30 day Challenge: Day 22

Day 22: Favorite City

When I think about the handful of cities I love, one stands out as the clear favorite: St. Augustine, Florida. One of my favorite place in world, hands down!

My first trip to St. Augustine was when I was in 8th or 9th grade. It was a Spanish trip, and I was only able to go because the slots hadn't been filled by older students. I was really excited about it because I was getting to go with my boyfriend, who was a year older. I never imagined it would become my favorite city.

If you don't know much about history, you probably don't know a lot about St. Augustine. It is full of beauty; full of a rich Spanish history. Everything screams "I'm centuries old!" I don't think I really appreciated it fully the first time I went. I loved wandering around on the streets and looking in the shops. Christopher and I ate at a little restaurant with a water wheel (this was the meal I discovered how much I love sour cream) and we went to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum (SO COOL).

I loved this city so much that my parents decided a good present for my 18th birthday would be a family trip there. I was SO excited to go back. We did a lot of the same things I had done in my first trip, along with going to the fountain of youth and the castillo de san marcos. It was definitely one of the best birthday presents ever. We also went into a shop I had found years before that has maps of European countries and divided them into family areas. Remember O'Keeffe castle? Oh yes, we found the O'Keeffe's of Ireland and found our code of arms. It is yellow and green with a lion.

I can't wait until I can go back to St. Augustine. I haven't been since my birthday trip, so I am itching to go again. If I had the money, one day I would LOVE to live there.

30 Day Challenge: Day 21

Day 21: A Picture of Yourself

This may seem like a strange picture to put in this blog post, but it is truly one of my favorites. I believe it tells a lot about me. I had the GRE coming up two days later, and I was really nervous about it! After eating a picnic lunch, I tried to squeeze in some studying (I think I was on the math section at this point...).

I think it is very telling of who I am. I am a bookworm, definitely. Who else but me would be studying instead of enjoying the picnic? Not anyone I can think of- not that my way is the right way. Also, I feel like this gives a different perspective than normal pictures. I had no idea it was being taken. It makes me kind of think "Is this how I look to the people around me?"

30 Day Challenge: Day 20

Day 20: Nicknames

I don't have many nicknames- at least not many that stick. Most people simply call me April- it's a pretty short name, so there are not many ways to shorten it! But, like everyone, I do have a few things people call me, so here we go:

1) Keefer.

~ This is my most-used-by-friends nickname. Really, the only people who call me this are Abbey and Anna, but I have been "Keefer" to them for at least 7 years now, so it isn't going anywhere!

2) Nicole/Cole

~ This is my family nickname. As you can see by the title of my blog, my middle name is Nicole. My mother, sister, and grandmother have called me Nicole and Cole basically since I was born. I immediately answer to it, which confusing the majority of people. I can't count how many times my sister has called me Nicole in front of her friends, and then she has to explain to them why I respond!

3) Ape

~ I hate this nickname. If you want me to like you, don't call me this. If you don't want me to like you, don't call me this. Just leave it alone.

And that about covers it. I have had other nicknames over the years, but these are pretty much the main things that people call me- but you can call me April. Or you can think up your own nickname for me.

30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Day 19: Something You Miss

Oh, goodness. This might be depressing to do! There are a good number of things I miss, so I'll just list a few of them.

- I miss Caleb.

- I miss my Grandma Britt. I wish I had years of stories about her like my mom does.

- I miss my Aunt Jan. I still cry when I think too long about her.

- I miss my job at the scrub shop. I loved being super awesome at my work.

- I miss being on stage for musicals at least once a year.

- I miss the Cookie Shoppe when I'm in Athens.

- I miss driving to Atlanta and shopping at IKEA.

- I miss my long hair. Working on getting it back as quickly as possible.

Because it is Christmas Eve, I'm not going to spend too long writing. We have food to cook for dinner tonight. This short list, I'm sure, will give you some sort of insight into who I am- which I assume is the point of this 30 day challenge. Tune in for Day 20!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope it is awesome and that Jesus blesses you :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Goals

This is going to be one of the more difficult posts for me to write. I have so many goals in my life, some realistic and many not so realistic. There are so many things I want to do, so many things I want to be in this life. There are so many things that will probably never happen but they still have that hold in my heart and in my mind. I am not really sure the best way to go about this post, but I'm going to do my best!

Serious Goals

1) Sing professionally.

- If I had to pick one thing that I want to do in life, this would be it. Music is my life, my soul, my passion. I would be incredibly happy spending my life on the stage or in a tour bus traveling the country. I have written about 20 songs in the past couple of years that I have only shown to one other person. One day.....one day I will have music and I will record them, even if it is just for myself.

2) Finish grad school

- I am almost 1/4 of the way through this one!

Ridiculous Goals

1) Meet Davy Jones

- He is my favorite Monkee and I love him.

2) Own a baseball team.

- I just think this would be awesome.

3) Be a Disney princess

- I could have put this in serious goals also, because I am definitely planning on auditioning at some point in my life. I really want to be one of the princesses that sing!

There are so many things that I have said "that is one of my life's goals" about, but I am having trouble coming up with all of them right now. However, this is a good start. These are the ones I think about most often, so I think they are the ones that most people should know!

30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: What You Believe

I believe Jesus is the reason for the season.

I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky.

I believe chocolate heals wounds.

I believe the children are our future.

I believe love conquers all.

I believe in Narnia.

I believe one pair of shoes really can change your life.

I believe it only takes one random date to find the love of your life.

I believe music isn't what it used to be.

I believe in miracles.

I believe a person is only as awesome as their friends.

I believe in being generous with what is given to me freely.

I believe the sweeter the tea, the better.

I believe a lady should be proper and polite at all times.

I believe books can never truly be replaced by technology.

I believe in reading and watching things in order.

I believe the crossword puzzle keeps my mind sharp and is better than sudoku.

I believe the world is my snowball just for a song, so I get out and push it along.

I believe no one says "I love you" like Ol' Blue Eyes himself.

I believe in the importance of grammar.

I believe love is out there somewhere, waiting for each of us.

I believe that Drew's couch is better than ours because of the attached footrests, and that his blanket is warmer than mine.

I believe God gave me my beautiful littles and grandlittle for a reason.

I believe that you can never be too old for Disney.

I believe that Sara is the biggest procrastinator ever.

I believe that you can love both Star Wars AND Star Trek. May the force be with you. Live long and prosper.

I believe the way to man's heart IS through his stomach.

I believe in helping others whenever possible.

I believe showing God's love is a better way to witness than passing judgment.

I believe my dog misses me when I am gone.

I believe there is always someone out there who feels the same way I do.

I believe that true friends, no matter how distant you get, can always easily come back in my life if they want.

I believe food always tastes better when someone else makes it.

I believe a girl can never have too many shoes.

I believe that Jesus died for me, loves me unconditionally, and is preparing a place for me.

And lastly, I believe these are not the droids you're looking for.

30 Day Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: Your Favorite TV Shows

I LOVE tv. Sara and I just got dvr, and we frequently have it about 80% full because there are so many shows we want to watch and so little time to watch them. In order to not make this post super long, I am going to pick my top 5 tv shows that are currently on- because if I add in ones that are no longer on the air, we will be here all night!

*Note: at any given time, the order of these change.

#1 Bones

- I just love this show. It is one that I have only been watching for about a year, but I have seen basically every episode. I bought the first three seasons over the summer, and watch it every week (or whenever we get around to it). I love that the show is centered around smart people! I want to be friends with those characters. They are just hilarious. I am a big fan of forensics, too. And I love Seely Booth.

#2 NCIS

- I want Jethro Gibbs to be my bodyguard. He is awesome. I basically love everything about this show. The characters, the plot lines, the funny one liners, Gibbs' "rules," the shooting, the technology- everything. I especially like that it is a spin-off of JAG, so in the early seasons they tend to overlap. This is also one of the shows that my entire family watches, so we always watch it together and talk about it.

#3 Big Bang Theory

- This show rocks. I don't know if there is a show in the history of the world that is as funny as BBT. I actually started watching this show somewhere in the first season. I just love these characters. They are nerdy, superhero loving guys and they just make me laugh. I would totally be friends with them and order Chinese food and watch Star Trek.

#4 How I Met Your Mother

- I started watching HIMYM this year- reruns on lifetime! I loved it so much, I started watching the current season without actually watching every single episode. It is just hilarious. I love the fact that Neil Patrick Harris stars in it, because I loved him in Doogie Howser back in the day. Sara and I have adopted many of the funny things they say into our every day lives. Suit up!

#5 Grey's Anatomy

- I didn't want to like Grey's. I really didn't, because it was such a popular show and I don't like to jump on board with things. I remember the very first episode I watched part of was the one where Burke leaves Cristina at the altar. Still, I wasn't really interested in it until my first year in Athens. My then-roommate loved it, so I watched it with her a few times. I got hooked! I borrowed the first few seasons from friends and watch it basically every day on lifetime. It is one of the first shows I watch every week!

So, there you have it! A big insight into my life, right?

30 Day Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: Something You're Afraid of

I apologize for the fact that the topic ends in a preposition. I don't like that.

Ok. So there are two things in this world that I am absolutely terrified of, and I am not too happy to have to write about them. Nevertheless, I am going to do it because I committed to this crazy 30 day challenge.

#1 Spiders

You know the song with the line "I don't like spiders and snakes!" Probably not, it is something my dad sings a lot. That line could have been written about me. I hate spiders sooooo much. More than anything on the planet. No, it is not an irrational fear. There is a perfectly good explanation for it.

When I was 7 or 8, I was watching a mystery show on tv. It was something I probably shouldn't have been watching at that age, but I was completely enthralled by it. The show was all about this woman who had died and no one could figure out why. By the end of the show, they figured out that a deadly spider had crawled in the woman's shoe and bitten her when she put the shoe on her foot. She DIED BY SPIDER.

I think I made my point.

So, yeah. Spider are pretty awful. The only time I have ever hyperventilated was because of a spider. Sara and I were on our way back to Athens from home and there was a spider on the windshield INSIDE THE CAR. On my side. Uncool! I started freaking out and basically crawling out of my skin. I was desperately trying to get out of the car and as far away as possible. We were on a tiny two lane road with no shoulder and no street lamps, so there was nowhere for Sara to pull over until we finally made it to the gas station at the end of the road. As soon as Sara stopped the car, I flew out in my stocking feet onto the wet pavement. After some difficulty in actually killing the spider - which had to be done, because I made it perfectly clear I was not going to get back into the car until it was gone - we got back on the road.

#2 Trains and train tracks.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one, but I hate trains. Yes, there is a logical explanation for this one, too. Basically it stems from the fact that I have had two dreams about getting hit by a train. In the first one, I was in the car with my then-boyfriend, Christopher. He and I were driving down the road when all of a sudden a train came out of nowhere. I saw it coming then everything went white. Creepy, right? Yes. The second dream was very similar, except it was on a different road and with different people.

The major event, though, was in real life. My mom and I were on our way to school one morning when I was in 11th grade. I always took naps in the car because we got up so early and had such a long drive. So there I am, sleeping on my pillow in the front seat. When we crossed over our second set of railroad tracks, I lifted my head, looked out the window, and there it was: a train. Coming towards us. I started freaking out, of course.

To this day, I really hate going over those train tracks. I hate all train tracks and I inwardly wince when I go over them.

So there you go- the two things I am afraid of in this world. Don't use them against me!

30 Day Challenge: Day 9, Part 2

Day 9, Part 2: A Picture of Your Friends

Like I said in the last post, I couldn't fit everyone I love in the first post, I am doing a follow up!

Katie Mc.

Katie and I have been friends since my first year in Athens. We were in the same class for SAO, and got to know each other through that. We have become much much closer over the year and a half or so. She is Sara's SAO big sis, so she is a part of the family now! I feel like I am in constant communication with her, either via text, twitter, phone calls, or Sara. If she is not at our apartment or doing something else with us, she is super busy so don't bother her (haha)! Katie also loves little kids and gets to work with them on campus.

John

John is my bestie. I sort of met him one night at Jake's, but we didn't speak- we just competed against each other in Nerts. About a month later was Island Party, and that week was when we began the road to bestie-ship. It was at iHop after the date auction/dance party. Our bestie-ship was cemented at the end of the semester when Sara, Sam, and I helped John move all his stuff home for the summer. Then he and I stayed up late almost every night discussing the O.C., one of his favorite shows that I was watching for the first time. We haven't had a bestie day in a long time, but we have an awesome plan to order Chinese food and watch the O.C. alllll day when we have time.

Lynn

Lynn was basically my first friend in Athens. I met her the second week of school at the SAO info night. She was a sister, and they were supposed to be mingling and talking to all of the new girls. We started talking and realized at one point we lived in the same town! Super cool, especially since my hometown is tiny and most people up here haven't heard of it. She introduced me to all her friends- a lot of which are now my friends! I do not know what I would have done that first year without Lynn. This picture of her is from her birthday last month, where we threw her a surprise party- yay for parties!

Austin

Austin is one of my favorite people. He is one of those friends that you are so thankful for, because you know at any point you can grow apart and not speak for years. I met Austin in West Palm Beach at church camp the summer after my sophomore year of high school. He and I were put in the same group (games and rec!). There was only one other girl in the group, and she and I weren't really similar in any way, so I just decided to hang out with the few guys I knew. This led to me hanging out with Austin the whole week. We really clicked and became fast friends. He lives in South Carolina, so we went years without seeing each other- just surviving on phone calls, text messages, and eventually, facebook. Thankfully, that has changed. We have already seen each other three times this year! He even drove to Athens for my graduation. Also, he used to sing to me over the phone. I loved that.

Kaitlyn

My dear little lamb. I love her to pieces. I first met Kaitlyn many years ago. Her older sister, Whitney, and I were really good friends in high school. The group of people I hung out with were constantly at their house. As we got older, Kaitlyn and I also became good friends. I don't know what I would do without her smiling face! This one, she is another world changer. She has a heart for missions and God's people all over the world. I absolutely adore her bubbly personality and she always always brightens my day!

Matt

Oh, Matt. He is crazy! Matt is another one of the people I have been friends with basically the whole time I have been in Athens. He is my tech support, but first he is my friend! He is always there for me, whenever I need to blow off steam or just talk about what I am going through in my life. I hope he knows he can do the same! He also came to my rescue when my sister left Athens with my car keys. He came to pick me up and took me to get food! Yes, he also made fun of me, but I am being nice and not holding it against him.

Marissa

She may hate for that picture, but I think it is adorable! I just love Marissa. A whole bunch. I can't really remember when she and I actually became friends, but I am so happy we did! She is one of the cutest people ever. Marissa is also from the deep south, and we bonded over that. She came to visit Sara and I over the summer with Josh, and it was so fun to see her! Currently, our friendship consists of us working on our showcase together and me randomly showing up at her door to tell her hi! Also, she is dating Owen, and I love him. They are so cute!

Wil

One of my favorite things that Wil has ever said was when he and Sara met for the first time. I introduced them and mentioned that Sara has no "h" and Wil only has one "l." He said "Wil. It's a noun, not a verb!" Ha, loved it. And I love him. He is hilarious and constantly is doing ridiculous things to make everyone laugh. He is basically the epitome of the class clown. You'll notice he is the only one with someone else in the picture. Wil went to Kenya this summer, and I thought it would be appropriate to give him this picture. Another interesting thing is that Wil and I have been friends for almost two years, but for the longest time we did NOT have each other's phone numbers. It made it difficult when we had awesome things to tell each other.

Sara C.

Sara and I became friends by clinging to each other for life in an awful telecomm class. In March, we will celebrate our two year friend-iversary! Yay! We love each other a lot. We used to have classes together and see each other all the time, but sadly we no longer have the same schedule. But we did have an awesome time carving pumpkins/baking pumpkin shaped cookies a few weeks ago. She and I share a love for NCIS.

And now it is almost 2:30 AM. Wow. It is almost past my bedtime.

30 Day Challenge: Day 9

Day 9: A Picture of Your Friends

I love my friends. They are some of the greatest people ever, and I would be so lonely without them! I have a group of people who mean a lot to me, but I can't write about all of them because this post would be so long, none of you would read it! I have decided to write about 8 people: 4 girl and 4 boys.

The Ladies

Sara

Sara is my bff and roomie, all wrapped up in one bubbly brunette package. She and I have been friends since I was in 10th grade. We had the same p.e. class and just clicked. The very first time we ever hung out was spring break of that year- I went over to her house, we laid out by the pool, got licked in the face by her dog Dixie, and then went to the baseball game where we ate big pickles. We bonded during our choir tour to Savannah that summer, and basically have been inseparable ever since. Now, as I said, we live together in our awesome apartment. She is going to graduate in May, though, and leave me all by my lonesome. We currently talk pretty much every single day, which is not weird for roommates, but could be considered weird by some since we also talk every day when we aren't in Athens! Sara probably know me better than anyone else, so if you ever want to know anything about me, ask her!

Abbey

Abbey is my other bff. She and I have known each other for years. We danced together when we were five or six. I distinctly remember she let me borrow a ponytail holder when I forgot one. We went to different schools, so after dance class we didn't have any contact. That changed when she transferred to my school in 8th grade. I don't honestly remember when we really became friends, it just happened. We, along with our friend Anna, became the three A's. Even though we hung out with completely different people during high school, we still made time for each other! She and I have gotten even closer since we graduated, even though we have lived in different cities for the past couple years. She and her parents are like my second family!

Ivy

My Ivy is our world-changer. She is one who "the uttermost parts of the earth" are waiting for to show them Jesus. But right now her place to be is on her campus, right where she is! I am 100% positive I do not speak just for myself when I say that Ivy is my inspiration. She is a beautiful, selfless, Jesus-loving, homeless-feeding, mission-tripping young woman. Her heart and her smile are huge. She loves TOMS, which is something we totally have in common. Ivy is the girl I can call/text at any time, just to say "pray for me," and her response is always "of course" or "anytime" and that she loves me.

Katie

Katie is my cousin. My very distant cousin, but a cousin nonetheless. I just love her. She is a year younger than I am, and lives far away from me. Because of this, we were never very close as kids. My family only saw her family once every two years, so we would hang out for a day and then not see each other for a very long time. Thankfully, this changed when I moved to UGA. She was already here, so it was cousin time! Yay! This summer, I got the awesome opportunity to do an internship in Atlanta, so Katie and I got to share her bedroom for about a month. It was so much fun living with her family! And we are related, which means she will always be around :)

The Guys

Joshie

Josh, aka Joshie, is my best guy friend. I just love him. I have known him for a long time, but we didn't become friends until around 2008, when I started going to poker night. He tells me all about his girls, and I tell him all about things that make me angry. Josh is also one of the craziest people ever. As you can see, he does things like jumping over fires. He also climbs tall trees and jumps off of them into water. And he probably does a lot of things that he doesn't tell me about, because I yell at him about safety.

Daniel

Daniel is my newest friend on this blog. He is also the reason why I was able to make the pictures be left-right-left-right! I am an excellent html student, right, Daniel? Right. Anyway. Daniel and I have only been friends since the spring, but we get along famously. He is a musical guy, and you should know that I am a musical girl, so we have a lot in common. He tries to teach me computer stuff. I try to teach him about girls and how I can be cute, but not "steal your boyfriend" cute. Our conversations are quite amusing.

Sam

Sara and I met Sam at the beginning of last (school) year. I am pretty sure it was at game night. We became instant bffs until I made the mistake of telling him I'd never read Harry Potter. He wasn't happy about that. But we overcame that obstacle, and are super awesome friends. Sam is one of the funniest people to me. He always makes me laugh. He loves loves loves Harry Potter and wants to marry either Emma Watson or Sara Bareilles (not that she has anything to do with Harry Potter, I was just throwing it in there). He was one of the only people who came to both of my graduations, and I love him for that!

This picture of him was taken at my graduation photo shoot last spring. It was super fun!

Jake

Disclaimer: Jake does not read my blog (that I know of), but he got upset when I called another boy my best guy friend, so I figured I should put him on here so he doesn't get offended :)

Jake was one of my first guy friends in Athens. I met him through Lynn when they (plus Rob) came to pick me up for a party. After that, I got invited to game night at his apartment. Jake and I have become really good friends over the past couple years. He says we are the mom and dad of our little group- we are always the ones who are feeding everyone and telling people like Wil not to pick on people smaller than him.

Ok. That is all I am doing today! I think tomorrow I will do a day 9, take 2 so I can add more people that are not on this post. I don't want to leave out people that I love! So look for another post about this.

To the people who are in this one, I love you all!

Thanks for reading :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: A Place You’ve Traveled To

The summer after I graduated from high school, I got the awesome chance to go to a mission trip to the Bahamas. I know what you are thinking- mission trips and the Bahamas don't really seem to go together. However, once you see the poverty and the beautiful children in the orphanages we visited.

I will start at the beginning of the trip. It consisted of nine people: me, my youth minister, his wife, my future (now current) college minister, one other girl, and four of our senior boys. Small, but fun! We left from the church and travelled to Florida. We arrived at our awful roach infested hotel, which was really gross, and found dinner at a very strange Mexican restaurant with no sweet tea.

The next day, we boarded our boat. The three girls shared a room on the boat- b6. It had an incredibly tiny bathroom and an even tinier tv! We finally left the port, and we were on our way to the Bahamas- yay! The best part of the boat was definitely the midnight buffet. We were exhausted, so we took a nap and set our alarms for 11:45 so we could go enjoy the yumminess.

The next day, Sunday, we arrived in the Bahamas and got off the boat. That day, we got our hotel rooms, met a bunch of other people, and ate at this really cool Bahamian restaurant that was next door to the hotel. We also explored our hotel, attempting to find the Starbucks that was so elusive. We also found that we had our own beach right outside the doors, a huge pool, and a water slide!

The next morning I woke up and got ready to go visit our first orphanage. I was all prepared- even ate a yummy nutri-grain bar for a healthy breakfast. I went back up to my hotel room before we left and immediately began throwing up. Worst thing ever when you are in the Bahamas! I was sick the entire day. Traci, my youth minister's wife, stayed with me. She got me nilla wafers and gatorade and we stayed in the hotel room all day watching Friends- and that is where the addiction to that show started!

Tuesday, I felt well enough to go to the next orphanage. At least I thought I did! We got there before the kids arrived, so we were all hanging out in one of their play rooms. Apparently, I was not entirely well and ended up falling asleep on the chair I was sitting in for THREE HOURS. I woke up to all of my friends being gone and a bunch of Bahamian children around me. Thankfully, that was the last day of the trip that I was sick.

The next day we went to the only orphanage where I actually met anyone. Pictured below is Jason, a teenager with more artistic talent than I could even imagine having. He painted pictures while we were sitting there talking to him. His dream was to come to America and go to college. He and the other boys loved playing basketball and frisbee in the courtyard.

The next day was our only free day of the trip. We went to see Atlantis, one of the most beautiful places ever! Here is a picture of it from our ferry to the island. And that is Bailey's head.

After the Atlantis, we made our way to one of the markets and shopped for about an hour before we had to get back on the boat. I bought of few things, of course, and then boarded the boat to head home! That night we got to take part in an amazing dinner where we could order everything we wanted- all the appetizers, all the entrees, and all the desserts we wanted! Yummyyyyy.

The next day, we arrived back in Florida and make our way home. A week after we left, we were home sweet home, left only with our memories and sunburn.