Wes Bentley

Cass thinks he's ugly, I think she's crazy.

Before the Hunger Games movie, I had never heard of Wes Bentley. But after seeing him as Seneca Crane, I won't be forgetting him any time soon.

I cannot be the only one who finds him tremendously attractive.

At first I thought it was the beard {which is, after all, insanely awesome}. So I decided to find some other shots of him. And guess what?

He's still hott. {Hey, Aaron. Two Ts ;P}

I don't know much about his personal life, except that he was married for eight years and has a two-year-old son. He was also a drug addict, but he's allegedly recovering.

I don't really doubt that he was, but he sure doesn't LOOK like a drug addict XD

Ohhhh yes. And, as always, you're welcome.

~Stephanie

ilovethese.

1. Linkin Park

2. 2Cellos

3. Relient K

4. As I Lay Dying

5. Shinedown

6. Evanescence

7. Dead by April

8. Florence + the Machine

9. All-American Rejects

10. KoRn

What was the first song you ever heard by 6?
{Evanescence} I think Bring Me to Life on Aaron's blog.

What is your favorite song of 8?
{Florence} Five-way tie? :3 Seven Devils, No Light No Light, Drumming Song, Howl, Cosmic Love.

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life?
{Linkin Park} Ooh. Huge. I actually did a post on this. Linkin Park put into words what I couldn't when I was going through dark stuff.

What are your favorite lyrics of 5?
{Shinedown} "I created the sound of madness." ~ Sound of Madness

or

"Just like a crow chasing the butterfly, dandelions lost in the summer sky. When you and I were getting high as outer space, I never thought you'd slip away. I guess I was just a little too late." ~ The Crow and the Butterfly

How many times have you seen 4 live?
{As I Lay Dying} Ah. Zero. But dang. I'd love to.

What is your favorite song of 7?
{Dead by April} I'm gonna cheat again: Trapped, Angels of Clarity, Carry Me.

Is there any song of 3 that makes you sad?
{Relient K} Oh yeah, a lot of Mmhmm and some of Let It Snow Baby, but it's a great kind of sad, so I don't know if that counts as "sad"...

What is your favorite song by 9?
Probably Can't Take It.

How did you first get into 2?
{2Cellos} My friend Jesse mentioned them, and then when I was at a youth rally I saw a video of them.

How did you first get into 3?
{Relient K} Hm. I think my dad just brought home a CD of them when I was like eight and he and I got really into them.

What is your favorite song by 4?
{As I Lay Dying} Dang. It's between Forsaken and I Never Wanted, however, I don't know as much of their stuff as I'd like to. I'm working on it.

How many times have you seen 9 live?
{All-American Rejects} Again, none XD

What is a good memory concerning 10?
{KoRn} Um? XD Well, one time when I was listening to Chi, Sarah thought some of the lyrics had "bluebird" in them. I'm still not sure how she got that.

Is there a song by 8 that makes you sad?
{Florence} Hm. Not really.

What is your favorite song of 1's?
{Linkin Park} Cheat? Papercut, Hit the Floor, Easier to Run, Breaking the Habit, Numb, What I've Done, Valentine's Day, Leave Out All the Rest. It is SO HARD for me to pick favorite songs. They all mean different things at different times, and some songs mean more at different times... *sigh*

How did you become a fan of 10?
{KoRn} Sam.

Alright, I'mma give this to the guys: Jay, Aaron, Sam, Jordan, Jamie, Late Phoenix, and any other guy reading this.

Sam, I know you don't blog, but you mentioned starting. So. Start.

~Stephanie

Typical Friday Night

Dance competition in one week. I should get my bridesmaid dress for Ellie's wedding, I guess. Assuming the wedding is still on at this point. Aeneid memorization due in 5 days. I wonder if she IS still getting married. I haven't talked to her since January. Three hours of dance practice tonight. I don't have a costume for competition. I haven't read my theology assignment yet. Dance practice from 10am to 3pm TOMORROW. I'm starting to resent my life. Two weeks worth of Spanish homework needs to get done today. We may have to get a hotel room because my solo is at 8:03 in the morning and the competition is like three hours away--

Sarah: "Hey, Steph, Momma and Daddy think they're going to be home after six, so they said we should just cook the pizza for dinner and not wait for them so you can get to dance on time."

Me: "Okay."

Sarah: "We just had pizza for lunch though. Do you mind having it again?"

Me: "No. I like pizza."

Sarah: "Okay, what time do you want to eat?"

Me: "We, like, just had lunch."

Sarah: "That was five hours ago."

Me: "Oh. Okay. I'll eat whenever."

Sarah: "How much time do you think it'll take you to eat?"

Me: "I don't know. Not long."

Sarah: "I'll make the pizza."

Me: "Awesome."

Sarah: "When do you want me to start it?"

Me: "Sarah, I don't care. I'm not even hungry right now. I can't think about that."

Sarah: "Like, 6ish--"

Me: "How about I'll just have a sandwich. You can fix the pizza whenever you want it."

Sarah: "No, just tell me what time you want to eat."

Me: "I don't know. I'm not even hungry. I don't even care at all."

Sarah: "Well you have to care at ALL--"

Me: "CAN I PLEASE JUST HAVE A SANDWICH SO YOU'LL STOP TALKING TO ME?"

Sarah: *is offended*

*sigh* Sometimes, you just have to roll with life.

~Stephanie

The Best To Do List Ever

A strange bucket list compiled by yours truly from various sources, including my mind.

1. Wear a shirt that says "Life" and hand out lemons on the street.

2. Have a food fight.

3. Sleep on a trampoline.

4. Get a tattoo.

5. Make a grilled cheese sandwich with an iron. {Benny and June :)}

6. If I become a teacher, make a test where all the answers are "C" >:)

7. Have a caricature drawn of me and not be sad when my nose is massive.

8. Put vanilla pudding in a mayonnaise jar and eat it in public.

9. Never taste alcohol.

10. Dress up as Waldo and go to the mall.

11. Ride in a hot air balloon.

12. Turn around in an office chair and say, "I've been expecting you."

13. Go zorbing.

14. Egg something.

15. Dye my hair.

16. Walk into a store, ask what year it is, and then run out screaming, "IT WORKED!" after someone answers.

17. Ride on a llama. Or a camel.

18. Go skinny-dipping.

19. Write a book that I think is amazing.

20. Teach a parrot to say, "Help! I've been turned into a parrot!"

~Stephanie

Alicia

I can't remember if I've ever talked about my friend Alicia, like maybe when I posted journal entries from the Europe trip. If I didn't, or if you weren't reading back then, I'll tell you about her now.

She's from Oregon and we met the first night in Spain. We were roommates.

My first thought: "She looks weird and she's probably going to hate me because I'm feeling cranky and homesick and will not be a lot of fun. Oh well. At least this is just for one night."

Only then I got paired with her for our homestay, and ended up being with her for three days straight in a tiny Spanish apartment with a family that spoke no English. And guess what?

We became best friends.

The whole rest of the trip, it was "Stephanie and Alicia." We sat together, ate together walked together, shopped together. We told each other secrets and used each others' hotel rooms if one of us got paired with a weird roommate. She saw me laugh, cry, cuss, panic, learn, go off on people, make amends, try new foods, and do scary things.

I became closer to her in three weeks than I'd become with anyone {besides Cass} in my whole life. It's amazing what tense situations can do for bonding. They accelerate it 150%.

Having the luck I do with relationships, I didn't become best friends with anyone from my state. Of course not. That would be too easy. No, I had to become best friends with a girl who lives 2,810 miles away. That's 47 hours.

Of course.

We parted ways the last day of the trip. Neither of us cried. We'd known it was coming. It sucked, but we had to walk away. I neatly retracted my heart and told her 'bye. We said we'd see each other again, but I didn't really believe that. People make promises like that all the time; they mean them in the moment, but eventually someone doesn't care anymore and the promise dissolves.

But guess what?

That didn't happen O_O

And now she's coming here, to my state, to my town, to my very own house, and she's gonna live with us for a week.

I don't even think it's sunk in yet. I've known for about a month that yes, it is actually happening, but...I still feel sort of numb to the whole thing :) My head is excited though :D

So, don't expect to see me around much until this time next week. I have posts scheduled for every day, but I won't be commenting :)

Send a virtual wave and greeting to Alicia!

~Stephanie

It's Not Supposed to Feel Like This

It's not supposed to feel like this.

Hearing my parents say, "We'll support you whatever you decide" isn't supposed to be the most terrifying thing I've ever heard.

Getting Wait Listed at the only university I've passionately pursued for seven years isn't supposed to feel okay.

Getting accepted to a school three and a half hours away that I'd never previously heard of and whose colors are purple and freaking orange isn't supposed to feel like...a possibility?

Six months ago, wanting to go to Wake Forest was the surest decision I'd ever made. I was positive. I felt great about it. I loved the campus; I loved the students I met; I loved the educational philosophy.

Both my parents went to Wake. It has a dance program. It has a law school. It's near my amazing dance teacher's branch of the studio, and she's already said she'd hire me part time if I go to Wake.

It's close to my family, my church, my town, and my friends.

There was hardly a decision to make. I wanted to go to Wake Forest. I told everyone. EVERYONE knows. Everyone thought I could get in.

But then a few months ago, I heard about Furman. It's basically "the Wake Forest of SC." Same philosophy, apparently a beautiful campus, and the professors are supposed to be more interesting than Wake's.

As soon as I heard about Furman, I didn't want to hear any more. I never wanted to hear the name "Furman" again. I got this terrible feeling that it would be a good school for me. And suddenly I had to consciously not think about it so that Wake could keep it's place in my mind and heart.

But for some reason, I applied to both Wake Forest AND Furman.

A week or so ago, I got accepted to Furman.

Last Saturday, I got Wait Listed at Wake Forest.

They tell you to keep submitting stuff to Wake, maybe go for another interview, and we actually talked to the provost emeritus. He's on my side. He's gonna "make some inquiries" for us.

But the thing is, I don't find out if I got accepted off their Waiting List until AFTER May 1. Guess when I have to tell Furman if I accept their admission? May 1.

So right here, right now, I have to make a choice. Do I go where I've dreamed, prayed, wished, wanted, KNOWN to go for so long? Or do I throw out all my plans and plunge into this newcomer school that captured my sixth sense somehow?

My parents will support me in whatever decision I make. And for once in my life, I wish they'd just tell me what to do.

~Stephanie

If I Die Young...

This song was stuck in my head the other day. I was going around the house humming and singing it mindlessly, when suddenly I stopped.

"If I die young..." I mumbled.

If Kimberly Perry dies young, she wants to be buried in satin and laid in a bed of roses.

But what do I want?

If I die young, bury me on the farm.

If I die young, put Ecclesiastes 7:10 on my tombstone.

If I die young, play Cosmic Love at my funeral.

If I die young, Jordan, hack my accounts and let people know.

If I die young, read my journals {and please accept my apologies in advance}.

If I die young, send up some lanterns, like in Tangled.

If I die young, someone finish "The Mirror." {The outline is in the green notebook marked "CREEPY STORY."}

If I die young, don't send flowers. Send money to this.

If I die young, cry. But don't KEEP crying. Remember me; remember what I believed in; and remember to do what YOU believe in.

~Stephanie