Getting a vehicle in another state

So setting things up to get my first paid for by me vehicle is going rather crabby,but is moving along. The plan was to purchase car insurance before I left Maryland so that when I purchase the vehicle in Tennessee,things will go much more smoothly. This is sorta not going to happen. I will set up renters insurance so that they have all of my information. I will then go to Darrel Waltrip Honda in Cool Springs Tennessee and purchase a Honda CR-V EX-L(used),probably a 2008.  Then I will call State Farm and set up the car insurance so that I can drive off the lot with my new(used) SUV. Because I live in Maryland,I will have to wait and come back to get plates and register the car here.  That sucks for me because I really don't want to be associated with Maryland drivers because they all basically don't know how to drive. What I mean is,  I have yet to see a Maryland plated driver follow the road rules. This is all so frustrating. But it will be ok. It will all happen on Monday and then I will be happy.  I hope.

What's Up~Update

So last week I decided to plan out my goals for the summer to keep myself more on track of things.  And well, things haven't been moving quickly,but it has only been a week. The only place I've deep cleaned this week was the kitchen. I can't wait to reorganize it the way I want it, I just have to go home and get my car first.  I spent a few hours in Ikea and Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day. Saw several things I would love to have, but knew I couldn't afford as of right now. I also price checked the items I would buy and verified that they would still be there till around the end of Julyish. When it comes to the car,I'm still trying to pick an insurance company to go with. I'm stuck between Allstate and Progressive. I know more people with Allstate and the representatives that I have talked to on the phone have been pretty awesome.  However, the Progressive representatives have been just as helpful and have taken the initiative to work out what my insurance plan would be like/consist of,and discussed with me what I could expect in the next 5 or so years.  Not that any of that was true, it's just hard picking an insurance.  I would just rather not get screwed out of the gate, if ya know what I mean. Also when it comes to studying, I have started making note cards to study for the GRE.  I really need to get on top of that because I wanted to take the exam at the beginning of July.  The faster I go, the more information I'll have in my head.  Lets see.... oh, I did go to the mall and other stores to look at clothes and I hate to report that I really didn't find things that I was looking for.  I don't know if I'm just out of season or what, but the styles just aren't my type right now.  Yuck, right. Then last but not least, exercise.  I have been pretty good with my yoga but when I'm supposed to get up in the morning to run, i turn off my alarm and roll over.  It sucks, but o-well. I'll get up eventually.  So, now on to doing stuff and living my life.

Collecting Works to Study for Comps

Wow was I wrong.... I thought I had all of the works listed for my English comps exam next year,but I was way off. Instead I only have like 2/3's of the list. I checked amazon to see what the grand total of all the purchases might be and I'm looking to spend another 100-200 dollars on books to read from and analyze before January 2011.  I have plenty of time,but it just means that I won't really get to read any of my cheesy romance novels or Dan Brown mysteries until...well, January 2011. This blows.  But all for the sake of a great education right?

Irish Born - A favorite on my shelf

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There are several Nora Roberts novels on my shelves and I may say with a smile on my face that this is without a doubt one of my favorites.  Irish Born is a combination of three books titled Born in Fire, Born in Ice, and Born in Shame.  Each story follows the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of the daughters of Tommy Concannon.  He was a father trapped in a marriage without love, but he had an undying devotion for his daughters, two he raised with his own hands and one whom he never had the privilege to meet but loved all the same.  Maggie is the daughter who came from a moment of passion and nothing more.  She was viewed by her mother as the spawn of sin, and being such could never achieve anything except in sin.  Maggie has a burning personality which draws in the viewer but does not ask for their sympathies.  She stands on her own two feet and from her furnace builds works of fierce flaming art that gives us her story.  Brianna is the daughter who came from duty.  She was her mothers fulfillment to the church and was then raised as such.  She didn't have as hard a time as Maggie in certain ways, but she too suffered.  She is the home maker who turns her inheritance into a inn for travelers and families.  Her home is welcome to all, and more importantly so is her heart.  Shannon is the daughter conceived in adultery.  She was born and raised an American, but with the death of her mother and the man she thought her father, she goes to Ireland to discover herself and the heritage she never knew.  Nora Roberts once again gives us a series which pulls at the heart yet inspires the mind.  Once again I have this yearning to go see these roaming green hills and communities of passion and stories.  If you have a moment or two, let Nora tell you a tale.  I promise you will then go to sleep with a smile on your face and a warming love in your heart.

Irish Born - Nora Roberts

I absolutely love this series.  I breezed through the first novel Born in Fire, which was intense and awesome.  Then I finished the second novel Born in Ice this morning, which was a beautifully told story that tore at my heart.  I will be starting the third novel Born in Shame this afternoon.  I won't go into the full story details until I finish the third novel because I think this series should be read all at ounce, back to back.  If you are looking for a quick and intriguing read, I suggest you stop at your nearest Barnes and Noble and pick this up.  I can't read anymore because I want to start reading.  Good Bye!

For the Love of Cooking

To me, one of the greatest experiences life has to offer is cooking.  Having food made for you is great and all, but to really work in your kitchen and prepare a meal for your family and friends to me is one of the most rewarding things you can experience in life.  A film recently came out that is based on two women and their love for food and cooking.  For those of you who know me, you know that I am a sucker for inspirational films, and this one really kicked the bucket.  The film is of course Julie and Julia.  Julia Childs chose to cook because she loved food and needed something to do now that she wasn't participating in politics.  Julie is a modern disheveled woman who is trying to finish something in her life, show herself that her life amounts to something... so she decides to cook her way through Julia Childs cookbook while keeping a blog.  Blogs are amazing tools, aren't they?  Well after watching this movie, I had this undying urge to make brushetta, which I did and it was fabulous.  I'm not going to copy the movie and cook my way through a cook book, instead I am choosing to educate myself further in preparing foods and developing my culinary skills if you will.  I'm currently living with and dating an Italian, so learning to properly handle pasta is essential.  I tried to make eggplant parm a couple of times and I have to admit that the first two batches were an absolute disaster.  The key was learning how to properly cook eggplant thoroughly, which isn't easy.  I eventually got it and now my eggplant parm is fabulous.  I'm no Italian chef, but I'm learning as I go along.  So I guess this is something we can add to the long list of things I'm trying to do in my life.  I want to improve my cooking skills.  Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.

The Start of Summer

So I am officially in my first week of summer.  Wahoo!!!  There are a lot of things that I would like to fit into this summer, but as we all know, we never have enough time to do everything.  So in short(not really), here are my plans:

• Deep-clean the Apartment.
• For those who know me, you know that I am a bit of a neat freak.  And since I started living with Vinny, I have had to back off a bit when it comes to keeping my place tidy because Vinny and I have two completely different definitions of what clean is.  So needless to say I can't wait to get him out for a while so that our place won't have that faint odor of ass.
• Start obtaining new furniture and redecorating.
• Almost everything in that apartment was given to us, or a left over from the house that Vinny used to live at.  Being that Vinny used to live in a house of all guys, you can imagine how everything isn't exactly in the greatest condition.  But being as it was my first real place, I could not complain or really cared at the time about the condition of things.  I have maintained this residence for just over a year and I would like to make it more homey and comfortable.  This will require moving things, purchasing new things, taking down things that never should have been put up in the first place, etc.
• Getting a car.
• I will be traveling home in the next few weeks and I intend on purchasing a vehicle.  A Honda CR-V to be exact.  I'm entering my senior year of college and its about time I be able to get around on my own.  This will hopefully also fix some of my relationship issues because since I moved off campus, I have not been able to spend hardly any time with my friends and I have missed some rather great moments.  I love having my place and I would like to be mobile now.
• Study for and take the GRE.
• In order to apply to grad schooling I have to take the GRE and get the highest score I can.  I will start putting study materials together at the end of this week.  My plan is to take the exam in the beginning of July.  I will also be studying for the GRE subject exam, but I won't be taking that test until November.
• Study for senior comps exams.
• In order to graduate from CUA, I need to pass the senior comprehensive exams for English Lit majors.  Basically it is a test on everything I have learned while at CUA.  To prevent cheating and duplications of exams, every year a subject or genre is chosen to narrow down the spectrum of the exam.  My senior comps will be based on Poetry.  We were given a list of the texts in which the exams will be be based, which makes this a lot easier.  I will finish collecting the texts I don't have and start reading the lengthier text in order to have finished reading everything by the end of the summer.  I will take in depth notes while reading the texts and then will probably be discussing them here to keep my mind fresh on the topics.
• Redo the wardrobe.
• This is one of the items from my list of things to do this year.  I have to admit that I have made no progress in this area, mostly because I haven't had time to shop.  I plan on making a trip this weekend to Filene's Basement in order to get some summer basics and a few comfortable professional items.
• Get Ready for the Army 10 miler.
• A few of my friends have run in this marathon before.  We, me and my lot of friends, are doing this as a bonding experience and something extremely memorable for our senior year.  We will most likely be doing a run in the spring as well.  I loved running in high school and I staid pritty fit my freshman year of college.  It is these last two years, with moving to a desk job and away from the free gym, that I have really slowed down and not been any where near as active.  My friend Gabriel and I planned on training together this summer, but she rolled her ankle two days ago so now I am without a running partner.  I think I will run in the evenings or early mornings to stay away from the heat, plus I think running is a great way to either start or end your day.
• Reading for pleasure.
• I love reading, so studying for those tests will not bother me at all, but I have to read for the pleasure of reading too.  In between all those studies, I will also read books that I am interested in and stuff from authors that I love.  I am currently reading Nora Roberts Irish Born series.  I finished the first book yesterday and am nearly half way done with the second book.  When I have finished this series, I will read Dan Brown's latest novel The Lost Symbol, which is supposed to be a continuation of the adventures of his symbolist character Robert Langdon.  I greatly enjoyed both  The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons, so this continuation should not be disappointing at all.

 Now that I have worked that out, I'm going back to working at my full time job, which I will also be doing this summer.  For the obvious reasons of being able to pay for everything, plus I love my job.
Till later on.... Have a Nice Day!!!

Don't Look Back...Just Remember It

I must admit that I made a mistake.  For the past few weeks I have been looking back and clinging to an old idea.  Depression can do that to you.  I was looking back on something that I knew I lost, but it was for the better.  Because I let this idea go, I have been able to move forward and grow into the person that I am now.  If I had stayed with that old idea, none of this would be possible.  But the truth is, I really loved that idea.  It's one of those idea's that makes you smile just remembering it.  But I looked forward again yesterday, and realized I was only looking back at the past.  I have a lot of things back there.  Mostly sad, heart wrenching things, but there are a few special good ones.  I have learned a lot from my past, those experiences and realizations.  My message to you today is don't look back.  Stop looking at what you have put behind you.  It will only be a distraction from what you are living and achieving now.  Though don't purposely forget what you have put behind you.  Those are the things that you have built yourself upon.  Keep building.  Keep living.  It will all work out in some way or another in the end.