Happy Friday friends! I hope you all had great weeks and are ready for a fun Halloween weekend. I think I am going to have a relaxed Halloweekend...complete with scary movies, snacks and face masks galore (my new favorite beauty treat!). Let me know what you will be doing in the comments below!

For this five on Friday, I have picked out five links that I come across this week (and last!) and hope you will enjoy them just as much as I did!

1) Misunderstanding about Introverts

At one point this week, I got stuck on the "Introvert" subreddit page on Reddit for an hour, just looking through the forum at different thoughts/opinions/stories of all the introverts that post there. I was just fascinated because I never realized how much of my personality is related to the fact that I am an introvert. For example, I love spending time with my friends (i.e. homecoming last weekend) but after a while, I like spending time by myself to recharge and get recollected/centered (hence why I cherished my alone time this week). I did more research into introverts and came across this article about common misunderstandings about introverts and I related so much to all of them! Anyone else an INTJ here?

2. Marvel Calender
Earlier this week, I watched Avengers 2 with my roommates (one of which is a HUGE Marvel fan) and afterwards, we were discussing what was the next Marvel movie to come out. We did a little research and found this great schedule of when all the movies are set to come out for the next few years. I know it'll probably be just a really small segment of you that'll check out the schedule of movie releases, but if it helps one person, I will be glad!

3. Star Wars Trailer 
 I know this was so last week, but I forgot to mention it in last week's post...but wasn't the new Star Wars trailer amazing? I am so excited for the movie, and its really all John can talk about. He is so excited in fact, he already bought me and my family tickets for the movie as everyone will be here in VA for my graduation because I graduate the day after the movie comes out. You can guess which event John is more excited about (if you say my graduation...you're probably wrong!).

4. 18 of Coach Taylor's Best Quotes

I finished Friday Night Lights yesterday and then spent an obscene amount of time looking through Buzzfeed at all the FNL quizzies and articles. My favorite was this article that listed out 18 of Coach Taylor's (*swoon*) best quotes. He is so inspirational! Also, according to the Buzzfeed, my soulmate is Matt Saracen, lucky me!!

5. Helene In Between's Post about Photo Editing
Helene's post on photo editing yesterday really helped to introduce to me the other photo editing websites and computer apps that are out there to edit with. I am usually a dedicated PicMonkey user, but off of her recommendation, I had to try Canva! I played around with it last night (see the picture quotes above, haha) and loved how easy it was to use and all the different fonts/layouts available. From now on I will definitely be switching back and forth between the two! Thanks Helene!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

I Read...Bossypants by Tina Fey

Have you ever been reading a book and had to look over your shoulder because you thought the words on the page were only applicable to you, so someone must be following you and writing down your every move? No? Just me? Okay, well thats exactly how I felt reading Bossypants by the one and only amazing Tina Fey.

If you have read this blog for while, you might have noticed that my kindred spirit lies in Liz Lemon, who is Tina Fey's character on 30 Rock. Even before watching 30 Rock, I had a special place in my heart for Ms. Fey because of her characters on Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls, and Baby Mama. She is absolutely one of my favorite actresses, because she is hilarious of course and because she is such a clever writer.

Now I am a little embarrassed to call myself such a huge Tina Fey fan, but then tell you that it took me almost 3 years to finally sit down and read her memoir. But nonetheless, her memoir sounded a bit like what I think mine would sound like...minus SNL, the wit, and the fame obviously. What I mostly related to was the anxious, paranoid, and sarcastic personality she clearly potrays through her writing. As silly as it sounds, I was actually laughing out loud while reading this book, which was awkward at some points because I was sitting on a very crowded plane. Once I finished the book, I actually just got a pen out of my purse, flipped back to the beginning of the book and started to read it again. But the second time, I underlined or starred all the lines/parts that made me laugh or that I related to the most. In one part, she describes being on her honeymoon with her husband on a cruise, when the ship has a fire and everyone has to go out onto the deck so that the cabins can be checked. While anxiously thinking that a fire on a boat obviously means that its about to explode, she writes, "I'll be ready for it to happen, that way it won't happen. It's a burden, being able to control situations with my hyper-vigilance, but its my lot in life" (pg 97). Finally I have found someone else who believes they they can control situations by prepare for something to happen so that in turn the universe does the opposite!

So now I have this book that is completely marked up because just everything she wrote is just loaded with humor and genuine personality. If you have a "books to read" list, then definitely add this to it. If you don't have a "books to read" list, then write "Bossypants by Tina Fey" on a piece of paper, and voila! You have a "books to read" list!

*This post does contain affiliate links* 

I Bleed Purple & Gold

What an exhausting weekend! Homecoming totally kicked my butt this year and I wish I could sleep for the rest of the week. Between all the commotion about ESPN, excitement about seeing all my visiting friends, and prepping for our tailgate, I felt like I was running around all week to prepare. By the time the weekend rolled around, I was ready to have fun!

Friday
Since our first guest (out of 7!) wasn't going to be at our apartment until 4, I was able to spend most of the day getting ready (aka cleaning my room) and baking cookies for our tailgate on Saturday. On a side note from that, I used the recipe on the back of the TollHouse Chocolate Chips bag and the cookies (in my humble opinion) were delish! After I had consumed half the dough, I finally got them cooked and cooling, just in time to get myself presentable for our first guest to arrive! All of our alumni friends (sorority sisters!) trickled in throughout the rest of the evening from the various states they were coming from. We headed to a favorite Mexican restaurant of mine for dinner where we all caught up from the last time we had seen each other (we had seen some in September and everyone in July). This dinner was the first time I think I had relaxed all week! Afterwards, we decided to have a chill night in our apartment playing games since we had to #GetUp4GameDay early the next morning.

Saturday
We were able to get everyone fed and out the apartment by 8:45 and to the quad by 9 to see ESPN's College Game Day! Although we had briefly considered it, we didn't camp out overnight on the quad to get into the front row...I don't think I could have stayed outside when the temperature has been starting to get so low at night. Predictably, there was already a massive crowd by the time we got there, but we just joined in and eventually (over the next 2 hours) made our way pretty close to the stage!

Front view of the stage

As close as we got to behind the stage, aka the backdrop of the show!

Squished in the crowd!

The energy campus was just incredible. Everyone was just SO proud to be JMU students or alumni and at one point I got a little teary because I was so happy to be apart of something so unifying. After we had grown a little too claustrophobic in the crowd, we made our way to our old sorority house for a brunch. It was nice to see younger sisters living in the house and then older ones who had graduated before me. Of course, took many pictures in our old rooms (I had lived in the house for 2.5 years so I had three different rooms over that time!) and reminisced about the time we had spent there. Basically the definitely of homecoming weekend, right?! Next, we made our way to the tailgate spot that one of my roommates had claimed the night before. There was so much yummy food and drinks that we stayed there for the next few hours. I had an absolute blast and got to catch up with more alumni, which was so nice! Once the game started, we headed back to the apartment to nap and watch the game (tickets sold out before everyone in our group was able to get them). Chinese food was ordered, naps were taken, and boos were yelled when the University of Richmond Spiders beat out our JMU Dukes. We had been talking about possibly going out downtown, but then figured that it would be so crowded that we could have an equally as fun time at home playing fun games and enjoying some wine. My favorite game was the one where everyone gets a post-it placed on their forehead with a character or thing written on it, and you have to ask yes/no questions to figure out who/what you have! After playing and watching TV, I crawled into bed exhausted from the long day!

Look at all the signs in the background! They were hilarious! 

Sunday
Our guests were out the door by 11am and unfortunately I got started working on homework so I could just get it over with. Afterwards, I just watched a movie, enjoyed leftover Chinese food and got caught up on American Horror Story with one of my roommates! The highlight of my day was getting a reply on Twitter from one of my favorite bloggers, Julia Engel, who is Gal Meets Glam. I was a complete fangirl about it and told one of my roommates who didn't really think it was all that cool...so I am telling you all since I know there will be at least one who will fangirl with me!

This weekend I laughed until my stomach hurt, ate all the food, got to have my school on national TV, and spent time with my friends so what else could a girl ask for? I am glad this weekend was such a success and I am already looking forward to next year's homecoming where I will finally be able to call myself an alumni of JMU!

5 Exciting Things

Happy Friday people! I hope this week was a breeze for you and that you have exciting plans for the weekend. My weekend plans are a part of the five exciting things that I have to tell you about so lets get on with this five on Friday!

1. My visit home
A few weeks ago, I was able to rearrange my schedule a bit to be able to fly home for a long weekend...actually a really long weekend (Wednesday- Monday). Since it has been hard for me in the past to get home during September/October, it had been a few years since I had seen Maine in the fall. However it was just as beautiful as I remembered. I was even excited when the weather was a bit chilly, because it made the visit just a perfect fall weekend. We went apple picking as a family (but really, the best part was the warm donuts we bought there!) John and I were able to have a date night out at one of our favorite restaurants, and I was able to visit with friends who I hadn't seen since I left to go back to school in August. But most importantly, I saw my cats and dog! Obviously, the weekend went by so fast...Since I was able to do so much though, I was satisfied when I was leaving and just reminded myself that in order to come back, I had to leave first!

John looks so #fall in this picture and I love it! 

My little brothers aren't so little anymore! 

2. Senior Capstone
Last week was my last week of my senior capstone for nursing! At JMU, for eight weeks, we get to to a nurse preceptor one-on-one and we get to follow their schedule and learn from/work with them. I worked 3p-3a (hence my trouble keeping up with writing) in an emergency department, and to say I learned a lot is an understatement. I love the pace and the turn over of patients, and I love that I can see a whole range of issues in just one shift. What I found difficult was patients who weren't pleased with waiting and also getting myself acclimated to working a partial night shift. However, towards the end of my eight weeks, I really found myself enjoying the night aspect and I was able to get used to the schedule. I started to feel like a real nurse and I was loving it!

3. Rocking my practice exam
On my days off for the past eight weeks, I was studying because in order to actually become a registered nurse, I have to pass a licensure exam (the NCLEX) after I graduate. In the past few weeks, I really amped up my studying as I had a special practice exam this week that is designed to predict whether or not we will pass the NCLEX. Although I was super nervous and felt like all the studying I had done hadn't stuck in my brain, I did a great job on the exam and according to this test, I have a really good chance of passing the NCLEX....Will that stop me from continuing to study like crazy and stress about having to take a licensure exam? No. But was it nice to know that my study habits must be effective and that I can continue doing my thing? You bet!

Just a few of my review books...

4. Homecoming weekend 
This weekend at JMU is homecoming! We have a bunch of people coming to stay at our apartment and plans to tailgate the game tomorrow. But what is different about this homecoming weekend, compared to past years, is that the ESPN College GameDay show is being filmed live on our campus on tomorrow! Its a big deal for us, because we aren't a big SEC school or one that gets a lot of attention so this is definitely JMU's chance to shine and maybe get more notice for the future. So if you are bored Saturday morning between 9-12...turn on ESPN and watch to see my beautiful campus!

Throwback to homecoming last year!

5. Future exciting plans
I love this time of year because there is so much happening all in a short span of time. We have Halloween coming up, and then a few weeks after, my family is coming to visit. Next, I have a good chunk of time off for Thanksgiving. After, I come back to school for just a few weeks and then I GRADUATE! I am so ready and so incredibly excited to finally be done with school and get on into the working world. I can't wait to get started as a nurse once I pass my exam and finally put to use, all the things I have learned!

Obviously Liz Lemon is the only one who can depict my emotions most accurately. via

I just realized that I basically wrote a novel for today's post, and I understand that since it's Friday you might be too tired to read it all. So if you're skipping to the end, I will do a TL;DR for you...many exciting things have happened, and many exciting things are coming up. You're welcome! Also, I promise to be back next week to talk about TV and my mascara. Are you excited because I am!