Have you ever had your nails done by an electrical engineer?

I have! I'll get to that later...

Though the most challenging week of the semester is about to begin, I feel refreshed after spending a weekend at home with my family!

I hurriedly left school on Friday after bombing a final and headed straight home to see mom and dad. The traffic was awful for about half of the drive and it rained almost the entire day. After a longer-than-normal ride, I arrived home to my mom and dad's welcoming arms! I spent most of Friday evening studying and preparing for one of my finals this week while watching TV with mom and dad. We watched an improv show (Improv-a-ganza?) with Drew Carey and some of the cast from Whose Line is it Anyway?, one of our family's favorite shows. We laughed so hard while watching it! Check it out on the game show channel if you get a chance.

On Saturday, my dad had to play Easter Bunny at church, so what did my mother and I do? No, we did not go sit on the bunny's lap. We went for mother/daughter mani/pedi time! It was so relaxing and fun, and I convinced my mom, a classy lady who always likes to stay neutral or dark red in her polish colors, to do a brighter red to welcome the spring and warm weather. I went with a bright pink to match my Easter dress. Our manicurists (two men) were rather chatty, and we learned that the salon was a big family business and that they all were from Vietnam. I discovered that my guy graduated from Clemson 10 years ago and now lives and works full time as an electrical engineer in a nearby city. He comes home on the weekends to work at the salon since it's his family's business. What a change from Friday to Saturday?! Electrical engineer by day, manicurist by weekend. He did do a most wonderful job. I guess engineers pay attention to detail, even when it comes to painting nails!

Mom and I then headed to our favorite spot, TJ Maxx. We were there for nearly 2 hours. We made our usual turn about the store - finding clothes, trying on clothes, finding shoes, trying on shoes, and then on to our favorite part - home decor! We went up and down every aisle (twice on some). They had quite a few finds on the clearance aisles. We found several beautiful plates and glasses and pitchers at very low prices! Since I'm moving to a new apartment soon, we were also perusing for potential new decorations, and got some ideas of things to use. I also got some ideas of things to add to my shopping list, things that I will need in my new apartment! We always find so many neat things in the Maxx, especially when we put our heads together!

We headed over to Lowe's after that to pick up dad's birthday present. He wants a stoop or deck or something of that sort for his shop, so mom and I made our best attempts to pick out the necessary materials for him at Lowe's. Hopefully he will not be angry that he has to assemble his own birthday present! 

We then headed home and made tacos and ate with dad. After eating, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house since my cousin and his wife and daughter were visiting from Cincinnati. We don't get to see them often since they have moved up north, but we are thankful that we were able to spend time with them last night. We helped my 2-year-old cousin dye easter eggs and it was quite amusing! After a while we started drawing on them and mixing them in different colors. After playing and coloring and tickling parties with my little sweet cousin, we headed back home. I did some more studying and watched some great HGTV shows and then we all went to sleep.

On Sunday, we went to church together and heard a GREAT sermon. The pastor made an analogy about how the 'stone' in front of Jesus tomb wasn't limiting to him and that he was able to get out of the tomb without depending on someone ("man") to move it for him, and that as Christians, we have 'stones' or obstacles in our lives that seem impossible to us. But God is capable of handling our seemingly impossible obstacles for us and that we can live confidently knowing that God will help us to get through those challenges! It was very empowering.

After service, mom, dad, and I went to my grandmother's for our traditional easter lunch. My other baby cousin kept us laughing the whole time and thought that everyone at the kids table was a different superhero. Somehow, I was designated as catwoman?! We then took him outside and hid easter eggs for him and had a blast watching him look for them and find them!

After a long afternoon, I went home and had a short nap and said goodbyes to mom, dad, and boyfriend. It is always so tough to leave home, and I cry every single time, but I am so thankful for my family, even if they are a few hours away from me, and for the support that they provide for me.

I am so thankful for a blessed Easter, with my family and my boyfriend, and for another chance to recognize and celebrate the sacrifice that the Lord made for me.

Decisions

1. I need to do more community service.
2. I need to stop online shopping instead of studying.
3. I need to stop getting sunburned, even though it is unintentional. 
4. I need a job.
5. I need to stop procrastinating.
6. I need to learn to not be so hard on myself. 
7. I need to do really well on my test and final this week. 
8. I need to hear that just because I don't do well 100% of the time on every single thing in school that it is okay and that one day I can still be a great pharmacist.

It's been a while!

It's amazing the things that you want to do instead of studying, like re-vamping a blog you haven't used since January!