Rhyme rhyme rhyme, I love to rhyme

I put a little hat on top of my head.

I put it there to hide the mess from my bed.

--This was inspired by the hat I got for Christmas that I am wearing to hide my bed head.... It's true art, eh?

Finally some R&R!!

That does mean rest and relaxation, right?

Today I was pretty darn lazy; I basically laid on the couch all day long and played on the computer. Tonight, though, Tyler and I cooked some pasta and now he's watching football while I play on here! One of the main things that's been occupying my thoughts is how excited I am for my Junior year. I'll be living in a townhome, hopefully; it's going to be so great to have a real kitchen!! Another reason I'm ready to be a junior is that I want to have my little sisses! I've been creeping on Facebook in search of the imminent Meredith c/o 2015 group for what seems like forever. It has to show up sometime soon with all of these girls being accepted!

 I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season so far! It's going to be here so soon!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Anna Catherine

The Finale! 29&30

Day 29: Hopes, dreams, and plans you have for the next 365 days

In the next year, I want to make the Dean's List again, study in Iceland for a month, move into a townhome with my girls, be more physically active, volunteer more, be myself. 

Day 30: A motto or philosophy

"Be particular!"

It's a saying my mom has told me my whole life; her grandpa always said the same to her. It's pretty self explanatory!

Thirty day blog is now DONE!! Blogging over Christmas break has proved a lot harder over break, but I'll try to keep up as best I can!

Day 28: A scar you have and its story

I don't have many scars... Sorry. None are monumental either. :(

Day 27: A physical feature you love

I would definitely have to say my snout.

Haha. My lips are my actual favorite feature!... Oh, and the monkey on my back.

Day 26: A childhood memory

In the spirit of the season....

When I was a wee thing Mary Boyd and I would get up at like three in the morning on Christmas, thinking it was a reasonable time for presents. So in response to our early excitement, mother dearest made us start sleeping with Lauren on Christmas Eve so we wouldn't break free and see what Santa left us. We added to the tradition though and we all wore Christmas socks every night when we went to sleep.

Day 25: A recipe

Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcake

(I made these last night!)

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

• Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

• Vanilla Buttercream

The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners' sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electricmixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 (9-inch) layer cake

MMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmm!!!!

On Friday I'm having some high school friends over for dinner and then we're going to bake cupcakes!! So today,  I intend on practicing the cupcakes because I want to make really pretty ones! ....and who doesn't like cupcakes?

I highly doubt mine will be as pretty as "Bakerella's" are, but I sure am going to try super hard!

I don't mean to become grinch-like, but this month has dragged on! How can I possibly already be broke? Oh well... Tis the season for empty pockets and full hearts (and bellies)! 

Day 24: A movie no one would expect you to love

I love movies; I have a pretty broad spectrum of movies I like or love. One movie people might be surprised by that I love is Zombieland.

It's seriously hilarious. I could quote it all day long.

Rule number one: Cardio

BTW: For those of you who leave comments, I do respond to them. I just don't think it alerts you!!

-Anna Catherine

Day 23: A way in which you want to be remembered

This is so hard! I've been sitting on the couch for ten minutes trying to think of things, but they aren't coming very easily.

The one thing I can think of is my attempt to make sure everyone feels included or comfortable in a group.  I DO NOT approve of bullying and try to always extend a smile to people. I really take offense when a group purposely excludes one person or a few people; so, I try to reach out to them when I realize that it's happening.  Everyone deserves a chance.

Day 22: A website you like

http://www.modcloth.com/

Coolest website ever!! Awesome clothes, accessories, and apartment goodies! 

CHECK IT OUT!!

Home Sweet Home!

It's so nice to be at home, laying on the couch, doing absolutely nothing! The past two weeks have been ridiculous! I've never been to the library so much in my life! I've been kind of slacking when it comes to blogging outside of my challenge because of it, but I promise to do better now that I'm home!

"There's no place like home!"

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than most people

Well I tend to do a lot of things different than the average person, but the first one that comes to mind is that I write differently because I'm a lefty.

I really am glad to be left-handed because it makes me different. It comes with some pitfalls though: scissors, guitars, stick shifts, cameras and DESKS! Every classroom at my school is SUPPOSED to have at least one left handed desk, which I usually try and get. One day in one of my classes we had two of them; so, I got one and a girl who came in a little after me happened to sit in the other. After which, she turned around and said to the girl in front of me, "I hate these left handed desks. Sitting in them is awful. We don't even need them really. It's so uncomfortable." I didn't say anything, but it really pissed me off; I have to live in a right-handed world. She can sit in a left-handed desk one day and feel awkward, but imagine me having to adjust what I do everyday. It may seem silly, but it really made me angry. We are also more prone to illnesses; our hand writing is usually awful, and we smudge a lot because we have to write from left to right.

There are many great things about being left-handed as well, though! Since lefties' brains are wired a little bit differently we are statistically known for being high-achievers.  Among college graduates, left-handed people earn 10-15%  more than their right-handed counterparts(Waldfogel). Lefties are linked with creativity. Four out of the last seven presidents were lefties! I don't care if it's backwards, I like it.

Some famous lefties!

19&20 (Whoopsies!)

Day 19: A talent of yours

My talent is singing. I'm by no means the best, but I think I'm pretty good.

We didn't quite have the lyrics down, but this is my favorite anyways because we had so much fun doing it.

Day 20: A food you like and a food you do not like

Let me start by saying that I don't eat to live; I live to eat. I love food and am soooo not ashamed of it; therefore, narrowing down to a favorite is quite difficult. That being said, instead of one favorite, I'm going to choose a few.

1. Stuffed mushrooms

2. Oysters

3. Strawberries

4. Sweet Potatoes

What I don't like is...

Peanut butter!! Uilcghk!

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, I was studying and in exams all day, even at meal times!! However, I'm all done now and I'm home. Now it's time to recuperate from a very berry busy semester!

-Anna Catherine

Day 18: A photo of your favorite room in your house

Seeing as I won't be home for a few more days (exams are almost over!) I'm going to have to improvise a little. My favorite room is the kitchen for obvious reasons. You can see some of it here, just not all of it! 

By the way, that's Thanksgiving lunch; doesn't it look amazing?!?

Day 17: An art piece

Music is art, and her videos are always beautiful. Don't like it? I don't care!

Day 16: A song that makes you cry

I don't necessarily cry, but I do tear up. It just brings me back to high school and graduating.

Day 15: Five funny fears

1. Frogs, lizards, etc.
2. Getting some crazy, random disease
3. Alternate realities
4. That the world is ending
5. That Vampire Diaries may get cancelled

Day 14: A vacation you would like to take

This Summer I want to study abroad in Iceland. 

"Iceland," you ask? Yes, Iceland.

I have a lot of reasons. The main reason, though, is that Iceland isn't your typical vacation spot; you can't just go to Iceland without any connections like you can Italy or the United Kingdom.  I'll be going with two of the best Meredith Professors, both of which have countless connections with Icelandic people.  I also just think it'll be a great opportunity.  

I want to travel to many other places in my lifetime, but I think this would be a really great place to start.

Size 0

Women are subjected to a ridiculous amount of criticism concerning their bodies.  If a woman jiggles in the wrong place or doesn't have the right hair color, then she is likely to try and change these things; why, though?  Why is it such a big deal? Did you know that the average woman weighs around 162 pounds and wears a size 14 (L.A. Times)? Women are pressured to be thin, to be tan, to wear makeup, to wear the right clothes; however, this is an extremely unrealistic goal.

Many average-sized women are having to buy their clothes at plus-size stores, because most stores, namely designer ones, do not even make clothes for the average woman's shape.  Do they expect only skinny people to be fashionable and NORMAL women to be frumpy? Zero is not a size; zero means nothing, nada, zip. So why is society today asking women to conform and be something they're not? I like being something; being nothing is not, and has never been, something I want. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't struggle with my weight and body image like everyone else, I do; however, the older I get the more I realize that I want to be healthy and independent. I don't want to conform; I like doing my own thing.  So to all of you girls who, like me, look in the mirror and wish they saw something else, tell the world that you don't care what they think; you matter.  If you want to be healthy then great, just do it for you!

I'm not trying to bash the naturally skinny girls; if you are a size 0 or 2 without trying, good for you, but this isn't addressed to you; so, don't be offended.

(This is Glamour's poster child for the average woman; this picture has received laud from all over because a woman of average size was showcased.)

  So, be yourself, because you are beautiful!

Day 13: Five strange facts about you

1. I touch my face a lot.
2. My thumbs are double jointed.
3. I love pickles.
4. I really like to organize the refrigerator in my room.
5. I am deathly afraid of frogs, lizards, snakes, and anything of that sort.

Hurrah! Hurray! Yippadeedooda! Yay!

Classes are overrrrrr!! That's right, they're over! Four exams and one presentation and I am DONEZOOOO... Ahh, how refreshing.

(^^original Laguna cast, they invented "donezo")

A few of us girls were just sitting in Caroline's room, talking up a storm; my friend, Gray (Chelsey), and I were both talking about how we wish we could be called by something different than what people call us (that's confusing, sorry!).  I want to be called Anna Catherine by all and she wants to be Gray; so, we decided that to start the trend, we'd call each other by those names in hopes they would catch on.  Keep in note, though, I've been urging people to call me Anna Catherine for over a year now, as you may have noticed by my signature on here. Hopefully, it will really catch on this time!

Tomorrow is reading day, and a very busy day it will be! Wish me luck and say a few prayers!

Goodnight World,

Anna Catherine

Day 12: A song that you want played at your wedding

Everything by Michael Buble

I don't want it played at the ceremony, but I do want it to be my first dance.  This song has been a favorite of mine for a long time and it is just adorable.  I don't plan on getting married anytime soon, but when I do this WILL be my first dance... Sorry future hubby, you have NO say in this!