Who: Kiley, Kristina, and I visiting Katherine and Daphne

What: Spring Break

Where: Cal Poly: San Luis Obispo

When: March 25-26

101 List - Add a Piece of Gum to Bubblegum Alley

Such a strange, gross, and cool place! I have never seen so much gum in one place! Turns out on Sunday night almost everything is closed in downtown San Luis Obispo. We had just finished going to dinner at Firefox (YUM) and decided to fulfill my first request of the trip: Bubble gum Alley. Finally added a piece of gum to the wall!

That night, we stayed at Daphne's apartment, talking until 3 AM. Late night best friend talks are great!

Avila Beach

We had an absolute blast here! We had wonderful weather - super sunny! Avila beach has a swingset right on the beach, so we enjoyed swinging - forgot how fun that was! We then enjoyed taking hilarious pictures together and having a random lady capture some lovely moments for us (she offered to take a photo for us and ended up taking many). Such a fun day at the beach!

Once we got back from the beach, Katherine went to her first class of Spring Quarter and we went to meet Daphne after hers. We hung out until it was time to leave.

On the way back to San Jose, we first stopped and completed my second request: Stopping at the Cal Poly Chi Omega house.

A wonderful start to my Spring Break!

It's officially here!!!

Last two days of Finals:

Thursday: Sociology Final

Sleeping at: 1:30am

Awake at: 12:00pm

Final at: 6:00pm

Final Feeling: the largest essay question was extremely similar to our last optional essay - which I did very well on!

TV Show breaks: Bones, Stay Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids

Studied for: 3 hours

Studying Spot: my bed under my heated blanket

Food Frenzy: Cereal, tea, V8 juice, sour patch kids, gnocchi, White Chocolate Mocha (Starbucks [Marie bought me some with a good luck note written on it!]), Haagen Dazs Chocolate, Cream Cheese on Saltines, ginger ale

Friday: Calculus Final (Engineering Final Project and Final Film Essay due)

Sleeping at: 3:30am

Awake at: 8:00am

Final at: 10:30am

Final Feeling: HARDEST TEST EVER! We had to be given extra time after 2 hours...

Movie watched: Slumdog Millionaire with Emma

Engineering Project: 3 hours

Final Film Essay: 3 hours (+2 for the movie)

Working Area: Kitchen table and Family room couch (with Emma, Clara, and Izzy)

Left to come home at: 10:30pm

Arrived home at: 12:15am

Food Frenzy: cereal, tea, ginger ale, cream cheese on saltines, applesauce, Wendy's, Coke, granola bar

SPRING BREAK TIME!!!!

Sunday-Monday: Cal Poly: San Luis Obispo with Kristina, Kiley, Katherine, and Daphne

Wednesday-Saturday: Laguna Beach with my Davis girls

CANNOT WAIT!

These last two weeks have been intense! The last week of classes is always hell. I had 3 projects, 2 essays, and a quiz all due within that week. Needless to say, I was beyond stressed!

This week, however, is a close second to hell week. It's FINALS WEEK! My breakdown for the week:

Monday: Last Day of Classes

Tried for the first time: 5-Hour Energy - literally had 1 sip and was good to go for 2 more hours!

Studied for: 12 hours

TA Meeting: Engineering

Studying Spot: Kitchen Table with Clara and Marie

Food Frenzy: Toaster Strudels, Tea, White Cheddar Popcorn, Chocolate, Hot Chocolate, Fettucini Alfredo, Taco, Ginger Ale, Goldfish Crackers

Tuesday: Engineering Final

Sleeping at: 4am

Awake at: 8am

Final at: 10:30am

Final Feeling: multiple choice: EVIL, graphics questions: FUN

TV Show breaks: Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars (OMG!)

Studied for: 8 hours

Studying Spot: Kitchen table with Emma and Clara

Food Frenzy: Toaster Strudels, Banana, Mac & Cheese, V8 Juice, Tea, Peanut Butter filled Pretzels, Chocolate, Peppermint Mocha (Starbucks)

Wednesday: Film Final

Sleeping at: 3:30am

Awake at: 8am

Final at: 10:30am

Final Feeling: short answers saved me

Surprise: ended up sitting next to a kid who went to my high school - had no idea he was in my class!

TV Show breaks: New Girl, Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids

Studied for: 1 hour

Worked on Engineering Project for: 7 hours

Studying Spot: Family Room Couch

Napped for: 1 hour

Bought: A new UC Davis sweatshirt (now Marie, Clara, Ella, and I all have matching ones) and scrapbooking stickers.

Food Frenzy: Cereal, Tea, White Chocolate Mocha (Starbucks), Eggs and Toast, V8 Juice, Ginger Ale, Haagen-Dazs Chocolate, Special-K Granola Bar

Now on to Thursday...Sociology Final get ready to be owned!

Who: Abby Manor Historical Society aka San Jose friends

What: When the Clock Strikes Murder - New Years Eve Masquerade

Where: Abby Manor aka My Bonus Room

When: December 31, 2010 - January 1, 2011

From: Done List

Each year I host a New Years Eve party for my friends. For many years I'd wanted to host a murder mystery party, but we'd always been too young. Finally, our first New Years as college students, I decided it was time!

We had a blast! Everyone got really into character and took the game seriously. However, by the end of the night, we were all exhausted. It turns out the game takes a really long time, between the rounds, dinner, and the in-between games, by midnight, we still weren't done. So we took out some of the games, but on sweats, and did round three in a circle while laying down.

I was so glad we were able to do this. It was a very memorable New Years!

 Me and Bethany

 Daphne and Kayla

 Me and Katherine -- giggling naturally

 Jordan and Kristina were quite the dancers!

 Dinner time! and Jamie's rocking arm muscles :)

 Jordan, playing the piano

 Ian: Murdered!

 Jordan, Jamie, Me, and Bethany

Jesse, Kayla, Kellen, and Eric playing the very entertaining BALLOON GAME!

Who: Clara, Emma, Marie, and I (Izzy made a vegan option for herself)

What: Slow Cooker Turkey, Bacon, and Avocado Wrap

Where: Our Apartment

When: March 10, 2012

From: 101 List #1

The first part of my "Thank You" meal (see second part: Dessert) was this dinner. We've had a crock-pot since we moved in (in fact bought it 2 months before), but had never used it. We were determined to use it this quarter and even wrote a note on the fridge telling us to do so, and I finally used it tonight!

I hate meat. Love to eat it, but I never want to deal with it. Today, that all changed! I had to use raw bacon and turkey breast and dealt with it all! I may have screamed and made yucky sounds while doing it, but damn it, I succeeded! I then added the ingredients to the slow cooker and let it cook while I baked our dessert!

Emma also helped me cook! She made the side dish (Scalloped Potatoes) which were delicious! So buttery - I think we all gained 5 pounds just from eating it!

When we finally sat down to eat, we were all starving! There was complete silence for a good 5 minutes (which doesn't seem like much, but when you're with your best friends, it's eons!), which I was always told means it's a good meal!

SUCCESS!!

Recipe via Betty Crocker's Website

Who: Myself

What: Cookies 'n Creme Cupcakes

Where: My Apartment

When: March 10, 2012

From: 101 List #1

This past week I've been extremely sick, so to say "Thank You" to my friends for taking care of me, I decided to make them dinner and of course, dessert! I decided on the Cookies 'n Creme cupcakes from Betty Crocker and they were delicious! I was able to use Betty Crocker Devil's Cake Mix, and then just had to make the filling and icing. The filling was a combination of icing and marshmallow creme (which is the weirdest thing to use, by the way). I also learned a cool trick for making the hole in the cupcake for the filling - use the end of a wooden spoon and twirl it back and forth in the cake to create the hole - super easy! For the first few cupcakes, I used a new Icing Kit, but ran out of icing quickly, so stopped that and used a knife for easier icing. By the way, when you're not a baker (ahem, me) and you use an icer for the first time, it might take you a good ten minutes to figure out your trying to insert the nozzle the wrong way... :)

My friends said they were quite delicious (Emma even had 3), so I'd say this was a successful second dessert!

A Bit of Me, from A to Z (via)

Thanks to this lovely girl's blog (Designed to Love) I happened to come across this post of hers. I am obsessed with lists and surveys, so when I saw this, I knew I had to do it!

So, here is me, from A to Z:

A. age :: twenty.

B. bed size :: full size - the perfect size

C. chore you hate :: vacuuming.

D. dogs :: Kinchie and Whinnie (the most adorable puppies you'll ever meet!).

E. essential start to your day :: Tea and Facebook.

F. favorite color :: orange!

 

H. height :: Quite Short :)

I. instruments you play :: Absolutely nothing.

J. job title :: Student by day, Relaxer by night.

K. kids :: Not for many more years.

L. live :: Davis aka Cow Town.

M. maiden name :: The plan, once married, will be hyphenated with his.

N. nicknames :: There's not much you can do with Ainsley, so Ains.

O. overnight hospital stays :: Once, when I had my thyroid removed.

P. pet peeve :: Wearing sunglasses inside!

Q. quote :: "Don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened."

R. righty or lefty :: righty!

S. siblings :: my younger sister!

T. time you wake up :: Depends how many times I snooze my alarm.

U. university attended :: UC Davis: GO AGS!

V. vegetables you dislike: Almost all of them.

W. what makes you run late :: Trying to figure out just what shirt to wear.

X. x-rays you’ve had :: Oh boy - teeth, heart, stomach, and knee.

Y. yummy food :: Right now, Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches.

Z. zoo animal favorite :: Monkeys.

Who: My sister and I

What: My cousin, Melissa's Wedding to Alan

Where: Waterloo, Ontario

When: December 29, 2007

From: Done List

Left to Right: myself, Bethany, Melissa, Kim (cousin, Jason's wife), Susan (friend)

My cousin, Melissa, is 6 years older than me and the most amazing person! She was the cousin that I always wanted to be around and who I thought was the coolest person I'd ever met. I remember dressing up and dancing while she played the recorder for my family when I was 6. During a family dinner when we were visiting for Christmas, Melissa asked Bethany and I if we would like to be bridesmaids in her wedding. We were thrilled and had so much fun!

Who: Kiley and I

What: Bridesmaid in my best friend, Camille's wedding to Alex

Where: Gilroy, CA

When: December 17, 2010

When Camille first told me that she was engaged, I was shocked! She hadn't been dating Alex for very long (about 4 months), and I hadn't met him yet. However, as soon as she told me the story, I knew it was meant to be. Alex and Camille are two of the strongest Christians I know. Their entire relationship was based on the Lord, through meetings with her pastor and reading the Bible and praying together. They both prayed about each other, and within a couple months received their answers that this was the person they were meant to spend the rest of their lives with. Alex proposed on the beach, and with that they kissed for the first time and began planning. Camille asked me to be her bridesmaid in the cutest way! She, like me, is a scrapbook/craft fiend, so in her natural way, she crafted something. When I opened it, she had made a string of people holding hands in purple dresses with a "will you be my bridesmaid" note with it. THE. CUTEST. THING. EVER! I was so honoured to be apart of her wedding and to share the experience with Kiley (the maid of honour).

Soon-to-Be...

Who: Kristina, Jamie, and I

What: Bridesmaid in my best friend, Kellen's wedding to Egen

Where: Hartford, CT

When: August 11, 2012

Kellen is the second of my group of 10 to become engaged at 19. She began dating in September 2010 and they were officially engaged in August 2011. They met while swimming together on the Bentley swim team in MA, and knew almost right away that they had met someone special that they should keep in their lives. They are a great couple! They complement each other so well. Kellen prayed about Egen for a long time, as she felt in her gut that he was the one for her, but wanted the Lord to intervene, which He did. I have never seen Kellen so happy, and I cannot wait for her to begin her life with Egen!

Who: Me

What: Milked a Cow

Where: UC Davis Picnic Day

When: April 16, 2011

From: Done List

Every year, Davis has an event called Picnic Day. For most college students, it's an excuse to drink from sun-up to sun-down, however, they also have fun activities throughout the day. Since this was our first picnic day, and my best friend had received an alcohol violation the quarter before (so was on her best behavior), we did the activities and had FUN!

The highlight of my day, however, was milking a cow. Whenever you tell someone you go to Davis, they automatically say, "oh the cow town." Yes, we have cows, but there's so much more to Davis! But on Picnic Day, you must do everything according to stereotype, so, we milked cows! All of us tried it who hadn't before, and all decided it was the weirdest thing. I did learn I'm excellent at milking cows, though. ;)

Left to Right: Trevor, Megan, Bethany, Clara, Marie, Ella, Emma, me, Izzy - enjoying our Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream :)

 Bethany

 Marie

The best ice cream ever!

Who: Valley Christian class of 2010

What: High School Graduation

Where: San Jose, CA

When: May 29, 2010

From: Done List

Graduating high school was one of the most unreal things! I remember thinking, "How can I be old enough to be a high school graduate?!" (I now consistently wonder how I'm old enough to be more than halfway done with my second year of college). It was a beautiful day to graduate! Sunny and warm, but not too warm - however, I did get a weird gown-sunburn!

I was extremely lucky to graduate with the class I did - they were all incredible people! We were extremely lucky to have an all-around nice, fun grade! But in-particular, I graduated with the most incredible friends! My senior year was the first year where my group of girls (JACK) expanded to include the guys and some wonderful new girls (including the D to our JACKD - Daphne)! With this amazing group, we took some of my favourite photos - some of which I'm now sharing with you...

Yes, we all managed to make it in the air!

This will officially be my sister in May!

Miss Kellen

 My incredible family

Our high school musical couple shot ;)

Miss Kristina