Ph.D.

it has been a weird week.

it started like most weeks...but then i got this innocent email from the president of our graduate psych club...it was asking for volunteers to help with the tours and stuff for the future clinical students who will be having their interviews next week.

well i had applied to the clinical phd program...and i took this email to mean that i had not landed an interview...because why would they ask for help if they hadn't issued the invitations yet...right?

so i started getting myself ready for a year of working...secured myself a pretty good job with benefits...cried a little...then told myself i'd be okay...its just a year.

but i'd never been rejected from anything in my entire life. anything. and though i know everyone has to learn to deal with rejection at some point in their life...i didn't want this to be my first encounter.

but this morning...

i got an email inviting me to take part in the interviews...i'd landed an interview after all...i'm one of 16 (out of 45) to get invited..

so now i'm all excited...trying to decide what to wear, what to say, and what to do with the rest of my life...

one day...i might be known as Dr. Jessica Anders...weird.

It is a good day

I got cable TV back today after a 6 month hiatus. I have not missed TV in any form or fashion...but its FRAKKING OLYMPICS TIME!

and what is the first sport that is showing on my new TV?

CURLING!

these are exciting times.

GO OLYMPICS!

Thinking back...

when i was 13, i went to a general kids camp for the first and only time (ive been to other camps, but they've been chemistry or soccer related...not just a fun time camp)

While at this camp, I had my first MAJOR crush.

Dallas Seaborn.

This was a time when I was figuring out my individual style (one brother loved punk, the other abercrombie...so i had varying influences) and this cool kid wearing a Goodwill 70s bowling shirt and bleached spiky hair started talking to me.

i had the best time at this camp, we did all of the cool activities together (and blew some off because he was a "rebel" and i wanted him to like me even though i was a total square)

...now of course i never told Dallas that i was MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM...and he made out with the sluttiest girl at camp during the dance (at which i wore the most banging dress) so my hopes and dreams were smashed lol...but he apparently made an impression on me because i've never forgotten about that crush.

he also was the first boy i ever called long distance on a cell phone when plans started going "free statewide"...lol

SUBSTORY - I have a theory as to why i remember Dallas so well:
I have only been denied 3 times in my life when pursuing a dude.

1st time was Dallas...though I technically never "pursued" him...i just secretly liked him and he never knew...and my flirting skills were nonexistant at that time.

2nd time was with a dude that courted me better than any guy ever has...we were friends, he bought me thoughtful gifts, he thought up fun things to do when we hung out, we ICQ'd all the time...but I was dating the foreign exchange student from Brasil (on his soccer team) and he was leaving in like 8 days when the guy finally asked me on a real date...so i told him no (with the hopes that he'd still want to when Lu went home because i didnt want to dump him a week before he left)...anyhow...i guess he got mad and when I tried to pursue him...I failed, miserably. it was embarrassing.

3rd time was the worst. I was at a time in my life that I was a major flirt...well i was good friends with this dude on my soccer team, and we hung out a lot with groups as friends...anyhow, he asked me on a real date one night...and i thought "what the heck"...we watched a lame movie...maybe held hands...he bought a new shirt and pants for the ordeal lol...well he had never been kissed...i should have been a little more aware of this fact, because I had kissed like 15 dudes at this point (smooch slut!)...anyhow...end of the night comes and i go in for the kiss...he says "no" and gives me a kiss on the forehead and says "thats all you get" and i never heard from him again lol...OUCH.

anyhow...despite how insignificant these stories are in the big picture of my life...i'll always remember them, because i NEVER got denied!

BACK TO ORIGINAL STORY

So every once in a while my gal pals and i joke around about dallas seaborn, and how infatuated i was with this dude that i barely knew and probably romanticized our entire existence together...

so i Facebooked him tonight. he totally has a facebook, i dont know what i expected...probably a bleached spiked hair skinny punk kid, not a dude in an argyle sweater posing with an elderly lady. anyhow, he is engaged....good looking...umm likes twilight, talking in all caps, and working on cars...and well thats about all i got because I wasnt about to ask him to be my facebook friend "hey dallas, remember me from 11 years ago when we knew each other for a week!" lol

so this whole story is because i got the notion to look up old pals...and dallas seaborn totally still exists.

what an awesome name.

FedEx + greyhound Fun

so I will preface this with a few facts you need to know:

1. My roommate Thomas' car's transmission is messed up and cannot travel very far
2. My fiance's car has expired tags/bad battery/is a piece of shit

So i went home Thursday night (to avoid the "snowpocolypse 2010") in a rush (i had 20 minutes to get everything packed and ready before my brother picked me up)

The plan was that my brother would drive me to cookeville...i'd do the things i needed to do...and my mom would drive me to knoxville on Tuesday and Josh would pick me up there (with my car)

Friday morning I discover that I accidentally took my car keys with me to Cookeville...this was a huge bummer as Josh has classes or work every day that I was gone.

I decided to overnight the key to him...so he would be inconvenienced only 1 day.

So i went to fedex.


I paid 14 bucks to get it to him by Saturday morning.


Saturday comes...it doesnt show...I'm not too mad because of SNOWPOCOLYPSE 2010.

Monday comes...still not there...im getting worried...who is going to pick me up in Knoxville.

Tuesday morning comes, and its still not there...so I have to make alternate plans.

I take the Greyhound.


Sort of a scary experience with a lot of shady looking people talking about jail time...but that was okay...a nice lady sat beside me and I watched a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica season 2 and read some of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief to pass the time on the 6 hour trip.


All is good until we get to Greenville, and they stop and tell us we have to either:

get out
go back to knoxville

because the brakes werent working.

well I didn't want to go all the way back to knoxville (especially on bad brakes)...so I got out (along with 10 other people destined for Johnson City)

Anyhow...some dude convinced our bus driver to keep going on bad brakes to Johnson City...so we all got back on the bus...prayed a lot...and hoped that we made it ("Just yell if you smell fire okay guys" - bus driver)

We made it.

[this is how excited we were]

Back to the FedEx Story:

Today: I decided to talk to a customer service representative online.

it went poorly.

the girl kept telling me that they had come by 4 times and no one was home...this would be a fine explanation, except:

- Josh AND thomas were home 3 of the 4 times they allegedly delivered it
- Josh put a note on the door after the first day saying "please leave package between porch door and regular door"
- They never left a doortag saying that they had been by.

after a while, the girl kept telling me to either:

a. Call Customer Service (was I not currently CHATTING with customer service?)
b. Drive to Kingsport to pick up my package

I explained to her over and over that the package was my only way of transportation, as the package was my car key.


She just kept repeating for me to call the people...so after being sort of mean to her (not typically my way of dealing with customer service because i know their jobs suck, but she was really pissing me off) I called the number she gave me.

The dude (who mumbled) told me 5 times to just drive to pick it up, or have my roommates drive to pick it up. I went over my situation like 10 times with him...and he finally said he'd contact Kingsport for me and see if they will deliver it again (if they ever did in the first place)...

anyhow...long story short:

I used FedEx
Greyhound makes for good stories
I hate FedEx
I hate no transportation

Diablo Walks the Earth

so josh was in a random trade game on diablo the other night...and all of a sudden ONE soj sells to the vendor...and
DIABLO WALKS THE EARTH!
how fun! its so rare to get him to walk in a random game you don't go searching for...

anyhow, it usually looks like this before he walks...though with josh it was just one stone of jordan

and then he spawns in a random location...and you kill him for an awesome anni (i know you guys care!)


and he looks badass like this...except this is not a screenshot i took, because josh killed him with his wind druid while i sat around waiting for the anni.


oh exciting times in diablo land.

Wedding Inspiration Board

so i broke down and made an inspiration board for my wedding.