OK, let’s try this again! I really do want to get back to blogging regularly, things just seem to be a little unorganized at the moment. However, as I am about to tell you, that will soon change.

First off, I’m transferring to a new store . . . today was my last shift at the Starbucks that was “my Starbucks” as a customer, and my first Starbucks home. Our new store is said to be opening on August 4th, but sometimes these things get pushed back a bit, so we’ll see if that actually winds up happening like it’s supposed to. It was sad today though - MANY regulars talked about how they will miss me, and there was a banner and a cake . . . it was really sweet. Oh, and I hit 6 months with the company on the 5th of August, so woo hoo!

OK, enough sadness, onto the AMAZING news! I have been accepted into grad school for next year! This whole things has come together very quickly. A former director of mine (I stage managed Marvin’s Room for him) got me in touch with his wife who is apparently very well connected in the theatre community in this region. I spoke with her on the phone, and she told me about this new program (just graduated their first class this year) that North Carolina School of the Arts is offering - it’s an MFA in Performing Arts Management. Not only is it right up my alley, but it’s right down the road (NCSA is in Winston-Salem). So I contacted the head of the program and went in for what I thought was an informal chat, but wound up being my first interview. We discussed the program (which is set up very similarly to the FSU program), and the possibility of me jumping into their class for this fall at the last minute. This was just over a month ago. Things were left very much up in the air, and then he had to leave town for a couple of weeks.

After much back and forth trying to arrange a time for me to meet with him and the other full time faculty member (who I had not met previously), we finally set a meeting for this past Wednesday. We sat down, talked, reviewed my application (which I had submitted while the head of the program was out of town). They told me that they couldn’t officially tell me if I was in, the admissions department had to do that, but they could tell me if they were recommending me for admission, and they said they would get back to me in the next few days to let me know if they were, in fact, recommending me.

I was quite shocked to check my email Wednesday night with an email saying that they were going to recommend me for admission! So, unless I fail the background check (like that will happen), I’m in! I am currently an unofficial member for the NCSA grad class of 2010! I will be here in Winston-Salem for the next two years, and then the third year of the program is spent in an internship . . . somewhere. They have some people that stay nearby, some people in NYC, some in Boston . . . it just depends.

So yes, I have a life plan, I am SUPER pumped about it, and I can’t wait to get started in September!

Aside from that, my family is doing well, AJ is great, my new apartment is slowly coming together (did I mention I moved 2 weeks ago? - living by myself for the first time EVER - eek!), and I’m loving my job with E. Webscapes. Yay!

Now if only I could convince my mom to let me get a kitten like I want . . .

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the kittens! About a month ago, I helped AJ remodel his condo (repainted EVERYTHING, ripped out the carpet and sanded down and refinished the hardwood floors, picked out all new furniture, the works)! While we were waiting outside for the Chinese delivery guy, a very tiny and very cute little kitten came up to us! We figured he was just a kitten that got loose (actually, at the time we thought he was a she), so we pet him, gave him some water, and then were going to go about our business. Well, the food came and we walked across the street to the park so we could sit at the picnic table to eat. And the kitten followed us! He played in the tree the whole time we ate, coming to us every once and a while for a bite of chicken, and then he followed us back across the street when we went back to AJ’s. At this point we realized he was a stray, so we took him in for the night. The next day we took him to the vet and found out that he was a very healthy 10 week old kitten that we decided to name Jazz.

He is such an awesome cat - so lovable, and playful! I have always always ALWAYS been a dog person, and never in a million years would I think of getting a cat. But Jazz absolutely won my heart over, and I will never feel that way about cats again. Here’s a picture of Jazz when we first got him (he’s grown a lot now) - he’s got really cool markings, including spots on his back:

Well, after about 3 weeks we decided Jazz needed a playmate. So we went to the Humane Society and got another little kitten. This one is even tinier, and we named him Ninja (well, AJ named him . . . I disapproved of that name because it doesn’t suit him, and we never call him that, we always call him “the little one” . . . so there). Here’s a picture of him giving me kisses (bad pic of me, but he’s so cute) - he is COMPLETELY black . . . no white at all:

Anyways, they’re technically AJ’s kittens, and they get to live with him, and I love them so much and they act like I’m their mommy, so I think they’re mine too. But I really would like one (or two) to have at my own place. So, must talk Mama and Daddy into this . . .

Oh yeah - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? AWESOME!!!!!

This week, after almost a month of following WeightWatchers (again) and being good about cooking my own meals here at home, I have totally gone off my rocker. Half of this week my meals have consisted of Starbucks drinks and pastries (which, as delicious as they are, are not good if you eat them every day!), and the other half I have ordered delivery . . . chicken fingers, pizza, and tonight, the worst . . . Chinese.

This is a problem! Why did I lose my motivation? I was doing well, and all of a sudden it just seems like too much effort.

Does anyone have any advice or tips to offer me? How do you keep your motivation? HELP ME!!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate!!

2. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White lights on the house, and we have 2 trees - one with white lights and all white, gold, silver (etc) ornaments, and then a tree in the living room with white lights and colored lights (this actually looks quite amazing - give you the color, but still has a lighter feel to it) with the colored fun ornaments.

3. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but when we were younger we went with my dad and shot some out of a tree (mistletoe naturally grows VERY high up in trees, so you shoot it down)

4. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually within the first week or two after Thanksgiving, but this year we’ve been WAY later than that :-(. Next year I will decorate my own place for Christmas, and I’ll probably do it as soon as I get back from Thanksgiving!

5. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
We always had fried chicken and chopped pork for Christmas Eve when I was growing up . . . yeah, we’re from the south . . . south Georgia to be precise

6. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
Christmas is my favorite time of year, and always has been. Each year has special Christmas memories, and to come up with a favorite one is probably impossible . . . I’m a little nutty about Christmas!

7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
When I was 7 (I think) I heard someone talking about it in school, and, being curious, I asked Mama. I don’t think I was quite ready to give it up, but I had a younger brother, so I got to help with him. When she told me, I kept crying - not because I wouldn’t get Santa presents, but because I was so shocked that they had all been from my parents in the past. I kept saying thank you, over and over again.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
This is the first year that we’re not having Secret Santa on Christmas Eve with my father’s extended family (we’re switching generations, and all my other cousins have their own families now, so it’s time for my parents’ generation to be the grandparents . . . my dad’s the youngest). So in the past we got to open one present because it was from Secret Santa. Now I guess we won’t do that. When Bo and I were kids we got to open one from our parents as well.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Like I said before, one white beautiful tree, and one colored fun tree.

10. Snow! Love it or dread it?
I’m OK with snow momentarily, but I really am a southern girl at heart - I much prefer watching it through the window while I sit by a fire and drink hot chocolate.

11. Can you ice skate?
I don’t think so. I’ve only tried once or twice, cause we don’t have a lot of ice down here.

12. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Retrospectively, my little brother (his birthday is the 19th - I can’t believe he’ll be 20 next week!) . . . in the moment, hmm. I remember loving Cabbage Patch Dolls, a FANTASTIC Barbie Dream House, and some great techy presents, like a Palm Pilot.

13. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
The whole experience is amazing to me. I love spending time with my family, sharing fun activities together, and having the chance to give gifts to others.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
We don’t have anything that we make EVERY year . . . chocolate cake is always welcome though ;-). Sometimes we throw a good cheesecake in there too!

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Advent wreath, Christmas cards, baking, CHRISTMAS MUSIC, Christmas movies . . . and I think we’re gonna get to go to church at our home church for Christmas Eve this year! We’ve always been out of town, so we haven’t been able to do that!

16. What tops your tree?
Angels on every tree!

17. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?
Surprises are a lot of fun to get, but I definitely prefer giving - I’m a big giver in general, so Christmas is just a super special time to do that! The process of finding a gift for someone that I know they will enjoy is such a treat for me.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
“O Holy Night” and the entirety of The Nutcracker . . . and this year I’ve been really into listening to the Classical Christmas station on XM Radio

19. Candy Canes! Yuck or yum?
Yummy yummy!

20. What Christmas gift do you hope to find under the tree this season?
I REALLY want a Kitchen Aid mixer . . . I keep coming up with recipes that I want to try and can’t because I don’t have a mixer, haha! Yes, I’m a housewife/Martha Stewart hybrid stuck in a 22 year old’s body . . . I’m strange.

Hat tip: Windows To My Soul

Received from Laura:

A - Available/Single? Single AND available
B - Best Friend? I have so many! I guess in real life it would be my roommates, Matt and Ben, my best girlfriends, Stephanie and Brittany, and online, Mouse!
C- Cake or Pie? Mmmm, what a question! Both, as long as they’re chocolate, LOL! Actually, probably pie.
D - Drink Of Choice? Coffee or hot chocolate!
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? Does my computer count?
F - Favorite Color? Blue, hands down, no questions asked!
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Ooo, tough one! Probably bears . . . because you can make them dance
H - Hometown? Born and raised in Georgia, but currently live in Florida . . . as far as a hometown goes, I guess it would be Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, but I really feel like a Georgia girl at heart.
I - Indulgence? Starbucks . . . or something chocolate-y and sinful!
J - January Or February? January . . . you get to start with a new year!
K - Kids & Their Names? Matt and Ben. Oh wait, you meant real children, not my 23 year old roommates that act like children that I have to take care of ;-). None.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Christmas. Sorry, I LOVE Christmas
M - Marriage date? none
N- Number Of Siblings? 1 - my younger brother Bo, with whom I have an excellent relationship
O - Oranges Or Apples? apples!
P - Phobias/Fears? heights - don’t get me started
Q - Favorite Quote? Something my mother said to me that has stuck with me for a long time, and I think about it almost daily “If you ask someone to do a job for you or to help you, you have to accept the way that they do it. Don’t yell at them because they didn’t do it your perfect way - be glad that they helped at all!”
R - Reason to Smile – my family
S - Season? Summer! But the past couple of years I’ve been liking spring a lot too.
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? Tagging Brittany and Bug!
U - Unknown Fact About Me - The past few months I’ve grown to where I HAVE to make my bed in my apartment or I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything that day. However, this is not a trait that has come home with me. Hmm . . .
V - Vegetable you don’t like? If you know me in real life, you know that this is a funny question - I am a very picky eater. I’m gonna go with broccoli, but know that there are many more.
W - Worst Habit? I’ve been trying for 10 years to quit biting my fingernails . . . no success yet.
X - X-rays You’ve Had? Is a mammogram an x-ray? If not, then none. Well, my teeth, they do do that at the dentist office . . .
Y - Your Favorite Food? Give me chicken, cheese, and chocolate and I’m good for life!
Z - Zodiac Sign? I’m a Gemini, but I’m not really into horoscopes . . . like Laura, God’s got me covered.