Hungry Eyes

wishing i was Baby right about now...
dancing with my Johnny.

haha ;)
i'm listening to my itunes and randomly Hungry Eyes comes on.
right after some worship music.

definitely changes the tone of things.

night.
Virg

Taste of UMASS

Tonight i walked some of the bike trail with Chels.
and GOOD thing we did, cause then we went to the stinkin
Taste of Umass.
which means eat, eat, eat and eat!
i'm not sure if i'm in denial or not
but leaving there, although i was full, i didn't feel like i over ate.
i did have a taste of a lot of things,
but everything was in such small sizes!
i don't know...maybe i'm fooling myself!

Anyways, it's little moments like the taste of Umass...
where i'm in the Mullin Center surrounded by thousands of college students
that i'm reminded my time in college is nearing the end.
4 years, done! {DONE}
simply over.
it's hard to grasp, actually, and i don't think it's even hit me yet.
i just get reminded here and there that college will soon be over.
like when i'm in Berkshire eating and am reminded of all my days as a freshman in that dc.
scared to walk in alone. hundreds of people i don't know.
eating by myself. eating with friends.
eating too many cups of ice cream each day.
definitely putting on the freshman 15!

tonight was just another one of those reminders as i stood in the Mullin Center.
it reminded me of all the fun hockey games i've attended.
such good moments.


so that will be the one thing i am thankful for today.

my college experience at UMASS.
from freshman year to now.

it's funny to think that i ever even ended up here.
and funny to think that it has led me to at least one more year spent in Amherst.

Tonight I'm thankful for Umass.
for Navs.
for Amherst.
for Mercy House.
for friends that were older than me my freshman year and took me in and loved me.
for friends that were my year and have journeyed with me since year one.
for Greenough and its big rooms and wide hallways.
for discipleship.
for guest swipes [thank you Mary, Chels, Kiki]
for Berkshire.
for hockey games.

for my college experience.

Macaroons

Thankful heart for:

Tuesday

How Lightning loves Oreo.
and how Oreo loves Lightning.
and how i peek out the bathroom door as i'm washing my face,
only to find Lightning and Oreo on the floor of my bedroom.
Oreo basically in between Lightning's two front paws
just laying there, purring
while Lightning "gets his flees" as i like to say.
Basically, she gives him a massage all over his body.
and he just loves it.
they are best buds!
and i love that.
and love when animals are best buds!

(this just made me miss my Gracie Grace n how she loved Oreo too. but her love was a more playful/not-so-gentle kind of love. the kind of love where she would chase after him from the second he entered the house and basically bite his head off. and somehow Oreo would stand it cause he loved Gracie Grace too. and Oreo would stand it til he wanted to 'attack' her back. and then the chase fest was on!)
Boy do i miss my baby still

Wednesday

Coming back to choco chip banana bread in my apt!
how Scooby is a slob n likes to wipe his face all over me!
a brother who calls me after i leave to head back to Amherst...just to see if Dad had checked my oil in the car cause he forgot to.
all the possibilities of what Amherst holds for a summer.
Nights where i don't have to set an alarm for the morning (like tomorrow)


Here are a few things that make me thankful.

What are you thankful for?



ps. i really like macaroons!

Virg

Thankfulness

I lack Thankfulness.
and for no darn good reason.
no reason at all.

so i figure...why not think about something every day that i can be thankful for?

likeeeeeee....
a long weekend, for starters.
a nice and long walk with a roomie and friend today.
a hilarious movie that makes me crack up, like Hitch!
smiling at a 2nd grader Julia [that i get to kind of nanny on Monday nights] through the glass window of her gymnastics practice. and seeing her looking at me through the window to see if i'm watch her and getting a smile back.
kissing a lil cutie pie Josh (Julia's brother) as i leave their home today and watching him eat his munchkins while getting sugah all over him.
thinking about a summer spent in Amherst and all the possibilities it holds. and all the beauty.
seeing a couple walk their great dane down the street and thinking about my Mr. Scooby. although it makes me miss him. and my Lightning.
being able to put on the Nanny in the background each night before i go to bed.

and it's things like this that i should be stopping each day and appreciating.
i should be stopping every night and thanking.
Thanking God.
it's so simple! i pray for a thankful heart. a thankful and glad heart to appreciate the teensiest of things throughout my day that i can be thankful for or smile about.

if i do as i hope and actually do it...i will stop here each day to journal my thankfulness.

goodnight.
V

Ms. Virginia

The kids in my third grade classroom call me Ms. Virginia.

Their teacher (the woman I am helping...so my teacher too) happens to have a student visiting on exchange from Spain.
her daughter visited there for a couple weeks and now a student is staying at their place in return.
guess what her name is?
Virginia.

But in Spanish, that is pronounced Vir - Hin- ia.

apparently she had been practicing her pronunciation of this girl's name.
because for weeks before the girl arrived, sometimes she would slip and call me Virhinia as well.
then she would correct herself and go to explain why she just said my name like that.

well now, her student is here visiting.
and instead of correcting herself when she calls me Virhinia,
which she does all the time,
she doesn't even realize it anymore.

that is.... until the kids recognize!

and BOY do the kids notice.
they then proceed to yell "it's Ms. VIRGINIAAAAAAAAA."

there is a point to all this...

this happened again today.
maybe more than once even.
but at one point i got a good laugh.

why?

because one little girl asks me "What's your real name?"

and so i say, "Virginia."

"Virginia," she asks? "But why do we call you Ms. Virginia then? What's your last name?"
"D'Olimpio" i say. "D'Olimpia? I'm gonna call you Ms. D'Olimpia."
and so i correct her "D'Olimpiooooo. ther's an O at the end, not an A"

and then another girl besides her says "Virginia? I didn't know that!"

and then another girl says "I'm gonna call you Ms. D"

and i proceed to tell them that the reason they call me Ms. Virginia is because my last name is so hard/long/tricky so it'd be easier to say Ms. Virginia

I just got a kick out of the fact that it never dawned on them that my real name is VIRGINIA. what else would it be?!

did they really think that my last name was Virginia? how funny/cute!
but how horrible it would be if i had another female name, with Virginia as my last name.
it doesn't work as well as my friend's name Rachel Kelly.
It seems to work for her! but Virginia is not Kelly.

this is the 3rd grade by the way! not kindergarten! and they are smart chickies too.
so that's why i was so surprised they never realized my actual name IS Virginia.

love,
Ms. Virginia

Birthday Week

Last week was my birthday and it was really sweet week.
I had classes on Monday and was feeling kind of iffy during lunch time.
but once i finished a presentation and then an exam i began to feel better.
skipped my last class of the day and went home.
cause it was my birthday!

that night i went to Chilis with a great bunch of my friends.
ordered my favorite drink-
frozen strawberry mango margarita with sugar on the rim.
it marked the one year anniversary of my first margarita.
and i haven't been drinking anything else since!
but that is when i ever drink. which is almost never. and it's ok that way.
and then i ate til i felt sick. literally.
that's because by the time i took a bite from my actual meal,
i was already beyond satisfied from all the stinkin chips n salsa i ate!
anyways, the sick feeling eventually passed.
and i bowled the night away with friends!
it was quite amusing.
and just a lot, a lot of FUN!
i pretty much stink but it's ok! i will practice more. this summer possibly?
join a bowling league? that would be pretty cool!

Tuesday.
3rd grade in the morning. class til 2:15
Navs. and then people over for cake!
not just any cake though...but home-made marble cake.
made by my dear roomie Katy.
two layers. whip cream "frosting" cuase i don't like real frosting.
with like choc chips and other goodness.
and i blew out my candles and wished on a wish.
and that ended day 2 of my birthday celebrations.

Wednesday.
Wednesday was the most beautiful day of all!
Weather wise it was just gorgeous! it reached 88 degrees here!
and at night a bunch of people gathered at Meadow St to hang by the fire.
we made s'mores and jumped on the trampoline.
and it just made me feel special to have people celebrating another night with me.
and really, just to have people get together and chat with one another.
i was glad.

Thursday.
another beautiful day.
highlight- laying out in the sun with Becca, Kait n Katy.
just chatting. and enjoying the sun.
i got a little burnt but it was ok! i don't mind getting some color.
i of course prefer to get color as in 'tan.'
but i also don't mind getting color as in 'red' cause that soon turns into a tan!
and i like being tan!

that was a lil recap of my birthday celebrations!
it didn't last all week but Mon-Wed were pretty special and i'll take that!

Nobody reads this, and that's ok. but just wanted to mention that I'm thinking about my dear friend Disha who i've known since the 3rd grade!! she was the first person i met when i changed to a new school. she met me and my mom in the office and walked us up to my new classroom. i remember looking around me and thinking that my new school looked like a mall! it was huge!

anyways, it's her birthday today! 22 :) So Happy Birthday Deeeesh!

love,
your friend Gin

(she is the only person on this earth that i let call me Gin. and i always telling everyone that it's only cause I call her Deeeesh.)

22

Today i turn 22.

twenty stinkin two!

where has the time gone? seriously!
22...
graduating college...

well that's really about it.
cause it's about all i've got figured out so far.
but still.
gosh, 22? really?

i'm so old. or getting there!


ANYWAYS...my plan to celebrate all week.
sounds like a great plan, right?
just need some ideas!
right about now would be a fantastic time to have facebook so i can post it as my status and see what people think i should do with my week.
but instead, i shall text.

goodness gracious, all i've got is:
dinner at Chili's (typical)
movie (lame-o)
if only i danced and were more confident to look like a moron
if only i enjoyed singing, i could do karaoke

BOWLING! that's an idea...we talked about it last night.


we'll see what happens!

Happy Birthday to yours truly,
V

April

So, i have neglected this thing for a long while now.
and probably will continue to do the same tomorrow.
i just can't seem to write about what's been going on lately.
maybe cause it would take too long.
cause there's already so many things that have happened that i have not written about.
like spring break.
so if i ever feel excited to write a whole lot i will bring back talk about Georgia and ATL.


but, for now.
I'd like to make notice that it is April.


APRIL.

April!
and I'm glad.

Glad for spring.
Glad for warm weather and the sun.
Glad for excitement for summer.
and Glad for my birthday.

which is in 4 days now!
i know this because well, there are only a few days left so it's an easy number to come up with.
but also, because Samm surprised me with 3 presents in my room last night.
probably out of the goodness of her heart.
but mostly to torture me because this exact thing would torture me!
and she labeled them "4, 3 and 2" days left til my birthday and i will open one on each day.

but this is so exciting to me because she is go good with birthdays.
she really puts a lot of thought into them and does these kinds of things with her friends from home all the time.
but also, i just love this because it is like those candy boxes of chocolate you get before Christmas where you open one a day and i always wanted one of those.
and finally last year Mary so graciously gave me hers and i just loved it!
besides the fact that i did the numbers in the opposite way or something.
but anyways, back to my gifts.
i'm just so darn excited because it makes my bday so much more exciting when there is a countdown.
and next week i want to somehow have a week long celebration.
nothing big on each day, but something little.

like...a movie night one night.
going out for ice cream another night.
having margaritas (strawberry mango) another night.
going to my fav restaurant Chilis another night.
and other lil things i can't think of right now simply because this is the first time i have given it any thought other than saying "i want to have a week long celebration."

So, April is here.

this means...

My birthday in 4 days.

which means...

Exciting times/moments to look forward to.

And I'm hoping spring will come our way this week and last until Summer.

come on weather! stop raining. and sun, start shining...will ya?


i'll close with my Barney song that i used to sing and dance to all the time when i was a kid:


Oh Mr. Sun,
Sun
Mr. Golden Sun.

PLEASE Shine down on me!

Oh Mr. Sun,
Sun
Mr. Golden Sun.

Hiding behind those trees.

These little children are asking
YOU
To please come out so we can play with you.


Oh Mr. Sun,
Sun
Mr. Golden Sun.

Please shine down on...
Please shine down on...
Please shine down on...
MEEEEEEEE

well us, here in New England...specifically Amherst, Ma.