I'm a College Kid: About Last Month...

*Insert the smiling emoji with the trickle of sweat down its face*

Hey, how have you been?! It's been a long time, readers. Like, over a month. Accuse me of slacking all you want, but hey, no worries, because do I have the post for you! And since there is so much to cover and your attention span is so long, I'll try to keep it brief.

Wait, who am I kidding. It's gonna be a long post. Prepare yourselves.

Valentine's Day
Yes, it really has been that long. But anyways, long story short, this was an incredible weekend! Yashas was able to come and we got all dressed up and went out to dinner with Jess and Michael at Red Seven (omg the chicken was phenomenal). We then saw Fifty Shades of Grey (because if your boyfriend agreeing to see that movie with you doesn't say 'I love you,' I don't know what does). I also made red velvet pancakes for breakfast which were pretty darn delicious. Oh, and I finally (finally!!) made a successful batch of chocolate covered strawberries. In case you forgot, I failed (twice) back in September when I tried to make them for the boy. Third time really is a charm.

Parents at Purdue
The awesome peeps that raised me visited the day after V-Day to take us out to lunch and then we went and saw a Purdue basketball game (against Nebraska). It was great to spend time with them!

New job
So I quit my job at Nine Irish at the beginning of February. The hours didn't work out with my schedule very well, and hostessing didn't necessarily make me a better candidate for teaching (seating people at tables does not equal teaching the future of America). I was a little nervous about doing it, but I knew I needed to do something that made me happier and made more sense for my future. Cue my bff Sydney. She's been working at this daycare in the infant room for several months now, and she knew they were hiring new people. Every day, she kept telling me to apply. I had really been wanting to do an after school program type of deal, but finally I caved. At the very end of February, I was hired in the 2Bs room (potty trained 2 and 3 year olds), and I absolutely love it! It's been so great working with the kiddos (even though they wear me out!) and my co-workers are fabulous. I'm so thankful Syd encouraged me to apply :) ...Except for the fact that I've essentially been sick from the day I started working there. Kids=germs.

Meeting Yashas' mom
Oh my goodness! You went to India to meet his family?!

Uhh, not quite.

His mom works for IBM and she had a conference in Vegas. After, she was able to spend the weekend in Champaign with her son (that's Yashas, in case you were confused), and they were kind enough to allow me to intrude on their time together. She was so nice, and we got to chat as we meandered around campus (and she had her first experience with snow!) and had lunch and dinner. I was really glad I got the opportunity to spend time with her (and Yashas of course). I also got to see Katie while I was there! We went cosmic bowling with her roommates, and it was a blast! All in all a good weekend.

Timeflies concert
So I was pretty bummed because Neon Trees, a band I adore, was supposed to come to Purdue last semester but weren't able to due to a medical issue with one of their members. I didn't think I'd get to see a good concert after that, but then we got the news that Timeflies was coming and I was STOKED! Timeflies is a duo that sings/raps and is famous for their YouTube videos called Timeflies Tuesdays, where they remix a famous song and freestyle rap during it. I went with Syd and it was SO great! Cal, the main guy, even did a freestyle rap all about Purdue! It was incredible!

My 21st birthday
The moment you've all been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen! Okay, well the moment I've been waiting for at least. That's right: on Thursday, March 12, I finally became legal! No joke, it was one of the best days of my life. Here's how it went down:

I worked and had class all day, but I had planned a birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant that night. I had asked a bunch of friends to come via Facebook, and I included my parents on the guest list as sort of a joke. Of course I wanted them to come, but there was no way I would have expected them to drive 2 hours here and back for that, especially since I was going home for spring break that weekend. I had texted them all week asking if they were coming (it felt like pulling teeth!), but finally they said they weren't able to. But 7 pm rolls around and I walk in the restaurant and THERE ARE MY PARENTS!!! They had surprised me and it was the best birthday gift EVER! I was so happy! Some of my favoritest people in the whole wide world were there to celebrate, and it meant so much to me! We ate dinner, the servers sang happy birthday to me (and made me take a tequila shot...and shoved whipped cream in my face/up my nose), and my parents passed out the cookie cake they brought. It was amazing.

After, the 21 year olds headed next door to the Neon Cactus, a bar that is super awesome on Thursdays because of the cheap drinks. They also have a piano bar where a guy named Bruce takes song requests and plays them so everyone can sing along. So two stories about that:

1. The piano bar is in a separate room. I left the room to chat with my parents, who didn't come in, but then there was a line to get back in. My mother literally went to get the manager to let me skip the line to go back in since it was my birthday. That's Lori for ya.
2. Bruce takes song requests from "Cactus virgins" for the first hour. He saw my light up "21st birthday" sash (again, thanks to Lori), called me nuclear because of it, made fun of my major, and then let me pick a song! I picked "Wannabe" by Spice Girls, and he was "mad" at me because that song wasn't on his list (how was I supposed to know? I was a Cactus virgin!), but he still played it and it was so much fun because everyone was singing along. I loved it!

For the rest of the night, we drank some and danced and talked and had an absolute blast. I loved it. Unfortunately, the night ended earlier than I would have liked because I had to teach at 9 am the next day. But seriously. Best. Night. Ever.

Spring break
I was fortunate to go home for a few days over break to spend time with my fam. I saw Yashas on Friday and then went home on Saturday to celebrate a second time. My family, family friends, neighbor, and Katie (it was her bday on the 12th too!!) and her mom and neighbor all went to the Pub II (I essentially grew up there) to celebrate. Again, so much fun! I got to hang out with some more of my favorite people and was also introduced to a pineapple upside down cake drink, which was one of the best things I've ever tasted. We also went to Drifters, a bar downtown, and danced a bunch there were I saw some former Mrs. Fields workers. Goodness, what an awesome night.

Also over break, I got my new ID (goodbye, 16 year old self), went shopping with my grandma, and got my teeth cleaned at the dentist. Yay. However, it was back to work Wednesday through Friday (where I had to work in the infant room...gahh!).

Fitbit
My parents got my a Fitbit for my birthday because I thought it would be a good motivator to do anything else but sit on my butt all day. You can add people as friends and challenge them to competitions to see who can have the most steps in a day, week, or weekend.

It's killing me.

Syd just got one the other day, so I am currently in the week-long challenge with her and my mom. We are all so competitive and are always moving and about to pass out from exhaustion. Also, Annie's sister challenged me, their dad, and some of her friends. Frank is a step master, and I really wanna beat them all.

In other news
-Syd took me on a campus bar tour the Friday of spring break after our long day of work so I could experience the rest of them.
-Syd and her friend Vanessa and I went to a Purdue baseball game last weekend which was really fun.
-This post is basically all about Sydney.
-You know my PE class I love? We did an entire unit on cup stacking and it was hilarious and so much fun.
-Currently typing this post with a glass of wine. I love being 21.

Shoutout corner
Because I love these people and want to celebrate them:
Yashas: Shoutout to our 6 month anniversary! Thanks to him for putting up with me for that long ;)
Chloe: She got an internship in New York for this summer! I'm so proud of her!
Katie: Loved celebrating my 21st with her!
Annie: She's been such a trooper with her injury. She's made a lot of progress in physical therapy and has had a really positive attitude about it!
Dad: He also had knee surgery recently and is healing well..love you dad!

Picture time