a weekend in a day

I mean to write this post sooner, and I have no excuse for not except that life is happening right now.

I am doing my best this term to keep up with my classes and my grades and my fitness and my friends and family that other things fall by the wayside. Like sleep.

But it's all good.

After Saturday night's incident, I really needed a good weekend...and that's exactly what I got. I somehow managed to cram a weekend's worth of fun into one day...and I loved every minute of it. Almost. You'll see.

I need to get to bed so I can get up in the morning and review for my tests I have tomorrow, so you get the cliffnotes version...but only if I can write that little.

So we'll see.

After a horrible night of sleep on Saturday (every time I would start drifting off, some loud ruckus - either inside or outside my house - would snap me out of it, leaving me awake and grumpy for a while), I got up to head to the Portland area for the day.

I hadn't seen my favorite cousin for a month, so we were due for a visit. After arriving at her house, we headed to Roloff Farms (yes, as in the Roloff's from the TLC show Little People, Big World), which was about 15 minutes away.

We spent a while touring the farm, hanging out in the pumpkin patch, and looking at the animals. We managed to track down a few of the Roloff's so my cousin could get her picture with them...she was extremely starstruck when Jeremy remembered her from last year...it was entirely adorable.

Here I am with a pumpkin...and my new(ish) haircut. Told you I'd get around to sharing it!

After we left the farm we hit up Sephora for a few essentials for me (hello, Hope In a Jar and Purity!) before heading back to my cousin's house so I could get ready to see Tyler Hilton in concert.

Yes, the same Tyler Hilton as last year...remember him?

Yeah, me too!

It was a great show, despite the fact that it took me forever to get there...I don't know Portland well at all, and my cousin accidentally printed directions to the wrong theater. I arrived in one piece and before the show started, so all was well.

The concert itself was fabulous, and I also was fortunate to enjoy time with two old friends. We went to school together from kindergarten through our senior year in high school, so when we're together it's incredibly easy to just pick up where we left off.

I love those kinds of friends. More than I love Tyler Hilton's music even.

Seriously.

I left the concert with a dead phone and directions in hand, only to get lost once again...this time it was slightly more stressful, since it was late and dark, and did I mention my phone was dead?

I finally found my way back to my cousin's (I had left some things there on accident that I need for school), and was finally heading home around 11:30.

Of course, this was the moment when I got pulled over.

I had never been pulled over before, so I was a little nervous. The road had been completely empty - this cop showed up literally out of nowhere - and I must have zoned out and not used my signal to change lanes. This resulted in getting pulled over and (luckily) getting left off with a warning.

I drove very carefully home, and arrived around 1:00 a.m. I proceeded to do a little homework, get a few hours of sleep, and then do homework all morning until my Spanish presentation.

I hoped my week would slow down after that, but it hasn't showed any sign of letting up.

Don't get me wrong, I would rather be busy than bored...but combine my busy weekend with not a lot of sleep, and you get a girl craving a moment to sit and relax.

I'm never doing just one thing anymore. I study while eating. I read during commercial breaks. I quiz myself while in the shower and cooking dinner. I go over notes while on the elliptical. I multi-task everything, and while I'm glad I have that option, I would love to be able to do just one thing at a time.

This weekend I hope to head home for a day or two for some much needed relaxation...until then, I'll be busy busy busy!

Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to write again...really write. While I like staying in practice with these little updates, I have so many bigger thoughts floating around in my head that I feel are so worth me writing about. My comm class is really getting me to think, and I have post-it notes everywhere reminding me of topics I want to ramble on about...so stay tuned!

♥ abigail

june eleventh

Yesterday was my twentieth birthday.

I don't really like my birthday. As a middle child, I have always had what have been deemed "birthday issues" (also general middle child issues...but that's another story for another time) by my family and friends.

I've shared my birthday with finals and graduation weekend for as long as I can remember, and I sort of share my birthday with my little brother (his birthday is on June 8, and every June 11 we reminisce how x number of years ago today he came home from the hospital...on my fifth birthday).

I tend to get sad on my birthday because I make a big deal (phone calls, cards, surprises, presents, balloons, etc.) out of other people's birthdays, and it's not reciprocated as well as I like.

I know it's not fair to expect other people to be as excited about celebrating my birthday as I do theirs, so I don't expect it. I don't do what I do for acknowledgment or in hopes of their doing something for me, but I'm always left wishing that someone would make a big deal out of my birthday.

And yesterday, my wish came true.

First, I celebrated at home with my family.

Here I am after blowing out the candles (all 20 plus one for luck in one breath!) and before we headed to my younger sister's graduation Baccalaureate Mass.

We went to Mass, me grumbling all the way, and crammed our way into a tiny pew (there wasn't enough room in the church for all the grads and their guests).

After Mass, my older sister and I tried to make a quick getaway but were detained by the obligatory pictures (both family and friends) of the grads-to-be. This was okay, because I got a birthday hug from this guy...

He also tried to give me a flower he was given by one of his teachers...I informed him to not give girls carnations. I feel like I just saved his life or something. Not really...I wouldn't be mad if someone was trying to be sweet and gave me a carnation, but it's not my first choice when it comes to flowers - I love lilies and daisies.

But I digress.

This is my good friend Ian - we've known each other since I was in eighth grade and he was in sixth. He's in my sister's class, and we've always been good buddies. Also, I was particularly pleased with my hair (more specifically my bow) in this photo.

After Mass, the fam and I headed home where I got ready to go out with my friends.

I went to a fantastic little bakery in Eugene (Sweet Life) and was greeted by this:

I was thrilled. My best friend set it up, and I couldn't have asked for a better evening.

My best guy friends (I refer to them as "the boys") were there (minus one, who is in D.C. for an internship), as well as some other good friends I hadn't seen for a long time. We had a lovely time eating cake, talking too loudly about The Bachelorette and How I Met Your Mother, reminiscing about high school, and talking about our summer plans. It was just what I needed to boost my spirits.

Now I'm sitting on the deck in the sunshine, home for the summer and ready to enjoy my time off from school. My family has scattered to go to other graduation festivities (Kendall graduated this morning), and I am left basking in the sun...not a bad way to start my second decade!

♥ abigail