they have given me. They supported me through nervous breakdowns over assignments but they didn't do them for me. I have always found a way to make things work. In do or die situations (i.e. do or fail, do or leave) I've consistently found a way to complete the "do" part of the phrase. It might have taken me three extra months to complete the "do" part but eventually I made it work out. 

Decisions and Football

I talked in yesterday's post a little bit about how cloudy my plans are for January. I have accepted UCF's offer and will be starting classes on 1/12/2015. This means that I have to enroll in classes pretty soon. I can't do that until I get them some papers to get rid of some hold. UGH.

This also means that I have to figure out where I am living and working which is all contingent on how quickly I can learn how to drive which is contingent on me not being at work because I can only learn how to drive in the mornings. This next week coming up I have free time in the mornings half of the days that I work so I am hoping to get some time in there. AND THEN ITS MY BIRTHDAY IN A WEEK!!!!!
I know Catherine and I are going to be celebrating my birthday a little early during her Dia de Los Muertos party on that Saturday but other than that I have no idea what I have planned. MORE TO THINK ABOUT!


The rest of today was spent at work, then watching Ouija  with my sister and my cousin because we are gluttons for punishment. It was more suspenseful and nerve wracking than Annabelle but as far as frightening goes I wasn't all that impressed. The creature thing at the end though wasn't okay. But there were some Teen Wolf  tie-ins to the movie which made me happy!

I finished off today watching the LSU-Ole Miss game and talking to Kayla about all kinds of things. THAT GAME WAS INTENSE! Well played LSU.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Are kind of terrible for you. But they ruled my life today.

Other than that I went to work, learned some things, had a heart to heart with another manager, and then though about my future at UCF. I talked with management about my options and I have some really tough (read:complicated) decisions to make.

It's Your Choice

I was talking to Kayla about this today actually. She is going through some things and I am at my wits in to help her so I brought up this point that she could either keep ruminating or she could let it go. I am not sure if it resonated with her but it is definitely something I believe it.

Today was an early day for me. I was able to get work on time (no cabs today yay!) and spent the day making dreams come true. Then I joined some other castmembers in a voluntEARS event to support math and science learning in fun ways! We helped kids with fractions by teaching them how to make a recipe for cereal trail mix.

Halloween-Lo-Ween

There is this song (by the same name as the title) that we play at the store and it is originally from Disneyland Paris and I am absolutely obsessed with it.  I'm even making a dance to it.

I closed tonight and it went okay. Some minor bumps but overall thumbs up for my cast member and I. When I got home, after a very dangerous low battery message from my phone, I spent the next four hours editing a college essay. I really hope that she takes what I said non-personally and looks at it from how an editor would look at a book. 

We shall see!

Dreams Come True

When I took this picture on Thursday night, I was taking it for my nephew so that he would have it to reflect on later in life. This picture has been taken SO MANY TIMES and it has caused quite a few traffic jams. What is the big deal guys? It is just a sign. When we got to the hotel on Thursday, I went to post something to Instagram and I scrolled past this picture and thought "How funny would that be? My dreams coming true after going to Disney" in relation to getting a spot in UCF's program. We were supposed to find out our admissions decision in two weeks (Halloween). I was fully prepared to diligently wait those two weeks and then find out what my immediate future had in store for me. I had even decided  that the blog post about the admission decision would be centered around this picture. 

I woke up this morning to the sound of an email which I rushed to check because I was anxious. I saw that it was from UCF and opened it immediately. I saw the congratulations message and jumped out of my bed to bring it to my sister just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. She read it and confirmed for me that I have been accepted in to UCF's Counselor Education Masters program for the Mental Health Counseling Track for Spring 2015. 

Dreams do come true and in my case, they came true weeks in advance.

Busy Busy Busy

I guess being busy helps take your mind off of things. I've been up since much earlier than planned and running errands and babysitting for my sister. I've been able to squeeze in Sims of course which has paid off because I just leveled up! Today I also get a new update that brings magic to my town! IT'S LIKE GOING TO HOGWARTS GUYS!

I also got to help with some (really freaking nifty if I must say) Halloween party decorations. Sleep.

Scared of Emails

Every time my phone dings to let me know that I have an email I get really nervous. UCF said we had to wait two weeks for an admissions decision so I know I shouldn't be nervous, I just can't help it.

I spent the majority of the day trying to get everything to stop hurting from Thursday-Saturday's adventures. I played lots of Sims and I slept. Some friends called and I babysat. Then I got to make vegetable pot pie with homemade biscuits thanks to Catherine. The night ended with watching X-Men Days of Future Past.

Back to Home

I have two posts to make up for because all my focus was on my interview day and not dying. Today I came back after surviving said interview and got to go to work! I spend one night at the mothership and then I get to help run one of the pods! My brother in law calls WDW the mothership so I figured I'd run with it. 

After work I was FINALLY able to see my own house and to take a shower. These are glorious things. Then it was straight to football watching because Florida State faced Notre Dame tonight. Now I don't normally watch these things because if I watch we lose. However, my brother in law is a fan of the Irish so I had to participate. I watched (and counseled) until the last 25 seconds of the game and then I went to write the post. I officially have no idea how it ended but it was nerve wracking. 

It's Interview Day

Which means it is also big/little bonding time and apparently time to go to Halloween Horror Nights.

UPDATE:

The interview was stressful. BUT I ACTUALLY MET A SISTER IN THE PROCESS!! My sorority is so very small that I didn't think this would even be something that could happen but it did! Her name is Laura and she is the  great grand Big of my Big's biological sister! Crazy!!

UPDATE 2:

HHN WAS TERRIFYINGLY FUN! Michael Myers tried to kill (with both his house wait times and his knife) and we weren't able to do the  Walking Dead house because I'm so tired but it was fun.

Heading to Orlando

I was lucky enough to be blessed with a manager who understands that things come up and who is willing to work with me  and switch shifts so that I can end up in Orlando when I need to be there. You are a beautiful human and I am so SO grateful for all of your help this weekend!

 I finished worked at 4:45 and we immediately headed to Orlando so that the family could experience their first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We ended up staying at Disney's Contemporary Resort so that it was easy to get to Magic Kingdom. However, when we checked in they did not have all the MNSSHP tickets ready. This meant that we would have to spend about 20 minutes waiting in the guest relations line acquiring said tickets before we could go to the event. Afterwards we made a stop at town hall and then we made a stop at Casey's so that my sister could find something to eat. We tried to encourage the older of my nephews to come with Snow White (me) and watch the parade. Our attempts at fun were met with adamant "no"s and stern refusals. This kid hate parades. 

We finally made it to some Trick or Treating spots which meant that I ended up not being able to see Celebrate the Magic (IT IS THE MAIN REASON I GO TO DISNEY WORLD) and then we ended up on the Dumbo Ride during WISHES. This is when we discovered that the older of the two also HATES fireworks. Like hates them to the point of being on the Dumbo ride and sobbing every time one of them made the booming sound.

We calmed him down enough to get him to go on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which he also hated and was very scared by. More Trick or Treating and some other rides and then the night got better. We finally went home and I took a shower in order to sleep in a little be more before the big interview!

Getting Slightly Nervous

Work today was easy. I finally finished sorting out event supplies and now all that is left to do is assign roles to a few more people and everything will be set!

Once I got home I finished putting together my interview outfit and then started on Orlando plans. I also started to prepare for my interview and that is when the nerves kicked in.

I was answering some of the questions and I just started to get shaky. What if I don't answer well on Friday? What if I forget my answer? There is so much riding on these interviews and I think it has taken me until right now to realize it. I have to do the one thing I am not good at doing at that is sell myself. I have to convince these professionals to deny someone else their dream in order to be granted mine.

At That Time

So I got home from work around 6ish, ate a little bit of dinner, and then fell asleep at 7:30.

I admit to being completely out of routine when it comes to waking up and then going places at an early time. Waking up was really really really hard and I was completely exhausted by the time I got home. I guess I needed to go to bed early.

Four of Four

And it was so busy I don't even know where to start! My last day off consists of getting up at 830 for driving lessons. Then we drove on real roads for like an hour which I did fairly well on. I scared my sister by doing a turn at like 35 miles an hour but its the little things right? Then I came home and re arranged my room in order to find my other pair of glasses. They we successfully found and now my room is back to its previous positioning. 

Catherine came and got me around 230 ish and then we headed off to do adventurous things! But first we had to run some errands so that my old apparent complex will leave me alone. And so that my outfit for my interview is all mended! As luck would have it, these two errands ended up being right next to each other which gave us more time for fun things! Like TacoSon, research on the new Just Dance, deciding we wanted to make mini pumpkin pies, making said pumpkin pies, and then actual dancing!

Pretty good last day! Now to have three awesome days at work, an awesome interviewing experience and then to see what life has in store!

Three of Four

Even though I have a whole other day of doing nothing, the fact that my mini vacation is almost over is kind of depressing. It has been a very nice three days off and it makes me not want to go back. Not because I don't miss the people or what it is that I do but because I had forgotten how awesome it felt to do absolutely nothing. And by absolutely nothing I mean sleeping, video games, movies, and hanging out with my friends.

Speaking of movies, I went to go see Dracula Untold with Alexis as a late birthday present considering her birthday was on Friday. I did not think that this movie was going to be good but it actually (surprisingly) was! This movie made Dracula likable regardless of if it was how the story is told or not. I felt so sorry for his character and for his family. The movie was just exciting enough to keep me entertained and in to the story which is not something that I expected from this movie. I am also mildly obsessed with the guy who played Dracula now.

After the movie, we did a little shopping and I was able to find two new pairs of shorts for like 16 bucks. It is a fantastic day when this happens. Then I called my biggles and planned some fun things for the weeks to come!

Second of Four

The great weekend off adventure continues! In this adventure and action packed filled episode I wake up at 2:30, do my make up (WHOA), go see Annabelle, and make a family tree for my Sims!

I was up until 3:30 yesterday because I was watching The Tribe and then I looked at the time and went "oh... I guess now is an appropriate time to sleep." I finally passed out to Top Gear and I slept fairly soundly until around noon. At noon the family got back from my nephew's walkathon and I just hoped that they would not wake me up to do something. Luckily, I was able to snooze for another two and half hours. When that time came I just watched a few more episode of The Tribe before calling my cousin and figuring out move plans.

Once that as all settled, I set off on the "lets do make up for the first time in a month" adventure which went okay. It wasn't anything extravagant but I am out of the routine so it took me longer than normal. We went to go see Annabelle with my sister. Dolls have always unnerved me a little bit. This is most likely due to the fact that my mother hoarded them when I was younger. The dolls had their own room but I didn't, that is how bad this was. I walked in to the movie expecting to leave some what frightened. I openly laughed multiple during that movie. There were some suspenseful parts and I did jump a few times but it wasn't scary. I wasn't really unnerved or scare at all.

When I got home, I tried on my grad school interview outfit which I think looks pretty good. Now I just have to fix the coat part as I found a small tear in the sleeves. I finished the day with the Sims and making a family tree for them, I'm so proud.

First of Four

Four wonderfully empty days lay ahead of me and I cannot be more excited! FOUR DAYS OFF! IN A ROW! I don't even know what to do with myself. Today I slept in and then I watched American Horror Story. 

Let me just start by saying clowns do not bother me. At all. The only thing that bothered me about It when I was younger was the fact that he lived in the sewer and had pointy teeth. Him being a clown had nothing to do with it. Twisty or whatever his name is in American Horror Story doesn't bother me either. Killer clown, oh no I'm so not threatened at all. I will beat you with your own juggling stick things if you decide to make me your target. I dare you.  What did make me a little uneasy though was Evan Peters' character's side job with the housewives. I'm not even sure what that whole scene was about but I just kind of stared at my screen with my head turned to the side. Those women are cheating on their husbands during the 50's. They clearly have a death wish. Calm down and stick to your pearls and fun dresses ladies, lobster boy is not worth it. I was also unnerved by the singing portion of the episode. Jessica Lange does not need music to make her fabulous especially Bowie. Can we just not?    

The rest of my day was spent playing Sims, laying around, playing with my nephews, returning the keys I accidentally left yesterday, and then catching up on The Tribe. 

Day one of doing nothing complete!

Worse Than Others

Today started off really well. I was excited for the opportunity to sleep in and to work with certain people and to finish off my work week strong. I don't know what happened. Luckily I have four days to not worry about it. Four days of glorious-ness and Netflix and seeing old friends. 

Bullet Point List

Highlights for today:

   -I got to see Catherine

   -I got to have this weird cheese pasta thing.

   -Work was stressful. Like more than usual. Holy god.

   - I'm really tired

   -I decided not to go to the far away interview.

Planning For Disney

I have known about my interview at UCF for sometime now and I cannot be more grateful for the opportunity. Because it is in Orlando and I cannot drive myself, my sister and her family get to take me.  Which she decided was a good excuse for an impromptu trip to Disney while I am at my interview. So I got to plan their trip for them which eventually ended up with me going with them the night before to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

This just became so much more exciting and nerve wracking than it already was!

Interview Number Two

SO I found out today that I was offered an interview at the other school I applied to. This is fantastic and makes me really excited about my life choices. But it is in a week. In theory I could spend 480 dollars on a round trip flight and go to the interview in person because I am off for 4 days. I just don't know if it is a smart move.

I can interview over Skype and be just as charming and influential, it just makes it seem like I'm not dedicated to the school. I am though! I want to go to either the far away program or the close by program. I don't necessarily have a favorite. Sure the close by program would be awesome but this isn't about ease. I have to look at this from a very logical prospective.

But 480 dollars... ughhhhh 

Practice Makes Perfect

Luckily I was able to practice some more of the actions I need to know as a lead at work. I know I can get there but looking at how awful I am at certain things just makes me sad. I was never a creative builder with PlayDoh or with LEGOs so I guess I understand that this is just not something I am ever going to be great at. I just wish I was at least okay at it. I'll get to a better place. Faith, trust, and pixie dust. 

Gained Some Confidence

Another Saturday of closing by myself and this one felt a lot better! Now I have so many questions that I never thought to ask before but I felt okay about it! That is the important part.

Date and Scare

It seems like I am never going to have  boring day EVER again. Between work and the sudden appearance of something of a social life I am just going to be busy forever. Like today. My city was busy in general due to the British boyband invasion that was happening. Personally I had a lot going on. What I should have been doing was cleaning my room but I decided to leave that for Sunday. Instead I went on a date of sorts. He was nice and we had a goofy time. He reminds me of the Rock if the Rock was shorter and not obnoxious.

Anyways, we went to lunch (at the mall because where else could I possibly go?) and then we walked around to get to know each other. We are planning to try to find another day but we both work A LOT. If it happens it happens, I am not going to worry about it. It is not a priority but it is something to think about. 

I met up with Alexis at the mall and we found ice cream and chocolate because we could. And because it was way less expensive than what it would have been at Busch Gardens which is where we were headed. Now, because of Amanda being itchy and the One Direction concert bringing 50,000 people to the area around the mall, the plan that I had for getting to Howl o Scream didn't work out. We arrived an hour and hald later than planned AND THEN IT RAIN BECAUSE THIS COW (not because she was big but because it's a better name to call someone) CALLED OUT THE GODS AND I QOUTE "IT IS SUCH A NICE NIGHT I HOPE IT DOESN'T RAIN!"

Of course it then POURED for like 25 minutes. We finally got into the park around 845-9 and we headed for house because that is why were there. Alexis had a little bit of a hard time getting that idea though and definitely had more of an interest for rides. The first house we went in was fun. UNTIL I FELL AND MY SHOE LEFT ME! Someone grabbed it but I don't know if it was a scare actor or if it was  a guest but it was gone when I went to grab it. When we got outside I found an attendant and asked for some assistance. They found it but that didn't make me feel anyless like Cinderella. Again. 

We only did three houses which is mostly because we watched FIENDS, Alexis wanted to go on rides, and because Amanda did not wear sensible shoes and wanted to cut her toes off. I will say though, Montu is so much more fun at night. 

World's Not Ending

You know what I do when I get sad (OR WHEN I WATCH WEDDING SHOWS)?

I look up bridal gowns. Or I stare at pictures of bridal gowns that I already have saved, like this one.

I'm sad for so many reasons but its not the "sob sob my world is ending" type of sad. It's the type of sad that makes you almost want to cry but then you decide it's not worth it. The kind of sad that talking about it doesn't make you more upset but doesn't quite help with. I'm sad because I feel like no one in my current situation feels that I am useful or important. Like I'm a novice at everything. It is difficult to explain. I guess I am also a little disappointed about this date that I may or may not have actually had. We were supposed to figure out specifics today but he just never texted me back. I guess that's fine.  I got to see Kayla, talk to Greg, and then I get to go to Howl o Scream tomorrow. 

Like I said, the world isn't ending.

"I Feel Awful"

For once that isn't in relation to being sick. It's in relation to an event that happened today where and individual came up to me and told a story. This individual told me about a present that they had been given randomly by someone they did not know. By someone who was not their race/religion/ethnic bracket. They told me they were scared for their child's safety due to the recent social media stories and that they wanted to change the present as to protect the child. All the while, they were telling me that they appreciated the gift and that felt awful/like a terrible person for taking an act of such kindness and changing it in to something so derogatory and malicious but they had to think of their child. 

I can understand looking out for your kin and I can excuse fear. But educate yourselves as much as possible. Learn the backstory behind what social media filters to you. Understand what and who and where threats/potential threats to your family may come from. Don't believe everything you read on Facebook  or Twitter to be 100 percent true at face value.