I just realized that Richard and I's 3 years fall during Spring Break (March 11), so I don't know whether I should go to Michigan with the parents for the week or go to Clarksville and spend it with Richard. I want to go to Clarksville for the most part, but I feel bad for ditching my daddy. =/
I just have no idea how to approach the subject, etc. He'll feel bad no matter what. *sigh*

I always seem to do a total overkill when studying for an exam.
For some reason I can't seem to stop myself and end up staying up late studying for it. =/
Well, at least I'm sure my cal exam turned out really well; oh, and I maxed out my trial account (lvl 20) last night.
Overall a pretty nice day.
=)
When I get my game card this weekend I'm making a horde character. Nobody I know other than Richard, Andrew, Alyx & myself (that I know of) plays Alliance. Meh.

Somebody stole my beets during bio lab today!
We had to freeze them for 45 minutes and then run a series of ridiculous tests on little 1cm chunks of beet and when the 45 minutes finalled passed, I went to get the beets I had cut up only to realize someone else had taken them. I had to hunt them down and everything. How gay. I can't believe someone actually stole my beets lmao. Lazy people, lemme tell ya.
My warlock is level 18 now. Yay. =)
As of now I'm studying for my calculus exam tomorrow.
That should be fun.
My parents are visiting me this weekend! I'm so excited. I didn't think I'd get to see them this semester at all since they're so far away and all, but my dad bought a car in Florida so he and my stepmom are dropping over on their way back home and spending the weekend with me.

I'm hooked on WoW.
I've spent quite a while working on my level 14 warlock.
I guess you can tell I'm not very proficient on the game as of yet.
Or maybe Richard's level 29 paladdin kept me from receiving as much
experience from my quests as I should have been.
Either way, I'm buying a two month game card soon.
I think I enjoy running around Northshire dueling level 2's a little
too much. :x

I haven't posted an entry in a while so I figured I should post one just for the heck of it.
I'm already putting off stuff to do and the semester just began three weeks ago. I'm doomed, lol. Naw not really I'm sure I'll pull through again like last semester.
I'm dowloading WoW as I type this. It is starting to suck me in and I might just go ahead and let it do its bidding on my free time. I've been playing on Richard's account and it's so fun! I'm just not sure I'm willing to dish out $15 a month for it, though. We'll see. Richard said he might fund it for a while.
I just got back from Clarksville. The whole weekend was mainly spent at Alyx's house and I slept on the floor (blah) Sat & Sun night. Thankfully none of the guys snored so it was alright, and it made Richard happy to be with them so it was also ok by me plus Wes kept me entertained on picto chat anyway.
Oh, and I've almost beaten Super Princess Peach. I just have to find 6 more toads before I can fight Bowser. I'm excited!

Well, this was the most unchristmassy Christmas I've ever had. My family as a whole was obviously being extremely lazy; we didn't even set up the Christmas tree or any type of decorations. We also decided to stay home (a definite first!) and spent it alone (just the three of us). So, you can imagine how that went... pretty lame since it just seemed like any other day except for when I went up to go to sleep there were a couple of presents on top of my bed. I still think it takes more than presents to make for a true Christmas celbration, though.
Oh well, my parents gave me a very nice coat (yay!) and a 100 gig external hard drive. :D
They both come pretty handy, I might add.

I love being here, being able to see my parents and having free time but I can't wait to return to UT!

Well, I got the 4.0 gpa I wanted, so I'm pretty satisfied with the semester. I'm especially proud of honors chemistry; woohoo! Everyone told me not to take Bio & Chem at the same time but meh; it's not as bad as they say it is. I'm also glad to be done with honors composition and "The Barrow"'s crap; she gave us an oral presentation as a final and it SUCKED. I'm in Michigan in our new house and it's huge! I'm really excited to be here but I miss Richard and my friends :(

I just wish I could be closer. Ehh.
I'm not complaining, though. People here are interesting and when you drive around town, you see "House of a Chemist" signs on people's houses because they all work for Dow. Kinda silly if you ask me; hope my dad doesn't decide to put one up too.
I wish I could be smart enough to do Chemical Engineering like he wants me to, but it'd be awful. I just know it. :x

Decisions, decisions.

I haven't written an entry in a while. I find myself without much time to sleep sometimes. I mean, schoolwork comes first, and apparently so does spending time with Richard so my sleeping schedule has really been faltering lately (that is, for the past month or so.) Yesterday was the last day of classes and my first final is on Sunday. I'm reaaaally stressed :( At least I'm walking into the exams with A's in all my classes. I just hope it stays that way after them.

Well, I'm off to study, I suppose. It's really hard stick to this though, because Richard bought me Yoshi's Island II for the DS a few weeks ago and I'm two levels away from beating it. Grrrr...


Ohhh, and I won $100 on a tv show last weekend! :D

I've been working non-stop all day, and I'm not even a fourth of the way done with all the work I need to accomplish this weekend. I really wish UT would take 3's on AP exams, because that would have saved me a lot of trouble. But alas, I am forced to take English all over again and that really aggravates me. At least with doing 118 instead of 101 I am not required to take 102 as well to fulfill the whole year of English, so technically I only need to take a semester of the wretched class. I have come to realize just how much I despise writing papers. I have been lucky in that most of our topics have been fairly broad, giving me the opportunity to write about virtually anything I decide, but I still cannot manage to enjoy it. Well, maybe not enjoy it per se, but at least tolerate it.
Either way, I have been working on my rough draft for most of the day, and finally submitted it about 20 minutes ago (one minute late, I may add). I have yet to begin the chem lab report, but I'm hoping to finish that tonight (I have gotten used to surviving on zero sleep, or close to it). Tomorrow, I will write yet another essay for the dreaded composition class, work on chem challenge problems (I wish the name of the problems didn't reflect on the impossibility to figure them out, but Dr. Kovac seems determined to make our lives miserable). After that, I need to study for my bio exam.

Yay, weekend.

I'm only taking one honors class next semester.
They are too darn time consuming. :(

I think I've found a potential major -- BCMB. Biochemistry, chemical & molecular biology. It goes along with the pre-med requirements wonderfully and includes all the classes recommended for the Mcat, so it seems like the logical one to follow. I just don't want to graduate with a major in 'pre-med'. What in the world could I do with that if I decide not to go to med school or just don't get in? Eh.

Last weekend was neat. Nathan came to UT from tech and we hung out with some friends. We went to a secret agent party which turned out to just include drunk people dressed up as spies. After that, we ended up crashing at Justin's apartment and sleeping on the floor, but I'm not complaining. It was a nice change from the norm. I love getting out of campus once in a while :)

Julie and I are supposed to go out next weekend, but who knows? These next three-four weeks are going to be super stressful. eh.

I registered for classes [about a month ago or so, haha] but I just remembered because Richard was finally able to register today. Anywhoo, my schedule's not too bad. Classes usually start around 10ish or so, and I'm doing 15 hours. I'm doing 16 right now so that shouldn't be bad at all.

Anyway, I better get some sleep tonight. ^_^

Well, I've had a preeeetty strong dose of starbucks mocha & vanilla frappuccino tonight and have been studying for my honors chem exam tomorrow for the past... 6 hours? Here's to getting a good grade and not screwing up my A average. *crosses fingers*

That's all I've pretty much been doing lately;; science & math. I hate them both and I'm starting to wonder why I'm going into the field I seem to be heading towards. I just don't want to do your usual bs degrees in like teaching or english or whatnot. It'd be easier, but I'd feel retarded; maybe I am. Who knows? All I know is that I'm tired but probably won't go to bed until 3 or so. This exam seems hopeless, I mean my chemistry class is ridiculous; I googled a lab we were covering and obtained results from a chem 430 class. wtf? This is supposed to be freshman general chem. I feel tricked by Dr. Kovac. -_-

Well, Richard and I went to Bar knoxville last night. Everything was Halloween-themed so we had to dress up, etc. I couldn't believe some girls' costumes... eh. Anyway, 'twas my first time 'out' at a club or whathave you, and it was pretty fun :)
The dancing didn't really start until around 1am, so we didn't leave until 5ish but it was worth it. It felt kind of weird because everybody around us was drinking, and I reallllly doubt everyone except for us was 21+. Aw well... I had a swell time without the need for drinks; I've never really gotten drunk, so I dunno how it would have made anything different. Anywhoo, it was really a spectacle walking around the strip and seeing everyone dressed up. I'm glad we chose to go out last night in spite of... well, everything.

I'm reconnecting with my Mom's side of the family. It's so exciting! I've been very negligent in keeping our relationships going, so I'm now finding myself with three new cousins I've never met and the two that I 'know' have grown up on me! Last time I talked to them they were 9 and 11, now they're 16 and 18. Talk about crazy... I've been e-mailing with them for the past two days and the first e-mails were truly shocking; to hear my '9-year-old' cousin write like that was like a cold bucket of water because it made me realize just how much I've been missing. I don't know them anymore; not any of them. I need to see them face to face. E-mail is too impersonal and talking on the phone right now would be too awkward. I just need to see them and spend some time with them. Maybe this summer? I can only hope.

I have bio lab at 8am tomorrow. I took a 4 hour nap this afternoon against my better judgement and doubt I will be going to bed anytime soon, if at all. The cold weather is really starting to get to me. A huge campus no longer seems like a big plus, as the mere thought of walking to the library makes me cold. :( I'm just glad we have a dining facility in this building, that way I don't have to leave for anything except classes (darned classes, grr).


Well, I guess I better get going since I've yet to start studying for my bio quiz tomorrow.
:)

So I'm 18 now. I don't know how it's supposed to feel; it's the same really. I mean, I've been having complete freedom for over two months now, so the only real difference is that I can go to the clubs. Julie, Gemma, Richard and I plan to go next weekend. We'll see how that turns out, lol.


Also;;
Richard baked me a cake and took me out to eat. :)

Richard bought me a Nintendo DS lite and three games to go with it for my birthday!!! :D
I love him.<3

I'm spending Fall break in Clarksville because I developed bacterial conjunctivitis on my left eye, which quickly spread to my right eye leaving me legally blind since I could not use my contacts and I have -5 vision. Because of this, I was forced to come to Clarksville and buy new glasses (ew). On the bright side, the infection is pretty much gone and I can finally see. Woo. Also, Richard spoils me way too much and gave me the best birthday present ever (my birthday is next Sunday, btw). So yes... I've been staying at Richard's since Thursday and will leave on Sunday to start school again... great. :x

My parents came to UT!! I was so excited; I didn't expect to see them until the end of the semester. It was such a nice surprise... my roommate called me to tell me she had bad news and there was "something wrong" in the room and that I should go check it out. I was in the study room with Julie, so I dashed to my room and just saw my parents standing there with a big ballon and a gift bag. :)
Turns out yesterday was the final move to Michigan, so my dad flew down to Clarksville to drive up with my stepmom. They packed whatever stuff the movers didn't take into the van and headed on to Knoxville (which is definitely not on the way to Michigan, btw) and just surprised me. It was really sweet, but they could only stay for about 4 or 5 hours because they had to continue up to their final destination. It was awesome to see them again, but it was so hard to see them go. I don't know if this makes sense, but I didn't miss them when they left the first time; not that much, anyway. I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth. This time, however, I even cried about it. I guess I just now realized how much I miss them. Well, at least I know I'll get to see them on Dec. 15th, after all the finals are over. ^^;
Anyhwoo... today I have lots of stuff to do. I don't even want to think about it. For now, I'll just head on to Richard's and go get breakfast. Yum.

I have so much work to do this weekend... it's nuts. Thank goodness for Fall Break and extra time to do work, even if it's only two weekdays and a weekend. I don't plan to go anywhere, so that should give me plenty of time to get all my work done (keyword: "should"). I honestly think everybody on my floor is going home for fall break, so it'll be cool staying all alone with my work (ok, not cool... but to an extent I'd rather spend that time this way instead of going to Clarksville with Richard; I have my reasons. Last trip was not to die for at all, even though I got to see a lot of my friends). Anywhoo, this is a sad entry. It shows how pathetic my life has become, but as always, I adapt incredibly easily. My roommate loves to sleep in the [early-ish] afternoon and it really irks me. I come to my dorm from class to find the room pitch-black with her asleep. I'm tired, have stuff to do, and can't be in my room unless I just want to sit there in the dark. ftw?
I really like her otherwise, though. I just wish she'd develop a better sleeping schedule.
Anyway, when that happens I just head down two floors to Richard's, where I'd rather be anyway, and study there. In fact, I've been spending about 70% of my free time in Richard's room, go figure. I don't know what I'd do without him.

I better go write my honors chem paper.
Yes... I have to write a freaking paper for chemistry class. Wtf?!

I can't believe how busy I've been these past few days. I've had three exams and a huge paper to write, as well as four quizzes for my bio lab. Pretty much all I've had time to do is eat and study, with a few hours of sleep added on here and there. I just finished with what I consider my hardest exam yet- honors chemistry, aka the chemistry of hell (according to our professor, mind you). It was easier than I expected, I'll grant you that, but it was still overwhelming. I just hope I did well *crosses fingers*. It makes me really mad that regular chem gets it so much easier than we do. They don't even have to write lab reports! They just copy the procedure word for word and answer a few questions about the lab. We have to type in-depth, 7 to 10 page reports which are graded extremely harshly, because according to our TA's, "nobody should get a perfect score" ftw?!?! On top of that, chem 120 kids take weekly quizzes and no exams. We have to take just three exams in the whole semester which make up the majority of our grade, and each of them is just around 6 questions long. Eeek.
//end rant.

Ok, I have to focus on the good aspects of life, right? Well, let's see (this is rather funny yet sad)... a couple of weeks ago, on Wednesday night, Richard and I camped outside the University Center to get tickets for the homecoming football game. We took blankets, pillows, etc. We were the first ones to get tickets; we even beat this guy who has been getting the very first ticket for the past three years for every single home game, so he was kind of upset about it. Anyway, on game day it was raining very hard, so we decided not to go to the game. Instead, we went to Julie's condo where she was going to get the game on PPV, but we tried for over half an hour to get it and they kept telling us to call different phone numbers to order it which in turn gave us additional phone numbers, so we ended up watching movies instead. I just find it amusing that we camped out for tickets and didn't see the game... not even on tv. Eh; I'm not a big football fan anyway. I've yet to go to any football games here, so I don't really care.

My parents bought a house in Michigan already. I feel so out of it since with my being here in Knoxville I've missed out on the whole selling the house, moving to Michigan, and buying a new one process. I was shocked when my dad called to tell me that we now have a new house. It's surreal, really. I find it hard to believe that everything in Clarksville, my house and room is not the same as when I left for college a month+ ago. In fact, new people are living there, and somebody else is now sleeping in my room. :'( It's going to be so weird when I go "home" for the first time... I haven't seen my parents since I moved here and most likely won't see them until Christmas break, which starts on Dec. 15th. I'm dreading the summer, actually, because I'll be in a town where I don't know anybody. Ehhh; I'm considering transfering to Michigan State, which is a very good school (definitely ranked higher than UT). The only thing holding me back is Richard, really. I know it sounds stupid; call it what you will, but the fact is that he has made my "college experience" much more bearable. Whenever things begin to get stressful, I know I can just go down two floors and have someone comfort me, tell me everything will be alright. Also, as soon as I get out of class I just feel so much better because I get to see him, etc. I know it's cheesy, but I love him so much. He just makes my world better.

I'll try to update this more often, if only for my own sake. It'd be a pity to miss out on reading about these hectic days when I'm skimming my journal in the future, won't it? :p

Well, today was Richard and I's 2 and a half years. He took me out to dinner and we spent some time in the park; it was sweet.



We had a fire drill today in the building. It took place while Richard and I were studying, so we had to leave the building and run down the stairs from the sixth floor. To make matters worse, all 14 floors and six wings were evacuated so you can imagine what it was like... pretty much chaos. They kept us out there, not even letting us step on the sidewalk for well over 10 minutes. It was ridiculous. :X *rant*

I've barely been getting any sleep lately. I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight for a change.
Oh, and I got asked out on a date by this junior guy today; he wanted to take me somewhere to eat. It all started on Friday when we met at the cafeteria and out of the blue he gave me his e-mail address and insisted that I e-mail him. I completely forgot about it and neglected to send him anything but then he spotted me today and asked me to e-mail him again, so I did. He replied and asked to take me out, bla bla bla. The funny part is that I was checking my e-mail right next to Richard and he threw a huge fit about it. It was rather amusing.

Anywhoo, I better go to bed! Early class tomorrow; ew.

My relationship with my stepmom has improved tremendously since my move to Knoxville. Maybe that's what we needed- time apart; we certainly hadn't had that in quite a while. My dad and I get along better as well; we never argue, but then again... how could we? Although we talk virtually every day on the phone, the conversations never last a whole hour. It's rather sad that in order to get along splendidly with someone you have to be far away from them.
Richard and I are doing great, though. I love studying with him; it makes it more bearable. I rearranged my desk today. I have so much space now! I'm excited, hehe. I should post pictures of my dorm room here. Might get to it eventually, perhaps.

I still have to do my honors comp. reading. So far, we just read what some old guy wrote about how to write. Pretty bland and useless stuff, really. *sigh* here I go...

I've decided to stop riding the T and walk instead. Walking a couple of miles a day never killed anyone, plus it'll be good for me. I've been doing it for the past three days and although I do get pretty tired, I think it's worth it. I'm seriously trying to stop being such a couch potato. Wish me luck!!



Ohhhh, and in case you missed it... send me love through snail mail!

Maria Florez
641B 1038 20th Street
Morrill Hall
Knoxville, TN. 37916