The Jazzy Experience

“Bah-da-dum-dah –duh….I’m lovin it!!”

2010-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm driving and all of a sudden it hits me...I'm hungry and I might just die if I don't get a chance to eat within the next 5-10 minutes. Frantically, I search high and low for something that can never do me wrong...something that’s internationally known…something that could bring tears of happiness to my eyes. My desire was simple: McDonald’s french-fries. That’s right, french-fries. I wasn’t asking for much, just a large, piping hot, delicately salted, perfect amount of crunchiness container of fries.

Nearly causing an accident, I zoom into the drive-thru. “Welcome to McDonalds! What can I get you today?” She had so much promise in her voice…I could tell that she thoroughly enjoyed her job and I just knew that she was relishing this very moment. I responded, rather simply: “Could I please have a large fry?” “Is that all?” She responded… “Yes ma’am!” I peeled around the corner awaiting my delectable fries.

“Bah-da-dum-dah –duh….I’m lovin it!!” I couldn’t help but hum the jingle. My simple request was about to be fulfilled :) What more could a hungry woman ask for?? I arrived to the window with a smile on my face. All of a sudden, Big Bertha with a uni-brow and an unattractive snarl to match lazily shuffled to the window and with disgust demanded that I pull forward. “Your fries aren’t ready yet.” She told me with a blank expression. “No problem!” I responded, “You have an amazing day.” I showed her a toothy smile and pulled forward as she requested.

Five minutes went by and although I was a little anxious (and REALLY hungry at this point), I patiently hummed the McDonald’s theme song and thought about how hot my fries would be. It would be well worth the wait.

Ten minutes later, Big Bertha threw open the side doors and lethargically waddled to my car. After what seemed like an hour, I reached for my bag of greatness and thanked her for her time. Leaving the McDonald’s, I stuck my hand in the bag and decided to munch on my purchase. I plopped a couple of fries into my mouth and began to chew…I attempted to swallow but my body would not allow me to.

My eyes swelled up with tears and my body tensed with hatred as I realized that the fry utopia I had imagined had dwindled away and reality finally hit. After waiting for 10 MINUTES for my fries…I had received the coldest fries known to man. And they smelled weird? Why in the world did they smell that way???!!?? How dare they…it had to have been Big Bertha. I’m SO SORRY that you are bitter about your job but you have no right to take it out on me and my taste buds. I cringed at the thought of eating another fry…simultaneously my body begged for nourishment. I was livid. I began to sweat profusely …I was angry.

After plotting the slashing of tires and the possible blowing up of that McDonald’s…I decided to just let it go…what was I going to do? Take them back and throw the fries in Big Bertha’s face? Of course not haha….maybe next time…

Maybe I should just stick to salads…could they possibly mess that up.,..???

Put Your Hand Down!

2010-01-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

Look! I'm all for valuable input during a class discussion! I love it! If we're talking about something specific and you happen to have a specific example that relates...by all means...raise your hand and boldly speak about your opinions. However, when Buck Tooth Barry wants to rudely interject every single chance he gets just so that he can announce to everyone that his 4.0 GPA is a perfect example of how the migration patterns of birds effect the eating habits of carnivoral creatures...NO! Put your chunky hand down and stop trying to use this opportunity to tell everyone how "smart" you are. Your comments are irrelevant.

In my class, there is a guy that is a perfect example of someone I would not mind punching in the throat. I'm not a violent person by nature but angry thoughts pollute my mind whenever he opens his mouth. Guess what? No one cares that when you were five your grandmother gave you grape jelly and you broke out into hives? What does this have to do with Organizational Behavior? He enjoys the sound of his voice and its to the point where everyone sighs in disgust whenever he raises his hand to answer a question. To add fuel to this flame...he has a sick, lazy eye. haha Yes, I realize that the last bit of info was not pertinent to the point of this rant but it just does not help the situation! haha (just kidding)

BUT, this is exactly what I wish my teacher would do:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-UW8MZ4ObGJM/teacher_slaps_annoying_student/

So its been awhile :I May Be A Struggling Hoarder

2010-01-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

I realize that I haven't written on this thing in 20 billion years...but hey! Life happens-senior year of college to be exact! Last semester, my classes were so intense! I thought during senior year you were suppose to coast until the end? haha I suppose that assumption is completely wrong! I still managed to do well and I am still breathing :)

NOW its my last semester...final stretch, and I'm ready to hit the ground running. I want to do so much in what feels like barely any time. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep everyone posted. To start my semester off, I organized and CLEANED my room. I'm talking taking everything out of my closet, throwing it on my messy bed and sorting everything by figuring out whether or not to keep or give away.

Now I don't think I have a problem...some may say that I do...but I have a problem with giving stuff away. If someone gave me a gift for Christmas and the gift was in a cute gift bag, I feel like I should keep it (who likes buying new gift bags), oversized t-shirts that I've received (they make nice sleeping wear), pens that never seem to work (it never gets old walking over to my pen container and grabbing a pen that doesn't work and NEVER will)...all of these things remain in my room stored in boxes and drawers until I finally use/throw them away. Now before you start judging me...I don't keep old remnants of crackers scattered on my floor or empty containers of Lean Cuisine!!!

I'm not as bad as this video though... haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3akft5wENjw

Luckily Regi, my boyfriend, helped me out!! I was so happy. Over the years I have noticed that the state of my room reflects the current state of my mind!!!! CRAZY!! haha just kidding :) Luckily, I started my last semester fresh by cleaning up EVERYTHING and giving away/throwing away all the things I don't use anymore. I feel like a new woman *sigh*.

OooOOo look... a fluffy stuff animal from 12 years ago..I haven't seen that in ages...I should put that on my desk....

HAHA...never AGAIN!

I got RIPPED OFF at Sonic

2009-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Yea, that's right! I got ripped off at Sonic. No, I'm not advocating a complete boycott of the purchasing of Sonic food, however, what happened to me was utterly ridiculous. Very rarely do I have a sudden urge to slurp down a delightfully, chilly slush from Sonic. Such a specific craving I had...I wanted a Lemon Berry Fruit Slush to be exact. I was with my cousin when I had the sudden craving for a Sonic slush. After arriving to Sonic, and realizing it was about that time of day (Sonic Happy Hour) so I decided to be bold and amp up the order to a medium instead of a small slush. After ordering I realized there was still about 5 more minutes until Happy Hour began. That meant that by the time the person delivered our slushies, it would be about 2 minutes til 2 pm...so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. When she arrived I simply asked her, in a "you know good n well its almost happy hour...dont even make this an issue" tone, "Its like 2 minutes until happy hour, right?"

Long story short she was like "Oh well, its almost that time!"and she tried to smile at me all hard like I would be okay with that...seriously?? I looked at her all dumbfounded...I promise you I was going to sit there for my two minutes so I could get my lil half off drinks...but she looked back at me like "You better not wait two minutes...!!" haha.

Moral of the story: Check your clock before deciding to embark on the Sonic Happy Hour...or you will be thoroughly disappointed!

Last Day in England: Brief Reflection

2009-07-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sitting underneath a gigantic tree, attempting to start the critically acclaimed novel Twilight , I realized that today was going to be my last day in Europe. As I took a huge, deep breath of fresh England air I began to think back on my first arrival.

My first day in England, I was completely nervous...not knowing at all what to expect. I expected the worst...rather than getting my hopes high! I arrived into Oxford purely a tourist. I snapped hundreds of pictures...but after the first couple of days being a tourist, I realized that my main goal was to become apart of the city. I wanted to immerse myself in the culture. Soon enough, the streets became familiar and I was able to navigate the pristine streets of Oxford without assistance. I began to notice the insignificant things about Oxford. For instance, the fact that every house seemed to give off a sweet aroma of something fresh and natural. Flowers of all kinds were always in abundance.

In the end, it become super obvious how big the world is. I would love to travel more!! Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to in the future. I learned so much...and would love to learn more!

Thanks for following my blog...I'm going to post more random pictures later.

~Jazz

Never Eat Chinese Food In Spain

2009-06-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

So the "Eating of Chinese food in Spain" story will be told soon enough....but I'll start off from the beginning:

It all began at 6 in the morning. We made our way across the sleepy town of Oxford to the Coach stop (bus stop) and loaded the Coach. This began our four hour bus ride to the London airport. After arriving at the airport, we quickly checked in and made it to our flight. Flying RyanAir was very interesting. There were no reserved seats...everyone was pretty much for themselves as far as finding a seat. It would have been really easy to get separated from your family. Soon after my friends and I found seats next to one another...we noticed that there was still one person looking for a seat! It was a man dressed in Daisy Dukes, a stuffed bikini top, a huge blonde wig, and a cowboy hat. As he searched for a seat...he finally found one right behind us. The two, old men behind us reluctantly stood as the "man" said in a raspy voice, "Well, today is your LUCKY day!!" EVERYONE on the plane started laughing!! Finally, I turned around and asked him, "So what's the occasion?" haha...apparently his friends were throwing him a Stag Party. Stag parties are very similar to the bachelor parties that Americans throw for soon to be wed men. He told us that the theme of his Stag party was "Broke Back Mountain" and that he had no control over what his friends had chosen for him. There were 15 other men aboard that plane that were flying with him...but, of course, they were dressed perfectly normal. It was funny because he said his great friend had planned it. "Seems to me my friend has some sick fantasy!!" LOL We all started laughing. Mid-way through the flight, Ms. Cowboy went to the restroom and came back to his seat with the same outfit on but with a one piece suit instead. I joked with him and told him I preferred the two-piece bikini! HAHA.

Anywho...we arrived in Biarritz, France where we managed to get by with a few French phrases. We immediately jumped on a train and made our way to San Sebastian, Spain. After the train, we got on a rickity metro line that took us all the way to Spain. Along the way, we passed beautiful beaches with a mix of grafitti covered buildings. I found myself appreciating the beauty in everything we passed.

Soon enough, after about 12 hours of travel, we arrived in San Sebastian, Spain. After spitting out a little bit of pathetic French while in Biarritz, we had to change our thinking and remember some Spanish. Fortunately, (and very random, I might add) I knew more Spanish than I thought. After years of listening to my parents speak Spanish around me...and them teaching me a few phrases here and there...I found myself speaking a little bit here and there while in Spain. [This leads me to believe that after 3 years of taking German...if I were to go to Germany, I would more likely than not be able to hold my own.] Everything in San Sebastian, Spain was absolutely beautiful from the moment we stepped off the metro. I could smell the freshness of the air and see the beauty in the perfectly architected buildings that lined the streets. Around every corner were cute, little boutiques and street vendors. San Sebastian was a ritsy, beachtown...it was kind of neat. Luckily we would be staying in a hostel...

We FINALLY found our hostel after forever of searching (okay, we didn't really search that long but after 12 hours of traveling...you're ready to SIT DOWN! haha) Little did we know that our hostel was located in a gorgeous little apartment right the thick of downtown. We found our location, pressed the button and the lady in charge buzzed us in. From the beginning, I was impressed by the location and cleanliness of the place. We walked in and were greeted by two Spanish women. They immediately brought us to our private three bed room. It was pretty cute and comfortable. We even had our own little balconey to overlook the downtown and the city. After settling in, the lady in charge took us into the common area and told us everything we would need to know about San Sebastian. She took out a map and told us where EVERYTHING was...it was awesome. She was just so helpful. She also informed us that breakfast would be provided every single morning (you know I was extra excited haha)! After chillaxin for about 25 minutes...we decided to check out our surroundings.

It was like staying on some magical beach resort as we walked through downtown to the beach. The beach was BEAUTIFUL, and although the water was a bit chilly it didn't even matter! There were men playing violins...it was a scene from a movie. My downfall (which I didnt know initially) would soon be the gelato icecream that was strategically placed around every single corner. That night, my friends announced that they wanted to "lay out" all day in hopes of receiving tans. I gave them blank stares and then we all laughed. I mean seriously...what do I look like? I REALLY need a tan, huh? haha Pretty much, the goal for the next day was going to be to completely relax and throw caution to the wind. That is exactly what we did!

The next day, we headed to the beach to just relax and play in the water (and apparently to get tans...for some). LITTLE DID WE KNOW that the beach was a nude beach. hahaha...luckily no one was completely nude and thank God we did not see any men...but it was very common for women to sunbathe topless. Clearly this was perfectly fine in their culture...families didn't mind and men paid no attention. It was pretty obvious who the ourist were...especially male tourist because they would gawk and point. Call me mean...I DON'T CARE, it is never okay for morbidly obese grandma to go sun bathing (topless) in public! Unfortunately, my poor, defenseless eyes have been scarred for life!! haha Anyways, we ate Bocadillos [pronounced bo-cah-dee-yohs] on the beach for lunch...which were very similar to baguettes (a really big, tasty sandwich for you non-travelers :] ). They were massive and completely fulfilling.

That night, we decided we were going to try to find a place to go dancing. Seriously, how fun would it be to go dancing in Spain? We had no idea that the partying did not begin until 2 AM!!!! Instead, we watched the teenagers as they prepared for the night to come...it was a lil something like this:

Hundreds of teenagers sat in groups of about five or more along the beach. As they revved up for the night to come, they had HUGE containers of alcohol and Coke and other alcoholic beverages...and they passed them around to one another. It was an amazing site...something I had never seen in my life. Most of the kids I saw could not have been older than 16/17. It was CRAZY. The police just watched them nearby. The teens were waiting for the HUGE DISCO to open up...the disco was located under the pier-like walking platform right next to the beach. In the end, we ended up looking for a smaller place to go dancing. On our quest, we walked down a street and heard amazingly, loud dance music. We got excited and immediately headed to the building with loud music. The closer we got to the door, the more confused I became. I looked on the dance floor and no one was on it at all. I looked to my friends and voiced my concern, "Umm, there is absolutely no one on the dance floor..." " THATS A POLE, NOT A DANCE FLOOR!!!!" my friend exclaimed!! We screamed and began laughing hysterically as we literally RAN from the location!!! It was hilarious!!! FINALLY, after all the commotion...we found an innocent, wholesome place to hang out...It was a more chill atmosphere but still fun. We were so tired that we eventually just headed back to our hostel! It was still a memorable and fun night.

Our last night in Spain was also pretty memorable. We had decided to find a place with authentic Spanish food. As we searched, we realized that we were never going to be satisfied with the seafood that neither of us wanted. Spainish food is completely different from Mexican food...it really lacks the zestiness that Mexican food is known for!! Eventually (and this was after about an hour of searching for food...anyone who knows me knows that I don't play when it comes to food. When I'm hungry, Im going to need to eat haha) we stumbled across a Chinese resturaunt. The menu just looked amazing and cheap (such a great combination!). We pretty much ran inside as our salivary glands worked double time! I hungrily stared at our waitress and snatched the menu from our waitress haha, yeah, I was THAT hungry. After our waitress lethargically made her way over to us... we told her exactly what we wanted. After what seemed like hours, she brought our food over to us. I simply ordered Sesame Chicken (no need to change it up and try to get fancy. I just wanted to stick to what I knew.) My friend also ordered the same exact thing as me and we were ultra excited! The food looked so tasty and perfect until I stuck my fork into the meat and brought it up to my mouth. My nose flared in disgust as I smelled something that was not even close to resembling the smell of the sesame chicken I was use to eating. I worked up the nerve to actually try it because I was starving!! I have to tell you that it was one of the most disgusting things I had eaten...seriously! I tried to force myself to eat it...until I looked over at my friend Rachel who was refusing to even touch it!! haha...she soon proclaimed that she would be eating at McDonald's that night!!!! I almost cried from frustration and sickness because I was THAT hungry and angry haha. I felt bad because I didn't want to be rude and disrespectful but as cool as it may sound...I just didn't want to die in Spain from food poisoning!! Moral of the story: NEVER EVER EVER EVER EAT CHINESE FOOD IN SPAIN!....did I mention NEVER! No matter how tempting or cheap...the risk just isnt worth it! Mc Donald's french fries just never sounded so amazing or tasted so devine! My dinner that night was frenchfries and gelato icecream! I annihilated both without any thought. Mc Donald's became my comfort food...oh, home sweet home! :(

The next morning, we headed home...overall Spain was amazing!! So many memorable moments :) I loved Spain and I hope to return one day.

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN! ((Pictures))

2009-06-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to post my pictures for this post...I'll write about my experiences later. I'm currently in the middle of finishing up my marketing research project for A.C. Neilsen...its a huge group project. We collected data about consumer purchasing behavior of soda in England. We were suppose to get the root of why consumers buy soda and what spurs their purchase...whether it be an impulse buy or whatever. Anyways...we collected over 200 surveys and now we are analyzing the results. ANYWAYS...Hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

~Jazz

I'm FINALLY Back...

2009-06-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

The Eye of London

Big Ben

Metro System called "Underground"

Other side of Big Ben

Looking up

Yay for looking extra shiny haha
Oh well

Inside Lloyds of London

Sorry its taken me F-O-R-E-V-E-R to post another post. Good thing is that just mean you're in for double the dosage. haha

First off, last Wednesday our study abroad group went to London to visit Lloyds of London. Its a market place for brokers to sell different types of risks to a myriad of insurance companies. Its amazing! Professional athletes can even buy insurance to cover specific body parts...or an opera singer can get their vocal cords covered! Its pretty interesting! We went on a tour of the place...I enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we took the metro to different parts of the city. First, we stopped at Big Ben and Westminister Abbey. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay in London long enough to see all of the big sites (we plan on returning for a day trip this Saturday!!). Next, we HAD to make a stop at Harrods, the biggest department store in the world!!! We got through like a fourth of a fourth of a fourth of that place haha. IT WAS SO HUGE! It reminded me of something that would come out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...no lie. Every brand you could ever imagine...ever!!! It would take someone an entire day to get through it...maybe even two days.

My favorite part of the entire trip was seeing the Broadway show WICKED in London. Words can never thoroughly explain how I felt about this show. I've seen The Lion King before...and to me, this show was on the same level as that!!!! It might even be ranked slightly above...the storyline was twisted, crazy, music was amazing, choreography was out of this world, and the costumes were great as well. The music was just breathtaking...at this very moment...you can hear me singing the lyrics to "Defying Gravity" (one of the songs in the musical)!!! I would see that musical again in a heartbeat!

The train ride up and back to and from London was great. I also thought the metro system was pretty neat, too...I wish we had transit systems like that throughout America! I enjoyed London; however, while there I felt rushed because it was a class excursion...I can't wait to go back :)

1st Weekend in Oxford: Random Funny Happenings

2009-06-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

To be honest with you I was pretty excited to just stay in Oxford this past weekend rather than travel to another country. There were many groups of students that chose to go to Ireland and other places...but my roommate and I decided to stay in Oxford and see what this little town had to offer.

Friday:

It was so relaxing to just SLEEP IN!!! I'm not even kidding! The day before we had had class from 8:30 in the morning to 5:30 in the evening with lil mini breaks in between...I promise you I was dying. Slowly and painfully. haha We had to arrange classes that way because we were going to get all of Friday off. I've come to the conclusion that I CANNOT and WILL NOT sit in one place for that long EVER again. The only way I will be okay with that happening is if I'm held at gunpoint...then I guess I'll be okay with it (guess I wouldn't have a choice at that point haha). Imagine staring at formulas like: n= (t*s)/ME^2 OR t-calc=(xbar-null) / (s/sqrt(n)) for hours upon hours lol. Every now and then my teacher would crack a corny joke...and me being me...I would laugh entirely too hard. I went to sleep early Friday...and I had no shame about it. My roommate did too. It was great because I slept the night and following morning away haha :) Talk about beauty sleep!!

Saturday:

After sleeping in til almost 11am, my roommate and I walked like 2.5 miles to Oxford's downtown. The previous weekend we had been in France so it was cool to be able to see how Oxford was on the weekend. It was just like any other huge city's downtown: street vendors, performers, free giveaways, and promotional events. It was so fun! Although I didn't buy anything, we walked into virtually every store! I've found that I really love the European style! In Oxford, it seems like everyone is so fashionable...of course its just a norm for them! Downtown, they also had a covered market. It was in this covered market that we discovered a fruit that neither of us had ever seen...they were called gooseberries!!! They looked like miniture watermelons/grapes and they were furry! The man selling them laughed at us as we gawked over the wierd looking fruit. "Why don't you just give them a try?" he called out to us...so we did!! They were so interesting. They were slightly crunchy and every bit sour, in my opinion. I didn't too much care for them...but Rachel seemed to enjoy them.

Later, we walked back to our house to change clothes and shoes before heading to the grocery store. We weren't sure when the grocery store closed...and we weren't so willing to just casually walk to the store (considering it is like for ever and many, many days to get to it!). We decided that we would ask someone along the way. We saw an old man on the way...so we decided to stop and ask him. He was standing outside of a restraunt and he didn't look very busy at all. As we stopped to ask him, he smiled at us (what a friendly old man I thought). So after we ask him...I guess he wanted to "chat" :( First he grabbed both of our hands and asked us where we were from. haha...then he randomly says "EBONY AND IVORY!" haha My friend Rachel and I just stare at each other and tried to leave without being rude. After that awkward moment, he asks us what our names are. After I told him mine, he says : "Oh your name is just like a flower!!" Then he leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek! GROSS! I don't care how old you are...that is NOT okay! Finally we were able to get away...but I have been scarred for life haha.

Sunday
Sunday was pretty relaxed. For our marketing research project for Nielsen, we have to interview people and collect data related to fizzy drinks (soda). Rachel and I decided to head to the park because so many people hang out at the parks on the weekends. After interviewing many college students and families...we realized that we needed to interview older men. We approached two older men and proceeded with our :"Hey sorry to bother you...we were wondering if you would be willing to fill out a short survey for our class..." One of the men responded with an extra zealous, "BUT OF COURSE...COME OVER!!" He grabbed my survey and pulled out of his pocket this wierd stuff and plopped it on top of my precious survey.
"Where are you two from??" he asked us. "Oh, Texas..." I could tell something was up...I just pick on to things quickly...sometimes. "Oh, well I'm sure they have weed in Texas but nothing's better than Oxford weed!!"

SERIOUSLY???? WHY DO THESE THINGS SEEM TO HAPPEN TO ME?? haha I immediately made up a lie..."Uh, well, we have to get 60 more surveys within the next 30 minutes so we'll have to just come back!!!" We didn't even look back as we pretty much RAN away!!! How crazy is that???

What an interesting weekend we had in Oxford! Despite the creepy men...I'd say we had a pretty good time :)

My next post will be about SPAIN...woohhooooo We will be taking two trains and a plane to get to SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN :) Wish us luck.

~Jazz

Remembering D Day/ Beaches of Normandy (Pictures)

2009-06-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Normandy, France

D Day Memorial in Normandy

I thought this was so neat

Albert Einstein warning President Roosevelt about the new "radium-like elements" that were being developed

The bad little kids looking down on us from the upper level lol

Beaches of Normandy

Omaha Beach: very emotional being on that beach. There were no seagulls, no seashells, no real signs of life. A lot of people died on that beach and it was very eerie standing on it.

Barricades that the Germans had built deep in the earth during DDay.

Broader view of barricades

The French Life

2009-06-11T09:53:00.003-07:00

Our Hostel

The view from our hostel

Notre Dame!

yummy French meal.

bahahaha being silly!

Obama's Motorcade!!

Notre Dame

Biking in the Louvre!

Cool French bikers that did cool tricks!

Inside the Louvre

Eiffel Tower at Night:)

It all started at 4 in the morning. We loaded the Coach (the bus) at the crack of dawn...maybe even before that. My stiff, non-adjusting seat on the coach soon became my point of refuge for the following 8 hours! I thought we would never reach our destination...until FINALLY we reached the English Channel. We took the Chunnel through the English Channel and that was pretty cool. The Chunnel is a railroad tunnel under the English Channel between Great Britain and France. After arriving in France we drove to our hostel! It was in a location that was pretty much in the middle of everything; i loved it! Later that night after checking out Notre Dame, eating dinner and roaming in downtown Paris...we headed straight to the Eiffel Tower for our bike tour. This bike tour was AMAZING!!! Our guide was from Texas and that made things even more interesting. We rode our bikes all through Paris...little did we know what was about to happen next.

OBAMA was in Paris during the same time we were! The crazy thing was that while we were riding our bikes on the streets, HUGE crowds of people began to line the streets and so many police started to direct traffic. They ordered us off of the streets but somehow our bike guide talked the police into letting us zoom through the streets. We had every bit of the streets to ourselves and it was like a high speed chase because we had to pedal like our lives depended on it. We were forced to rush in order to get off the streets before Obama came. It was awesome!! Our adrenaline was pumping and people lined on the streets were even cheering for us!! In the end we got to see Obama's motorcade. We all screamed for him...even the people in our group that couldn't stand Obama. I think it was because we were Americans in France and taking politics out of the picture...we were all so proud of that. The French embraced our President like he was a god or something. I had never been so proud :)

The next day my friend Rachel and I went to the market. It was so neat!!! All the stores brought their goods to the streets. Fruit, jewelry, clothing and just everything you could imagine. There was a band performing and the French people clapped along and let their children dance in the streets. I felt like I could live there and go to the market every week. It was wonderful! I bought a couple of things for my family and friends...I even bought one shirt for myself :) It was such a great experience.

The next day we went to Bayeux, France. It was a small, wealthy town next to Normany. We stayed in a hotel there and as a group took a tour of the DDay Memorial and Normandy Beaches. It was AMAZING. Although I did not cry...the experience was very emotional. The people of Normandy are incredibly appreciative of the American soldiers. They wave American flags throughout the town.

I'll post pictures of Bayeux later.

Now I am back in Oxford...and I must say...it honestly feels like home.

Crepes, Kabobs, FRANCE oh mY!

2009-06-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today were pretty laid back. I feel so comfortable in this town and I honestly feel like I could live here. The grass is so green. I know thats random but everything is just so green and healthy here. Also, I promise you I have not seen any overweight people here--everything is just so interesting and different!

Last night my friends and I went to a creperie near our house. I gained 12 pounds just looking at it. It was the most flaky, sweet, delectable slice of heaven I had ever tasted! No Lie!!! I tried extremely hard to eat it slowly and enjoy every little morsel :) It was drizzled with warm chocolate and lightly sprinkled with almonds. Inside was a dip of vanilla icecream. I had no shame as I devoured my crepe like a ravenous beast haha! We all did...I looked to my right and my left to make sure my friends were still alive and breathing because neither of us talked for a good 5 minutes! Yeah, it was that good.

Today, my friend Alise and I ate chicken kabobs. Now, these weren't the type of kabobs that are on skewers in America...no, no! In England they call these chicken wrap things kabobs. They were this pita bread with marinated chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and this ketchup-like sauce. Amazing! It only cost about 3 pounds and we got it from a street vendor. So good :)

Everything is just so much more expensive here. The pound is worth like twice as much as the dollar. So if something costs 3 Pounds here....its pretty much 6 dollars in US! It can get pretty doggone expensive, too! I had $100 and only got 52 Pounds for it...I nearly cried!!!

Right now it is 11:15pm here and 5:15pm in America! We will be leaving at 5am for PARIS,FRANCE in the morning!! I am so excited!! We will also visit Normandy, France and go on a couple of tours. This will be such an amazing experience! We won't get back until Wednesday!

I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures when I return!

Ciao!

Silly Americans...:)

2009-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Living the Oxford Life

$$ Money Money Money MONAYYYY haha $$

Exhausted after a long day!

Me and Alise!!

Church nearby our house.

Why, hello there!

Mmm Mmm Good!

Downtown Oxford! I love it

It always interesting receiving the, "Oh, you're just stupid Americans" glare. My friends and I were wondering if we actually look like Americans... you know, like have a stereotypical American look. Who knows? All I know is that I do my best to not really stand out...unfortunately that's been a struggle when I'm taking pictures of EVERYTHING haha. Now don't get me wrong, its not like I wear a big T-shirt that says, "I LOVE BUSH" with American flag themed sandals and a crocheted American flag belt!! People I've encountered initially stared at me a little funny and smirk at my accent. Funny thing is that I was smirking at their accents too!

This morning I went to my Business Statistics class. It was pretty cool...until I started zoning out due to lack of sleep/jet lag. It was terrible because I felt like I was just a zombie! In addition to this class, today I found out which company I'm going to be working with for the summer. I'm going to be doing marketing research for A.C. Nielsen (http://www.nielsen.com/). This will be awesome!!

Today Rachel, Alise and myself walked over 5 miles!! I promise you we've walked close to 15 miles since we've been here...and we clearly have not been here that long! Here in Oxford we walk absolutely everywhere! There is an open market nearby but most of the shopping centers are like a mile away. That means that once we walk up there...we have to walk the treacherous walk back. I've never walked to so much in all of my life haha. I'm telling you I'm gonna come back to the States like 15 pounds lighter haha.

After grabbing groceries, my friends and I decided to roam the busy streets of Oxford...alone! DUN DUHH DAHHHHH haha. It was so fun! I felt all free and independent :) While meandering, we came across a cool Malaysian noodle bar called Makan La! It was pretty different...like the food wasn't extremely seasoned or anything like that. It was tasty, though. Afterwards we walked further and found a secret pub that J.R. Tolken and C.S. Lewis use to meet up at! It was so neat :) This one guy asked us...in his strong English accent, "Are you in the queue?" haha We blankly stared at him until Rachel was like, "Ummm, we're American!" Then, in a forced American accent he smiled and said, "Are you in the LINE?" We all laughed and we told him where we were from. He seemed so fascinated by us! We chatted and it turns out he has always wanted to visit Austin, Texas!!! After talking with him, we left and we just hung out and talked for what seemed like hours. It was so relaxing.

Ta Ta For Now ;)

Pictures to Commemorate haha:)

2009-06-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

My First Day in England!...I Had Jet Lag in Most of These Pictures... & I Will NEVER Forget:)
Every picture after the "Mind Your Head" one is from Oxford, England! Check it out!

Where we live on Cantebury Road! Such cute Victorian homes:)

My extra, cool roomate and co-worker: Rachel!

Shrunken heads!!! So cool haha :)

Jet LAG!!

2009-06-02T21:33:00.001-07:00

So, maybe I should not have stayed up until 4am the night before my flight to London. Hey, don't give me that look like its common sense or something...I was so excited and nervous that I just could not sleep. Like some sick version of insomnia/ worry-wart syndrome. (Some of you are googling worry-wart syndrome right now haha)

It REALLY bothers me that when I went to sleep last night it was ultra bright outside (even though it was like 9:30 p.m.)...and right now its ultra bright outside (even though its about 5 a.m.). I'M SO THROWN OUT OF WACK AND I'M GOING CRAZY! I mean seriously??? Why can't it just be dark outside? Then I wouldn't be up right now...extra awake and confused. Well, now that I think about it, I have been sleeping for a good, hefty 8.5 hours!! Sounds great to me!

When we left the States it was 5:30 p.m. but after our 9 hour flight (and barely getting any sleep on the flight) we arrived there at 2:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m. London time). Instead of allowing us to go to sleep...our leaders STRONGLY encouraged us to fight the jet lag and stay awake...so we did. I didn't end up going to sleep until 9:30 p.m. London time!!! Do you see what happened?? haha I was awake for like 2 days lol...well, technically??? I'm so confused!! Well, here are some random pictures to commemorate my first days in England! ENJOY :)

Questions For The Lady That Cleans My Teeth...

2009-03-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered what the lady that cleans my teeth is thinking.

Every single time I go in for a teeth cleaning...the lady that cleans my teeth seems just a tad bitter about life.

I'm so sorry that you hate your life but must you take it out on my poor, defenseless teeth and gums? I definitely am a firm believer in channeling your anger in positive ways, BUT no need to roughly scrape the enamel off of my teeth! (that is a NEGATIVE way to channel your anger). And please, for the love of God, stop puncturing my gums with that rake-like instrument… It's so painful! Then, to top it all off...you feel compelled to ask me about the nitty gritty details of my life. How about I go out on a whim and say that your sudden interest in my life is not genuine at all. In fact, I am almost positive that it is forced and completely robotic. Now, I'm all for maintaining impeccable customer service, but it seems like you are attempting to overcompensate for something quite dismal. I've come to this conclusion because EVERY TIME I come in for an appointment, you ask me the same batch of questions: "Where do you go to school?" "Do you like it?" "Why did you choose that school?" "What is your major?" Now, I know that you really do not care the slightest bit about what school I attend and what my major is. I know that you know good and well that you cannot even understand me when I respond to your questions. Seriously! How could you when you ALWAYS ask me these questions right after you tell me to open my mouth as wide as I can. Or you ask me those same questions whenever you place that suction device in my mouth!

Let's just make it easier on the both of us....so how about you just clean my teeth and stop trying to act like you care about my life. It was flattering at first but now it’s just outright ridiculous!

Would It Have Been the Animal's Fault?

2009-03-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Vigilantly, at a moderate speed (of course), I made my way down the busy E.N. 16th street to go to work. It was about 7:50 in the morning and pedestrians and bikers rushed across the busy street to go to class. I am always prepared for the overly rambunctious pedestrian that makes a death wish by randomly jolting into the street, disregarding all approaching traffic; however, I was not prepared for what was about to happen next. Continuing down the street, all of a sudden, a chunky squirrel lumbered into the street. My problem with this situation was the fact that it did not scurry, it did not even walk, I promise you it LETHARGICALLY lumbered into the middle of the street and then stopped! Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!? Has this squirrel never watched a close relative die from such stupidity? Have there not been conversations throughout the squirrel community regarding squirrel deaths resulting from crossing busy streets? Why in the WORLD would this squirrel abruptly STOP? Me being the "animal lover" that I am...I made an attempt to swerve with hopes of sparing the chunky squirrel's life. Luckily, that squirrel survived, but this brings me to my question....Would It Have Been the Animal's Fault?

I'm sorry...but I refuse to stop traffic and help the fat squirrel make its way across the street. In fact, if I had ran the squirrel over, it would not have been my fault. Why would I risk my life by wildly swerving out of the way for a squirrel? I almost feel like the squirrel should have known better. Seriously! Living on the mean streets of Abilene (or wherever), all animals should know how to survive. I believe that these animals should know what time of day is appropriate to cross the street...and I honestly believe that these animals are intelligent enough to make these decisions haha. :)

Maybe not...however, this situation really REALLY annoyed me...and the more I thought about it...the more annoyed I became. Stupid squirrels!

SAY WHAT?

2009-03-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

So I would have never thought that I would start my own blog. How exciting :) People have told me that I should because I always have some type of crazy experience to share. Oh, such is my life! haha Sit back, relax, LAUGH, and read about the daily happenings of my life.

~Jazz