So, yea. I’m at Starbucks. For the second time today. I am completely addicted. I probably wouldn’t be here if I had internet at where I was staying. I’m in Myrtle Beach. I came down here for the weekend with my parents. We stayed in a camper across the street from where my grandparents have theirs in their little community type thing.

It was an Ok weekend, I will admit, as much as I love it here at the beach, I am ready to go back to Baltimore. I miss home. I miss Oscar. I miss James.

I met up with my friend, Becky today. I haven’t seen her in a very long time, and she happened to be down here when we were. So that was an added bonus. We’ve been friends for a very long time. Probably around 9-10 years. I last saw her two years ago when she came down to Rock Hill.

I’m tired. I will need a nightcap before I go to sleep though. Fat Tire. Yes plz.

It is starting to feel like Autumn! I’m so glad. I have been looking forward to this all Summer. This Summer was so drab and boring to the max.

I feel like I’ve done enough sitting at Starbucks, so I’m going to go. I would like to see the ocean one more time before I go, so maybe I will do that. I don’t think I will get to see Becky again before I leave, but oh well. That’s my life. I probably talk too much.

I like this song. Love Song. 311. But I like The Cure’s version better.

Love is… a lot of things. I think everyone has their on interpretation of love and I don’t think there is any one correct answer or definition. I don’t really know where to begin to even describe love, but I can try.

For me, there’s variations of love. For instance, I love my boyfriend differently than I love my parents. I get warm fuzzies thinking about my boyfriend, but not so much when thinking about my parents. Sure, I do love my parents, but differently. Then there’s the love I have for all of my favorite things and stuff that makes me happy.

Love is like an explosion of happiness.

But really, its just too hard to explain and its just one of those things that people just have to figure out on their own.

For starters, I drank about 5 glasses of ice water, and I ate all the ice in each glass before going to refill. I did that while watching the last few episodes of season one of The L Word. I also ate one piece of english toffee.

Dinner came along and James and I went out to Chili’s. We shared chips & salsa for an appetizer, which is usually the main reason I want to go to Chili’s in the first place. I ordered a buffalo chicken salad with no blue cheese crumbles and with citrus balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of the ranch dressing it comes with. I usually order that every single time when I go to Chili’s. I’m one of those people that finds one thing they like and stick to it. I’m not sure why I do that, but I just feel that its safe since I’m a somewhat picky eater.

We went to Coldstone Creamery after dinner and I ordered a small Birthday Cake Remix, which is cake batter ice cream that has brownie, fudge, & sprinkles mixed in. So good. I almost got a chocolate milkshake, but since I’ve never had their chocolate ice cream before I decided to go with what I knew… see there I am, playing it safe again.

Since that was super boring, I will add a picture of a cute lil’ leaf that I found in the park last weekend.

Anyway.. my parents. I have them. Yes. My mom, Janet and my dad, Greg.

My dad, Greg, was born in 1956, making him 54 years old. He was born in Rock Hill, SC, at least I think so. I don’t know too much about my dad’s growing up other than the random stories he has told me over the years. His family moved a lot, but always staying in the Rock Hill area. He has a brother & two sisters. His mom is still alive, but his dad passed away sometime during the 90′s from emphysema. I was young then, so that time to me is quite blurry.

My dad didn’t attend high school, but he’s a pretty smart guy and can pretty much fix anything and everything. He’s my go-to-guy when something is broken. My dad started working at a very young age to help his family. He ended up being an insulator for a long while.  He no longer does that and is now an appliance repairman. On the weekends, he either works at Knight’s Castle during baseball stadium managing the concessions or at the Panther’s stadium as a level manager for the concessions, as well.

During my first season of Winter Guard, I volunteered my dad to help out with the props, and I think that was one of the best things I ever did for my dad. It helped him open up and he really enjoyed it and he still does, even though my sister & I are no longer in the guard. He was at every single competition, every meeting, and most practices. He only went to practices for social reasons, I think. He still does help with the band sometimes and whatnot when he has time. I think he secretly wishes that me and my sister were still in color guard.

He loves sports of all kinds, especially high school football. He is a Bearcat fan for life. He won’t miss a game for nothin’! He watches a lot of the history channel and food network anytime that I’m over.

My dad is a great guy and I love him. The older I get the easier it is to talk to him. I’m proud to have him as my daddy. <3

My mom. Janet.

She was born in 1960, and will turn 50 years old in a couple of months. Old lady. My mom grew up in Ft. Mill, SC. She has two brothers, but one died when he was younger in a drunk driving accident. Both of her parents are still alive and kickin’ and you can usually find them in Myrtle Beach, if not there, they are in Ft. Mill.

I’m not really sure how her childhood went or what she did while growing up. If she ever talked about any of these things, I don’t remember. The older I get, the less I remember.

My mom is unique. She’s loud, for starters. Thick southern accent. Think Paula Deen. That’s kinda what my mom sounds like, but not quite. My mom may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but she is pretty smart in her own way. It was hard trying to lie to her or trick her growing up. She always found out about it! She. can. not. be. fooled. I learned that the hard way. My mom is one of those people that enjoys confrontation, it seems. She may deny that if you told her, but its true. It was hard growing up with her because of that, but we get along much better now that we’re both older. She’s pretty important to me.

She has held different jobs over the years, the longest one working in a factory for Shaw Industries for fourteen or fifteen years, but I’m not sure. She was laid off mid-2008, and has been unemployed since. Now she keeps busy cleaning and taking care of my sister and her baby, Georgie. My mom is usually always on the go these days it seems.

She’s into shopping, tattoos, gardening, and going to the beach. She loves me and my sister very much, and now she has a grandson to spoil, as well. She is a big collector of knick knacks. She has so many, it is unreal. Also, she’s a clean FREAK. I have never seen anyone clean so much in my life. If I’m at my parents house and I drop food on the floor, I feel safe enough to pick it up and eat it.

At 15, she met my dad at the skating rink, where they hung out a lot. She dropped out of high school and married my dad at 16 years old. They struggled when they were first married and even had to live with my dad’s parents at one point. They waited seven years to have their first child, which was me, and then another seven years to have my sister, Lyndsey.

And now here we are.

I think that’s all I really have to say about my parents for now.

In high school during my sophomore year (1999/2000),  right after I first got the internet, I met a girl online. Her name was Jessica. We met in some yahoo chatroom, which was the thing to do back then, and it turned out she didn’t live too far from me. And you know what, her school’s marching band and winter guard went to some of the same competitions my school did. What a freakin coincidence, huh?

Anyway, we talked all the time on chat and on the phone. I was crazy about this girl. We eventually did meet in person on several occasions at these competitions. We would sneak off and hang out and/or make out somewhere. I had to sneak around because my parents HATED the idea of me being gay or bisexual. So, I had to hide it from my parents, which I didn’t do too well. I was always getting into trouble, but it was worth it to me, at the time.

Me and Jess had an on again off again relationship for a couple of years until I eventually ended it for good, which was the beginning of my senior year in high school. I’m not sure why I ended it, but I guess it was just one of those things. Jessica and I still do talk from time to time and its nice to have her as a friend.

During that first semester of my senior year, I started talking to a boy, William, who was in my study hall class. He was in marching band and also spent his study all period in the bandroom like I did. There were four of us who were in the bandroom everyday for second period study hall. We all sat around and talked or did other miscellaneous stuff, but we had fun. Me and William started talking everyday more and more. I had developed a crush for William! The semester carries on and whatnot and by the beginning of the second semester, William had asked me to be his girlfriend, and there ya have it.

William and I dated for four years before it ended. I can pretty much say, he was my first true love and it was also my first real relationship. William even purposed to me, and of course I accepted, but you can see how that didn’t work out. I am thankful for that, though. I don’t want babies and I don’t want to be living with my parents.

So yea, William and I got along great. We did argue some, but I enjoyed our relationship for the most part. We went a lot of places and just spent almost every waking moment together. Its just that after the four year mark, I started to realize that our relationship really wasn’t going anywhere and there were other fish in the sea, and I wanted to swim around, a bit. Mind you, our breakup was rocky and I broke his heart. I feel really bad that I ended things the way I did, but either way breakups aren’t meant to be easy. Also, I pretty much jumped into a new relationship right after I dumped William, and that was also one of the reasons I did break up with him, was for someone else.

There was lots of drama involved with our breakup and it was the most stressful and annoying thing ever. I just wanted it to go away and not think about it anymore, but it was kinda hard when William and I worked at the same place 40 hours a week.

It eventually smoothed itself out and things were drama free. William and I hold a conversation from time to time.

But that’s about it for that, I think. xD I’m freakin starvin’. Its dolla’ beer night and I can’t wait to get some beer and stuff my face at my favorite place. Mmm.

I lived in the same city (Rock Hill) my whole entire life up until last year. I lived with my mom, dad, & sister, Lyndsey. I didn’t have a lot of friends in school, and I still don’t really have any friends, sadly. I was always quite, shy, and kept to myself in school. In high school, I was in the Color Guard & Winter Guard, and that helped open me up a little bit, but I still mainly kept to myself a lot. I had some friends in high school, but I mainly just hung out with my best friend, Courtney (we’re not really friends anymore either, don’t ask me what happened because I certainly have no idea).

I was lazy in school. I could’ve gotten straight A’s, but I preferred to slack off and not ever do homework. I graduated from Rock Hill High School in 2002 and after graduating I went on to attend York Technical College for a couple of years. I was going for an associates degree in computer programming, but that didn’t quite work out mainly because I got bored, and also I was working a full time job. I found it hard to manage school & working forty hours a week.

That full time job I just mentioned, well I worked in internet technical support for almost three years. I actually liked it, for the most part, but I ended up having to quit because I started to date my supervisor and there was much drama to be had. I didn’t want to risk his job, so I quit. I tried working at another company doing internet support, but I started having really bad depression and anxiety. I couldn’t handle working ‘alone’ out of my comfort zone. Over the years, I’ve tried to get a job, but it never works out for me because of my anxiety. I’m sure there are medications out there that would help, but I’m stubborn and I lack something called money and insurance.

However, last year, I moved to Michigan, for a boy. I lived in Grand Rapids for a whopping two months exactly. Now, I’m in Baltimore. I came here for a different boy, and I’ve been here for nine months. I’m not sure if I made the right decision on coming here, but I hope so. Its had its ups and downs, that is for sure.

Since I don’t work, I have plenty of spare time. My favorite thing to do would have to be photography, but I’ve been lacking motivation and haven’t really been in the mood to take pictures. There’s so much I want to do with photography that sometimes it can be overwhelming. I want to, but its just that I haven’t been feeling good, so its hard to get up and going some days.

I also enjoy playing World of Warcraft. I’ve been playing WoW since 2006, but I don’t play it as much as I used to, and that’s a good thing! For anyone interested I play Horde on Duskwood. My main is a mage, Panduh.

My newest hobby of mine is cooking. I’m just getting into it as of last year, and I really enjoy it, and so far I seem to be pretty good at it. I spend lots of time looking for recipes and whatnot on food blogs and just pretty much anywhere on the internet.

Oh yea, I also have a dog. His name is Oscar. He’s a miniature schnauzer and about eight months old. I got him earlier this year to keep me company. I love him to pieces even if he does get into all sorts of trouble.

I think this is long enough for now. I think I have covered everything, for the most part. Its time to go make some dinner!

P.S. I got this 30 day blog idea thing from my livejournal friend, Aubrey.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Anyway… This past weekend my parents were in town for my birthday and to bring me my dining room table & chairs that I had collecting dust back home in South Carolina. My parents seemed to have fun, so I guess that’s all that matters? I was definitely relieved when they left that Sunday morning, that’s for sure. I do miss them a little bit, but I just need my own space far, far away from my parents.

I made them dinner and cooked them breakfast! It was the first time they had ever had my cooking. I’m sure they were scared. My mom was quite surprised at how well I could cook. I don’t know what they were expecting, Ok, I do know what they were expecting because I surprise myself when I cook. I was scared at first to even try my own cooking, but I’m over that fear now, its quite obvious. I’ve gained a few pounds and so has James ever since I started to learn how to cook.

The highlight of the weekend was when we went to Philadelphia this past Saturday afternoon. It took us a little longer than expected to get there due to traffic, but its ok. We were bonding in the car, as I like to call it, as we were sitting there doing nothing in traffic. We did touristy things in Philly, which I am completely Ok with. I love that city! We rode the double-decker tour bus around the city, looked at the liberty bell, and of course ended the trip with Philly cheesesteaks from Geno’s. I took a lot of pictures. I was in my element, most definitely. I even think James had fun, which I like! I want James to not be bored and just tagging along because he has to.. what’s the fun in that?! I want everyone to be happy. Originally we were supposed to go to an Orioles’ game while my parents were in town, but yea, I decided on going to Philly to make everyone in the party happy (mainly James & my mom). Good decision on my part.

I think the next time my parents come into town we will go to DC. Yay!

Places I want to visit this summer:

NYC

Philly

D.C

Baltimore city (I live in the suburbs, ok?!)

Somewhere exciting in Deleware?

Somewhere exciting in Virginia?

Maybe Boston?

Perhaps Pittsburgh?

Ocean City, MD

the Jersey Shore

I know I probably won’t be able to visit all of these places, but I would like to. NYC, D.C, & Philly are my top three choices. I’ve been to Philadelphia before, but I want to go back and explore more. I think if I go somewhere soon it will most definitely be NYC. So, what are the fun/cheap things to do in NYC or any of the places I mentioned above?