Rain Delays

Yesterday began with me waking up extremely early for work. Working with the shipment team is rough, but I do get a first look at all of Old Navy's new clothes! I felt exhausted at work even though I went to be earlier than I normally do for the 6 AM shift. Does anyone else ever feel more tired when they get more sleep and have to wake up early? I know I usually feel better on less sleep when I have to be up early.

Even though I felt exhausted, I mustered up the energy to go to yoga with my friend, Haley. It was my first time doing yoga since Christmas, and I honestly had trouble keeping up with the class. Our instructor focused on planks into push-ups for the first half of the class. My shoulders kill today. Sometimes I feel weird doing yoga in front of other people. I try to incorporate yoga at least once a week into my work-out routine, but it's easy to see some of the other people in my class go daily. They are way more advanced when it comes to some of the funky moves. After yoga I went home and made a Lean Cuisine for lunch and took a long nap.

Tuesdays are Lady's Nights at the casino just on Texas/Oklahoma border so my mom, brother, Shane, and I decided to take a little trip. After about an hour in the car, we arrived! Shane and my mom were planning on playing in the poker tournament but as soon was we got into the casino, bad weather hit the area including a torando near by. Everyone had to take percautionary measures and stay in one area of the casino. 30 minutes later the tornado had passed and Shane and my mom played poker. While they did that, I took advantage of the Lady's Night incentive and played with 20 free dollars on the slots. Shane joined me shortly. Luck wasn't on his side in the poker tournament. A little while later, more bad weater hit and everyone was brought to one area again. My mom recieved a refund for the tournament's entry fee, and we bolted.

Driving home the weather report spotted severe stroms coming our way. We kept our fingers crossed that we would miss the bad weather, but about 30 minutes from home, we got hit with a terrible storm. Sheets of rain and hail came pouring from the side. Cars were only going about 30-40 mph while driving with their emergency flashers. I was so nervous and scared! Thank goodness Shane was driving because I would've had a nervous breakdown. My car is so light and little, I was afraid we would get blown of the road. After about 20 minutes in the storm, it cleared up enough that we could get home without trouble. Dallas/Ft. Worth has seen some terrible weather this month, so hopefully it'll stay clear for a while so everyone can enjoy their summer!

Happy Monday!

Today was indeed a very happy Monday! After a fun weekend with my family, I was very excited to spend a day doing whatever I wanted. This morning I slept until 9:30, unusual for me since I usually sleep until 11 in the morning. I re-heated some left-over kolaches and headed to the gym for a spin class! Today's class focused on speed, mixed with aerobic endurance. We spent about 10 minutes riding with resistance, then did speed intervals for 6 minutes. Repeat 3 times. The work-out was tough but I instantly felt better when it was finished.

After my work-out, I re-heated more left-overs. This time I chose my chicken quesedillas from dinner last night. Delish! Luckily, Bravo TV must have known about my planned 'relax' day, because a Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon was on all afternoon. I am addicted to these shows. There's just something about each series that gets me hooked. Orange County, New Jersey, and Beverly Hills are my favorites. My dad came in a little while later and decided to pull me off the couch by asking me to go to the grocery store with him. I love grocery shopping, so I DVR'd the marathon and decided it could wait for later.

I cooked dinner tonight with my mom. I'll be living in my own apartment for the first time in August, so I hope to devote a big portion to learning how to cook. We made Pork Chops topped with Stuffing and Gravy over Rice.. They were excellent. I ate two helpings and probably could've had more, but my brother and his friend had cleared off the platters. Dinner wrapped up just in time to watch the new season of The Bachelorette with my mom. Being the reality TV junkie I am, I couldn't wait to watch. I really hope this season turns out well. It disappoints me to know that almost every season of this show has failed.

It's time for bed for me! Another 6 AM morning at Old Navy awaits tomorrow.

Dollar Flip Flops

Today was Old Navy's annual Dollar Flip Flop One Day Wonder event. I was asked earlier in the week to come in early because apparently this day is as busy as Black Friday and the store needed more associates. So I woke up at 6 AM to help control the madness. However, when I arrived at work at 7, the store was surprisingly empty and stayed that way until about 11. It was just like any normal Saturday shopping day. Needless to say, I was sent home an hour early from work.

After work, my dad and brother left to go play hockey so my mom and I decided to go see a movie. We decided on 'Something Borrowed.' I LOVED it! I haven't read the book so I didn't really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie because it wasn't as predictable as most romantic comedies. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone. In addition to a great movie, I had tons of yummy movie theater popcorn. Yummy!!

After a long day, I'm very excited to be lying in bed watching another classic chick-flick: Clueless! Night all!

Hello, again!

When I started this blog a month and a half ago, I thought I had SO much time to write in it. Boy, was I wrong. Life definitely kicked up a notch when I decided to start a blog. Finishing up my second year at Texas A&M was a full-time task complete with spending times with friends, sorority sisters, and studying for finals. I am happy to report I finished with a 4.0 for the semester (whoop! even though I only finished this semester with 9 hours after dropping organic chemistry) and I am back home for the summer in Southlake, TX.

This summer, I am relaxing at home with my mom and dad while continuing my fourth year of working at Old Navy. Tomorrow is our annual "Dollar Flip Flop Event" and I get the wonderful task of waking up a 6 AM with all the intense bargain hunters. But on the plus side, all employees got a free pair of flip flops to wear during the day tomorrow! Working at Old Navy definitely has its drawbacks, but overall I love it. I often get sad at the thought of leaving Old Navy for another job someday. My managers are great, and the work is fun. Plus, I get a hefty discount at not only Old Navy, but also Gap and Banana Republic. Over the past 4 years, I think I have established myself as Gap Inc's most loyal employee and shopper. At any given day, I am wearing at least one article of clothing from one of these 3 stores. My mom warned me the day I took my job I would spend all my paychecks buying myself new clothes. She was 110% correct.

Other tasks for this summer include my duties as a Texas A&M Fish Camp counselor, and attempting to get some exercise in between. While at school I often ignore the fact that there is a free student recreation center available for me to use all hours of the day, so hopefully this summer I'll make up for my lack of work-outs at school. I have an awesome student membership at Lifetime Fitness that allows me to pay 10 dollars a month while I'm at school, but still come work out during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. Then during the summer, I pay about 54 dollars a month until I leave for school again.

Well, it's time for me to hit the hay. 6 AM comes sooner than it seems!

My first post

My whole life I've always listened to people talk about their hobbies. My mom's is playing poker, and my sister's is scrapbooking. While these are both very fine hobbies, as a college student, I do not have the fiancial means to support either of these. So I started thinking 'what else can I do with my free-time that I would enjoy?' I love to exercise, however I find way too many reasons daily to skip exercise for other activites. I like to cook, but unfortunately, I live in a tiny room with 3 other girls and no kitchen. I was stumped.

Then a few weeks ago, I ran across one of my sorority sister's blogs on Facebook. I'll admit the only reason I started to look at it was because she posted about her wedding and included many wedding pictures (I'm obsessed with weddings, but what 20-year-old girl isn't?). Then oddly enough, I found myself reading everyday to see what she's been up to and her day-to-day life. I was hooked.

After reading her blog for a few weeks, I was lead to another and then another and now I have 4 blogs saved to my 'Favorites' list on my Internet Explorer window that I check religously. These 4 women who write these blogs have inspired me and lead me to pursue a new hobby: BLOGGING. Hey, if I enjoy reading blogs, why wouldn't I enjoy writing one, as well.

So here I go. I look forward to sharing my comings and goings and everything in between while just trying to get through this semester alive.

Love always,
Lauren