It's Dead Week, AKA- Procrastination Week

I wanted to post about Thanksgiving. But somebody *coughs* Staci *coughs* hasn't emailed me the pictures yet.... So instead, we'll talk about my amazing adventures this week.

At Texas A&M, we're given two days off before finals begin to study. These days are known as 'dead days.' But I, being frigging amazing, only have finals on Monday, the 12th. Monday will be hell, seeing as I have three finals in one day. But hey, I have a full week to prepare, right? :)

After a long, stressful semester, I'm not incredibly motivated to start studying for finals- so I'm finding every excuse in the world to not study just quite yet. My favorite thus far, was my baking party last night. Lindsey, Andrea, Nancy and I got together and decided to have a nice girls night before the chaos begins. :)

Of course, I found recipes on Pinterest that sounded fabulous. Our final two choices were Chocolate Cake Truffles and Peppermint White Chocolate Puppy Chow.

The cake truffles were incredibly easy. Bake a cake like you normally would. After allowing it to cool, you crumble the cake into a bowl and add frosting. Mix the crumbled cake and frosting so it's an incredibly moist pile of mush. Roll your pile of mush into little balls. Afterwards, put your tray of cake balls in the freezer for one hour to allow them to cool. After the hour, you just dip them into chocolate and let dry! I used melted Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips and they were fabulous!

Next comes the Peppermint White Chocolate Puppy Chow. The recipe is 6 cups chex, 12 oz of white chocolate, and 14 miniature candy canes. We doubled the recipe and used approximations. :) A full box of Chex for 13 cups, 12 regular sized candy canes, and 24 oz of Nestle White Chocolate Chips. The rest is easy as pie! Melt the chips, add the peppermint, and then mix it into the Chex! After everything is thoroughly mixed, lay the Chex out flat so you don't one giant bowl of hardened mix!

They were both amazingly delicious. I'm not sure which is better!

Are you drooling yet?

XOXO

-Victoria

Oh Pinterest

I've actually got to look at Pinterest this week (besides for when I'm on in class.) It's been very exciting! So I thought I'd share some of my favorite pins. Enjoy! :)

First, a beautiful rose throw blanket! I'm sure this would take me like a whole year to make. But it's so gorgeous! Not to mention the pillow matches the blanket perfectly. But hey, I'd settle with just the blanket. :)

Second, an inflatable tent for the backyard! Is this not awesome?! I would so put amazing furniture in here and enjoy it on rainy nights! Stuff like this is why I looooove Pinterest.

Third, a super hot dress. I'm currently in the search for an amazing 21st birthday outfit. And although I think this is a little extreme for my birthday, it's still an awesome dress. However, you'd probably need to add at least two inches to the hem line in order for me to ever wear it. But whatevs. :)

And lastly, who would I be if I didn't leave you with an awesome quote? There are actually tons of amazing quote pictures like this floating around on Pinterest. Like I wouldn't be surprised if my quotes folder has the most amount of pins in it. But I think this message is particularly important to keep in mind. Sometimes, it's on your behalf with God's grace to calm the situation.

And if you don't have a Pinterest yet, have I convinced you? I sure hope so!

XOXO

-Victoria

It's Okay Thursdays on Wednesday

It's okay that I hit a curb today, which cracked my hub cap, and dented my wheel. Fun day.

It's okay that bubble baths accompanied by a glass of wine is officially my favorite past time activity. Like it happens at least every two days, even if it takes away from sleep (or rather what feels only like a nap) time.

It's okay that Lindsay, my rooms, is a little bit psychotic and throws flour all over the kitchen. :)

It's okay that while watching the CMA's, I sing along like people actually want to listen to my beautiful voice. *cough*

It's okay that my GPA this semester is going to be low, like really low. Like we're talking I'm going to cry when I see my transcript in December low.

It's okay that Dustin and I don't agree where we want to live for the rest of our lives. He votes somewhere cheap. I vote somewhere stellar (Boston or DC plllllease!) Shouldn't our opinions be switched? I thought I was the accountant.... :)

It's okay that I have to stop drinking coffee because it makes me feel super sick now since my stomach problems. Well, that's not really okay. I still haven't accepted it. But I will accept it eventually, and it will be okay.

It's okay that this is my first night in over two weeks that I was done with school related work before 10PM. Yes, that is my life.

It's okay, it's more than okay, that I get to go to the Blue Bell factory in Brenham this Friday. I will eat ice cream straight off the production line! Just you wait.

Do you have any "It's okays" this week?

XOXO

Victoria

Leaving 'Go-Get-Em-Tiger' on My Mirror

Life has sure been giving me quite the beating lately. Well I will be honest, I only should complain about school. I'm incredibly happy in all of my relationships. But hey- give me the pity party, will you?

So why is my life so hard? I'll give you a hint. It starts with an 'e' and ends with an 'ighteen hours of graduate school.' Between my seven classes, only one does not have a semester long team project. And that one class is of course, none other than ice skating, which is clearly not a group sport at my skill level.

I will give you a preview of this week for me. Are you ready? You may need to sit down for this.

1.) A 20 page paper due. But have no fear, mine is somehow magically 29.

2.) A 30 minute presentation on General Motors's bankrupcy.

3.) A 10 minute presentation on retail types.

4.) A mini-test in corporate tax.

5.) A homework set for project management, which takes typically minimum one hour if it's incredibly easy.

6.) Completing one year of running my company, Chester Inc. As in each week is a year in my company's life. I control the research and development, production, marketing, human resources, finance, and supply chain departments of the company, so pretty much I'm the key woman.

---1.) through 6.) all due by Friday.

And this is not even that busy of a week. And that doesn't even include all of the time spent on just reading chapters and doing bookwork and what not to stay up-to-date on what's being lectured. Do you see? MY. LIFE. (this semester). SUCKS.

I decided that I literally would die from stress before the end of the semester, and that's assuming I haven't already produced a stomach stress ulcer. So, I came up with a few things that must be done everyday, no questions asked, to keep me even 10% sane. Here's my top five recommendations for you:

1.) Pray. Every Morning. Without Fail. Always. In church, you're told to start out your day with prayer. I always have known that I should, but have I ever sacrificed 15 minutes of sleep for a little God time in the morning? Nope. This semester I have adapted. God time is an absolute must each morning, whether it be while I am showering or while I am sitting in traffic. I can't go through my day in one piece without it. Not to mention how much serenity it starts my day off with.

2.) Keep a snack with me. I am beginning to wonder why I pay rent, because practically all of my time is spent on campus anyways. I am on campus everyday by 9AM, typically not leaving till 4 or 5PM, and then returning again from 8PM till past midnight. And let me tell you, even just a granola bar makes a huge difference in my attitude. Full stomach = happy camper.

3.) Remind myself of my end goal. Today, I started a countdown till graduation. We're at 564 days if you're curious. I plan to make partner 11 years after starting my career. All of my stress today is for a better tomorrow. Reminding myself what tomorrow could hold makes today a little more optimistic.

4.) Two heads are better than one. But I hate teamwork. I hate teamwork more than anyone you know. There is always that one person who never meets deadlines, who is at least 10 minutes late to every meeting, who is pretty much a huge pain in the butt for everyone else on the team. However much I hate teams though, I am not always right, believe it or not. :) Therefore, it's kind of nice to have someone else there to make sure at least the end product is correct, even if the rest of the team sucks so badly that there is practically no more oxygen in the room.

5.) Lastly, take approximately 22.5 minutes for yourself each day. Work, work, work is no fun. There always has to be time for you, regardless how busy you are. How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, anything- Hulu has it. Not to mention, nothing accompanies your you-time better than a huge bubble bath.

I found a quote this week that I really like. I thought I'd leave it with you to reflect on.

"You can do anything, but not everything."

Hope you found some meaning out of it like I did! And have a fabulous week ladies!

XOXO

-Victoria

A Girl's Gotta Do What A Girl's Gotta Do

One of my favorite things about winter, besides for wearing amazing sweaters and adorable boots, is dying my hair a new color for the new season! My hair has gone darker every Christmas for the last few years, except last year, because I am a complete failure and just never got around to it. So instead, I chopped off 14inches once March rolled around.

Well this year, have no fear, I stuck to it and went a few shades darker! Kaitlin and I were having a girl's night last night, and decided last night was the perfect night to get jiggy with it. Not to mention Tuesday's high is only 73, so maybe my boots will come out of the back of my closet sooner than I thought! :)

Here is how my hair looked 12 hours ago:

And this is what my hair looks like now:

Drumroll please....

It's a dark mahogany brown with a slight tint of red- which was definitely not on the box, but is how it turned out in my hair. I'm going to go with I like it though!!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

XOXO

-Victoria

It's Okay Thursdays

It's Okay that I've had tickets to the Taylor Swift concert I'm going to on Saturday since Christmas. I am soooooo excited! Don't judge me.

It's Okay that my attention span is decreasing as I get older, rather than improving.

It's Okay that I only slept for 4 hours last night and I have to read three chapters before going to sleep tonight.

It's Okay that I've had returns for Macy's sitting in my car for over a month now.

It's Okay that the only TV show I am addicted enough to TiVo is any show that begins with "Real Housewives of..."

It's Okay that I saw Dustin on Tuesday, but I'm still counting down the days till I see him again, only three days later.

It's Okay that I'm still bitter about still being bruised from the stupid catheter the EMS person stuck in my wrist and inner elbow. (I've been sick for the last three, now almost four, weeks. So it's finally almost over after a hospital visit, and a stool culture! YUMMIE!!!)

On a more positive note, check out this super adorable picture I found on Pinterest:

I am so dressing my kid like this one year for Halloween. Just saying.

Hope you're having a fabulous week!

XOXO

-Victoria

It's Okay Thursdays

It's okay that I'm the biggest baby ever, and cry every time I get my blood drawn.

It's okay that I don't think I did very good on my corporate tax exam. And I studied over 20 hours for it. No big.

It's okay that I have listened to 'Stutter' by Maroon 5 at least 500 times this week.

It's okay that I fell asleep in marketing today, because I went to an 11 o'clock showing of 'Beware of Christians' last night. God approves, right? :)

It's okay that you probably don't know what 'Beware of Christians' is. It's a documentary made by four college students that travel to Europe to examine the Christian religion and learn how to apply Christian principles to their everyday lives. It was muy bueno. (The movie is named so since the largest reason people are turned away from Christianity, is the over zealous Christians.)

It's okay that after wearing a 'Beware of Christians' shirt today, I got tons of looks from people who quite possibly thought I was anti-Christian.

It's okay that I haven't had chocolate in over a week. Shocker, I know.

It's okay that every time the sky starts turning gray, I get really excited that it is going to rain, and then I'm most often disappointed.

Do you have any "It's okay's" this week?

XOXO

-Victoria

My Big Girl Apartment

This year is my biggest, big girl year of all. Between starting graduate school, getting my own apartment, and signing for my first corporate America job, I'm beginning to feel really old. Although if we want to get real technical, I'm not joining corporate America, I'm joining partnership America. Most service companies are set up as limited liability partnerships. But hey, that's a conversation for another day. :)

Anywho, here's a tour of my apartment for all of you lovely people that are too far away to see it for yourselves! It was pretty fun decorating and what not. But it makes me nervous to think that I am going to do this for real in a much more permanent place in a few years. Goodness! But here it is:

Our messy kitchen. We had 15 girls over last night for my Aggie Sisters for Christ Fall Retreat. Excuse my laziness to clean. :)

The breakfast room. I love bar-height tables. I just want to point that out.

Our living room. The colors are kind of off, but the couch is tan, chair is white, with a red foot stool. And the pillows are all gold, brown, rust red, and teal.

We painted our accent wall rust red. My brother and Dustin's dad seem to think that it is burnt orange. But let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, it's definitely rust red! We got the pillows matched to the paint color. I pinky promise.

My chaise, the best purchase ever. I can't even begin to tell you how comfy it is. Like I will gladly sleep there if my room is too messy. And of course, a personal decorating touch with each roommate's initial!

My bedroom. Again, the colors are kind of off. It's a deep plum and bright fuchsia. The wall is painted a plum color. And thank you IKEA for providing me with the coolest ruffle blanket at the foot of my bed.

My beautiful TV. It's addicting. Twitter on that TV looks amazing. And this awesome shoe rack, take notice. I got it at Container Store and it holds 60 something pair of shoes. It was supposed to go in my closet, but my closet is too small so it got stuck behind my door.

My bathroom! I definitely painted it metallic gold. Again, my camera distorted the colors. My one chance to feel like royalty because I highly doubt Dustin will ever let me paint in metallic again. :) And the shower curtains are plum.

And look at my tie backs for my curtains. I had the idea, and my mommy made them. I love it! :)

It would be frigging awesome to be an interior decorator professionally, but I think I would run out of ideas super quickly. But hey, I can dream. :)

XOXO

Victoria

It's Almost Friday, Friday, Friday.

It's Okay that I've spent more than 80% of my time awake this week at Wehner or West Campus Library.

It's Okay that I have had a full online shopping cart at Gap for the last four days and I'm still contemplating clicking 'purchase' or not.

It's Okay that I look down at my right hand at least every hour, and am still 100% infatuated with my ring.

It's Okay that my favorite channel is HGTV as if I was a 50 year old widow.

It's Okay that I am going to spend my Friday night at the library.

It's Okay that I am pathetic enough to also spend my Saturday night at the library.

It's Okay that every time I talk to one of my friends graduating this year, that I get ridiculous butterflies in my tummy.

It's Okay that when I am walking through the career fair, I'm more worried about the super cool free swag out for display on the table than all of the people worrying about finding a job.

It's Okay that my room has not been clean since I moved in.

What are your 'It's Okay's?'

XOXO

Victoria

Digging for Gold.

This past weekend I got a very, very, very, very important ring. For you non-Aggies- no, it's not an engagement ring. It's my A&M Class Ring! :)

Here at the prestigious school (just kidding) of Texas A&M University, one earns their ring after completing, and of course passing, 90 credit hours. I'm only two years in, and I've earned my Aggie Ring! I know what you're thinking. Simple math, over 90 hours in only two years? How is that even possible? I have accumulated 104 credit hours over 4 semesters. In other words, I am a slave to my own education because I WANT TO BE DONE. My logic is, the quicker I do it, the quicker I'm out. So why not hurry? :)

So here's a little history for you. Texas A&M is a school built off of tradition. From our Yell Leaders to the Century Tree, this school has a tradition for almost everything. Of course, the Aggie Ring is a long standing tradition, and there are also certain traditions to be upheld when you receive it! Most importantly, you should dunk your ring to earn your rights to it! Dunking should be done in a pitcher of beer, chugged as quickly as humanly possible, even if that means you're wearing the beer immediately after.

For my Ring Dunk, all of my and Dustin's families came down to celebrate with my friends and I my ability to chug a full pitcher of beer in 1 minute and 1.3 seconds! WHOOP! :)

Here are some of the pictures from our fun weekend!

My mom and Dustin rock, papered, scissored to see who would present me my ring.

Dustin won.

Dustin's family and I, our honorary Aggies for the weekend!

My roommates and I showing off our awesomeness.

I went all out, nails and everything.

And the chugging begins. I kid you not, everyone was cheering me on so loudly that our next door neighbors literally watched me from their backyard, peeping their heads over the fence. It was amazing.

1 minutes and 1.3 seconds! I'm so redass! :)

Kaitlin got a beer hug! My main goal was to transfer as much beer as possible onto her shirt. I don't think I transferred any. But at least she got to enjoy the wetness for a moment! :P

It was such an amazing weekend with friends and family. And I'm so glad that I'm an Aggie, giving us a reason to have such an awesome weekend together!

XOXO

-Victoria

Avocado Salsa

I'm obsessed with pinterst. By now, everyone should know that. Today, I decided to have a cooking day of pinterest recipes I've found and have been dying to try! I planned my day for a tomato tuna melt and avocado salsa for lunch, pastry puffed chicken, potatoes, blossoming bread and single serving cupcakes for dinner. However, the avocado salsa is so good! I've been snacking on it all day and now have no room for dinner. :)

So this fabulous avocado salsa: how do I make it? Have no fear! I'm about to show you!

You will need:

1 pound tomatillos

1 jalapeno pepper

1/3 bunch cilantro

1 thick slice of onion (I used white)

2 garlic cloves

1 avocado

2 branches green onion

1 tsp salt

Mix it all together and enjoy! I had to use a mixer first to get the tomatillos juicy enough to be able to blend in my blender. But after everything was nicely mixed, it was smooth sailing! And this also gave me a chance to show off some of my new kitchen toys!

First, my salad spinner. After rinsing off my veggies, I used this spinner to dry everything off nicely. I had adequately dried them off before I spun them. And there was still almost a quarter inch of excess water in the bottom of the bowl after a couple of spins! I'm so impressed!

Next is my new Santoku knife! I always see those rubber ones at Target and have been wanting to try them! But today at WalMart I saw a rubberish-looking one that is actually metal. So I decided I would try this one first, and if I liked it, I would buy the rubbery one at Target in a different size! And I do love it! It's amazing! I am by no means an expert mincer and/or dicer, but I felt pretty darn cool with this knife!

As you see, here is all my ingredients mixed just a bit together in my Kitchen Aid so my blender wouldn't take such a beating!

And the final delicious product! It is about the thickness of salsa, but once it is in the refrigerator for a couple of hours it thickens into a really nice consistency.

This salsa is addictively amazing. Now I just need to think of all kinds of yummy things I can eat this with besides for just chips! Maybe sandwiches? Maybe add more avocado for a thicker consistency and eat with grilled chicken? Lettuce wraps? I'm so excited!

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO

-Victoria

It's Okay Thursdays

So I found this super adorable idea I want to take part in: It's Okay Thursdays.

IT'S OK that it's only two weeks into school and I'm already counting down the weeks till Christmas. It's 14 more weeks, incase you were wondering.

IT'S OK that I quite possibly have the world's thinnest hair and no matter what means I use, it will never be thicker.

IT'S OK that I spend approximately 10 hours in bed each day, and then fail to complete my other responsibilities. I'm sort of addicted to sleep.

IT'S OK that I am enjoying my auditing class 20000000 times more than any of my tax classes, and I quite possibly chose the wrong field.

IT'S OK that if pinterest were a drug, it would be my very own crack.

IT'S OK that my sweet tooth contaminates at least 25% of my dietary habits.

IT'S OK that I get butterflies in my tummy every time I think of how my professional career is going to begin.

IT'S OK that I rock maxi dresses constantly like they are about to go out of style.

IT'S OK that I would prefer to watch a Disney movie over an 'adult movie.' Don't judge me.

IT'S OK that I own almost more accessories than clothes, but somehow just wear my favorites over and over again with tags still intact in my jewelry box.

IT'S OK that I have the bladder of either a six-month old baby or a eight-month along pregnant lady.

IT'S PERFECTLY OK that the amount of blessings God has put into my life is almost overwhelming. His love is unreal.

What are your "IT'S OK's?"

XOXO

-Victoria

Its Been a Week

It's 9:20AM on a bright Friday morning. I should be getting ready for class, but that's overrated. :) You may ask why I am up so early (yes, this is early.) And if you are, that's because I am trying to convince myself to be a fabulous student and actually do my homework! My fellow Professional Program in Accounting roommate, Lindsay, and I decided to wake up at 8 this AM to finish up our 'Taxation in Corporations and Partnership' homework. If you're asking now if we actually finished it, the answer would be 'yes!'

If you're asking why I didn't do it last night, I also have an answer! We had a roomie day yesterday (minus one roomie.) After we all finished class we went shopping together, grabbed some Taco Hell for dinner, and headed back to our beautiful townhouse to watch A&M football videos. Here is the link for one of them. Its hilarious, just saying. After a few laughs, we decided to end our Thursday night just like any sane woman should want to; popping a bottle of Sweet White and watching Revenge of the Bridesmaids. T'was ideal. :)

And speaking of my first big girl place, pictures are to come soon! This post would have been a post full of pictures galore of said place of dwelling, however I don't think anyone cares to see my room in its current state. Maybe next post!

So. Onto what I should be focusing on; school. A little part of me just got really excited saying the word 'school' .... NOT. This semester I wanted to see if I could kill myself through academics. It is a test of my brain capacity, determination, and willingness to be incredibly stupid. Therefore, I am taking 18 hours, which doesn't sound too bad, right? But it's of graduate level classes....

It. Is. Going. To. Be. A. Loooong. Semester.

Thankfully, its not 100% accounting course work. I am in the classes as follows:

-Auditing

-Taxation in Corporations and Partnerships

-Managing Projects

-Business and Corporate Strategy

-Marketing I

-Accounting Communication

-Ice Skating

So one tax class, and I think it will easily be my least favorite class this semester. Every single other class seems at least double as interesting. Maybe I chose the wrong field! :0

But hey- it sounds like I will be ridiculously busy all semester, so maybe it'll fly by! Or at least I hope it does!

Pray for my sanity! :)

XOXO

Victoria

I'm A Big Girl Now

With summer coming to a close, I feel like I should probably reflect on what all happened this summer. And after all of my reflections, I came to a single conclusion: I'm a big girl now!

1.) The summer started with visiting all of the offices of various accounting firms that I could have potentially worked for. I spent a couple of weeks in downtown Dallas everyday networking and envisioning the start to my career. It was a hard decision, but I am committed and ready to go! I am officially a tax intern for KPMG starting in February. I have at least an 80% chance of working in federal tax, solely because that is what most of the KPMG Dallas office works on. However there is hope I could be in SALT (state and local tax) or even international tax, more specifically for a huge client that works in real estate investments in mostly Asia and Europe. Words cannot describe how excited I am to dabble my toes in the world of corporate America.

2.) After said internship (and hopefully there after a full-time position) was attained, I had to do what every girl dreams of: shopping, and a whole lot of it. I can proudly say I officially have two separate wardrobes! One, my personal, casual clothing. The other, my professional wardrobe. And believe it or not, after a wonderful summer of preparation for this career thing to start off, the professional wardrobe is catching up in size of the personal!

3.) I took the trip of a lifetime. I spent five weeks traveling around Europe. Enough said. Most people only dream of long, fabulous vacations like that.

4.) I'm beginning to work on my Master's degree. When I stop and think for a second, I realize how completely ridiculous this all is that I'll be 22 years old, making significantly higher than the average American salary, with not only a Bachelors under my belt, but also a Masters. God is so good!!! Granted, I am not at all excited to begin the actual school work part of this all. I start the fall semester in 6 short days. :(

5.) I have my very own, year long residence now that is not the same roof under which my address has been for the last twenty years! Madness, I tell you! That's right ladies and gentlemen. I have my first big girl place of dwelling. No more dorms for me! This weekend, I will be dragging my mother, boyfriend, and exchange student down to College Station with a U-Haul that is overly stuffed to move me in! And don't worry, pictures are to come. Words cannot describe how excited I am to live with three amazing friends in an amazing townhouse! (Again, the reason I am in College Station, school, I'm still not excited for.)

Goodness gracious. Time really does fly!

XOXO

Victoria

A Little More About Me

Here I am, semi-bored, restraining myself from online shopping. So I decided this was the perfect way to pass the time!

I've been a busy bee this last couple of weeks! I'm still working (thank God, due to the shopping obsession previously mentioned), buying the goodies for my new townhome, and trying to do everything possible to keep my mind off the fact school is only a couple of weeks away.

Most importantly, I got a chaise for the living room! I always see them in catalogs and think they are so precious. But now, I have my very own for myself!

Dream Home: 1, Wallet: 0.

So here's my findings to pass the time. And who knows, maybe you'll even learn a little something about me you didn't already know! :)

1_ Were you named after anyone? Eh. All of my siblings and I are named after an influential royal, but I would't say I was named after Queen Victoria. We got Princess Anastasia, King Richard, Princess Kristina Anne, and Queen Alexandria (or for us, Alissandria.) They just like the names! And yes, my mommy does think we are all royalty. :)

2_ Do you like your own handwriting? I actually do like my handwriting. However, one problem, nobody can read it except for me. Whoopsies.

3_ What would your superpower be if you could choose one? Easy. Flying. I love, love, love, to travel. But flying with an airplane it too expensive, and these days gas is out of the question too! (Not to mention, I would NEVER be late.)

4_ Are you an Optimist or Pessimist? Optimist. But at the same time, don't cross me, because I WILL cut you. :)

^^(Britney Spears, SNL skit anyone?)

5_ What do you collect? Pretty clothes.

6_ What movie would your friends be surprised that you like? I got nothing for you. I like pretty much only chick flicks, an occasional, phenomenal action movie. Nothing surprising.

7_ What are your favorite smells? White Cherry Blossom from Bath and Body Works, which no longer exists. And I'm STILL mad about that. Otherwise, I'll go with cinnamon vanilla.

8_ Coffee or Tea? Either. Two creams, one sugar. Or ice cold, UNsweet tea. :)

9_ Wine or Beer? Depends on my mood. But only white wine, and only blonde beers.

10_ What is the best thing you've ever eaten? My mother's Death By Chocolate. Next.

11_ Mac or PC? Without a doubt, 110000% Mac. My family has had Mac's even when Mac's were not cool. That's just how serious we are.

12_ What are you listening to right now? "Last Night" by Carolina Liar. Latest music obsession? Yes, please.

13_ What career would you pursue in another life? I don't even know what career I am going to pursue in this life. Rule the professional world in some killer stilettos and become partner at a huge, international firm with traveling opportunities galore? Or go and get my PhD and profess my strong opinions on all of my students while they are at the most influential stage of their lives? :)

14_ What sound or noise do you love? Music.

15_ What sound or noise do you hate? My alarm clock. I am so not a morning person. (Now we're back to the perks of being a professor.)

16_ Mountains or the beach? I'm going to go with mountains until 15 more pounds are gone and I have my killer beach body. Ask me next swimsuit season.

17_ Cook or Bake? I'm trying to get into cooking. I'd be way, way, way too much of a perfectionist when it comes to my sweet tooth.

18_ Do you go to restaurants and movies by yourself? Does the drive-through count?

19_ What is your favorite fairy tale? Mine! I am so, so, so, so blessed. Thank you Lordie!

20_ What would you tell the 13 year old you? "GO GET 'EM TIGER!"

The Summer Is Coming To An End

After a summer of blogging, I figure I should explain how this all started and how this all will continue...

I had a blog the last time I went to Europe. Then my sister, Kristina, started a blog this past fall as she did a second study abroad in Germany. So of course, I followed her footsteps and re-found my old blog to continue writing to all of my family and friends while I was traveling all summer. However, Kristina has continued her blog since she has been back in the states. So like big sister like little sister, I will too!

Its been a fairly busy summer! I returned July 1st back to the wonderful U.S. of A., as well as one of my swedish besties, Felicia! Felicia was an exchange student in Prosper my senior year of high school. So seeing as I had just returned from my year abroad and she seemed like an alright person, we were destined friends. Fortunately after an amazing senior year with Felicia, we still keep in contact and she has come back to visit every year since! Needless to say, she was here for three weeks and it. was. AWESOME.

We made sure we made the best of her time in Texas. By that, I mean we went tanning nearly every day (as you can see in the picture, I guess I did a little too much tanning one day), shopping at least every three days, to Winstar Casino, to Hurricane Harbor, to play bingo, ate good ol' American styled sushi, Billy Bob's (aka the world's largest honky-tonk), everything. She got to meet some of my College Station friends! And most importantly, she even experienced the chicken dance at a native german restaurant! It was probably the highlight of her trip. Who can say no to the chicken dance?

Her three weeks were way too short, that is for sure. She has been gone a week, and I feel like it is already time for her to come back! Maybe that feeling is heightened by the fact that I have started working since she left. What? Working? I know, downer!

...anyways. In other news, I would like to be an unofficial advertiser for www.pinterest.com right now. If you like cooking, decorating, fashion, event planning, craft projects, frigging anything, check this website out. It is the single-handedly coolest website I have found in a long time. Even cooler than facebook AND twitter. That's a pretty big statement to make. And I mean it whole heartedly!

Pinterest pretty much gives you different 'boards' to 'pin' different pictures to. You can of course organize your boards in any manner that pleases you, and pin whichever pictures you find online, from a friend, on pinterest.com, whatever. Once this picture is pinned to a board, it links you back to whatever store or website it came from, so you can find the recipe for a delicious dessert, the direct link to an adorable end table, a wedding gown designer's page, anything. It is pretty much the marriage of planning and organization at its absolute finest.

Now why can't I think of something so clever and become a millionaire too?

The kids are long asleep, and the parents are finally home. And it's Friday, which means..... I SURVIVED MY FIRST WEEK AS A NANNY AND I CAN GO HOME FOR THE WEEKEND NOW!!

But seriously. Check pinterest.com out and become obsessed like me. Please and thanks. :)

XOXO

Victoria

My final voyage: Paris and London

Five weeks abroad. Wow. I can't decide if it really has been that long or not. I miss free drink refills, Mexican food, my bed, mani/pedis, and of course Dustin, my family, and friends. But

it's pretty much flown by!

This past week we had three company cultural visits. They consisted of European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and ADIRA, which is a non-profit organization funded by the Alsace region of France that promotes the land for companies to come and locate their businesses here. They definitely saved the best visits for last, because I thought they were all pretty interesting. All of the interpreters speak a minimum of 4 languages, frigging crazy. I speak 2.12 (I only speak enough Spanish and French to give me 10% and 2% credit) and I am proud.

Onwards. Thursday after our company visit, we left for Paris for the second time. All trains to London have to start in Paris because Great Britain is somewhat of a prick and requires people to go through customs and the whole shabang even though they're part of the European Union. Why they are better than everyone else in the EU and deserve special treatment, I do not know. But I guess its okay, because it gave me a chance to get a few pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower since I was what I like to call deathly ill the last go round in Paris.

Really, we only had enough time to walk up Champs Elysees again, see the Arc de Triomphe, and sit in front of the Eiffel Tower for an hour or two and watch it sparkle! It sparkles every hour on the hour. Its really pretty in person, but its pretty much impossible to get a decent picture of it sparkling. I've facebook stalked everyone on this trip, and no one has a good picture of it.

Friday morning started at 4AM with a quick shower, a walk to the train station, and saying goodbye to the land of inefficiency and absolutely no productivity (yes France, I am talking about you.) We arrived in London, got rid of our bags, and started out for a hike towards Westminster. The first thing we saw was an old english telephone booth. It was perfect. But then I started itching really badly on our walk so I checked myself out. And guess what?! I had a rash of some kind, all over me. So a trip to the doctor's later, I had some creme to put on me. Thank goodness we were in London so I could actually communicate with the doctor!

Medicined up, we strolled up to Westminster Abbey. Pretty much the whole entire church is tombs. There are dead bodies in the floor, in the walls, in the ceiling, everywhere. There are so many bodies they started putting them vertical to be more efficient with their spacing. Why William and Kate, and every other royal couple, chooses to get married there, I am not sure.

And then, just my luck, I started feeling really nauseous. So unfortunately, my Friday in London ended there. Food poisoning? Stomach bug? Why I keep getting sick here?I have no idea. I am never sick in America. I ate at the same crepe stand I ate the first time I was in Paris, so maybe I'm allergic to something in that. I have no clue. Point is, I was sick all over again. It was awful. And they were repainting the hostel we stayed in, so I was puking and breathing in tons of paint fumes all day. No bueno.

Continuing on. Saturday. Saturday I still felt awful, but I was even more sick of being in that hostel than I was sick to my stomach, so sightseeing I went! We did the London Eye, saw Parliament and Big Ben, Tower of London, London Bridge, Globe Theater, The Walrus and the Carpenters Pub, Harrod's everything. It was awesome. Here's some pictures:

And excuse me for a 99% fake smile in most pictures. Remember, I was not feeling good. God bless my friends who put up with me. :)

Now it's time to study my booty off for the final so I can make A's in both of these classes, International Finance and European Integration. Gross. And then it's time to pack. Even grosser. I have like twenty pounds of chocolate, quite a few bottles of beer, a few shirts, a few jackets, all of my H&M shopping sprees, some special gifts, and of course a beautiful new purse. How am I supposed to get all of this back? Looks like I might be paying overage fees on my checked luggage. Whoopsies!

I will see you in almost 3 days America! Can't wait!

XOXO

Victoria