Before Christmas break, my roommates and I decided not to exhcange gifts until after break (mainly because Kaileigh hadn’t gone shopping and because Aly sent the gifts to her house instead of here). I’ve had my gifts for them since the beginning of December. We came back…Kaileigh still hadn’t gone shopping and Aly forgot her gift at home. So we didn’t exchange. Finally, though, I got tired of having their gifts sit under my bed and I just really wanted to get rid of them. I told them a few nights ago, “Tomorrow, you guys are getting your presents” (it was a tone that said “whether you like it or not”). Aly’s dad had sent the present she got me, but it turns out she hadn’t gotten one for Kaileigh yet. So Aly said she’d give me my present too. So I gave Kaileigh hers and I gave Aly hers and they both liked them very much. I was glad because I was starting to worry they wouldn’t. Then, Aly gave me the present she got me. Absolutely amazingly indescribably perfect!!!! Feety pajamas!!!!! I love them so much! And they’re unbelievably warm! I didn’t even have to stay under the covers when I wore them, which was great because I’m always cold in our room. So it was a good Christmas. Oh, and I asked Kaileigh to get me a pair of jeans (if she ever goes shopping) because I’m losing two pairs that have holes in awkward places…..

On Thursday night, I was actually able to go to one of the events for the Palm Beach Poetry Festival for free. It’s a week long event where national, published poets come and do readings and hold workshops. My friend Christina interned at the festival, and Brittany got a scholarship to go. I’ve always wanted to go, but one: I have no car to get there; and two: I can’t really afford it. Dr. Morgan was giving out some FREE tickets and Brittany said she would bring me there and back to campus when it was over-problems solved. I was really excited, especially since Spencer Reese, who came to Lynn back in November and spoke in my poetry class, was one of the readers for the event I had a ticket to attend. He and Lola Haskins read that night. There were so many people in the audience, many of them famous poets today. Three of them stand out for two different reasons: Campbell McGrath, with whom Brittany was taking her workshop, and C.K. Williams and Taylor Molly (I don’t know if I spelled his name right), because Brittany was a fan of them both. She actually introduced herself to Taylor Molly and acted like a lovesick teenager meeting her favorite actor. She’s so passionate about poetry, so it was fun to watch her in the midst of all the modern poets. I wish I had brought my camera so I could have taken pictures, but I forgot it. It was definitely a unique experience for me; I really hope that I can attend more of the events next year.

OK, so I’ve finally done it. I’ve fallen in love with a fictional character. Lame, right? I’ve been seeing the Twilight Series (by Stephenie Meyer) for a few months now in the teen section at Barnes and Noble. The cover always looked interesting, but I decided not to read it, thinking it was going to be a lame teen romance. I was SOOO wrong. It kept popping up everywhere, so I decided to read a little bit about it, and it sounded interesting. Then I was talking to my cousin about it (she’s 13) and she simply raved about it. Couldn’t say enough. So I was like, okay, I HAVE to read this book.

When I went to work the first Monday back, I bought the first book, Twilight, with a gift card I got for Christmas. I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning reading it before I decided I really should get some sleep. I forced myself to go bed. The next day, I sat by myself at lunch (despite an invitation to join someone’s table) so I could read it. I even read during class (ideal student, right?). I finished sometime the next day, I think.

When I went to work again, Saturday, I borrowed the second book, New Moon, from Barnes and Noble. Came home, yanked it out of my bag, and continued reading the story….til 4:00 in the morning. I think I even skipped dinner because it was too much hassle to pause for even a few minutes. I didn’t finish it; I surprisingly decided to go to bed. I finished it before I went to work the next day.

Went to work Sunday. Returned that book and borrowed the last book so far, Eclipse. I didn’t read it while I worked because I was sure I would neglect my job if I did. The whole time, though, I couldn’t wait to start it. That night, finally got home around 9:00, and again collapsed on the bed to devour the book. I had about an hours interruption to hang out with some friends I felt a little obligated to hang out with (I didn’t want to neglect my social life completely in favor of a book).  So when I came back to my room around 12 or one or two or something, I picked it up again, intending to finish the very same night. I told Aly 2 hours: that’s exactly when I finished it. Again, 4:oo in the morning (there was no school the next day, so staying up late wasn’t a big deal). Mind you, this is 600+ page book that I finished in maybe 6 hours. That is how into it I was! 

So I finished the series. The next book is supposed to be published this fall and I will be at a bookstore the first day it’s out to buy it. I haven’t been this crazy over a book since the Harry Potter series. Stephenie Meyer has created her own little world with these books and nearly every teenage girl in the country wants to join it. I can’t help but gush. If you love light romance, these are absolutely amazing!! I have never in my life so wanted a character to be real. I do now….

I had the oddest experience last night while I was sleeping-I was awake! It sounds so confusing to say, much less understand. It was 1:30 in the morning, the lights were out, I was asleep and dreaming (I wish I could remember what I dreamt about; it might make this sound more plausible), and Aly and Kaileigh were awake. I remember, despite my supposedly unconscious state, whispers drawing me out of sleep and then being able to understand what they were saying. I wasn’t fully awake; I was still dreaming while this was happening. Kaileigh and Aly were having some kind of conversation about something they thought was funny because I could hear the laughter in their voices. All while I’m still in the middle of my dream. Can’t forget that detail. Then, I heard part of something Kaileigh whispered because my name was involved: “…tag Jana…” That’s all I heard. Well, hearing my name snapped me out of whatever dream I was having, and I became more alert: fully awake rather than half conscious. And I said, “Why are we tagging me?” Just imagine the shock that rippled through the both of them at that moment. Naturally, neither of them knew I was awake and listening (I’m not even sure I was at first). Once the shock passed, they started laughing uproariously to dispel whatever fear the surprise of hearing my voice produced in them.

Needless to say, it was an interesting experience and one that I don’t understand. Maybe it was the whispers; they’re more likely to draw me out of sleep than soft talk. But maybe someone could explaing to me how I was awake and dreaming at the same time?

It’s Monday morning and I’m back and busy as ever! My friend Matt kindly picked Aly and me up from the airport last night after excruciatingly boring day long flights. We were back on campus around 8:30 and I was ready to unpack! Of course, I wasn’t sure whether to do that or clean first. Our room was disgusting! I could have sworn that Kaileigh and I cleaned just few days before we left, but we might as well not have. *Somebody* forgot to take out the trash before she left and that same *somebody* left sour cream and Philadelphia cream cheese in the refrigerator, which some other *somebody* (not one of us 3) unplugged after we left. I opened the refrigerator and almost died-the smell was toxic! Fortunately, it hadn’t leaked out to the room, which pretty much smelled normal, until I opened the fridge door.

But, I decided that I would deal with the dirty and clean later in the week when I had more time. So I unpacked. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would, despite interruptions, one of which was meeting one of my new neighbors, who just transferred. The main problem was finding somewhere to put all of my Christmas presents…..and new books. I officially ran out of space for them last night, but somehow, I made room. Can’t wait to see what I’m going to do with the ones I will buy with my Barnes and Noble gift card.

So the reason I don’t have time to clean right away: work. Duh. My boss scheduled me to work not only Sunday, the day I returned, but also Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately, the Sunday thing would never have worked out because I didn’t even get back until late. There’s a possibility the Wednesday thing won’t work either because it conflicts with a class that I have. If she takes me off of the schedule for Wednesday, I can attend the poetry coffeehouse, which would make me oh so happy!

Plus, I’m running around like mad trying to find my school ID, praying that it’s been turned into Res Life lost and found so that I don’t have to fork over $100 to buy a new one. I would also like to eat sometime soon. I lost it the day we left for break and had blissfully forgotten about it until now.

So things haven’t changed much for me. My life is class, work, homework, and maybe some cleaning in there somewhere. Maybe eventually I will find time to visit and hang out with some friends! Wait a second, what friends? I’m too busy to have friends. What was I thinking?

Aly took me to the strip again last night; we went to visit the Wynn Hotel, which was fairly impressive. It has a little forest inside and a singing frog somewhere outside. Definitely interesting. However, the hotel didn’t occupy us for long, so we were going to hang out with some of her friends; we were just waiting for them to text her back to find out where we could meet. So picture this: it’s slightly after midnight and Aly says, “I’m bored. I want to go to the park.”

“What are we going to do at the park?” I asked her, “Play on the swings?”

“Yeah.”

Duh. I’m just the passenger seat tag-a-long, so it didn’t really matter to me what we did. I had an extra jacket, so I was good to go. But somehow, some sense enters my head when we are nearly to the park and I ask her, “Aren’t parks usually closed at night?”

“Parks don’t close Jana.”

“Most of the ones I’ve been to have hours and people aren’t allowed in at night.”

However, as we drive up, we see the gate of the park open, so we enter. Big mistake. She parks and as we’re getting out of the car, we see another car driving up. A police car. Oh you better believe I was excited about that!! (Sarcasm) We don’t know whether to walk up to it or to go ahead to the swing set like we had planned. But the cops stop and step out of the car, and that simply ruined our swing set plan. They asked us to step up to the car so that the lights could blare in our faces and blind us and they started taking down Aly’s information. I was completely panicked on the inside, but surprisingly outwardly calm. Then they started taking down my info. Still pretty calm and pretty proud of myself for not getting hysterical.

Then my hands got cold. I’m just thinking to myself, what in the world am I supposed to do with my hands to keep them warm?? Fortunately, I realize (from watching so many episodes of Cops with Aly) that it wouldn’t be a smart idea to put my hands in my pockets. So I cross them and it keeps them slightly warmer.

It wasn’t long until they had checked us out and we were free to go, we just had to leave the park. They didn’t search us or put us in handcuffs or anything (which was good because I really might have gotten hysterical then), but that was the closest I have been to a cop car since I was 8 (I ran away from home; cops picked me up). It was a little bit terrifying. Maybe next time Aly will believe me when I tell her parks close!!

I just came back from a cruise to Mexico that Aly’s family generously invited me on. It was amazing! We left on December 29th and came back on the 5th of January. We stopped at Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

Aly and I went horseback riding in Mazatlan with some of her family. We rode on the beach, which I’ve never done before. It was so beautiful!! Also for the first time, I got to ride with the horse at a gallop. Usually I only go at a trot, which is really bumpy. Galloping is so smooth and surprisingly freeing. It was amazing to be going so fast!

One of the fun things about going on a cruise is all the chances you get to dress up! There were two formal nights where we got the chance to wear prom-like dresses (which is great because I didn’t go to my senior prom). One of them was on New Year’s. Aly and I went down to one of the lowest decks on the ship and watched them drop the balloons. I had never done that before either, so I experienced another new thing.

Speaking of new things, the food on the ship was really good! I tried tofu for the first time (I didn’t like it). What I thought was great was that there was a vegetarian menu, which was perfect because I’m a vegetarian. Aly tried some new foods, too. She hates fish; the sight, the smell, the taste: she hates everything about them. However, she tried shrimp. Surprisingly, she loved it! She also tried escargo, which I thought was a big leap for her.  

Aly’s whole family was there. She has six nieces and nephews and we played with them a lot. I went swimming once with all of the nieces. I barely got sunburned at all, which I’m kind of surprised about. Aly baby sat two of the boys during dinner one night. They’re all under 10, so it’s hard for them to sit at dinner for two hours. A lot of the time they had game boys and leapsters to keep them occupied.

Mexico itself was pretty beautiful, too. There were pelicans everywhere, though! I almost got pooped on by some of them. It would have been really bad because they don’t let out just a little; it’s like a shower. But I was surprised to see flocks of them; they would simply cover the boats in the marinas we went by. I took so many pictures of the scenery there, though. The sunsets were especially beautiful when we were out over the water.

I had an amazing time overall. I was so grateful that I got to go. Now I’m in Vegas at Aly’s house for the last week of vacation before school starts back up. She’s going to show me around and take me to the strip. It’s pretty exciting and definitely new. I’ve never been out here before. I told her in advance that I was going to go into tourist mode and take pictures of everything. I know I’m going to embarrass her, but I think she’s going to have to deal.