Random · Nothings...

ok, so i know i'm crazy and all, but indulge me. so i have this goal in life to personally see all of the stars of any version of pride and prejudice. this trip is really great for that goal. so last week we went to the premiere of pirates in leicester square and i saw keira knightley. that was awesome and yes she is that skinny in real life. last night we went to a play called fools for love and it starred juliette lewis and martin henderson. martin henderson played darcy in the bollywood version of pride and prejudice, bride and prejudice. we were on the second row. i almost touched a darcy. anyway, its a big deal in my little world. i'm still holding out for colin firth, who is by the way the one actor i wanted to see the most on my trip. it could happen. well probably not, but i can still hope.
tomorrow is bath. get excited. saturday is chawton house where jane austen grew up and where her favorite writing desk is. she wrote pride and prejudice on it. get way excited about that.

So, to sum it all up, England is amazing. We have been running around like crazy people for the last week and a half. I finally made it to the British Museum and my all important Rosetta Stone. No Mr.Right (or rather Lord Right) was waiting for me, lol, but thats ok. We have been doing all sorts of things. We went to the Globe Theater, saw a performance of titus, and had a special tour. While we were there we were able to see the rehearsals for a new play and Jeffrey from the Fresh Prince is in it, so we saw him! We also went to the London premiere of Pirates and saw Kiera Knightly, Johnny Depp, and my personal fav- Orlando Bloom. There were sooooo many people there. London is a museum lover's dream, so its working out quite well for me. i also saw a performance of jane eyre this week and it was seriously one of the best plays i have ever seen. the theater world in london blows my mind. This weekend we went to stratford-upon-avon which was super fun. we went to shakespeare's birthplace, saw a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the royal shakespeare company, and saw where he is buried. Today we went to blenheim palace. it was one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. its pretty common knowledge that i love all historic places so this place was right up my alley. the grounds were amazing. i have this new found passion for estate grounds. the grounds at versailles were my favorite thing in paris, and so far the grounds at blenheim are one of my favorite things about england. next weekend is the extended break, so i think i am going to do some day tours from london to various stately homes and castles around the country. i am definitely going to bath one day, windsor castle, stoneleigh abbey, hampton courts, warwick castle, chawton, and some other fun places. ok, well i think we are fixing to head back to the dorm. i plan to work on my photo website tomorrow, so hopefully there will be some more pictures posted!

Hi everybody! Sorry it took so long to update, but we made it to London! It is absolutely amazing. I still cant believe I am actually in my beloved England!!! We had a bit of a crazy time navigating the train station in Paris, but other than that it was a good trip over. As we were riding in the taxi from the train station to our dorms we were able to see the changing of the guards as well as some sort of procession of carriages and costumed riders taking the queens money to the bank. Anyway, it was an awesome way to begin my time in London. Our dorms are really nice. I have a private room in the basement with my own shower and sink. We have private toilets down the hall. Its really nice being in the basement because its cool most of the time, and considering the heat wave in London right now and our lack of air conditioning, thats a really good thing. Yesterday we walked all over some of the major parts of the city. We ended up staying with one of the professors and he took us to Buckingham Palace, Tony Blair's house, all over parliament, trafalgar square, convent gardens, and lots of other fun places that i recognized from books. My classes are going pretty well. I kinda wish i would have taken the history instead of the theater, but its going to be fine. The classes are really relaxed and everyone seems to be really open to discussion and such. Today we are going to the Victoria and Albert Museum (one of my favorite monarchs!), Hyde Park, and our first play tonight, Titus Andronicus (i think its at the globe). Hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures on here today or tomorrow! So far England is everything I expected it to be and oh so much more!!! Its so beautiful and full of history. I think we are going to try to go to Bath (the Jane Austen museum) Sunday, so I'll definitely update about that! Saturday England plays in the world cup so thats going to be crazy! Thanks for everything and I'll try to update again soon!

Bonjour from Paris!!! Everything is going really well. We have been able to see some really beautiful things. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Champs Elysee, stood under the Arc de Triomphe, and explored Versailles (just to name a bit of what we have done). My favorite thing so far has definitely been exploring the hidden gardens, ponds, and walkways of Versailles. The grounds are absolutely amazing!!! Today we are going to brave the crowds at the Louvre, have true French tea, and see the Eiffel Tower at night. The hotel has been really really great, so thats a relief (i was really worried that it would be a brothel)!

Au Revoir!

oh, my blog is having issues, so i will update here until they get worked out!

Ok, so the stress is starting to pile up right about now. I leave for Europe in a day and a half. I am sooooo not ready to go. My clothes arent clean yet and my room looks like something blew up in it. There is stuff everywhere. It all is going in a suitcase, but just cant find its suitcase until tomorrow when the packing officially begins. My extreme OCD nature cant handle all the stuff not being in its appropriate place.
So on a more positive note this week has been really great. I have been able to play with lots of people that I havent seen in a while. Tomorrow night is girls night, so thats going to be even more fun. hopefully i'll have some sort of grip on this packing nonsense by then.
Not to be completely random or anything but i have this goal of doing movie reviews for all the new movies i see. i decided now is as good a time as any, so here goes.
I have seen two movies this week, one new to theaters and one on dvd. the first was The New World on dvd. I think i should begin by saying that one of the things that drew me to this movie was the prospect of seeing colin farrell in historic clothes (and i wasnt disappointed). anyway, the movie was really weird and long. it was one of those movies where they try just a little to hard to be all artistic in the filming and stuff. it has weird angles and is choppy. anyway, the story wasnt all that good and the actors whispered a lot. overall, i dont recommend it, unless of course you are all about two and a half hours of not only colin farrell, but also christian baale in historic clothes. i probably just butchered the spelling of their names, so just ignore that.
the second movie that i saw this week was Nacho Libre. I'm not the biggest jack black fan in the world, and for good reason. anyway, we took two 13 year old boys to see it and they thought it was the funniest thing ever, so that should warn you to beware. it was funny and if you get the religious mockery then it is really funny. overall, it has some really great one liners and the normal jack black singing humor in it. its worth the matinee price though.
alright, now i guess i better stop wasting time and actually do something productive because i'm leaving for europe in a day and a half!!!!! Yay!!!

in less than a week i will leave for europe. in a week i will be in paris. i cant handle this. its crazy, seriously. i dont think words can express how excited i am. everything is coming together and it just makes me happy. today i went by sta in the union and picked up my train tickets (britrail pass- for travel around the uk) and my eurostar ticket (the "chunnel" from paris to london). they are real paper tickets and for some reason i just find that to be way fun.
so as most people know, i am a book snob. i love british lit with a passion. we have some really great literature based visits planned for england and it just makes me happy. first and most importantly is the city of bath, which is famous for all things jane austen. i think i might cry when i actually get to the jane austen museum. its just crazy to think that after years of going to their website and getting the newsletters and magazines, that i am actually going to be there. i cant handle it. anyway, we are also going to the bronte museum/parsonage. i love love the bronte's (thats jane eyre and wuthering heights for those of you who dont know). we are also doing stratford upon avon for some serious shakespeare time. some of our other options that are currently in the air are brighton (scenes from jane austen novels), chawton (one of jane austen's homes and the chawton house library), winchester (jane austen's buried here and there is a pretty decent size museum). actually there are quite a few famous people buried around winchester cathedral. we are also going to be visiting canterbury and oxford.
anyway, i love books and this trip is going to be like heaven.

So, it would be no understatement for me to say that its been a long week. I had my wisdom teeth (all four) out monday, so since then i've been laying in a bed either at my parents house or my grandmothers. today was the first day that i actually got dressed and put on makeup all week. my face has been so swollen. it would have been really funny if it hadnt of hurt so much. anyway, i was hoping to catch up on my reading (lol, like i really need to do that) but the pain medicine puts me to sleep. i'm not taking it anymore except at night b/c it really hurts to sleep on my face.
well, monday i have to go back to work. i really hate work. really.
i'm also moving out of my apt next weekend. thats kinda exciting b/c i hate having my junk in two different places.
now that finals are over i'm getting way excited about my trip. kristin, angel, and i had a meeting sunday afternoon to try to plan our paris adventure. so far we have a draft itenerary. let me know what you think:
friday: arrive in paris at 11:00am, that night go to the eiffel tower and out to eat at a nice restaurant
saturday: markets in the morning, not sure about afternoon (maybe natural history museum)
sunday: versailles
monday: louvre and museum d'orsay
tuesday: luxembourg gardens, sorbonne, notre dame, pantheon, etc
wednesday: london!
So, as you can see its a work in progress. let me know if you know of any really great things we have left out. we're not real big on modern art so thats why there isnt really anthing to do with it.
i'm also getting excited about my trip to atlantic city. i'm not sure what there is to do in atlantic city other than gamble (i'm going to win my europe money on the nickel machines), but its going to be nice to get away and eat at fun restaurants.
well, i think i am going to go take a nap...

after much searching and many unavaibilities, we finally found a hotel in paris. its super exciting. i was really worried we were going to be homeless for a couple of days in paris. anyway, its the hotel opera maintenon in the first district of paris. its like 5 mins walking to the louvre. thats so exciting.
anyway, speaking of paris, i started reading the da vinci code yesterday. its really quite good despite the closeminded people yelling thats its the devil. anyway, if you've read it let me know b/c we should have a booktalk. oh how i love a good booktalk.
well, i guess i better get back to working on the 87 projects i have due this week. its times like this when i wish all my major invovled was going to a lecture and taking three tests, instead of all the nonesense they throw at us...

Ok, so i know its been like 10 years since i updated, but there's not time like the present. Well, things are looking up in my little world. We had our first official London meeting last week and that was way exciting. I found my room mate and we decided to go to Paris for a week before London. We also decided that on our long weekend break (like 5 days) we would go on a "Jane Austen/ Pride and Prejudice Tour". I am way excited. We are going to tour some of the locations from the filming of both versions as well as some historic Jane Austen places, like the Jane Austen museum in Bath. Its going to be amazing. Anyway, all the travel stuff is starting to stress me out b/c we have to plan our paris trip and the extended weekend. Next week i have plans to have a nice long visit with the travel agency in the union.
On other fronts, the doctors still havent figured out whats causing my migraines, dizziness, and nausea. I hoped after the hour long mri that they would have some idea, but no so much. anyway, i think its just stress, but i guess we'll see. I am also trying really hard not to loose it on my room mates. The whole situation is just pushing me over the edge. I came in this morning after spending last night in zachary and my whole apt was a disaster. apparently they had some kind of party that lasted till 5 this morning and some of my things were thrown about the living room and the curtains were pulled down (including rod) and there was junk everywhere. who does that? anyway, i'm just struggling a lot with that right now.
So, class is crazy. Thats really the only word to describe it. the education dept is famous for its end of semester explosion of random, useless crap due and this semester is no different. Well, i guess i better go start cleaning in the living room, blah.

Ok, so let me start off by saying that I'm not one of those bitter single people on Valentine's day. I just think its dumb, the whole thing. Honestly, if my significant other felt that they were obligated to get me something so they went to winn dixie at 6:45 (before they picked me up at 7), i would be a bit offended- or if they went to walgreens the night before and picked me out a card and a dumb singing monkey, i might not take it so well. i was in both these places within the last 3 days and i saw all this first-hand. really, its just stupid.
So, i think i have chronic fatigue syndrome. seriously. well, either that or school and work are killing me. i hate to be a complainer, but why oh why do professors for lsu pick out schools for us teach in that are in denham springs? really, its like way far away, which means i have to get up even earlier for my 7:30 class.
i think i have rambled and complained enough, so i guess i will go take a nap. canceled classes make me happy.

ok, so yesterday was my 21st birthday and it was pretty much amazing. we started the evening off with the cheesecake bistro. it just makes me happy (and yes i officially ordered an adult beverage, although i'm not so sure what it was). anyway, after that jessica told me that if you buy stuff at albertsons on your birthday it says happy birthday on the receipt, so we went to albertsons. we got some daiquiris stuff. they were really good. well, after a few minutes we noticed that we still had like half a bottle of rum, so jessica and i decided that the best thing to do would be jello shots. jessica is a professional at making them, so she did. anyway, while they were jello-fying we watched pretty woman. so i definitely didnt realize that the tv version cuts out a bunch of parts. its like watching a different movie. anyway, the jello shots never really jello-fied so we kinda just used a spoon and scooped them out. we didnt do much though b/c it was so gooey. anyway, after that we fell asleep, so the jello is still in the frig. it was great.
so tonight we are going to the drag show at the union. i'm real excited about it. its going to be pretty funny. ok, well i better get going.

It's my birthday!!! Isnt that exciting- i sure think it is. Today I am officially 21 and I am oh so excited. So yesterday Rikki and I went out to eat and then went to see Brokeback Mountain (although i really wanted to see the new world). anyway, it was really good, very gay, but really good nonetheless. its one of those movies that i am still thinking about. ok, so the one thing that annoyed me the most during the whole movie was that jake gyllenhall (thats not spelled right) is such a pansy. he was obviously the woman and made me want to slap him. oh and i couldnt handle seeing anne hathaway's boobs. it freaked me out, a lot. anyway, heath ledger's fake cowboy accent wasnt as bad as i thought it would be.
so tonight i am going to my favoritist restaurant in the world- Copeland's cheesecake bistro. i am super excited about that and i will definitely be that fat kid with the food and the cheesecake. well, i guess i better get ready. yay for birthdays!

I'M GOING TO LONDON!!!!! Its official- I have been accepted to go to London this summer to study abroad. I never really doubted my acceptance, but its just awesome to find out for sure anyway. I just received my email confirming it and I am super excited!
So this has been a pretty great week. Next Monday is my birthday (I'll be 21!!!) and my parents gave me my present a bit early. I got the cutest little bitty chihuahua and her name is Annabelle Darcy. She is white with brown spots. I have plans to get some pictures of her posted, but I am about to send my computer to dell b/c its having issues, so it might take me a couple of days. just trust me, she is way cute. ok, well i better go do my phonics project. Yay for London!

i am sooooo glad that this week is over. it was definitely not the best week of work/school that i've ever had. i had a little breakdown wednesday so i came home for a couple of days and drove from zachary- sometimes i just need to get away. but, i'm better now, so thats good. anyway, nothing really spectacular happened this week- although i did have a really fun james blunt conversation thingy with haley (oh how i love james blunt) and i turned in my final application for london this summer. i have been doubting my trip a lot lately, but God definitely came through this week when He knew i needed that extra bit of confirmation. ok, well i better get going. i think we are going to see casanova tonight, yay!

So, I was sitting here a few minutes ago waiting for American Idol to come back from commercial break (oh how i love to watch people embarrass themselves) and I decided to go through the channels to see if anything else was on. Well, as i was flipping i passed by a sex scene on nypd blue or something like that and i was like wait a minute, i know who that is. so i sat there for a second and then it hit me- oh my gosh- its zach from saved from the bell. i couldnt handle it- it completely freaked me out. anyway, i am now very disturbed and may never recover. seriously.

Well, to say that I am a bit overwhelmed would be the understatement of the year. I honestly believe that during this past week of school i have had more crap due than my entire 2.5 years of college combined. I knew that my blocks would be a ton of work, but I'm a 12 hour kinda girl and 18 is killing me. If you dont want to hear me complain, then you should probably not read on. just thought i might warn you. so, i have the greatest teacher in the world for my blocks- mrs.tope. i love her, really i do, but man she knows how to give out some assignments. not only do i have the huge amount of crap due for my blocks but i'm also taking edci 3000 this semester and its starting to pile up too. blah, its just more than i have ever had to do before. i think that one thing that makes this so hard is that my roommates dont have anything to do and i work and work every night on junk. its just depressing.
ok, so on to brighter pastures- i have a new love of my life and its diet cherry vanilla dr.pepper! its amazing. seriously. ok so now i think i am just delaying the inevitable homework. so charlotte's web paper and reading autobiography here i come.

well, its just been one of those weeks. It started off pretty well. I was really excited about beginning my blocks and about having one of the greatest professors ever, Mrs.Tope. Then I actually went to class and realized that this is going to be waaaaaaay more work than i have ever had to do before. today we had to present our "about me" box to the class. i made mine look like a suitcase with traveling stickers and stuff. it was really cute and made me happy. so far i really like all the girls in my classes (its pretty much the same people all week). actually i realized today that one of the girls in my class is someone on livejournal connected to me through sara and i had read some of her entries before and looked at some of the way cute pictures of her baby. its such a small world.
ok, so yesterday i had one of those really great God talks with rikki. it was definitely exactly what i needed to hear. lately i just havent had the desire to further my relationship with Him at all (aka read my Bible, go to church, pray, etc) and that was really worrying me, but i think its all going to be ok now. i have been worrying a lot about this summer and whether or not i should go to england. i have been worrying about the future and if i should try to go to law school. its all such a big blah right now and i realized thats probably b/c i didnt consider God in any of it. so i'm working on getting Him involved. anyway, just random ramblings.
so, the situation with my roommates is stressing me out. i just never know what to expect when i walk in as far as her mood goes. i try to be friendly, i really do, but it just doesnt seem to be getting me very far. i hate always being the one to begin any sort of conversation (even if its just hi)- is that so wrong of me? anyway, i cant handle the tension. it hurts me a lot.
ok, well i better go- i have a really great book waiting for me and i've taken up enough time with my junk.

I am soooo excited. I figured out tuesday that i will be able to graduate on time. i thought i was going to have to go an extra semester and graduate in december 2007 instead of may 2007. i am so happy. the prospect of finding a good job in december was kinda stressing me out. anyway, i also got to schedule and got into everything that i needed! thats never happened to me before. i will be starting my blocks which just makes me happy b/c i get to be in a school. so basically the only thing i am worried about is the whole 19 hours thing. i have never taken over 15 so if you find out that i have had some kind of serious anxiety attack, dont be surprised. so in order to graduate on time i have to take a class at intercession and one correspondence this summer (i cant do summer school b/c of london). oh does anyone happen to know if you can take a class the semester you student teach? anyway, its just exciting and i thought i should share the joy.

so, i think i need to start off by saying that no i am not crazy. today i made the discovery of a lifetime, well at least it was to me. i, lindsey girlinghouse, traced my genealogy all the way back to one of the oldest clans in scotland. sixteen generations back is Fulbert the Saxon, Baron of Pollock. I know it sounds meaningless to most, but to me- a sincere lover of all things titled, its exciting. anyway, i just thought everyone should know that i am of noble blood. lol.
ok, so this weekend was crap. seriously crap. i had to babysit for the game which isnt that bad but there was a friend there and she was HORRIBLE. the kind of horrible that makes you want to run away, far far away and never have kids of your own on the off chance that they could be a tenth of what this child was. seriously.
today i went to zachary to eat some gumbo and see my family. my baby dylan was there and looking oh so cute. jason, my pathetic excuse of a brother, was there with his girlfriend and her baby (dont worry its not his). it was weird, especially considering that most members of my family really really dislike him, including me. he just frustrates me more than any human ever. he does the stupidest things and then expects us to clean up after him and to give him whatever he wants. blah. sorry, its just a bitter subject with me.
anyway, this week is can only go up from here, hopefully. thankfully, i have only have one test. alright i think i am going to go read for a bit.