Speeding Tickets

Are no bueno! Several weeks ago I was heading to Tulsa to attend a friend's bridal shower, and was blasting the music in road trip mode, and wasn't paying attention to the fact that I was no longer in a 70 MPH and the speed limit dropped to 60.

But let's take a little side trip story about 35N from Norman to Oklahoma City. Norman's speed limits are 60-65. Moore it goes up to 70 then back down to 65 then Oklahoma City it's 60. This is in a span of a mile. And the cop in the motorcycle was just waiting for me.

Ok so I get pulled over (note: the only time I was pulled over was because I had a broken tail light and he just wanted me to know.) and this guy was pretty decent except for the fact that he still gave me a ticket.

Not blaming anyone because I was speeding, but this whole process of getting rid of it is a pain in the ass. Since I've never been pulled over for speeding, I was given the option of taking driver improvement school so the citation could be off my record and my insurance won't go up. Clearly I like this route since it also is cheaper than just paying the fine. I immediately call the next day but my citation hasn't been filed yet and won't be filed for another seven days. She just said to call back when it's been filed. So after I received my pay check which was last Friday, I wait till today and apparently I have to go to court in the city to sign up for these stupid classes. Pain in my ass. Who knew a damn ticket would be so annoying? Never again.

I'm Baaaaack

Hello 7 people who are following me! So I haven't written in almost a year because I was in Italian depression for a few months and then I had the brilliant idea of taking 17 hours and graduating early, therefore I had absolutely no life, and then I have spent the past few months deciding on what I want to do when I grow up. Slash enjoying my free time and catching up on much needed sleep. So since you asked I'm going to sum up what's been up:

June:

Summer school, pool sessions, waiting for my friends in Italy to come back, catching up with other friends from OK, and failing at job finding.

July:

Same damn story

August:

Rush, those weeks are always a blur but I come out of it with numb feet, a missing voice, and a closer than ever bond with my sorority sisters. After rush I began working at where I worked before I went to Italy and school started quickly after that. Even though I was already killing myself with school, I decided to pick up another minor (Italian)

September:

September basically went like this maybe more events but here's the basic layout: school, work, Logan's on Friday, Football on Saturday, Sorority business on Sunday. I truly love OU in the fall.

I'm one of those people who like to have a basic outline of their lives planned for the future. Junior year I planned out my life, well kind of: Go to Italy, graduate early, don't date until you move to Houston, find a job, get an MBA, meet a nice young man when you're 25, get married later, etc. God laughed at the whole "don't date until you move to Houston part" Because after the Florida State game, I went to a house party (which I'm usually too tired to go), I went with two of my good friends (though it's not like we hang out all the time), and one of my friends invited one of her high school friends to come over and hang out, and he was only in town for the weekend. We haven't looked back since. We are the cutest, and dorkiest couple ever, and I would not have it any other way. We're awesome. I asked him out to a football game the following weekend, he took me to the Oklahoma State Fair (I've never been) and we got tickets to see Muse in October. September was a good month : ) (cheesiest post ever I'll stop I promise)

October:

I ruled out being a Foreign Service Officer, but it worked out because I think I wouldn't really like working for the government...unless it was the CIA because that would be really cool.

OU/TX: Best time ever. Lived it up at the West End, almost got into a fight with Dallas Cowboy fans, saw the same 25 year old Cowboys fan make out with a 60 year old (gross), I climbed over a fence to get in a club then walked right up to the bouncer to get stamped, and to top it all off, we won!!

November:

I don't remember. I purposely blocked it out of my mind because it was filled with exams, projects, and papers. It was awful. I had no life.

December: I graduated, I celebrated Christmas, I conquered.

More to come on my life now.

What I miss/not

It's been a week since I left Italy. Italy has been good to me. I explained it to a friend this way: "I love the U.S. The United States is the love of my life, my home, but damn Italy is good in bed." It's the only way I could describe it. haha.

The things I miss:

my friends

my old apartment (oddly enough)

train transportation

walking everywhere

Aurora and Chico

Blooms and Davide

Costanti, the cute guy who works there, their aperitivi, and their Bloody Marys

close distance to Florence

clapping after a Ryan Air flight

Europe in general

riposa

loud chanting

good food

H&M

"bee boop (british accent) the train arriving from (Italian)Firenze Santa Maria Novella (British Accent) will be arriving on platform four.

rocking out in Santa Prisca (grocery store)

Things I don't miss:

My ten lbs I gained in Italy (seriously looks like I got a boob job and a j-lo ass)

slow internet

squeaky beds

non diverse food

my landlord

running out of water

not having a dryer

not having a dishwasher

So far at home, I've been fascinated with my television since I haven't watched it in months, other than online shows. Houston is hot and humid, so staying inside is a must. I was carded for the first time as a 21 year old the other day, so I was excited about that. Other than that not much going on. I'll be in Baltimore this weekend for a wedding, which I'm very excited about. My cousin graduates this weekend as well. And I move to Norman the following weekend, where I'll be until I graduate this December. It's going to be interesting. Not really sure if I want this to be the last entry or not. We'll see. Until then Arrivederci e ciao!

Getting ready to go home/ the trek home

Equals finishing papers, having fun with friends, and packing.

Paper got done.

Saying bye to friends was hard. I know I'll see them in Norman but it's not the same. I made some Italian friends too and I miss them already.

Packing was better than I thought, though I had to ship a ton of clothes. They are now on a nave(boat) and I won't see my stuff until mid to end June.

I left Arezzo with a bang. We did our ritual stops at Aurora and Mr. Blooms and we had a blast. That's all I wanted.

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I said ciao to Arezzo. We arrived in Rome, dropped off our tons of luggage, and went to the Spanish steps where I said bye to Sam and Steven. They were so nice to help us with our luggage, and I'll be forever grateful, because my crap was heavy. Sarah and I decided to get dinner, where I ordered my favorite meal which is Caprese and Spaghetti con vongole (clams). We then had to get gelato and sit at the Trevi Fountain, my favorite location in Rome. The next morning we got up, got on the Leonardo da Vinci express and showed up at Fiumincino.

Jesus American customs are crazy in foreign countries. Don't get me wrong, I think that's great because the last thing we need is another terrorist attack, but damn. Some bus took us to a remote terminal, where we did customs, checked in, did security, did passport check, and then got on another bus that took us to the actual terminal where our plane was. My plane was delayed for two hours which means I would miss my flight from Chicago to Dallas. I tried explaining this to the check in dude, who was just like "I thought you told me your connecting flight was at 7 pm!" "No my flight from DFW to IAH leaves at 7, I'll miss my connecting flight to Dallas." He then wouldn't even make eye contact with me which really pissed me off. So I was like "Look I'd just like to be in Houston tonight, can you get me on a flight?" He ignored me! So then I was rude. "Fine. I guess I'll talk to the people in Chicago when flights are full and I'll be jet lagged and confused! Thanks you've been super!" So during the flight I spent 10 and a half hours twiddling my thumbs, because I was so antsy, and couldn't sleep, or read, or pay attention to the tv. (We didn't have our own on this flight) We landed in Chicago, and I got a text from my mom saying I had a flight right from Chicago to Houston. I was thanking Jesus, because I heard so many people were being stranded in Chicago from our flight.

As I stepped off, I went through another customs and passport check, and picked up my luggage. I tried explaining to the lady that I had a different flight plan, and if there was something I could do to change my luggage tags. She responded with "We're professionals, we know what we're doing." Clearly not, my luggage wasn't in Houston when I landed.

I went to the terminal to wait for the plane, and stopped at the nearest Hudson News to pick up a magazine, sprite, and starbursts. I then sat at the gate, realized it was a small plane, and decided to take dramamine. Mistakes! I immediately felt drowsy from the jet lag and the dramamine and started to drift off. People probably thought I was on drugs, I was trying so hard to stay awake. I then heard the guy announce boarding, so I got up, boarded the plane, found my seat, and passed out. The only time I woke up was when I heard the guy said "It is now safe to use portable electronic devices," which I take as put down the tray table and pass out again. I then woke up a bit during a lightening storm, then I realized we were landing. I power walked to baggage claim where I first saw my mom, then my dad, then Tori! I greeted her drowsily saying "Oh look it's Tori...I knew you'd be here." We stood at baggage where I was like "it's not going to be here, the professional idiots lost it." So we went to baggage lost and found, filed a report thing, and then went home. I don't remember what I said I just remember not shutting up. I went to my room and passed out. Luckily I barely had jet lag because of that day, but I did wake up at 8 bright eyed and ready to go that next morning. And recently I haven't been able to sleep in. Hopefully that won't change.

Ibiza

Ok so here's what went down:

As ya'll know, there is a pesky volcano in Iceland that has been enjoying ruining European travel plans. I was in Florence with Brittany when I received a call from Kayla saying, "our flight has been cancelled." I responded to this statement with a certain favorite f word. So when I got home from Florence, I checked the computer and sure enough it was cancelled. Later that night, my roommate Halie and I decided to trade songs on the computer and stay up until 4 am. Before we went to bed we thought it would be a good idea to check the flight just in case. Next to our flight it said ON TIME. We looked at eachother and were like "ahhhh it's not cancelled!!....SHIT WE NEED TO BE AT THE TRAIN STATION IN THREE HOURS AND WE HAVE TO PACK!" So we slept for an hour, and got ready.

The original count for this trip was nine...three showed up. Halie, Kayla, and I are troopers! As we got on the plane Halie said, "You smell that? That's the smell of volcanic ash." I was like "Halie that's not funny!" So Ryanair flew us to beautiful Ibiza. We got to the hostel, and then headed to the "Rubbish beach" as the Brits told us. We passed out pretty early. We woke up the next morning and went to another beach. The day was spent relaxing with a book. The water was freezing but we decided to test it out anyways. Apparently Halie hates jelly fish, and we saw a few in the water. I told her it would be fine because I was on jelly fish duty, and that "I got this." Well ok so I got distracted, there were cute Irish boys in the water. When I look down there's a jelly fish extremely close to me, so I scream "JELLY FISH AHHH" and haul ass to shore. Halie is still in the water screaming "WHERE WHERE" as she's running towards it. As I'm screaming to her where it is she sees it and proceeds to run to shore. Eventful part of the day. Cute Irish boys spoke to us later, and mentioned they heard us screaming earlier. oops.

Fun trip! Kayla got a bit too much sun, Halie got tan, and I'm still pale. Story of my life.

Paris

Paris was absolutely stunning! I felt there was so much to do and that I only did a small portion of it. I flew in on a Monday evening during a beautiful sunset. Paris Beauvais is in the middle of nowhere, and it took about two hours to get into actual Paris. The Italians and I bonded during the bus trip because none of us spoke French, so we stuck together. Paris, to me, felt like an American city. Other than London, Paris was the only place where I saw a lot of skyscrapers, and a freeway system with lots of lanes of traffic.

I will say this now because I'm home safe and sound, so my parents can't scold me, but I totally did the subway system by myself at midnight to get to the hostel. It was slightly scary, but I held my own and looked confident. There was a group of gypsies eyeing me and then pointed at me to their friends, but I just stared them down, and then they backed off. Nothing got stolen so success!!

Ok so I only came across one asshole Parisian. This guy was in charge of the hostel. Other Parisians were actually really nice to me. But this guy, forget it. I can't remember the stuff he said but he was rude.

Ok so Robyn, Mason, and I woke up and took the metro to Versailles. Versailles is sooo pretty. The Hall of Mirrors was absolutely beautiful. Everything was so lavish, and awesome. I went through a Marie Antoinette phase when I was younger because I read a few books in 5th grade, so it was pretty awesome to see a palace I've been wanting to see for ten years.

Later that day, we decided to go to Notre Dame. Beautiful stain glass windows. Ridiculously huge. Freaking sweet.

The next day was dedicated to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. Louvre=most overwhelming museum since the National Gallery of London. I can't believe how many pieces are in there. The Eiffel Tower was my favorite part though. Sitting with a glass of wine, a chocolate banana crepe, with good friends made this ideal. We got to see it sparkle and then went to the third level to see the view.

Things to do when I go back:

1. If I don't get one here, I will be purchasing a Longchamp bag. I meant to do it in Paris but didn't come across a store. I saw some in Nordstrom, but I would need to save 98$. Unfortunately that'll probably be needed for an ipod shuffle since my classic died.

2. Musee de orse (spelling?) So sad I didn't go.

3. San Chapelle.

4. Moulin Rouge

Disclaimer

I'm back in the states, but completely forgot that this existed and I still haven't written about Paris, Ibiza, the preparation for home, and then the going home part. So just pretend I wrote about all these things the instant it happened or something like that.