hey guys! finally back from florida. it took us 22 hours to get there and who knows how long to get back. it's all very exciting..get ready for a day by day overview. ready? here we go..... *TUES. DEC. 28: left school a little after 6pm on a coach bus that was all around very nice but a little crowded and not very suitable for sleeping. i loaded my huge suitcase, big bag of shoes, and enormous carry-on and sat next to curt. we stopped for dinner that night..heck if i can remember where. oh yeah, and since the annoying people at the back of the bus wouldn't shut up i got about an hour of sleep total. curt and i were watching for road signs all night to try and figure out where we were..only to realize that we'd been in gorgia for a good hour already. it was great. *WED. DEC. 29: ate breakfast at mcdonald's - bleh never again. drove some more and ate lunch. FINALLY got to jacksonville, florida..so many palm trees! we stayed at the hilton inn hotel which was gorgeous if i must say so. stayed on the 2nd floor and had to take the stairs to get to the room b/c the elevators were congested..no worries though b/c we had the help of one of the staff at the hotel...nice people they were. i roomed with brit, emily, and kelley..foreshadowing major conflict..grreeaaattt. WAH..ok so that night we went on a dinner cruise on the river which was just amazing. the view was beautiful, the food was good, and there was dancing involved. wah oh! lol. i got one of those characatures done (sp?) and when i told him my name the music was blaring so of course he heard brenda and not amanda..so it says brenda at the top..haha woops. ah yes, and at about this time i'm finally realizing that curt really likes me. so after the cruise i told him that my friend really liked him & that's why i couldn't..which was the truth at the time. *****just wanna thank u for reading this..i know it's long but hang in there!!*********** THURS. DEC. 30: disappointing breakfast at the hotel & then off to st. augustine. it was really beautiful there, we went shopping at the little shops on the street and ate pizza for lunch where we had the pleasure of sitting by this incredibally hot guy. anyways..i bought some jewelry, a shirt, some postcards, and a turtle stuffed animal..of course! we left there and drove back to jacksonville where we spent some time on the beach. it surprisingly made up for the whole marching band season..the beach..gah! did some more shopping and bought super cute flip flops. hah..then we went go-carting and played laser tag. mucho fun! oh yeah..and i called my friend that liked curt and she told me she was fine w/ whatever happened and it wasn't a big deal. good but bad for me. hmmm.. *FRI. DEC. 31: ewwwwwww.....3 hour long mass band rehearsal..gross. met a guy named john that goes to lafayette..but woopdeedoo not that cute. it's all good though. bleh..then marched in a 2 mile long parade which kinda sucked but other ppl liked it so whatever. showered and went to a new years eve awards ceremony/dinner/dance which was quite amazing. by this time curt was still touchy even after i told him bout the whole friend thing. he said he really likes me but doesn't want a gf right now b/c of snowboarding so of course i was expecting to be off the hook..but no, he still likes me..crap. CAN'T I JUST BE FRIENDS WITH A GUY W/OUT ANYTHING ELSE?! guess not.. anyways the dancing was tons of fun and a few mins. before midnight i sat down to call my eldon friends only to find that everyone went to patrick's house b/c he had just had surgery and couldn't go anywhere. so i talked to all of them AND patrick..GAH! he makes me weak..honestly i was giggling the whole time and my voice became all abstract and everyone at my table was like who's manda talkin to? w/ curious looks on their faces..i gave him my #'s which aparently he didn't have..news to me. he tricked me into thinking he was justin..he knows i'm gullable. i thirst for that kind of lighthearted joking..he does it so well. i know it's gonna hurt but he's worth it. ~The love of a lifetime, Since we were elementary friends; The one with the bright eyes.. Why can't I be optimistic? I tried to find the logic logically.~ =jason mraz= SAT. JAN. 1, 2005: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! rehearsed again for band, went to the gator bowl and then performed. i did bad but nobody could possibly notice..there were tons of band geeks playing right beside me. sat down back in the stands and the drama w/ my roommates had begun. bleh..i don't even want to get into it but let's just say i was the only one in the room who wasn't enemies with someone. when we got back to the hotel there was about an hour or so of screaming and yelling throughout which i tried to ignore and just go on packing my things. oh yeah..and i also impulsively ate my way up to 10 lbs heavier..not really but that's how i feel. *SUN. JAN. 2: got to sleep in and then get all my stuff downstairs and loaded on the buses. took forever and didn't leave till about 45 mins. after we were supposed to. drove drove drove and had lunch at kfc. drove some more and while we were on our way to dinner our instrument truck hit the bus in front of it in front of us so that stalled us about another 45 mins or so. this whole time i'm sitting by curt and i'm kinda just mad in general b/c he likes me and i like patrick..don't ask but guys that like me make me mad. we finally made it to dinner..another golden corral..i hate buffets..and got back on the bus. bus bus bus, drive drive drive, boring boring boring. stopped at some gas stations, watched some movies, finally slept due to mr. villines finally yelling at the back of the bus. had 3 people throw up..1 on our bus and 2 on the other. drove drove drove and FINALLY made it home only to unload the bus and load my car in the rain. and here i am finally clean and unpacked telling you all about my week. i honestly think this is the longest entry i've written. and i feel like shopping. ready set go! **i love you guys mucho..thanks to those who did comment on my last entry or even took the time to read this one** :) God bless, *manda* smilers they never lose oh and frowners they never win