I am dating someone who slid into my DMs

Hey There,

Happy day after Thanksgiving! I am sure everyone is now officially in full holiday mode and maybe a little tired if they were out braving the crazy crowds. I have gone Black Friday shopping several times, but the past two years I have chosen to do my shopping online from the comfort of my home.  However, I hope everyone got the deals they were hoping for.

Anyways, I thought I would delve a little more into my personal life and talk about my current relationship and how it has taken me  by surprise and the reason I have been MIA.

On March 13th, 4 days before my 21st birthday I got a DM from someone who attends the same college as I do, but we had never really talked. This person was pretty well known at my school, and I had liked a lot of his tweets, but a lot of people did so it was not anything weird. When he DM’d me I immediately screenshotted it and sent to my friends, like any reasonable person because I didn’t know what to do and I honestly thought it was a mistake. I was told to respond and so I did…with “Hey” in response to his “Hey”. (I sort of expected something a little funnier and more creative coming from this person, but clearly his simplicity worked).

He asked what I was doing and so I gave him the honest answer, “Staring at the wall and thinking about making a grilled cheese.” I sort of thought maybe he wouldn’t reply, but he did. So we ended up messaging back and forth for the next couple days faithfully, and then we decided to exchange numbers. From then on, we would text everyday, all day saying both good night and good morning. We learned a lot about each other, of course only from the aspect of friends.

School was coming to an end, but there was still a few weeks left, and me being my awkward self I just avoided him. I was also scared for a while for a couple reasons that don’t need to be mentioned. We continued to text and summer came. He stayed in the area for summer baseball and to work, but we never really hung out except for one time. (Through out the summer I would go to the same building he was living on campus to visit other friends and they would give me a hard time because they thought we had a thing. I honestly just thought he was a really good friend and I didn’t want him to get freaked out if he heard my friends, so I always told them to shut up…even though I did have a slight amount of feelings for him). Fall came and school started again. We finally hung out and it was a little bit awkward because the person I had been talking to for so long, and knew a lot about was in front of me.

During this time, it was a bit weird and there were some mixed emotions, but after some serious conversations and prayers said, we decided to hang out more and see how things went. After about a week or so I got inpatient and asked him what his intentions were. (Patience has never been my strong suit) He said he sort of thought we were already dating. I told him that it did feel like that, but I would like to be official at some point as I have struggled with “basically dating” someone for two years prior. In that moment he asked if I would like to be his girlfriend. Of course me being me I thought about saying no, but I resisted and said yes.

We went a day or two before telling anyone and then we talked about going Facebook official together. In my 21 years of existence, this was my first time being Facebook official. Granted I know being Facebook official is not the biggest deal, but to me it means that we are serious because I don’t want to do that and then 5 seconds later not being dating and have to have those awkard conversations. I knew that this relationship was and is very different than anything I have every had before. This man is the most caring guy I know, who is very serious about our relationship, who cares about my well being, and is a man of God. It doesn’t matter what he is doing, he amazes me. Even if I tell him not to worry about me or to do anything for me, he does it anyways. For instance, I forgot about an assignment the other week and I was going to have to miss lunch to get it done, so he offered to bring me something and i told him not to worry about it. Well, I looked up and a baseball player was handing me a box and said it was from Matt. He had put together something that he though I would like. While this is such a simple little gesture, I was really grateful and I couldn’t believe it…and  he does things like this all of the time.

Some people have made the comment that this is something that has happened really quickly, but the fact of the matter is it is something that had developed over 7ish months. Some other people may say that I talk about him too much or that we are moving really quickly, but that is all relative. This is a guy that I really do care about and I know for a fact that God has put us in each other’s lives for a reason. I am excited to spend the up coming holiday’s and New Year with him, get to know and grow closer with his family, conquer our last semester together, go to his baseball games, and to see where we end up going!

I could have gone on for so much longer about everything that we have talked about, and the memories that we have already shared, but some of those things I think are meant to be kept between the two of us because that is what makes it special. Also, I don’t think that they are something that can be fully expressed via the internet.

Anyways, that is all for now and I will hopefully be posting some thing else rather soon.

Aud

Update

Hey There,

Wow…it has been a really long time since I have last made a post, and I could say I was just really busy, but that is a terrible excuse. To be honest, I have been busy and in my free time I chose either sleep or hanging out with people who mean the world to me.

Since August, life has been kind of busy, weird, and scary. The reality of graduation has really set in after taking my senior nursing pictures for our composite and sending my requests to do my capstone. I am excited for graduation because I want to have more freedom in my schedule, finally start the next chapter of my life, and travel some more. Before I can do that though, I have to survive the rest of this semester and next, but with the support of my family, friends and boyfriend it should be bearable.

Anyways, in case you are living under a rock,  today is Thanksgiving! I am blessed to be able to spend today off with my family just goofing around, watching football, and eating good food. I know it is important to be thankful every day, but it is nice to just have a day dedicated to spending time with family and for our society to take a bit of a breath from everyday life!

To conclude, I hope to be blogging a bit more now that I am back in the grove and will have quite a bit to share with everyone!

Let the holiday season begin!

Audrey Jane

Fall Hall

So…I am just like many other girls {and there is no shame in that} who buy everything she doesn’t need from Bath and Body Works. It may be a sweltering hundred degrees out, but I am wishing for sweater weather, dark lipsticks, fall flavors and pumpkin anything. I stopped by Bath and Body works to check out the new scents and stock up on a few things before heading back to school. If it was up to me, these bad boys and girls would be put to use immediately, but I still have some of my summer stock left to use up.

Last year my roommate and I burned through multiple Flannel candles so I picked up a few of the air fresheners {also really good for making your boyfriend’s room better}. I think my top two of this fall may be Sweater Weather and Carmel Pumpkin Swirl so I definitely suggest picking them up!!

 

 

Seeking Adventure

Today is August 1st, which means that I will be moving into college in 12 days for the last time. When I was a freshman I didn’t think this time would come fast enough, but now I am not ready for it. I have developed a wonderful support system, made numerous late night QT runs, cried over stupid boys and assignments (mostly assignments…God bless Jewell), but most importantly I have made memories and I am comfortable here. The thought of graduating and being thrown into a new environment is terrifying. I know I will find my way, but there is a small part of me that wonders what will really happen after I graduate.

College has allowed me to have grow tremendously as a person and I am now comfortable with who I am. I have this sense of adventure that keeps nagging me whenever I look at jobs and apartments in the Kansas City area. I do love where I currently live, but it will always be here. I would be perfectly content with getting a job right after college and settling down with the hopes of finding someone to share that adventure with, but I don’t know if I just want to be content.  I have no commitments to anyone right now, and relatively few responsibilities so now is the ideal time to get lost in the streets of Paris, play soccer with the kids of Tonga, eat foods I can’t pronounce, and meet people who see the world in a different way and learn from them.  Some might say that is what college was for, but for me college was a time to learn and find myself so I could be non-judgmental and have something to come back to when I get home.

Right now I don’t know a lot, but I do know somethings…I want to see God’s creations whether that be the views from atop a mountain or having a conversation with someone in a far away country. I also know that everything works out with God and my family behind me.

5 Things You Swore You Would Do This Summer

1. Work Out
2. Sleep
3. Go On An Adventure
4. Work and Save Money
5.  Get Tan

….yet, you don’t actually do those things. Everyone swears they will work out now that they don’t have class and have less temptations to order pizza every night since mom is cooking. Sleep…something we college student put on a pedestal, sometimes higher than our grades (sorry mom), yet it’s summer and we end up watching endless amounts of Netflix or going out with people. Which brings me to my fourth point…working and saving…something we swear we will do so we can relax and focus on school {ordering pizza whenever} during the year. While we may work, we certainly aren’t saving because we definitely {don’t} need another romper. And now going back to point number three…going on an adventure. I know this is something that I always swear I will do because I have the time and I will have the money, but I end up working and not having money because I bought that extra romper or ordered pizza again. Yes, I know I made that choice and I only have minor regrets. Anyways, my fifth and final expectation of the summer, get tan. However, you spend most of your day indoors because when it’s so hot out you can fry an egg, you don’t want to fry out there either…or you work…or you are binge watching a Netflix series in the dark.

While we swear we will do a lot of things some times we don’t, but regardless we have three month off of school!

Enjoy It,

Aud

Directions and Decisions

College, the time where we are supposed to figure out what we want to do for the rest of our lives, figure out who we are and possibly who we are going to marry…oh and we should be having the time of our lives. No pressure, right?

As we are going through college doing all of these things we can’t help but to be pulled in all directions{and to our wits end} and to have some challenges in live, and possibly struggle with our relationship with God.

For me personally college has allowed me to meet some wonderful people who are helping me navigate through this crazy thing we call life. This has helped me focus on finding myself {as cliche as that sounds} and helped me decided what I want in life. In college I have learned to say yes to knew things and new opportunities because you don’t know where they will lead. The only problem with this is I start saying yes to everything and before I know it I am supposed to be in two places at once. I think it is important to be involved, and to say yes to new adventures, but finding the balance is something that we {well I} need to really work on. I need to know what I am going to be truly passionate about and put work into and what I should pass on so someone else can express their passion about it.

I think another common trend for not only myself, but college students in general is we get into a routine and get comfortable with it so we don’t explore outside of it much. We forget that exploring in the first place was what helped us find our current place that was better than the last. Also, exploring is what creates those memories that when written down or told are not nearly as meaningful/ memorable as the actual experience.

Something else that I have realized is I want a lot of things and I have not decided if this will help me or hinder me. And when I say I want things I don’t mean just physical things. I want to be successful so I can own a place of my own and be proud of it. Does it have to be a mansion no, but I do want to be a home owner of some sort. I want to be able to have a car that I enjoy driving every day to a career that I hopefully love. I also want to have family and travel to see the beauty that this planet has to offer. While none of these are too out of the ordinary I do know that some people don’t get to experience them because life is expensive. While it can hinder some, I choose to use it as motivation to work hard, and create the life that I want.

Come next May I will be graduating and at that time some decisions will have to be made and certain directions will be followed, but this does not have to be set in stone. I have set myself up to let many directions to be traveled as I see fit. While I may not have figured everything out and I still won’t have some things figured out when college ends, life is young and many things are possible.

North, South, East, and West are all directions, but there are infinitely more and with hard work, a good attitude and faith anything is possible. Keep an open mind and an open heart and good things will come in due time.

-Aud

 

Adulting.

Adulting: the act of having to behave like an adult and do adult like things.

This is something that is going to be a very real thing for me in a just a little over the year, but even though I have not graduated college yet I am definitely talking strides to being a fully emerged in the adult world of work, bills, and free-time.

This summer I am keeping myself rather busy with school, an internship and work. My internship involves me being a digital media marketing intern so I will be learning quite a few things. The company I am working for is located down in the heart of KC in the eclectic district called Crossroads. I live about 20 minutes (when you are not traveling during rush hour) from the business and as I am driving to the internship, into the city I feel a little bit of a rush wash over me. I love seeing the tall buildings off in the distance growing closer and I like driving through the city with buildings stretching up high above me. I think one of the reasons I like the city so much is there are always things going on and so many places to go work get work done or to go out and have a good time. I like having options and trying new things so that is just one of the reasons I like the city. Anyways, back to adulating. My first day at my internship was just a couple days ago and I am interested to see how a company (specifically a start-up) company works. In the morning we have a short meeting (called stand-up because we literally all stand around a table to keep it short.) that goes over what is going on in the company and people discuss what they are going to work on for the day. After that people seem to settle into their respective places and develop their flow for the day. Lunch comes and people converse, but then everyone settles back in until the end of the day. I thought I would get really bored quickly, but the time did not drag and I managed to get several of my tasks done or at least a nice head start on them. When it came time to leave I joined a chunk of the city on the commute home. I felt a sense of accomplishment and excitement again because I felt like an adult and I could see myself doing something similar each day.

So moral of the story, I really enjoy working for a business because I like having my own space, a team to work with, a task list, and I like being able to go to out to lunch at different places and dressing up for the work place (oddly enough).  I also know that I want to work for a larger company that has room for advancement and involves products or people that I can stand behind and traveling around wouldn’t be such a bad gig. With having little to know experience I know I am going to have to really work to get someone to invest  in me so I can invest in their company.

WOW, and Just Like That Junior Year Was Over

Hey There,

I know this seems to be a reoccurring theme, but I apologize for not posting frequently but life sure gets crazy when you are busy procrastinating final and papers, working to try and pay for the IV of coffee you will need to cram for those finals you spent procrastinating. With that though, I have finished my junior year of college and while I was watching this years seniors walk across the stage I couldn’t help wanting to cry, not because they were leaving, but because in exactly one year that would be me. In one year I will be leaving behind the place that in the past three years has become my home where I get to eat lunch with my best friends every day, who I only have to walk about 10 feet down the hall to see the people that matter most, and the place that I can’t actually get work done in the PLC. I know the relationships I have formed in the past couple years won’t fade, but we won’t be as close physically every day so that is what I will miss, but that does mean Sunday Brunches with mimosas and Saturday night stories.

Going into this semester people said it would be the hardest semester yet so I definitely buckled down and prepared for the storm, but honestly it was not as terrible as I thought. I did have to work for my grades, but I still managed to pull off a very solid 4.0 earning my spot back on the Dean’s List. With a successful semester I also got offered to be an RA {Resident’s Assistant} next year in the building where I first lived. In addition to that, I have just started working at a hospital as a clinical associate. I will have a lot on my plate semester with 20 hours and those two commitments, but next year is bound to be a blast regardless.

With this semester over and some fun memories in the book I look forward to having some more adventures this summer with my Little and her boyfriend when I am not at summer school, my marketing internship, or work…summer may not be what it was when I was little {pool days, naps, and too much tv}, but after a long day I am sure down to enjoy a glass a wine now that I am 21.

I pray and hope that I will post more frequently because I am planning to have some good nights.

 

XOXO,

Audrey

Chalking Up Chacos

Happy HUMP day!

So fingers crossed spring is fully upon us and there will be no more super cold days. With that being said, I am itching to buy new spring clothes and break out the old ones. I did a project in my business class last spring on Chacos and I wore my roommates a couple times to see how I liked them, and I thought they were great!! I could just slip them on and they were extremely comfy,  but, me being me, I could not reason my way into dropping a little over a hundred dollars on a pair of sandals so I just kinda pushed that to the back burner. Well, with summer quickly approaching again, I started searching to see if I could find some summer sandals that I could always wear…and Chacos popped up. I then took to Amazon and found a pair for just under $70 with free shipping so I took the plunge. Granted, I still think this is pretty pricey for a pair of shoes that are not running shoes, but I did it anyways because I know that I will more than likely wear them every day to class this summer.

When I got mine in the mail just a few days after ordering them, I was super excited to wear them and I haven’t really taken them off since. The straps are adjusted to my feet and the sole seems to be better fitted to my foot after the couple days.  So I will conclude with, I am happy that I did take the plunge because I know I can wear these sandals just about anywhere (shopping, class, exploring, eat.) and I highly recommend checking them out if you are looking for a good summer shoe!

 

XOXO,
Aud

KC-> STL

Hey There,

It is Monday again, which definitely sucks and the only way I plan on surviving this week is that next week is Spring Break (and my 21st birthdayyyyeee)!! This past weekend I made the choice to get off campus and take a mini road trip.

Last week was CRAZY from homework to interviews for internships so I definitely needed a break. I took off Friday afternoon with COMO in my sights. My sister is a freshman at Mizzou so I thought I would stop and spend the night with her before heading to St. Louis.

I go to a super small private college in my home town so when I go to Mizzou it is exciting and I want to just go everywhere. There happened to be a film festival so there were a ton of people downtown. I love downtown Columbia because there are so many cute shops and I was on he hunt for a birthday dress. Unfortunately I did not find it until we went to the mall later that night…but I did find one. After shopping we went to dinner at the Campus Bar & Grill. It was about 7:30 and it was already packed. It was quite and experience and I think it would be fun to go back in a couple weeks;). After dinner though we didn’t do much, and just headed back to the dorm to watch Fuller House and order cookies from Insomnia.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to start the drive to St. Louis. The car was about a mile away so I decided to make it my morning jog. I made it to St. Louis by 8:15 so I had about 45 minutes to kill before my sister’s color guard performance so of course I got coffee. I watched her kill her solo and then I headed off. I went to the outlets in hopes to find a tote that I could bring to clinical and in that adventure I managed to get stuck in traffic and nearly run out of gas. After that crisis was barely avoided I set out back for KC.

Most people hate driving, but for me it is a game and I enjoy the thrill of catching cars and following other cars that take the lead.

This weekend I did spend quite a bit of time in the car, but the weather was gorgeous, I got to see the people I love and I got to get away a little bit.