This took a long time but I had fun doing it and picking my favorite pictures of each month!! :)

Since I am in grad school, I still have a week off in March but am not doing the conventional spring break with my friends. Things are different when you aren't living at school with your best friend anymore.

So - my options. I can either go to FL with Rich using free plane tickets and staying in a free condo in Boca Raton. which would be pretty sweet.

or I can stick to my original plan of flying out to the New Moon movie filming. However, I'm stressing about doing this for reasons that I won't mention, but I am starting to think that it would be a better idea to go to the Eclipse filming, when that begins. I wanted to do this over my spring break but I think I might go to FL with Rich and hold out with the Twilight business until they are filming Eclipse.

Plus ... less than a month til Bahamas & Rock Boat with Hanson!! I don't know why I'm worrying about Robert Pattinson when I have my cruise coming up.. hahaha

Dr. Ruth is in my studio today to record the audio-book version of her book Sex for Dummies.

She told me I'm destined to have great sex for the rest of my life... sweet.

First semester of Grad School = DONE. Christmas shopping & wrapping = DONE. Gingerbread house, Christmas tree decorating = DONE. Toy Drive = HALFWAY DONE (still need to drop off the rest of the toys at the other hospital). So, I'm doing okay holiday-wise. One more day of work!

Christmas Eve, I'll drop the rest of the toys at St. Josephs. Then go to Rich's Aunt's house for Christmas Eve celebration! Christmas Day, I go back to Children's Hospital of NJ to hand out toys, then to MY aunt's house for dinner. The next day is dinner at my other aunt's house. & Saturday, neighborhood grab bag party! I have a longgg week ahead of me.

Then New Years!

Then The Rock Boat! (www.therockboat.com)

Then starting my second semester of grad school..

i know i'm like 2 years late, but im in love with edward cullen.

I am been crazy busy the past few weeks. I don't have anything so exciting to say, despite it all. I've been working, going to school, hanging out with my friends. School is going ok and I'm sick of writing papers. I'm sick of going to school for social work. I want a social work license, but I have to say I'm not totally crazy about going to school for this. I miss learning philosophy and writing philosophy papers.

I was thinking the other day when a professor of mine was teaching Freud's id, ego & superego crap. She was like, Freud was so revolutionary. So I was thinking about how this was totally not revolutionary to me. That's when I realized that its because it's straight up stolen from Plato's Republic.  I had known that Freud was heavily influenced by Plato but I have to say I've never formally learned about id, ego & superego enough to know that it is basically taken from the Republic. So, thinking of this, I started thinking about how much I love Plato. I went home and read part of the Republic. Then, on my philosophy kick, started reading Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human. Man, I miss learning things like that. Social work doesn't challenge me.  Sometimes I learn practical things that I can use in a therapy session, but overall it isn't ground-breaking, intellectually exciting stuff. So that's that. I've been neglecting philosophy lately because I am stuck reading all this mindless material for social work. I can't wait til I just have the license. The end.

I am watching Bill O'Reilly and I hate him. Sometimes he is such a moron. I guess he's better than watching the liberal stations but seriously, he can never admit when he's wrong (which he is, very often).

Ok, so I said in my last entry that I was going to go try to organize a toy drive..

Did I ever!

So, I am running the drive from my house on Dec. 13th and 14th. People can come drop off toys then, and I will bring them on December 20th to the Children's Hospital of New Jersey.

For people who can't make it to my house in NJ.. (this is where you guys come in..)

AMAZON WISHLIST!! :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1HPPZPT6DABO2

You can all purchase toys there and they will be shipped to me for the drive. PLEASEEEE donate! It's as easy as buying a present for anyone. Just look at the list, pick something you want to give, & check out

There are things on there as cheap as like $4 and as expensive as $75 - so it can work, no matter how mch you want to spend. I know that all of our budgets are tight, maybe tighter this year than in the past. But think of how tight the budget is for a family that has thousands of dollars in medical bills. Think about if it was your child, or if it was you waking up Christmas morning in a hospital. It happens, and it could happen to any of us or our families at any time. Things like this are so important! I remember reading on my cousins blog, how happy she was to come to the hospital on Christmas afternoon to find that Santa had come that morning with presents for Jack. I want to make other families that happy.

If you want to read my cousins story (baby blog) about Jack & his two triplet sisters, feel free. I garuntee it will have you hooked (and probably crying):

http://multiplebaby.blogspot.com

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!! This means so much to me :)

I can't believe it is November already. I am almost finished with my first semester of Graduate School and I can't believe I've made it this far. Not that I thought I couldn't, but just amazed by how far I have come - as far as my experience, but also as far as my personal development. I feel like I've grown so much as a person - socially, professionally, politically, clinically. It's funny to think that in September, I was just starting school. Nervous as hell. Incredibly shy. Knew next to nothing about social work. I also felt really behind since I had totally changed career paths from wanting to work in the Music Business, to wanting to go into Social Work. Everyone else, I felt, had majored undergrad in social work and was ahead of me - they at least knew the basics. But here I am. Fast forward two months later, and here I am doing field work at an agency, carrying an actual caseload (albeit a small one), having my own clients that I am working with one-on-one, running groups in NYC public schools. Sometimes it's nice to totally amaze yourself.

In many ways, 2008 has been a truly monumental year for me. In addition to actually making up my mind about what I wanted to do with my life, I decided to go to school, applied, got in, and started. All on my own. (Well, my Mom helped me a little :) But I was surprised by how driven I can really be when I want something that bad.

Thnking about this time last year makes me see this even more. I was just getting into the swing of my senior year in college, had no clue what I wanted to do with my future. I was having my first holiday season with Rich, and my last one with many of my best friends. Funny how fast this year has gone.

I am thinking of running a toy-drive this holiday season in honor of my baby cousin who passed away almost a year ago. I just feel like being a social work student has made me so concious of all the needs of other people. I just think about how many children this year have nothing, because their parents can't afford anything. or because they are in a hospital and don't get to spend Christmas with their families. I know it will be a lot to get organized but I feel like I need to. When I finish typing this, I am going to get started in contacting some hospitals.  Has anyone run one before, or helped with one, and is able to give me some pointers?

The Rules:

- Each blogger starts with 15 weird/random facts/habits about themselves.

- Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their 15 things and post these rules.

- At the end of your blog, you need to choose ten people to get tagged and list their names.

Drum roll, please.

1.) I don't eat any condiments except salt (if that counts). No ketchup, no mayo, no salad dressings, no mustard, nothing.

2.) Most of my favorite music was made 4+ years ago. I like music that reminds me of when I was in high school.

3.) I used to smoke but quit. The only time I still want to is when I drink.

4.) I only paint my nails pink or french manicure.

5.) I am seriously addicted to facebook. Not even kidding. hahaha.

6.) I LOVE reading. No seriously. I'm a dork.

7.) I plan on going into private practice when I become an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker). This is a taboo thing to admit in the field of social work, but I don't care.

8.) The book Into The Wild changed my life. If you liked the movie, you will love the book.

9.) I used to love chris trousdale. haahahhaha and I find this funny.

10.) I read www.reason.com/blog wayyyy too much.

11.) I have seen Hanson way more times than most normal people. It's bad.

12.) I am even going on a cruise with them :) www.therockboat.com and I seriously cannot even wait for it.

13.) I walk too fast. I think most New Yorkers do, but I walk faster than even many NYers on the street.. I realized it when I was in the mall in NJ the other day. I was ready to push people over.

14.) Ron Paul is my hero/the smartest man on earth. I only hope that America is someday smart enough to elect someone who follows the RP political philosophies.

15.) My natural hair color is brown but I don't think that I will ever in my life be a brunette again.

OK so I guess my Obama blog didn't change the minds of too many voters!! (hahaha) But it's okay, we'll all live through the next four years. On the plus side, at least we elected an educated and well-spoken President. As far as his policies, taxes & outrageous spending, I can't say I agree with those aspects.

But, I guess that his spending cann't be much more than President Bush's is.. or can it? I only say this because I fear the day when our American dollar isn't even worth the paper that it's printed on.

Not that McCain would have been much better, so I guess I wouldn't have been happy either way.

On another note, it is SUCH a shame that Prop 8 was passed in California.

but.. It IS a step in the right direction that we are letting states decide these things!! States have a much better chance of passing things that actually matter to the people who live there, rather than big government DC deciding one policy to be in place across the entire country.

I do feel sorry that it did pass and I hope the people out there are successful in repealing it - but think positively - the very fact that people are talking about these things at all is a step in the right direction! I look forward to the day when people are amazed to hear about a time in our nation's history where there weren't equal rights for homosexuals.

When will the government begin to respect the individual rights and freedoms of the American people? It won't be under one of these Democratic presidents, I'll tell you that. We need a movement of traditional conservativism - small government conservatives (an idea that seems to be lost to the GOP), not social conservatives!

K, ENOUGH POLITICS. I'm sorry, I really can't control myself.

Rich (boyfriend) is away in San Francisco for business and I miss him. and this also means, I am going home to New Jersey every day til Wednesday. It is weird being a commuter. But I do love being in Nutley :) This weekend, I basically went shopping all weekend. Saturday, Woodbury Commons w my Mom & sister. I bought some good things! Then yesterday, went shopping with my sister again.

I am trying to decide what new pair of Uggs I want. Tall black ones, or the knitted/sweatery kind? Decisions. I also am looking for the perfect pair of brown leather boots, but haven't found them yet But, I did get some good things from Express!! They are having a sale: Buy one, Get one 50% off, EVERYTHING in the store! It's fab. Also I got a Juicy hoodie from Neiman Marcus.

My friends who live upstate make fun of me for Woodbury Commons because they said I act like it's Disney World. AND I DO!! I circle all the stores I want to go to and then plan my route. hahahaha. It's like an entire day trip with my family.

Tonight I am getting a haircut. Want to cut my hair so that it is just barely resting on my shoulders. That is prob 2-3 inches for me at this point. Its good bc my hair is soo dead from dying blonde and straightening every day

LASTLY.. I am excited for Thanksgiving!! I don't like Thanksgiving as much as most people because I don't eat Turkey, stuffing, or any of that other crap that people like to eat. But... I do love my family that comes over, and I do love drinking wine and partying with them :) I also love when my friends who are far away come home!!! Night before thanksgiving bar night :) :)

k bye.

Loveeee, Annie :)

This weekend was a really interesting time. Thank God the weather was so much nicer than last weekend in Poughkeepsie. I know that this was the last time I would see them until the Rock Boat in January, so we made sure it was an all-day affair. Despite my hangover from Halloween the nght before.

The Walk at Montclair state was nice. It was really crowded though. Since it was held at MSU, there were a lot of students there - more people than usually go on the walks. I mostly stayed by Zac. If anyone else went on the walk and took pictures of Zac, send them to me - I prob am in them. haha.  It was somewhat annoying to me that there were so many girls there who didn't even like Hanson or hadn't listened to them since Middle of Nowhere. but, I knew it made them really happy so have such a good turnout, so I was glad for them.

After the walk they played a quick acoustic song for us, got in their cabs, left. We drove by the venue to see (aka laugh at) the girls who'd been sleeping there all night. Went back to Allee's apt to change, eat, etc. In the process we also made her computer background a picture of Isaac from 1997. ahahaha.

The show was good. I liked when they played Stories. but overall I liked it all. the Wellmont is a nice place, despite how stupid it is that they don't have credit card machines hooked up yet so I had to run out to an ATM to fund my bar tab :) After the show I saw them breifly but then things went downhill. haha. Went home and was soooo happy to finally be in my bed. Now comes 2 more months of no Hanson.

Pictures to follow later on.

I am very worried for the near future of this country. While I am not terribly excited at the prospect of either candidate running our country, the idea of Barack Obama is especially scary.

People often say that you need to be rich or favor the rich to be economically conservative. NOT TRUE.

I never have understood how anyone could NOT find it totally and completely wrong for someone to take money away from the people who have earned it. The situation in the US is already out of control - the government already robs us every single day and gives our money, that we earned, to people that they see as needing it more than we do.

As a young person, I am sure that many of us make working class wages and might be benefitted by the various government programs that Barack Obama sees as being beneficial to this country. These things may help our generation in the short-run, but I am very worried about the consequences we will face in the future. The age old rule YOU CAN'T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING definitely applies in this situation. EVERYONE wants to be in the bracket that benefits from government, but no one wants to be accountable and pay for the things our government is spending on. I am not blaming only democrats - the republicans have been just as bad. Everyone knows that Bush was a terrible President. Much of this is due to his INCREASE in the size, budget and spending thhat the government does! So, we think that the solution is to elect someone believes in even more increase in governmental powers and spending? Great idea!

In short, it would be great if the government would pay for everything we wanted and needed. Unfortunately, someone has to pay for these things, and I am unwilling to give up my hard-earned money because the government decided that I make too much and someone else should be able to share my money. The government can't pull money out of nowhere. More and more of our freedom is thrown out the window with every unconstitutional bill that is passed that the American people are forced to pay for.

I don't mean to be the annoying person with the politican rants. but I really just needed to get this out. As young people with so much potential, how can we ever prosper when half of our paychecks are going to the governemtn to pay for programs that we aren't poor enough to utilize, an unfounded and expensive war, special interests projects and american troops stationed in 150 different countries around the world. And if the national debt wasn't enough to give this away... we can't afford it!

Despite all of this, I unfortunately don't think that John McCain is going to do very much to fix the problem either. He isn't going to get very far with cutting government spending as long as he thinks we should be staying in Iraq. However, IMO, he's the lesser of two evils. I will be interested, if Obama wins, to see just how quickly he gets us out of Iraq. I will also be interested to see if does, if he will use the money we save on more useless spending, or actually let the American people keep their own money. Bottom line is that it's very likely neither candidate will accomplish much of what they say they want to - but I would rather have as pesident the one who at least says that he is going to stop this legal robbery (and that's what it is).

I am sick of people in NYC acting shocked when I say I am not voting for Obama. I will not vote for McCain - I am voting for Bob Barr - since in NJ, my vote is not going to do much to stop Obama from winning the state, so I might as well "waste my vote" - as many people claim I am doing - on someone I actually like. But, I do hope that the outcome is McCain instead of Obama, and now you've read my reasoning.

I guess it won't be so bad. I mean, I could just stop busting my ass at work and get me some "redestributed wealth" from the poor suckers that continue to be ambitious, work hard & make good decisions.

Sometimes I'm just in a mood where I can't stand this city anymore. During the winter, I feel this way 9 times out of 10. and it's getting to be winter again.

When I was younger, I wondered what my parents were ever thinking living in a small town in New Jersey. Sure, I was 20 minutes from NYC, but why didn't we live in the city? Everything is better in the city.

and sure, many times I still do feel that way. We have the best restaurants, museums, bars, art, parks, concerts and yes, even people.  But, after being here for five years I can fairly ask: New Yorkers, doesn't it suck sometimes?

Today was one of those freezing cold days where it was raining but was too windy to put an umbrella up. Sure, I put mine up a few times only to have it mangled and turned inside out. Not worth it. so I just let myself get wet, after I blatantly remember looking in the mirror before I left this morning and saying, "Should I wear something with a hood? Nahh, it's ok. I got an umbrella." Right.

While we're at it, I'm sick of people on the subway. Mainly scary men. I don't care how long I've been riding subways for, I never will get used to some of the people.

I'm also sick of getting into the station just as my train is pulling away. Just happened to me on my way home from work today! and not to mention the rat that basically ran across my feet on the platform at 14th st. last week.

So, there is my complaining about New York. In some ways, I can't imagine myself anywhere else for now. But, how nice will it be when one day I don't have to come here except for a day trip from my nice home in the suburbs, where I actually have a CAR that I can DRIVE to work every day.

I will throw my rain boots away because I won't even need them for the 3 minute walk from my car to wherever I am going. I won't need them to step in the ankle-deep puddles that are found at every single corner after it snows.

Just had one of those days and needed to say how much I get sick of this place sometimes.

Is anyone else addicted to 43Things.com? If you aren't, you should be. (haha) I discovered it about a year ago and it's become one of those things that I go on pretty consistantly.

The concept is that you're supposed to make a list of 43 Things (goals) that you want to accomplish in your life. Some are short-term, some are long-term. You can pick anything you want. It shows you the people who have the same goals as you, asks you to blog about your experiences working towards that goal, and when you complete it.. theres room for you to add another goal! You can also cheer people on to meet their goals and leave comments on their blog entries.

I like it because it gives me a sense of both larger and smaller purpose. It makes me think about the things I want out of life and strive every day for heading in that right direction. I have goals that will be completed over time (Visit All 50 States, Visit All of the Museums in NYC) that I keep a list and update it every time I'm a little closer.. I have goals that I don't want to accomplish for a long time (Get married to Someone I Love, Get A Dog). and I have things that I never will truly "finish" but want to remind myself to keep working on.. (Be More Patient, Improve my Fitness). and then I have small, easy things on my list like Donate Blood, Pay off my Credit Card, Vote Libertarian, Lose 10 Pounds. Not only does it remind me every day of the things that are important to me, but it allows me to document my experience as I work towards each. AND.. Once you finish something, you can give advice to the people who are still working towards that goal.

overall, it's rewarding. I urge all of you to go and give it a try.. I guarantee you'll be addicted like I am :)

I keep trying to find the time to sit down and write a good first entry, but I haven't been able to breathe this week.

Midterms were no fun during undergraduate college, but they are even less fun during grad school. +work,+field work, +Hanson tour = I have no time.

Oh, and sleep. Considering I have a conference tomorrow in White Plains and have to be at Grand Central Station at 7:30 AM to catch a train up there, I probably am not getting much sleep tonight.

I'm going full-time for my masters in Social Work at Fordham, by the way. You'll hear all about it because I'm sure I'll be talking (complaining) about school very often on here. I love the practice of doing social work, learning about social work, being a social worker - but don't exactly love my professors or classes for various reasons. I'm not just a typical school-hater though, I'll explain my reasons at a later time.

Yesterday I drove up to Poughkeepsie and took the walk with Hanson in the rain. Anyone who's not a Hanson fan can go to www.takethewalk.net if you want to know more about what I'm talking about since I'll only take the time to say that they are walks to benefit HIV/AIDS in Africa. It's not just a Hanson thing. Regardless, it was fun.

So, I have to get back to writing one of my four papers that are due this week. No more procrastinating for me. But I just wanted to say HI to everyone reading here at THE ONE LOVE. It's great to be a part of this :)