Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 9

One. This is my first Quick Take in over a month. And I know I said I would stop with the meme’s, yet this is my second one this week. But whatever. My blog, my rules. I felt like having a somewhat normal blogging schedule this week.

Two. Can I just brag about myself a little? This week of school has been amazing! I had my cover page and cover story due for my magazine, which amounts to 5 pages. My professor has not been kind with his criticism of my work this semester. I’m sitting at a 71% and hanging by a thread. My past projects have not been good. Needless to say, I was very nervous for his feedback. I call him the “Simon Cowell of design.”

So, I had my cover page and cover story critiqued. And then response was overwhelming. My classmates loved my design! My professor said, and I quote, that it was “very happy with it.” That’s the best praise I could ever receive from him. Needless to say, I was walking on the clouds!

The next day, I went to my law class and nervously anticipated my law exam grade. I’ve been really nervous about this class. It’s one of those once-a-year classes that only is available in the Spring. And it’s a required class. If I fail this class, I’ll have to wait until May 2011 to graduate, instead of December 2010. On my last two exams, I’ve received a 68% and a 76%. And I studied my butt off for those two grades. I felt like I did better on this exam but was so nervous to get my score.

And I received a 91%. That, my friends, is an exceptional score. My professor put an exclamation mark beside my score and gave me a little smile when I saw my score. And now I officially love my law class.

Three. I have a 5K race to run tomorrow. I’m not excited about it, mainly because I know I won’t be able to run the whole thing. I started over using Couch-to-5K and just finished the first week! I’m hoping to be able to run a mile, walk a mile, and run my last mile. But I’ve also been dealing with shin splints. I’m pretty sure it has to do with my shoes, since they’re pretty worn out. I’ve only had them for 6 months but I have to wear them every day for work so they get a lot of use. I need to buy new shoes, but I keep putting if off because hello, shoes are not cheap!

Four. I only have 3 weeks left of my semester and then finals week which will feel like a breeze compared to the craziness my schedule has been. I almost had another nervous breakdown on Monday so I had to make a list of everything I needed to get accomplished and when I was going to do it. There’s a lot to get done and only 3 weeks to do it in. It’s going to take a lot of focus and drive but I’m determined to get it done – and do my absolute best job at it.

Five. I’ve found it so tough to get back in the groove of things after Easter. I’m not eating as well as I should, nor exercising as much as I should, nor drinking as much water as I should. I haven’t tracked, which is just awful. I’m just trying to eat as well as I know how since I have weigh-in on Sunday. I think I need to sit in a meeting and get motivated again. Those meetings work!

Six. I have a hair appointment for color today and a hair appointment to get my hair cut next Friday. While I really want to do something wild and crazy like dyeing it blonde and getting a pixie-cut, I’ve been wanting to donate my hair to Locks of Love for a long time. My hair is just about long enough but I want to grow it out some more to make sure I have hair to work with! But mark your calendars! I’m doing something crazy with my hair in June. And honestly? I can’t wait!

Seven. I probably shouldn’t mention this because I really want to win this giveaway, but I also get an extra entry for blogging about it so I will. Ashley, one of my very good blogging friends, is having an awesome giveaway! She’s going to give a blog makeover, using WooThemes, to one lucky person! And then she’s also giving free advertising on her blog to 5 other people. Pretty neat, huh? So go there and enter!

Categories: Recurring Series

Ten on Tuesday, Vol. 14

1. If you could travel back in time, would you?  What decade would you visit?

I would. I would love to travel back to the time when Jesus lived here on earth. It had to have been such a special time for believers, knowing the Son of God was within reach. Sometimes, it feels that He is so far away and untouchable. What an honor it had to have been to sit in on His teachings, to watch His miracles from His hands, and to gaze upon His face. We see miracles now, but science tries to explain them away. When Jesus performed miracles, people knew it was Him. I would love to have been there for it. (But I will be spending eternity with my Lord and Savior, so that’s pretty cool as well.)

2. What was your best Halloween costume?  (fun to make? most creative?)

I’ve never been big on Halloween. I don’t like to dress up and I’m not really a creative person when it comes to things like this. I only remember a few Halloween costumes: being a clown when I was a toddler, being a witch in 2nd grade, being an angel in 5th grade. Most of the costumes we got were from Target or Wal-Mart.

I remember that I wanted to be a 50’s girl because the poodle skirt was fabulous.

The last time I dressed up for Halloween was 5th grade, because I went to a church Halloween party and I was the only 5th-grader dressed up. All the other girls just wore regular clothes. I felt so embarrassed!

3. Do you like your name?  If you weren’t called by your name, what would you want to be called?

It’s taken me a while to grow into it but I do like it. I like how it’s spelled differently and couldn’t imagine having another name. It’s uniquely my own.

When I was younger, I wanted to be called “Ruth” because my brother had a name from a book in the Bible and I wanted one, too. I had to choose between Esther and Ruth, and Ruth sounded less grandma-ish.

4. In the past year, what is the BEST recipe you made.  Please share it!

Honestly, I think I’ve made a handful of recipes this year. I don’t like to cook and my mom and I hate planning out our meals (BAD!), so we usually just venture to the store with no meal plan in mind and buy easy meals we’ve had in the past. We need to get better at this.

The only recipe I’ve made that I’ve really enjoyed is mustard pork chops. It’s a fairly simple recipe, which is the reason I like it. All you do is slather mustard on both sides of the pork chops, and then dip them into a Shake-N-Bake mix. (I think you also add some parsley flakes and pepper to the Shake-N-Bake, but don’t quote me on that.) Pop them in the oven at 350 and wait until they looked like they’re cooked. (Yep. I’m the next Rachael Ray. I can feel it!)

5. Look around – what is the nearest object or picture hanging on the wall?

It’s a picture of a waterfall, I think. Somebody gave it to my mom for free and it’s a pretty beautiful picture. I don’t think it really “fits” in our living room but we don’t really have any type of theme anyway. We have the most mismatched house of anyone.

6. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?  Would you recommend it?

Valentine’s Day, I believe. And I wouldn’t. I don’t the it was a good movie. It was cute and funny at times but the story line dragged on and on forever, and then 30 minutes before it finished, they seemed to scramble to wrap everything up nicely. I wasn’t a big fan of it but, hey, what do I know? I loved Leap Year!

7. Did you go to summer camp?  Will you/do you send your kids to camp?

The only summer camp I went to was “Joybelles Camp” with my church. We went for one week and stayed in cabins. The cabins had 2 bunk beds and one big bed for the counselor and her daughter. Mornings were filled with activities, afternoons with swimming, and nights with praise-and-worship. I really, really enjoyed these trips! I had so much fun!

8. What kind of ringtone do you have?

I don’t really have one. Since I lost my phone in November, I’ve been using my mom’s which is probably the crappiest BlackBerry you could ever get. I don’t know how to figure out ringtones or even change my ringtones to the ones that come with the phone. (You can’t even play music on this phone!) So I’m just sticking with the ones we have until I’m up for renewal. (May 25th!)

9. Where is the farthest away from home you have ever been?

Just Ohio. I’ve never ventured past the eastern part of the country, actually. Ohio was not a fun trip as my parents fought most of the time and the only places we visited was to visit my dad’s old chums from high school. I think the only “fun” my brother and I had was with a paddleboat. One of my dad’s friends had basically created a lake outside his house and had a paddleboat on the lake. So my brother and I spent hours on that.

10. Has anyone ever written a song or a poem for or about you?

No. Ah, who knows? Maybe Future Husband will be a songwriter and sing to me as I come down the aisle. (I’m such a romantic! Ick!)

Visit Roots & Rings for more answers and to submit your own link if you participated!

Categories: Recurring Series

Seven Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 8)

One. My post on Monday didn’t mean I was disappearing from the blogosphere until May! I’ll still be around, maybe just a little more silent on weeks where I have a lot due. I won’t be posting five-times-a-week, although today marks the first full day of my Spring Break so I’ll probably have a normal blogging week next week. I’ll still be commenting on blogs and trying to get a post or two up. I just felt that my readers deserved to know why I wouldn’t be as HERE for the next 2 months.

Two. Speaking of Spring Break, I’m FREE for the next 10 days! No classes, no internships, no waking up at 4:30am to get ready. I can just wake up, shower, throw my hair in a pony, grab my stuff, and go! I’m so looking forward to the break, even if I’ll be spending most of it just catching up with everything. I have a magazine to start designing, law journals to write, textbooks to read, assignments to complete. But I think I’ll be ready to tackle this last half of the semester and not have too many meltdowns.

Three. I received my book for Chelsea’s book swap Wednesday night. I was super excited about what it was when she e-mailed me, telling me how good it was and that she wanted to read it. And it looks awesome! I can’t wait to start reading it. I think I’m really going to enjoy it.

Four. Thanks for all the suggestions in my last post! The ones involving my faith were especially hard to hear but I totally understand. God does need to have the first-place spot in my life. I know when I’m following after Him and leaning on Him, things are a lot smoother. They’re not perfect. Things are still hard and I still feel stress. But I feel calmer, more in control. So I’m definitely going to work on our relationship, connecting more with God, and having a daily Bible study.

Five. Next Monday, I’m meeting with an adviser to schedule classes for Summer and Fall. Hopefully, my last two semesters of my undergrad career! I can’t believe I’m almost there. After everything I went through with being THISCLOSE to graduating with my Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and then everything falling apart, I felt as if I would never receive my degree. Two classes I’m extremely excited about taking are Social Media, News, and Society and Media Convergence. I really have no idea what I want to do when I leave school but something along public relations or social media does appeal to me a lot.

Six. I’m trying out replying to all my comments by e-mail. Whenever I get a e-mail from Erin after commenting on her blog, it fills me with warm fuzzies and I like the connection, even if I never do reply back. So we’ll see how this goes and how long I can keep up!

Seven. My plans for Friday-Sunday include sleeping, reading, and catching up on my Reader and DVR-ed shows. Notice there is nothing involving school? I’m not even thinking about school this weekend! It’s going to be absolutely divine. I plan on staying cuddled up in my bed on Saturday until noon at the earliest. Ughhh…I can’t wait!

Categories: Recurring Series

Ten on Tuesday (Vol. 12)

Check out Chelsea’s blog for her Mr. Linky and a list of other blogs who have completed this!

1. Fill in the blank. Sometimes I wish my life was more ______.

Exciting. I don’t really lead an exciting life, or even the life of an average 22-year-old. It’s a comfortable life and it’s nice for right now, but sometimes I feel as if I’m missing out on opportunities. I don’t really have girlfriends my age I can rely on, trust, and hang with. I really want to remedy that.

2. How do you cure the hiccups?

Peanut butter! Oh, my gosh, this works wonders! It’s never failed me before. Plus, peanut butter is so yummy to eat!

3. What are three of your favorite indulgences?

  • Sleeping. I love taking quick cat naps and sleeping in on weekends. I’m not one who feels awful and guilty after sneaking in a nap; I always feel refreshed and well-rested. I love, love, love to sleep!
  • Going out to eat. I love to eat. And I probably love going out to a restaurant more than cooking something at home. I would probably eat out every night (or most nights) if I could and if it was cost-effective. Which it isn’t. Unless you get bad service, then it is but you leave feeling let-down.
  • Chocolate. It may not be considered a total indulgence, since I have it just about every day but I just love me some chocolate! It’s definitely not good for my waistline, but hey, dark chocolate has some pretty good health benefits!

4. Where is the most exotic place you would like to travel to? The most mundane?

The most exotic place would definitely be Russia. Well, exotic in a culture frame of mind, not in a beach-y frame of mind. I have this strong connection to Russia that I think started when some type of Russian traveling museum came to our city when I was in first grade. We visited the place and I think I even bought one of those matryoshka dolls. So I would definitely love to travel there someday.

And the most mundane would probably be Orlando, since I’ve been there so many times. But I love taking a weekend getaway to Orlando, shopping at their amazing outlet mall, going to the Hard Rock for dinner, and going to all the amusement parks. Sea World is by far my absolute most favorite amusement park and my mom and I may be planning a trip there for my Spring Break. Disney is having an awesome deal right now where you can hit 4 of their amusement parks in 4 days for just $99. Fingers are crossed!

5. Does having your time planned out stress you or relax you?

It definitely relaxes me. On Saturdays, I usually have to have a list of things I was to accomplish so I just don’t sit around and get lazy. Having a list ensures that I’ll get everything I need done that day. When I don’t have a plan, it doesn’t exactly stress me out but I just don’t get much done. Which will, in turn, stress me out the next day.

6. What are your favourite fabrics to wear?

Hm…I’ve never really thought about it. I guess I’m a cotton type of girl. I like to be comfy and cotton is comfy to me. I also like denim. I love wearing jeans.

7. Do you sleep through the night?

Yes. I am a heavy, heavy, heavy sleeper. Once, I slept through a fire (including fire engines!) happening in the house next door to me. I love to sleep and have never had trouble staying asleep. It’s waking up that I have trouble with.

8. When you were younger, what did you think you would be doing at this age? How close is that to what you are doing?

Honestly, I never thought I’d make it past high school. I don’t know what it is with me, but my thought processes can’t go farther than a few years. When I entered high school, I never really thought about what I would be like in college, because I didn’t think I’d make it past high school! I don’t know if I’m just scared of the Second Coming of Christ or something else.

So, really, I just thought I’d be much more of a grown-up than I am. I thought I might have actually moved out of my mom’s house, had a real, grown-up job, and been this social butterfly. But I’m so not. I’m still like a 12-year-old in a lot of ways. Except not as awkward.

9. What has surprised you most about growing up?

Probably how much I enjoy my family. I never realized I was such a family girl until I moved away for a year and got so incredibly homesick that I had to come home. I only lived 30 minutes away but I missed my mom and my family so much during that year. And I know one day I am going to have to leave this town, find a job, and truly grow up. But, right now, I’m enjoying my life. I’m enjoying having my family so close by and no real responsibilities. I am lucky that I can depend on my mom to take care of my bills so I can solely focus on school. I’m definitely not taking that for granted!

10. Are you good at keeping secrets?

It depends. If you tell me a secret, I can keep it from everyone but my mom. I tell her everything and I’ll definitely tell her your secret. (Sorry! But she won’t tell anyone! I promise!) I’m usually good at keeping it from other people, especially people you don’t want me to know. For example, if I’m at work, and my co-teacher tells me someone and says, “YOU CAN’T TELL ANYONE!” I’m pretty good at that. But my mom will know the secret.

Bottom line is, just don’t tell me any secrets you wouldn’t want my mom to know. ‘Kay?

Categories: Recurring Series

Seven Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 7)


One. Last week, I started setting my alarm at 4:30am. FOUR. THIRTY. AY. EM. Doesn’t that just sound so wrong? But it’s actually helped! I have to leave the house before 6:30am and by setting my alarm at 4:30, I can get up by 5am, shower, get dressed, get ready, get breakfast, get my lunch ready, get my bag(s) ready, etc. Yes, it’s a process in the morning. But I get it done! Somewhat.

Two. I filed my taxes on Sunday night. I was hoping for a LOT more than I got. Wishful thinking? Perhaps. I was hoping to give a large chunk of it to my credit card that has a large balance but that won’t be happening. So it’s disappointing but after I lamented my misery on Twitter, I realized things could be a lot worse: I could owe money! Perspective.

Three. On Saturday night, my mom and I went out to Chili’s for dinner. And since we spend about 90% of our time together, we usually don’t have a lot to talk about at dinner. We were both trying to think about topics to talk about when she told me the FUNNIEST story of her first date with my dad. Basically, they went out to a nice restaurant and this was the conversation:

(Silence for many, many, MANY minutes.)
Dad: So, those are some nice pictures on the wall.
Mom: Yeah!
(Silence.)

I can’t believe they actually got married after this date! Basically, these were the only words spoken during the entire date. I really couldn’t stop laughing after hearing this. And I hope I never have a date like that.

Four. I went to Arby’s on Sunday afternoon and sat near a mother, father, and their three children. Two of the children happened to be twins, about 9-10 months old. And the mom proceeded to give her babies Dr. Pepper and curly fries doused in ketchup. DR. PEPPER AND CURLY FRIES. And then she was trying to get her children to say the word soda. I don’t know about you, but when I have some babies, soda is not a word I’m going to be teaching them at an early age. I couldn’t believe this mother! Don’t come crying to me when your twins are 50 pounds overweight at five-years-old. Idiot.

Five. I hate my phone. It’s actually my mom’s old phone that she generously gave to me when I lost mine. (She bought herself a new phone.) And it sucks. It’s a BlackBerry that we bought in May 2009. It doesn’t have a camera and cannot play music. It has enough memory to allow for UberTwitter and the BlackBerry App Store. But that’s it. And it’s slow. At least 5 times a day, it will stop working and show that stupid, little hourglass turning upside down over and over again. And I can’t access anything during that time. I can’t make calls, I can’t see texts, nothing. So then I have to take my battery out, wait 10 seconds, put it back in, and then wait 5 minutes for it to start working again. I hate my phone. I’m due for an upgrade in May and I’m so getting a new one! (Did I mention my BLACKBERRY DOESN’T HAVE A CAMERA?!)

Six. On Monday night, I had a fantastic phone call three-way with two of my favorite bloggers, Nanny and Kaitlyn. We had our first phone chat in September, where I was half-dead and super boring from moving all day. And we had a really deep and heavy chat about faith. This time, I tried to be much more interesting, except I was working on an awful project and trying to get all my stuff ready for tomorrow. Anyway, I love these girls and they are awesome. Especially when I sent my project to Nanny and she helped me with a part I was having trouble with. And the fact that they didn’t laugh at me when I told them I’ve never heard a Lady GaGa song.

Seven. Who are you rooting for in the Superbowl? If you know anything about me, you should know that I have an unnatural crush on Peyton Manning. He may not have the charm of Tony Romo, the looks of Tom Brady, or the ruggedness of Brett Favre. But he holds a special place in my heart with his country-boy twang, lanky frame, and insane football knowledge. So, yes, I’m rooting for the Colts!