take every breath God gives you for what it's worth....

it's been a rough couple of weeks in the mother county and my 5 days home made me realize just how much i have to be thankful for-- the most fabulous family any girl could ask for, best friends i've had since before i was born, and a sunset view from my living room--just to name a few.
tuesday i met up with a few of my best girls from etown- we're glad you're back, jake!
wednesday consisted of a trip to melvins, garland [i'm pretty sure aunt betty really works at 'aunt betty's cookie store. "thanks y'all for stoppin' and shoppin'!"] and a day-long booze cruise.
thursday turkey, dressing, striped delight, a chilly, slow boat ride, and a bonfire.
friday criminal minds marathon. heyyyy.
saturday one of the most stressful football games ever with daddy, mindy, and callie.
sunday target and 74 west.
if i didn't see you and you're one of the like, 3 people who read this thing regularly [bless your heart! ha]-- i'm getting out of cullowhee on december 14th! :)

the dreaded day.

i knew this day would come eventually, i've just been suppressing the thought to the back of my mind for the past few weeks. after the crazy thunderstorm in the whee monday morning, i noticed that our trees are beginning to look bare. the top third of all of the gorgeous trees on campus so longer have clothes on. so it's true people, winter is going to be just as dull and brown here as it is in southeastern nc. i'm thoroughly enjoying the yellow, red, and orange while i can.

on a much lighter note, schmem came up for a visit this past weekend. friday afternoon was complete with a trip to "the rez" for aimless, touristy wandering. saturday we packed a cooler, hopped on the cat-tran, and showed those catamounts how to tailgate. since they only give us 3 hours to prep for the band's performance [football game at other universities], we had to disregard the food mandate and ignore the '15 minute warning'. those folks were incredibly impressed with the two ncsu alums and one bama grad and were thankful that we taught them the alternate meaning of 'shotgun'.

[note: looking back at this picture of me and the bear, it looks horribly inappropriate. i was simply attempting the redneck stance. this is for you, hawley.]

the downward slope.

just call me miley cyrus--because i've got the best of both worlds. although i have let an excessive amount of four letter words go on I-40 between bladen and jackson counties over the past 3 months, i am the luckiest girl on the planet. i was walking my furry sister at low tide on monday. a little over 24 hours later, i was enjoying peak "leaf time" while i checked my mail. i'm sure you guys have missed my list making tendencies, so here ya go!

10. my souvenir glass from tobacco road [thanks meg!]
9. people watching at the fair.
8. wolfpack shots with kenneth.
7. the fact that my mom tolerated the explosion my suitcase made in her living room. if you know her, you know her OCD was flaring up big time.
6. witnessing the redneck stance and getting cotton candy in the same night.
5. my daddy's corny jokes.
4. halloween socks [i won't tell you how many days i've worn them. thanks haw!]
3. red box.
2. perfect sunday afternoon on the end of the pier.
1. the fact that the semester is more than halfway over!

i had a fabulous fall break and can't wait for my visitors this weekend![check out the sweet foam claw i won on campus today. it was like my own personal "welcome back. we missed you!" western, western, go western. gooooooo cats!]

two 'fer.

so, i've been super slack with this lately. but, fear not-- this post is chock-full of new excursions in the 'wild wild west'. last weekend, T and Hawley came up for a visit. saturday we got all gussied up to 'go out' and went to gorges state park in sapphire. gorges is the newest park in nc, only about 4 years old. the scenery on the way up was gorgeous. glenville lake made me feel like i was home [kind of]. we were greeted with a ton of 'toons and it looked like it had potential to be a pretty fun place. while we were out exploring, we ventured down to whitewater fall at nantahala nat'l forest, paid $2 [yeah, we paid] and enjoyed the scenery. the weekend was topped off sunday morning with a 30 minute ride up and down the parkway looking for the perfect spot and a sub-zero picnic. perfect weekend! i hope my one room very very humble abode didn't scare them away and they'll come back soon!




after a week of mid-term fun, mom came up to keep her sickly girl company. friday we spent most of the day in asheville while bonquisha the civic was at the doctor and then made a side trip to lake lure to try out my early birthday present. although we missed the dirty dancing festival by about a month [i will be attending next year--a watermelon carrying contest, a lake lift contest, and a map of the locations of important scenes. heyyy] saturday we took the scenic route [through cherokee and the great smokey mountains national park] to gatlinburg [umm hello myrtle beach of the mountains] and then on to knoxville. i've added a game at UT to my "to do list." again-- fabulous weekend! i can't wait to be in raleigh this week!

YES! that's a fish eye shot-- my favorite thing about my birthday present. :)

twista makes the world go 'round.

mountain heritage day was a bust. --too many randos parking in my parking lots. too many beards [on females]. too many babies without clothes on [legit- every child under the age of two was wearing ONLY a diaper]. and wayyyyyy too much fiddle music. -- so, i decided to spend the day in the library instead. i watched the foosball men on game tracker, GO PACK!, and got a lot of homework done.
the highlight of my day/week/month came in a box from ILM. b-rad from the boo sent a package full of coozies from expo, the most amazing mix ever [from wu tang clan to the beach boys. heyyyy], and lots of love! i have the best big brother out there.

something new, something blue

to all the people giving me a hard time about the lack of posts: there's not much day-to-day excitement up in these parts. you take it when you can get it. i don't want you to bore you with my daily schedule so i save the blog for exciting times. last weekend was one of those times.

brooke sasser tied the knot! the whole weekend was amazing. it couldn't have been prettier! poor brooke, in the chaos of planning a wedding and starting a new job, forgot her something old and something borrowed. although, she had the old covered with the 9 "old friends" standing down below. brooke and i have been friends since 5th grade and have been through a lot over the years! i had a blast this weekend and get so excited to think of all of the special weekends like this one i have to look forward to with all of my ladies. congratulations brooke and mark! i love you both lots and hope for nothing but happiness in the many, many years to come!

this weekend: mountain heritage day. so, luckily you don't have to wait long to hear all about the beard/mustache contest, lumber contest, etc.

we want the band....clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

i haven't been to a clarkton school of discovery football game since i was 13. however, i felt like i was cheering on the blue devils tonight--only they were wearing purple and they were cats. tusculum took paws the cat's dignity back to tennessee in whatever a pioneer carries his/her things around in. honestly, i think the football team should "perform" at half time for the pride of the mountain marching band. their rendition of "lean with it, rock with it" made my night. --western, western, go western. goooooo cats!-- the crowd went crazy [even the tusculum fans. what exactly is a pioneer?] when the band made their entrance and the students immediately bolted after the second half started. i spent the entire half of the game trying to figure out exactly how they scored a touchdown in raleigh. the game was sub par, but again the view was beautiful! so glad danielle let me tag along with her! i've perfected the "ohhh you've probably never heard of it..." line when someone asks me where i'm from. however, i was introduced to a guy tonight who told me his parents live on gibson dairy road. you can run, but you can't hide.


on a much brighter football note-- GO PACK!
[bradley sends subtle christmas present hints via facebook. i'll send mine on here. my camera sucks. do you hear me, santa?]

monday funday.

that's all, my friends. they've pulled the plug and put the cover on white lake for the winter. as i wrapped up my twenty second summer at the lake, i practiced my future profession [pier sitting] with my business partner [margaret carter]and made an abbreviated version of the list of my favorite things about home.[i hope you all like lists. they seem to be a reoccurring theme on here. welcome to my life. i make like 10+ a day.]

.the cypress trees
.it reminds me of my best friends
.the fact that i can see the other side and i know who's on the end of every pier
.naps in the hammock
.slow boat rides
.the ducks
.the sunset
.watching the rain come across the lake
.the otters/beavers :)

thank you, ingles advantage card.

one of my MHS professors asked us what is getting us through our master's. most people are older with kids and a family. [there's a 78 year old woman in my policy class. she's hilarious.] most answers were 'the support of my family', 'hope for a better job that pays more', etc. what is getting me through the massive amount of work that comes with the grad student title? brown sugar and cinnamon mini wheats, coke zero, and the view. obviously, i hope i can find a decent job [so i can by more mini wheats and coke zero. ncsecu told me today that i currently have a whopping $3.96 to my name], and there's no doubt that everybody in my family is rooting for me, but the view i get to enjoy every day makes even my biostat class enjoyable. you guys are probably getting tired of my rambling on about how pretty it is up here. sorry. it probably won't stop until it gets cold and a bust my butt going to class [again]. hurry up and come visit before then! {the picture is the view from the study lounge on campus that i have claimed as my own.}

all the small things.

the "top ten" of my weekend--
10. a parking spot under the shade of a big tree.
9. jeremiah weed.
8. finding old pictures of me with my two best friends. [our bow-to-head ratio was totally disproportionate.]
7. finding my blog in meg's bookmarks.
6. hearing old school blink in the bar
5. darius and the blowfish.
4. panthers football with my daddy, mindy and callie.
3. coming home to find the mattress and box-spring in the corner of my apartment found their way to the door while i was gone.
2. the sundog i spotted just above the mountains as i was riding down hwy 74 w.
1. a package in my mailbox when i got home that let me know that the sender misses me just as much as i miss her. :)

W.e C.arry U.mbrellas

thus far in my adventure i have learned:
-- cell phones were not invented for use by mountain folks.
-- i need an English-to-Mountain translator if i wish to communicate with the locals. [yesterday, the lady at dollar general told me that "the pair cut out dis mornin 'cause a transformer blowed down the screet. thank gawd the pair man had a spare transformer in his bed err it woulda been 8:00 'for they got it back on and i need to work!" i'm sure the look on my face was sheer confusion. after asking her to repeat herself twice [not an exaggeration] i realized she was saying power.]
-- the walmart in sylva is sub-par. i know, this is a bold statement for a girl from bladen county to make. i just expected more from a "super" walmart.
-- students get discounts at the trailer park. students with high GPAs get more significant discounts. oh heyyyy. incentive to study?
-- it rains a lot. students claim that WCU does not stand for Western Carolina University at all. luckily, i do carry umbrella[s]. somehow, two made the trip with me. [note: i must remember to get my boots when i go home.]
-- finally, i absolutely love it up here. the parkway is beautiful. and you all should come visit. stat.

"welcome to WCU. whee are glad you're here."

it's official. i'm a resident of cullowhee, north carolina. the past few days have been a whirlwind of all kinds of emotions. i have no cell service, didn't have internet until this afternoon, yet i'm so incredibly relaxed. it's extremely quiet up here and everybody seems so easy going. i'm super excited about the small school environment. i met the dean of the graduate school first thing yesterday. he remembered my name and referenced our conversation [and pointed me out in front of the entire room] during his introduction. i have a lot to get used to [ie. horrible reception, lots of roadkill [due to the skinny roads], and no target], but i think i could get used to life in the "wild wild west".
--the view from my mailbox. give me a reason to see this, people. :)