Today

I like today. You know sometimes you wake up and just know it's going to be a rough day. While the day is just getting started, it has been great so far. I got to sleep in (which is ALWAYS a plus) and I just got out of my LAST bio lab class for a while and it's a great feeling. Finding out that my grade in that class is awesome just amplifies that feeling. Finals are approaching and I'm trying my best not to stress out about them. So far it's working and I'm really proud of myself.

My bathroom in my dorm is always disgusting. With 4 girls constantly in and out of it, it never stays clean. But today, maintenance knocked on our door and said they were coming to clean the bathroom. It looks, and smells, amazing (if that's possible) now, and I'm thankful for that.

Today is also a good day because Im going to Olive Garden tonight. Doesn't sound special, but as a college student on a strict budget, I'm definitely looking forward to it! I'm going for my bestfriend's birthday dinner, so it should be fun... and yummy! After dinner, I'm going to bake cookies and brownies, which I LOVE to do! The only downfall to me baking is that I tend to eat a lot of them in the process. The only thing that could make this day go from great to perfect is finding time to go to the gym.


TODAY IS A GREAT DAY

Food Is Taking Over My Life

     Im slowly figuring out that I have a phobia of being hungry. It's a miracle Im not triple my weight right now. It really bothers me that I have no self control over my eating habits. Sometimes I care, and then sometimes I think that life is too short to not just eat what you want to when you want to. It really is a daily struggle. Now that Im in college and the freshman 15 haunts me everyday, I am a lot more conscious about it. I also feel sorry for the people that are actually struggling with weight issues much more severe than mine. I realize how hard it is for me to just lose a few pounds, and I couldnt imagine the stress accompanied with having to lose any more than that. And what's even worse, is that stress is linked to overeating and weight gain, making it even harder to reach your goal weight.
     What really pisses me off though is how expensive healthy food is in comparison to fatty, greasy, unhealthy junk food as we call it. As a broke college student, there is no wonder freshman 15 is a serious problem. If healthy food was made cheaper for everyone, I guarantee you more people would eat it. Price is another excuse we use not to eat healthy, but sometimes its not even an excuse, it really is just too expensive to live the healthy lifestyle. I will never understand why nutritional foods are more expensive than the foods we are told over and over again not to eat. So frustrating. In the meantime, I'm going to the gym!

Closing Time

     My first semester of college is finally coming to an end. I didnt think the transition was that tough, at least the way people portrayed it to be. Still though, I am glad it is almost over. Im one semester closer to graduating and that is excting to me. Im ready for Christmas break already and a new set of classes (not that I dont like yours). Like always, the end of the semester brings a lot of tests and a lot of stress... which I dont like. I did way better in all of my classes than I thought I would, but Im ready for my finals to be over. With one semester down (almost), I am closer to being able to move into a apartment and have my own bathroom, which is probably what I miss that most. This shouldnt be a surprise coming from a girl.
     In just a few months, Im surprised that I figured out and declared a major so soon. I hated telling people I was exploratory because it seemed like I was just going to college just to go and wasnt working toward anything in particular. Now that I have declared my major as Exercise Science, I feel like im here for a reason. Im also happy that I figured out a career path that Im interested in after graduate school, even though its going to be a looooooong, tough ride. Im just hoping I dont change my mind again so Im not in school any longer than I have to be. I am glad I joined the Pre-Dental Society to help me gain more information about the field I want to go into, or better yet, to make sure its what I want to do.

Thanksgiving Sports Story

     So I cut my Thanksgiving break with my family short in order to make it back to Tallahassee in time to attend my very first FSU vs. UF game. Was it worth it? The score wouldnt say so, but Im still glad I went. I've always wanted to attend a rivalry game, and because it was free there was NO way I would pass up the opportunity. The game was a ton of fun, regardless of our losing score. 37-26 is a score I can live with. Being in the stands for this game was crazy. I saw multiple fights due to gaytor fans making and scene in the middle of the student section! The bottles and popcorn that got thrown at their heads was well deserved. When EJ was hurt it was amazing how the entire stadium starting chanting his name.
     My family is divided so its always an interesting game day at my house. All of my immediate family are Seminole fans but my sister dares to be different and cheer for the gators. She agrees that the gators didnt play well this year, but of course she is still proud of the score with the Noles. I always remind her  that a bad a day as a Seminole is still better than a good day as a Gaytor!!!!
>>>---♥--GO NOLES--♥---->

Thanksgiving

     Thanksgiving this year turned out really well. My family is very dysfunctional and holidays seem to push us all over the edge. Fighting usually breaks out, and it really dampers the traditional "holiday mood." It was the first year that my sisters couldnt make it for Thanksgiving, which was weird, but everything else was close to perfect. Im thankful that I was able to go home for the holiday and see my family! We had 17 people over at my house, so you can imagine how much food there was! The picture below is only ONE table of our feast!

Having REAL home-cooked food was AMAZING, and Im already looking forward to Christmas dinner. It was also my neice's first Thanksgiving, and she loved it. She ate more stuffing than I did! My Thanksgiving night ended with some friends, playing card games, and then I started my 10-hour Black Friday shopping excursion at midnight! P.S. Im still eating Thanksgiving leftovers in my dorm that my sweet mother packed me :)
    Reuniting with all of my friends from high school was also a nice touch to my Thanksgiving break! Our entire posse, minus a few, were able to make it to PCB for the holiday and we all got together like we did before college. This Thanksgiving was definitely the best one yet!

Opposition to Adbuster

The ad im opposing is about the addidas shackle shoes that were taken off the shelves due to rioters. They are linked to a pair of hand-cuffs, with the phrase "What's the Difference?" across the photo. One view is that the media and consumers are taking this shoe design out of proportion and the design did not purposely relate to slavery.

I oppose this view. For starters, I think that the designer definitely knew what this design would spark. Slavery is a sensitive issue, and the designer should have known that incorporating shackles on these shoes would hit home for some and offend many others. Some symbols will always bring back memories from the past, and there is a line that should not be crossed. Certain symbols can not be used to mean or portray other messages, like handcuffs for example. The designer could pretend to not know what he was getting into, or he could say he didn't mean the handcuffs to be a symbol of slavery; however, I do not believe this. Because slavery is real, using these shackles in the shoe design is a sign of disrespect, especially to those with ancestors that were in slavery. In a professional market, this design is very UNprofessional and I'm glad they were discontinued.

Politics in Sports

     In my adbuster, I can include how international teams promote patriotic pride. The games inspire citizens to have a sense of pride for their country that they would not otherwise have. It allows a country to put aside their differences and come together and support one uniform sport. Sports also allow different countries to remain allies and maintain good-standing relationships among the countries and the athletes.
     Even areas of very diverse racial and ethnic groups come together to support a local team and spark conversation about the team's performance, feeling pride for their city or their country, despite the major differences between their groups that keep them segregated otherwise. If sports were not in play, such groups would have no incentive to communicate.
     I could also touch on how government regulation in sports is used to protect our athletes. This relates to my adbuster because the Statue of Liberty is a very symbolic figure that we take very good care of.