a slice of life.

I'm thinking in lists a lot lately, so here is another one. Things that I am really into in life right now.

1. Air drying my hair. I really think it's a good idea, considering that I can't get it cut until mid-April! As happy as I am to be in a show, I can survive this one inconvenience of having crappy looking hair. But until then, I'm gonna try to heat style it a lot less, so the ends don't fry off!
2. Audio books. I don't know about you guys, but I did a LOT of driving over the break. From Columbus to Athens, Athens to Augusta, Augusta to Greenville, etc! Luckily, I purchased the audio books of the entire Chronicles of Narnia for my mother for Christmas and she put them on my zune! It's a really great way to pass time while driving alone for long periods of time.
3. The natural look. I really stopped wearing a lot of colorful makeup over the break. Mostly because I didn't bring much of it in an attempt to "pack light". It's funny, because growing up I always hated my face. I had acne, a big nose, etc. But over the past few years, I've come to really like my unique features. (It also helps that my skin has cleared a lot.) So mostly lately I've just been rocking a really natural "I wake up glowing" (as Paige would say) make up look - foundation mixed with moisturizer, a little bit of blush and bronzer, MAYBE some liner and then mascara and lip balm. For evenings out, of course I turn it up a little, but for now I really like the way this is working out.
4. The Tudors. Addicting.
5. Morning routines. I will just say this: There is no better way to wake up than to have a nice morning stretch, some protein (I LOVE HARD BOILED EGGS! 88 Calories each, and you're not hungry for hours! What's better than that? Carb-filled breakfasts leave you hungry around 11!), a little relaxation and a nice shower. As much as I (like all college students) love to sleep, I think it's worthwhile to wake up two hours in advance (as opposed to fifteen minutes!) so that I have time to really wake up my body. I started doing this for the second half of this past semester and it really worked wonders on how much energy I had in my morning classes - not falling asleep and feeling like I was already in the middle section of my day has really helped me pay better attention!
6. Cooking! Haha, this is a given, because I've always loved cooking. But my dad got me the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Christmas, and one of my resolutions was to cook at least three times a week this semester (in order to save money, make healthier choices, etc.) and so far, so good. But school hasn't started yet, haha. I made pad thai for myself and some chili this week! Both were delicious, and I'm pretty proud that I'm learning to make things other than jambalaya and bell peppers over noodles.
7. Being generally excited about this semester. I feel like this is the semester for everything to really come together. I'm very content being single (for now), I have some of the greatest friends, and I'm working on stuff I really want to be working on (no fluffy classes that I hate!). I'm ready to really dive into the work that I have and spend time with the people here who I love.

So that's about it. Convocation on Friday! Class on Monday! Ah, such is life.
Love always.
and remember: "Happiness is the secret to all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without happiness."