Mardi Gras HodgePodge

1. The season of Lent begins on March 9th this year...do you participate and if so, in what way?

- I don't usually participate to the extent a normal Catholic does. I was raised in the Catholic church, but as I got older, I realized I associate more with Protestant beliefs. I still try to give something up for Lent, but I don't fast or refrain from eating meat on Fridays. Although recently, I haven't been eating that much meat on any day...

2. Traditionally pancakes are eaten on the day known as Shrove Tuesday which is the last day before Lent (March 8th this year). So....butter and syrup? Blueberry? Chocolate chip? ewww, no thanks!! What's your pleasure when it comes to eating pancakes?

- Pancakes of almost any kind are delicious. Over the summer, I went to Gainesville to visit a friend and we made pancakes with Cadbury chocolate pieces. Talk about delicious food! I don't put too much syrup on my pancakes because it tends to give me a stomach ache, but a little isn't bad.

3. Spring is coming. (It is coming, right?) What's your favorite springtime flower and do you suffer from seasonal allergies? Two questions I know, but they're lightweights.

- Cherry blossoms count, right? I absolutely love the way cherry blossom trees look when they're in bloom. I thankfully, do not suffer from allergies which is good because my car is currently covered in pollen.

4. "Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves." Author unknown. Agree or Disagree? Why?

- I'd have to say I agree with this quote, occasionally. There are some people I don't like hanging out with because they make me see a side of myself I don't particularly like. For example, I have a friend who is a really judgmental. We'll walk around together and she'll constantly be nitpicking everyone she sees. When I'm with her, I tend to join in, but once she leaves I feel terrible.

5. Since it's "March" and also the season of Mardi Gras....have you ever been in a parade? What's the best parade you've seen?

- Oh, marching band. I was a member of marching band for 6 years in middle and high school resulting in being in about 8 parades. I was never a fan of participating in them. My arms and legs always felt like jelly afterwards. I honestly can't remember the last parade I got to see in person.... Always being in them stopped me from actually getting to enjoy the parade itself. But as Daniel Tosh says, "the worst fireworks are always better than the best parades", so I suppose I'm not missing out.

6. You would jump up and down and shout for joy right now if someone told you___________?

- I won the lottery. or cancer was cured.

Generic answers, I know...

7. How clean is your car on the outside? Inside? Is there junk in your trunk?

- As I said before, my car is currently covered in pollen. I see no point in washing it until spring has finally settled in, because it'll all just accumulate back in a couple days. My brother washed my car last Saturday and it's already just as bad as it was before. The inside is also not so clean. Dog hair all over the seats, random trash in my glovebox, a sweater, jumper cables, and boots in the trunk. Going to school 30 minutes away means I live in my car on Mon., Wed., and Fri.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

- I'm going apartment hunting today, which I'm extremely excited about. I already know where I'd like to live, I just have to make sure my roommate loves the complex as much as I do. Moving back out is both an exciting and scary experience. I'm much more established at UCF than I was at Flagler. I have different groups of friends and different things I can do each night, so I'm sure I'll be okay. But there's always that voice inside my head telling me I'll just slip back into the funk I was in last year. and I REALLY don't want that to happen.