Cougar Pride: Preparing For A New Semester

I start my junior year of college in 16 days. When I think about it only being 16 days from now I get this nervous excited feeling. Nervous, because new semester means joining a sorority, new classes, new professors, new friends, new opportunities and responsibilities. Excited for all the exact same reasons, hence nervous and excited.

This semester I'm taking French 201, which means my required language courses are almost over! Geology 103, which is environmental geology. I'm also taking Intro to English Studies, which I'm guessing is English Theory (that's a thing?) and techniques for writing papers. I'm also taking my first creative writing course at College of Charleston, and I can't wait! Finally, I have my internship with Blue Bicycle Books, which I'm receiving credit for.

A few of my textbooks

On top of my schoolwork and internship, I still have my supervisor duties. I'm trying to get as much of the little stuff done now, so that when school starts it'll be smooth sailing. Somehow, things will get crazy, but I'm prepared for it! Soon I'll post about my life as a supervisor.

For now, I'll leave you with two awesome college related links!

I have this app on my iPhone and iPad. I love it! I use it with my summer classes and it was helpful! I imagine with a full load this semester it'll be even better! -  http://istudentpro.com

A great blog that's full of idea for college students is Organized Charm! I have gotten many ideas and tips from this blog! - http://organizedcharm.blogspot.com

Laney's Roundup!

This post is the first in a series, which I'm calling Laney's Roundup!

Yes, it is like Woody's Roundup, which is the part my brother stuck on and wouldn't let go when I mentioned it to him.

Aside from the endless Toy Story references, I like my little clip art design and my series title! It took me forever to come up with on I liked that is original and unique. 

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of July! Where has the summer gone? To school and work mostly, but tomorrow I'm going to have a little fun at the beach! On that note, here's my roundup! 

Chasing The Sun

Hilary Duff is back! Her new single, which is the first one since 2008 (it's been TOO long!), Chasing The Sun sticks to her sweet, pop sound, while also covering adult territory such as working all the time and wishing for an escape. The music video is adorable! 

One of the writer's of the song is Colbie Caillat, and if you've listen to Colbie Caillat's earlier music you can feel her vibe. Certain writer/songwriters always have a certain musical vibe, even when they aren't singing the song. 

This song will be my anthem for the rest of the summer! 

I showed the video to my mom, and she said after the second time she listened to it, it grew on her. I told her how excited I am for a new cd from Hilary Duff and hopefully a new one from Taylor Swift! We reminisced about how the first concert she took me to was Hilary Duff's Most Wanted Tour. 

Hilary Duff is and always will be my idol! I feel like Disney tried to copy the Hilary Duff formula with Miley Cyrus, but it went all wrong. No one will ever be as amazing as Hilary Duff. She's managed to age into adulthood, get married, have a baby, write a series of books and still be as amazing a lovable as she was during the Lizzie McGuire days. 

Laney Logic: New Opportunities

Hello all!

Many great things have happened to me recently!

Here's a list of the awesome things:

1) I applied for a internship on Tuesday morning, and a few hours later I was approved! The internship is with Blue Bicycle Books, an independent bookstore in Downtown Charleston. They are also the sponsor of YALLFest, Charleston's Young Adult Literature Festival. This November will be the third year YALLFest has been held in Charleston. It's an amazing opportunity, and the chance to be a part of it is beyond belief!

2) I got business cards for the rink. I love them! It makes me feel special to have business cards and it has proved really helpful!

3) The closer we get to school starting the more excited I get! New classes, new books and new friends! Also, rush is coming up! I'm excited for Greek Life!

I hope to blog more, read more and write more this fall. We'll see how that goes!

Have a super day!

Let It Go Day

Today is Let It Go Day and in 2014 this is a day of great awesomeness and irony.

*CUE FROZEN GIF*


Now, on to the more serious side of this post.

I will admit that I have a hard time letting go. It's my need to process everything thus I make it into something reasonable and understandable.

What do I want to let go of? That's easy, the past four years. The past four years have been a mix of craziness and changes. People change, grow, and move on. Sometimes I feel like I haven't changed, and I'm still the same person, just older.

Letting go of the past is the hardest thing to do. While I was unhappy about how things turned out, someone told me that I can't judge the past based on how things turned out. So when things went sour I can't look back at my memories and see them all as sour because things didn't work out the way I wanted.

Things didn't turn out exactly as I imagined, and that's life. In another four years I imagine things will be very different from how I plan and want them to be.

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” ~ Marilyn Monroe

Tech Talk: iPhone 5S

I am the happy owner of an iPhone 5S. It was a crazy experience and weekend, but I'm glad how it turned out. After going three hours with a black screened iPhone 4, anything was an improvement.

It was a roller coaster experience, first I was going to get a 5S, but Verizon couldn't get me the discount I needed, and then I almost settled on a 5C, before we finally got my iPhone 4 to respond to a soft reset.

Sunday when I walked into Verizon to look at the 5C I wasn't sure what would happen. I'll admit to being a tech snob, and I don't like the 5C. I feel it's was meant to be a starter phone to introduce people to iPhones or for markets in countries in Asia and Europe that can't sell the iPhone 5S easily because it is an expensive phone.

Happily, I walked out with an iPhone 5S in gold. I was in the story all of 2 minutes when the amazing sales accosiate told me I was eligible to upgrade early(I was due until August for an upgrade) AND get a 5S.



I was definitely like this in the store and for the whole rest of the day.

I bought a gold iPhone 5S for me and my mom got the silver 5S. She also got the pink Otterbox, which made a little said, but then I went to Best Buy and bought a teal one. Everyone is happy now!

I'm still learning some of the small changes, but it is amazing how fast this phone is! I love it! I'm also super excited for IOS 8. I have been addicted to reading all the new updates from Macworld. Check out their coverage of WWDC 2014 here. Apple has some great updates in store for us!

My love for Apple products grows with every gadget I get. I'm the proud owner of a Macbook Pro with Retina Display, an iPad 3 (soon to be either an iPad Air or iPad Mini with Retina), an iPod Nano 5th Generation and now an iPhone 5S. Will I continue to buy more product from Apple? Probably, I've never been impressed by anything that makes me want to switch and the ability to have my information linked and accessible on all my devices is a big selling point.

Another factor is that Apple improves a lot with IOS and OS updates. I'm excited for IOS 8 and OS Yosemite. Both with offer more to the basic Apple user and to the advanced user.

Check back for another post on how I feel about Apple's Customer Service.

Celebrate Life For It Doesn't Last Long Enough

This week has been so hectic and exciting! So many great things have happened and so many decisions have been made.

I think the best part of this week was Wednesday. Wednesday was World Autism Awareness Day, and for my Women and Gender Studies class my group partners and I set up a table where we passed out cupcakes and other sweet treats to students and faculty in a way to help raise awareness about Autism. Everything was blue, because there is a campaign known as Light It Up Blue, which is meant to "Help shine a light on Autism". It was great to be a part of this event and to organize it at school.

After we closed down our booth I had to go to English class. My mom decided to wait for me in the hallway outside class. My professor saw her sitting there waiting and invited her to sit in class. Yes, I am that person who is absolutely chill with the idea of dragging my mom with me through college. She goes to pretty much every event I attend, she eats with me on campus, goes with me to the library or to meet partners in group projects and now she has gone to a class with me. It's crazy that people see her and automatically recognize her because she is my mom.

Later on, when my mom and I were on our way home she mentioned that Wednesday was April 2nd, the day that 18 years ago my GaGa passed away. I felt bad because I had forgotten, but my mom said not to worry because GaGa would've been proud of me for working hard in school and being so involved and passionate about it.

This got me to the thinking. April 2nd is the anniversary of her death and also World Autism Awareness Day. Two very important things in my life. It's a coincidence that these two events occur on the same day, but for me it's more than just a coincidence. To me it is a sign, maybe she is watching over us and that instead of being sad she is gone, she wants us to be happy and work hard to improve the world for Ethan, and other children like him.

While working the table for my group, a guy came up, and I instantly knew. It's hard to explain but after years of basically being immersed in a group of children you know when someone is different. Being different isn't bad, sometimes it's actually the best thing ever. This guy came up and asked if we were for inclusion not separation of those who were on the spectrum. My answer: Of course. He smiled and then began to talk to my mom about how he had gone to DC to talk with them about why there should be more inclusion. It is so wonderful the work he is doing.

This past week has had me thinking a lot about life and I have come to this conclusion. Life should be celebrated and enjoyed because a lifetime is not very long at all.

Picture collage of my family