Guess What Today Is!!!!

December 1st! Which means just two short days til Christmas Ball! 14 days til I go home! And 24 days until Christmas! Holla! :) This means I can officially listen to Christmas music and decorate my room/ office...those I've been doing that all year long :) Merry Christmas!

MY Very First Pair of Toms!

I had been wanting to buy a pair of Toms for a while now, but I recently went on the website and looked through the different pairs that they have. I think that Toms provides a great way for people to enjoy something for themselves while also helping those in need. If you don't know the Toms story, check it our here! Can't wait til I receive my pair and when the person who receives their from my purchase! God bless!

In Honor of 52 Days Before Christmas....

Here is an amazing Christmas compilation of Mr. Buble's Christmas Album! Wooohooo! Merry Christmas everyone! Blessings!

Students to Sport Pink for Cancer Awareness

Students to Sport Pink for Cancer Awareness

Click above to see an article that was written about Breast Cancer Awareness month at Regent U! Several of the girls on my floors (including me!) are featured in it. Share the article please! It was so fun spreading information about breast cancer and being able to do it in a fun way. As you may already know, my wardrobe consists of mainly pink items and its my favorite color. I was very happy to dress in all pink. Can't wait for the All Pink UnChapel! Woooohoooo! Team Pink!

Fall Is Here!!!

(Image from Smashing Arts...click to see more)

Fall is definitely here! And living in a state where they fully experience fall is great! Pumpkin lattes, brightly colored leaves, cool & crisp weather, fancy scarves, and even a touch of classical music lilting through the air are all things that come along with the fall season. Christmas is right around the corner, but please take a moment to sit and enjoy the beauty that God gives us through fall. Upon a recent Stumble Upon adventure, I found a website that included several wonderful pictures that depict fall in its glory! I posted my favorite picture above. I wish I lived there :) Blessings my darlings!

A Pretty Picture :)

Red nails :)

Fall Break...Schmall Break :)

Heeeellllooooo! Well, you'e caught me on the tail end of my Fall Break here at Regent University. It has been busy, but still great! Here are just a few highlights of my week.

1) No school. Obviously.

2) Again....no school. Obviously.

3) A's in both of my classes! I aced Shakespeare! Huzzah!

4) The apartment is now clean. Both my wonderful roommate and I have super long curly hair and it tends to get everywhere. Our apartment usually stays pretty clean but we hardly have time to scrub it down weekly. So I took the chance to do just that.

5) While doing the afore mentioned cleaning, I happened to have a BATTLE ROYALE with hundreds of ants that decided to pour out of my bathtub drain. I won the battle, just so you know :)

6) Ordering books. I actually enjoy this part of my break because it gives me a chance to feel refreshed about the classes that I will be taking.

7) Spending time with Stephen. We got to see Regent's stage production of The Three Musketeers. I loved it! And spending time with him is so much fun!

8) We were going to see the Civil Wars in concert, but the concert was postponed so that trip will happen later this year. Yay!

9) No school. And, yes, it was necessary for me to say this three times.

10) Having a sweet, quiet weekend just chilling, even if that did mean staying sort of busy :)

Have a wonderful week, lovelies!

Things I Love: Fall Edition

Lace Scarves...I'm wearing one right now :)

The new show, Pan Am. There's something so wonderful about this era of the airline stewardess

Deliciousness in a cup...otherwise known as Peppermint Mochas :)

Great music from the Civil Wars...fits perfectly into the Fall season

He Is Jealous For Me

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me


And O how He loves us
Oh, O how He loves us
How He loves us all

-David Crowder Band

Complaining? Stop It!

Recently, I have contemplated, struggled, dealt, thought about (whatever have you) with complaining. I think I've been a big complainer. Wah this, Wah that...whine whine whine. I noticed that complaining was really dragging me down spiritually. Anything I have in this life is EXTRA. I really only need God's love and what He provides. So complaining only shows how ungrateful I am. We were at the store the other day and it took a really long time for the clerks to check me out of the line with my clothes. My usual self would stand there tapping my foot, constantly checking my phone to check the time, and gripping about how they could move faster. But really, I had no where to be, so what if it took 10 extra minutes to get out of the store? Then, I realized that I had SO MUCH MORE to be THANKFUL for. I'm so glad I have legs to walk around the store; I have arms to put the dress on; I have a mouth to verbalize how much I liked the dress; I have money to buy the dress; I have friends who went shopping with me; Grateful to be in a country where I can wear what I want...do you see where I'm going with this? God gives me so much! And here I am complaining about something trivial and stupid? No no no. I KNOW I can be more thankful and appreciative of the blessings God has given me :) Philippians 2:14-15 says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world...". Thank you, sweet Lord, for this day :)

Book Review for The Help

(Poster from here)

I now this is a long time coming (I apologize!) but I didn't actually finish the book until about a month ago. I did so while on vacation and I ended up leaving the book at home for my mom to read. Yet, I'm so glad that I finally did read it! It was amazing!

Basically, the story follows three women in 1960s Mississippi where prejudice and stereotyping are still very much a normal part of life. Yet, this doesn't stop Skeeter Phelan, Aibileen Clark, and Minny Jackson from realizing that this "normal" way of life is wrong. Phelan is a writer and begins writing stories told by the maids in her town. Aibileen is the older maid who has served for many different families and realizes that a change can be made, but many people are resistant to the change. Minny is a tough maid who serves white families to make a living for her large family. "The Help" hits on notes dealing with the most basic of human rights. My favorite quote from the book is told to a young white girl by Aibileen: "You is KIND, you is SMART, you is IMPORTANT". The book is quite refreshing and bold. It made me laugh and cry and become totally wrapped into the world of the book. DEFINITE must read!!!!


As a college-age writer, I identified with Skeeter Phelan greatly. She is bold and speaks her mind. Though fearful of certain situations, she overcomes self-doubt and insecurities. Prayer and God are big themes within the storyline. It spreads God's word quietly, which allowed for a more personal analysis as I read through the book.

I went and saw the movie with my mom and sister during vacation. I'm not too critical of book-based movies, so The Help was a great addition to the book. I really liked each actors' portrayal of the characters and the visual aspect that the movie brings adds another level of emotion. I recommend reading the book AND seeing the movie.

Tea Mood

Since the weather has been cloudy and rainy and cool, I've been in a tea-drinking mood. Earl grey and English have been my favorites. I even learned how to make an Earl Grey latte (London Fog tea). I've also been thinking about pretty dresses since Christmas Ball is only a few months away. I already have my dress (which I am so excited to wear!) but I stumbled across these beautiful dresses at Lace and Tea. They're so amazing! I'd definitely wear these! I hope you are all enjoying autumn as inspire change as the leaves change :)

My Life Right Now :)

Hey All!

I haven't blogged in a while...oops. I assure you that it wasn't intentional. But I've been so busy! My last blog post was a picture that I took while I was home in Cali. (Which is a great pic, if I do say so myself). I finished up my last day in my previous position at work, then flew home for a 10 day vacation. It was awesome! We spent a lot of time relaxing and even went to Vegas :) And let me tell you, relaxing by the pool was amaaaaaazing. I hadn't relaxed like that in a while. Time at home was good! I loved seeing my family after not seeing them for 8 months. I truly appreciate and love them soooooo much! While at home, I did a lot of shopping. I was transferring into the Reservations Department at work and am no longer required to wear a uniform. So, I needed to expand on my business barbie wardrobe :) I ended up buying two pencil skirts, blazer, black cover-all, frilly shirts, and other business-y items to wear to work.

I love mt new position at work! I was nervous to start making reservations on the phone. But, I jumped in pretty quickly. It's awesome! I love seeing this new aspect of the hotel. And my new co-workers are really nice! I get to decorate my own cubicle soon! And I get to wear a cool headset :)

Classes started up the day after I came back from Cali. I'm taking History of Communication, Shakespeare, and Biology. Classes are going well. It is interesting to balance 40 hrs of work a week plus my full-time class load. But God is MIGHTY! He is helping me get through it :)

Stephen and I are doing well. We started doing Bible studies together twice a week. I definitely missed him while I was in Cali and appreciate his company so much more now because he is a man of God.

I think that's it for now...life is great, life is busy, life is awesome! Many blessings! :)

So Funny!

I found this too hilarious not too post. (If you knew my love for taters tots and silly one liners, you'll know why I posted it haha). Enjoy your Tuesday lovelies!

Battle With A Bug...

News Flash! We just battled a bug. And by we, I mean me, Stephen, and my hallmate Kirsten. Stephen and I had just finished watching a movie and eating dinner, just having a wonderful, tranquil night :) Then, as I'm brushing my teeth, Stephen practically shrieks and says, "There's a bug under your front door!" I lean out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth, just as the bug is exiting back into the hallway. Ewwwwww! As grossed out as I was, I continued to brush my teeth. After much screaming and jumping about (including Stephen jumping onto my bed), I decided to go after it in the hallway with a broom and windex...mhmm, that's how I do it. But both Stephen and I shrieked in the hallway in the middle of the night. I'm sure it was a sight to see. Finally, as the bug tried to drag its windex-covered body into the room of another student, I knocked on her door and she came out. She excused herself from her phone call and smashed the bug with her sudoku book and my pink flip-flop. She then picked it up with a tissue and carted it away (Gooooo Kirsten!!!). The End.

Not really...that was gross. I hate bugs! And that one was one big roach! Gross! Ok. Now, the end.


(Sidenote by Stephen himself: I will run again if not properly prepared to fight a bug as large as that. I once hit a black wasp with a baseball bat [repeatedly] and it did not die.)

We're Having a Heat Wave! A Tropical Heat Wave!

...The temperature's rising, it isn't surprising! It certainly can, can can! That's a line from There's No Business Like Show Business, one of Marilyn Monroe's movies. But the lyric always pops into my head whenever it gets really hot outside. And let me tell you! It is sweltering. Literally, I think Virgina Beach has turned into a sauna. I was surprised that the weather had actually stayed pretty tame, but then it got baaaaaad. Luckily, the first day it was hot, I didn't have work so I didn't have to work during the heat. But today was pretty bad. When I got to work in the morning, it was already feeling way to hot to be 8 a.m. Once noon came around, we were all drinking copious amounts of ice water (and I work inside, mind you). After walking back in shorts and a tank, I was still drenched in sweat (can you say gaaaarrross?). My head was achy and I felt sleepy. Ohma goodness! But I can't complain...in a few months we'll all be wishing the warm weather was back :) Stay cool my peeps! And remember, John 7:37 says, "If any man thirst, let him come into me, and drink". So if you're feeling hot and thirsty, grab a glass of cool water and your Bible :)

Why Is It So Hard For Me to Relax??

When I initially started writing this blog post, I was making my usual (and favorite) cup of hot English tea and making my breakfast (strawberry toaster strudel & leftover manwich). I was off work today after having a full week of work and overtime. I was so excited to have a day to spend relaxing and doing "me" stuff. I got up later than I usually do which was nice because my work schedule has trained me to wake up before 9, which used to be really early for me. But today I woke up at 10:30 and asked myself "What am I gonna do today?!" I knew the apartment needed to be cleaned and I needed to attend a meeting later in the afternoon. So I forced myself out of bed and was in a daze for a minute. I really had no idea what to with the few hours I had. I literally had to force myself to relax. I wanted to start cleaning right away and doing my normal duties. But I knew that I needed to sit and be calm. So I made my tea and food and watched tv. Then Sam Bam came home and we had a good girl chat. After that, I got dressed and started cleaning the apt. It looks so nice and fresh! And a special thanks to my boyfriend who came over (sleep deprived, mind you) and still helped me clean :)

These are two of my favorite verses about resting :)

Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Psalm 73:26
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Be blessed my peeps!

The Civil Wars

So there's this new musical duo that I've discovered. They're called The Civil Wars. Their music is like sitting beneath a huge oak tree whilst hiding from the summer heat. You're sipping on an iced tea and watching the dandelions and fireflies float by as a mild young man sings and plays his guitar. The first song that I heard of theirs is called Barton Hollow which is my favorite so far. The Civil Wars music is so calming and melancholy. Right now, I'm debating buying their album on iTunes for $7.99...it includes 14 songs, so I think that's a good deal! I think that they capture the essence that I sometimes feel as an English major who enjoys sitting with a good cup of tea staring out at the rain and trees. It's like the soundtrack that would play as I explored a big southern mansion. Ahhhh, such good music :)

SOAR. WAS. AWESOME!!!!!

SOAR came and went with the fan fare that we all expected. It was so much fun! I'm glad that I was able to be a part of it :) Because the events are so big, the school split SOAR into two this year. It was great being able to experience it TWICE! I met so many awesome kids who will be attending Regent in the fall, many of which will move into the Commons. I also had a fun time getting to know the other orientation leaders, several of whom I did not get a chance to really hang out with during the school year. Now, they are all good friends! I applied to be a fall orientation leader for when the students come back for move-in weekend. I can't wait to see how God allows me to be a part of Regent! Praise Him! Here's the Team Leader video for SOAR :)

Wow, I'm 22!

Oh my! Can't believe I'm 22! This birthday was so different from the many others that I've had with my family in California. My best friend/roomie Sammi was in PA visiting her boyfriend and most of my other friends were busy (sad day!). AND I had to work. I was determined NOT to have a "bad" birthday even though it was looking kind of bleak. After work, I took a nap then got up and ate spaghettios (great meal huh?). I showered and put on my birthday outfit (new from Forever 21!). I met my boyfriend and friends Briahna and Leila for dinner. It was awesome! We came back to my apt for cake and fun. We had lots of laughs :) Then, Stephen and I watched Pan's Labyrinth, which he had never seen. I HIGHLY recommend it! Overall, the day was a lot more low key than I had originally wanted, but I enjoyed it fully! Can't wait til next year's birthday :)

It's Almost My Birthday!!!!!

Eeeeeeek! I'll be 22 in less than 3 hours! Holla! When I think about this past year, I have changed so much, but only in the most positive ways. I'm so glad that I have amazing family and friends around me :) I already can't wait for my 23rd ;)

My Silly Wonderful Boy :)

Stephen, I appreciate and love you more than you could ever know! :) Thanks for being so wonderful!

Exciting News Concerning School

So guys...I am no longer a journalism minor student. But I'm not bummed about it even though it was part of my original college plan to have that as my minor. During the years that I took online classes with Regent, I took all of my Gen Ed courses and some of my English major courses. Because my English cognate (focus) is multimedia communication, I had been taking many communication classes in conjunction with my other classes. I enjoyed the comm classes so much that I started taking more to fill in the empty elective spots. I waited to take journalism courses until I moved on campus, but it didn't work out to take them right away. After thinking and praying a while about the situation, I decided to drop my journalism minor and pick up a minor in communication. And it just so happened that my academic adviser called me the morning before I wanted to go in to talk with her. How awesome is God?! :) My senior year at Regent will now be filled with a few more English and comm courses and my electives. So now, my new official college title is Juana Lopez, English major with a Multimedia Communication cognate and a Communication Studies Minor. Wow, that's a mouthful!

Beach Day!

My pretty beach nails

Love the feeling of my toes in the sand

The perfect view

Other beach goers

Gettin' a tan!

My temp tat :D

I've been wanting to have a beach day for myself for a while now. I decided to take the shuttle and got up real early to go. And let me tell you, it was hot! Even at 8 in the morning. I took my towel, book (The Help), and a few magazines. I was ready to lay on the sand and stick my toes in the cool water. It was such an amazing time. Th sun started blazing real quick, so when I got too hot, I would run to the water and splash around :) And I saw dolphins!!!! It was so awesome! I flipped out. I enjoyed reading my book then closing my eyes to enjoy rest. The ocean/beach is one of my favorites of God's awesome creation! Being at the beach allowed me to recognize even further how loving and great our God is :)

Dress Shopping!!!!!

Not sure hoooooow we ended up in the pretty dress store, but it happened :) And we enjoyed ourselves so. I would definitely wear a dress like this as my wedding dress. And who knows...maybe my bridesmaid's dresses will be short and cute like the one Sammi is wearing. We also bought smelly (of the good kind) perfume and ate Mickey D's. It was such a fun girl's day! Woooohoooo! Happy June 13th folks!

And So My Summer Begins

The start of my summer :) 1. Me and my boy 2. Me and my girl 3. My wreck journal GO!!!!

Quick Update

I received my box set and The Help today! Started both, can't wait to really get into them!

Night Folks!

TWITTER

I'm on it...follow me. JuanaHLopez. GO!

What I Ordered

So I went a little insane on Amazon last night. Not money insane...I work too hard for my money to do that. I went insane looking at all of the stuff I *wanted* to buy. There is soooo many interesting things on Amazon. I am really started to become interested in Keri Smith's work. She is a writer and an artist and uses her unique skills to create books that the reader can interact with. I saw that Amazon had a boxed set with three of the books she has written. On a whim, I ordered the set instead of just the one book I was originally going to get. The three books are "Wreck This Journal", "Mess", and "This is Not a Book". I am SO excited to get them! And with my Amazon student status (Holla!), the books are being shipped to me sans shipping fees and in ONE day because of another special deal that Amazon tacked on :) As stated in my other blog post, I did order The Help and Water for Elephants. I haven't read books for pleasure in so long! It will be fun to spend crazy time with the interactive journals and also to have quiet tea time with the novels. Can you smell it folks?! It the smell of a booky summmmmmeeeerrrr!

P.S. I just had a freak out moment after remembering that I have to actually wreck the journal...uh oh ;)

2....Days...Off

Finally! I get free time! I almost forgot what that was! Here are a few things I'm looking forward to. The first is hang time with my wonderful boyfriend. I love spending time with him so much! The second is ordering stuff off of Amazon for summer time. A few of them will be books. I'm excited to get my wreck journal. Christen Allocco wrote a post about hers so I can't wait to wreck mine ;) I'll also order two books, Water for Elephants and The Help. They both look like really good movies and I haven't read a book for leisure in a while. It'll be fun! Book updates coming soon! The third thing I'm excited for is being in my new apartment room! It's so cute! :)

The Royal Wedding

Aren't they so cute?!?! I did not wake up early to watch it, but I did have work the next morning so I watched TLC's coverage of the wedding. I was super excited to see clips and photos of the young couple. (Yes, I'm one of those girls who facebook stalks couple when they're getting married). I think Kate looked so beautiful in her dress and loved seeing William in his blues. There was soooooo so sooooo SO much fanfare over the wedding. It was insane! But it made the experience that more exciting. Their love story is inspiring and I can't wait to have a Royal Wedding of my own ;)

"We're going to chapel...and we're gonna get maaaaaarrrriiiiieddd"

Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! And they did :D

I absolutely love this picture! It's so regal and the little kids are so cute!

Like Ken and Barbie...but not

Her dress was gorgeous! Love the lace!

I Finished Another Semester!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaah! School is out for the summer! I am free, I am free! Thank you JESUS!

Things to look forward to:

1. Moving into a new room with SAMMI!
2. Lots of baby geese in the pond
3. Tans
4. Beach
5. No school!
6. My bday!

Huh? Where Am I?

Apparently, I have no idea. These last few days have been a blur because of work and school. Even as I sit on my bed chilling with some Earl Grey, my mind feels foggy. I definitely need to sleep in sometime. I'm cooking up a chicken patty so I can make some homemade Chick-Fil-A.

On a side note:

1. Stephen got me wonderful pink roses and surprised me with them after I got off work.
2. We had an amazing storm last night. The news even put out tornado alerts. Sammi and I sat for a while and watched the torrential rains and spectacular lightening. We even whimpered when the thunder got too loud...we're such girls :)
3. Ace Ventura is on and I love it! "Rehehehehehehelllllly!"

I Worked Out Again...

And my butt hurts! And by butt, I mean my whole body. I must've worked out even harder yesterday because I could hardly stand to walk when I left the gym. To make it worse, I had to wear high heels to the Mocktails event. Oh. My. Goodness. That was bad. But, hey, at least I looked good ;) Anywho, today, my body felt better. It still hurts to walk down the stairs, so I might skip the hardcore workout today and just stretch. Buuuuuut, I might be craving a fresh outdoor run later on :) Ahhhhh, well, for now I must think about the debate we have in a hour...

First Day's Workout

I've been feeling quite down lately...nothing serious, just those pre-Spring blues. I'm usually cooped up inside doing schoolwork or working and haven't done anything super fun. Today at work, when I was feeling all melancholy, I decided that I wanted to go for a run once I finished at work. I used to be very good at working out and playing sports several times a week. I'm naturally petite and have a fast metabolism; weight has never been a big issue for me. After moving away to college, I gained 10 pounds, which isn't that big of a deal, but it points toward the fact that I don't eat as well as I used to and that I don't keep fit like before. So after work, I changed into my workout clothes, turned on my iPod, and headed out the door. I ran all the way around campus...I'm guessing about a mile and half. Once I finished running, I laid out on a big grass lawn to stretch and dance and just have some plain 'ol fun in the fresh air. The weather was amazing and I could hear the birds chirping. My body burned in pain, but it was a good pain :p I haven't felt that good in a while. It was so freeing! I loved it so much that I plan on working out outside every other day, weather and schedule permitting. I also want to pick up dance again as a form of exercise. I am so glad that God blessed me with that today! :)

SOAR - LIME TEAM!!!!!!!!

My color is Lime! We Win!!!!! As you can tell, I'm super excited to be a SOAR leader...especially since I attended training today. Ayeyeyeyeye, God has definitely blessed me with this opportunity! P.S. SOAR stands for Summer Orientation and Registering...oh. Silly me! Here's a video from last year's SOAR :)

Recap

So I told ya'll that I'll be a student orientation leader for Regent's SOAR program...which I think stands for Student Orientation About Regent, hahahaha :) The program starts late June and lasts a week. I'm super excited to work with the other OLs while orienting new students. We get to wear awesome Regent shirts and hang out with these cool new students! Since it will be super hot outside, I'd like to incorporate some sort of water sport into the orientation. Let's show everyone how awesome we are! On a different note, I'll be glad to work with Student Services. I'm hoping that they will like me enough to consider me for a part-time or even a full-time (Jesus please!) job. That'd be amazing! It'd be such a blessing to work for the school that I love. On another different note, I'm creeping outside of my boyfriend's psych class...it's fun :)

Introducing Your Newest SOAR Orientation Leader!

Yay! I'm so excited to be an "OL" this summer! Eeeeeeeee! :) Thank you Jesus! I'll post on this later, but I just wanted to update ya'll! Wooohooo!

Rain Rain...Come Back!

We've been having gloomy dreary weather at school. I usually like it since it means torrential rain and cool thunderstorms. Yesterday, it rained in the morning, but it was more like a mist than a rainstorm. The weather report said it would rain/snow today, but when I got up the roads were wet, but it wasn't raining! Oh come on! I need it to rain...it helps me relax and it is so soothing. Ok, rant over. I like rain. The End :)

My Day :)

Ok, so I just wanted to tell ya'll about my day since it was a particularly an interesting one ;) I went to work. Work was long. I planned to walk to Chick-Fil-A with my boyfriend after I finished at work...I had been craving a spicy chicken sandwich alllll week. But after walking 100 feet outside, we decided it was far too cold to walk a mile each way. I sulked and went back inside. I made myself some tea and sat down to read some blogs. Suddenly, someone knocked on my door. It was Stephen with a bag of Chick-Fil-A!!!! I have an amazing boyfriend ;) I took a nap and woke up in time to go to our hall event, which was to be an awesome video scavenger hunt! When I got there, only Christen and Stormie were there. We attempted to round up a lot more people in order to play the game, but it never worked out. So we decided just to go to dinner and have girl fellowship time. We decided on Chick-Fil-A, but since I had already eaten that for dinner, I got a strawberry banana milkshake. So yummy! We had such a great time talking about God and Regent :) Love you ladies! (On a side note, the Chick-Fil-A cow came out and freaked us out....). Afterwards, we decided that we would have the scavenger hunt tomorrow. It'll be so much fun! Now, I'm sitting on my bed watching Vanity Fair and preparing to proofread my Argumentation paper. Night everyone! :)

Wow, 200 Posts!

Happy 200th Post to my blog! :) So I bought myself a present...not really. But I did get this cool-tastic t-shirt! Yeeeeeeaaaaah!!!!!