take advantage of rainy days.

enjoy the smell of rain and slower pace it brings to your afternoon.

wear your sweat pants all afternoon.

throw your hair up in a frizzy mess.

listen to frank sinatra, michael buble, norah jones and anything relaxing.

know you're cute toting that patterned umbrella.

rock your rainboots.

drink endless amounts of coffee.

indulge in a delicious bowl of soup in those half summer half fall kind of days.

listen to the falling raindrops outside your window.

refill your coffee cup once more.
















put a movie on and a cozy pair of socks.

dream of "...a foggy day in london town"

get excited for christmas a few months around the corner.

splash in the big puddles.

and most of all, be thankful for those puffy gray clouds and the glorious rain that they bring.

this, not that!

I would choose...

• Chocolate over vanilla

• Baked over fried
• Backstreet Boys over N*sync
• A few close friends over Lots of friends
• Republican over Democrat
• Love over Money
• mountains over beach
• Basketball over football
• introverted over extroverted
• Brains over Beauty
• half empty over half full
• NC over SC
• English over Math
• Taller guys over shorter guys (more like average..but I guess I'd choose tall)
• coffee over hot chocolate
• Edward over Jacob
• NC STATE over UNC

• Left over right
• dogs over cats
• Rock over Pop
• Confident over insecure
• soft shell over hard
• Milk over OJ
• Necklace over bracelet
• Pancake over waffle
• Wendys over Mcdonalds

• open over closed
• Turkey over ham
• Silver over gold
• sound over silence
• plain over painted nails (because I'm lazy)
• fall over summer
• USC over Clemson
• Light over dark
• cold over hot
• Japanese over chinese
• Sneakers over sandals
• sweet and salty are tied...
• harry over voldemort (DUH!)
• chocolate over fruity icecream
• salt over pepper

• Truth over dare
• skittles over m&ms
• cute over hott
• walk over run
• funny over romantic 
• creamy over crunchy peanut butter

• text over call
• pen over pencil
• inside over out (depending on the day, but normally inside)
• long hair over short
• brunette guys over blonde guys
• computer over TV
• Dr. Pepper over Mr. Pibb
• Coke over Pepsi

a lifetime left to explore

" The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. " ~St. Augustine


I sit here in bed, only a week after class has started, and I've already changed my major since the first day. 

I got to sophomore year as an undecided major with a creative writing minor and now I've changed to double majoring in Journalism & Advertising and still minoring in creative writing. 

3 concentrations...It's going to be A LOT of work.

But I think it will be worth it. One day, I'm sure it'll all pay off.

The crazy thing is going to be down the road when I look back at my life, say, ten years from now. It's going to be so different than what I think it is. 

I have so many things I want to do...

I want to travel the world...

I want to go to Ireland

I'd like to go to New Zealand 

I want to travel to Canada

I want to do something outrageous like skydiving or something

(this is Mark skydiving..CRAZYYY!!!)

I want to witness the Olympics...hopefully in London 2012

I want to write a book.

I want to go on a coffee expedition. I want to try a cup of coffee from a local coffee shop from every state in the U.S.

I want to rent a convertible and drive down an open highway going way way way too fast.

I want to one day be in good enough shape to compete in a triathlon. (yeah right)

I want to write a song on the guitar and sing it (if only to myself)

Here are some cool things I can check off my list

1. I got to sing the National anthem at a Red Sox and White Sox game with my church and we actually walked onto home plate! It was amazing.

2. I got to witness the freezing cold inauguration of President Obama...life changing! 

heres a picture I took

3. Visit Europe with my family! So much fun!

I have been blessed with an AMAZING LIFE so far! I have witnessed things I never imagined and traveled to see more than ever expected. I know God has so much in store for me and I have my whole life ahead of me. There is still so much left out there for me to do! I can't wait to get started on it...

now the problem is deciding where to start!

another depressing poem by Laura

metronome

She had never known isolation

until it came tumbling 

out of the sky, a falling bird,

into her lap.

Time was irrelevant,

yet all that mattered.

A note of music;

a melody to drown in.

Her fragile heart 

now beats feather soft against her ribs

after mere minutes of neglect.

She'd walked into submission.

Her own thoughts wound a maze

around her head and 

coerced her into her own prison.

She dangled the key in front of her mind's eye.

A pendulum of freedom 

monotonously swinging back and forth 

like the rhythmic tic of a metronome. 

Thump, thump

thump, thump.

Loneliness

flutters sporadically;

feathers upon her soul.

laughter is the best medicine

I think laughter is one of the greatest things that God has ever created. Laughing can cure any mood. You suddenly forget how upset, angry, or hurt you are and laugh until you cry...

YOU KNOW WHAT'S FUNNY?
Bowl-cuts
Laughing so hard that it's silent and your shoulders just shake up and down
When something makes a weird sound..like ketchup
pushing someone into a pool
babies laughing...so cute.
watching reality shows.
SNL
"this is for all my friends on my Stickam friend's list..."
Trying to catch something in your mouth
YouTube
when other people laugh
Acting ghetto
miserably failing at "jumping pictures"
Sarcasm
Overly competitive people
how when you have money for shopping you can't find anything but when you don't have money, you always do.
"airrrr ballls "
hand gestures
really obnoxious commercial jingles
When people can't dance but they think they can
when your stomach growls at you
Laughing so hard you cry which then makes you laugh more
The Office
" i'm not touching you, i'm not touching you, i'm not touching you..."
the sound macaroni makes when you stir it
Will Ferrell
When the other team misses a goal
falling
Funny accents
Tripping
Bugging someone
spelling something wrong on accident and realizing it spelled a funny word
when someone comes up behind you and scares you
you tell someone bye and then end up walking in the same direction
when you're eating and all you can hear is the silveware
old school knock knock jokes
the fact that musicals are about people randomly breaking out in song
tickling
acting british
missing a high five
old people and technology
acting like you're 5
trying to skype with no sound
making lame faces
fumbling your words
when my dog, Rocky, runs around the house at 120 miles an hour
Tina Fey
Jokes that are a play on words.. "did you hear about the fire at the circus?...it was in tents.."
when you stay up way later than you should have and you become delirious
when someone you're with has to pee really bad and you try to make them laugh
Trying to not think of penguins...it's REALLY HARD!
The movie Mean Girls, I could watch it every day
Quoting stuff. I LOVE to quote.

go find something funny and just LAUGH - it'll make you feel better.

19 years old today!!!

First of all I want to say Happy Birthday to the most amazing twin and my best friend in the entire world, Lindy Maddox!!!! It was so hard being away from her today. We have shared 17 birthdays together and this is the 2nd year that we've been apart. I just wanted to give her a big twin birthday hug but I couldn't. We did get to iChat though but it's just not the same! I love her so much, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWIN!!!

I can't believe I'm about to embark on my last year of being a teenager. This is INSANE.I can't believe I'm this old! I feel like just yesterday I was running around in overalls, coloring in coloring books, playing with american girl dolls and sharing a bathtub with Lindy.

And now look at us! We're starting our sophomore year of COLLEGE?

we went from being 4 pounds ( this is Lindy)

To little chubs

Yes, we are identical

Aw! Showin' mark some love.

Blowing Bubbles.

This picture makes me smile.

Mirror Twins!

Us dressed up as the characters of Grease. I'm the "Bad Sandy"..DUHHHHHH!

( if we had only known how perverted grease really was haha)

Jammin out. Always loved dancing.

American girls with american girls.

Fifteen.

Senior Prom

Graduating, oh how the time flew by.

Still Matching. 

So gangsta. So thug.

We didn't even plan to jump the same way! WIEIEIERD.

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

I miss her more than I could have ever imagined, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

To Conquer

She bows her head and sighs
a mere speck in the enormity of her surroundings.


Her thoughts wander and 
she gets lost in the steady ebb and flow of reality.


Life is never what it seems; it's a challenge.
It stands in front of you; harsh boulders and rocky edges wait to be conquered.


And once you've ascended the cliff
and find yourself ragged and rough from the journey, the only way down is to repel.


A content breath falls from her lips and does nothing to the wind 
but disperse and unravel it's self upon the mountainy expanse that stretches out before her.


Beauty in it's rawest form;
both the mountains and the journey.


And as serenity falls over her like a fresh morning rain, 
and the troubles of her life fall away


the only thing left to do is thank the Maker
for the beauty he created 


and the journey she has traveled
if only 
for him.