Finals are consuming my life, sorry for the non-posting lately, but between studying, taking my exams, watching the season finale of greys anatomy, seeing my friends, and sleeping/eating I just haven't had much time to write in this thing. I only have to finals left, one tomorrow and one Thursday, then I'm free until the end of August. Today was supposed to be spent studying, however I recently discovered the amazingness that is 'Alias'.

This all happened because I watched the movie 'Valentine's Day', which has Bradley Cooper. Naturally, after I finished watching the movie I went to imdb.com and looked up what else Bradley Cooper has been in, because he is super cute, and I discovered he was on Alias. Now, I already knew that Michael Vartan (from 'Never Been Kissed') was on Alias, so I thought about it for a second and thought to myself, 'Maybe I should watch Alias and see the two super hot guys act with Jennifer Garner who I also think is just adorable and seems like such a normal person. As stalkerish and weird as this all sounds, thank god I am a HUGE dork because this show is super good. Now, back to why this is affecting my studying. You see, when given the option of watching Alias, which I describe as a mix between 24 and Lost (AMAZING) or studying for my biological bases of behaviour final it is pretty obvious which one wins out. Therefore, I spent all day Saturday studying, gave myself today off, will study tomorrow before my final, and everything will be just dandy.

Another super fun thing I did today was go to dinner with Monique and Danielle (my cousins in case anyone that reads this isn't related to me..doubtful). I don't get to see the too often and even though we didn't see each other very much when we were younger I just love these girls (and TOTALLY missed Alise who was at home with my GORGEOUS new baby cousin Natalie and adorable cousin Spencer). I am so happy that as we're getting older we are keeping in touch more, because they're my only girl cousins (1st cousins) and we have a lot in common it seems and they are just so nice and I have so much fun when I get to see them, so that is going to need to happen more often I've decided. They're on vacation with some friends for a week here in London and Paris. We had a great dinner and I got to show them around Piccadilly Circus a bit, it was a great night. Next time we better make sure Alise and Ashley are there though, because that would make it a million times better.

Anywho, I should probably go to sleep because I'm supposedly wakening up in 6 hours to study for my final, but I am so not tired and kind of want to watch another episode of Alias. Oh the decisions I must make in my life, it's great to be me :]]

Until Friday (at the earliest because of my finals, lost series finale, 24 series finale, and my newly required obsession with alias) I'll talk to yall later.

-audrey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I hope you have a fabulous day in New Orleans with Dad, Ashley, Aunt Marie and family! I love you so much and can not wait to see you in 3 weeks and 1 day! I promise that next year I'll be there to celebrate with you.

As this week is coming to an end I still can't believe that in 3 weeks time I will be packing up and getting ready to leave London, its nuts! While I am SO excited to go to Paris with Ashley and my Mom its kind of bittersweet, because I also have so much fun to look forward to once I get back home I wish I could just go straight home from London. I get to sign my apartment lease and start to buy stuff to decorate it with - which I can NOT wait to do, not to mention the trips I have planed for this summer AND I get to see Scout. I've been looking online at furniture and what style I want to decorate my apartment in - at first I decided that I wanted it to be fairly modern, color pallet of silvers/grey/black/white, sleek and sophisticated and clean lines and contemporary - COMPLETELY different from how my room at home is decorated. Now however, I've been thinking that maybe I should just do something more traditional, something that will last a long time and not go out of style, and I want a big comfy couch and lots of fluffy pillows, more along the lines of a Pottery Barn catalogue...so yeah, who knows how my apartment is going to turn out. I couldn't be trying to decide between 2 more different styles of decoration - I just want to LOVE what I pick to decorate my first apartment, no regrets. I'm seriously considering going with what I call the 'Pottery Barn' look, simply because I think I'll regret my choices with that less. Hmm, we'll see, I still have time (like a month and a half).

Anyways, I'm going to read 'True Believer' by Nicholas Sparks today and tomorrow, then its time for this girl to start studying for finals. I normally don't take my finals at UH because I exempt out of them, so this should be interesting. These grades I make will affect my GPA at UH so hopefully I don't screw up too badly - I think I'll be ok but you just never know.

Alrighty, I'm off to look at more websites for home decor ideas.

-audrey

So I'm finally finished with school, with the exception of finals that is. I have two next week (the 17th and 21st) and two the following week (the 24th and 27th). I should be spending most of my free time studying - of course that isn't happening just yet. I did succeed in reading two Nicholas Sparks books yesterday though - 'A Bend in The Road' and 'Nights in Rodanthe.' They were good, you should read them. Today I'm going to read 'The Wedding' and maybe get some studying done, we'll see.

British Airways is driving me crazy. So my mom and ashley are supposed to fly out on June 4 to arrive in Paris June 5 and I'm going to meet them there. Well, BA Cabin Crew just announced that they will be striking from May 30 - June 3 and June 5 - June 9. Now, this might not affect my mom and ashley's flight, but I'm scheduled to fly from London to Paris on June 5...PROBLEM. I mean, I can always take the eurostar or another airline, its just a huge hassle. UGH, annoying.

Alright, thats enough of me complaining, I'm off to watch last nights episode of 24.

-audrey

I went and saw 'The Las Song' with Sally today. It was so so good! I read the book, and loved it, but I was a little worried about the movie, mostly because it stars Miley Cyrus. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a Miley fan, or I wasn't until I saw this movie. As much as I didn't want to admit it, she did a really good job in this movie. I think the method of first writing the screenplay then writing the book really helped make the two match up much much better - making me a very happy camper. I always hate it when you read a book that is super good and then the movie is terrible. I understand that not ever part of a book translates well into a movie, but this is probably the best Nicholas Sparks book that has been made into a movie, other than the Notebook maybe. Anywho, I loved the movie and yall should all go see it  :]

Since the movie of course takes place in the south it made me want to be home, but I know that I only have few weeks left here in London with all of my friends. Now all I have to do is finish my finals exams and get ready to see my family! My cousins Danielle and Monique are going to be in London at the end of May so I can NOT wait to see them - I don't get to see them too often back home either but I just love getting to see them so I'm sure I'll have a great time showing them around London. After they leave I only have a week left in London until I met Ashley and my Mom in Paris - so that will be a super exciting few weeks. Anyways, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the movie since I enjoyed it so much, I'm off to do something fun!

-audrey

I've been neglecting this again, sorry about that! I think as my time in London is winding down I am forgetting more and more about writing in this - I'll try to be better about it, I know how much my mom enjoys reading it (hi mom). I went to Barcelona this past weekend with Natalie - we had a wonderful time walking around the city, seeing all of the tourist sites, and eating way to much tapas.

We arrived late of Friday night after our flight was delayed, and quickly checked into our hotel, ordered room service and put on a movie. We both miss having a TV so we took full advantage of it during the weekend.

On Saturday we met up at Park Guel with some of our friends from London who also happened to be in Barcelona - it was an absolutely gorgeous park that gave us amazing views of the city - even if I did have to climb a freaking mountain to see it. After we decided to head over to Las Ramblas for some last lunch and sight-seeing. From there we all wanted to head back to the hotel - however non of us knew what bus we needed to take, the metro didn't go to that part of the city, and all 5 of us couldn't ride in one cab. Since no one wanted to pay for a taxi (i offered but i didn't want to pay for 2 cabs and no one would pay for the second) we started walking. We walked, and walked, and walked for over 2 hours, well over 5 miles I'm sure along the beach until we reached our hotel. So basically, on Saturday, I climbed a mountain and walked forever - not my idea of a fun vacation. Oh well, i earned my ice cream that night :]

On Sunday I basically slept the day away, until 4pm, before deciding to wake up and go out with everybody for food. This time I decided to pay for our taxi's back to the hotel because 3 of our friends needed to get to the airport, and even though they weren't willing to pay for their own cabs to get their stuff and make it to the airport on time, there was NO WAY I was walking home again and I didn't feel comfortable taking a taxi alone. Long story short, I paid for 2 taxis to take us to our hotel, my friends left, and Natalie and I decided to stay in for the rest of the night and watch TV - exciting stuff I know.

We had all day Monday since our flight didn't leave until 10:55pm so we were wanting to finish up our sight-seeing and go over to the shoe store that Lindsey had told me about (it was closed on Saturday for May Day and closed Sunday, since it was Sunday). Well, fyi, its not open on Monday's either - bummer! So sadly, I did not accomplish my goal of buying super cute flats in Barcelona, it just wasn't meant to be. Rain however, was meant to be. It rained from the moment we woke up until the moment our plane took off that night, NOT fun. We ended up walking around a shopping mall for a few hours. This turned out to be my favorite part of the trip because I saw an ADORABLE westie in H&M named lupe that was 3 months old and SO SO SO CUTE. It made me miss Scout way too much, but I pet it and gave it kisses anyways - LOVE IT. After that it was only 3:30 and we still had 5 hours of nothing to do, so we went back to the hotel which was holding our bags and planted ourselves on the couches in the lobby bar. I ended up taking a nap, natalie used their gym for a shower, and I kept ordering diet coke so they wouldn't ask us to leave. That is where we stayed until we left for the airport. We finally made it home around 1:30am that night and went straight to bed, we were SO tired.

Today I got to hang around Nido not doing much until I met up with Chelsey for dinner at Benihana's - it was delish. In other exciting news, my cousin Alise had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl today named Natalie Gayle Hagan, 7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches long. Both baby, mother, daddy, and big brother Spencer are doing great. I can't wait to go home this summer and meet them - she is GORGEOUS. CONGRATULATIONS ALISE & KEVIN, i love yall!

Other than that I just have to go to class tomorrow, Friday, and Monday then I'm finished with the exception of final examinations. Hopefully i'll be able to update this sometime soon!

-audrey

So how many of you are as shocked as I am that it's almost MAY. I don't know where April went but I'm excited for the remainder of it. I only have 2 weeks of 'regular' class left, then final examinations, but those don't start until May 17 so I can't wait to play around london, and study of course. I actually accomplished things today, I get Lindsey's birthday gift (even though her birthday is in July, I just couldn't wait to get it once I knew what I wanted to get her), I got my Mom's mothers day/birthday gift (i hate to only get her one thing for both days, but I know she's going to love the gift I picked so I don't feel too bad about it) and I got my laundry done. Now I have the rest of the day to read my new Chelsea Handler book, its hilarious.

Tomorrow Donah is coming into town to see Chelsey. Chelsey is in Barcelona until tomorrow afternoon though so I'm going to go meet Donah at Heathrow and say Hi and get some things from her in the morning, then I have to turn in my paper, go to class, and pack for BARCELONA - I leave Friday afternoon. I'm a little bummed because Barcelona has had the most amazing weather for the past week and a half and on Friday its supposed to start raining, and continue to rain for the ENTIRE time I'm there. It's kind of disappointing, but I'm sure Natalie and I will make the most of our time there, heck, if all else fails I can always just shop :]

I get back from Barcelona on Monday really late/early Tuesday since we have off from school on Monday. Next week I only need to write one last paper that is due May 10 and go to my last revisions lectures and I'll be all done until my final exams. I am so OVER school, I can't wait to be home and go to Escondido and play on the lake and see Scout.

I'm so excited to see all of my friends, and my Mom and Dad and Ashley, and go to physical therapy and see Christy and Suzanne, and stop by the office and say hi to Dr. Pat, Mary, Patricia, Tracy, Tracie, Margaret, and Cherissa --- I have a lot to do when I get home. Not to mention moving into my new apartment, going to Las Vegas with my parents, going to Oklahoma to visit Allison, going to Louisiana to see my new baby cousins, AND going to Disney World with Ashley, all before mid August (and I don't get home until june 12). Ok wow, thats a lot when I list it off like that. But I'm so excited, I cant wait!

OH, I also wan to take some sort of cooking class/cake decorating class sometime this summer or maybe this fall - I took one in high school, but I don't really remember what I learned (if you don't use it you lose it) and I really want to get some skills and get a job in a bakery of some sort. Hmm, I guess we'll see what happens.

Alrighty, I'm off to enjoy my new book - have a wonderful Wednesday everybody!

-audrey