A Girl Trying to Survive in a Boys World

What a week!

2010-01-25T12:35:00.002-06:00

Ok, so as always..my life is extremely hectic. Let me tell you its no easy task to go to college, do homework, have a social life, and spend time with your loving fiance. So much has happened since my last blog entry...Matt and I redecorated the apartment. That was so much fun! I went shopping for wedding dresses..and so much more..let me start with Monday and shopping for dresses.

On Monday last week, my MOH Tamela and I went to Paducah to try on some wedding dresses for me. It was a nice day off, we went to TGI Fridays..had a very flirtatious waiter, some good food, and a good time. :) We were planning on giving him a fake number, but we forgot..lol. After we ate we went to Davids Bridal. All of the dresses were gorgeous..I tried on 3. It makes me want to get married..like..now. I wanted so badly to buy one..but I have to wait til I can get some moneys..plus I suppose it is kinda early to buy one.

Ok, so the rest of the week was very fast..lots of meetings, homework, and an INTERVIEW on Friday! Oh my..my first real interview. I want this job so bad. I am supposed to hear from them the end of this week..My fingers are crossed. I felt like the interview went well though, I hope that I am right. :)

Now for the weekend. Friday night, Matt and I went to ShoGun for some sushi with our other friend also named Matt. We had a pretty great time. :) After that, we finally got to have some time just with each other, which I must say was amazing.

Saturday we ended up not really doing anything..I did get some organization done and studied for a test though. Also on Saturday night, we re-imaged my hard drive and worked on installing Windows 7, all while playing Rock Band 2. So much fun! Sunday we finished installing everything and getting it reset up with all of my stuff.

So that is what I did this weekend. I have to say that this weekend has been the most relaxing weekend in a long time. It was also very nice because the past two weekends Matt has had to work on Saturday. I am feeling pretty relaxed, I will be more relaxed when I find out about my interview though! Until next time..Peace!

New Year, New Semester

2010-01-13T09:12:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I know its been a long time since I posted, but my Christmas break was extremely hectic. Overall it was ok..I really missed Matt and all of my friends alot. I got pretty much everything I wanted for Christmas..so that was great! I had a really good New Years Eve too.

So now I am back to school and back in the swing of things. :) As of yesterday, I have been to all of my classes and I really like all of my professors so far. I think this is going to be a good/interesting semester.

I am also pretty excited that I can soon start browsing for wedding dresses. I know that I won't be able to buy one for quite some time but seriously..I am so excited that I just *have* to get out there and start looking!!! lol

Hrm. I suppose that this is all I should write for now..its time to do some last minute homework..already! Haha!! :) Yay for music terminology!!

Happy 101 Reward

2009-12-18T16:15:00.002-06:00

So my awesome friend Tamela at A Brunette Making It One Day At A Time gave me this award and I think it is super awesome!

RULES FOR HAPPY 101 AWARD

List 10 things that make you happy, try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. For those bloggers who get the award, you then link back to my blog and create your makes you happy list.

10 Things That Make Me Happy(In no particular order)

1. My Fiancé Matt

2. Food Network

3. Cooking with someone special to me

4. Disney Movies

5. My wonderful family

6. All of my fantastic friends

7. Listening to Music

8. Scrapbooking

9. Thinking about getting married

10. Having double dates!! :)

3 Bloggers that make me Happy!(In no particular order since I only have 3 blog friends..I need to get out there more!!!)
1. Tamela at A Brunette Making It One Day At A Time

2. Matt at An Obvious Hack

3. The Mild-Mannered Hacker

Lately..

2009-12-14T13:52:00.002-06:00

Wow..Its been a while since I last posted on here. Guess I am super boring and dont have much to talk about! Well here is a quick rundown of what has happened lately..

1. I won Tamela's Pay It Forward giveaway. She had some pretty great prizes! I got a really amazing burgundy and pink scarf..which is super warm and stylish! I also got some very sweet Madagascar Penguin Christmas socks. :) All so awesome! I will be starting my giveaway sometime after the holiday season.. :) So get ready for that.

2. I took some pretty ridiculous finals and I am eagerly awaiting yet dreading getting my grades for this semester. Sigh.

3. I came back home for the winter break..which brings me to the meat of this post...

Ever since I was very young, I have stayed home alone on breaks, Christmas, Summer, Spring..you know what all of the breaks are. Well, I have always had a great deal of trouble on these breaks. See both of my parents work about an hour away from my parents house, and now..so does my fiancé. I have always hated breaks because it is so hard for me to be stuck at home alone..No one has ever understood why..even I have never really understood. I usually just thought that the reason was because I love to talk to people and I am an extremely outgoing person who could talk to a stop sign (not in a crazy way) if it would talk back. Well, this year I have thrown that out. I have stayed alone in my fiancés apartment alot this year..and never once has it even fazed me. I thought all of my worries were over..until now. Today is my first day all by myself again..Yes there has been a good deal of upset tears because I am so far away from my fiancé and that I am alone and I dont know what to do. As I decided to take a bubble bath, my staple for when I am upset, I had somewhat of an epiphany. I believe I figured out the reason that I hate to be alone. I realized that all of the important people in my life are at least an hour away from me..while I am here stuck out in the boonies all alone. All of these horrible fears and questions started flowing from my mind. What if something happened to me and I cant get help? Even if I could get help, it would still be a long time before someone got to me. I really do believe that this is where all my problems stem from. I love my parents so much and I want to stay home and be able to see them at night and stuff..but honestly it really hurts me inside. I want to ask to just stay in Murray with Matt..but I dont want them to take it the wrong way. I have no idea what to do here...I just really dont like this feeling. Well..I guess for now..its just time to scrapbook..

Traci

I'm Engaged!

2009-11-19T08:40:00.002-06:00

Yes. Its true! :) My wonderful now fiancé proposed to me last night! Here is how it went...

Last night, Matt and I were planning on going to Wal-Mart with one of our favorite couples. As we were walking around picking up groceries for our "Thanksgiving Dinner" we are having on Sunday, Matt suggests that we all go out to eat. I am slightly surprised, but I don't think anything of it. So we leave wally world and meet our friends at ShoGun. We have our nice dinner, not too much out of the ordinary..(we did get some free sushi though). As we are leaving though, out in front of the restaurant, Matt asked one of our friends to hold my stuff. This on the other hand..completely out of the ordinary! Matt took my hands, held them tight, and began to tell me how important to him that I was and how much he loved me. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! It was so special, and sweet. I love him more than anything I know. :)

Tamela's Pay It Forward

2009-11-06T10:52:00.002-06:00

So, my amazing friend Tamela is having a giveaway. I just wanted to let everyone know to get out there and enter it!

Click here to check it out!

Remember Remember the 5th of Novemeber

2009-11-05T18:41:00.003-06:00

So I am super excited because with today being the 5th of November, we are having a V for Vendetta movie party. I made some chili cheese dip with rotel tomatoes. I am so excited to see how everyone likes it. We are supposed to have about 8 or so people over. I am beginning to just love our movie nights! Its always a whole lot of fun..everyone from the department acting silly and just chilling. I know that this post is completely random, but I am just over excited and mildly hyper! Anywho...I am just ready for everyone to get here!!!

My Current Obsession..POVRay

2009-11-04T15:13:00.006-06:00

So lately I have been working on some graphical stuff in POVRay, Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer. This stuff has made me like..crazy. I want to work on it all the time. It seems like every day I have something new to show. So I decided to post some of my work here to show. I have been working in this for almost a week now. Each time I would make a new project because I was never fully happy with the previous ones. I do believe that I am truly happy with the final one.

This is the very first POVRay that I made.

This is the second graphics project I made.

This is my third POVRay design.

This is a variation of the previous one.

And finally, this is the one that I have decided to animate. I am finally happy with my design.

I would like to thank Tamela for being so amazing and asking the Department Chair of CSIS to let her hang a poster of this behind her desk in the office! :) I am so excited!!

Halloween Weekend and Our 1 Year Anniversary!!!

2009-11-02T10:37:00.002-06:00

So this past weekend was Matt and my 1 year anniversary. Matt took the day off on Friday so that we could spend the whole day together. We got up and opened the gifts that we had gotten each other ( we are gifty kinda people..lol ). He got me Green Day's American Idiot cd, bubble bath from Bath and Body works.(the stress relief kind since I'm constantly stressed) and Resident Evil on Blu-ray. I got him The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, V for Vendetta on Blu-Ray, and a bluetooth DVD remote for his PS3. He has played Oblivion since..and he can't wait to watch V on the 5th!

After we had breakfast and exchanged gifts, we started working on my computer, trying to put Windows 7 on it..Well that didn't work because for some reason Windows 7 has a problem with my Bluetooth driver..so anyways I'm back to Vista.

Later that afternoon, we went up to the office to see the winners of the Pumpkin competition. I didn't win, but thats totally fine. I had fun working on my pumpkin and to be honest the winners had much nicer pumpkins that I did. Next year I am going to work harder and put my best foot forward again!

After that, we went to Sho Gun for our anniversary dinner. We had an amazing time at the hibachi. Sooo much food and it was all so good! I did feel guilty afterwards because we kinda went against our diets.

That concludes Friday..Now..Halloween. :) Halloween last year was a special time for us. Our first *real* date was to the audience participation version of Rocky Horror Picture Show that one of the student organizations on campus puts on. Our first date, was supposed to be ice cream and a movie because the Dairy Queen here is only open half a year..but we only got ice cream because the movie theater was closed. But anywho enough of the blast from the past..We went to Dairy Queen to get ice cream on Halloween since it was closing day and then on to Paducah to run around the mall. That night, we went to relive our first date by going to the Rocky Horror Show. It was just as much fun as the year before.

We closed the weekend on Sunday by lazing around, going to Rue 21, Wal Mart, and Kroger. I also had to work on some homework..But yeah...This weekend was an absolutely wonderful weekend!!! I just have to say that this past year has been the best year of my entire life! I love my Matt!

In the World of Geeks

2009-10-24T19:08:00.005-05:00

Ok so here comes a geeky post!

Today was the IBM "Battle of the Brains" Competition at MSU (my first ever programming competition). I was pretty nervous last night trying to get my things together, books ready, sample programs and such. To try to calm myself I decided to bake some cookies for the guys and girls from MSU helping and competing.

Went to bed nervous..woke up this morning feeling...Great! This was something I did not expect whatsoever. I had this feeling that today was going to be a great day. So I rushed cooked some breakfast got ready and we went up to the Business Building.

When we arrived, we found that we were the only people there other than 2 of my professors. We started checking computers and making sure things were ok...but then..Oh no! The network was down!! Oh crap what are we gonna do! I started tearing down computers moving them to different rooms to see if it was just certain places..but none..NONE of them worked! After about 45 minutes of freaking out, we found that the network cable on the server machine had gotten pulled out. Whew..That was close! So thankfully that got solved!!

Since this was fixed I set up the t-shirts and packets ready to pass them out as the schools arrived. After everyone got there we had our contestant meeting and then we were dismissed for lunch. Both MSU teams and most of the helpers went to a little deli down the road where many awkward comments and computer science "your mom" jokes were made. Ah fun times.

So after we got back from lunch..It was time. 5 hours of straight programming. Boy was I getting nerved! But luckily my team and I all made each other feel better. As soon as we got our packets we all started flying through them at different paces each evaluating as we went. I found the 3 easiest problems, told my team, and started preparing the files and programs. We started to code furiously..and I looked down..30 minutes had already passed. I knew then that this was going to be a fast day!

After 50 minutes of coding..and getting all worked up seeing lots of other teams getting the "program accepted" papers, we finally got our first program submitted and accepted! It was such a relief to get that first program out of the way..Yes it took longer than it should, but we got it worked out. We started working on the next problem, and then..the sheets were brought in so we could see current standings. We were 5th! Holy Crap! The other MSU team was 6th..with no problems submitted. Being the underdog MSU team..we were like YAY!

Well we kept working and working and after submitting the 2nd program 3 times (thanks to us forgetting to take our debug stuff out..my bad!) we got the accept message! Well at the end of the day, we placed 8th. But we were proud of our attempts. We didnt finish last! I felt so proud of my team. I have never done this good in a competition before so I was pretty psyched! But yeah, in the words of a great man "Congrats, you don't suck!" :P

Fun Times!!

2009-10-21T13:14:00.002-05:00

So today MSU hosted a Girls' STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Day. Our organization, the ACM-W took on the role of teachers for the Technology part of this. We decided to present an amazing programming tool created to help teach programming to students, Alice. (You can check out Alice at www.alice.org) Its pretty awesome, everyone should check it out!!! But anyways..We had 20 girls grades 9-11 from surrounding high schools who decided to attend our session. It was pretty great. Its such a great feeling to help teach students about the cool things that you can do with computers. Alice is a pretty great tool, because it presents everything in a drag and drop environment with minimal actual coding ( this is so we dont scare people off! ). Everything went off pretty smoothly and without problems. The girls seemed pretty excited, which in turn made all of the helpers including myself super happy! But yeah, today was very exciting. Just thought I would share with you guys!!

Changing weather...

2009-10-13T16:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, so its finally starting to get cool here and boy am I loving it! Finally I get to add tons of pieces to my wardrobe!! Fall is awesome..this is because you can make stuff that you wore all summer look completely different. I really like to wear beanies and scarves..and gloves and pretty leather jackets! Its great because I still get to look pretty. Being surrounded by all guys all the time sometimes makes it difficult for a girl to dress up, but I think that in the fall its a little easier to look feminine and still be comfortable. I love being able to have cute scarves, beanies and comfy sweaters. I know you are probably thinking that I am totally random..but..well I am. Anyways, also with the wonderful change in the weather..its getting to be time for some of my other favorite things..like cooking those warm comfort foods like grandma used to make. I love Chili and also homemade soups. My grandpa gave me his "secret" recipe for his meat and veggie soup when I was a little girl. I still remember it to this day and I cook it many times each year when it starts to get cold outside. :) I am so ready for it to snow..it is always so pretty here in Kentucky. I just hope that we dont have anymore ice storms!!! But for now..I think thats all :) Enjoy the weather!

Its been a while..

2009-10-06T16:10:00.002-05:00

I know that I have neglected my blog lately. It has been midterm's time here at Murray. Two tests later..One B the other an A. Can't complain too much. Also, over the weekend I had to go home and take my dad my truck since his decided to rebel. Hmph. Oh well, at least I have an amazing boyfriend that doesn't mind one bit to be my own personal driver..Haha. We just got a new Samsung TV which I am not going to lie..Its pretty freaking amazing. Samsung makes some great TV's so..If you are looking for a flat screen..go with Samsung. Also, at the end of this month, the love of my life and I will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary. I am so excited about this..I almost can not believe that we have been together that long. We get along so well and love each other so much. Each day it seems to get easier living with him. Its always fun to get to play sneaky games getting each other presents too. :)

Also, today I have noticed something about other girls. Sometimes they can try to steal your thunder..thats just how some girls are, but then..then there are those other girls..who are good friends, good people..who will make you feel better and share in the excitement. I would like to say that I have some very great female friends. Some are much better and nicer than others, but they are all great in their own ways.

As this semester continues to drag on..I promise that I will try to write more. Maybe I will even get a little more creative :) or maybe I will have some more interesting things to talk about..Haha. I have a boring life..But until then!

Long Weekend Trip

2009-09-23T10:02:00.003-05:00

So Sunday night we got back from our trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. It was so much fun. We walked around the Grand Rod Run 2 days a total of about, I dont know..6 miles! After the first day though, the cars all started looking the same to me. It was pretty fun though. There were some really cool old cars and trucks, my personal favorite being one of the '79 Trans Am's ( I love my Bandit car!). On Friday night we drove over to Gatlinburg, the car show was in Pigeon Forge. We walked around Gatlinburg and at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was pretty much amazing. After we ate we walked around and got to watch taffy being made at the Candy Kitchen. There is just so much to see and do there. The next day we walked to the other end of Pigeon Forge looking at cars. That night we went to TGI Fridays for dinner and played some mini golf. I love mini golf!!! :D We also explored some of the outlet malls and got to watch fudge being made and then we got to try some of the hot fresh fudge. It was yummy! Sunday was our last day and we spent the day driving through the mountains and exploring what they have to offer. We got to see some of the most beautiful creeks and river rapids. We even saw kayakers! It was so nice to get away from working and school.

The Guys..my great friends

2009-09-17T13:08:00.002-05:00

So most would expect this to be a rant-ish post, but in actuality..its not! Just thought I would get that out of the way before I begin.

Ok, so even though sometimes I feel out of place or upset or anything, these guys are here for me. I have like 3 really close guy friends and I dont know what I would do without them. I have been having some rough patches lately and they can always cheer me up. Its different than it used to be, used to my boyfriend was here and I could see him most of the day everyday..now I only get to see him in the morning and at night..so sometimes I feel lonely and such..but with these guys here..Im not so alone. I have great friends...and Im sure this is already assumed but they are mostly guys..Girls and I dont really get along well..I dont like drama and stuff..but thats another topic. Its really nice to have my "protectors" here. Its nice when someone is giving you hell to have someone there to stand up for you when your boyfriend/main protector around..Maybe thats just what real true friends do. Maybe I finally have those real friends for once..The ones that dont just say they are always there for you..they actually are there for you..I dont know..this is just something that has been on my mind lately.. Anyhows..I may not be around for a while..going on a short vacation this weekend to Pigeon Forge, TN. So I will update on all the wonderful happenings when I return..Until then..Peace!!

Yay for Happy Times!

2009-09-11T14:21:00.002-05:00

So thanks to the wonderful man in my life, I am feeling so much better. He knows exactly how to make a bad week so much better! After class yesterday, Matt brought me home and I got to take a long nap. It was wonderful. When he got home we went to walmart and he got one of my favorite things for dinner, rotiserrie chicken and baked beans! After dinner, we played an awesome game of Life. I sure do love that game. After that we just chilled..we sat on the couch and watched tv. He really comforted me. We talked about things that are bothering us and he really helped me regain some of my lost confidence. This past week I have been slamming face first into a brick wall. My feeling of worth was rock bottom, but he has really helped me and I dont know what I would do without him.

Today has been pretty great as well. So far, I have slept, slept some more, napped a bit..oh yeah and I finished some of my homework with no help from anyone! YAY! Matt came home for lunch today and I think we are going to go to the Ice Cream Festival tomorrow. Im super excited about that. Things seem to be finally looking up. I am so thankful for all of my friends who offer support and show me that they care. I really appreciate it.

I think thats about all for now..I will keep ya posted! Until later! Peace all!

Random Weekend Recap and etc...

2009-09-09T16:08:00.004-05:00

Hello all. I know it has been a while since I last wrote, but I can honestly say that it is not me just being a huge procrastinator. The past few days have been quite hectic, heres a quick recap! Friday I went to my wonderful boyfriend Matt's house. We went to the county fair and watched the demolition derby ( which im not going to lie was pretty freaking AMAZING! ). Saturday we just sat around the house and watched tv, then drove to my house. We hung out with my mom all day Sunday..got a super cute pair of shoes for 5 bucks! Monday, mom, dad, Matt and I just chilled out..played some videogames and had a cookout. Tuesday was a really really long day..I had 3 meetings plus classes most of the day. It ended up being not as bad as I thought it would be. Today has been ok..Some very annoying things ( I keep getting some random telemarketer calling my cell..booo! ) I am so ready for this weekend. I get to stay in Murray with Matt and not have to worry about going anywhere or having to do anything.

The past few days I have had to kinda bite my tongue..Some of the guys in the dept. have been slightly degrading..( sorry that I'm a girl, but I belong here! ) Ugh..Sorry to rant. Hmm..

Right now..I am watching some old school Jepoardy..Gotta love it. Well..I suppose thats all for now. Promise to write more soon.

New Background

2009-09-04T09:48:00.002-05:00

So..I am trying to figure out if I like my new design..tell me what you think!

Coffee and Infomercials at 8 am

2009-09-03T11:40:00.005-05:00

Ok so I know that this is totally random, but thats kinda me. So today is my wonderful day off and I am spending the first part of it between Restaurant City ( my current addiction ) and tv. So like most know..the only thing on this early are those wonderful infomercials! Some of them are just hilarious!! Haha..the snuggie for dogs..Whats next right? =D Isnt it odd how infomercials are so well done and the host are just so..well i dont know what the word is, but..its so crazy how they make you think.."OMG I have to have this kitchen knife that will cut through steel!" Because I, the girl who could amputate her thumb with a dull butter knife, really need something that sharp!!! :P I guess in the end..Infomercials are pretty great..Darn..now there is a george forman-esk thing that will cook a steak in 5 min..They always have such catchy names..hehe. This one is the "Ready, Set, Go!" Hahaha. Hmm..Curious thought..does the fact that I am slightly hyper courtesy of the coffee make me more entralled by these products? or is it the early hour? Oh well..Im sure that you are wondering how much longer I will go on about this..To spare you..I will stop now..Oh crap..I have to leave with this comment..

After switching to the weather channel one of the meteorologists just said this...

"Sadly the hurricane season this year has not been as destructive thanks to El Nino..." --Yes lets all be sad because hurricanes aren't ripping through..YAY! ( - sarcasm - )

--Traci

Hello Brave New World

2009-09-03T11:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone. As you know my name is Traci. I am a 20 year old girl trying everyday to fit into a world of boys. This can make for some interesting and long days. In this blog I will share some of the fun times and well ,the only word i can think of is interesting, comments and stories. Ah, but for now..Class has begun..so I must go..until later..