Ready to See a Change

Like many others my new years resolution is to get in shape again and be a healthy weight. I'm doing this not only to look better but also feel better- physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As I have said, I've been using the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program. It is fantastic! I knew I would do well with it because it worked for me before, and the best part is I can still pretty much eat whatever I want... in moderation, of course.

I know that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to do it in a healthy way at a slow pace. But this pace is too slow for my liking. I know I'm not the only one who is dreading spring break (less than 3 months away!). Although I'm excited for the beach and time with friends, the thought of getting into a bathing suit makes me want to both cry and vomit simultaneously.

This semester- especially til March- is really busy and hectic and I can seldom find time or energy to work out. I don't even have time to watch TV- and anyone who knows me can tell you that that is especially odd. If I can't make TV time you can bet your bottom dollar that workout time is even slimmer. However, I need to see some change. As nice as it is having my friends tell me that I'm looking thinner- I don't see it at all, and the scale only sees it a little bit at a time. I've got to get some heavy-duty workouts in soon if I want to avoid getting sick at the thought of a bathing suit. So, I'm hoping to at least get 3-4 high-powered workouts in a week (motivation appreciated). After I come home from Atlanta in a couple of weeks I'll have the big Zumba workout (thanks Mom!!) so that will at least be something. Until then I'll have to find something else- and fast. This fat won't burn itself off.

Stay tuned for my progress- and I'll let you know what workouts work best for me! Please give any suggestions!!! They're very much appreciated!

Common Grounds Cafe

So, I have been wanting to get involved with a college church group around here for a while but I had a hard time finding one I liked. I tried a couple of churches here and there but none of them were "just right." I had heard about The Refuge college ministry at The Chapel on campus but I wasn't sure where it was- or even what it was, exactly. Late last semester my friend started going to The Refuge's services on Sunday nights, and she really enjoyed it! So, she invited me to come along. First, let me just say that the fact that the service was on Sunday night was a huge plus! Anyway, I started going and I really liked it. It reminded me a lot of the church I go to in New Orleans except everyone is college-aged and SO NICE & WELCOMING! I started going fairly regularly, followed them on facebook, and went to a couple of free food nights during finals week. I met a lot of really nice people and I just loved the environment there. Then, before this semester started, they mentioned on facebook that they needed volunteers to work at the free cafe a couple hours a week. I knew that this would be a great opportunity so I jumped right on it! Wednesday was my first day and it was awesome! It's not a hard job at all and you get to hang out with awesome people that have the same beliefs as you do. I've been wanting more Christian friends to relate to, and I think this is just the place to find them. I even ran to someone from high school I haven't seen since I graduated, and it was so nice to catch up! Common Grounds is a great place to go study, hang out, or even just stop in for some free refreshments. They have lemonade, coffee, tea, and great baked goods! I am so glad I was able to take this opportunity. Even though this semester is crazy I have been blessed enough to have enough time to do this. Everyone should go check it out! Open Monday-Friday from 4ish to Midnight... you can't beat it :)

First day of Senior Year!

So, I am happy to say that I am officially a senior in college and will be graduating in spring with my bachelors of science in child and family studies and a minor in psychology.

Unfortunately, that just means a heavier work-load. Some of my classes are ridiculous! Thankfully, my social work class is so easy you could cry- the main percentage of points comes from showing up to class! But, my two major classes this semester are a communication intensive course in family stress management and family policy & law. yikes. I am going to be doing some serious homework. For the family stress management class I have to also volunteer at least one hour a week at St. Vincent De Paul. I am happy to do this but it is WAYYY out in Baton Rouge so I'm not excited about all the extra gas it will cost me.

I am also volunteer at The Refuge's Common Grounds Cafe! I really want to meet more people that go to refuge so I thought this would be a great way to do it! All in all I'll be volunteering 3 times a week for about 5 hours. Thankfully almost all of my classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays so my Mondays and Wednesdays will give me a lot of time to get work done.

However, I HAVE to devote a lot of this time to my English independent study class that I have been neglecting and have to finish by November.

Needless to say, I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I am hoping that it just seems worse than it actually is. Good news is that this is the beginning of the end!!! This time next year I'll be in grad school and on my way to finally being finished school!

Wish me luck!

Yes, my name is Caroline. No, I don't use a golden calculator

Every time I meet someone new and I tell them my name is Caroline one of two songs will be sung. Sometimes, it's flattering (I guess) but most of the time it's just annoying.

The number one reason it is so annoying is because the first song that comes to mind for many people (especially people my age) is the song Roses by Outkast:



For those of you that don't know this song is about a girl named Caroline who thinks she is better than everyone else, her "poo
" doesn't stink, and is (apparently) a witch with a capital B. OMGosh it's annoying.

However, the other song is much nicer. Most of you (if not all of you) probably know this song- especially from the movie Fever Pitch. Thankfully, this is the song somewhat older people think of when I tell them my name. I don't mind having this song sung to me. In fact, a band dedicated it to me one night when I went to see them play and I was really flattered. If you haven't figured it out the song is Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond:



I felt like this needed to be said. I get tired of everyone singing a song every time they here my name- especially if it's the Outkast song. So, if you meet me and you feel the undeniable urge to sing something please choose Neil Diamond. Now, this is not to say that the Outkast song isn't a decent song. If it were someone else's name in the song I'd like it a lot. But, it's kind of offensive. So stop.

Feel Like Procrastinating? Look Here!!

I am the queen of procrastination- especially when it comes to school work.  Usually I just look around on Facebook and Twitter at the same things over and over just to avoid doing whatever it is I have to do.  Well, lately I've added more to my list of "websites to go to before doing any work at all"
1. pinterest
2. dearblankpleaseblank.com
3. iwastesomuchtime.com (fitting, right?)
4. grouchyrabbit.com
   [#s 2-4 all by the same people]
5. my  blog-- haha
However, as of lately this procrastination has been working to my advantage! I already told you about some free stuff I won from DSW's facebook... WELLLLL I also won something from a giveaway DSW mentioned on twitter and another thing from their facebook (seriously, you should check their stuff out- there is no losing when you do).

So, I would say that procrastinating is not a bad thing if done correctly- and this is how you do it.
First, depending on what you're procrastinating from will determine how much time to waste.  For example, if you're taking a test the next morning and the material is only moderately challenging just make sure you give yourself a few good hours to study before bed.  Second, procrastinate somewhere where you can win free stuff! (i mean, is it really procrastination if you get goodies out of it?)  Also, remember to resist temptation to do needless online shopping.  This is not easy. There are so many good deals out there you're just gonna wanna buy everything... don't.  Third, make justifications for your procrastination. For example, my list of movies to see is endless and I need to clear them up!- this is my excuse for watching hours of movies/television and not doing anything productive.

Now, go on and procrastinate for a few hours- just make sure to leave enough time to at least get SOMETHING done. (you don't wanna just be a lazy bones)

Why I like Blogger better than Wordpress

1. Blogger is easier to navigate and personalize than Wordpress. When I had a Wordpress it was so confusing! I never knew how to do much of anything besides publish a post.

2. I can schedule a whole bunch of posts ahead of time on Blogger. Maybe this could have been done with Wordpress, I don't know because like I said it was really confusing.  This is also really helpful for me because there are some times when I feel like I have just absolutely nothing to blog about, and when I do I can just write it up and schedule it to be published whenever I want.  If I already have enough posts for a week then GREAT because this can just be added and I don't have to think about what to say for a  little while...

3. I can automatically publish my Blogger blog to my facebook and twitter without being around my computer.  I love that I don't have to go back and copy and paste links all day, Blogger already does it all for me.

4. Since Blogger is Google-related and I already use my Google account for everything under the sun, using Blogger just makes sense.  Also, since I'm always on Google Chrome and my gmail and what not it makes Blogger easy to manage.

5. I love the Blogger extension button thingy... If I'm on a website and I see something I want to blog about I can just hit "Blog This!" and TA-DA! I don't have to navigate through a million pages to write a blog about it and it automatically posts the link to whatever I'm looking at for me.

6. My blog is cute now.  Wordpress did not have a lot of layout themes that I liked so it just didn't really fit... I love my blog now. It feels very "me" and I can actually figure out how to change it if I want to (unlike Wordpress- again with the confusion).

All in all I am thus far very satisfied with my Blogger blog... Hopefully this will let me keep up with my blog now!