Feeling the Moment

These past couple weeks have been a whirlwind, and if I had closed my eyes, I would have missed it all. I thought these weeks were going to drag on, looking forward to Bonnaroo and having it still in the high double digits. The 12th marked the one month mark. One month and I will be in Tennessee with two of my very best friends and some more really good friends, listening to great music and feeling the moment. It went by much faster than I thought it would, and a lot happened.

On April 5th, I went to Tiger's Opening day with Bernadette, Vicki, and a few of their friends. I'd never been before, and it was really fun!


I had to leave early because my really good friend from culinary school got married on Friday as well! Stephanie looked absolutely beautiful and I made it just in time to sit next to Amber :) I had to change in the car in the church parking lot so I was like a quick change artist! The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and then we headed to Barrister Gardens for the reception. It was the same venue that Bernadette and Eric's wedding was less than a year ago! Dee, another one of our friends from culinary school was sitting at our table when we got there and we were so excited because we hadn't seen her in years! We got to catch up, dance, drink, eat and be merry!!! It was a wonderful night and it was great seeing Stephanie so happy :) What a beautiful life.


I spent the night at Bernadette's that night so I could spend the day with her on her birthday!!! When we woke up, we took Berndaette's mom to Toast in Ferndale for breakfast. I love that place and miss being so close to it when I lived in Ferndale. Our breakfast was delicious and after dropping Bernadette's mom back off at home, we went to Sephora to get our make up done for the night. Pennee joined us and after our make up was done, Bernadette got a blow out since we were already at JcPenney. We drove back to Bernadette's home and got ready, then me, Eric and Bernadette headed to Pennee's to pick her up so we could go to Cork for dinner. Cork was amazing and I wish I could have ordered everything on the menu.



After Cork, we went to Orchid, a bar in Ferndale that is like Luna but bigger. Samantha was also celebrating her birthday the night, and she had a reserved table along with Bernadette and Pennee. We had the whole upstairs reserved for our party, which overlooked the whole dance floor and DJ booth. It was very cool. Jess, Mallory, Laura, Mallorie, and my friend Sandi from culinary school were all able to come out so it made the night even more perfect!

I spent the night at Bernadette and Eric's again and left Sunday, sad my week-end was over but glad I utilized every waking moment of it.

On Wednesday, April 10th, the day went by slowly because I had an accounting test and knew I had so much to look forward to later that night with Samantha, Blair and Megan. I had invited them to a lecture hosted by the University Activities Board, the campus group I am apart of. We went to the building that the lecture was being held in, and since I was volunteering for the event, I was able to save a couple close seats for the 4 of us. I also got to get a picture with Dave and Johnny before the event.

After the lecture, Dave and Johnny took pictures with everyone who was willing to wait in line, and of course we got in on the action.


While pictures were wrapping up, Blair, Megan and Samantha were waiting outside the doors up the stairs of the lecture hall. All of a sudden, I saw Johnny look up and run up the stairs, and there were my friends. They were all talking, and then a group hug, and he came back down the stairs. I was at the bottom just looking up at them like what just happened? When the pictures were all taken, the guys took off and I ran up the stairs to meet up with my friends. When I opened the double doors, I immediately got bum rushed! They all enveloped me in a hug and started jumping and dancing and spinning. And screaming! Megan had brought her bucket list and one of the items was of course, to meet the guys from The Buried Life. So that got crossed off...but she also had another one crossed off. "Ask a stranger out on a date." So she did, and what do I see on her bucket list but Johnny's number!? So she texted him that we were going out to Harpers. He showed p. and we had a great time until 2am and had to leave because the bar was closing. Johnny invited us back to his hotel room at the Kellogg center, and we talked for a few more hours before going home when the sun came up. Very cool night and even recently talked to him about heading up to Mackinac for an episode for their new production company!

April 12th was my brother Joey's 9th birthday and also UAB's dive-in. We had snowcones, popcorn, waters, candy, and bro tanks for the first 100 people! The movie we showed was Identity Thief with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. It was really fun and we had over 400 people attend!

The next night there was a murder mystery event hosted by UAB that was the last event of the school year that I volunteered for, and the 16th was UAB's annual member party at the Union. I got my first paper plate award, which said "friendliest" and also got a balloon with a spartan keychain attached for being a senior :)

On April 19th, Jess, Sean and Matt came to visit me to go out in East Lansing. First, we went to a drag show being put on by UAB. It was hilarious and fabulous. When it was over, we left and to our surprise, it was a blizzard outside!!! We decided to get a picture at the Sparty statue and in the time it took to take a quick picture, we were all covered head to toe in snow!

We then went to Club Rush and danced the night away. When we got home around 230, we were ready to crash for the night and had just all laid down and were talking a bit when the fire alarm started to go off! We then had a "meet your neighbors" party in the hallway for a good half hour and taped all the speakers so it wasn't so loud! The firefighters finally got there and after a while got it turned off, after it turning on and off periodically for a bit.


The next morning, my mom called me bright and early because she took my brothers to the MSU football clinic that was at the Skandalaris center before the Spring game. The Spring game is the practice game that's free for guests every year. The players divide themselves into two teams and play a game. I left everyone asleep in my room while I went to the football youth clinic and the Spring game with my family. We got into the front row of the "friends and family" section. It was a great game and a wonderful time with my family :)


The Red Cedar River flooded on campus with all the rainfall we had in April. The sidewalks were covered, the banks of the Red Cedar were covered, and the ducks were loving it!

The week of the 22nd was senior week, and even though I had to work most of the days, I still participated in a few events. The first was Sparty Squared, where you could take pictures with Sparty the mascot at the Spartan Stadium with Sparty the statue! So many Spartys! Me and Blair got a few really good pictures :)


The second thing Blair and I did was go to the "This Is The End" sneak peek with Seth Rogan and James Franco. Dumb movie but funny at the same time. I didn't get to go to the "Pain and Gain" sneak peek the next day because I had to work the football team's etiquette dinner, but I got paid and it was extremely entertaining! On the 26th, we had had enough with studying and were going stir crazy, so me and Megan met up with Emma at Rick's for a bit. I definitely needed it since I had to work all week-end. Even though I had to be to work at 8am the next morning, I had an amazing night :)


The next day, after work, a bunch of the girls who work at Spartan Signature Catering got together for a mani/pedi day! We got to gossip and pamper ourselves and it was so nice! Immediately after, I headed to Ann Arbor for Mandy's belated birthday festivities! We had dinner at Lena, and me and Amber split fish tacos and a delicious burger with an egg on it!
Next we went downstairs to the bar and had a few drinks. Afterwards, we headed back to Jenny's for Jenga, twister, mario kart, beer pong, and flip cup. We didn't go to bed until about 4am! The next day we woke up and just kind of lounged and ordered pizza. It was the calm before the storm, because Monday started my finals week.

Finals week went by excruciatingly slow and did I mention it was painful. I had never wanted to be farther away from anything in my life, but I got through it, and passed all my classes. I even did better in Accounting, my hardest class. you would think Law would be the hardest, but noooo. It's anything that includes math for this girl!

I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with my Grandma and Grandpa. They picked me up from work and we went to the MSU baseball game, which they won, and then we went to Los Tres Amigos for a margarita and some mexican food. My Grandpa was absolutely cracking me up at lunch. He taught me the "correct" way to drink a margarita, which is to turn your cup every sip you take so you get a lot of salt with each drink. And then he ordered a cheesecake chimichanga, and said it looked like two twinkies and a hot dog. He was so funny. They really liked the decor of the place, and it was packed with so many happy people! After lunch, we went to the movie theater and saw Iron Man 3 in 3D. It was SO good!!! Afterwards, we went to Culvers for some frozen custard. It was so nice to spend the day with them, all to myself! I hadn't seen my Grandpa since before they left for Florida in January. That was the longest I've gone without seeing him in my entire 24 years!

The next day, while working at the catering company I got called into the office, and it was for good news! I got a promotion!! I got a raise and promoted to bartender and trainer :) I'm really happy for the opportunity and have always wanted to learn how to bartend. I will be training for two days at the Kellogg this week-end!


This past week-end, I got a raise at the bed & breakfast as well! Something is definitely in the air, but I am NOT complaining!!!! It's nice to be appreciated at work :)

For the 10 days of break I had between Spring and Summer classes, I worked EVERY DAY. Not much of a break, but it will be a very good paycheck! I actually had one day off, so me and my roommate Megan went up to Mackinac Island. She completed her internship there last summer at the Murray, so we stayed there.
That was the view from our hotel room. We walked the whole island,
I bought mass amounts of fudge,
and we went to a few bars, namely one of her favorites, Pink Pony. We had rum runners with mango and dragonberry floaters and watched the Red Wings game. Here we are a bit squinty by the end of the night!

It was like my first time because I hadn't been there in over 10 years, and Megan was a fantastic tour guide. We had to leave at noon so I could be back in time for work. It's prom season so every week-end, we've had proms at the catering company. East Lansing's prom theme was Under The Sea, and they had nice cups as souvenirs.


We also worked Waverly's prom, and apparently some people did not agree on the court choices...

I think that's finally it, and you're all caught up! It has been quite a busy couple of weeks, and those are just the highlights! I got a new phone yesterday, finally a touch screen smart phone...so I'm not so behind with the times anymore. Also, summer classes started back up today. It's officially less than a month until Bonnaroo, and the pool is open, so that means it's officially summer in my book! Also, one year ago today, my Grandma and I left Florida to head back to Michigan because my Disney College Program was finished. The day we got back, actually we had just crossed the border into Michigan, and we got a call from my Great Grandma's hospice center letting us know that my GG had passed away.. That day was a really emotionally hard day, me coming home from an amazing experience, and my Grandma losing her mom after a long and hard battle with Alzheimer's. I don't wish that upon anyone, let alone one of my favorite people in the world. That is why I leave you with the message to always be feeling the moment. Good, bad, ugly....feel it. You have to be present and the more tuned in you are, the more it will mean to you in the long run.